Saturday, March 5, 2011

Posthuman Categories in Fiction

I have identified four loose categories of Posthuman used in fiction.

Evolved/Altered Humans - Humans that have evolved from humans, or have been genetically altered from humans. [Splice, Space Marines from Warhammer 40k, Eloi/Morlocks from The Time Machine]



Cloned Humans - Humans that have been cloned from other humans (duh). Different from the first category because these are specifically created as a copy of a human. [The Island (2005), Clone army from Star Wars]



Cyborgs - Beings made from a combination of a human and machine parts. [Stalkers from Mortal Engines, Necrons from Warhammer 40k, Toclafane from Doctor Who]



Artificial Intelligence - Machine programming that has developed sentience. Most often this is far more advanced than that of humans. [Machines from the Matrix, I Robot by Isaac Asimov, 9 Planets Without Intelligent Life]



Cyborgs and AI appeal to me the most. I like drawing machines forms, and they have a nice opportunity for narrative expression.

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