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1[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eccocomic2_8906.jpg]]]]
2
3->''"[On Earth], man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much -- the wheel, New York, wars, and so on -- while all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man -- for precisely the same reasons."''
4-->--''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1''
5
6Many scientists, writers, and laypeople consider cetaceans (dolphins, whales, and porpoises) to be very intelligent — almost, or even equally, as intelligent and self-aware as human beings. But we can't talk to them, so we can't be sure.
7
8This trope is for dolphins and whales that quite clearly demonstrate their human-level intelligence by talking to non-cetaceans, communicating via telepathy, using magic or technology, piloting spaceships, or other activities generally beyond merely-clever animals. Often, telekinesis is used to make up for dolphins' lack of hands to manipulate their environment.
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10Sapient cetaceans may demonstrate obvious sentience because of genetic engineering or magical phlebotinum, or human-level intelligence and the skills to prove it may just be natural traits of cetaceans in the setting.
11
12This is actually TruthInTelevision to a degree; although they probably aren't on the same level as us humans, they're pretty close, even moreso than you might at first think. Some of the more intelligent cetaceans such as orca and bottlenose dolphin are at least on par with some apes in terms of memory, problem solving, and coordination. It is notable however that while the family as a whole is fairly smart as far as animals go, not all cetaceans are equally sharp. Baleen whales are generally less intelligent than the likes of dolphins and toothed whales.
13
14For dolphins in particular, this may sometimes overlap with FriendlyPlayfulDolphin, or HeroicDolphin, or both, but not always. You may be dealing with DeviousDolphins instead. Compare UpliftedAnimal, which often includes (and may artificially induce) this trope.
15
16Note that examples of AnimalTalk, or stories taking place in a WorldOfFunnyAnimals, don't count. Even then, however, whales and dolphins are likely to be portrayed as [[AnimalStereotypes smarter on average]] than other species or as TheSmartGuy in an ensemble cast. For similar animal stereotypes see CleverCrows and TheOwlKnowingOne.
17----
18!! Examples:
19
20[[foldercontrol]]
21
22[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
23* ''Manga/DamekkoDoubutsu'' has a sentient orca that cannot swim and uses a life preserver.
24* In the 1960 ''Anime/AstroBoy'' a sentient race of dolphin people threaten war on humanity if they keep developing on their land.
25* A well-known arc of ''[[Anime/AfterWarGundamX Gundam X]]'' has the MysteriousWaif actually talk to dolphins, presumably with her PsychicPowers. The arc also includes a white dolphin, which seems to be psychic itself.
26* The main heroes of ''Manga/{{Cyborg 009}}'' named their ship 'The Dolphin'; in the manga, genetically and cybernetically enhanced dolphins were a pretty common enemy, used by Black Ghost as underwater scouts, soldiers, and assassins.
27* ''Anime/MarsDaybreak'' showcases Poipoider, a dolphin who spends much of his time in a suit of power armor wielding heavy weapons.
28* Ruffin the dolphin from ''Anime/DoraemonNobitasGreatAdventureInTheSouthSeas'' is a HeroicDolphin capable of communicating with the main cast via {{telepathy}}, with the revelation near the end that [[spoiler:Ruffin's actually an animal cop working for the TimePolice]].
29* ''Manga/PsychicSquad'' has the appearance of Lieutenant Ikyuugo, a dolphin with precognitive powers, whom The Children affectionately call "old man."
30* In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', [[FishPeople dolphin-men]] are one of the many denizens found in the MagicWorld. One of them works as a trucker who pilots an airship.
31* The final episode of ''Anime/GunBuster'' shows an Orca amongst a ship's crew.
32%%* Goku encounters such a dolphin during his second trip to the ocean in ''Manga/DragonBall'' while searching for Master Roshi.
33* ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' - Dolphmon possesses advanced intelligence, but its form of thought is too complex for a normal person to understand.
34%%* The Five-Tails from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''
35* "Seiketsu no Haguruma" had a literal blue-blooded GadgeteerGenius prince (whose inventions were, unbeknownst to him, being used by his father to eradicate the remaining red-blooded refugees) possess a dolphin that was not only intelligent (if crabby) but could also fly in the air.
36[[/folder]]
37
38[[folder:Comic Books]]
39* Post-Crisis ''ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'' was raised by a mother dolphin named Porm, who communicates with Arthur telepathically and advises him on matters both underwater and above the waves. Even after her death, she continued to provide counsel from the spirit world.
40* ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' has some comic strips based on the ''VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin'' series which explicitly portray Ecco as a very clever and resourceful dolphin, even to the point of tricking a jellyfish and a polar bear into attacking each other instead of him. We also see him discussing subjects like alien invasions with other creatures and even [[ItMakesSenseInContext talking crystals]]. See also the ''Ecco'' entry in the video game section.
41%%* Creator/AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/TheBalladOfHaloJones'' has sapient Dolphins.
42* ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'' has a sapient space dolphin in Lobo's entourage.
