History Main / HumansAreFlawed

* This is [[IronLady Scheherazade]]'s belief in ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'' to contrast Mogammet's HumansAreTheRealMonsters and WhatMeasureIsANonSuper. Scheherazade knows that humans' flaws can take them to make mistakes and lost their paths but if they're brave enough can learn of their errors to be better, even invent great things that can be equal to magic.

-->We will change. Because we can change, I know it. We may be weak, but we just have to be; if not, then we wouldn’t have any reason to grow, to get strong. I know that it may seem futile to you, but it’s not, because we are getting stronger with every step we take. You see I’m sure we can change! Because we’re weak, and because we die. We have to fight in order to live, and that’s what will make us strong.

[[HumansAreBastards Humans suck]], don't they? Their narcissism knows no bounds, their moral sense is hazy at best, they've been known to kill each other over the littlest slight, their physical prowess seems like a joke to some, they're often paradoxically [[HumansAreMorons too stupid]] to handle [[TooCleverByHalf their vast intelligence]], and to top it all off, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking they]] [[HumansAreUgly don't tend to look]] [[HumansAreSmelly or smell]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking too good, either]]. This gets worse if there are [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman other races]] or [[WhatMeasureIsANonSuper super powered people]] in the setting, compared to them we apparently must ''[[FantasticRacism really]]'' suck, and there's [[CantArgueWithElves no arguing about it]].

Except... being flawed isn't necessarily a bad thing. To be human is said to be flawed, limited, and finite; but to be a ''good'' human is to nonetheless struggle through and work against or despite these limitations. That we [[WeAreAsMayflies live what many consider short lives]] and die [[TimeDissonance gives the time in our lives meaning]] and [[CreativeSterility fuel for art, science and creativity]]. That we lack vast magical and psychic powers is countered because we can harness ThePowerOfLove, [[ThePowerOfFriendship Friendship]], [[ThePowerOfTrust and all those]] [[ThePowerOfRock lovely pink emotions]].

Compare/contrast HumansAreBastards, when humans beings in general are depicted as being inherently [[JerkAss Jerkasses]] to each other, and HobbesWasRight when humans play nicely with each other only because [[AppealToForce they are forced to do so]]. These human flaws may lead to other races considering that HumansAreTheRealMonsters.

* This is [[IronLady Scheherazade]]'s belief in ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'' to contrast Mogammet's HumansAreTheRealMonsters and WhatMeasureIsANonSuper. Scheherazade knows that humans's flaws can take them to make mistakes and lost their paths but if they're brave enough can learn of their errors to be better, even invent great things that can be equal to magic.
* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' really blurs the line between this and HumansAreBastards. On one hand, immorality, debauchery, violence, and corruption are a common occurence, to the point where humans are easily capable of transforming into hideous demons by sacrificing those they care for the most (and nearly all have taken the [[DealWithTheDevil deal]] when it was offered). However, there are points where one can also see the goodness of humanity at work.
** A good example is [[AntiHero Guts]] himself. Early chapters painted him as a very dark and cynical character who is driven by [[UnstoppableRage anger]] and {{Revenge}}. However, CharacterDevelopment has instill in him a strong desire to protect those he cares about, and he's proven time and again that he will never abandon or betray them. Despite everything the guy has gone through, he's still able to find reason to trust those close to him.

* Even though ''LightNovel/BlackBullet'' highlights the HumansAreBastards trope a lot, [[TheHero Rentaro]] [[BigBrotherInstinct Satomi]] and [[NiceGirl Enju]] [[AllLovingHero Aihara]] holds this viewpoint in regards to humanity. They both acknowledge that humanity has done ''very'' horrible things towards [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer cursed children]], but they still hold faith on humanity believing that there is a good side of being human and hoping society will accept cursed children as humans, which is why the continue fighting against the Gastrea.
* ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'' has this final viewpoint on humanity. While the show doesn't shy away from how vicious and cruel humanity can be, [[spoiler:the BigBad was revealed to ultimately be someone that [[ForHappiness desired for everyone to be happy]] until he was driven insane try to listen to the general public's sadism and bloodlust.]] In the end the shows that nearly everyone can change for the better if someone is willing to show them the way.

* ''ComicBook/CliveBarkersNextTestament'': After Wick launches the apocalypse, his two divine brothers Unan and Filt counter Wick's diatribe that HumansAreBastards by pointing out what that says about them as creators. Humans are necessarily flawed, because that is all the three of them managed to create.

