History Literature / LilithsBrood

* BarbieDollAnatomy: Oankali have no breasts or genitals, which confuses one human who makes several attempts at a GroinAttack before realizing she's not kicking anything. {{Justified|Trope}} since they create and implant fetuses without any need for gametes, then grow a temporary orifice to give birth.

* BarbieDollAnatomy: Oankali have no breasts or genitals, which confuses one human who makes several attempts at a GroinAttack before realizing she's not kicking anything. {{Justified|Trope}} since they create and implant fetuses without a any need for gametes, then grow a temporary orifice to give birth.

* {{Dehumanization}}: The more unpleasant resisters refer to humans who reproduce with Oankali as "animals".

* [[ActuallyIAmHim Actually I Am Her]]: In the second book, Lilith introduces herself to a human who had run away from the Oankali. He remarks that she has an unfortunate name, since it's the same as the woman who betrayed humanity by allying with the Oankali, before she explains she ''is'' that woman.
* AfterTheEnd: The first book opens after nuclear war, which the Oankali almost interpreted as a collective suicide by humanity.

* CursedWithAwesome: The Oankali consider humans uniquely blessed and genetically very attractive because we have . . . cancer. It turns out the same genes that can go so horribly wrong also can be used for regenerative abilities they've never seen before.
* EarthShatteringKaboom: [[spoiler: Turns out the Oankali aren't that nice after all - they're basically strip-mining Earth to make more spaceships because of their drive to genetically merge with other species, hence they can't just let a society of fertile humans alone]].

* HumansAreFlawed: also see below

* OrganicTechnology

* StarfishAliens

* SexualHarassmentAndRapeTropes: The Oankali are essentially raping humanity[[note]]they even use the "your mouth said no, but your body said yes" rationale, which may or may not hold water considering their whole ''thing'' is reading body language, pheremones, and other physiological things like humans would have a in-depth conversation[[/note]], so this goes through a few of them:
** RapeAsDrama: A lot of the humans don't take kindly to the treatment
** RapeIsLove: And some do...
** NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization: Partly because the physical sensations are mindblowing.
** MindRape: Of a sort. Lilith mentions in a later book that if someone goes through the transformation stages of an Ooloi with them, they ''can't'' choose to leave them afterward.
** AliensMadeThemDoIt: ...with the aliens.
** RapePortrayedAsRedemption: Depending on how you look at it, for the whole human species.

''Lilith's Brood'', by OctaviaButler, previously published as ''Xenogenesis'', is the compilation of three novels. The first in the series follows Lilith after she awakens to her new world, while the sequels are told from the point of view of her genetically altered children.

* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: The Oankali solution to humanity's "flaw".[[note]]The ooloi take all the DNA samples of the parents and build fetuses without the flaw (or any flaws, really) of hierarchies and sentience.[[/note]]

* ActuallyIAmHim: Sort of. In the second book, Lilith introduces herself to a human who had run away from the Oankali. He remarks that she has an unfortunate name, since it's the same as the woman who betrayed humanity by allying with the Oankali, before she explains she ''is'' that woman.

* NaughtyTentacles: The Ooloi's extra 'arms' are used in reproduction.

* SexualHarassmentAndRapeTropes: The Oankali are essentially raping humanity[[note]]they even use the "your mouth said no, but your body said yes" rationale, which may or may not hold water considering their whole ''thing'' is reading body language, pheremones, and other physiological things like humans would read a book[[/note]], so this goes through a few of them:

* BrotherSisterIncest: The default and ideal mating group ("coupling" is inaccurate by 33%, as explained above) for Oankali is a brother and sister plus an ooloi from a different family. They tend to encourage these...family values in humans, which means that hybrid families involve TWO EACH of males and females, plus ooloi.

* EarthShatteringKaboom: [[spoiler: Turns out the Oankali aren't that nice after all - they're basically strip-mining Earth to make more spaceships, hence they can't just let a society of fertile humans alone]].
* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: The Oankali solution to humanity's "flaw".

* InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves: The Oankali believe that humanity is doomed to destroy itself because of its contradictory traits - intelligence and hierarchical social structures.[[note]]Indeed, Oankali and their hybrid descendants can ''see'' this contradiction. A hybrid who argues for permitting a pure-human settlement on Mars does so knowing that the settlement ''must'', inevitably, destroy itself.[[/note]] The only solution is to correct it by breeding with the Oankali, removing the hierarchical instincts.

* ItsWhatIDo: The Oankali in regard to interbreeding and genetic manipulation. It's just something they're as compelled to do as humans are to breathing.

* SexualHarassmentAndRapeTropes: The Oankali are essentially raping humanity[[hottip:+:they even use the "your mouth said no, but your body said yes" rationale, which may or may not hold water considering their whole ''thing'' is reading body language, pheremones, and other physiological things like humans would read a book]], so this goes through a few of them:

* InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves: The Oankali believe that humanity is doomed to destroy itself because of its contradictory traits - intelligence and hierarchical social structures.[[hottip:*: Indeed, Oankali and their hybrid descendants can ''see'' this contradiction. A hybrid who argues for permitting a pure-human settlement on Mars does so knowing that the settlement ''must'', inevitably, destroy itself.]] The only solution is to correct it by breeding with the Oankali, removing the hierarchical instincts.

* ActuallyIAmHim: Sort of. In the second book, Lilith introduces herself to a human who had run away from the Oankali. He remarks that she has an unfortunate name, since it's the same as the woman who betrayed humanity by allying with the Oankali, before she explains she ''is'' the woman.

* ContemptibleCover / CoversAlwaysLie: The cover of ''Lilith's Brood'' makes it look like a romance novel.
** It ''is'' a romance novel. It's just a very, very, ''very'' unconventional one. What's contemptible about the cover is that the woman on it generally looks nothing like Lilith is described.

* RedHerring: In the second book, it's established that plastic is poisonous to the Oankali. You'd think this would lead to it being used in some sort of resistance, but it's never brought up again.
** That's because Akin was easily able to eject it from his system without letting it harm him: if even a toddler was able to easily rid himself of it, fully matured Oankali would have no trouble with it at all. Butler was probably just trying to toss in an environmental message.

* BizarreAlienReproduction: Oankali have three genders: female, male, and ooloi. Ooloi have "sensory arms" which they use during sex (and also for microsurgery/healing/taking DNA samples).

** RapeAsRedemption: Depending on how you look at it, for the whole human species.

** ItsNotRapeIfYouEnjoyedIt: Partly because the physical sensations are mindblowing.

* RapeTropes: The Oankali are essentially raping humanity[[hottip:+:they even use the "your mouth said no, but your body said yes" rationale, which may or may not hold water considering their whole ''thing'' is reading body language, pheremones, and other physiological things like humans would read a book]], so this goes through a few of them:

* RedHerring: In the second book, it's established that plastic is poisonous to the Oankali. You'd think this would lead to it being used in some sort of resistance, but it's never brought up again.
** That's because Akin was easily able to eject it from his system without letting it harm him: if even a toddler was able to easily rid himself of it, fully matured Oankali would have no trouble with it at all. Butler was probably just trying to toss in an environmental message.
* ScrewYouElves: The Oankali are ''very'' certain of themselves and extremely frustrating to argue with, which makes it something of a relief when they're proved wrong, even if that being wrong has horrible consequences, and more of a relief when they at last agree to let a small amount of humanity survive untouched to find their own fates.

* RapeTropes: The Oankali are essentially raping humanity[[hottip:+:they even use the "your mouth said no, but your body said yes" rationale, [[YourMileageMayVary which may or may not]] hold water considering their whole ''thing'' is reading body language, pheremones, and other physiological things like humans would read a book]], so this goes through a few of them:

** RapeAsRedemption: [[YourMileageMayVary Depending on how you look at it]], for the whole human species.

* InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves: The Oankali believe that humanity is doomed to destroy itself because of its contradictory traits - intelligence and competitive ambition, which will inevitably lead to violence. The only solution is to correct it by breeding with the Oankali.

* StarfishAliens
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