43* "The Forty Year Old Hippie" made an apparatus to talk with whales and used it on a Greenpeace-style mission... but only ended up antagonizing a whale with a "survival of the fittest" attitude who resented the hippie's patronizing.
44* In an ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'' story set in 2029, the ComicBook/GreenLantern Corps has passed over human candidates and chosen a blue whale as the lantern for Earth's sector. He has a uniform, and his ring is a crest embedded in his belly.
45[[/folder]]
46
47[[folder:Comic Strips]]
48* One comic by Don Martin has a scientist making a device that translates dolphin speech, and tests it on the dolphin present in the lab. He hears what the dolphin says, but immediately turns around and embarrassedly zips his fly.
49* ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'': One series has Dilbert trapped miles from shore while dolphins taunted him for hours ("Let's ask the humming fish to do the ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' theme song..."). They also steal his swimming trunks.
50* ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'': A group of clueless human scientists are sitting in a lab, studying the possibility of dolphin speech, but struggling with the incomprehensible sounds they're making: ''"Matthews...we're getting another one of those strange 'aw blah es span yol' sounds."''[[note]]Habla español, Spanish for "do you speak Spanish?"[[/note]]
51[[/folder]]
52
53[[folder:Fan Works]]
54* It's mentioned in ''Fanfic/{{Daemorphing}}'' that few people in the world have dolphin [[BondCreatures dæmons]]; since dæmons can't take the form of sapient beings, this implies that most dolphin species are sapient in this setting.
55* In ''Fanfic/MetaFicAltRisingWar'', a ''RWBY'' Subreddit dramatization, the King of Blue Whales is a major character, along with his helpers Cyan and Sulfur. They are part of a whale society that has developed technology to compress their bodies into a semi-humanoid form to survive on land.
56[[/folder]]
57
58[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
59* In ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'', an alien probe is sent to Earth to re-establish relations between an alien race and humpback whales. Seems they didn't know that in the meantime human civilization had risen and [[spoiler:caused the extinction of humpbacks sometime before 2286]]. In the movie, it's left to the viewer's imagination what the whales and the probe are actually saying, but the novelization makes it more explicit.
60* In ''Film/JohnnyMnemonic'', the protagonist spends most of the movie trying to find a way to get a whole lot of computer data out of his mind before the stress of having all that stuff in there fries his brain. Other people seem to only be able to come up with crude methods leading to his likely death, but he eventually does find someone who saves him - a genetically modified super-smart dolphin, originally created by the military for submarine warfare.
61* ''Film/AvatarTheWayOfWater'': The Tulkun are the direct counterpart to Earth baleen whales, extremely intelligent {{Gentle Giant}}s able to swallow whole schools of fish at a time. The Metkayina people consider the Tulkun extensions of their tribes and are able to carry on conversations with them, and appoint themselves their protectors since [[PerfectPacifistPeople the Tulkun collectively swore off the use of violence long ago]]... [[CrimeOfSelfDefense except for Payakan]].
62[[/folder]]
63
64[[folder:Literature]]
65* ''Literature/{{Dinotopia}}'': Although every creature in and around the island of Dinotopia is at least intelligent enough to communicate with humans, dolphins were the first to interact with humans.
66* In Arthur C. Clarke's ''Literature/DolphinIsland'', human researchers learn to understand dolphins' language and some of the dolphins learn to speak some English words. Eventually communication becomes good enough for the dolphins to explain what they wanted all along: [[spoiler:human protection from orcas. Orca are good at communicating within their species but less intelligent than dophins, so the researchers come up with a [[NeuralImplanting nightmarish]] way to train individual orca to fear attacking dolphins in the hope that the fear will spread through their entire population.]]
67* ''The Literature/DragonridersOfPern'' features sentient dolphins, who were genetically uplifted by the ancestors of the Pernese humans.
68* In ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1'', humans are actually only the third most intelligent creatures on Earth. The first is [[spoiler:mice. But then, they are hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings who are actually running the Earth, which is a giant computer program]], and the second is explicitly stated to be dolphins (who ''aren't'' in disguise and are ''still'' ahead of humans), and who knew about the impending destruction of Earth long before the humans themselves knew about it. The dolphins tried to warn them, but when the humans didn't understand, they left the planet quietly by their own means. Their last message is "so long and thanks for all the fish", and this all becomes important in the book ''Literature/SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish''. At the end of it, it's all but stated outright that the Dolphins were responsible for restoring Earth.
69* ''Literature/{{Hothouse}}'': The Sodal Ye is a sapient dolphin descendant. It has a good claim to being the most intelligent creature in a world where most sapient beings range from stolidly unimaginative to simply idiotic; as a consequence, it's also incredibly conceited and condescending.
70* ''Franchise/StarTrek'' [[Franchise/StarTrekExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]]:
71** The Creator/DianeDuane ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' novel ''Dark Mirror'' involves an alien race that's essentially dolphins [-IN SPACE!-] (They're not related to the whales [-IN SPACE-] from ''Star Trek IV''.) One dolphin is a supporting character, which held the rank of commander in Starfleet. At one point, Riker whistles a specific sequence of notes to get its attention, implying he can speak (or at least swear) in Dolphin.
