Character from Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Cosmic empathic entities dwelling in the Void Which Binds — they orchestrated Aenea's creation, moved Old Earth across galaxies, and represent the universe's capacity for love as a fundamental force.
The Lions and Tigers and Bears are the most powerful entities in the Hyperion Cantos — beings of pure empathy that exist in the Void Which Binds, the substrate of reality that connects all consciousness across space and time. They orchestrated Aenea's creation, freecast Old Earth to the Lesser Magellanic Cloud to protect it from the TechnoCore's Big Mistake, and allied with the Ousters. They represent the Cantos' central thesis: that love and empathy are not abstract concepts but fundamental forces of the universe — as real as gravity, as structural as the Void, and more powerful than any technology the TechnoCore can build. Their name is absurd. Their power is not. They are what the universe looks like when consciousness evolves far enough to become indistinguishable from compassion.
No physical form. They exist as presences in the Void Which Binds — felt rather than seen, known through their effects rather than their appearance. Their name is deliberately whimsical, given by humans who encountered them and reached for a reference that captured both power and absurdity.
Also known as: Lions and Tigers and Bears, LTBs, The Cosmic Entities