History Main / WeWillNotHaveAppendixesInTheFuture

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' uses toe joints as indicators. People with three joints are considered part of the old generation and are [[{{Muggles}} quirkless]]. Meanwhile, people with two joints are the next stage of human evolution, and are born with Quirks.

Of course, this trope can easily be justified through [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke genetic modification]] - the appendix didn't ''naturally'' evolve away, humans simply altered their own genome to weed out the junk.

A note on the appendix itself: The appendix has historically been thought a useless, vestigial or even [[RupturedAppendix dangerously]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appendicitis self-destructive]] organ, but ScienceMarchesOn - it's still considered vestigial, but not necessarily useless. In the last few years scientists have begun to suspect that it is actually important to the body, as a reservoir of the "good bacteria" species that populate the colon and are necessary for digestion. When the colon's population is thrown out of whack by infection, diarrhea, or the like, the bacteria "hiding" in the appendix can recolonize it and return the necessary balance. There are also suggestions that this reservoir is used in training the immune system of babies and young children. It's still a lot easier to live without one than it is to live without most of your other organs, but it does seem to serve a useful (if non-vital) purpose. This is what we would expect from evolution; if you have something useless hanging around, it can be repurposed. Moreover a smaller appendix might more easily become infected, putting up a barrier to its fading away and selecting for a larger appendix.

Do not confuse with {{We Will Not Use An Index in the Future}}. Also see WeWillHavePerfectHealthInTheFuture and EvolutionaryLevels.

[[folder: Anime & Manga]]

* The ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes would have us believe that in 1,000 years humans will grow an ''extra heart''. Forgot the fact that an extra pump in our chest would cause more problems than it would solve.

** ''Literature/PebbleInTheSky'': [[SpaceRomans Imperial officials]] realize Joseph Schwartz is a time traveler by the fact he has wisdom teeth and an unusually large appendix. Justified by [[spoiler:Earth is now covered in radiation after a nuclear war]], which would increase mutation rates vastly. How much time passed between the "present" and the "future" is disputed by the fanbase due to inconsistencies within the series (One character estimates between fifty thousand to a hundred thousand years since humanity only existed on a single planet, even assuming that humans didn't evolve simultaneously on multiple planets).
** This is actually a plot point in Asimov's ''Literature/TheEndOfEternity'', when two of the main characters, both time travelers, who were born three million years apart notice that the only difference between them is the lack of wisdom teeth and the lack of appendix in the one from the later time. They (perhaps hastily) draw the conclusion that [[KnightTemplar Eternity]] was trying to prevent human evolution.
** While it is not employed in Part 3 of ''Literature/TheGodsThemselves'', the eugenics-conscious moon separatists ''want'' to use genetic engineering to get rid of various organs they consider unnecessary, like molars (the artificial food of the Moon requires little chewing).
* In Creator/MikhailAkhmanov and Christopher Gilmore's ''Literature/CaptainFrenchOrTheQuestForParadise'', the titular protagonist has 2000 years ([[TimeDilation subjective time]]) or 20,000 years (objective time) over his new wife, who is only in her 50s (but looks 20 thanks to the omnipresent cure for aging). The first thing he does after taking her onboard his ship is to have her examined by the ship's AutoDoc. The doc revealed something horrible to French - she still has an appendix. Angry at the carelessness of her home planet's religious fanatics, he has the AutoDoc remove the "offending organ" despite the fact that there was ''nothing wrong with it''. The justification is that it's too risky to have one in space, since it may burst while you're away from the med-bay (e.g. EVA).

* An alien version in ''The Literature/GiantsSeries'' by Creator/JamesPHogan. The Ganymeans genetically-modified themselves to remove their secondary circulatory system, which was primarily a defense mechanism. Then it turned out that they needed it after all.
* The ''Hive Series'' by Creator/TJBass features a race of Nebish — four feet tall, four toes, pink blood due to lack of hemoglobin...
* The Lunar people of ''I, Weapon'' have engineered away belly-buttons and bodily hair because neither is considered important in the colony. Pregnancies are handled via test tubes and body hair clogs the air filters.
* The futuristic anatomical doll in the short story "Mimsy Were the Borogroves" lacked an appendix, and a distinguishable large intestine for that matter. It also had at least one entirely new organ system, suggesting changes were engineered rather than evolved.