72** The ''Star Trek The Next Generation: Technical Manual'' notes that the Cetacean tanks on board contain the dolphin and whale navigational specialists. This is pretty much a shout out to ''Gunbuster'', where cybernetically enhanced dolphins form the main navigational computer of the Eltreum.
73** In ''[[http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Probe_%28novel%29 Probe]]'', a sort-of sequel novel to ''Film/{{Star Trek IV|The Voyage Home}}'', the Cetacean probe is traced back to its homeworld-- inhabited by a race of super-dolphins. They had telekinetic powers, what the internal dialog of the Probe calls 'The Voice'. It is stated that they had range and power enough to protect their planet from invasion by a civilization strongly implied to be the Borg. They were not, however, able to prevent these would-be invaders from rendering their star unable to sustain life on their world, so they built ships and, like the humanoids that had dwelt on the land, fled from the known universe. (These humanoids are also implied to have fled from the Borg, but while there are indications they fled a threat and deliberately left false clues to their destination(s) as part of a system of prepared traps,[[note]]Such as star systems where the star was on the verge of going supernova, had already collapsed into a black hole, or was in some other way violently unstable.[[/note]] there are no specific descriptions of what the threat was.) Ultimately the Enterprise crew and a Romulan musician (as super-dolphins, the Probe-builders' language is musical in nature) team up to copy the telekinetic "Voice" via tractor beams and communicate with the Probe. Prior to this, the Probe's artificial intelligence failed to recognize humans and Romulans as being potentially sapient life, because its builders had programmed it to seek out life similar to their own. After they used the tractor beam "Voice" to communicate with it, the probe expanded is criteria for what life could be potentially sapient.
74* ''Literature/{{Sounding}}'': Whales from different species hold philosophical discussions on what humans might be thinking. They conclude [[HumansAreCthulhu we only make sense]] [[BlueAndOrangeMorality to ourselves]].
75* Duane's ''Literature/YoungWizards'' book series also features Cetacean wizards (the Trek novel contains a ShoutOut to them). Of course, pretty much everyone and everything with more brains than a sponge has Wizarding potential in this setting.
76* Creator/DavidBrin:
77** ''Literature/{{Uplift}}'': Dolphins were uplifted to human-level sapience, alongside chimpanzees, and have colonized other planets alongside their human patrons. Because dolphins evolved in a [[SpaceIsAnOcean truly 3D environment]] they're crackerjack spaceship pilots. They were already rather intelligent before uplift, they and the larger whales sharing a unique way of thinking referred to as the "Whale Dream", and whale songs are treasured by many alien races.
78** ''Literature/{{Existence}}'' features a "tribe" of dolphins who show unusual intelligence, catching fish using a net, having a language that they manage to teach to a human, etc. [[spoiler:It's eventually discovered that they were partially uplifted, but abandoned when funding ran out. After they save an oligarch's son he revives the uplift program.]]
79* ''Literature/KnownSpace'' establishes that dolphins were recognized as sapient beings [[AlternateHistory in the late 20th century]]. Not long after they sue us for our whaling practices in a suit that literally takes hundreds of years to get through the court system (the dolphins enjoy it too much to let it resolve).
80%%* ''Literature/PortalADataspaceRetrieval'' gets downright philosophical:%%Quotes are not context.
81%%-->''Man does not take time to think things over, to sing about them completely. Too much like a monkey, they say. That's the problem with having hands, they say. Always trying to put them on things, move them around, turn them over.\
82%%\
83%%I could build them a ship, I tell them, and they chitter and click but do not assent. I tell them man has left behind vast tubes of air, filled with the plants and life of earth, floating in space. They find this interesting, but silly. They will think about it, they tell me. Perhaps in a hundred years or so they will have an answer. They've been around for thirty million years, and are in no hurry. They tell me they haven't finished exploring the oceans yet.''
84%%* ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'': Dolphins aid the Discordians in their underwater expeditions.
85* In ''Literature/TheProbabilityBroach'' novel and its sequels' {{backstory}}, several animals were discovered sapient and intelligent but devoid of speech, dolphins among them. The problem was easily solved with a special artifact. We even see a Dolphin scientist working in his tank.
86* ''Literature/TheScar'' by Creator/ChinaMieville has sapient dolphins aiding the security forces of the floating pirate settlement of Armada, as well as a small mention of sapient whales. Inverting typical presentations the main dolphin character is a sadist named Bastard John, while the whales are all extremely stupid dupes of the book's primary antagonists.
87* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'':
88** Cassie has a minor crisis because she's not sure if it's right to take a dolphin's [=DNA=] or control its mind; one of their rules is that the Animorphs never morph a sapient creature without its permission, or unless it's an urgent emergency. Whether or not they're truly sapient is never ''quite'' settled, (although whales just barely are, according to the Drode), but they are capable of a kind of telepathic communication with whales ("great ones"; the dolphins are the "little ones.") Cassie firmly believes they have souls, and everyone loves the dolphin morph because they're so happy and carefree.
