History Main / UpliftedAnimal

* In Will Shetterly's ''Chimera'', genetically engineered animals are somewhere between slaves and second-class citizens, the Heroine is a jaguar woman named Zoe Domingo created to be a sex slave.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Drowntown}}'', genetic engineering has resulted in "chimeras", animals with human-level intelligence. A wide range of animals have been subject to this — we see gorillas, hyenas, rats, pandas, and others. They seem to function as normal citizens.

-->"That's just those damned penguins stirring up trouble," growled Gneelicks. "They claim we're an 'introduced' species. Hah! We huskies have been here for generations — my ancestors were eaten by Amundsen on his way to the South Pole! But the price of sentience is eternal politics — it's enough to drive you mad. Seals don't want to be tagged because it violates their civil liberties. Whales demanding compensation for attempted genocide. Emperor penguins with delusions of grandeur, complaining that the solar mirrors are interfering with their pattern of life..."

* The rats from ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'' that [[spoiler: escaped from the '''N'''ational '''I'''nstitute of '''M'''ental '''H'''ealth after being used as test subjects for an intelligence-enhancing treatment, actually take this one step above the standard procedure in the evolutionary ladder since most animals of their world are sapient on a basic level already and it was the way of great scientific and mystical knowledge (even greater than humans!) that they were led to, that distinguished them from the rest of their fellow creatures]].

** There are [[PigMan "hyperpigs"]] in the ''Literature/RevelationSpaceSeries''. Their origins are obscure - no one now knows who gave them intelligence and language, or why. It is suspected that they were a side effect of genetically engineering pigs to be human organ donors... though whether the final uplift to sentience was deliberate tinkering or just an accident is never mentioned. In a more common variation of this trope, there are also many species of uplifted primates.

* In the ''Literature/RatsBatsAndVats'' duology, the titular animals are genetically engineered slave-soldiers granted human-like intelligence by means of cybernetic brain implants provided by the alien Korozhets. Both were created to help humanity defend itself against the insectoid Magha, and are considered less than optimal, due to their inherently BlueAndOrangeMorality -- this further causes them to be treated as property. [[spoiler: Their "soft-cyber" implants also compel them to obey orders given by the Korozhets, who are secretly masterminding the whole war with the intent of conquering the planet and taking humanity as slaves. They also mean that both species can engage in BrainUploading, allowing for a kind of ResurrectiveImmortality by having their soft-cybers retrieved and installed in new bodies.]]

** In ''Literature/StarTrekVanguard'', it's revealed that the [[spoiler: Tholians]] were also originally this, gaining sapience after being "domesticated" by the Shedai.

* ''WesternAnimation/LoveDeathAndRobots'': In "[[Recap/LoveDeathAndRobotsThreeRobots Three Robots]]", cats have been given thumbs and the ability to speak like humans shortly before [[spoiler: [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness they ended human civilization]]]].

A more Sci-Fi oriented version of the TalkingAnimal, where the creature's ability to think and communicate with people on an equal level isn't typical of their species, but instead the result of some AppliedPhlebotinum at work. Perhaps the animal's intelligence has been artificially increased (or inversely, people can communicate with them in their AnimalTalk) and/or their physical voice structure altered so they can pronounce human words, or they have been fitted with a TranslatorCollar; but these animals have come to be more or less equals to human in terms of ability, but their acceptance and status in human society can be questionable.

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* The ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'' gadget, Evolution Light, can enhance and upgrade an animal's intelligence and make them sentient, understand speech, and even operate machinery to a limited degree. Said gadget even appears as a plot point in the movie ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaInTheWanNyanSpacetimeOdyssey'', where Nobita using it on a bunch of stray dogs and cats that he deposits to 300 million years ago leads to the andromorphic dogs and cats creating a mini-civilization of their own.
* ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheSpiralCity'' has Uplifted ''Toy'' Animals, in a planet populated by LivingToys. Most of the animal toys behaves like actual animals, but thanks to an entity called The Sower who randomly zaps intelligence on some of them, a few toy animals - including the toy pig siblings Pibbu and Popi, toy sheep Thomas Meedison and toy bull Ain Motain - are sentient, and in fact smarter than humans.
* In the ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' series, this happens individually to animals with whom mages form a MagicallyBindingContract with to become their {{familiar}}. They gain the ability to take [[HumanityEnsues somewhat human forms]] and easily communicate with humans. This lasts for the duration of the Contract, but when it runs out, the familiar ceases to exist. For a familiar with an open-ended contract like Arf, this makes her a lifelong companion for Fate (and a longer lifespan for her), but giving a familiar a short contract like performing a single task is a good way to KickTheDog.

** While the rest of the Generals are Beastmen that look pretty human, Guame looks the most like an animal, in this case, an armadillo. One of the musical {{OVA}}s revealed this was because, rather than an artificially-created lifeform, Guame used to be a regular animal. He was with Lordgenome back when the latter was a child, being the Boota to Lordgenome's Simon.
* ''Anime/{{IGPX|ImmortalGrandPrix}}'' has a dog for Team Edgeraid, and Luca the cat for team Satomi. This did not physically give them the ability to talk; we only hear either of within the mech cockpits and their lips don't move, implying the interface functions as a TranslatorCollar.
* Ein from ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' is a "data dog", a product of highly illegal animal experimentation that wound up on-board the ''Bebop'' after a botched bounty hunt. None of the ''Bebop'' crew are aware of Ein's true nature, with the possible exception of Ed, later on. Exactly what a "Data Dog" is was never explained, but he's certainly more intelligent than your average mutt (and in fact may be the smartest member of the crew). Aside from a keen understanding of the world around him, he's shown an apparent ability to read, play chess, and even hack computers. He can't talk, however.
* In ''Manga/OutlawStar'' two super-intelligent cats help a human pilot a CombiningMecha.
* Iggy from ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' is a hyperintelligent dog who can't speak, but can understand humans perfectly. Whenever he "talks", it's his internal monologue. He is also the user of a Stand -- whose name is [[TarotMotifs The Fool]], ironically enough. It's generally displayed that giving Stand power to an animal automatically upgrades their intelligence to or near human levels. Examples include [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders the aforementioned Iggy, a bird of prey, an Orangutan,]] [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable a rat,]] [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean and even a colony of plankton.]] While readers aren't privy to the thoughts of any but the first and the last, they all display very human tactics.
* ''Franchise/OnePiece'':
** Tony Tony Chopper was a normal reindeer ostracized by his herd [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer because he was born with a blue nose]]. He then ate the ''Hito Hito no Mii'' (Human Human Fruit), and gained sapience along with the ability to take on a half-human/half-reindeer form and a human form. This also caused him to be abandoned by his herd and hated by humans, resulting in him growing bitter towards all humans save two until he met Luffy.
** Onimaru is a fox introduced in the Wano Country Arc, who is capable of human speech and is able to transform from a fox into a giant human. It was revealed in one of the ''One Piece Vivre Card Databooks'', that Onimaru is able to do this because he ate a Devil Fruit similar to Chopper. In this case, unlike Chopper who ate a regular Zoan fruit, he ate a Mythical Zoan, the ''Hito Hito no Mii Model: Onyudo''. (An ''Onyudo'' is a Japanese {{Yokai}} that takes the form of a giant Monk)
** This also applies to the animal Homies of the Big Mom pirates, who have been infused with a human soul by the power of Big Mom's Devil Fruit, the ''Soru Soru no Mii'' (Soul Soul Fruit).
* In ''Manga/PsychicSquad'', we are introduced to Igo (Literally 'Number 9') who is a telepathic, prescient dolphin genetically engineered by the 'Comericans' for combat purposes during ZKC's version of WWII. It's revealed in flashbacks that Igo is [[spoiler:part of a trio of dolphins who defected to Japan. The two who survived, Igo and Hachigo (Number 8) were integrated into the Japanese 'Imperial Esper Unit' and were ultimately responsible for the future prediction that drives a great deal of the story]]. ZKC also contains Momotaro, a flying squirrel who was engineered and cybernetically altered by the Japanese government to have telepathy and telekinetic powers, again for WWII.
* While it's a bit unclear how common this is, in ''Anime/{{Geneshaft}}'' the main female protagonist routinely exchanges e-mails with her dog which while it apparently cannot speak English has no problems with using a keyboard and writing responses back to her and understanding what she sends him.
* In ''Anime/MaryAndTheWitchsFlower'', Doctor Dee turns animals into {{human|ityEnsues}}oids and has them do menial work in [[WizardingSchool Endor College]].
* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Principal Nezu is an anthropomorphic mouse with a Quirk, "High Specs", which gave him SuperIntelligence (by ''human'' standards).
* Bond from ''Manga/SpyXFamily'' is a dog who was experimented on 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.

