“—All You Zombies—”

by Robert A. Heinlein

Release: March 1959
Format: Short Story
Genre: Science Fiction
Audience: Adults
Content: Definite Time Travel
Original Language: English

A 25-year-old man, originally born as an orphan girl named Jane, tells his story to a 55-year-old bartender who then recruits him for a time-travel adventure.

— Michael Main

When I opened you, I found a mess. I sent for the Chief of Surgery while I got the baby out, then we held a consultation with you on the table—and worked for hours to salvage what we could. You had two full sets of organs, both immature, but with the female set well enough developed for you to have a baby. They could never be any use to you again, so we took them out and rearranged things so that you can develop properly as a man.

DEBUT

“‘—All You Zombies—’,” Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1959.

VARIANTS

8 English variants

TRANSLATIONS

Croatian translation:
[ex=bare]“Tko ste vi drugi?” | Who are you others?[/ex], Sirius #60, June 1981.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Robert A. Heinlein as by Robert Anson Heinlein
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Bruno Ogorelec
French translation:
[ex=bare]“La mère célibataire” | The single mother[/ex], Fiction #108, November 1962.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Robert A. Heinlein
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Michel Deutsch
French translation: Alternative title of Deutsch’s 1962 translation.
[ex=bare]“Vous les zombies . . .” | You zombies . . .[/ex], in Histoires de voyages dans le temps, edited by Jacques Goimard, Demètre Ioakimidis, and Gérard Klein (Le Livre de Poche, 1975).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Robert A. Heinlein
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Michel Deutsch
French translation:
[ex=bare]“Vous les zombies” | You zombies . . .[/ex], in Conférence, edited by Oliver Rey (unknown publisher, 2005).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Robert A. Heinlein
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Olivier Rey
French translation: Alternative title of Rey’s 2005 translation.
[ex=bare]“Vous les zombies . . .” | You zombies . . .[/ex], Bifrost #57, January 2010.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Robert A. Heinlein as by Robert Heinlein
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Olivier Rey
German translation:
[ex=bare]“Wer bin ich?” | Who am I?[/ex], in 16 Science Fiction-Stories, edited by Anthony Boucher (Heyne, 1964).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Robert A. Heinlein
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Charlotte Winheller
German translation:
[ex=bare]“Entführung in die Zukunft” | Kidnapping in the future[/ex], in Entführung in die Zukunft (Heyne, February 1971).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Robert A. Heinlein
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Wulf H. Bergner
Italian translation:
“O tempora, o sexus!,” in Fantasesso, edited by Alex Vairo (Feltrinelli, June 1967).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Robert A. Heinlein
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Leo Rossi
Italian translation:
[ex=bare]“Tutti voi zombie” | All you zombies[/ex], Urania #1456, 1 January 2003.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Robert A. Heinlein
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Vittorio Curtoni
Japanese translation:
[ex=bare]輪廻の蛇 | Reincarnation snake | “Rin’ne no hebi”[/ex], S-Fマガジン [S-F magazine] #3, April 1960.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Robert A. Heinlein as by ロバート・A・ハインライン
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by 井上一夫
Persian translation:
[ex=bare]همه‌ی شما زامبی‌ها | All you zombies | “Hemh‌a shema zameba‌ha”[/ex] (لوکوبوک, 2017) [e-book].
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Robert A. Heinlein as by رابرت ای هاین‌لاین
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by مهدی بنواری
Russian translation:
[ex=bare]«Все вы зомби . . .» | You are all zombies . . . | “‘Vse vy zombi . . .’”[/ex], in Миры роберта хайнлайн (Полярис, 1994).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Robert A. Heinlein as by Роберт Хайнлайн
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Александр Волнова
Russian translation:
[ex=bare]Уроборос: Все вы, зомби | Ouroboros: All you zombies | “Oroboros: Vse vy, zombi”[/ex], in Вне всяких сомнений (Эксмо, 2007).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Robert A. Heinlein as by Роберт Хайнлайн
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . narrated by Павел Александрович Вязников
Spanish translation:
[ex=bare]“Todos ustedes, zombies” | All you, zombies[/ex], Minotaur: Fantasia y ciencia-ficción #4, March 1965.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Robert A. Heinlein as by Robert Heinlein
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Daniel Hernandez

14 translations

DERIVATIVE WORKS

Predestination written and directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig, (South by Southwest Film Festival, Austin, Texas, 8 March 2014).

TAGS(SPOILERS!)

