List of Uplift Universe species

A list of fictional (and mostly extraterrestrial) species in the Uplift Universe series of novels by David Brin.

When formally referenced, a species' name includes all of its surviving patrons and clients. The prefix "ul-" indicates a client and is an abbreviation for UpLifted. The prefix "ab-" indicates a patron race and is an acronym of Aided-By. Therefore, for instance, the species Dolphin is formally Dolphin-ab-Human. Humans, in turn, are formally Human-ul-Chimpanzee-ul-Dolphin. Other Prefixes also exist (such as "zor-" representing former patrons when clients choose to change patrons). Among powerful clans species names can become quite involved.

• Acceptor (ab-Tandu-ab-N'8ght)- a clairsentient species which is addicted to sensory input (to the extent that even pain is viewed as just another sensory input, and can be ignored)
• Bahtwin (ab-Gello ab-Soro-ab-Hul-ab-Puber) psi-adepts, former clients of the Gello
• Bi-Gle
• Brothers of the Night (ab-Nighthunter)
• Brma (ab-Krallnith-ul-Caltmour)
• Bururalli (ab-Nahalli) - The Burualli were carnivores uplifted by the Nahalli. After their independence from their patrons, they were given the planet of Garth. After several hundred years, they exterminated all higher life forms on Garth, and reverted to a pre-uplift state. They brought the planet to the brink of collapse, and were exterminated by the Galactics.
• Buyur (ul-Tunnuctyur) (pronounced like buyer)
• Caltmour (ab-Brma-ab-Krallnith-ul-Tymbrimi)
• Neochimpanzee (ab-Human) - Most of the Chimpanzee characters in the series have been genetically engineered to sapiency.
• Neodog (ab-Human) - Mentioned only in passing, neo-Dogs would be the "third" (actually fourth) Earth native species to be engineered to full sapience.
• Neodolphin (ab-Human) - The Dolphin characters in the series have been genetically engineered to sapiency.
• Drooli (ul-G'Kek)
• Episiarch (ab-Tandu-ab-N'8ght) - a race with a powerful talent for imposing their will upon reality itself.
• F'ruthian
• Foruni
• Forski (ab-Soro-ab-Hul-ab-Puber)
• G'Kek (ab-Drooli) - The first of seven races to illegally settle on the fallow planet Jijo, the G'Kek have since become extinct elsewhere in the galaxy, due to a campaign of persecution which the Jijoan exiles sought to escape. Physically, they are wheeled creatures with magnetically-driven axles and a pair of short "pusher" legs, possessing a compact trunk with two arms ending in weak, feathery hands, and topped by four highly sensitive eyes on stalks. Most of their emotive expression is produced by these eyestalks; twining two stalks together is equivalent to a shrug, while having all four eyes stare into each other connotes introspection.
• Garthling/Gorilla (zor-Human-ab-Thennanin-ab-Wortl-ab-Kosh-ab-Rosh-ab-Tothtoon)
• Gello (ab-Pila-ab-Kisa-ab-Soro-ab-Hul-ab-Puber) (Sundiver says that the Gello are the clients of the Pila, but Startide Rising says they are the first clients of the Soro; the patronymics here are for Sundiver's explanation)
• Gl'kahesh
• Glaver (ab-Tunnuctyur ab-Buyur)
• Glououvis
• Gooksyu (ul-Gubru)
• Gubru (ab-Gooksyu-ul-Kwackoo-ul-Okukoo)
• Guldingar
• Guthatsa (ul-Hoon)
• Hoon (ab-Guthatsa-ul-Rousit) - A race known in the Five Galaxies as officious bureaucrats. On the advice of an oracle, a breakaway group hides away in Jijo to rediscover something their patrons took away from them. The Hoon are large and vaguely humanoid, with characteristics of both reptiles and mammals; on Jijo they have developed a profound fondness for boating which is implied to be a deep-seated instinct, forgotten by their Galactic cousins. They have a reputation for being slow, patient thinkers with a sentimental and traditional culture, being difficult to anger but uniquely terrible when enraged.
• Hul (ab-Puber-ul-Soro)