89** Orcas are also implied to be fully sentient, to the point where in the place of the usual instincts that the team have to overcome, they seem to have a fully-functioning mind which is aware about the fact that it is indeed a morph.
90** Also in ''Animorphs'', at least one whale is confirmed to be sentient: the Drode must spare its life for this reason.
91%%* One story in ''Tales from Innsmouth'' (Franchise/CthulhuMythos compilation) has the Dolphins as allies of the Deep Ones.
92* In the ''Literature/HyperionCantos'' there is mention of intelligent telepathic dolphins. Unfortunately they were hunted nearly to extinction ''because'' it was discovered they were sentient.
93* Creator/AlanDeanFoster's works:
94** Subverted in the ''Literature/{{Spellsinger}}'' series: in a world where ''every'' species of mammal or bird is intelligent, dolphins are essentially a bunch of slackers, whose only interest in land-goers is the chance to swap dirty jokes.
95** His ''Literature/HumanxCommonwealth'' series gives Earth's cetaceans their own [[SingleBiomePlanet ocean-covered world]] to inhabit as reparations for centuries of hunting and pollution. The baleen whales are more slow-witted, the dolphins more involved with humans, and the sperm whales are aloof but brilliant [[spoiler:with PsychicPowers]].
96* In the ''Literature/GreatwinterTrilogy'' by Sean [=McMullen=], scientists reconstruct ancient cetacean DNA and create three members of the species who turn out to be telepathic/smarter than humans.
97* This concept gets a TakeThat in ''Literature/ThePolity'' novel ''The Skinner''. The narrator notes that eventually people were able to accurately measure the intelligence of animals, and found that despite longstanding stereotype, dolphins and whales were actually pretty dumb. Instead, the novel has a swarm of wasps who form a HiveMind / living computer of equal or greater than human intelligence.
98* In the 1981 book ''Literature/{{Megalodon}}'' by Robin Brown, the protagonist scientist has developed the Janus device, a computer/vocoder/translator which enables him to teach two dolphins (nicknamed Doris and Macho) and a killer whale (Morgan) a rudimentary language (their own language is sophisticated enough to communicate three-dimensional sonar images -- it's converting that into a language simple enough to be translated that's the problem).
99* The 1967 novel ''Literature/ASentientAnimal'' by Robert Merle is about a scientist who successfully teaches human languages to dolphins, resulting (to his dismay) in the latter being used as living weapons by the US military.
100* In Creator/{{Piers Anthony}}'s ''Literature/ProsthoPlus'' stories -- about a human dentist abducted by aliens to serve as their on-ship oral hygiene practitioner -- the intrepid prosthodontist is called upon to do some filings for a life-form on a wholly aquatic planet, who turns out to be the son of a whale-like species who are planetary rulers and who can therefore pay the fabulous costs of ''tons'' of gold used to restore the cavity-laden rotten teeth. After several days of work with JCB's to excavate the rot and a portable blast furnace to melt the gold for the fillings -- all done inside the creature's mouth as it really is that large -- the dentist asks what caused catastrophic rot in the first place. He learns that over-indulgent parents had allowed too many sweeties and not imposed a good enough teeth-cleaning regime...
101* Creator/JohnRingo's ''Literature/CouncilWars'' series has ''Delphinos'': Humans who have used advanced genetic engineering to turn themselves into dolphins and have lost all sense of their own humanity as a result.
102%%* Creator/ArthurCClarke once penned a short novel about the discovery of cetacean intelligence.
103* In Sergey Volnov's ''Literature/ArmyOfTheSun'', someone thought it was a good idea to uplift not only whales but also sharks (despite the latter being a fish and not a mammal). Oh yeah, and they also have incredible PsychicPowers. Interestingly, the only intelligent shark in the novel is pretty peaceful and bears humans no ill will and is a mentor to a young intelligent orca. For reference, orca's kill sharks for sport.
104* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' novel ''Small Favor'', dolphins turn out to not only be intelligent, but smart enough to recognize that Harry is a good guy and the squad of {{Fallen Angel}}s lurking nearby are the bad guys and thus warn Harry that he's walking into an ambush.
105* In the ''Literature/HellsGate'' series the Cetaceans of Sharona have been established as having intelligence at or near human levels. Some humans are able to telepathically talk to them and they act as ambassadors trading human services (such as medical treatment) for the Cetaceans' help with things like fishing and finding oyster beds.
106* Betty Ballantine's ''Literature/TheSecretOceans'' features intelligent dolphin-like creatures which are dubbed Cetasapiens.
107* ''Literature/TheGloveOfDarthVader'' mentions the [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Whaladon Whaladons]], a species of sapient whales native to the Mon Calamari homeworld. TheEmpire legalized their hunting, but the New Republic put a stop to it.