* Creator/JackKirby's MythArc series ''ComicBook/TheEternals'' revealed that humanity itself is one of many species which were Uplifted by the Celestials, who not only modified fallow hominids into basic sentience, but also created two other groups which came to be known as the Eternals (a species of 'perfected' hominids with [[TheAgeless near-immortality]], PsychicPowers, and {{Heroic Build}}s) and the Deviants (a constantly mutating 'species' which on Earth ended up AlwaysChaoticEvil). It is later learned that the Skrulls were similarly uplifted, but that early on one Skrull Deviant developed their signature shapeshifting trait, and unlike with others if their kind, the trait bred true; the result was that this specific sub-group exterminated all of the other Skrull sub-types. While this was mostly ignored by other Marvel writers for the next few decades even in stories featuring various Eternals, it would become a key part of TheVerse's mythos later, especially in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse.
* Quality Comics had Gabby, a monkey surgically given mind and speech indistinguishable from a human's, who became the first companion of masked mysteryman Midnight (as his new "secret weapon against crime") after the secrets of the procedure were lost. He can still communicate with his non-uplifted brethren and, provided special stilts to reach the pedals, he's even a capable driver.

** ''ComicVook/{{Kingdom}}'' is all about a group of genetically engineered [[WolfMan dogpeople]] who keep fighting a race of [[BugWar giant insects]] after their human masters disappear.
** In ''Comicbook/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 [[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2129721/ Numa]] ([[KingOfBeasts lion]]), [[Franchise/{{Tarzan}} Tantor]] (elephant), and [[Franchise/KingKong Kong]] (gorilla).
* Mr. Tawny in ''[[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]]'' started this way. He was an ordinary tiger raised from a cub as a child's pet and accused in adulthood as a man-killer. A HermitGuru type lived nearby, who apparently was also TheProfessor; he had invented a drug that would allow Tawny to speak so he could defend himself. Tawny not only retained the ability to speak, he became very civilized and took to wearing elegant clothes, making him a FunnyAnimal. He got a job at a zoological museum and his stories dealt with everyday problems while the Marvels were off saving the universe.
* ''Grease Monkey'', a sci-fi graphic novel, has the uplifting of gorillas as part of its premise. The main character is such an uplift, who serves a space fighter mechanic on a space station. The almost {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s that visited Earth had a pattern of this: to bolster the chances of other races to resist a separate alien menace that follows them across the galaxy, the benefactor aliens uplift animals suited to the task. Their standard process is to uplift one individual, allow him to learn about the dominant species (humans in this case) and then decide on behalf of his race. The gorilla said yes, and now all remaining gorillas are as intelligent as people (they found out about a lot of [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters our bad points]] after the choice was made). The dolphin said no. He went with the aliens, and the rest of his species were left unaltered.
* ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' features Cosmo, a golden retriever who's mysteriously uplifted when he was blasted into orbit during early Russian Cosmonautical testing. When he's eventually found in a colony in deep space, not only has he gained the ability to talk via telepathy, he does it in thick, Soviet era broken English. They also have ComicBook/RocketRaccoon, another example of this trope. [[SitcomArchNemesis They don't like each other.]] When asked why, Rocket mentions that [[HypocriticalHumor he can't stand freaky–deaky talking animals. They give him the willies.]]
* ComicBook/RexTheWonderDog was presumably a normal puppy before the experiments which led to his near human intelligence. Though he originally couldn't talk since a dog's mouth isn't designed for such he knew English and Japanese, can read, and could find other ways to communicate. After a drink from the Fountain of Youth the wonder dog developed the ability to talk as well, though he doesn't use it terribly often.
* In ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'', the title turtles and their master, Splinter were all once ordinary pet turtles (and a rat), but were all mutated into their current forms after exposure to radiation coming from a leaking can full of mutagenic ooze. (In a couple of the adaptations, Splinter was originally human, but the turtles are consistently turtles.)
* ''ComicBook/{{Brute Force|MarvelComics}}'' 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 2014, they got a one-shot revival in a crossover with ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}, via ''Deadpool Bi-Annual''.
** ''Wolverine & Captain America: Weapon Plus'' not only brought Wreckless (A.K.A. [[ADogNamedDog Bear]]) BackForTheDead (with the rest of the team being kept in stasis), but also revealed Brute Force to be part of the Weapon II project (of which the only other known test subject was a Wolverine-esque squirrel that appeared in ''ComicBook/TheUnbeatableSquirrelGirl'').
* In Franchise/TheDCU, Gorilla Grodd and Solavar were uplifted by aliens, making them the first two talking gorillas. They would eventually found an entire city of other talking gorillas. Then Grodd turned evil.
* DC also has Monsieur Mallah, a gorilla uplifted by [[BrainInAJar The Brain]]. Decades later the two would fall in love.
* Dr Dinosaur in ''ComicBook/AtomicRobo'' is either an uplifted dinosaur clone who happens to be completely insane, or a dinosaur given intelligence by the time-travelling disaster that caused the K-T event...who happens to be completely insane.
* 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, Lady Vermin is just an ordinary-looking rat who can't even speak without an electronic translator device, and Bova who is an anthropomorphic cow woman.
* ''ComicBook/SpiderWoman'' (Jessica Drew) was indisputably intended to be an uplifted spider, but this got {{retcon}}ned. Apparently Stan Lee thought this idea was too wacky. For the ''Marvel Universe''.
* Creator/CarlBarks: Gyro Gearloose once invented a 'think box' device that could make any animal as smart as a person. He ended up creating both a superintelligent rabbit and a superintelligent ''wolf'', the latter of whom he only barely stopped from stewing Donald alive.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Drowntown}}'', Genetic engineering has resulted in "chimeras", animals with human-level intelligence. A wide range of animals have been subject to this — we see gorillas, hyenas, rats, pandas, and others. They seem to function as normal citizens.