• Human (ul-Chimpanzee-ul-Dolphin-ul-Dog, potentially ul-Kiqui by stated future intent.) - Because of their status as heretic "wolflings" (humans claim to have uplifted themselves), they are pariahs in much of the Galaxy. However, because they uplifted chimpanzees and dolphins, they are recognized as patrons, and must be given planets to colonize. These planets have always been ecologically mismanaged by other races, and humans have developed a reputation for their ability to restore planets. This is in contrast to early contact, where human mismanagement of Earth meant that some Galactics wanted to exterminate humans.
• Incrementor (ab-Tandu)
• J'8lek
• Jophur (ab-Poa) - originally the pacifistic traeki (non-capitalized), a race composed of semi-sentient individual 'rings' which stack to form a fully sentient - and non-individualistic - entity. The innovation of 'master rings' added the concept of "I" to their stacks and transformed the traeki into Jophur (capitalized).
• Jouourouou
• Kanten (ab-Linten-ab-Siqul-ul-Nish)
• Karrank% (% pronounced as a double glottal stop) (ab-Nr~klat-ab-*Yrstk*-ab-Sien)
• Kiqui [ab-Human?] - Discovered during the book Startide Rising, this pre-sapient species is described as a likely future client race for humanity.
• Kisa (ab-Soro-ab-Hul-ab-Puber-ul-Pila)
• Klennath
• Klesh
• Klick-Klick (ab-Synthian)
• Komahd
• Kosh (ab-Rosh-ab-Tothtoon-ul-Wortl)
• Krallnith (ul-Brma)
• Kwackoo (ab-Gubru-ab-Gooksyu)
• Le'4-2vo
• Linten (ab-Siqul-ul-Kanten)
• Luber (ul-Puber) [also known as Lethani]
• Mellin
• Mrgh'4luargi
• Muhurn8
• Nahalli (ulsu-Bururalli) - The Nahalli uplifted the Bururalli, a group of carnivores. Following the independence of the Bururalli, who nearly destroyed the planet of Garth, they were reduced to clients of the Thennanin.
• N'8ght (ul-Tandu)
• Nighthunter (ul-Brothers of the Night)
• Nish (ab-Kanten-ab-Linten-ab-Siqul)
• Oallie
• Okukoo (ab-Gubru)
• Olumimin (ab-Thennanin-ab-Wortl-ab-Kosh-ab-Rosh-ab-Tothtoon)
• Oulomin
• P'ort'l
• P'un m'ang
• Paha (ab-Soro-ab-Hul-ab-Puber)
• Paimin (ab-Thennanin-ab-Wortl-ab-Kosh-ab-Rosh-ab-Tothtoon)
• Pargi (ab-Prochna-ab-Hrnychi/ul-Brmoprn-ul-Bl@mtsht-ul-Ixngi)
• Pee'oot (ul-Chebi-ul-Tharner-ul-Synthian-ul-Wazoon-ul-Se'een-ul-Klink-Klick)
• Pila (ab-Kisa-ab-Soro-ab-Hul-ab-Puber-ul-Pring)
• Poa (ul-Jophur [ul-Traeki?] -ul-Sarrphor-ul-Phasheni-ul-Dorrvi-ul-Voam-Voam)
• Por'n'aths
• Pring (ab-Pila-ab-Kisa-ab-Soro-ab-Hul-ab-Puber)
• Progenitors - the fabled "first race", believed to be the first to uplift themselves to spacefaring sentience, and begin the chain of uplift.
• Pthaca
• Puber (ul-Hul)
• Puntictin
• Qheuens (ab-Zhosh) - Third of the exile species to arrive on Jijo, the qheuen are an amphibious crustacean-like species with five legs and a chitinous-shelled body, from which a retractable "cupola" rises in lieu of a head, with a ribbon-like "eye" that sees in all directions. Three castes of qheuen exist, identified by the color of their shells: red, blue, and grey, with the latter being traditionally a ruling caste. Said to have emigrated to Jijo for "more cultural" reasons than the other sooner species, the qheuens ruled tyrannically over the planet for centuries until they were unseated by urrish warriors, who in turn terrorized the humans after they arrived; unlike the urs, they seem to have accepted their defeat gracefully and no longer retain much of a warrior tradition. Qheuen (on Jijo at least) have descriptive names such as "Pincer-Tip", "Blade", or "Knife-Bright Insight", taking these at a certain point after their ceremonial emergence from a larval "hatching pool". The qheuen are noted as excellent artisans, carving wooden implements with great skill using a multi-part rasping tongue which emerges from their underside.
• Rammin (ab-Thennanin-ab-Wortl-ab-Kosh-ab-Rosh-ab-Tothtoon)
• Rosh (ab-Tothtoon-ul-Kosh)
• Rothen (-ab?)
• Rousit (ab-Hoon-ab-Guthatsa)
• Ruguggi
• Serentini (ab-Clauthin-ab-Rihwlr-ab-Mitahs / ul-Minatis-ul-Sprwo)
• Se'een (ab-Synthian)
• Siqul (ul-Linten-ul-Kanten-ul-Nish)
• Skiano (ul-Hipnek-ul-Kennnn)
• Solarians (ergovores, hence not members of the Civilization of Five Galaxies)
• Soro (ab-Hul-ab-Puber-ul-Gello-ul-Forski-ul-Paha-ul-Kisa)
• Sstienn
• Synthian (ul-Wazoon-ul-Se'een-ul-Klick-Klick)
• Talpu'ur
• Tandu (ab-N'8ght-ul-Acceptor-ul-Episiarch-ul-Incrementor)
• Tarseuh (ul-Thippt-ul-Tchoost-ul-Taxt)
