History Main / RaisedByHumans

* In ''[[Literature/TheDemonsLexicon The Demon Trilogy]]'', the demon Hnikarr possessed the body of an unborn infant. Taking possession of such an unformed mind provided a way for Hnikarr to keep the body from deteriorating (the original occupant being in no way equipped to resist), but it also caused Hnikarr to lose his memory and limited his mental development to that of his body (the reason that demons in the setting normally avoid possessing humans younger than [[DangerousSixteenthBirthday sixteen]]). The mother of the possessed baby then ran off with him, with the end result that he was RaisedByHumans [[spoiler:as Nicholas Ryves]].

* ''Franchise/DragonBall'': Son Goku, birth name Kakarot, is a Saiyan (a race of HumanAlien {{Blood Knight}}s) who was sent away from his home planet as a baby shortly before it was destroyed, and upon landing on Earth was taken in by Son Gohan, a kindly human martial artist who trained him in martial arts. However, Gohan raised Goku far from the rest of society, and was eventually killed when Goku transformed into an Ozaru (a giant were-ape form that all Saiyans have). It was only when Goku was twelve that he met Bulma and joined her on her quest to collect the Dragon Balls, and thus started interacting with other humans on a regular basis. By his early-to-mid twenties, he's already integrated into society, married and had a child of his own, and fully considers himself a human like everyone else. He's initially disgusted to learn that he comes from a race of contract-killing {{Blood Knight}}s, but following the Saiyan invasion and his battles on Namek against Frieza, Goku eventually accepts his place as being a "Saiyan raised on Earth".

* ''Franchise/DragonBall'': Son Goku, birth name Kakarot, is a Saiyan (a race of HumanAlien warriors) who was sent away from his home planet as a baby shortly before it was destroyed, and upon landing on Earth was taken in by Son Gohan, a kindly human martial artist who trained him in martial arts. However, Gohan raised Goku far from the rest of society, and was eventually killed when Goku transformed into an Ozaru (a giant were-ape form that all Saiyans have). It was only when Goku was twelve that he eventually met Bulma, who was looking for Gohan’s dragon ball, and started interacting with other humans on a regular basis. By the time he finds out he’s not human in his mid-20s, he has already integrated in society and fully considers himself a human of Earth.

** ''ComicBook/SupermanNumber1'': Of note is that the earliest version of Superman was only mentioned as having been found by a "passing motorist" and left at an orphanage. The Kents weren't introduced until a year later.

* ''Charlie The Lonesome Cougar'' is about a cougar named Charlie who is raised by humans after his mother dies.

** ''ComicBook/SupermanNumberOne'': Of note is that the earliest version of Superman was only mentioned as having been found by a "passing motorist" and left at an orphanage. The Kents weren't introduced until a year later.

* In ''Film/TheMuppets'', Gary is flesh and blood. Walter is felt. They are biologically brothers, both being born to the same flesh and blood parents.

* Giegue/Giygas from ''Videogame/EarthBound'' was an alien raised by humans.

** Animal Planet's ''Series/FatalAttractions'' demonstrates several times that wild animals like chimpanzees and tigers make dangerous pets and '''cannot''' be treated like cats and dogs, even if they're raised in the presence of humans from birth. Several episodes end in an unfortunate owner being attacked by an animal they reared.

* Creator/AnimalPlanet's ''Series/FatalAttractions'':

* The Godzilla starring in ''Fanfic/TheBridge'' is the grown up Godzilla Junior from the Heisei Era, the Mother's Day special highlighting his upbringing under a MotherlyScientist named Azusa Gojo. This is cited as his reason for becoming his world's BigGood and protecting humanity rather than becoming a destructive monster or neutral like his predecessors. Junior even expresses apathy at finding out who his biological mother was, Azusa is the one that counts.

* ''Film/FlyAwayHome'', loosely based on a true story, tells of a girl who raised orphaned geese which imprinted on her, then learned to fly an ultralight so she could guide them to a wildlife sanctuary.