--> '''Christopher's thoughts''': The man was most certainly not the nicest of his kind. If it wasn't because Christopher knew better, he would give him away to the MNU right away. But the prawn had seen, on his first weeks on this planet, the softer, more generous side of this race. Had they not given them food and shelter instead of killing them all? Had they not provided a home once they knew they would never be able to leave, granted that home was not as cozy or as welcoming as one could hope? Maybe this human could still prove his worth. And gazing at the human's new arm he got the feeling the human would at least give it a try, since now he had no choice but to adapt, like he himself, along with all his people, had had to learn to adapt once on a strange new world. Christopher understood the man, because he knew well what it was like to be trapped in a world in which you don't seem to belong.

* ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'' has this as a subtle theme across the universe. For all of humanities faults it is capable of, and has, improved.

* {{Deconstructed}} in ''Film/TheWorldsEnd''. [[spoiler:It turns out that humanity is the ''least'' civilized species in the galaxy, and the Network is trying to bring humanity to a level where it could be brought into the galactic community. However, to do so they have to remove anyone who doesn't want to be part of the Network; and because humanity doesn't like being told what to do, the Network need to replace ''a lot'' of people in an attempt to make them more acceptable to the galactic community . Arguably, the point of Gary, Andrew and Steven's rebuttal is that "Humans are special ''because'' they are flawed"]].
* In ''Film/TheGiver'', all emotions have been evolved out of humanity in order for it to overcome its flaws, and from a totalitarian standpoint it ''works''-but as Jonas and the Giver show the Community, emotions are what make life worth it and are part of what make us special.

* Used in ''Literature/StrangerInAStrangeLand''. Compared to Martians, Humans are less intelligent, more violent, and less powerful. However, with a little wisdom from Mars courtesy of Michael, Humans can become immortal, psychic, spiritually peaceful and sexually polyamorous. It's a bit of an AuthorTract, but not an unpleasant one.

* In Creator/AlanDeanFoster's ''Literature/TheDamned'' trilogy, humanity is discovered by an alliance of super-civilized alien species who are being forced to fight a war against their will. Compared to them we are portrayed as barely civilized, warlike, violence-crazed and brutish, and indeed our love for inflicting death and destruction makes us the perfect soldiers. However we're also capable of great things, and many humans try to control their instincts and strive for more than just being the alliance's grunts.

* Creator/JamesHerbert's ''Literature/TheRats'' subverts expectations by not letting a hero-figure arise to save the day. Without exception, ''all'' the human characters in the book are flawed, limited, rather depressingly seedy and completely out of their depth.

* In ''Literature/{{Pact}}'', Alexis, one of a community of starving artists based out of Toronto, takes this as her view of humanity. People, she argues, are fundamentally damaged--by life and by their own individual traumas. She takes this belief as her inspiration for helping others, since she wants to be one of the ones that does a net value of good for the rest instead of a net evil.

* The Ancients (despite being humanity's progenitors) and the Nox, super advanced alien races in the ''Franchise/StargateVerse'', seemed to hold the fact that humanity was flawed against the SG-C, seizing on the slightest issue to deliver some moralizing message or condemnation (sometimes appropriate to the situation, but often not). Made worse by the [[NeglectfulPrecursors Ancients]] being a bunch of expletives anyway. By way of contrast the Asgard were both friendly and helpful despite knowing humanity was flawed, likely because unlike the other two they admitted they too had flaws. O'Neill once gave a heartfelt speech to the effect of 'we will mess up a lot as a species, but we are out here with you now and we are trying our best'. As he made it to the Asgard they were very approving.

'''The Doctor''': But apart from that you're completely mad. You should pack your bags, get back in that ship and fly for your lives.

** This is how Jor-El views humans, and his spirit bemoans that Clark Kent was raised by humans and thus, thinks like one. One of the only reasons why he did not give up on humanity completely, was because Jonathan Kent's father offered him food and shelter when he visited Earth in the 1960s (even super powered Kryptonians need to eat and sleep). The message on Kal-El's ship:

** It should be noted that the A.I. of Jor-El believes this, not the real Jor-El. Reason being is that he created the A.I. version of himself without any of his own flaws - which, in this case, meant emotions. Considering how he later warms up to humanity as a whole, displays emotion and states that Clark's destiny is to be a hero, not a conqueror, suggests that this might have been manipulation on the A.I.'s part.

* ''Series/TheSopranos'', in which selfishness, myopia and dysfunction are portrayed as the constants of the human condition.

* This is the basis for the Jewish tradition of the [[TzadikimNistarim Lamed Vavniks]], or "Thirty Six": it's believed that there have never been fewer than thirty six righteous men and women, and they're the ones who justify the whole of humanity before the eyes of God. That's it: Yahweh tolerates His flawed children because there are always at least 36 of them who are "good enough"; the implication being that, if the righteous were ever to fall below this number, He would give up on humanity and destroy everyone. (Yay!)

