History Main / HumansAreFlawed

* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' is filled with flawed humans. One of the driving forces of the plot is when the characters don't think out their decisions and act on impulse.

* A major theme in ''Franchise/{{Devilman}}'' is that humans can be just as cruel and bloodthirsty as the nearly AlwaysChaoticEvil demons that serve as the villains of the show, especially when driven mad with fear and paranoia.

* In ''ComicBook/EightBillionGenies'', the characters eventually realize that this is why the [[EternalRecurrence genies keep reappearing]] to grant wishes, because humans are ''never'' satisfied.
-->"Every wish we grant is the same wish. ''' 'I wish I had enough.' '''"

* In ''ComicBook/{{Supergod}}'', Morrigan Lugus claims that the very concept of [[GodIsFlawed "God" is flawed]] because it was formed by "stupid monkeys" who need religion like junkies need their stash.

* This is one possible message of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'': Because humans are flawed, our heroes will be as well, and thus our longing for perfect messianic figures to 'save us' is naive.

* ''Literature/{{Vampirocracy}}'': The laundry list of human flaws (being [[HumansAreMorons moronic]] [[HumansAreDivided divided]] [[HumansAreBastards bastards]], mostly) drives vampires to take over the world for their own safety.

* ''Literature/LilithsBrood'': According to the {{Cthulhumanoid}} Oankali geneticists who rescue a remnant of humanity AfterTheEnd, the "Human Contradiction" is that they possess both advanced intelligence and an animalistic drive to form social hierarchies, which will inevitably lead humanity to destroy itself again.

* In ''VideoGame/DmCDevilMayCry'', [[BigBad Mundus]] mocks Dante's desire to free humanity from demons by claiming that humans had freedom before he came, and in his words "They fought. They killed. They starved. I brought ''order''." [[spoiler:Vergil also believes this is true, and wishes to rule humanity [[WeCanRuleTogether alongside Dante]] after Mundus is defeated. He believes humans are like children that need to be protected from themselves. Dante counters this by pointing out that they would never have defeated Mundus without the aid of Kat, a human.]]

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
** This is the opinion of the Daedra (both the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Princes]] and [[OurDemonsAreDifferent lesser Daedra]]) toward mortals. They perceive mortals as weak, foolish, and doomed from birth. What they cannot understand is why, despite knowing their lives are finite, mortals do not despair.
** The Magna-Ge, aka "Star Orphans", are et'Ada ("original spirits") who [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere fled during the creation of Mundus]] (the mortal plane) along with their "father" Magnus after realizing the sacrifices it would take to create. They too have a rather low opinion of mortals, calling them "M-Null", while believing they are "affected by tainted magic" and owe their growth and prosperity to greater beings.
** In terms of mankind specifically, this is the opinion of the [[OurElvesAreDifferent races of Mer (Elves)]] along with thinking that HumansAreBastards. To the elves, mankind lives pitifully [[WeAreAsMayflies short lives]] filled with [[HumansAreWarriors violence and savagery]]. Their version of the CreationMyth even states that mankind was specifically created out of the "weakest souls" to ''be'' bastards by a JerkassGod.

* This crops up quite a bit in the ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' series:
** ''VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa 2|GoodbyeDespair}}'' has Monokuma narrate a fable about tengus living in the forest. It results in the humans building civilization on nature's behalf out of fear of said tengus. Monokuma diverts the story away from the tengus by proposing that humans are the true monsters for destroying the habitat of said tengus.
** ''VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa V3|KillingHarmony}}'' has Monokuma (again) 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).

* This crops up frequently in ''WesternAnimation/Gargoyles'', but a noteworthy example is the episode "Temptation"; after Brooklyn is attacked by street thugs, Demona tries to win him over to her side by pointing out the unpleasant side of humanity-specifically, [[PoliceAreUseless an overly-lenient justice system]], UsefulNotes/{{DomesticAbuse}} and [[HumansKillWantonly murder]]-; Goliath himself also notes on several occasions that there are good and bad people in the world, something that Demona refuses to acknowledge.

* This is a major theme of ''VideoGame/BioShock''. No matter what kind of [[{{Utopia}} ideal society]] a person tries to create -- an Objectivist city of laissez-faire capitalism, a culture based on altruism, or even just [[GoldenMeanFallacy an attempt at overthrowing institutionalized racism]] -- human flaws inevitably doom it. At the same time, there will always be a good person willing to stand up and try to fix the problems these misguided attempts at utopia create, [[VideoGameCaringPotential often helping in other, smaller ways along the way.]]