* ''Anime/BloodPlus'' has Saya [[spoiler: a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Chiropteran]] raised by humans and thus firmly on their side.]]
* ''Manga/DragonBall'': Son Goku, birth name Kakarot, is a Saiyan (a race of HumanAlien warriors) who was sent away from his home planet as a baby shortly before it was destroyed, and upon landing on Earth was taken in by Son Gohan, a kindly human martial artist who trained him in martial arts. However, Gohan raised Goku far from the rest of society, and was eventually killed when Goku transformed into an Ozaru (a giant were-ape form that all Saiyans have). It was only when Goku was twelve that he eventually met Bulma, who was looking for Gohan’s dragon ball, and started interacting with other humans on a regular basis. By the time he finds out he’s not human in his mid-20s, he has already integrated in society and fully considers himself a human of Earth.

* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':

** Of note is that the earliest version of Superman was only mentioned as having been found by a "passing motorist" and left at an orphanage. The Kents weren't introduced until a year later.

* This trope is played with in ''Fanfic/AAMLDiamondAndPearlVersion'', as Ash's Riolu (due primarily to the bond they share through Ash's Aura) and Misty's Azuril each see Ash and Misty as their parents, to the point that Riolu was surprised to meet his ''biological'' father; after Riolu learns to talk, he freely refers to Ash and Misty as 'Daddy' and 'Mommy', only amending it to 'Dad' and 'Mom' after he evolves.

* ''Anime/BloodPlus'' has Saya [[spoiler: a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Chiropteran]] raised by humans and thus firmly on their side.]]

* Caesar from ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'' - and, in the original series, ''Film/ConquestOfThePlanetOfTheApes'' - is a hyper-intelligent chimpanzee raised by humans.
* In the film version of ''Film/StuartLittle'', Stuart was an orphaned mouse adopted and raised by humans. The original novel, however, has him be an anthropomorphic mouse whose birth parents just happen to be human for some unexplained reason. "It's very unusual for an American family to have a mouse," says the doctor, as if it were more common in other nations.
* ''Charlie The Lonesome Cougar'' is about a cougar named Charlie who is raised by humans after his mother dies.

* In ''Film/WarOfTheGargantuas'', Sanda (The Brown Gargantua) was raised by humans and developed a strong protective bond with them. So much so that [[spoiler:he ends up fighting his brother, Gaira (The Green Gargantua) to the death to protect them.]]
* The titular character in ''Film/{{Hellboy|2004}}'' is a demon raised by humans.

* ''Film/FlyAwayHome'', loosely based on a true story, tells of a girl who raised orphaned geese which imprinted on her, then learned to fly an ultralight so she could guide them to a wildlife sanctuary.

* Thrall from the ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' franchise is an orc raised by humans as a slave. He eventually returns to his own kind and becomes their leader. The difference in upbringing makes itself known from time to time; such as in ''Warlords of Draenor'' when the orc Draka is surprised that Thrall didn't bring his mate with him to battle the Iron Horde. Thrall insisted she StayInTheKitchen with their little ones, and admits he hadn't considered the more orcish idea that war is when it's ''most'' vital to have family close by.

* Robert Smith from ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'' is a [[InsectoidAliens Mantis]] who was raised by humans and believes himself to be human. He can be easily recruited by a human crewmember, but, like any human, will completely freak out at the sight of a Mantis.

* ''Webcomic/WildeLife'': In the first few pages, Barbara Yaga snaps at her dogs that she "raised you better than that." This turns out to be true--she regularly [[HumanityEnsues turns them into human boys]] and treats them like her children.

* Godzilla, Jr. from ''WesternAnimation/GodzillaTheSeries'' {{imprint|ing}}ed on Nick Tatapolous as his adopted father. Since then, Godzilla has loyally protected Nick from danger and Nick does all he can to make sure Godzilla is safe and others are safe from him.

* ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' in which two humans (well, actually, two pairs of human lower bodies to be specific...but, eh, close enough) are the proud parents of a, well, cow and a chicken.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' features Spike, a "baby" dragon, who was raised by Ponies. This also passes into a case of OrcRaisedByElves. Spike is being raised by either the prey or the enemies of his species.