• Thennanin (ab-Wortl-ab-Kosh-ab-Rosh-ab-Tothtoon-ul-Paimin-ul-Rammin-ul-Ynnin-ul-Olumimun-ul-Garthling): A species known for its cautious conservatism. The Thennanin became allies of EarthClan upon their selection as patrons by the neo-Gorillas of Garth, also known as Garthlings.
• Tothtoon (ul-Rosh)
• Tourmaj
• Touvint
• traeki [ab-Poa or ab-Jophur] — A communal organism composed of a stack of sap rings, each with a different function. This pacifist race was reengineered by the Oallie (as requested by the traeki's Poa patrons) into the conquering Jophur, except for a fugitive group that hid on the planet Jijo. Natural biochemists who store memories in the form of waxy deposits within their core, the traeki (intentionally never capitalized) subsist on mulch and prefer dwelling in swamps; they move poorly on land, possessing only small nubs with which to locomote, but fare better in water through the use of flippers (growing a new ring for the purpose in either case). They have multiple modes of reproduction, of which the most unusual is termed "vlen-budding"; this process splits several of the individual's rings off into a new stack, and takes such a toll on the budding "parent" that it may change its name as a result, refusing to answer to the previous name because it has discarded parts of that former "self" to form the budded offspring, who also receives a new name. They were the second race to settle illegally on Jijo, doing so in an effort to escape the megalomaniac nature that was imposed on their Jophur cousins; their arrival was alarming to the established G'kek, and their presence nearly scared off the qheuen when they arrived, but both races soon came to know the traeki as the most peaceful of races - even as they themselves dreaded the arrival of the fearsome Jophur more than any other species.
• Tunictguppit
• Tunnuctyur (ab-Buyur-ul-Glaver)
• Tuvallians
• Tymbrimi (absu-Caltmour-ab-Brma-ab-Krallnith-ul-Tytlal) - An ally of humanity, these humanoids have feathery sensory organs that extend from their temples and give them a type of psi-sensitivity.
• Tytlal (ab-Tymbrimi-absu-Caltmour-ab-Brma-ab-Krallnith) Otter-like species. Non-Uplifted form known as "noor" on the planet Jijo.
• Urs - Vaguely centauroid creatures from a dry, volcanic grassland planet, Urchachka. Possess extreme sexual dimorphism: males are tiny enough to live in the marsupial-like pouches of their wives, who may have several husbands at a time, expelling the least-valued when necessary to make room for new "larvae". An adult female urs has several arms (the pouches are beneath these), multiple whiplike tails, and a long, flexible neck; the conical head bears two eyes that possess lids and lids, along with a third, central eye that watches for scavenging insects while the urs sleeps. They have one nostril and a triple-cleft lip, which gives them a lisp when speaking Earth languages (consequently, they prefer the Galactic languages even when speaking to humans); their names invariably begin with "ur" or "ul". They are exclusive carnivores and have a strong aversion to water, usually drinking only the blood of their prey. Last of the exile species to arrive on Jijo prior to humans, the urs warred extensively with mankind prior to the establishment of a "Great Peace" among all six remaining exile species; their hostility was founded on numerous factors, including the fact that urs lifespans are half those of humans, as well as various cultural and biological frictions. After the Commons were formed, the urs became renowned as smiths and couriers among the six races of Jijo, but many of them continued to nurture warlike tendencies (aimed particularly at humans) and quickly seized upon the opportunity to engage in combat after the Great Peace was broken.
• Varhisties
• Vriiilh
• Wazoon (ab-Synthian)
• Wortl (ab-Kosh-ab-Rosh-ab-Tothtoon-ul-Thennanin)
• Xapp (ab-Xatinni)
• Xatinni (ul-Xapp-ab-Xaal)
• Ynnin (ab-Thennanin-ab-Wortl-ab-Kosh-ab-Rosh-ab-Tothtoon)
• Z'Tang (ab-KI'Brouge'-ab-Jerbtk / ul-Z'boal-ul-Z'rug)
• Zang (hydrogen breathers, hence not members of the Civilization of Five Galaxies)
• Zhosh (ul-Qheuens)
• Zitlths
• Zugh
• Zyu8