** Dr. Baldhead was once a good doctor who never failed to treat the sick. Until one day, when a young girl died on his operating table. His guilt drove him insane and he became a serial killer, killing people with [[BladeOnAStick a giant scalpel]]. One day, the girl appeared to him in a vision and told him that her death wasn't his fault and that she was assassinated. Baldhead had a FreakOut and disappeared. Some time later, rumours of a talented but eccentric healer [[BrownBagMask wearing a paper bag on his head]] circulated. The man refers to himself simply as Faust, but he's actually a reformed Dr. Baldhead, taking time to atone for his past by using his healing powers and also tracking down the young girl's killers. He grapples with his AxCrazy inner-self and admits to still having a fondness for bloodshed, but he manages to keep it under control.

* 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 lose their paths but if they're brave enough, they can learn of their errors to be better and even invent great things that can be equal to magic.

* Even though ''Literature/BlackBullet'' highlights the HumansAreBastards trope a lot, [[TheHero Rentaro]] [[BigBrotherInstinct Satomi]] and [[NiceGirl Enju]] [[AllLovingHero Aihara]] holds this viewpoint in regard 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 they continue fighting against the Gastrea.

* ''ComicBook/SecondComing'': While years of trying reign humanity in and failing gives God a HumansAreBastards stance and Jesus thinks that HumansAreGood and just needs encouragement, the comic itself veers more into this. By the end, God [[RestoredMyFaithInHumanity is less cynical about humans in his friendship with Sunstar and Sheila]], while discovering just how twisted his followers have become teaches him that humans aren't exactly perfect either.

--> '''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 humanity's faults it is capable of, and has, improved.

** In ''Film/Shazam2019'', the Wizard spent decades searching for a truly good person to fight as his champion and brought in 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 one person who passed the test, 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.

** Also Mal points out our flaws (Sins) are what keeps humans from just laying down and dying.

* Robert J. Sawyer's ''Literature/TheNeanderthalParallax'' trilogy describes a parallel world in which Neanderthal man became the dominant species, and in almost every way homo sapiens compares badly. The Neanderthals live in harmony with nature, having a lower population and no pollution. Further they have [[ApeShallNeverKillApe no crime, violence or war]], and (possible AuthorTract) no religion. The effect is to highlight all of humanity's flaws by describing alternate-world humans that have none of them due to literally having bred out of their own population all the negative traits by a program of enforced sterilizations over thousands of years (there is also one example involving domestic violence wherein this system is shown to utterly and totally fail).

* An underlying theme on ''all'' Creator/JRRTolkien 's books, but especially ''Literature/TheSilmarillion''. Zig-zagged with HumansAreTheRealMonsters-- all other races have members that go bad, and some were [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil forced into evil through degradation and torture]], but most individuals of other races are better and wiser than even the best and wisest Man. Men are the ''only'' race to ''[[NotBrainwashed willingly]]'' turn to Evil as a collective. This is best illustrated with the Downfall of Numenor. After the race of Men [[HumansAreWarriors helped fight against Morgoth]], they were rewarded with their own island after his defeat, which, while ruled by a [[HalfHumanHybrid half-human half-elf hybrid]] was an enlightened near-utopia, but only a few generations after, the inhabitants came to envy the Elves' and [[PhysicalGod Valar's]] immortality, hate them for it, and decide to conquer the whole world to provide them with slaves and human sacrifices out of the delusional belief that doing so would make them immortal. Simultaneously, [[BigBad Sauron]] was also conquering Middle-earth, and the Numenoreans fought against him only because he was competition. The king winds up allying with him later because both were already evil, which leads to Numenor's complete destruction once the two decide to finish their conquest by invading Valinor and enslaving the Valar themselves, which caused God himself to destroy the army and wipe Numenor off the map. As previously stated, no other race ever became this corrupt no matter how advanced their civilization became.
* 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.