108* In the ''Literature/RevelationSpace'' univers, dolphins are used as pilots for surface-to-space shuttles after the [[TheVirus Melding Plague]] destroys most of the advanced technology, including the automated shuttles of the past. The GenerationShip that ''Chasm City'' partly takes place on has a tank of sapient dolphins, but their cooped up surroundings (barely larger than a home's pool) has caused them to become psychotic.
109* Creator/WilliamGibson's short story "Johnny Mnemonic" features Jones, a drug-addicted cyborg dolphin who communicates through a panel of christmas lights and lives in an amusement park after being retired from the Navy. He uses his [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQUID SQUID]] implant to help Johnny extract the stolen Yakuza data in his head in exchange for a shot of good shit.
110* ''[[Literature/TimeMachineSeries The Rings of Saturn]]'' features an uplifted dolphin as a telepathic DrillSergeantNasty.
111* ''[[Literature/TheQuantumThief The Causal Angel]]'' has mentions of cetamorphs, uplifted dolphins who live in giant water tank ships in the Asteroid Belt.
112%%* The Cephallonians in ''Isaac's Universe'', a series of anthologies from several authors inspired by Creator/IsaacAsimov.
113* ''Literature/WetGoddess'' portrays the cetaceans as completely sapient, while keeping the RealLife setting plausible. (the story is based on real events).
114* Peter Macey's ''Literature/StationaryOrbit'': ET signals of presumed exo-planetary origin are revealed to be from a nearby (the research institution's) dolphin school park.
115* In the ''Venus Trap'' by Creator/KurtMahr, of the Literature/PerryRhodan series; In an escape by sea, Son Okura establishes telepathic contact with seal-like creatures that guide him, Rhodan, and John Marshall eventually to safety of the shore.
116* ''Literature/TheDeathGateCycle'': The dolphins and whales who inhabit Chelestra, [[ElementalPlane the world of water]], are sapient, capable of speech and allied with the [[{{Muggles}} mensch]] who live there, helping them by ferrying messages through and exploring the global ocean where the mensch cannot go. The whales don't show up much on-page, while the dolphins are shameless and enthusiastic gossips.
117* In ''Literature/IntoTheDrowningDeep'', along with the crew of the ship, Imagine entertainment sent along a team of dolphins, one of whom gets his own viewpoint chapter, and who the crew considers to be people. It's mentioned that things are legally contentious re: cetaceans, because scientists consider them people but governments haven't caught up. Theo says Imagine's contract with the dolphins covers their ass both ways: either the dolphins are animals and they don't need a contract, or the dolphins are people and they agreed to this.
118* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' novel ''[[Recap/PastDoctorAdventuresStormHarvest Storm Harvest]]'' features the ocean planet Coralee, where dolphins are equipped with telepathic translators and, for dry land manoeuvre, mechanical, multi-legged exoskeletons.
119* In the ''Literature/DolphinTrilogy'', dolphins and whales are fully sentient and all speak Dolphinese, a language of clicks and whistles. John, Vinca, and Syn have all been [[RaisedByWolves raised by dolphins]] and are fluent in Dolphinese, and John tries to prove the intelligence of whales in his unsuccessful efforts to get whaling banned.
120* In ''Literature/MaddysDolphin'', dolphins and whales are all sentient and can talk to each other. One dolphin, Indigo, also has the ability to talk to the human Maddy.
121* ''Literature/{{Transpecial}}'': Dolphins and orcas have human-level intelligence and in fact realized humans were sapient long before humans realized dolphins were. The Delphic language is largely inaudible to humans, but many dolphins speak a pidgin that's designed to be easy for humans to understand. Some dolphins even work among humans, such as Iterk, pilot of the spaceship ''Challenger''. Whales, however, aren't fully sapient and are essentially the dolphins' pets. Earth is the only planet known to have more than one race of sapient lifeforms.
122* In ''Literature/StarterVillain2023'' the waters around the VolcanoLair are patrolled by genetically engineered dolphins, who are threatening a strike (again) after the protagonist inherits his supervillain uncle's "business." It's stated that dolphins were already pretty intelligent, but the engineered ones are so smart that they can't relate to their wild cousins, which is why they're striking, they are allowed to leave but have no place to go. One of the other villains also uses humpback whales as spies, and missile platforms, [[spoiler:they wind up joining the dolphins' union.]]
123[[/folder]]
124
125[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
126* In ''Series/SeaQuestDSV'', Ensign Darwin is a dolphin crew member of the titular submarine. He can speak [[YouNoTakeCandle passable english]] thanks to a translator device hooked to the ships computer, and is considered an honorary ensign in the Navy. A few episodes involve them telling Darwin what to do, such as "playing" with automated submarine drones, causing them to crash into each other.
127* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
128** In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' [[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Cetacean it's suggested that there are cetaceans aboard the Enterprise-D.]] In some expanded universe material, the cetateans are aboard as navigation experts. ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'' later confirms this by showing a pair of Beluga whale crewmembers on the ''Cerritos''.
129** One of the Xindi races in ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' is a cetacean species whose speech is similar to the songs sung by whales. They are slow to come to any decision, but highly intelligent and their warships are by far the most powerful.