* H.G. Wells designed the Martians in ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'': he started from a humanoid body plan, then stripped off ''everything'' — limbs, digestive tracts, sexual reproduction — that he thought mechanization and/or medical technology could potentially make obsolete. All that he left them was a giant head, a few tendrils for pushing buttons, and the ability to breathe. Instead of eating, they drain captured aliens and humans of blood and inject it into their bodies.

* Literature/{{molesworth}} parodies the idea (which showed up often enough in 1950s SF) in ''Whizz for Atomms'', with typically idiosyncratic molesworth spelling:

* H.G. Wells designed the Martians in ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' by turning this trope UpToEleven: he started from a humanoid body plan, then stripped off ''everything'' — limbs, digestive tracts, sexual reproduction — that he thought mechanization and/or medical technology could potentially make obsolete. All that he left them was a giant head, a few tendrils for pushing buttons, and the ability to breathe. Instead of eating, they drain captured aliens and humans of blood and inject it into their bodies.

** Parodied when a news report says that scientists predict people will evolve an additional finger in the future. Characters on the show have only three fingers and a thumb on each hand.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' uses toe joints as indicators. People with three joints are considered part of the old generation and are [[{{Muggles}} quirkless]]. Meanwhile, people with two joints are the next stage of human evolution, and are born with [[StockSuperpower Quirks]].

* Some people don't grow wisdom teeth. [[InvertedTrope On the opposite end]], some people have them but don't need to get them pulled.

** It's in ''A Pebble in the Sky'' where Imperial officials realize the main character is a time traveler by the fact he has wisdom teeth and an unusually large appendix. Justified by the fact [[spoiler:Earth was covered in radiation after a nuclear war]], which would increase mutation rates vastly. How much time passed between the "present" in ''A Pebble in the Sky'' (1950s) and the Empire is disputed in the Robots/Empire/Foundation fanbase.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Lady Cassandra, from five billion years in the future, who appears in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E2TheEndOfTheWorld "The End of the World"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E1NewEarth "New Earth"]], is the self-proclaimed "Last Human" and is nothing but eyes and a mouth on skin stretched trampoline-like in a frame, attached to her BrainInAJar. However, in her case it's because she's had extensive plastic surgeries, ''not'' evolution, as the latter episode shows humans and human-descendants who look perfectly normal.

* In ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', Sheldon argues that his pinky toes and lateral incisors are smaller than average, indicating that he is a more advanced form of humanity, a "''homo novus''", and thus is too evolved to learn how to drive. Leonard would beg to differ, but doesn't bother.

* In Creator/MikhailAkhmanov and Christopher Gilmore's ''Literature/CaptainFrenchOrTheQuestForParadise'', the titular protagonist has 2000 years ([[TimeDilation subjective time]]) or 20,000 years (objective time) over his new wife, who is only in her 50s (but looks 20 thanks to the omnipresent cure for aging). The first thing he does after taking her onboard his ship is to have her examined by the ship's AutoDoc. The doc revealed something horrible to French - she still has an appendix. Angry at the carelessness of her home planet's religious fanatics, he has the AutoDoc remove the "offending organ" despite the fact that there was ''nothing wrong with it''.

* In the 2012 ''Comicbook/AlphaFlight'' miniseries, those who have been through the Master of the World's evolution/brainwashing machine can be identified because they only have four toes. They also don't have an appendix, but that's a little harder to verify in the street.

