History Main / BreedingCult

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* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate" The god of murder Bhaal learned of his impending death and started a few of these along with 'independent efforts'. The rescue of one of them sets off the plot. (The children were to be sacrificed at birth.)

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', the Grimleal are worshippers of the [[BigBad Fell Dragon Grima]], much [[MeetTheNewBoss like Loptyr and the Loptyrians]]. Unlike the Loptyrians, the Grimleal have been attenmting to create a child with sufficiently pure Grima blood to serve as a vessel for the dragon's spirit for a straight one thousand years. [[spoiler: [[TomatoInTheMirror It turns out that the player's tactician character is the end result]].]]

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', the Grimleal are worshippers of the [[BigBad Fell Dragon Grima]]. Their leaders have been attempting to create a child with sufficiently pure Grima blood to serve as a vessel for the dragon's spirit and revive it. [[spoiler: [[TomatoInTheMirror It turns out that the player's tactician character is the end result]].]]

* In Creator/CharlesStross's ''[[Literature/TheLaundrySeries Apocalypse Codex]]'', a vicious cult camouflaged as a televangelist church uses a breeding program to create the next generation of true believers. The way they do it deserves notice: [[AndIMustScream they kidnap young women, inflict spinal cord injuries to permanently paralyze them, and use artificial insemination to repeatedly use their bodies as unwilling host mothers]].

* In the Literature/VorkosiganSaga, especially ''Cetaganda'' and ''Diplomatic Immunity'', version I is the raison d'etre for the Star Creche, and drives the main plots.

* In the VorkosiganSaga, especially ''Cetaganda'' and ''Diplomatic Immunity'', version I is the raison d'etre for the Star Creche, and drives the main plots.

** The Starchild Movement is a secret society composed mostly of radical Inquisitors who plan to create a reincarnation of the GodEmperor, though selective breeding is just one of the proposed methods.

* In ''Literature/Ringworld'', it turns out that the Puppeteers are utilizing a "birth lottery" to breed genetically lucky humans. Teela is a result of this scheme.

* In ''{{Planetary}}'' Axel Brass is the last child from a breeding program started by a eclectic group of intellectuals in post-Revolutionary France, gathered together with the goal of creating a perfect human.

* The fanatical Judda from ''JudgeDredd'', a cult centered around a former High Judge named Morton Judd, who wanted to use genetic engineering and cloning to pacify the population of Mega-City One. After his coup failed, he and his followers escaped into the Australian outback along with a batch of genetic material from the Judge clone banks. They eventually resurfaced during the "Oz" storyarc, having spent the past 30 years breeding an army of Judda to conquer Mega-City One. Nearly all of them are wiped out when Dredd teleports a nucelar device into their hideout in Ayers Rock, except for three survivors: Judge Kraken from the "Necropolis" arc and Jonah and Pandora from the "Jihad" audio drama.

** Leto II takes over their program when he ascends to the throne. By the time of ''God-Emperor of Dune'', he has made some success: [[spoiler:he's bred an individual who cannot be seen with prescience. He plans for her to kill him and pass on her genes as humanity spreads out of its forced confinement so humanity will never be subject to a tyrant like him again]].

* In ''Literature/FlightOfTheGodkinGriffin'' the Godkindred Kingdom's state religion is that by [[HeinzHybrid mingling species]] their descendants can become gods, and they [[TheEmpire conquer]] neighboring countries in pursuit of new bloodlines. In contrast, the Mountain Pards believe that by inbreeding they can achieve purity by inbreeding themselves into a beastial state, which involves having their psychotic male young rape their females repeatedly. [[spoiler: They're both wrong. Ascension is a matter of belief, all the Godkindred were doing was breeding towards the phenotype their ancestors had immediately after descending from godhood.]]

* In ''Literature/{{Dune}}'', the Bene Gesserit have worked for 90 generations to create the ChosenOne, the 'Kwisatz Haderach'. [[spoiler:They got within two generations of succeeding - Jessica, who married Leto Atreides, was supposed to bear a daughter, who would have married Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, producing the Kwizatz Haderach. However, she instead bore a son, Paul, who was the Kwisatz Haderach himself.]]

See also BabyFactory. Compare SuperBreedingProgram.

* In ''{{Dune}}'' the Bene Gesserit have worked for 90 generations to create the ChosenOne, the 'Kwizatz Haderach'. [[spoiler:They got within two generations of succeeding - Jessica, who married Leto Atreides, was supposed to bear a daughter, who would have married Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, producing the Kwizatz Haderach. However, she instead bore a son, Paul, who was the Kwizatz Haderach himself.]]

* Charles Stross' ''[[Literature/TheLaundrySeries Apocalypse Codex]]'', a vicious cult camouflaged as a televangelist church uses a breeding program to create the next generation of true believers. The way they do it deserve notice: [[AndIMustScream they kidnap young women, inflict them spinal cord injuries making them permanently paralyzed, and use artificial insemination to repeatedly use their bodies as unwilling host mothers.]]

* In ''DarkAngel'''s second season, the enemies of the X-series are BreedingCult members of "pure-blood" that have comparable abilities to the impure, gene-hacked super soldiers. The transgenics are obstacles to the realisation of the cult's [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt planned extinction of the rest of humanity]]

* Genestealer Cults in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', which infiltrate a planet, interbreed with its population to pass on their genes, and then cause strife to weaken them in preparation for Tyranid invasion.
** There's also the Starchild Movement, a secret society composed mostly of radical Inquisitors who plan to create a reincarnation of the GodEmperor, though selective breeding is just one of the proposed methods.

* On ''Series/OrphanBlack'', the Hank, the leader of the Prolethian cult [[spoiler: intends on impregnating several women with his and Helena's children.]]

* The Howard Families are a fictional group created by Creator/RobertAHeinlein, featuring heavily in books such as ''Literature/TimeEnoughForLove''. The Howard Foundation was started in the 19th century by Ira Howard, a millionaire dying of old age in his forties, for the purpose of extending human lifespans.

* Where the members of the cult are itself the result of the Breeding Program, secretly choosing their partners inline with the aims and desires of the Cult.

[[folder:Comic Book]]
* In ''{{Planetary}}'' Axel Brass is the last child from a breeding program started by a eclectic group of intellectuals in post-Revolutionary France, gathered together with the goal of creating a perfect human.
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* controlling the world's marriages/relationships/pregnancies to create a new generation, closer to fulfilling its {{Prophecy}} or {{Plan}}.
* where the members of the cult are itself the result of the Breeding Program, secretly choosing their partners inline with the aims and desires of the Cult.

See also BabyFactory.