Time Periods

Circa AD 1940 to 1949: the orphanage
Circa AD 1960 to 1969: 17-year-old Jane and her visitors
Circa AD 1970 to 1999: Pop’s Place and the base in the Rockies

Timeline Models

Single Static Timeline: the quintessential story of a single static timeline

Time Travel Methods

Luggable Time Machine: a USFF Coordinates Transformer Field Kit, series 1992, Mod. II—a beauty, no moving parts, weight twenty-three kilos fully charged and shaped to pass as a suitcase

Themes

Acting on Knowledge from a Self-Visitation
Bootstrap Paradox: Jane spawns her/himself twice over.
Ex Nihilo Obects and People: There is no origin to Baby Jane’s DNA. It comes from no one but her two older selves: her 17-year-old mother and her 25-year-old father, both of whom got it from Baby Jane.
I’m My Own Grandpaw: both the song and Jane’s ancestry
Self-Visitation
Selves-Visitation: On 24 April 1963,[/i] old Jane sees the two younger Janes walking together.
Time Corps: Temporal Bureau

Groupings

Bifrost (periodical): #57, January 2010
Cited in Paradoxes of Time Travel by Rayn Wasserrman ()
Cited in Worlds Enough and Time, edited by Gary Westfahl ()
Escape Pod, Podcastle, Pseudopod, and Cast of Wonders (radio or audio series): Escape Pod #200, 2 July 2009
Fiction (France) (periodical): #108, November 1962
Galaxy’s Edge (periodical): #12, January 2015
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (periodical): March 1959
Sirius (periodical): #60, June 1981
Cited in Time Machines by Paul J. Nahin ()
Urania (periodical): #1456, 1 January 2003
Zoetrope: All-Story (periodical): Spring 2015

TIME TRAVEL ITINERARY (SPOILERS!)

From Apex Building, Cleveland, 10 March 1964 ⋙ to Skyview Motel, Cleveland, 20 September 1945. Note: This timeline follows Jane’s life chronologically from birth to the end of the story, as shown in Johnstoo’s diagram. The first trip through time was when baby Jane was kidnapped and taken back to 1945.
From Pop’s Place, New York City, 7 November 1970 ⋙ to Apex Building, Cleveland, 10 April 1963. Note: At age 25, male Jane is taken back to meet his 17-year-old female self. Heinlein incorrectly states that she is 18, but that won’t happen until 20 August 1963.
From Apex Building, Cleveland, 24 April 1963 ⋙ to Sub Rockes Base, 12 August 1985. Note: After three weeks with his younger female self, 25-year-old male Jane is taken to the base in the Rockies and recruited for the Temporal Bureau.
From various times and places at an unknown time ⋙ to various other times and places at an unknown time. Multiple trips. Note: Male Jane goes on lots of missions for the Bureau, eventually ending up in New York City and setting up Pop’s Place as old-bartender-Jane.
From Pop’s Place, New York City, 7 November 1970 ⋙ to Apex Building, Cleveland, 10 April 1963. Note: Old-bartender-Jane takes male-Jane-25 back to meet female-Jane-17.
From Apex Building, Cleveland, 10 April 1963 ⋙ to Apex Building, Cleveland, 10 March 1964. Note: After dropping off male-Jane-25, old-bartender-Jane jumps forward to 1964.
From Apex Building, Cleveland, 10 March 1964 ⋙ to Skyview Motel, Cleveland, 20 September 1945. Note: Old-bartender-Jane kidnaps baby-Jane and takes her back to the orphanage in 1945.
From Skyview Motel, Cleveland, 20 September 1945 ⋙ to Apex Building, Cleveland, 24 April 1963. Note: Old-bartender-Jane returns to 1963 Cleveland.
From Apex Building, Cleveland, 24 April 1963 ⋙ to Sub Rockes Base, 12 August 1985. Note: Old-bartender-Jane takes male-Jane-25 forward to the Rockies base.
From Sub Rockes Base, 12 August 1985 ⋙ to Pop’s Place, New York City, 7 November 1970. Note: Old-bartender-Jane returns to 1970 NYC to sell the a bar.
From Pop’s Place, New York City, sometime after 7 November 1970 ⋙ to Sub Rockes Base, 12 Jun 1993. Note: Old-bartender-Jane returns to his own life as a temporal agent and reflects on zombies.

INDEXER NOTES (SPOILERS!)

Handle—From the many possible titles, we selected “—All You Zombies—” as the canonical handle because it reflects the title being a quote from the middle of a sentence taken from the story.
Alternate Title—At least one publication, the anthology <em>Survival Printout</em> (1973), uses the title “All You Zombies--” on the title page, but we treat a double hyphen as typographically the same as an em-dash, so this is not a new variant.