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'': The Chaos gods are usually agreed to be the worst of Mankind's enemies. Unfortunately, since they are basically made of emotion (rage, love, desire and hope), humanity keeps fueling them even when defeating their agents in the material plane.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series, every major divine being is an AnthropomorphicPersonification of something within the human heart (be it our good constructive parts ([[Franchise/{{Persona}} Philemon]]) or our fear of yet subconsious longing for death ([[spoiler:[[VideoGame/Persona3 Nyx]]]]). The {{Aesop}} of the franchise can pretty much be said to be that we humans are flawed but that we can overcome them.

* While it first appears to set up a HumansAreTheRealMonsters message, ''VisualNovel/EienNoAselia'' in the end opts for this. You have your instantly nice and understanding characters like Yuuto and Lesteena, your neutralish characters like Kouin and the populace at large and finally the evil people like Shun and Soma. The populace eventually grows to accept Yuuto and the spirits and see them as heroes, while Shun gets a decent motivation in a NewGamePlus and a SympathyForTheDevil moment.
* This is very apparent in ''VideoGame/LANoire'', what with the scores of less-than perfect people Cole encounters. This trope is even {{invoked|Trope}} by [[DirtyCop Roy Earle]], of all people ("Everyone has their vices, even you, Cole."). Even [[ByTheBookCop Cole]] ends up [[spoiler:having an affair and leaving his wife and kids]], and even then, his past was hardly spotless.

* A major point of the ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' series, and very evident in some of the character's back stories:

* Humans are portrayed as this throughout much of the ''Franchise/MegaMan'' franchise. While are there are undeniably heroic humans such as [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Dr. Light]], [[VideoGame/MegaManX Cain]] and [[VideoGame/MegaManZero Ciel]], every conflict in nearly the entire timeline ultimately stems from Dr. Wily's petty feud with Light, and other villains such as Sigma and Dr. Weil hold unabashed HumansAreBastards viewpoints [[spoiler: even though Weil is a human himself and gleefully indulges in his CardCarryingVillain status.]] Humans are also portrayed as becoming increasingly complacent and reliant on machines, to the point that Zero expresses disgust with the citizens of Neo Arcadia for mindlessly tolerating an oppressive dictatorship simply because it fulfills their basic needs. Ultimately, though, X continues to maintain hope for humanity, and Zero tries helps him realize his vision of true peace between humans and reploids out of respect.

* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': The attitude of humanity towards [[EldritchAbomination beings]] like Keedran has made her a KnightInSourArmor, but she still protects humanity because its her job as a protector of the planet, not because people like her.

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' takes an interesting stance on this -- when Roy dies, he's told that since he's mortal, it's not really reasonable to expect him to stay perfectly straight-and-narrow all the time, and making the effort is what's really important. This is repeated when he's allowed into the afterlife even though he didn't fulfill his father's Blood Oath; because he ''kept trying'', he gets a pass, where his father consciously abandoned the quest, and is thus stuck in limbo until a member of his family defeats Xykon. Thus it's less "Humans suck because they are flawed" and more "Humans are flawed, but that's okay, because it doesn't have to define them."

* Go look up the life of your real life heroes. They are likely to have a flaw or several. They can still be great men or women. They are also human. Human history is full of this.

* This is heavily debated in metaphysical circles. Some religions, for instance Christianity, argue we are ''inherently'' flawed (to various degrees). This position is called Original Sin. But many philosophies and some religions ''dis''agree with this premise. Even within Christianity itself, this is debated.

** Within certain forms of Buddhism, this trope, combined with HumansAreSpecial, is the exact reason for why it is preferrable to be reborn as a human: All other possible beings one can be reborn as are either ''too'' flawed (ghosts are primarily only driven by their base needs, beasts lack man's intelligence and longevity) or not flawed enough (the Deva can live for millions of years, have all their worldly desires fulfilled with a thought and don't have any reason to improve themselves). Humans, however, are, with their short lives and shortcomings, just flawed enough to strive for improvement and just wise enough to achieve enlightenment during their lives.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series, every major divine being is an AnthropomorphicPersonification of something within the human heart (be it our good constructive parts ([[VideoGame/{{Persona}} Philemon]]) or our fear of yet subconsious longing for death ([[spoiler:[[VideoGame/Persona3 Nyx]]]]). The {{Aesop}} of the franchise can pretty much be said to be that we humans are flawed but that we can overcome them.

