History Main / TrueBreedingHybrid

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom'': The first king and queen of Hyrule 10,000 years before the story's present were Rauru and Sonia. Rauru was a Zonai, a race of BeastMen that look a bit like carnivorous goats, while Sonia was a Hylian, essentially the setting's version of normal humans. The Royal Family of Hyrule are directly descended from this couple, meaning that they have faint Zonai ancestry despite otherwise being indistinguishable from other Hylians.

* Averted in ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'', whose protagonist is a human born from a half-elf and half-orc, but the author [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/42502797/comments/604056996 has stated]] that's the reason she never gets pregnant despite having slept with members of all three races across the series.

* ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' explains the existence of so many MixAndMatchCritters to the setting's "love springs," which are basically rivers of LovePotion. So basically, enough people drank from them by mistake and subsequently [[BestialityIsDepraved mated with horses]] that centaurs became a self-sustained race. {{Harp|ingAboutHarpies}}ies, who are half-human and half-vulture, went through a period where the males were seemingly extinct; to sustain their race, the females mated with humans and vultures in alternate generations. Eventually one male harpy was found in the magical equivalent of suspended animation, and he was able to father sons.

In Real Life this is called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_speciation hybrid speciation]] and, on a larger scale, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reticulate_evolution reticulate evolution]]. Depending on how long it has been since the two species diverged, the hybrid could fail or thrive on a spectrum, reflecting [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species_concept the species problem.]]

* Many species of small wild cats are capable of successfully producing fertile hybrids with one another. This has resulted in the creation of a number of domestic cat breeds created by breeding domestic cats with wild cats of various species and then breeding the hybrids together to obtain varieties of cat with appearances and coat colors housecats don't normally develop. Examples of stably self-perpetuating breeds created in this manner include [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengal_cat Bengal cats]] (descend from hybrids of domestic cats and Asian leopard cats), [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chausie chausies]] (domestic cat x jungle cat) and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savannah_cat savannah cats]] (domestic cat x serval), although first generation male savannah cats tend to be sterile, requiring the females to be bred with other domestic cats.

* [[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5856550/ A 2018 genetic study]] on the recently-extinct elephant species ''Palaeoloxodon antiquus'' indicates it underwent extensive hybridization with other elephant species, with 60% of its genes coming from the precursors of the two modern ''Loxodonta'' species (African elephants) and 6% of its DNA coming from ''Mammuthus'' (mammoths). Both this and a 2016 study found ''P. antiquus'''s closest living relative is the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis'') due to a large portion of its genes coming from the ancestral precursor to this species. The same 2018 study also found extensive interbreeding between Columbian mammoths and woolly mammoths. [[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7116897/ Another study from 2021]] showed that Columbian mammoths themselves are the result of hybridization between woolly mammoth ancestors and a previously unknown mammoth lineage that may have become the first to colonize North America.

* [[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5856550/ A 2018 genetic study]] on the recently-extinct elephant species ''Palaeoloxodon antiquus'' indicates it underwent extensive hybridization with other elephant species, with 60% of its genes coming from the precursors of the two modern ''Loxodonta'' species (African elephants) and 6% of its DNA coming from ''Mammuthus'' (mammoths). Both this and a 2016 study found ''P. antiquus'''s closest living relative is the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis'') due to a large portion of its genes coming from the ancestral precursor to this species. The same 2018 study also found extensive interbreeding between Columbian mammoths and woolly mammoths.

* ''WebOriginal/HamstersParadise'': The [[AlwaysChaoticEvil harmsters]] were originally made of four different species with their own distinct cultural groups. The widespread and adaptable savannah harmsters, the [[MoreDeadlyThanTheMale sexually dimorphic]] and comparatively large matriarch harmsters, the isolated and [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch peaceful]] mountain harmsters and the technologically advanced and unified tundra harmsters. After a world war between the different species ended with a tundra victory (and [[FinalSolution mountain extermination]]), they were smart enough to recognize the physical advantages of their defeated foes and [[HybridizationPlot forcibly interbred]] with captured savannah and matriarch harmsters. The resulting hybrids would look different depending on the percentage of what harmster species made up their ancestry but all were capable of reproduction and the new cultures that came about afterwards would have their own unique look to them. Additionally, after said hybridization, the captured savannahs and matriarch were selectively bred into the [[FormerlySapientSpecies animalistic]] brutes. All capable of reproducing themselves, with both each other and with the harmsters. The latter would result in a sustaining population of large, primitive harmsters known as the [[FrazettaMan Frazettas]].

* ''WebOriginal/{{Serina}}'':

* While modern humans are not genetically diverse enough to encompass multiple species, or even subspecies, there is considerable evidence that our ancestors hybridized with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbreeding_between_archaic_and_modern_humans Neanderthals and Denisovians]].

* Many species of small wild cats are capable of successfully producing fertile hybrids with one another. This has resulted in the creation of a number of domestic cat breeds created by breeding domestic cats with wild cats of various species and then breeding the hybrids together to obtain varieties of cat with appearances and coat colors housecats don't normally develop. Examples of stably self-perpetuating breeds created in this manner include [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengal_cat bengal cats]] (descend from hybrids of domestic cats and Asian leopard cats), [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chausie chausies]] (domestic cat x jungle cat) and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savannah_cat savannah cats]] (domestic cat x serval), although first generation male savannah cats tend to be sterile, requiring the females to be bred with other domestic cats.

* While modern humans are not genetically diverse enough to encompass multiple species, or even subspecies, there is considerable evidence that our ancestors hybridized with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbreeding_between_archaic_and_modern_humans neanderthals and denisovians]].