130* {{Parodied|Trope}} during a skit in the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode "[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S09E11DevilFish Devil Fish]]". Mike and the bots make the mistake of talking disparagingly about dolphins--only to have a "Dolphin Mothership" show up and start attacking them. It takes some serious kissing up in order to get them to leave. (Later on, Mike and the bots start talking smack about electricians, only to discover that they have a mutual protection pact with the dolphins. Whoops.)
131* In the candid camera show ''Series/TheJamieKennedyExperiment'' one victim is actually convinced that a dolphin can speak using a robotic-sounding translator. The dolphin asks to make a cellphone call to his girlfriend in another tank. It's really well-done, enough so that the mark actually accepts this, until the dolphin starts talking about their secret plans to overthrow the world, losing much of its credibility.
132* One episode of ''Series/UprightCitizensBrigade'' included a sketch at a town hall meeting where one concerned mother (played by Creator/AmyPoehler) wanted the issue of dolphin-centric questions on the UsefulNotes/SATs addressed. She reads several examples of questions involving detailed knowledge of marine life and species and argues that it wasn't fair to human children. Eventually they bring in a dolphin in a tank with a dolphin-to-human translator device, and he proceeds to insult all of them with some really filthy smack talk. The hidden-camera bit they did while the credits played for that episode had Creator/AmyPoehler (in character) bringing this up and reading similar sample questions at an ''actual'' town's town hall meeting, much to their confusion.
133* In ''Series/MadeForLove'', employees at tech company Gogol can communicate with Zelda, a dolphin who lives at their corporate campus, using some [[AppliedPhlebotinum ambiguously-defined technology]] resembling earbuds. Those who do so find that she's very intelligent, observant, and quite witty, and undercover FBI agent Jasper even [[InterspeciesRomance takes a liking to her]].
134[[/folder]]
135
136[[folder:Music]]
137* The 1970 album ''Music/SongsOfTheHumpbackWhale'' was the first album released to the public featuring nothing but sounds of singing whales. At the time many people had thought whales were mute, but the record actually showed them to be majestic and magnificent creatures whose vocal sounds are an amazing and wonderful listening experience. It also helped people to realize that these intelligent creatures ought to be protected from hunters, thus inspiring the "Save The Whales" movement.
138[[/folder]]
139
140[[folder:Mythology]]
141* In mythology involving the Amazon River dolphin seems to portray them as similar to TheFairFolk; they are said to shapeshift into beautiful people in order to seduce humans, whisk them away and can curse people with lifelong nightmares.
142* Inverted for the most part in Polynesian mythologies; whales and dolphins are little more than basically sea cattle to be eaten, while sharks, seabirds and even some fish are totemic symbols and depicted as sapient.
143* In more "modern" mythology/conspiracy theories, some have expressed the theory the so-called "Greys" are not actually extraterrestrial but the cetacean convergent evolution to humanity. Such theory obviously has more than its fair share of counter-dialog but is an example of this trope applied probably beyond its real-world boundaries.
144[[/folder]]
145
146[[folder:New Media]]
147* Magazine/TheOnion parodied this with the article "[[https://www.theonion.com/dolphins-evolve-opposable-thumbs-1819565718 Dolphins Evolve Opposable Thumbs: 'Oh, Shit,' Says Humanity]]". The article is then filled with stories of the Dolphins' incredibly rapid technology development, and marine biologists committing suicide or preparing to serve the Dolphin overlords.
148* ''Website/OrionsArm'': Dolphins were one the earliest animal species to be uplifted, or "provolved", to sapience. They are quite common, living on oceanic worlds and aquatic habitats all over the terragen sphere. There are also several genetically recreated and provolved whales on Old Earth, known as "Gaian whales".
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151[[folder:Pinball]]
152* As in the movie, ''Pinball/JohnnyMnemonic'' has James, a military-trained cyborg-enhanced dolphin, who appears next to the left ramp.
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154
155[[folder:Radio]]
156* Season two of ''Radio/OldHarrysGame'' reveals that dolphins are the only non-human species that have sufficient understanding of their actions to be damned. Episode 2 features the most evil dolphin who ever lived, [[FluffyTheTerrible Chuckles]].
157* Subverted in a ''Radio/JohnFinnemoresSouvenirProgramme'' skit, in which a scientist devotes his life to creating a machine to translate whalesong, only to learn that all they ever say is "Hi! I'm a whale!"
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159
160[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
161* ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'': Issue 6 of the ''Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society'' has an article on dolphins genetically engineered to have higher intelligence, up to 13 (with the human average being 7). Some of them can learn human languages.
162* ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'': ''Rifts Underseas'' allows you to have a dolphin, orca, or humpback whale as a player character. They even have ''PoweredArmor'' designed for Dolphins and Orcas to use. There are also the Pneuma-Biforms, Cetaceans mutated by an EldritchAbomination to be slaves, and have the ability to switch between Human and Cetacean forms. This allows a player to be a Dolphin or Whale, but also participate in land-based adventures as well (as long as they keep a large water tank handy).
163* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'':
164** ''TabletopGame/TranshumanSpace'' has the deep-sea sourcebook ''Under Pressure''. On the one hand there are "Cetanists"; "[[BrainUploading Ghosts]]" and AIs who believe in the intelligence and spirituality of whales and dolphins, and express this by wearing dolphin bioshells (biological bodies that can run an AI or Ghost) and joining a pod. On the other hand, there are actual dolphins; who are certainly bright enough that translator software works, but are also bullies, mildly sociopathic and, in short, wild animals. And on the third hand there are Doolittles and Delphi; dolphins who've been [[UpliftedAnimal uplifted]], but who often have the same "personality disorders" (by human standards) as their wild kin. They also find Cetanists a bit disturbing. And then there's Coak, a Delphi who [[IJustWantToBeNormal wishes he was a normal dolphin]] to the extent that he now runs an [[AnimalWrongsGroup anti-uplift terrorist organisation]].
165** ''Literature/{{Uplift}}'': In the tabletop adaptation, Fins (uplifted dolphins) are a playable species, complete with the tech from the books that lets them operate out of water.
166* ''TabletopGame/BluePlanet'' revolves around a [[AwesomeUnderwaterWorld water planet]] named Poseidon that's colonized by genetically modified humans and sapient cetaceans.
167* In ''TabletopGame/BlueRose'', you can play a sapient, telepathic dolphin PC, or play a human who has one as a BondCreature.
168* One early RPG inspired by Niven's Literature/KnownSpace novels omitted rules for dolphin characters, but an article in ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' corrected that, introducing such necessities as water-filled space suits and strap-on robotic arms.
169* Some editions of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' have depicted dolphins as sentient Good-aligned creatures with their own patron goddess.
170* ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase'' has uplifted cetaceans, though they're not featured in the core rulebook (appearing in the ''Panopticon'' supplement) as few of them made it off earth before the Fall (especially the large baleen whales). Many who escaped as infomorphs had to resleeve in human morphs or the [[SpaceWhale Suryas]] adapted to the sun.
171* In ''TabletopGame/HcSvntDracones'' dolphins were officially recognized as sapient by many governments, though that meant little more than protection from fishing in most cases. But there was some controversy about using them in the [[HalfHumanHybrid Vector]] project as none of the other species they were splicing with human genes had their own cultures and societies. But, after Earth was sterilized in the Terra Firma/Corptown war they went with it anyways, and Vectorized dolphins are a common sight in the oceans of terraformed Mars, Venus, and Europa.
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174[[folder:Theatre]]
175* Paul Zindel's play ''Let Me Hear You Whisper'' features a dolphin in a lab that learns to talk out of its blowhole. However, at first it only talks to the cleaning lady.
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178[[folder:Video Games]]
179* ''VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin:'' Every dolphin is shown capable of advanced speech among other dolphins [[AnimalTalk and other aquatic species,]] conveying complex ideas, and family units. Ecco also has to learn about the world, travelling to the frozen north, the deep ocean, Atlantis, through time, and even to an alien world. This is all part of his quest to learn about and stop an alien invasion. The series also involves solving [[NintendoHard notoriously challenging puzzles]] when playing as Ecco.
180* In ''VideoGame/TheFermiParadox'', it is possible for dolphins to evolve to be the dominant lifeform on Earth rather than humans if [[AGodIsYou the player]] wants. They start out [[HeroicDolphin more benevolent than humanity]] at 20% {{Utopia}}, and gain technological progress faster, in addition to having more resources, however, [[NecessaryDrawback their population starts out smaller]].
181* In ''VideoGame/AeroFighters 2'', Spanky is a dolphin who pilots a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_YF-23 YF-23 fighter jet]]. He calls himself "the world's first dolphin pilot" and fries over jungles. He's back as a semi-hidden character in ''Aero Fighters Assault'', this time flying an [[CoolPlane X-29]] armed with [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]].
182* The ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' Aquatic Species Pack DLC adds a race of anthropomorphic dolphins you can encounter or play as.
183* ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars''; the Liir are a race of starfaring telepathic cetaceans. The young Liir look more like dolphins, while the Elders look like whales (only much bigger). The Liir keep growing as they age and have a, theoretically, unlimited lifespan. However, at a certain age, the SquareCubeLaw goes into effect, and the Elder is crushed by its own weight. Unless, of course, they [[spoiler:enslave the Liir race and force them to build a massive spacesuit that it can use to survive indefinitely]].
184* ''VideoGame/CriticalDepth'': The Cephalopod race intended for dolphins to rule the earth. In one [[MultipleEndings ending]], they are dismayed to find humans have taken over after millions of years, and vow to [[AlienInvasion fix the situation]].
185* ''VideoGame/ZombieWars'': A dolphin is one of the crew members. He wears a suit of power armor to get around on land, push buttons, and wield assault rifles.
186* ''VideoGame/EcoQuest: The Search for Cetus'' features a number of ocean creatures that are able to communicate with the human protagonist. The first one he meets is an injured dolphin named Delphineus.