** Another episode featured a couple who raised a chimpanzee, Moe, and treated him as if he was a surrogate son to them. Unfortunately different chimps ended up badly damaging the owner's face when he was returning Moe to a California wildlife sanctuary.

** Clark Kent, birth name Kal-El, is a Kryptonian (a race of HumanAlien scientists) who was sent away from his home planet as a baby shortly before it was destroyed, and upon landing on Earth was taken in by the Kents, a kindly human couple. If you're feeling déjà vu, it's because Akira Toriyama was inspired by Superman.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' features Spike, a "baby" dragon, who was raised by Ponies. This also passes into an inversion of RaisedByOrcs. Spike is being raised by either the prey or the enemies of his species.

* Caesar from ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'' is a hyper-intelligent chimpanzee raised by humans.

* In ''Literature/WatershipDown'', General Woundwort was orphaned as a baby when a weasel killed his mother, and was taken in by a kindly local man. It's likely his later hyper-aggressiveness stems from the trauma of watching his mother being eaten and the stress of growing up apart from other rabbits.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', elves who are raised by humans are known as "the Forlorn" because [[Really700YearsOld their long lifespans]] mean they will see all their friends and loved ones age and die while they remain young. Merisiel, the iconic Rogue, is such a one.

* A variation comes from the movie ''WesternAnimation/BrotherBear''. Kenai (after being turned into a bear) becomes something of a surrogate brother to an orphaned cub named Koda. Ironically [[spoiler:Kenai is the very reason why Koda is orphaned since he killed Koda's mother as an act of vengence for killing Kenai's brother.]]

.

Alice is on a date with Bob. She tells him that she has an adopted son and that he's "different". Bob assures her that he loves kids and that he'd love to meet hers. Alice takes Bob to her home and introduces him to her son... who turns out to be a chimpanzee.

Essentially, this is an inversion of RaisedByWolves. Only, instead of animals raising people, people raise animals. This is especially common in FunnyAnimal shows, books, and movies. How well the animal integrates into human society also varies. Sometimes, the animal still acts like an animal, but views the humans that raised it as family and will protect them. Other times, the animal may end up acting like a human and/or even believing they ''are'' human until shown otherwise.

Most of the time, this is simply due to a human character adopting a non-human baby to care for. However, though rarer, some fictional stories actually have the non-human baby's biological parent(s) actually be human ([[MST3KMantra It's best not to think about it too hard]]).

See also MuggleFosterParents, where the adopted child is not an animal, but isn't a normal human either; and OrcRaisedByElves, in which the adopted parents aren't necessarily humans, but the result is the same. Humans raising members of other {{demihuman}} races, especially races that are usually hostile to humans, is an inversion of RaisedByOrcs.

A SubTrope of InterspeciesAdoption.