* Ape X in the ComicBook/SquadronSupreme universe is an ape uplifted to sentience by experimentation that became a criminal super genius.
* The Beasts of Berlin were six gorillas uplifted by a fluke by an experimental ray reared in Communist Berlin. The ray itself had a reverse effect on humans, making them mindless beasts, but in both cases it was temporary.
* Sometimes, ComicBook/FantasticFour enemy the Red Ghost has his Super Apes uplifted into speaking intelligence. They always [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters try to take over from him]] in short order and attempt to either kill or enslave all humans, starting with him.

* ''Fanfic/TheBodyReflectsTheHeartTheShadowReflectsTheSoul'': One of the many creatures that Sandā Arsenal had been experimenting on, a Japanese moccasin, latches onto Sho's finger while he's hold a Vane of Order and a Plume of Dusk. An explosion of power imbues the serpent with enhanced intellect, soon even enabling it to speak. Ayaka quickly claims him as a companion and names him [[Franchise/MontyPython Monty]].
* In ''Fanfic/Plan7Of9FromOuterSpace'' our heroes travel to Antarctica and meet Gneelicks, a human-husky hybrid who gripes about the problems with this trope.
-->"That's just those damned penguins stirring up trouble," growled Gneelicks. "They claim we're an 'introduced' species. Hah! We huskies have been here for generations — my ancestors were eaten by Amundsen on his way to the South Pole! But the price of sentience is eternal politics — it's enough to drive you mad. Seals don't want to be tagged because it violates their civil liberties. Whales demanding compensation for attempted genocide. Emperor penguins with delusions of grandeur, complaining that the solar mirrors are interfering with their pattern of life..."

* ''Fanfic/TheParselmouthOfGryffindor'' has an unintentional example in the person of the Boggart (a non-sentient magical shapeshifter) who, by pure luck, turned into an accurate enough copy of a human being that he started to think… He hasn't stopped since.

* ''Fanfic/OogwaysLittleOwl'': According to ancient legends, all animals on the Kung Fu Panda world were once like they are on Earth, non-sapient and preying on each other, before they gained sapience somehow.
* In ''Fanfic/HuntersOfJustice'', a Tyrannosaurs rex was pulled out of the late cretaceous period accidentally by a S.T.A.R. Labs experiment. A ''separate'' FreakLabAccident gave the dinosaur human intelligence and the ability to speak. [[spoiler:That dinosaur named himself Henry Brown and became the mayor of Metropolis]].

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsFriendshipGames'': Thanks to a mishap involving Fluttershy's magic and Human Twilight's device, Spike the dog is given the ability to speak, as well as causing his behavior to be less dog-like. Slightly unusual in that the past [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls two]] [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks films]] featured a different talking Spike the dog which was originally a dragon.

* According to the OpeningNarration to ''WesternAnimation/RockAndRule'', WorldWarIII on one hand, wiped out humanity, but on the other created their successors by mutating animals into humanoid form who would soon follow through their predecessors footsteps (barring hopefully their last ones).

* Niner, the German Shepherd dog in ''K-9000'', has a partly-computerised brain.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' cartoon, Rufus' anthropomorphic behavior is not deemed anything unusual. In the ''Film/KimPossible'' film, it is mentioned that he was a lab experiment. This explains his high intelligence, ability to [[SpeechImpairedAnimal talk]] (if only in short mumbles), and his general anthropomorphic behavior compared to a normal naked mole rat.

* In the 1988 film ''Film/{{Watchers}}'', a super intelligent golden retriever that can communicate through writing escapes from a classified research laboratory. Meeting a young man named Travis, who takes the dog in and tries to protect it.

* Travis Corcoran's ''Literature/{{Aristillus}}'' series has four uplifted dogs as central characters, and each one carries a very unique personality, while each being very 'dog-like' in sensibilities and all of them being smarter than humans. Their role in the Lunar Colony of Aristillus is a central question examined by the book and the dogs, respectively.

* In ''Literature/BewareOfChicken'' a number of animals are accidentally uplifted through eating magic herbs.
* Draffut in ''The Empire of the East'' and the ''Literature/BookOfSwords'' series was a dog who was altered into an intelligent, bipedal, super-powered giant by advanced medical technology. Paradoxically, he was later worshiped as a god by human beings.

* In Will Shetterly's ''Chimera'', genetically engineered animals are somewhere between slaves and second class citizens, the Heroine is a Jaguar Woman named Zoe Domingo created to be a sex slave.
* The divine lion Aslan does this a few times in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia''. Note that [[MagicalLand Narnia]] contains a mixture of {{Talking Animal}}s and non-sapient critters, and Aslan himself is explicitly UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} in a form more appropriate for that setting.

* Creator/MichaelSwanwick's ''Darger and Surplus'' stories are set in a post-Utopian, post-A.I. rebellion future and uplifted animals feature quite often, including main character Surplus (an uplifted dog who's a swindler and [[KavorkaMan lady's man]])

* ''Literature/{{Darkeye}}'' is about the trials of a motley pack of uplifted canines trying to keep two human children alive in a city populated by uplifted canines who have a taste for human meat. [[spoiler:The bouda - hyenas who sometimes spontaneously turn into humans - sometimes stop the transformation at the brain, as is the case with Vimbo. The webnovel also includes a unique inversion of the trope: the screamers, humans who voluntarily gave up their intelligence generations ago.]]

** ''Literature/TheAmazingMauriceAndHisEducatedRodents'' by Sir Creator/TerryPratchett. Some rats gained intelligence by eating magic-laden garbage left by Unseen University, the Discworld's school of magic. Maurice the cat gained intelligence by [[spoiler:eating one of the rats]].

** The Camels are a borderline case... they're highly intelligent mathematicians, but it isn't clear whether they naturally evolved that way or were magically granted sapience. Either way, they're smart enough to know [[ObfuscatingStupidity not to let humans know how smart they are]].
** And speaking of sapience, there's the Luggage, a malevolent animated item of travel baggage made from sapient pearwood. Given that it is ambulatory and capable of reproduction, it might be considered a sort of uplifted tree (though as happens so often in the Discworld, the trees themselves seem to be intelligent, after a fashion...). That said, ''Literature/InterestingTimes'' suggests that whatever process allows the Luggage to dynamically react to its environment is more a facsimile of thought than actual thought.

* In Creator/DavidWeber's ''Literature/EmpireFromTheAshes'' Trilogy, cyborg cybernetic implants are standard issue for everyone, with advanced equipment for the military. Dog-adapted cybernetic enhancements are paired with genetic tinkering to make dogs smart enough to play chess, talk with an [[TranslatorCollar implant]] and the strength to hew [[SpaceMarine Imperial Marines]] to shreds. Oh, and they have [[HeroicSacrifice undying loyalty]] to the Imperial family.
* The residents of Santa Chico in ''Literature/FallenDragon'' prefer {{Transhuman}}ism and this trope to terraforming; Instead of replacing the original climate, fauna and flora with Earth equivalents, they [[LegoGenetics exchange traits]] until they can coexist.
* One otherwise extremely intelligent race in ''Literature/AFireUponTheDeep'' relies on an archaic piece of cybernetics to give them a long-term memory, a device they're still so grateful to their ancient benefactors for that they consider tampering with its design tantamount to heresy. This turns out to have been a Really Bad Idea when its revealed [[spoiler:their mysterious benefactors were actually the BigBad EldritchAbomination of the novel, using them as part of a ThanatosGambit through a MindControl back door feature of the devices]].