In Real Life this is called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_speciation hybrid speciation]] and, on a larger scale, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reticulate_evolution reticulate evolution]]. Depending on how long it has been since the two species diverged, the hybrid could fail or thrive on a spectrum, reflecting [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species_concept the species problem]].

* ''ComicBook/{{Monstress}}'': Arcanics are the descendants of the immortal Ancients and their assorted human lovers over the past few centuries. Most consider them to have become a distinct species.

** The ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' article "Greyhawk 2000", imagining a PostModernMagic future for the ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'' setting, features sylvans and breed; statistically identical to half-elves and half-orcs, but now recognised as distinct races.
** Other ''Dragon'' articles have discussed the "lost" or "forgotten" chromatic dragons. While everyone knows about the white, black, green, blue and red chromatic dragons, some scholars believe in the existence of yellow, orange and purple dragons. The interactions between these two dragon families are thought to have produced new breeds via color theory: yellow and blue dragons might have bred to create the green subspecies, orange dragons could be the result of red and yellow dragons mating, and purple dragons might descend from red and blue dragons. This also helps explain some of these conjectured crossbreeds' {{Breath Weapon}}s: the green dragon's cone of poisonous gas is thought to be the result of the blue dragon's [[ShockAndAwe electricity breath]] separating chlorine gas from the yellow dragon's salt (sodium chloride) attack, while a purple dragon's PureEnergy breath attack, often likened to plasma, is a combination of a blue dragon's line of electricity and a red dragon's cone of fire.

* ''Literature/TheWarGods'': Half-Elves, also known as the Purple Lords, aren't ''quite'' a stable sixth race, but they come close. If two half-elves have children, those kids will be half-elven even if the elven ancestors are several generations back. (A half-elf/elf pairing also produces half-elven children, but half-elf/human means the children are humans.) Most other hybrids are less stable - human/hradani pairings, for example, can produce children, but said children are usually sterile.
* ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' explains the existence of so many MixAndMatchCritters to the setting's "love springs," which are basically rivers of LovePotion. So basically, enough people drank from them by mistake and subsequently [[BestialityIsDepraved mated with horses]] that centaurs became a self-sustained race.
** [[HarpingAboutHarpies Harpies]], who are half-human and half-vulture, went through a period where the males were seemingly extinct; to sustain their race, the females mated with humans and vultures in alternate generations. Eventually one male harpy was found in the magical equivalent of suspended animation, and he was able to father sons.

* ''Literature/TheWarGods'': Half-Elves, also known as the Purple Lords, aren't ''quite'' a stable sixth race, but they come close. If two half-elves have children, those kids will be half-elven even if the elven ancestors are several generations back. (A half-elf/elf pairing also produces half-elven children, but half-elf/human means the children are humans.)

* ''WebOriginal/HamstersParadise'': The [[AlwaysChaoticEvil harmsters]] were originally made of four different species with their own distinct cultural groups. The widespread and adaptable savannah harmsters, the [[MoreDeadlyThanTheMale sexually dimorphic]] and comparatively large matriarch harmsters, the isolated and [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch peaceful]] mountain harmsters and the technologically advanced and unified tundra harmsters. After a world war between the different species ended with a tundra victory (and [[FinalSolution mountain extermination]]), they were smart enough to recognize the physical advantages of their defeated foes and [[HybridizationPlot forcibly interbred]] with captured savannah and matriarch harmsters. The resulting hybrids would look different depending on the percentage of what harmster species made up their ancestry but all were capable of reproduction and the new cultures that came about afterwards would have their own unique look to them.
** Additionally, after said hybridization, the captured savannahs and matriarch were selectively bred into the [[FormerlySapientSpecies animalistic]] brutes. All capable of reproducing themselves, with both each other and with the harmsters. The latter would result in a sustaining population of large, primitive harmsters known as the [[FrazettaMan Frazettas]].

* ''WebOriginal/{{Serina}}'': The wooly wumpos arose through hybrid speciation of two closely related species that existed at the onset of the ice age, the desert wump and the mammoth trunko, as they were forced together by shrinking habitats. By joining in this manner, the two species' descendants ended up being better-suited for the new environment than either ancestor by itself, as they possessed both the wumps' physical adaptations for life in harsh, cold environments with scarce food and the trunkos' intelligence, social habits, and preference for living in multi-generational herds led by the most experienced members.

* ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments'': Played straight with the [[{{Nephilim}} shadowhunters]] and the [[TheFairFolk fairies]], which are all the children of other shadowhunters and fairies (the first fairies were the common descendants of angels and demons). This is inverted with the [[MageSpecies warlocks]], who are always born from a union between a demon and a human and are otherwise sterile.

* Failure to conceive
* Conception occurs, but the embryo/fetus spontaneously aborts
* The hybrid is born, but dies young
* The hybrid lives, but is itself sterile
* The hybrid can breed, but sterilization or failure occurs after a few generations
* The hybrid and its descendants can thrive

* ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'': Averted with Haara, whose parents were a half-elf and half-orc. Despite inheriting both of their human halves, her hybrid genetics is the reason she never gets pregnant despite having slept with dozens of different characters throughout the series.

* Among humans, entire ethnic communities have been formed from multiracial people bonding with each other--sexually, culturally, and politically--due to their shared experience and, in many cases, distinct legal status. Groups like the Métis of Canada, Coloureds of South Africa, Creoles of Louisiana, Mestizos of Latin America, etc.