* In the ''[[Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona Persona]]'' series, every major divine being is an AnthropomorphicPersonification of something within the human heart (be it our good constructive parts ([[VideoGame/{{Persona}} Philemon]]) or our fear of yet subconsious longing for death ([[spoiler:[[VideoGame/Persona3 Nyx]]]]). The {{Aesop}} of the franchise can pretty much be said to be that we humans are flawed but that we can overcome them.

* This is the basis for the Jewish tradition of the Lamed Vavniks, or "Thirty Six": it's believed that there have never been fewer than thirty six righteous men and women, and they're the ones who justify the whole of humanity before the eyes of God. That's it: Yahweh tolerates His flawed children because there are always at least 36 of them who are "good enough"; the implication being that, if the righteous were ever to fall below this number, He would give up on humanity and destroy everyone. (Yay!)

[[HumansAreBastards Humans suck]], don't they? Their narcissism knows no bounds, their moral sense is hazy at best, they've been known to kill each other over the littlest slight, their physical prowess seems like a joke to some, they're often paradoxically [[HumansAreMorons too stupid]] to handle [[TooCleverByHalf their vast intelligence]], and to top it all off, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking they]] [[HumansAreUgly don't tend to look]] [[HumansAreSmelly or smell]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking too good, either]].This gets worse if there are [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman other races]] or [[WhatMeasureIsANonSuper super powered people]] in the setting, compared to them we apparently must ''[[FantasticRacism really]]'' suck, and there's [[CantArgueWithElves no arguing about it]].

* 20th-century Playwright Arnold Wesker wrote a trilogy of plays (Chiken Soup and Barley, Roots, I'm Talking About Jerusalem) about a family trying to deal with changing social times. The final play in the trilogy features a young idealistic couple trying to make an independent living for themselves, but eventually fail.

** ''Discworld/LordsAndLadies'' uses this to contrast with CantArgueWithElves. The elves end up losing ''because'' humans are flawed in comparison. Because humans die and change, they ''learn''.

* One of the biggest themes of the ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'' series. [[AllegoricalCharacter Porky]] symbolizes humanity's sins, while the heroes represent its ability to overcome them and be better. Who wins in the end? [[AmbiguousEnding Eh...]] [[SlidingScaleOfCynicismVersusIdealism you decide.]]

* Played very oddly and combined with HumansAreSpecial in ''Film/GreenLantern''; what makes humans so special is that ''we're willing to admit that we're flawed''.

Except...being flawed isn't necessarily a bad thing. To be human is said to be flawed, limited, and finite; but to be a ''good'' human is to nonetheless struggle through and work against or despite these limitations. That we [[WeAreAsMayflies live what many consider short lives]] and die [[TimeDissonance gives the time in our lives meaning]] and [[CreativeSterility fuel for art, science and creativity]]. That we lack vast magical and psychic powers is countered because we can harness ThePowerOfLove, [[ThePowerOfFriendship Friendship]], [[ThePowerOfTrust and all those]] [[ThePowerOfRock lovely pink emotions]].

So what if [[RousseauWasRight Rousseau]] isn't right and [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters people are fundamentally mean, nasty and brutish?]] What merit is there in being good if you [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill can't choose to do otherwise?]] Despite the inherent moral flaws of humanity, enough people are putting the effort into being [[NiceGuy nice]] and [[TheHeart kind]] that it [[EarnYourHappyEnding does make a difference]]. Even if seemed that BeingGoodSucks, humanity as a whole realizes deep down that BeingEvilSucks more.

[[BeingHumanSucks Humans suck]], don't they? Their narcissism knows no bounds, their moral sense is hazy at best, they've been known to kill each other over the littlest slight, their physical prowess seems like a joke to some, they're often paradoxically [[HumansAreMorons too stupid]] to handle [[TooCleverByHalf their vast intelligence]], and to top it all off, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking they]] [[HumansAreUgly don't tend to look]] [[HumansAreSmelly or smell]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking too good, either]].

This gets worse if there are [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman other races]] or [[WhatMeasureIsANonSuper super powered people]] in the setting, compared to them we apparently must ''[[FantasticRacism really]]'' suck, and there's [[CantArgueWithElves no arguing about it]]. Except...being flawed isn't necessarily a bad thing. To be human is said to be flawed, limited, and finite; but to be a ''good'' human is to nonetheless struggle through and work against or despite these limitations. That we [[WeAreAsMayflies live what many consider short lives]] and die [[TimeDissonance gives the time in our lives meaning]] and [[CreativeSterility fuel for art, science and creativity]]. That we lack vast magical and psychic powers is countered because we can harness ThePowerOfLove, [[ThePowerOfFriendship Friendship]], [[ThePowerOfTrust and all those]] [[ThePowerOfRock lovely pink emotions]].

