History Main / UpliftedAnimal

* ''Film/SuperMarioBros'' says the meteor that supposedly wiped out the dinosaurs actually sent them to AnotherDimension where they evolved to be like humans.

* In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', Rocket is the result of "illegal genetic and cybernetic experiments on a lower life form", specifically a raccoon. He is not aware of this, as he doesn't know what a raccoon is, instead believing himself to be an entirely artificial lifeform.

* An old rumor goes that ''ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'' was intended to be one of these. A few Marvel staffers have denied it, but a couple lines in his early appearances ''do'' refer to him as "a talking wolverine"... Another rumor in the 1980s tied Logan in with the origin story of the Eternals, with him and some other unaging 'mutants' actually being the original group of experimental subjects that the Celestials tinkered with; supposedly, this was to be revealed by the Eternal known as The Nameless Hero stating that they'd met several times over the millennia, and that Logan [[JuliusBeethovenDaVinci had been]] both [[Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh Enkidu]] and [[Myth/GreekMythology Achilles]].

** In ''ComicVook/NikolaiDante'', at some point in the past, a group of endangered species were given human intelligence in the hope of preserving them. They rose up and overthrew humans, with the result that Africa is now ruled by the houses of Numa ([[KingOfBeasts lion]]), Tantor (elephant), and [[Franchise/KingKong Kong]] (gorilla).

* Bond from ''Manga/SpyXFamily'' is a dog who was as part of a secret government project to create hyper-intelligent dogs for covert operations. While he can't speak, he can understand human speech and complex instructions, picking up on things before even humans can. He also has the power [[{{Seers}} to see the future]]; while his visions aren't set in stone, he's smart enough to try avoiding any unpleasant futures he sees. [[DownplayedTrope That said]], he still usually defaults to thinking like a dog, and his ability to understand the complexities of human society is limited at best despite his general understanding of human language.

* Bond from ''Manga/SpyXFamily'' is a dog who was created as part of a secret government project to create hyper-intelligent dogs for covert operations. While he can't speak, he can understand human speech and complex instructions, picking up on things before even humans can. He also has the power [[{{Seers}} to see the future]]; while his visions aren't set in stone, he's smart enough to try avoiding any unpleasant futures he sees.

** [[ANaziByAnyOtherName The Enclave]] created a race of sapient [[DemonicSpiders Deathclaws]] ([[NuclearNasty giant mutant chameleons]]) to use as shock troops. Your GeniusBruiser companion Goris is one of them, but sadly a couple of weeks after meeting them the Enclave declares YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness and sends [[DragonInChief Frank Horrigan]] to wipe them out.

* ''VideoGame/Splatoon3'' reveals that [[spoiler:[[MysteriousEmployer Mr. Grizz]] is an actual grizzly bear, one who gained enough intelligence to run a company.]]

* In ''LightNovel/SoImASpiderSoWhat'' it's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:the main character's past life was not a human girl, but a house spider in Japan. When it was reincarnated with the students, the goddess D grafted a part of her soul and a set of modified memories onto the spider]].

* In Creator/MarvelComics, there's the New Men, most of whom became the Knights of Wundagore. They were once ordinary animals before the High Evolutionary subjected them to his experiments; some are more or less human than others; Sir Porga is basically a rotund human with pointed ears, Sir Ram has a humanlike face and has feet rather than hooves, Lady Ursula looks like a human-sized (and -shaped) bear, and Lady Vermin is just an ordinary-looking rat who can't even speak without an electronic translator device.

* ''ComicBook/BruteForce'' was a short lived 4 issue series about a scientist who uses cyborg enhancements to makes five animals intelligent and speak, and fight evil. Mostly people trying to destroy rainforests and polluting the ocean, and a team of evil cyborg animals. Pretty much a badass version of ''WesternAnimation/{{Captain Planet|AndThePlaneteers}}'', though despite a few notable excellent fight scenes, it is notably (to quote [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]]) "So mind-boggling stupid that it's awesome" and says it's a true guilty pleasure.

* In ''VideoGame/Fallout2'', [[ANaziByAnyOtherName the Enclave]] created a race of sapient [[DemonicSpiders Deathclaws]] ([[NuclearNasty giant mutant chameleons]]) to use as shock troops. Your GeniusBruiser companion Goris is one of them, but sadly a couple of weeks after meeting them the Enclave declares YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness and sends [[DragonInChief Frank Horrigan]] to wipe them out.

* In ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', the [[spoiler: [[WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers Rescue Rangers]]]] are reimagined as this, initially appearing as average rodents before getting shot with a gun that makes them intelligent.

