History Main / FormerlySapientSpecies

* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'': The Reptilicus once had an advanced space-faring civilization on Bryyo, but a planet-devastating MagicVersusScience war combined with the spread of [[TheCorruption Phazon]] following a Leviathan impact resulted in them becoming bestial mutants.
** In the [[VideoGame/MetroidPrime first game]], this was the fate of the Chozo on Tallon IV. After abandoning Zebes and its technological advances in an attempt to return to their more natural, mystical roots, they eventually [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascended to the spiritual plane]]...but when a Phazon meteor struck the surface, their souls were pulled back to the planet and driven mad, making them insane, violent "Chozo Ghosts" that attack anyone who approaches.

[[folder:Films--Animation]]
* This was the [[WhatCouldHaveBeen original plan]] for ''WesternAnimation/{{WALLE}}'': the titular robot's adventure would have brought him into the contact with a race of simple-minded blob creatures, with the end of the film revealing that said blobs were actually the descendants of the human race after fleeing Earth and spending too much time in zero gravity. Instead, the movie shows this trope in action--humanity is still human, but is gradually regressing and becoming [[BigFatFuture fatter, lazier, and slower]] due to a constant reliance on machines and junk food. The [[WordOfGod animators explained]] that they wanted to make them resemble oversized babies to reflect the symbolic degradation of the human mind from complex to simple.

* This was the [[WhatCouldHaveBeen original plan]] for ''WesternAnimation/{{WALL-E}}'': the titular robot's adventure would have brought him into the contact with a race of simple-minded blob creatures, with the end of the film revealing that said blobs were actually the descendants of the human race after fleeing Earth and spending too much time in zero gravity. Instead, the movie shows this trope in action--humanity is still human, but is gradually regressing and becoming [[BigFatFuture fatter, lazier, and slower]] due to a constant reliance on machines and junk food. The [[WordOfGod animators explained]] that they wanted to make them resemble oversized babies to reflect the symbolic degradation of the human mind from complex to simple.

** In the [[VideoGame/MetroidPrime first game]], this was the fate of the Chozo on Tallon IV. After abandoning their home planet and technological advances in an attempt to return to their more natural, mystical roots, they eventually [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascended to the spiritual plane]]...but when a Phazon meter struck the surface, their souls were pulled back to the planet and driven mad, making them insane, violent "Chozo Ghosts" that attack anyone who approaches.

** In the [[VideoGame/MetroidPrime first game]], this was the fate of the Chozo on Tallon IV. After abandoning their home planet and technological advances in an attempt to return to their more spiritual roots, they eventually [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascended to the spiritual plane]]...but when a Phazon meter struck the surface, their souls were pulled back to the planet and driven mad, making them insane, violent "Chozo Ghosts" that attack anyone who approaches.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In the revival series' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E3Gridlock Gridlock]]", the Macra, who appeared in the original series serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E7TheMacraTerror The Macra Terror]]" as cunning behind-the-scenes manipulators, are shown to have devolved into mindless beasts many centuries into the future.

* In the ''Literature/TheWarAgainstTheChtorr'' series, this appears to be the place that humans will eventually fill once the Earth is transformed to a completely Chtorran ecology. There are herds of humans in some of the ruined cities that are no longer sapient, and being around them too much can somehow draw other humans into joining them. Its uncertain whether an infectious agent is involved or something else. [[spoiler The fourth book reveals that the "bunnydogs" and "libbits" mistaken for Chtorran lifeforms are in fact transformed human children or their descendants. In the Chtorran ecology they are non-sapient fast-breeding cattle.]] There are hints that some of the Chtorran lifeforms were also once more sapient than they are now.

* In the ''Literature/TheWarAgainstTheChtorr'' series, this appears to be the place that humans will eventually fill once the Earth is transformed to a completely Chtorran ecology. There are herds of humans in some of the ruined cities that are no longer sapient, and being around them too much can somehow draw other humans into joining them. Its uncertain whether an infectious agent is involved or something else. There are hints that some of the Chtorran lifeforms were also once more sapient than they are now.