187* ''VideoGame/{{Insaniquarium}}'': Blip the Porpoise is highly intelligent and possesses powerful psychic powers. He is notably able to tell which fishes are hungry, how much life aliens have during a battle and precisely predict the area at which aliens will appear.
188* ''VideoGame/JettRocket'' has Rudolpho, an old friend of Jett's. He's a be-helmeted space dolphin. He just is. But he's ''cool.''
189* ''VideoGame/BluePlanet'' has uplifted dolphins and whales. Given that the planet the game is set on is almost completely covered in water, it's pretty much a given that they'd be there.
190* ''VideoGame/{{X}}'': [[AllThereInTheManual According to the X-Encyclopedia]], one of the planets in the Kingdom of [[FishPeople Boron]] has a native species of sapient whales.
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192
193[[folder:Webcomics]]
194%%* ''Whaleocalypse'' stars a sapient whale.
195* In ''Webcomic/UNAFrontiers'', one of the main characters is Cyberna, an AI built in a (mostly) dolphin shape to act as a human/dolphin interface. Having spent time with them in their own element, she has few illusions about their actual nature, but she is capable of teaching them "civilized manners" just the same.
196* ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'': Dolphins are not only intelligent, they also [[http://drmcninja.com9/archives/comic/9p34/ remember]]. [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/14p70/ And can apparently use firearms.]]
197* ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'': [[https://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=3397#comic Determined here]], by way of a test designed to evaluate the intelligence of species. Because dolphins react with disgust to watching a human defecate, they are declared intelligent and it is proposed that all dolphin hunting cease immediately.
198* ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'':
199** Hugey P. is a whale gangster rapper. Amusingly, his record label is run by a WeirdnessCensor-equipped hippy, who thinks ''Killa Whale Drive-By'' is a regular whale song CD.
200** There's also Mr Squeakers, a dolphin who is a Transgenic League representative and talks in textspeak. He also runs a Subway franchise, somehow.
201* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': The [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/ggmain/doublespreads/ggcoll20_082_83.html Great Cetaceans]] are unfathomably intelligent whales from the deepest parts of the ocean who are worshipped by the FishPeople, and find thinking down to a human-equivalent level difficult. They're also [[BioluminescenceIsCool bioluminescent]], and so huge that regular whales travelling alongside them look like minnows. They support entire ecosystems within them.
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204[[folder:WebOriginal]]
205* ''Website/{{Mortasheen}}'' has [[http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/dolfury.htm Dolfury]] and the vampire narwhal [[http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/narwight.htm Narwight]], which happens to be one of the smarter Vampires in the setting.
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208[[folder:Western Animation]]
209* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In the "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E1TreehouseOfHorrorXI Treehouse of Horror XI]]" segment "Night of the Dolphin", dolphins invade the land and take over. They can speak English.
210-->'''Snorky:''' ''[in high pitched voice]'' [[EloquentInMyNativeTongue Snorky... talk... man...]] ''[clears throat and reverts to deep male voice]'' I'm sorry, let me start over. Eons ago, dolphins lived on the land. Then your ancestors drove us into the sea, where we suffered for millions of years. I, King Snorky, hereby banish all humans to the sea!
211* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' reveals the CIA has a program that trains dolphins to help on missions and in turn they teach humans to speak dolphin, which Steve has picked up after years of being brought to the lab by Stan. Stan believes this is neat, but Steve complains that all dolphins ever talk about is fish. Later in the episode, this ability comes in handy for Steve, as he asks dolphins to save him, but in the end he just ends up getting pissed off because the dolphins won't shut up about mackerel.
212* Mister Smarty Smarts from ''WesternAnimation/{{Spliced}}'' is an evil Dolphin/Chimpanzee mutant.
213* Dr. Blowhole, archenemy of ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'', is an EvilGenius bent on having his revenge on humanity for the humiliation he has suffered jumping through flaming hoops on Coney Island. Definitely not {{friendly|PlayfulDolphin}} or {{heroic|Dolphin}}.
214* ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'': "The Tick vs Nevada" featured a dolphin who, like Blowhole, wanted to conquer mankind rather than amuse it.
215* A ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' sketch shows that dolphins were able to send one of their own to the moon, he just didn't survive the trip.
216-->'''Dolphin Scientist:''' Not so f***ing smart now, are we? I am going ba-aaa-ck to the sea!
217* Referenced, but not shown in ''WesternAnimation/{{Squidbillies}}''. When a group of sapient, deep-fried birds takes over Dan Halen's factory[[note]]It MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext.[[/note]], Dan Halen comments on their intelligence. The bird's leader thanks him, noting that while they aren't as smart as dolphins, they do work their asses off.
218* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'': As referenced above, ''Lower Decks'' is the first series to actually portray the referenced Ceteacean Observations, with a giant pool where two sentient Beluga whales in Starfleet uniforms serve. One of them is named Matt, and he is later revealed to be a good friend of Ransom.
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