* Bond from ''Manga/SpyXFamily'' is a dog was created as part of a secret government project to create hyper-intelligent dogs for covert operations. While he can't speak, he can understand human speech and complex instructions, picking up on things before even humans can. He also has the power [[{{Seers}} to see the future]], though his visions aren't set in stone.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Catholics and some other theistic evolutionists have claimed something like this regarding UsefulNotes/{{evolution}}. They believe that when hominids grew sufficiently advanced, {{God}} placed souls in them (often a specific pair, from which Adam and Eve were inspired, has been claimed), making them humans with what they feel are attributes which wholly set them apart from other beings. Obviously, this is not proven (and likely unprovable), nor part of evolutionary theory, but a reconciliation of it to Christian doctrine.
* [[DownplayedTrope To a certain extent]], we inadvertently [[CanineCompanion did this with dogs]]. While they're nowhere near full sapience, convergent evolution made them more acclimated to living among humans across the span of our almost 40,000-year-long relationship. Not only did they develop the ability to digest more carbohydrates as the Agricultural Revolution progressed so they could keep eating the same things as us, but studies have shown that they actually possess a greater degree of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_mind_in_animals theory of mind]] than other animals. Your dog knows what you are thinking and feeling, and can use that information to console or deceive you. Wolves can't do that, not even our closest genetic relative the chimps can do that. [[SapientCetaceans There's a chance dolphins can, but we have no way of knowing.]]
[[/folder]]

* [[DownplayedTrope To a certain extent]], we inadvertently [[CanineCompanion did this with dogs]]. While they're nowhere near full sapience, convergent evolution made them more acclimated to living among humans across the span of our almost 40,000-year-long relationship. Not only did they develop the ability to digest more carbohydrates as the Agricultural Revolution progressed so they could keep eating the same things as us, but studies have shown that they actually possess a greater degree of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_mind_in_animals theory of mind]] than other animals. Your dog knows what you are thinking and feeling, and can use that information to console or deceive you. Wolves can't do that, not even our closest genetic relative the chimps can do that.

* The Vampire King in ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' is a perfectly ordinary, non-sapient lion...who was made anthropomorphic and highly intelligent when he became a vampire. When the vampirism is cured, back to being a dumb kitty he goes.

** 3rd Edition has the Awaken spell, which grants a normal animal human Intelligence and a Charisma bonus, and one or more languages. It also changes their type from "Animal" to "Magical Beast", so it no longer counts as an animal for most purposes. For example, a FriendToAllLivingThings druid can no longer order it around, he needs to use Diplomacy just like he would for a human. Although they are by default friendly toward the druid that awakened them.
** In the ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' D&D setting, the darklord Urik von Kharkov began life as a black leopard, but was transformed into a human by an evil wizard for use as a shapechanging assassin. That was just the start of his troubles.
** On the [[TheWikiRule D&D Wiki]], someone posted an [[http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Uplift_%283.5e_NPC_Class%29 Uplift]] NPC class. It's been called one of the [[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=227249 worst classes ever made for D&D]].

* ''{{Franchise/Extrapower}}'': King Leo, a 200 year old talking lion who owes his sentience to a blessing of [[ThePhoenix the flame princess]].

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Fifine}}'' - Eventually Fifine and company find proof of the existence of humans, only to discover that they are all the descendants of uplifts. Animals were uplifted to be the companion to the last human child.
* In the ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' setting, chimpanzees were the first to be uplifted, but it didn't work very well, since they turned out to be natural sociopaths. Main character Florence is an uplifted red wolf, part of an experimental breed -- only 14 of them exist so far, out of an initial batch of 20 created. It has since been revealed [[spoiler:that her creator, Dr Bowman, is the last surviving chimp uplift]]. In the ''Freefall'' universe, it's not just animals that are uplifted. Dr. Bowman, MadScientist extraordinaire, used his design to uplift ''[[AIIsACrapshoot robots.]]'' Cue panic in three, two...

* Ferrans are a playable race in ''Franchise/{{Thunderscape}}''. Wizards created them as slaves by giving traits of standard fantasy races to animals. Ferrans have won their freedom a century later with a bloody civil war. There are actually 3 branches of them: mammals (most common), birds (nearly wiped out) and reptiles (rare because of low birth rate), ferrans can only reproduce with ferrans of the same branch. However, they aren't the only [[BeastMan Beast Folk]] on Aden, just the most human-like and outwardly diverse.
* In ''TabletopGame/TheChroniclesOfAeres'', the beast-god Tolgamyr was unable to create his own race from scratch like his counterparts. He discovered a workaround and created his own race of followers, the [[BeastMan Wilderkind]], by voluntarily granting humanoid forms and intelligence to the beasts of the [[TheLostWoods Gruncrist Forest]] where he dwelled. There are rumors of {{Talking Animal}}s, the rare remnants of a FlawedPrototype of the ritual. He later discovered he could also [[{{animorphism}} transform humans into Wilderkind as well]], granting this as a boon to the settlers of the Gruncrist so they would have the strength they needed to repel an army of orcs and goblins. Tolgamyr is known to continue to uplift animals into Wilderkind even in the present day, although both "origins" of Wilderkind are true-breeding.

** The title characters of ''WesternAnimation/RoadRovers'' except [[FurryConfusion Muzzle.]]

** It's later revealed that [[spoiler: General Parvo]] is an uplifted cat.