* The genetic manipulation side is handled fairly well in Literature/{{Schismatrix}}. The Shapers are engineered to not only go without appendices, but also to not need any of the bacteria humans currently need to digest food properly, allowing Shaper habitats to be free of any non-engineered nasties. Unfortunately for them, not everybody has this advantage; Shapers going from the aseptic environment to a bacterial one tend to get diarrhea, nausea and horrible rashes. Non-Shapers living in their habitats have to agree to get their intestines pumped and eat regular doses of foul-tasting yoghurt full of digestive enzymes to make up for it.
* This is exhibited by the children in Nicole Luiken's ''Violet Eyes.''
* H.G. Wells designed the Martians in ''War of the Worlds'' by turning this trope UpToEleven: he started from a humanoid body plan, then stripped off ''everything'' -- limbs, digestive tracts, sexual reproduction -- that he thought mechanization and/or medical technology could potentially make obsolete. All that he left them was a giant head, a few tendrils for pushing buttons, and the ability to breathe. Instead of eating, they drain captured aliens and humans of blood and inject it into their bodies.
* The futuristic anatomical doll in the short story "Mimsy Were The Borogroves" lacked an appendix, and a distinguishable large intestine for that matter. It also had at least one entirely new organ system, suggesting changes were engineered rather than evolved.
* Creator/PhilipJoseFarmer's ''The Wind Whales of Ishmael'' features a race of four toed future people.
* The Hive Series by Creator/TJBass features a race of Nebish -- four feet tall, four toes, pink blood due to lack of hemoglobin...
* In the Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures spin-off novels, the companions Chris Cwej and Roz Forrester have no appendices. They're from the 30th Century.

* This trope was facetiously employed in ''Series/PhilOfTheFuture'' when Phil ran into a problem: he would have to be seen barefoot to stamp tomatoes in a farm on a class trip, but in his time, no one has pinky toes. To quote Phil's mother [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale "They won't lose their pinky toes for another 70 years."]] Ironically, pinky toes are actually used for balance.

** In the episode "Lady Bouvier's Lover," Homer is worried that Abe marrying Marge's mother would make him and Marge brother and sister, and as a result turn the kids into "...horrible freaks with pink skin, no overbites, and five fingers on each hand!" Right after Homer says this, the camera points at the kids, who instead of being drawn in the Simpsons style, are drawn "horrifically" normal.

* This is mentioned as one of the results of human evolution in ''Series/TimeTrax''.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}: TranshumanSpace'' No Appendix is an advantage that the Alpha genetic upgrade and Zisudra parahuman have, both templates are intended to be an "ideal" human.

** This is actually a plot point in Asimov's ''Literature/TheEndOfEternity'', when two of the main characters, both time travelers, who were born three million years apart notice that the only difference between them is the lack of wisdom teeth and the lack of appendix in the one from the later time. They (perhaps hastily) draw the conclusion that [[KnightsTemplar Eternity]] was trying to prevent human evolution.

-->-- '''Barbara''', ''PhilOfTheFuture''

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* The Hive Series by {{T J Bass}} features a race of Nebish - four feet tall, four toes, pink blood due to lack of hemoglobin...

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Table Top Games ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Parodied in ''DrKatzProfessionalTherapist'': when Ben is due to have his wisdom teeth removed, Laura mentions she never had them, which her dentist attributed to her being "more evolved". They end up getting into an argument over the veracity of the statement.
* Also parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', where a news report says that scientists predict people will evolve an additional finger in the future. Characters on the show have only three fingers and a thumb on each hand.

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' uses toe joints as indicators. People with three joints are considered part of the old generation and are [[{{Muggles}} quirkless]]. Meanwhile, people with two joints are the next stage of human evolution, and are born with Quirks.

[[quoteright:324:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/appendix-324x205.jpg]]

* The Comicbook/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}} would have us believe that in 1,000 years humans will grow an ''extra heart''. Forgot the fact that an extra pump in our chest would cause more problems than it would solve.

* In ''{{GURPS}}: TranshumanSpace'' No Appendix is an advantage that the Alpha genetic upgrade and Zisudra parahuman have, both templates are intended to be an "ideal" human.

* Some people don't grow wisdom teeth. [[InvertedTrope On the opposite end,]] some people have them but don't need to get them pulled.

-->--'''Barbara''', ''PhilOfTheFuture''