** The Falmer were originally the graceful [[OurElvesAreDifferent Snow Elves]], possessing a culture rivaling the Altmer (High Elves). However, after facing [[FinalSolution near-extinction]] at the hands of the [[HornyVikings Nords]], the Falmer turned to their estranged [[OurDwarvesAreDifferent Dwemer]] kin for aid. The Dwemer agreed to take in the surviving Falmer, but only if they blinding and mutating themselves with toxic fungi, [[InvokedTrope Invoking]] this trope . For centuries the Dwemer used the Falmer as servants and [[EnslavedElves slaves]], and may have performed experiments on them that caused them to further mutate into their present form. When the Dwemer abruptly vanished from Nirn, the Falmer were left behind as a race of blind, subterranean, [[TheMorlocks Morlock]]-like beasts with a [[AlwaysChaoticEvil primitive, xenophobic tribal culture]]. So significant was the de-evolution of the Falmer that it affected their very souls, turning them from "black" sapient souls into the "white" souls of creatures. By the time of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', the Falmer seem to be regaining some of their lost sentience, forging better weapons and armor from farmed Chaurus chitin and practicing crude alchemy to create poisons from the plentiful mushrooms that grow in their underground lairs. The author of one in-game book in ''Skyrim'' even believes that the Falmer may be preparing to wage war on their surface dwelling ancestral enemies, which would be bad news for the already war-torn Skyrim. The ''Dawnguard'' expansion introduces Knight-Paladin Gelebor, [[spoiler:the [[TheLastOfHisKind last surviving uncorrupted Falmer]].]] He too believes the race is recovering its lost sentience, though it will be quite some time (if ever) that they fully recover.

* ''Literature/{{Blindsight}}'': Discussed. The aliens in the book, known as "scramblers", are highly intelligent but at the same time lack any form of sapience or self-awareness -- everything they do is instinctive, up to and including constructing interstellar spacecraft. The same is true of the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]], which are a predatory offshoot of humanity. The narrator muses that self-awareness is, from an evolutionary perspective, wasteful and unproductive, and he wonders whether truly sapient species like humanity are doomed to lose their sapience in the long run.

* ''Literature/{{Blindsight}}'': Discussed. The aliens in the book, known as "scramblers", are highly intelligent but at the same time lack any form of sapience or self-awareness -- everything they do is instinctive. The same is true of the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]], which are a predatory offshoot of humanity. The narrator muses that self-awareness is, from an evolutionary perspective, wasteful and unproductive, and he wonders whether truly sapient species like humanity are doomed to lose their sapience in the long run.

** The Falmer were originally the graceful [[OurElvesAreDifferent Snow Elves]], possessing a culture rivaling the Altmer (High Elves). However, after facing [[FinalSolution near-extinction]] at the hands of the [[HornyVikings Nords]], the Falmer turned to their estranged [[OurDwarvesAreDifferent Dwemer]] kin for aid. The Dwemer agreed to take in the surviving Falmer, but only if they blinding and mutating themselves with toxic fungi, [[InvokedTrope Invoking]] this trope . For centuries the Dwemer used the Falmer as servants and [[EnslavedElves slaves]], and may have performed experiments on them that caused them to further mutate into their present form. When the Dwemer abruptly vanished from Nirn, the Falmer were left behind as a race of blind, subterranean, [[TheMorlocks Morlock]]-like beasts with a [[AlwaysChaoticEvil primitive, xenophobic tribal culture]]. So significant was the de-evolution of the Falmer that it affected their very souls, turning them from "black" sapient souls into the "white" souls of creatures. By the time of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', the Falmer seem to be regaining some of their lost sentience, forging better weapons and armor from farmed Chaurus chitin and practicing crude alchemy to create poisons from the plentiful mushrooms that grow in their underground lairs. The author of one in-game book in ''Skyrim'' even believes that the Falmer may be preparing to wage war on their surface dwelling ancestral enemies, which would be bad news for the already war-torn Skyrim. The ''Dawnguard'' expansion introduces Knight-Paladin Gelebor, [[spoiler:the [[TheLastOfHisKing last surviving uncorrupted Falmer]].]] He too believes the race is recovering its lost sentience, though it will be quite some time (if ever) that they fully recover.

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'': The Falmer were once a thriving race of Elves, but, after being displaced by the Nords and fleeing BeneathTheEarth, have regressed to such an atavistic state that their [[OurSoulsAreDifferent souls]] don't even register as humanoid. It's eventually revealed that the ancient [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwemer]] {{Invoked|Trope}} this by enslaving the Falmer refugees and mutating them with toxic fungi. [[spoiler: Dawnguard reveals that they are showing signs of recovery, with the last uncorrupted snow elf having hope for them.]]

* In "Literature/NullP" by Creator/WilliamTenn, humanity, a quarter million years after abandoning civilization, ends up as pets for [[AnimalIsTheNewMan the now dominant dog culture]]. Their only purpose is throwing sticks [[FurryReminder for their masters to bring back]].

** The mantelopes were unique in being left their sapience, but were modified to be essentially human ungulates with no grasping limbs. This left them entirely unable to manipulate their environment and their sapience largely useless. Natural selection eventually caused them to regress to animosity -- there was no use in growing large brains if they couldn't do anything with them -- which the book treats as being largely a merciful end to their sorry lot.