* Creator/JonathanLethem's ''Literature/GunWithOccasionalMusic'' features several. Most notably, the uplifted kangaroo, Joey Castle.
* Mikhail Bulgakov's ''Literature/HeartOfADog'' involves a certain Doctor Preobrazhensky who implants human testicles and pituitary gland into a dog as part of his experiments in rejuvenation but accidentally turns the dog into a human instead. It becomes an issue because the new human takes so strongly to revolutionary ideas that he refuses to adapt to normal human standards of politeness and considerateness out of the assumption that they are too "bourgeois."
* In John C. [=McLoughlin's=] novel ''The Helix and the Sword'' we find a Cheetah by the name of Pantolog Five engineered to serve as an encyclopedia and companion for the protagonist Dyson Tessier.
* The ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' setting has multiple prominent nonhuman sentient races aside from the divinely-created Companions. Kyree and dyheli are essentially wolves and antelope, both very psychic but easily mistaken for normal if broad-foreheaded animals visually. Hertasi are more anthropomorphic LizardFolk while tervardi are fragile-boned bird-humans, and then there are the gryphons. Gradually through the series it's revealed that millennia ago, when magical science was at its peak, mages worked in teams to uplift animals. Hertasi were instilled with gratitude to their creators that makes them an ideal ServantRace. The most extravagant alterations were made to the tervardi, which were literally large songbirds before being altered. The gryphons were simply [[CreatingLifeIsAwesome created whole]].

* In ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' people came to the conclusion that it was unethical to kill animals and eat them, so they genetically engineered creatures so that they would A) want to be eaten and B) be intelligent enough [[LetsMeetTheMeat to verbally express this fact]], thus removing any guilt one might feel while eating meat. Arthur Dent is horrified, of course, and opts to have a salad instead. The creature in question is extremely offended by this rejection.
* In Creator/CoryDoctorow's short story, ''[[{{Pun}} I, Rowboat]]'', one of the hobbies of members of the transHuman race (and some robots) is uplifting individuals of a species to see what happens. The main antagonist of the story is an uplifted coral reef. By the end of the story, we find that [[spoiler:the reef has been uplifted several times in the past and each time manages to kill itself off before regenerating in a non-sentient form]].
* Creator/CordwainerSmith's 'Instrumentality' series features the Underpeople, and their struggle for equal rights.

* ''Literature/JanitorsOfThePostapocalypse'' has a variation, where aliens start uplifting {{Technically Living Zombie}}s and have to reconstruct a language for them. "Cured humans" still have black blood, are very difficult to kill, are not as intelligent as their natural human ancestors, and still have a chance of reverting back to animals under the right circumstances. The galactic community tends to think of them as pitiable creatures at best and barely-controlled flesh-eating monsters at worst, and within a couple months of uplift the Krakau "curing" them put them to work as shock troops and menial workers in their military. Some humans are happier about this than others.
* Creator/LSpragueDeCamp wrote a series of short stories about "Johnny Black", a black bear given human-level intelligence by an experimental process that increased the efficiency of his synapses.

* A variation of this occurs in Creator/GarthNix's fantasy series ''[[Literature/KeysToTheKingdom The Keys to the Kingdom]]''. The Raised Rats were brought to the House by [[AllMythsAreTrue the Piper]], who gave them speech, intelligence, and made them much bigger. They are a rather mercantile people who trade their services for information (although they also remain loyal to the Piper), and their SteamPunk technology is damn impressive.

* ''Literature/MrsFrisbyAndTheRatsOfNimh'', and related books have the eponymous Rats, as well as a group of mice. Notable in its merely modern setting. A series of injections, one mentioned to contain DNA, both increased their intelligence so they could read and understand, and increased their lifespan so the scientists would have time to see what that intelligence could do. The scientists found out what happens when you don't properly secure tools around intelligent rats.
* In ''Literature/NexusNine'' humanity uplifted dogs and cats, and a few thousand years later the Tri-Galactic Union humanity's clients founded has contacted animalistic aliens that they believe were also seeded by their patron race.

* ''Literature/PerryRhodan'': Genetically modified apes. The terran government wants to give them the right to vote, but they refused repeatedly.

* Most of the [=GELF=]s in the ''Literature/RedDwarf'' novels are humanoid MixAndMatchCritters;

* ''Literature/RiversOfLondon'' has a society of talking foxes, who have been magically enhanced to have enlarged brains and human larynxes. They also, for some reason, are highly trained in spycraft and tend to view everything as a spy mission. This presumably has some connection to the reason they were created, but they refuse to discuss this with the main characters because it's classified.
* ''Sirius'', by British philosopher-turned-SF-writer Creator/OlafStapledon, was one of the first attempts to seriously imagine what it might be like to ''be'' an uplifted animal--to try to get inside the head of such a creature. In this case, the first of its kind, a dog, named after the "dog star", Sirius.
* In ''Literature/SoImASpiderSoWhat'' it's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:the main character Kumoko's past life was not as a human girl, but an ordinary 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]].
* The Choblik race from the ''Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse''. Choblik today are cyborgs; they were previously merely smarter-than-usual woodland creatures. The "Great Builders" installed their implants, artificially giving them sapience. This unknown race of Builders are considered the Choblik equivalent of "gods". Torvig Bu-kar-nguv from ''Literature/StarTrekTitan'' is a Choblik.
* In ''Literature/StarTrekVanguard'', it's revealed that the [[spoiler: Tholians]] were also originally this, gaining sapience after being "domesticated" by the Shedai.
* In ''Literature/SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic'': a polar bear commands a space station

* The novel ''Literature/{{Tuskers}}'' has the descendants of an escaped javelina (an animal related to pigs that's found from Arizona to Brazil, also known as a peccary) become human-hating genius killing machines who lead an army of their kind on a small Arizona town.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E5PlanetOfTheSpiders "Planet of the Spiders"]], the Eight Legs are ordinary Earth spiders who gained intelligence and psychic abilities after prolonged exposure to the blue crystals on Metebelis III.
* The eponymous character of the PBS children's show ''Series/{{Zoboomafoo}}'' (a sifaka lemur) is sapient, but won't talk until after he's had his snack.

* Subverted by Salem in ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' who is a human transformed into a cat as punishment for past misdeeds.
* Subverted by Fiji's cat on ''Series/MidnightTexas''. In season 1 we're meant to think he's her familiar. In season 2 we learn he's actually a human transformed by Fiji's aunt, his former lover, to protect him from a dark curse.