[[folder:Mythology andReligion]]

** At the end of ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', Bruce acknowledges that humans are flawed, that they fight, kill, and betray one another, but they're still good and can rebuild and do better.
** In ''Film/Shazam2019'', the Wizard spends decades searching for a truly good person to fight as his champion, and brings dozens of people into the Rock of Ages to test them, only for each of them to fail. You'd think that Billy Batson, who takes on the eponymous hero's powers, would be that person, right? Wrong. The only reason the Wizard chose Billy was because he had no other choice after Dr. Sivana(who'd failed many years ago) invaded the Rock of Ages and freed the SevenDeadlySins, and Billy spends much of the movie fooling around with his new powers, only truly becoming a hero when his foster family is endangered. The implication that no one could ever pass the test says a lot about humanity.

[[BeingHumanSucks Humans suck]]. Their narcissism knows no bounds, their moral sense is hazy at best, they kill each other over the littlest slight, their physical prowess is a joke, they're all paradoxically [[HumansAreMorons too stupid]] to handle [[TooCleverByHalf their vast intelligence]], and to top it all off, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking they]] [[HumansAreUgly don't look]] [[HumansAreSmelly or smell]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking too good, either]].

This gets worse if there are [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman other races]] or [[WhatMeasureIsANonSuper super powered people]] in the setting, compared to them we ''[[FantasticRacism really]]'' suck, and there's [[CantArgueWithElves no arguing about it]]. Except...being flawed isn't necessarily a bad thing. To be human is to be flawed, limited, and finite; but to be a ''good'' human is to nonetheless struggle through and work against or despite these limitations. That we [[WeAreAsMayflies live short lives]] and die [[TimeDissonance gives the time in our lives meaning]] and [[CreativeSterility fuel for art, science and creativity]]. That we lack vast magical and psychic powers is countered because we can harness ThePowerOfLove, [[ThePowerOfFriendship Friendship]], [[ThePowerOfTrust and all those]] [[ThePowerOfRock lovely pink emotions]].

So what if [[RousseauWasRight Rousseau]] isn't right and [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters people are fundamentally mean, nasty and brutish?]] What merit is there in being good if you [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill can't choose to do otherwise?]] Despite the inherent moral flaws of humanity, enough people are putting the effort into being [[NiceGuy nice]] and [[TheHeart kind]] that it [[EarnYourHappyEnding does make a difference]]. Even if BeingGoodSucks, humanity as a whole realizes deep down that BeingEvilSucks more.

* Go look up the life of your real life heroes. They will have a flaw or several. They can still be great men or women. They are also human. Human history is full of this.

* [[VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony Danganronpa V3]] has Monkuma and the Monokubs express their profound dislike for the human species. Monotaro begins by announcing that humans call bears "monsters", then elaborates from his point by saying that the [[HumansAretheRealMonsters humans are the real monsters]] because they demolish the habitats of wild animals (bears in particular). Monokuma finds out what Monotaro is implying with this and begins to relay his point, explicitly saying that all humans are self-centred creatures. As this is Danganronpa, [[spoiler:Shuichi]] responds to Monokuma [[VisibleSilence appropriately to his point]] - all of the cast except for [[spoiler:Kokichi]] continue to question the unfortunate situation of [[spoiler:Gonta]] having to be executed (he wasn't yet executed at that point, but he was condemned to an execution).

* [[VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony Danganronpa V3]] has Monkuma and the Monokubs express their profound dislike for the human species. Monotaro begins by announcing that humans call bears "monsters", then elaborates from his point by saying that the humans are the real monsters because they demolish the habitats of wild animals (bears in particular). Monokuma finds out what Monotaro is implying with this and begins to relay his point, explicitly saying that all humans are self-centred creatures. As this is Danganronpa, Shuichi responds to Monokuma [[VisibleSilence appropriately to his point]] - all of the cast except for Kokichi continue to question the unfortunate situation of Gonta having to be executed (he wasn't yet executed at that point, but he was condemned to an execution).

* [[VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony Danganronpa V3]] has Monkuma and the Monokubs express their profound dislike for the human species. Monotaro begins by announcing that humans call bears "monsters", then elaborates from his point by saying that the humans are the real monsters because they demolish the habitats of wild animals (bears in particular). Monokuma finds out what Monotaro is implying with this and begins to relay his point, explicitly saying that all humans are self-centred creatures. As this is Danganronpa, Shuichi responds to Monokuma [[VisibleSilence appropriately to his point]] - all of the cast except for Kokichi continue to question the unfortunate situation of Gonta having to be executed.