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'': The Falmer were once a thriving race of Elves, but, after being displaced by the Nords and fleeing BeneathTheEarth, have regressed to such an atavistic state that their [[OurSoulsAreDifferent souls]] don't even register as humanoid. It's eventually revealed that the ancient [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwemer]] {{Invoked|Trope}} this by enslaving the Falmer refugees and mutating them with toxic fungi.

See also HumanSubspecies and OurHumansAreDifferent, as most examples of this are human. For less extreme versions, where humanity still regresses but remains sapient, see FuturePrimitive and FeudalFuture. May overlap with HumanPet and PeopleZoo. See also WasOnceAMan for instances where individuals are transformed into monstrous or degraded forms that may or may not still be sapient.

* ''Literature/TheTimeMachine'': Downplayed. By the year 802,701 humanity differentiates into the Eloi, childish beings of limited mental powers, and the Morlocks, brutish apes who prey upon them while maintaining the machines that sustain them by long-ingrained instinct. While they're still nominally sapient -- the Eloi are little beyond dull-minded, although it's not clear how intelligent the Morlocks are or aren't -- neither species retains much of its ancestors' creativity, awareness or higher intelligence.

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* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''':
** Fenris, the homeworld of the Space Wolves {{Space Marine}}s, is home to wolves the size of cars if not bigger, which are much more intelligent than normal wolves and extremely loyal to their Space Marine masters. This is because they're the descendants of humans given wolf DNA to survive Fenris' glacial conditions; most Fenrisian humans are simply more cold-adapted than normal, but many regressed into feral wolflike monsters. The Space Wolves themselves have a "Canis Helix" spliced into their genome during their creation. While most simply display more wolf-like characteristics as they age, such as their eyes turning yellow and their canine teeth growing into fangs, the process is known to go very wrong and turn a "regular" superhuman warrior into a twisted, barely sapient WolfMan mutant.
** The Kroot, a sort-of avian, humanoid alien species, are able to taste individual parts of the DNA they eat [[LEGOGenetics and incorporate them into themselves]], and their Shapers can direct their kin to eat primarily certain species so as to ensure genetic traits will be passed on to the next generation of Kroot. This often leads to specialized variations on the average Kroot body plan, but continuously eating too much of certain species risks a permanent regression to a bestial state. Several subspecies have been formed this way, like the vaguely-canine Kroothounds, apelike Krootoxen, and carnosaurid Knarlocs, which are now used as beasts of burden and battle.

* ''Literature/{{Evolution}}'': The third part, "Descendants," depicts the regression of humanity back into non-sapient, tree-dwelling primates. In the section's first chapter, a squadron of soldiers are awakened from cryostasis an uncertain number of millennia into the future and encounter a troop of hairy feral posthumans. By thirty million years hence, they have returned to being arboreal apes. Their nests vaguely resemble small buildings that they decorate with glass fragments to ward off predators, but they are otherwise little different from a chimp or australopithecine. Numerous other posthuman species have emerged by this point, including arboreal hunters, elephantine giants "farmed" by carnivorous rats and burrowing creatures living in underground hives. By half a billion years hence, when life on Earth is coming to an end, posthumans are the last mammals: small, russet-furred monkey-like animals that live in chemical thrall to a species of tree.

* This is discussed in ''Literature/{{Blindsight}}''. The aliens in the book, known as "scramblers", are highly intelligent but at the same time lack any form of sapience or self-awareness--everything they do is instinctive. The same is true of the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]], which are a predatory offshoot of humanity. The narrator muses that self-awareness is, from an evolutionary perspective, wasteful and unproductive, and he wonders whether truly sapient species like humanity are doomed to lose their sapience in the long run.

* In Creator/ShintaroKago's short manga ''Manga/SuperConductiveBrainsParataxis'', giant, unintelligent humanoids called "surdlers" are fitted with mechanical implants and used for construction and war. It turns out that they're the descendant of humans, while the "humans" in the story are {{Lilliputians}}.

* ''Literature/{{Evolution}}'': The third part , "Descendants," depicts the regression of humanity back into non-sapient, tree-dwelling primates. In the section's first chapter, a squadron of soldiers are awakened from cryostasis an uncertain number of millennia into the future and encounter a troop of hairy feral posthumans. By thirty million years hence, they have returned to being arboreal apes. Their nests vaguely resemble small buildings that they decorate with glass fragments to ward off predators, but they are otherwise little different from a chimp or australopithecine. Numerous other posthuman species have emerged by this point, including arboreal hunters, elephantine giants "farmed" by carnivorous rats and burrowing creatures living in underground hives. By half a billion years hence, when life on Earth is coming to an end, posthumans are the last mammals: small, russet-furred monkey-like animals that live in chemical thrall to a species of tree.