History Literature / LilithsBrood

* MedicalRapeAndImpregnate: At the end of the first book, Nikanj surreptitiously impregnates Lilith with sperm from her deceased lover Joseph, with neither her consent nor her knowledge until afterwards, because it decided she was “ready” and needed the companionship of a daughter. She never quite forgives it, though she eventually understands its reasoning.

** Human-Oankali mating groups consist of five parents, adding one male and one female Human to each mating group. Children are born in pairs, with the Human and Oankali mothers both pregnant at once.

* BizarreSexualPolymorphism: Unlike males and females, ooloi Oankali develop an extra sense and extra organ during first metamorphosis. They also metamorphose twice, the second time growing another set of arms.

* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: Nikanj manages to [[spoiler:save the sperm of Lilith's first mate from the ship after he is killed, and impregnates her with it on the ship]], rushing things because it could only be saved for a few weeks. It's mentioned that another ooloi later figured out how to make it last indefinitely.

* PowerIncontinence: Jodahs is the first [[HalfHumanHybrid human-Oankali hybrid]] to be born an "[[BizarreAlienSexes ooloi]]" and inherit the Oankali's full ability to control DNA and living tissue. For a while, it's stuck inflicting random mutations on itself and everything it touches, including the buildings of the OrganicTechnology village it lives in. [[spoiler:Its abilities stabilize once it finds mates.]]

* NoBiologicalSex: Oankali and construct young are completely sexless before metamorphosis at the end of adolescence. Which is not to say genderless, as the sex they develop during metamorphosis is chosen by the Oankali in question. The "eka," (pre-adulthood Oankali) will generally have chosen and begun living as their chosen gender well before metamorphosis. [[spoiler: This goes awry for Jodahs and Aaor, who assume that they will be male and female, respectively, but have subconsciously pushed themselves ooloi without realizing that was a possibility for constructs.]] Young ooloi straddle the line; they have two metamorphoses, and are infertile but in possession of many ooloi secondary sex characteristics between them.

* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: After its first metamorphosis, Jodahs' body changes based on its subconscious. It doesn't gain control until it finds himself some mates to stabilize it. [[spoiler: Aaor]] has trouble for considerably longer, and would have fallen into a ShapeshifterSwanSong without the intervention of Jodahs and its mates.

** Human-Oankali "Construct" sexes are initially determined by the carrying mother's species, with Oankali females bearing only males and Human females only females. The second book explores Human-born males and implies Oankali-born females are possible. By the third book, [[spoiler: Constructs can become any of the three Oankali sexes.]]

** Another oddity is that Oankali and Construct children are sexless, developing into their reproductive sex only at metamorphosis. Most Construct children bear a superficial resemblance to one human sex or the other (down to the fact that Akin has the equipment to have sex with human women, though neither participant is fertile in such a union). Much drama comes of whether Akin's sibling will become female (as would be expected of the paired sibling to the obviously male Akin) or male (forbidding the two of them as two-thirds of a mating group as is normal for Oankali, illustrating how deeply their childhood separation has subverted their bond).

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

** Another oddity is that Oankali and Construct children don't become mature at puberty, they actually develope their sex entirely. Juvenile Oankali and Constructs are sexless, though most Construct children bear a superficial resemblance to one human sex or the other (down to the fact that Akin has the equipment to have sex with human women, though neither participant is fertile in such a union). Much drama comes of whether Akin's sibling will become female (as would be expected of the paired sibling to the obviously male Akin) or male (forbidding the two of them as two-thirds of a mating group as is normal for Oankali, illustrating how deeply their childhood separation has subverted their bond).

* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: Nikanj manages to [[spoiler:save the sperm of Lilith's first mate from the ship after he is killed, and impregnates her with it years afterward]], despite originally telling her it would only last a few weeks. It's mentioned that another Ooloi figured out how to make it last indefinitely.

* PowerIncontinence: Jodahs is the first [[HalfHumanHybrid human-Oankali hybrid]] to be born an "[[BizarreAlienSexes ooloi]]" and inherit the Oankali's full ability to control DNA and living tissue. For a while, it's stuck inflicting random mutations on itself and everything it touches, including the buildings of the OrganicTechnology village it lives in. [[spoiler:Its abilities stabilize once he finds mates.]]

** Beyond that, trade villages (communities organized by the Oankali and their human collaborators) assume human men to be rootless wanderers by default. At one point, the village of Lo has only ''five'' permanent male residents, among dozens of families.

** Beyond that, trade villages (communities organized by the Oankali and their human collaborators) assume human men to be rootless wanderers by default. At one point, the village of Lowe has only ''five'' permanent male residents, among dozens of families.

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Akin spends the middle of ''Adulthood Rites'' studying under an Akjai ooloi (an Oankali in the form they held before contacting Earth, unlike the Toat and Dinso Oankali, who were altered to make communication and interbreeding with humanity possible). It is referred simply as "the Akjai."