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!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/DragonBall'': Son Goku, birth name Kakarot, is a Saiyan (a race of HumanAlien warriors) who was sent away from his home planet as a baby shortly before it was destroyed, and upon landing on Earth was taken in by Son Gohan, a kindly human martial artist who trained him in martial arts. However, Gohan raised Goku far from the rest of society, and was eventually killed when Goku transformed into an Ozaru (a giant were-ape form that all Saiyans have). It was only when Goku was twelve that he eventually met Bulma, who was looking for Gohan’s dragon ball, and started interacting with other humans on a regular basis. By the time he finds out he’s not human in his mid-20s, he has already integrated in society and fully considers himself a human of Earth.
* ''Anime/BloodPlus'' has Saya [[spoiler: a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Chiropteran]] raised by humans and thus firmly on their side.]]
* Subverted in ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha''. Nanoha adopts [[HumanAlien Vivio]], but since Nanoha had already chosen to StayWithTheAliens several years earlier, Vivio is culturally Mid-childan rather than Japanese (though her name is in Japanese order).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
** Clark Kent, birth name Kal-El, is a Kryptonian (a race of HumanAlien scientists) who was sent away from his home planet as a baby shortly before it was destroyed, and upon landing on Earth was taken in by the Kents, a kindly human couple. If you're feeling déjà vu, it's because Akira Toriyama was inspired by Superman.
** This is nearly always reused no matter what the setting is, even Elseworld stories. In ''ComicBook/SupermanRedSon'', Kal-El's ship crashes in the Ukraine sometime in the 1920s, he is raised in a commune with socialist values and becomes the USSR's greatest champion; ''Superman: Mastermen'' has him raised as an Ubermensch by the Nazi party; ''Speeding Bullets'' has him become the adoptive son of the Wayne family and so on.
** Of note is that the earliest version of Superman was only mentioned as having been found by a "passing motorist" and left at an orphanage. The Kents weren't introduced until a year later.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* The Godzilla starring in ''Fanfic/TheBridge'' is the grown up Godzilla Junior from the Heisei Era, the Mother's Day special highlighting his upbringing under a MotherlyScientist named Azusa Gojo. This is cited as his reason for becoming his world's BigGood and protecting humanity rather than becoming a destructive monster or neutral like his predecessors. Junior even expresses apathy at finding out who his biological mother was, Azusa is the one that counts.
* This trope is played with in ''Fanfic/AAMLDiamondAndPearlVersion'', as Ash's Riolu (due primarily to the bond they share through Ash's Aura) and Misty's Azuril each see Ash and Misty as their parents, to the point that Riolu was surprised to meet his ''biological'' father; after Riolu learns to talk, he freely refers to Ash and Misty as 'Daddy' and 'Mommy', only amending it to 'Dad' and 'Mom' after he evolves.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films — Animation]]
* A variation comes from the movie ''WesternAnimation/BrotherBear''. Kenai (after being turned into a bear) becomes something of a surrogate brother to an orphaned cub named Koda. Ironically [[spoiler:Kenai is the very reason why Koda is orphaned since he killed Koda's mother as an act of vengence for killing Kenai's brother.]]
* Tod from ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheHound'' is raised by an old widow woman after his real mother had been killed by hunters.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'': Both Megamind and Metro Man are aliens who landed on earth as babies and were raised by humans. Metro Mans ship landed near the mansion of a rich couple and was mostly raised by his loving adoptive mother. Megamind however, ended up crashing into a nearby prison (his pod was originally on the way to the mansion but Metro Mans knocked his off course), and was raised by the inmates. They were nice enough parents but unfortunately taught him THEIR values, turning him into a criminal.
* Blu, the main character of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rio}}'', is a blue macaw who was smuggled out of Brazil and found by a little girl in Minnesota, who raises him to adulthood. Because of his sheltered upbringing, he has a hard time coping in the wild, especially since he never learned to fly. Not to mention it puts him at odds with the only female other of his kind, Jewel.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
* ''Film/TheCountryBears'' has a young bear cub that was raised by humans. He doesn't even know he is a bear until his adopted brother points it out.
* Caesar from ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'' is a hyper-intelligent chimpanzee raised by humans.
* In the film version of ''Film/StuartLittle'', Stuart was an orphaned mouse adopted and raised by humans. The original novel, however, has him be an anthropomorphic mouse whose birth parents just happen to be human for some unexplained reason. "It's very unusual for an American family to have a mouse," says the doctor, as if it were more common in other nations.
* ''Charlie The Lonesome Cougar'' is about a cougar named Charlie who is raised by humans after his mother dies.
* Irys from ''Film/Gamera3AwakeningOfIrys'' is raised by a human girl named Ayana. It's later subverted in that [[spoiler:Irys never saw Ayana as its mother and was instead manipulating her so it could become strong enough to absorb her and fight Gamera.]]