* The ''Jade Regent'' Campaign from Podcast/{{RPGMP3}} features a character called Skygni, who's a magically Awakened [[KillItWithIce frost]]-{{breath|Weapon}}ing [[AnIcePerson Winter]] [[SavageWolves Wolf]]. He swore a [[MagicallyBindingContract Blood Oath]] (under duress) to [[TokenEvilTeammate not eat people]]. Well, at least not the ones travelling with the heroes' caravan, anyway.

* ''Roleplay/VoidOfTheStars'' has the Dolphins. [[MindScrew Who are now a spacefaring species.]]

* [[SapientCetaceans Dolphins]] and Orcas are considered somewhere along the lines of {{Noble Savage}}s and allies by the Good seafaring civilizations of ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}''. Their governments actually produce PoweredArmor that can be used by Dolphins and smaller whales, and assigned when they're working for them. The game also features Dog Boys, uplifted dogs created by [[TheEmpire the Coalition]] to serve as scouts and shock troops.
* The ''Literature/{{Ringworld}}'' game by Creator/{{Chaosium}} (based on Creator/LarryNiven's book series) has [[SapientCetaceans dolphins]] as playable characters. They can move around using powered suits.
* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}} TabletopGame/TranshumanSpace'' has Doolittle [[SapientCetaceans Dolphins]] and K-10A Postcanines, amongst others.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' 2e takes the Awaken Animal spell from D&D and turns it into a {{Ritual|Magic}} that has a 1 in 20 chance of making the awakee instantly hostile to the casters.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Starfinder}}'' has uplifted bears as a playable species, no one knows why they were uplifted as it was during the Gap so they kind of struggle to develop their own culture.
* ''TabletopGame/D20Modern'':
** In this system we are given the Moreau, which are genetic/magically uplifted animals from tigers to rats to orcas used for military purposes.
** In the Urban Arcana setting, it is possible to give sentience to an animal or plant, increasing his/her Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma, and even giving him the ability to speak. Doing so is a complex incantation, and serve little purpose except for the more creative players/game masters.

* ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase'' has uplifted apes of all kinds, [[SapientCetaceans dolphins]], parrots, crows, octopi, orcas, whales, and pigs all of which are entirely common player character backgrounds. Though actual biological neo-cetaceans aren't too common after the Fall since there aren't very many oceans left, a lot of them had to [[BrainUploading re-sleeve]] in more common human morphs. There are also some morph designers working on synthetic bodies for various uplifts, such as the takko (a synthmorph shaped like an octopus), and whales who really want to swim in something can sleeve into a [[SpaceWhale surya]], which is designed to operate ''on the surface of the Sun''.
** Uplifted elephants are mentioned, but they went extinct during the Fall.
** There are also "smart" animals such as dogs, cats, rats, and monkeys who tend to have vocabularies of less than a hundred words.
** The [=TITANs=] had their own projects along these lines, which gave us the Ny'knikiin, captured and mutilated "pod" morphs (essentially a synthmorph/biomorph mix) inhabited by the minds of uplifted mantis shrimp. Unlike uplifted animals that are part of transhumanity, Ny'knikiin are AlwaysChaoticEvil and are deeply sadistic (although strangely ''not'' infected with TheVirus).
* ''TabletopGame/{{Pugmire}}'' is a HumanitysWake setting populated by multiple species uplifted by Man before their extinction/ascension/disappearance. The dogs of the Pugmire Empire have attained a roughly medieval state while treating salvaged human technology as magic, with the cats of the Monarchies of Mau in a similar state, and the beastiary also includes sapient rats, badgers, and lizards.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'' has uplifted apes and [[SapientCetaceans dolphins]] (though you hardly hear about them), and the Vargr were genetically engineered by the [[{{Precursors}} Ancients]] from wolves.

* ''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 [[EnchantedForest 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.

** In ''Shadowbringers'', amaro who live a long time become known as tupaq amaro, able to speak in human languages. They were granted sapience by mages in ancient times to better serve them, but the enchantment went dormant over the ages, reverting them to mere animals; however, every once in a while an amaro reawakens their intelligence.
* This is the backstory of ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend''. [[spoiler: In the fight against a particularly deadly breed of the Avian Flu virus, humans created a virus to annihilate birds, who were unwittingly spreading it. But while the virus killed plenty of birds it [[GoneHorriblyWrong increased the intelligence of the survivors]], doves and pigeons among the first affected.]] By the time the story begins, humanity has been vastly reduced and the society is now dominated by the entire columbidae genus, with other species having joined the uplifting - the Prime Minister of Japan is a shoebill stork and the first puffin to hold office has recently been elected. The phenomenon is still ongoing: there are still wild birds, but even those are changing too. FeatherFingers is in effect, the birds seem [[AnimalsNotToScale somewhat larger]], and they live longer, though pigeons still have decidedly shorter lifespans than humans.

* ''Legend of Keepers'' from Goblinz Studio has one of the [[FinalBoss 3 Masters]] - Lira the Monkey Engineer. She was a regular monkey but was experimented on by evil monster scientists from the Dungeons company and she mutated into a BeastMan that's got [[WorldsSmartestMan hyperintelligence]]. In a high fantasy setting with largely medieval technology, she's making her monsters out of MiniMecha piloted by gnomes and it's impossible to tell if her technology is {{Magitek}}, or is it MagicFromTechnology by way of WeirdScience or both simultaneously.
* The cybernetic S'pht in ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' were uplifted so long ago, they weren't even aware of being cyborgs, imagining their machine implants to simply be organs like any other. On examining naturally sentient creatures after first contact, they're horrified at the realization that the “birthing operation” may be all that separates them from from the brutish beasts of their homeworld.
* In the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' universe these are mentioned as being regulated, though allowed in more permissible regions, where they blur the line between "property" and "sapient being."

** Winston is a genetically-altered super-intelligent gorilla, part of a troop of uplifted gorillas living in an experimental moon colony. The others revolted against their human masters, forcing Winston to flee to Earth and join up with Overwatch.

** Zaros raised the vampyres from a pack-hunting animal to the civilized menace of Morytania. He also personally raised Nex from a barely-sentient Nihil (a race of Zaros's own creation, which he considered failures). If you ask him about Ocellus, Zaros is surprised to learn his old pet demon gained sapience and became another god's enforcer.

* ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheUnwoundFuture'' gives us "Subject 3" a rabbit who was experimented on to be able to walk bipedal and talk. Though this has not only given him a pissed off attitude 24/7 but a nasty outlook on life and hatred towards all humans. Though he's TheWoobie if anything.

* Most of the space-faring species encountered in ''VideoGame/StarcomNexus'' are suspiciously similar to Earth animals. Later on, the player can find several separate pieces of information strongly hinting that the ''Morningstar'' was carrying several animal species from Earth when it went back 12 billion years to the early Milky-Way. Those animals were already subjects of rudimentary intelligence-enhancing tests carried out on the ''Morningstar''; they apparently got loose in one way or another, and over a very long period of time afterwards managed to evolve into fully-sentient races and spread throughout the galaxy.
* Uplifting nearly-sentient animals is a possibility in ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}''. Typically it's so a xenophilic empire can integrate a pre-sentient with desirable traits or a planet preference opposite the uplifter's own, like an ocean world native uplifting a species from a desert world. Or uplifting anything [[HadToBeSharp hardcore enough]] to survive a [[AfterTheEnd Tomb]] [[DeathWorld World]]. Xenophobic and/or Authoritarian empires may also uplift near-sentient animals, although their [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential motivations]] are likely far [[SlaveRace more]] [[SapientEatSapient nefarious]].

