A protoplast, from ancient Greek (prōtóplastos, "first-formed"), in a religious context initially referred to the first human or, more generally, to the first organized body of progenitors of humankind (as in Adam and Eve or Manu and Shatrupa), or of surviving humanity after a cataclysm (as in Deucalion or Noah).

List of protoplasts

;Abrahamic mythology

  • Adam and Eve
  • Noah
  • Adam Kadmon (esoteric)
  • Adam kasia ("hidden Adam") and ("bodily Adam") (esoteric), in Mandaeism
  • Lilith (esoteric)

;Australian Aboriginal mythology

  • Wurugag and Waramurungundi
  • Yhi
  • Kidili

;Ayyavazhi mythology

  • Kaliyan and Kalicchi

;Aztec mythology

  • Tata/Coxcox and Nana/Xochitl – new progenitors of humankind after the flood
  • Oxomoco and Cipactonal – first human couple created

;Baganda

  • Kintu

;Berber

  • Iarbas or Garamas – first man (according to Greek sources)

;Cherokee

  • Selu and Kanati

;Chinese folk religion

  • Fu Xi and Nüwa (sometimes said to be created by Pangu)
  • Pangu

;Cowichan peoples

  • Quiltumtun

;Germanic mythology

  • Tuiscon – first ancestor of Germans

;Greek mythology

  • Pandora – first woman
  • Epimetheus – first man (by some accounts)
  • Pelasgus – first man (by some accounts)
  • Alalcomenes - first man (by some accounts)
  • Deucalion and Pyrrha (the first postdiluvian humans)

;Hindu mythology

  • Svayambhuva Manu and Shatarupa (first couple on earth)
  • Including Vaivasvata Manu and Shraddha (wife of Vaivasvata Manu) of current Manvantara

;Inca mythology

  • Pacha Camac

;Lakota people

  • Tokahe – first human emerged from the underworld
  • Wa and Ka

;Māori mythology

  • Tiki and Marikoriko

;Muisca mythology

  • Tena and Fura

;Navajo mythology

  • Áłtsé Hastiin and Áłtsé Asdzą́ą́

;Norse mythology

  • Ask and Embla (former)
  • Líf and Lífþrasir (future)

;Polynesian mythology

  • Ele'ele
  • Kumu-Honua and Lalo-Honua
  • Marikoriko and Tiki
  • Tu-Mea
  • Tonga
  • Vatea and Papa

;Philippine mythology

  • Malakas (strong) and Maganda (beautiful)
  • Silalac and Sivacay (Hiligaynon)

;Shinto mythology

  • Izanagi and Izanami

;Traditional African religions

  • kuyu
  • Gikuyu and Mumbi
  • Lozi Mythology
  • Kamunu (first human created by Nyambe)
  • Serer creation myth
  • YAAB and YOP (first human couple (female and male respectively) created by Roog in Serer religion)
  • Unan and Ngoor (two mythical figures in the Serer creation myth and early ancestors of humanity – female and male respectively)
  • Jambooñ and Agaire (two sisters and early ancestors of the Serer and Jola people respectively whose pirogue broke at the Point of Sangomar separating the two groups)

;Yoruba mythology

  • Oduduwa and Obatala
  • Iya Nla

;Turkic mythology

  • Törüngey and Ece

;Vietnamese mythology

  • Lạc Long Quân and Âu Cơ

;Zoroastrian mythology

  • Keyumars
  • Mahabad
  • Mashya and Mashyana

See also

  • Cosmic Man
  • Discovery of human antiquity
  • Eponymous ancestor
  • Mitochondrial Eve
  • Y-chromosome Adam

References