* In ''Film/WarOfTheGargantuas'', Sanda (The Brown Gargantua) was raised by humans and developed a strong protective bond with them. So much so that [[spoiler:he ends up fighting his brother, Gaira (The Green Gargantua) to the death to protect them.]]
* The titular character in ''Film/{{Hellboy|2004}}'' is a demon raised by humans.
* Godzilla Junior in ''Film/GodzillaVsMechagodzillaII''. Had quite the effect too, turning into a protective GentleGiant as we saw him grow up over the Heisei saga.
* ''Film/FlyAwayHome'', loosely based on a true story, tells of a girl who raised orphaned geese which imprinted on her, then learned to fly an ultralight so she could guide them to a wildlife sanctuary.
* In ''Film/TheMuppets'', Gary is flesh and blood. Walter is felt. They are biologically brothers, both being born to the same flesh and blood parents.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In the ''Literature/{{Babar}}'' books (and the cartoon based on it), the titular elephant was raised by an old lady simply referred to as [[NoNameGiven Madame]]. When Babar returns to his kind, he builds a city and teaches the elephants and other jungle animals how to live a civilized life.
* In ''[[Literature/TheDemonsLexicon The Demon Trilogy]]'', the demon Hnikarr possessed the body of an unborn infant. Taking possession of such an unformed mind provided a way for Hnikarr to keep the body from deteriorating (the original occupant being in no way equipped to resist), but it also caused Hnikarr to lose his memory and limited his mental development to that of his body (the reason that demons in the setting normally avoid possessing humans younger than [[DangerousSixteenthBirthday sixteen]]). The mother of the possessed baby then ran off with him, with the end result that he was RaisedByHumans [[spoiler:as Nicholas Ryves]].
* In the ''Literature/EarthsChildren'' series Ayla invents the concept: first she takes in a foal when she kills its mother for food, then she takes in lion cub which gets injured, then a wolf cub when she kills its mother.
* Children's book ''Elizabeth and Larry'' is about a CoolOldLady and her alligator son/roommate.
* Hagrid attempts this with a baby dragon in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series. He ends up letting Norbert ([[spoiler:or should we say [[SamusIsAGirl "Norberta"]]?]]) go to live in a dragon preserve in Romania.
* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''Literature/TheHermeticMillennia'', Menelaus is asked why he can't do something with his superhuman intellectual abilities. Menelaus explains that he was raised by humans, which puts him in the position of a human raised by wolves.
* Douglas Preston's novel ''Jennie'' is about a chimpanzee who's raised as a human by an American family, and actually believes herself to be a human.
* ''Literature/KeeperOfTheLostCities'': Sophie Foster grew up believing she was human, before discovering she was an elf at the age of 12. [[spoiler:Her human parents were having fertility troubles, and the doctor who treated them was an undercover agent of LaResistance who implanted Sophie's mother with her embryo.]]
* In ''Literature/{{Strata}}'', Marco the kung was left with an adoptive human family by his parents, who were alien ambassadors to Earth. Kung believe in reincarnation, so when their return to their homeworld was delayed and their son was born on Earth instead, Marco's folks assumed he must've received a ''human'' soul rather than kung, and they wanted him to grow up among "his own kind".
* In ''Literature/TalesOfKolmar'', an herbalist found a baby dragon mourning her mother and took her in for a year. The only other human she saw was his sister. He named her Salera, and she believed for a while that one day she'd lose her wings and stand on two legs, but figured things out on her own eventually.
* In ''Literature/WatershipDown'', General Woundwort was orphaned as a baby when a weasel killed his mother, and was taken in by a kindly local man. It's likely his later hyper-aggressiveness stems from the trauma of watching his mother being eaten and the stress of growing up apart from other rabbits.
* In Turtledove's ''Literature/{{Worldwar}}'' series, two Lizards are raised by one of the human characters.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Subverting this trope's effects are the main goals of ape rehabilitators on Creator/AnimalPlanet's ''Escape to Chimp Eden'' and ''Orangutan Island'', who train young apes orphaned or abused by humans how to set aside dependence on human caregivers and live free in the forest.
* Worf from ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' was adopted by human parents on a Federation colony when they found him amongst the rubble in the aftermath of a Romulan attack on a Klingon outpost. Worf is HappilyAdopted and treats his human parents with tenderness and love despite being avidly devoted to Klingon values as a ProudWarriorRaceGuy. His son, Alexander Rozhenko, even takes his adoptive grandparents' surname.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', elves who are raised by humans are known as "the Forlorn" because [[Really700YearsOld their long lifespans]] mean they will see all their friends and loved ones age and die while they remain young. Merisiel, the iconic Rogue, is such a one.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Giegue/Giygas from ''Videogame/EarthBound'' was an alien raised by humans.
* Discussed in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', where if [=FemShep=] and Garrus are in a romance, they have a conversation about the possibility of settling down and adopting children after the war is over. They come to the conclusion that since [[HalfHumanHybrid Human-Turian Hybrids]] are biologically impossible, it'll likely be war-orphans or one of the ''[[ExplosiveBreeders many]]'' baby Krogan, should the [[DepopulationBomb Genophage]] have been cured.