* ''The Sun at Night'' stars a heavily armed cybernetic talking dog from space who aids a rebellion against the Soviet Union.

* An Uplifted cat and dog appear in ''ComicBook/BuckGodotZapgunForHire''.

* 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...

* In ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'', it is suggested that birds were uplifted in our far future. When Humans [[AfterTheEnd ruined Earth]], the birds went back in time and used an intelligence ray to uplift all animals, leading to animals evolving in the place of humans.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}'' superintelligent gerbil Artie objects to the hierarchal implications of "uplifted".

* Frog of ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' is one that was made accidentally. He was affected by a bug that would increase intelligence at the expense of social ability when it afflicted humans. One bug affected him, and it apparently just turned him into a frog with an average human's level of intelligence.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Terinu}}'' Teri's race were uplifted from alien animals by the Varn for their ability to generate massive amounts of electricity.

* In ''Literature/SailorNothing'', Himei's normal kitten Dusty is given sentience and the ability to talk by Magnificent Kamen.
* ''WebAnimation/ShadowstonePark'': The animals on Earth have been given the ability to think and talk [[spoiler:as a result of a BenevolentAlienInvasion. the aliens hoped that sharing the planet with talking animals would convince humans to stop kiling them, and each other, and eventually abandon their killer instinct to pursue a more peaceful existence. Unfortunately, HumansAreBastards and it didn't go as planned.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'', Professor Utonium accidentally does this to his pet chimpanzee, who would become the girls' arch-enemy Mojo Jojo. Mojo's [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirlsMovie first scheme]] (chronologically) is to do the same with all of the primates in the local zoo, creating a swarm of villains themed on their species, such as Hota Wota, a Japanese snow monkey. [[RecurringExtra The Talking Dog]] may be an example too.
* Speaking of which, ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' shows the Canine Archeologists in the second episode, led by Professor Ut-er, taking Jack through the Ruins of what looks to be the City of Townsville. By now, the Talking Dogs can walk upright and even have British titles.
* And rounding out Cartoon Cartoons worked on by Creator/GenndyTartakovsky, an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' sees Dexter give a Yellow Lab the ability to talk with one his of machines in order to understand why the animal is freaking out over it. It turns out that it's not because there's something wrong with it, the appearance just freaks the dog out. The Labrador keeps his ability to talk too, which winds up backfiring for Dexter since he refuses to shut up.
* The eponymous character of ''WesternAnimation/MarthaSpeaks'' apparently gained her ability to talk from having alphabet soup go into her brain instead of her stomach. [[{{Pun}} And you know how much trouble you can get into when things go to your head]]. Though [[SuspensionOfDisbelief while it doesn't make much sense to begin with,]] it makes even less sense that, if the soup is missing certain letters, she would not be able to say said letters causing her speech to become gibberish, and if she is fed from the can being open upside down, it causes her to say the opposite of what she means, and if she eats alphabet soup from another language she can only speak that language until it wears off. And it apparently only works with [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane one certain brand.]]
* According to their show's ExpositoryThemeTune, WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain are sapient because "their genes have been spliced". With what is never explained.
* When they return in ''WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020'', Brain creates an uplifted animal of his own. During a senatorial bid, he infuses Julia, an ordinary female lab mouse, with artifacts from famous First Ladies past. It works perfectly, except that Julia is sane and not evil and thus [[GoneHorriblyRight seizes control of the campaign from him]] until his attempts to mind-control her go awry, causing her to do a FaceHeelTurn and become his vengeful ArchEnemy.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' not only animals but also plants [[AnimateInanimateObject and things that aren't alive at all]] can become {{Funny Animal}}s because of the world they live in, although it seem a lot of them are just this way because their parents were. Darwin, who was a pet goldfish before sprouting legs, is the only character explicitly stated to have gained intelligence this way.

* The cattle in ''WesternAnimation/WildWestCowboysOfMooMesa'', thanks to a meteorite hitting their cow pasture.

** It's later revealed that [[spoiler: General Parvo]] is an uplifted cat, a result of the Master's shady assistant performing unauthorized tests. The helmet is to hide the ears.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' has a gorilla being used as a test subject for an intelligence-boosting experiment GoneHorriblyRight. The gorilla is uplifted to roughly human intelligence, and promptly goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the poacher who kidnapped him and his mother.
* In ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'', Johnny's pet dog Dukey was originally filthy and untrained, and Johnny had no desire to train him, but also wanted him as his best friend. So his Super Genius Sisters[[superscript:TM]] genetically modified him to talk, walk on his hind legs, and be "very civilized" (they also made him a master martial artist and accountant). Dukey became the [[NonHumanSidekick sidekick]] for all of Johnny's adventures. He's also the [[OnlySaneMan voice of reason]], not just to Johnny but his sisters as well, constantly calling their experiments unsafe, insane, and pointing out that everyone on the show is pretty much nuts.
* The subplot of the ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' episode "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS1E2LawnmowerDog Lawnmower Dog]]" has Morty's father Jerry frustrated by Morty's dog, Snuffles, ignoring commands, peeing inside, and constantly begging to go out and come back inside over and over for no reason. Jerry asks Rick for a device to make the dog smarter which Rick, reluctantly, agrees to, giving Snuffles a helmet that [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong boosts his intelligence]]. At first, it works perfectly, the dog suddenly understands all their commands, even ones it hasn't been trained with at all. However, we learn that Rick originally set the helmet to operate well below its full potential, and after Snuffles realizes and figures out how to crank it up to 100% (putting in a second double-a battery), he becomes intelligent enough to create a device that allows him to speak English, then a MiniMecha, which he uses to replicate his helmet and create an army of superintelligent canines. It doesn't help that he's still pretty sore at Morty's family over being recently neutered.
-->'''Snuffles:''' Where are my testicles, Summer? They were removed. Where have they gone?\\
'''Summer:''' Oh... wow... that's an intense line of questioning, Snuffles.\\
'''Snuffles:''' Do '''NOT''' call me that. "Snuffles" was my slave name. You shall now call me [[MeaningfulRename "Snowball"]], [[ExactlyWhatitSaysOnTheTin because my fur is pretty, and white.]]
* On ''WesternAnimation/PlanetSheen'', apparently the atmosphere of Zeenu does this. One of the main characters is a chimp from the old space program who crashed there and gradually developed sentience, and in one episode they find another Earth primate, this one from the Russian space program, who did as well.
* The ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls''' episode "[[Recap/GravityFallsS2E6LittleGiftShopOfHorrors Little Gift Shop of Horrors]]" has a segment in which Mabel's pet pig Waddles becomes a genius after eating a magic mushroom. He eventually realizes that despite the great things he could do with his newfound intelligence, he'd be sacrificing the time he spends with Mabel, so he reverts himself back to normal.
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'':
** This evidently happened on a planetary scale some time in the thousand years between the fall of human civilization and the time the show is set. Sapient non-human animals are now basically the norm and are commonplace on Ooo; in particular, all dogs are now like people, and non-anthropomorphic dogs are only seen in locations outside of Ooo (such as Marceline's zombie poodle, which was born before Ooo existed, or the alternate Jake in the Farmworld timeline where Ooo never came to be). This is lampshaded by a character who froze herself from non-magical human times and finds herself in Ooo now.
--->'''Patience St. Pim:''' Yo, dogs didn't used to talk! Did you know that?!
** The Vampire King is a perfectly ordinary, non-sapient lion...who was made anthropomorphic and highly intelligent when he became a vampire. [[UndeathIsCheap When the vampirism is cured]], [[DeathOfPersonality he is once again a non-sapient cat]]--and he was completely fine with it beforehand.
** The Cretaceous ice elemental Evergreen's apprentice was a talking green dinosaur named Gunther, and it's offhandedly mentioned by Evergreen that he stole an egg from a dinosaur nest and mutated the embryo's brain to create Gunther.
* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainSimianAndTheSpaceMonkeys'' is about a group of non-human primates uplifted by a race of {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s.

