The Oankali in Lilith's Brood are distinctly alien, in many ways – but the difference which persists longest and is most troublesome is their culture – or apparent lack thereof. The Oankali apparently take the view that biology is everything – that, given the scale of a group of humans throughout a lifetime, the genes they have within them ultimately decide the fate of the entires species. They believe that they can predict the lifestyle of the children their ooloi mix before the children are even born.