* Thrall from the ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' franchise is an orc raised by humans as a slave. He eventually returns to his own kind and becomes their leader. The difference in upbringing makes itself known from time to time; such as in ''Warlords of Draenor'' when the orc Draka is surprised that Thrall didn't bring his mate with him to battle the Iron Horde. Thrall insisted she StayInTheKitchen with their little ones, and admits he hadn't considered the more orcish idea that war is when it's ''most'' vital to have family close by.
* Teddie from ''VideoGame/Persona4'' was originally a [[spoiler:mindless Shadow. After becoming self-aware]] he lived all on his own and isolated, until the Investigation Team, especially Yosuke and Yu, started to pretty much raise him. He's been acting as somewhat of a little brother figure to Yosuke (thus mirroring Nanako and her relationship to Yu) ever since.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/DarkWings'' has Sleet the albino wyvern and Arra the Great Dragon. They were rescued as babies by a villager, and now defend the village against wolves and such.
* ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' has the Bowman's Wolves, a genetically modified UpliftedAnimal in early development. The first generation were placed with human families to ensure they had other sapients to learn from. Florence mentions going to the zoo with her human family to see her birth mother (an ordinary red wolf).
* ''Webcomic/WildeLife'': In the first few pages, Barbara Yaga snaps at her dogs that she "raised you better than that." This turns out to be true--she regularly [[HumanityEnsues turns them into human boys]] and treats them like her children.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Godzilla, Jr. from ''WesternAnimation/GodzillaTheSeries'' {{imprint|ing}}ed on Nick Tatapolous as his adopted father. Since then, Godzilla has loyally protected Nick from danger and Nick does all he can to make sure Godzilla is safe and others are safe from him.
* Subverted in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' where Finn The Human tries to raise a baby Jiggler. His heart's in the right place, but he doesn't know how to take care of the Jiggler and nearly kills it. He ends up bringing the baby back to its mother.
* Subverted with Brian from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. While he is treated like part of the family, he's only considered the family pet rather than a surrogate son to Lois and Peter, most likely because Brian was already well into middle-age when he met the Griffins and was never "raised" by them per se.
** Played straight in the episode "Brain's Wallows and Peter's Swallows" in which a bird makes a nest in Peter's beard (ItMakesSenseInContext) before being frightened away. The bird had laid eggs in said beard which hatch and Peter ends up taking care of them until they are old enough to take care of themselves and fly away.
* ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' in which two humans (well, actually, two pairs of human lower bodies to be specific...but, eh, close enough) are the proud parents of a, well, cow and a chicken.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' features Spike, a "baby" dragon, who was raised by Ponies. This also passes into an inversion of RaisedByOrcs. Spike is being raised by either the prey or the enemies of his species.
* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', Angela and her 35 rookery siblings (including [[WordOfGod three beasts]], though we've only seen one) were raised on Avalon by three humans.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Many people who have pets do see them as part of the family and view them as their own children. This is especially evident with families with "empty nest syndrome" who often get a pet as a sort of "surrogate child".
* Creator/AnimalPlanet's ''Series/FatalAttractions'':
** An episode featured a man who raised a lion cub as if it were his own child. Said cub ended up mauling his actual human daughter. The lion had to be shot and killed by the very man who raised her in order to save his daughter.
** Another episode featured a couple who raised a chimpanzee, Moe, and treated him as if he was a surrogate son to them. Unfortunately different chimps ended up badly damaging the owner's face when he was returning Moe to a California wildlife sanctuary.
* A similar incident happened with the infamous "Travis The Chimp", who attacked a friend of his owner and was shot by police. Suffice to say, this is very common with non-domesticated animals raised by humans, as they have certain adult behavior and instincts that aren't compatible with their human "parent".
* Several chimpanzees were raised as humans by scientists, who were trying to teach them human language. ''Film/ProjectNim'' is a documentary about such an experiment. Nim was dressed in human clothes, diapered, and even ''breastfed'' by a woman. Obviously, this never works, as a chimp is a chimp no matter how much you treat it as a human.
* Averted as much as possible by conservation biologists, who don't want young or orphaned animals in their care to get used to humans because it will leave them vulnerable to hunters, getting hit by cars, etc. When rearing wild animal babies slated for eventual release, they often disguise their human features with sock-puppets and concealing scents, preventing the animal from ever realizing that this trope applies.
* As human society has moved away from treating domesticated animals solely as foodstock or tools, many species that were formerly just farm animals are now often raised as pets, most notably dogs and cats, who are also the ones that best adapt to human families. Dogs adapt the best and often view their owner very loyally, but cats also become very friendly to humans if raised properly.
[[/folder]]
----