Family trees

Below are the Uplift Universe races by their "family tree" information. The lists are not completely consistent, as noted with "BUG" below.

• Buyur (ul-Tunnuctyur)
  • Tunnuctyur (ab-Buyur-ul-Glaver)
    • Glaver (ab-Tunnuctyur ab-Buyur)
• Drooli (ul-G'Kek)
  • G'Kek (ab-Drooli)
• Gooksyu (ul-Gubru)
  • Gubru (ab-Gooksyu-ul-Kwackoo-ul-Okukoo)
    • Kwackoo (ab-Gubru-ab-Gooksyu)
    • Okukoo (ab-Gubru BUG)
• Guthatsa (ul-Hoon)
  • Hoon (ab-Guthatsa-ul-Rousit)
    • Rousit (ab-Hoon-ab-Guthatsa)
• Human (ul-Chimpanzee-ul-Dolphin-ul-Dog, ul-Kiqui?)
  • Neochimpanzee (ab-Human)
  • Neodolphin (ab-Human)
  • Neodog (ab-Human)
  • Kiqui [ab-Human?]
• Krallnith (ul-Brma)
  • Brma (ab-Krallnith-ulsu-Caltmour)
    • Caltmour (ab-Brma-ab-Krallnith-ul-Tymbrimi)
      • Tymbrimi (absu-Caltmour-ab-Brma-ab-Krallnith-ul-Tytlal)
        • Tytlal (ab-Tymbrimi-absu-Caltmour-ab-Brma-ab-Krallnith)
• Luber (ul-Puber BUG)
  • Puber (BUG ul-Hul)
    • Hul (ab-Puber-ul-Soro)
      • Soro (ab-Hul-ab-Puber-ul-Gello-ul-Forski-ul-Paha-ul-Kisa)
        • Gello (ab-Pila-ab-Kisa-ab-Soro-ab-Hul-ab-Puber BUG)
        • Forski (ab-Soro-ab-Hul-ab-Puber)
        • Paha (ab-Soro-ab-Hul-ab-Puber)
        • Kisa (ab-Soro-ab-Hul-ab-Puber-ul-Pila)
          • Pila (ab-Kisa-ab-Soro-ab-Hul-ab-Puber-ul-Pring)
            • Pring (ab-Pila-ab-Kisa-ab-Soro-ab-Hul-ab-Puber)
• Nahalli (ul-Bururalli)
  • Bururalli (ab-Nahalli)
• N'8ght (ul-Tandu)
  • Tandu (ab-N'8ght-ul-Acceptor-ul-Episiarch-ul-Incrementor)
    • Acceptor (ab-Tandu-ab-N'8ght)
    • Episiarch (ab-Tandu-ab-N'8ght)
    • Incrementor (ab-Tandu BUG)
• Nighthunter (ul-Brothers of the Night)
  • Brothers of the Night (ab-Nighthunter)
• Poa (ul-Jophur) [ul-Traeki?]
  • traeki? [ab-Poa or ab-Jophur]
  • Jophur (ab-Poa)
    • traeki? [ab-Poa or ab-Jophur]
• Siqul (ul-Linten)
  • Linten (ab-Siqul-ul-Kanten)
    • Kanten (ab-Linten-ab-Siqul-ul-Nish)
      • Nish (ab-Kanten-ab-Linten-ab-Siqul)
• Synthian (ul-Wazoon-ul-Se'een-ul-Klick-Klick)
  • Wazoon (ab-Synthian)
  • Se'een (ab-Synthian)
  • Klick-Klick (ab-Synthian)
• Tothtoon (ul-Rosh)
  • Rosh (ab-Tothtoon-ul-Kosh)
    • Kosh (ab-Rosh-ab-Tothtoon-ul-Wortl)
      • Wortl (ab-Kosh-ab-Rosh-ab-Tothtoon-ul-Thennanin)
        • Thennanin (ab-Wortl-ab-Kosh-ab-Rosh-ab-Tothtoon-ul-Paimin-ul-Rammin-ul-Ynnin-ul-Olumimun-ul-Garthling)
          • Paimin (ab-Thennanin-ab-Wortl-ab-Kosh-ab-Rosh-ab-Tothtoon)
          • Rammin (ab-Thennanin-ab-Wortl-ab-Kosh-ab-Rosh-ab-Tothtoon)
          • Ynnin (ab-Thennanin-ab-Wortl-ab-Kosh-ab-Rosh-ab-Tothtoon)
          • Olumimin (ab-Thennanin-ab-Wortl-ab-Kosh-ab-Rosh-ab-Tothtoon)
          • Garthling/Gorilla (zor-Human-ab-Thennanin-ab-Wortl-ab-Kosh-ab-Rosh-ab-Tothtoon)
• Xatinni (ul-Xapp)
  • Xapp (ab-Xatinni)
• Zhosh (ul-Qheuens)
  • Qheuens (ab-Zhosh)

The Uplift series

Sundiver (1980) | Startide Rising (1983) | The Uplift War (1987)

Uplift Storm trilogy

Brightness Reef (1995) | Infinity's Shore (1996) | Heaven's Reach (1998)