* ''WesternAnimation/DnAce'', another Creator/{{Nelvana}} series, has Mendel, a squirrel who gained the ability to talk (and ResurrectiveImmortality) after being hit by a MagicMeteor.
* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower'':
** The original show has it happen when Spirit was first transformed into Swift Wind to be She-Ra's animal sidekick. Though it's implied that this is actually a reverse of Battle Cat's situation: Swift Wind is his true form, looking like a normal horse is just a disguise. This may be why Spirit can still talk when he's not a winged unicorn.
** In ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'', Swift Wind used to be an ordinary horse until Adora accidentally turned him into a WingedUnicorn, which also gave him the ability to speak.
--->''"I've had the ability to form complex thoughts for, like, a week, and even I know you can't help anyone by hiding."''
* The ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' story mentioned above was written for the unmade third season of ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM''. The main difference being that Robotnik and Snively were to be the only remaining humans due to being [[ButWhatAboutTheAstronauts off-planet]] at the time.
* ''WesternAnimation/ConanTheAdventurer'': Tired of the incompetence of both the Snake Men and his own minion Drix, Ram-Amon used the power of Set to anthropomorphize a common Stygian Gila Monster, hoping to create a much deadlier, more intelligent villain. [[GoneHorriblyRight He succeeded.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/LoveDeathAndRobots'': In "[[Recap/LoveDeathAndRobotsThreeRobots Three Robots]]", cats have been given thumbs and the ability to speak like humans shortly before [[spoiler: [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness they ended human civilization]]]].
* While most ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' series depict Master Splinter as the [[WasOnceAMan mutated Hamato Yoshi]], the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 2003 series]] has him as this trope, showing him as a normal domestic rat (albeit one capable of mastering ninjutsu by simply watching his master) who was exposed to a mutagen. The turtles themselves are this trope in every series.
* In ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', the [[spoiler: [[WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers Rescue Rangers]]]] are reimagined as this, initially appearing as average rodents before getting shot with a ray that makes them intelligent.
* ''WesternAnimation/KipoAndTheAgeOfWonderbeasts'' takes place in a future post-apocalyptic Earth where all animals have been mutated, with many of them developing sentience. In season two, it is revealed that [[spoiler:a group of human scientists have been working to figure out what caused this so they can reverse the process. Lio and Song succeed in uplifting an animal, but hide that information because they realize it would be wrong to reverse the process. Dr. Emilia subverts this trope in the last season by developing a cure for mutation, and her darts turn any mutant into an ordinary animal]].

* ''WebOriginal/OrionsArm'' takes the idea of making unintelligent species intelligent (as in, human-level) to an extreme, with over 138,000 Earth species as well as alien species uplifted, including even plants, fungi, protists and colonial prokaryotes. The in-universe philosophy of pan-sophontism holds that ''all'' life should be uplifted to sentience.

** 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''.

** The Vampire King is a perfectly ordinary, non-sapient lion...who was made anthropomorphic and highly intelligent when he became a vampire. [[UndeathAlwaysEnds When the vampirism is cured]], [[DeathOfPersonality he is once again a non-sapient cat]]--and he was completely fine with it beforehand.

** The Vampire King 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, although he evidently prefers it that way.

* ''Franchise/{{Tekken}}'': The series features several uplifted animals as part of the martial arts tournament: Kuma and Kuma Two are both brown bears that are the pets of Heihachi Mishima, Panda is a panda who serves as the bodyguard of Ling Xiaoyu, and Rodger the kangaroo, his son Roger Junior (and Rodger Jr's unnamed mother) as well as Alex the velociraptor are all the results of genetic experimentation.

** Fry's college roommate was a monkey uplifted by the hat Professor Farnsworth gave him. He eventually grows [[IntelligenceEqualsIsolation to dislike his intellect]] and is happy at the end of the episode when the hat is damaged and makes him [[BitingTheHandHumor just smart enough to become an executive at Fox.]]
** A post-revival episode introduces Dr. Banjo, an orangutan and creationism activist.
** Furthermore, a later episode largely takes place on an entire planet of uplifted apes and monkeys, including Gunther (Fry's aforementioned roommate) and Dr. Banjo.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' had a gorilla being used as a test subject for an intelligence-boosting experiment GoneHorriblyRight. The gorilla is uplifted to roughly human intelligence, and promptly goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the poacher that kidnapped him and his mother.

* S. Andrew Swann's Literature/MoreauSeries where animals are second-class citizens in the mid-21st century.

* The Creator/DeanKoontz novel ''Watchers'' features an uplifted [[AuthorAppeal golden retriever]] with near-human intelligence. He can't talk, so he spells out words using a few games worth of Scrabble tiles.

** In ''Literature/{{Catseye|1961}}'', the animals are of human intelligence, though they can communicate mentally only with Troy and with whoever has the controller.

** There are [[PigMan "hyperpigs"]] in the ''Literature/RevelationSpace'' series. Their origins are obscure - no one now knows who gave them intelligence and language, or why. It is suspected that they were a side effect of genetically engineering pigs to be human organ donors... though whether the final uplift to sentience was deliberate tinkering or just an accident is never mentioned. In a more common variation of this trope, there are also many species of uplifted primates.

* In Creator/DanielPinkwater's ''Literature/{{Borgel}}'', Fafner, an ordinary dog, becomes able to talk after traveling to AnotherDimension.
* The talking dog Ralph Von Wau Wau from Creator/SpiderRobinson's ''Literature/CallahansCrosstimeSaloon'' is an unusual case. He was born a mutant, possessing human-level intelligence, but was artificially uplifted by a scientist who surgically altered his larynx and mouth structure in an experiment that would allow a dog to mimic human speech. Ralph would later [[ThisIsMyHuman "adopt" a mute man]] and act as his ventriloquist, cooking up a "my dog can talk" shtick to hustle a few bucks.
* In Will Shetterly's ''Chimera'' genetically engineered animals are somewhere between slaves and second class citizens, the Heroine is a Jaguar Woman named Zoe Domingo created to be a sex slave.