Most of the time, this is simply due to a human character adopting a non-human baby to care for. However, though rarer, some fictional stories actually have the non-human baby's biological parent(s) actually be human ([[MST3KMantra It's best not to think about it too hard]])

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* Tod from ''Disney/TheFoxAndTheHound'' is raised by an old widow woman after his real mother had been killed by hunters.

* A variation comes from the movie ''Disney/BrotherBear''. Kenai (after being turned into a bear) becomes something of a surrogate brother to an orphaned cub named Koda. Ironically [[spoiler:Kenai is the very reason why Koda is orphaned since he killed Koda's mother as an act of vengence for killing Kenai's brother.]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* In Turtledove's Literature/WorldWar Series, two Lizards are raised by one of the human characters.
* In ''[[Literature/TheDemonsLexicon The Demon Trilogy]]'', the demon Hnikarr possessed the body of an unborn infant. Taking possession of such an unformed mind provided a way for Hnikarr to keep the body from deteriorating (the original occupant being in no way equipped to resist), but it also caused Hnikarr to lose his memory and limited his mental development to that of his body (the reason that demons in the setting normally avoid possessing humans younger than [[DangerousSixteenthBirthday sixteen]]). The mother of the possessed baby then ran off with him, with the end result that he was RaisedByHumans [[spoiler:as Nicholas Ryves]].

* Children's book ''Elizabeth and Larry'' is about a CoolOldLady and her alligator son/roommate.
* In the ''Literature/{{Babar}}'' books (and the cartoon based on it), the titular elephant was raised by an old lady simply referred to as [[NoNameGiven Madame]]. When Babar returns to his kind, he builds a city and teaches the elephants and other jungle animals how to live a civilized life.
* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''Literature/TheHermeticMillennia'', Menelaus is asked why he can't do something with his superhuman intellectual abilities. Menelaus explains that he was raised by humans, which puts him in the position of a human raised by wolves.

* In ''Literature/{{Strata}}'', Marco the kung was left with an adoptive human family by his parents, who were alien ambassadors to Earth. Kung believe in reincarnation, so when their return to their homeworld was delayed and their son was born on Earth instead, Marco's folks assumed he must've received a ''human'' soul rather than kung, and they wanted him to grow up among "his own kind".

* Worf from Star Trek [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration The Next Generation]] was adopted by human parents on a Federation colony when they found him amongst the rubble in the aftermath of a Romulan attack on a Klingon outpost. Worf is HappilyAdopted and treats his human parents with tenderness and love despite being avidly devoted to Klingon values as a ProudWarriorRaceGuy. His son, Alexander Rozhenko, even takes his adoptive grandparents' surname.

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* The titular character in ''Film/{{Hellboy}}'' is a demon raised by humans.