* CoversAlwaysLie: Given that the series is over thirty years old, it's had a number of covers, and all but one of them is rather creative in its depiction of the story within. The original cover is on this page and is mostly notable for prominently displaying the Oankali male Shtaya, who only plays a minor part and then only in the first book (his relatively human-like countenance is why he does what he does in-universe and also likely why he's depicted alongside protagonist Lilith). The first edition of the paperback is somewhat infamous for giving Lilith a RaceLift, making her look more like Sigourney Weaver in ''Alien'' than the African-American woman that she is described as on-page. Finally, a cover version depicting Lilith emerging from a hibernation plant doesn't really get anything wrong, though that sequence was never illustrated in the book (Lilith academically knows she was preserved in one of the plants, but doesn't recall emerging from it).

* 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.

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Akin spends the middle of ''Adulthood Rites'' studying under an Akjai Oolio (an Oankali in the form they held before contacting Earth, unlike the Toat and Dinso Oankali, who were altered to make communication and interbreeding with humanity possible). It is referred simply as "the Akjai."
* ExposedExtraterrestrials: Oankali only wear clothes when they're deliberately trying to put humans at ease. {{Justified|Trope}} since they have [[BizarreAlienSenses sensory tentacles]] across their bodies, are tough enough not to need the protection, [[NonHumansLackAttributes don't have]] ([[BizarreAlienReproduction or need]]) genitalia, and come from a PlanetSpaceship that maintains a safe environment for them.

* EyelessFace: Oankali have no eyes, ears, or noses; instead, patches of short tentacles on their scalps, foreheads, throats, and bodies provide equivalent senses. They have to learn to face humans when speaking with them, since their species' equivalent is just to point some tentacles in their conversation partner's direction.

* GeniusLoci: Oankali villages on earth are grown from the same type of organism as their ships, making them sentient and able to respond to chemical signals. They can also awaken to full sapience when the occasion calls for it.

* 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 Mar 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 by genetic manipulation of the next generation.

* MalevolentMutilation: When a human village acquires two young [[HalfHumanHybrid half-Oankali]] girls, Neci is very persistent in wanting to cut off the small sensory tentacles that indicate their non-human ancestry -- and that help them breathe, see, hear, and taste. She's prevented from doing so, but it's presented as a sign that she's even more [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman prejudiced against Oankali]] than the others, and dim-witted and vicious besides.

* MedicalRapeAndImpregnate: At the end of the first book, Nikanj surreptitiously impregnates Lilith with sperm from her deceased lover Joseph, with neither her consent nor her knowledge until afterwards, because it decided she was “ready”. She never quite forgives it, though she eventually understands its reasoning.

* 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.

* NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization: Since the Oankali read body language, pheromones, and other physiological things, they claim to "understand" what humans "want" even though said humans have not actually explained what they want -- or even if they're explicitly saying they ''don't'' want something.

* 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[[note]]It's helpful to know that the ooloi are living gene manipulators, and as long as they don't get complacent with genes they know (hence them being from a different family), they prevent the negative genetic aspects of incest[[/note]]. They tend to encourage these...family values in humans, which means that hybrid families involve TWO EACH of males and females, plus ooloi.

* IncestIsRelative: The Oankali's preferred family grouping is between brothers and sisters, and they encourage humans to do the same. Also, [[spoiler:the HiddenElfVillage of fertile humans is incredibly inbred as a result of this. All its inhabitants are descendents of a single woman and a random man who raped her and was never seen again.]]

* HalfHumanHybrid: The children of Lilith and the other humans who breed with the Oankali, although technically they’re Oankali with human genes, rather than true hybrids. That these are the ''only'' children humans are allowed to produce is the fulcrum of the second book: if the Oankali have their way, humanity as we know it will go extinct, surviving only as something the Oankali remember consuming.

* HalfHumanHybrid: The children of Lilith and the other humans who breed with the Oankali.

* FairForItsDay: The series ideas on sex and gender seem very current thirty years after its publication, with the exception of Ooloi using "it" pronouns rather than singular "they."

* SpeculativeFictionLGBT: When the Oankali start interbreeding with humans, they form {{Polyamor|y}}ous family units with two males, two females, and one ooloi. This proves to be a source of tension, since even well-disposed humans are weirded out at first by the idea of sleeping with an ooloi, and the less-well disposed accuse the Oankali of "making women of human men" by derailing stereotypical gender roles.

* DeathByDespair: The third act of ''Imago'' is spent by Jodahs and his mates trying to keep this from happening to [[spoiler: Aaor]], whose loneliness is causing them to dissolve.

* PowerIncontinence: Jodahs is the first [[HalfHumanHybrid human-Oankali hybrid]] to be born an "[[BizarreAlienSexes ooloi]]" and inherit the Oankali's full ability to control DNA and living tissue. For a while, he's stuck inflicting random mutations on himself and everything he touches, including the buildings of the OrganicTechnology village he lives in. [[spoiler:His abilities stabilize once he finds mates.]]