* L. Neil Smith's Confederacy universe has intelligent great apes as part of the Confederacy, along with dolphins, porpoises, and orcas. In-universe, they were always intelligent, we just needed to learn how to communicate with them. In 'The Nagasaki Vector', we meet G. Howell Nauhautl ("the G. stands for Greenriver"), a cybernetically uplifted coyote.

* W. Michael & Kathleen O'Neal Gear's ''Dark Inheritance'' uplifts chimps and bonobos in a modern setting. The authors are anthropologists so it goes into a lot of technical detail of how it was done, differences in psychology, various problems with zoonotic diseases, issues with uplifted chimps dealing with un-uplifted chimps, difficulties with something with the raw physical power of a chimp and the mentality of a human, and a lot of technical details. The chimps and bonobos in this cannot talk, only communicate via sign language or using a keyboard. It also shows various stages in the uplift process with different levels of change.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov and Creator/JanetAsimov's ''Literature/TheNorbyChronicles'':

* ''Literature/PerryRhodan'' - Genetic modified apes. The terran government wants to give them the right to vote, but they refused repeatedly.
* Donald Kingsbury's ''Psychohistorical Crisis'' had man's best friend uplifted to child-like sapience.

* 'Superchimps' or 'simps' (an in-universe misnomer - they're uplifted monkeys, not apes) appear in some Creator/ArthurCClarke works, including ''Literature/RendezvousWithRama''. Clarke also used this theme with respect to humanity itself in ''[[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey 2001]]''. The {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s took a tribe of apes and manipulated their intelligence, planting the seeds of modern man. They then [[spoiler:took a modern man, and uplifted him to create a Star Child]].

* ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand'': The only member of the Beast Pack who speaks beyond animalistic noises is [[KingOfBeasts Leongar]], who actually speaks fluent English when talking directly to Kirby, because he's been [[spoiler:[[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed by the game's BigBad, Fecto Forgo. Then, when Leongar goes down, Fecto Forgo begins speaking through him, a clear sign that speaking this way is ''not'' natural for Leon. And because of this, his wife Clawroline (known at the time as Carol) stopped understanding him (she only spoke in meows).]]

** There are also ''partially'' uplifted animals, the Tayledras' bondbirds and the Shin'a'in battlesteeds. The former are birds of prey given greater size, intelligence, and psychic powers, the better to bond with people. The latter are huge, ugly horses with behavior so altered that they're in many ways more like dogs, and which are much tougher and more trainable than ordinary horses.

* The ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' setting has multiple prominent nonhuman sentient races aside from the divinely-created Companions. Kyree and dyheli are essentially wolves and antelopes, both very psychic but easily mistaken for normal animals visually. Hertasi are anthropomorphic lizards, tervardi are fragile-boned bird-humans, and then there are the gryphons. Gradually through the series it's revealed that millenia ago, when magical science was at its peak, mages just worked in teams to uplift animals, with the most extravagant alterations being made to the tervardi, which were literally large songbirds. The gryphons were simply [[CreatingLifeIsAwesome created whole]].
** There are also ''partially'' uplifted animals, the Tayledras' bondbirds and the Shin'a'in battlesteeds. The former are birds of prey given greater size, intelligence, and psychic powers, the better to bond with people. The latter are huge, ugly horses with behavior so altered that they're in many ways more like dogs.

* In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'', 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.

* ''WesternAnimation/KipoAndTheAgeOfWonderbeasts'' takes place in a future post-apocalyptic Earth where all animals have been mutated, with many of them developing sentience. In season two, it is revealed that [[spoiler:a group of human scientists have been working to figure out what caused this so they can reverse the process. Lio and Song succeed in uplifting an animal, but hide that information because they realize it would be wrong to reverse the process]].

* Booga in ''Film/TankGirl'' (in the comics, Booga is a mutated kangaroo):
-->'''Booga:''' I was a dog, but because I was really good, they upgraded me to human. Uh, sort of.
* The ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'' gets kicked off when this accidentally happens during the testing of an Alzheimer's treatment. ''Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes'' in general may be the TropeCodifier. Primates get this treatment in the franchise prior to its ContinuityReboot as well: [[Literature/PlanetOfTheApes the original novel]] features modified apes replacing humans as menial servants, a notion carried through in the original film franchise. [[Film/PlanetOfTheApes2001 The 2001 re-imagining]] features a space station where simians are being modified to carry out routine space piloting and other technical tasks.
* Deconstructed in ''Film/DeepBlueSea''. A biologist performs a genetic engineering procedure that gives sharks larger brains and enhanced intelligence. The catch, however, is that this does ''not'' result in sharks that act like humans. Instead, they use their enhanced brains to do the things sharks normally do, but with more intelligence behind them.

* ''Film/SuperMarioBros1993'' says the meteor that supposedly wiped out the dinosaurs actually sent them to AnotherDimension where they evolved to be like humans.

* In ''Film/ColorMePerfect'', the intelligence-boosting gene therapy is tested on two chimps named Laverne and Shirley, who are raised to the intelligence level of a school-aged human child.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** The title characters of ''WesternAnimation/RoadRovers'' except [[FurryConfusion Muzzle.]] They can fly planes, pilot boats and submarines, and perform fairly complex mathematical equations on the fly. Collen's enhanced intelligence partially remains even in the episode where [[spoiler:she's [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext turned into a werewolf]]]].

* In the episode "Deep Space Homer" of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', one of the secrets NASA considered revealing to boost their popularity was that [[ApesInSpace all of the chimpanzees they sent into space]] came back superintelligent. The idea is shot down by one of the heads of NASA who ''is'' one of these chimps.

* The sub plot of the ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' episode "Lawnmower Dog" has Morty's father Jerry frustrated by Morty's dog, Snuffles, ignoring commands, peeing inside, and constantly begging to go out and come back inside over and over for no reason. Jerry asks Rick for a device to make the dog smarter which Rick, reluctantly, agrees to, giving Snuffles a helmet that [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong boosts his intelligence]]. At first, it works perfectly, the dog suddenly understands all their commands, even ones it hasn't been trained with at all. However, we learn that Rick originally set the helmet to operate well below its full potential, and after Snuffles realizes and figures out how to crank it up to 100% (putting in a second double-a battery), he becomes intelligent enough to create a device that allows him to speak English, then a MiniMecha, which he uses to replicate his helmet and create an army of superintelligent canines. It doesn't help that he's still pretty sore at Morty's family over being recently neutered.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls''' second HalloweenEpisode has a segment where Mabel's pet pig Waddles becomes a genius after eating a magic mushroom. He eventually realizes that despite the great things he could do with his newfound intelligence, he'd be sacrificing the time he spends with Mabel, so he reverts himself back to normal.

-->''I've had the ability to form complex thoughts for, like, a week, and even I know you can't help anyone by hiding.''

* Speaking of which, ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' shows the Canine Archeologists in the second episode, taking Professor Ut-er, Jack-through the Ruins of what looks to be the City of Townsville. By now, the Talking Dogs can walk upright and even have British titles.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Principal Nezu is an anthropomorphic animal [[CartoonCreature of indeterminate species]] with a Quirk, "High Specs", which gave him SuperIntelligence (by ''human'' standards).