* Literature/HarryPotter wrestles with this for the better part of a year in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' when it comes to Dumbledore's full backstory. Harry had viewed him until his death with a large degree of hero worship and it's not until after the fact that he began to realize that he was far from perfect. Harry spends most of the book mad at him for never telling him important things like the fact that he had a sister who died or that he had a brief "friendship" with the previous BigBad Grindelwald as a teen and the fact that he left Harry very vague instructions about how to defeat Voldemort. It's not until the very end of the book that Harry realizes that the former two things are very closely related and it was a very catastrophic example of a MyGreatestFailure that he'd never brought up because he still hated himself for all of it. He also realizes the latter is more out of protection for him than everything. So after getting a chance to hear the full story from his brother and talking to "him" in the limbo between life and death, Harry comes to realize that Dumbledore did love him and was a good man. He'd made one particular huge mistake in his life but at the end of the day he was a person and people make mistakes. He ultimately forgives him, so much that he names his younger son after him.
** Harry deals with this towards many of the elder characters in the series. At the start of the series, Harry views his father and his friends as nothing short of perfect paragons who ultimately fought and sacrificed against the dark forces, and disrespecting them in anyway was nothing short of a BerserkButton for him. However, after seeing Snape's memories and seeing his father and his friends horrifically bullying Snape, something Harry has experience with, that he becomes deeply ashamed of them. He only later comes to terms with the fact that his father and their friends, despite their flaws, truly did try to do the right things when they counted, and sacrificed themselves for a better future.
** Last but not least, there's Snape, Harry's most disliked teacher, a feeling that is mutual, and who Harry suspects is a servant of Voldemort's. Throughout most of the series, Snape is petty and humiliating towards Harry and his friends, and after executing Dumbledore, Harry sees him as one of his most despised enemies. However, after learning the truth through Snape's memories (given to him by Snape in his final moments) and learning that Snape not only [[LoveRedeems loved Harry's mother and was trying to redeem himself]], but that Snape was always loyal to Dumbledore, and that he executed Dumbledore under the latters orders so as to be able to thoroughly infiltrate Voldemort's inner-circle and act as a double-agent. This revelation causes Harry to develop immense respect for Snape, naming is younger son also after him, and calling Snape the bravest man he ever knew.

** Despite shouting "HumanityIsSuperior!" humans are most certainly '''not'''. One episode has aliens use Crichton's memory to simulate the possible outcome of revealing themselves to humanity in order to seek asylum. [[StrappedToAnOperatingTable It doesn't end well.]] However, Crichton does become one of the most useful shipmates on Moya because of his [[FishOutOfWater ignorance]] and scientific training. It helps he was stir crazy at appropriate times.

* The central conflict of ''Series/TheGoodPlace'' is how rigid and overly strict the system used for judging humans is, as it runs on a BlackAndWhiteMorality line with no room for GreyAndGreyMorality nuance. The four main humans aren't horrible people but they have deep character flaws due in large part by being victims of circumstance (Eleanor's AbusiveParents and Jason's sucky environment, for example), and all of them show their capacity for growth and becoming better over time.

* ''VisualNovel/MinotaurHotel'': All of the humans are generally portrayed with less sympathy than the mythicals, with the possible exceptions of Phroneos and Androgeos, with many of them treating the mythicals as outsiders at best, and abusing them at their worst. Even the protagonist isn't exempt from this, as he is equally capable of bringing harm towards Asterion if he wanted to. That said, there are good humans, and the game shows that if the person has good intentions, and is given the opportunity, they can do great things, as shown with Jean-Marie and a main-route protagonist.

* This seems to be a major theme in ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou''. Ultimately humans are flawed creatures obsessed with themselves until they clash with other people and their viewpoints, show with Neku's character growth. The act of having to clash itself suggests that only conflict causes humans to grow in any meaningful way.

* 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 to help him realize his vision of true peace between humans and reploids out of respect.

** ''VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa 2|GoodbyeDespair}}'' has Monokuma narrate about a fable about tengus living in the forest. It results in the humans building civilization on nature's behalf out of fear of said tengus. Monokuma diverts the story away from the tengus by proposing that humans are the true monsters for destroying the habitat of said tengus.

* This brought up in Chapter 28 of ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', where Kat the roboticist is depressed due to finding out that the creator of the Court's robots also [[spoiler:cooked up a plan to [[MurderTheHypotenuse assassinate the fae lover of the woman he obsessed over]], [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone then spent the rest of his life regretting]] [[IfICantHaveYou that he basically left said woman in a ditch to starve to death]], all while his co-conspirators hatched this plan alongside him to protect the [[ScienceVsMagic technologically-advanced court from the magical denizens of the Giliti Woods]].]] Her irritation is interrupted after she finds a baby pigeon and takes it to her friend Paz, an animal lover who works with [[AnimalTesting lab rats]]. Kat has a breakdown after learning all the [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters things]] the Court does, but Paz reminds her that the Court (and indirectly, the robots who are the original roboticist's descendants, who spend every waking moment trying to better themselves or be helpful) is also capable of recognizing its flaws and changing them:

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' takes an interesting stance on this -- After Roy's death during the Battle of Azure City, he ends up in Mt. Celestia, the afterlife for those of LawfulGood. His record is examined and he explains some of the issues or accepts the mistakes. Throughout it all, it's noted that while some of his pragmatic actions lean him toward NeutralGood, the deva interviewing him notes one major factor: he's ''trying.'' As mortals, the CelestialBureaucracy notes that it would entirely unreasonable to expect him to stay perfectly straight-and-narrow all the time. To them, the fact that he keeps getting up and trying to adhere to LawfulGood rather than switch alignment shows that the effort is more important than results. This is also why he is permitted to enter into Mt. Celestia proper unlike his father (who is barred because of his Blood Oath.) The deva responds that Roy still made a genuine effort in trying to fulfill the Oath that his father Eugene forced onto him while Eugene himself gave up a while back and didn't try since then (this tendency of Eugene to obsess over certain goals and then change is his FatalFlaw.) Ultimately, the point is that humans or more broadly speaking mortals are flawed, but that's okay as long as they keep trying their best because they're not perfect given the nature of life.

** Within certain forms of Buddhism, this trope, combined with HumansAreSpecial, is the exact reason for why it is preferable 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.

* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'': The vast majority of races in the multiverse were created by the smith-god Koss. They are immortal, reincarnate in various forms, and are all built for a single specific purpose. Humans, however, were simply the result of the goddess Aesma getting jealous and deciding to create her own race to prove she was better than Koss. Humans are short-lived, cannot reincarnate, and have no specific purpose. However, this also means that they have nearly unlimited potential. Notably, of the seven [[GodEmperor Demiurges]] who rule the multiverse, six are human. The seventh is a massive dragon, and is by far the physically weakest; most of his power comes from the fact that he maintains the economy for all of Creation.

* [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5642845/1/Deleted_scene This]] ''Film/District9'' fanfic, explores the relationship between Christopher and Wikus. Christopher Johnson, despite having to endure humanity's cruelty and affronts, is also aware of humanity's capacity for good, which is why he is willing to tolerate [[IdiotHero Wikus]].

* 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 they continue fighting against the Gastrea.

-->-- ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''

** This seems to be the best way to sum up the philosophies of the main characters in [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]]. They've all done things they aren't proud of, but seem to take a "humans are inherently flawed, but all we can do is the best we can" approach to their struggles.

** Last but not least, there's Snape, Harry's most disliked teacher, a feeling that is mutual, and who Harry suspects is a servant of Voldemort. Throughout most of the series, Snape is petty and humiliating towards Harry and his friends, and after executing Dumbledore, Harry sees him as one of his most despised enemies. However, after learning the truth through Snape's memories (given to him by Snape in his final moments) and learning that Snape not only [[LoveRedeems loved Harry's mother and was trying to redeem himself]], but that Snape was always loyal to Dumbledore, and that he executed Dumbledore under the latters orders so as to be able to thoroughly infiltrate Voldemort's inner-circle and act as a double-agent. This revelation causes Harry to develop immense respect for Snape, naming is younger son also after him, and calling Snape the bravest man he ever knew.

* ''Anime/DeathParade'': While characters throughout the series express [[HumansAreMorons many different]] [[RousseauWasRight opinions]] on humanity as a whole, [[AudienceSurrogate The Dark-Haired Woman]] comes to this conclusion towards the end of the series, deciding that it’s wrong to judge others - no matter how bad their actions may seem - because it’s impossible to truly understand what someone else is going through.

* Robert J. Sawyer's ''Literature/TheNeanderthalParallax'' trilogy describes a parallel world in which Neanderthal man became the dominant species, and in almost every way homo sapiens compares badly. The Neanderthals live in harmony with nature, having a lower population and no pollution. Further they have [[ApeShallNeverKillApe no crime, violence or war]], and (possible AuthorTract) no religion. The effect is to highlight all of humanity's flaws by [[MarySueTopia describing alternate-world humans that have none of them]].
** This is lampshaded by the Neanderthals literally having bred out of their own population all the negative traits by a program of enforced sterilizations over thousands of years (there is also one example involving domestic violence wherein this system is shown to utterly and totally fail).

* In Literature/{{Kane}} story "Two Suns Setting" that is the main point of the discussion between [[VillainProtagonist Kane]] and [[LastOfHisKind last king of dwarves Dwassllir]]. Dwassllir argues that humans are weak and would be nothing without their civilisation, which is like crutches to a cripple, while Kane points out that's exactly the point and that thanks to their inherent weakness and need for civilisations humans have become the fastest-growing race.

* As many writing guides will tell you, flaws are what draws people to fictional characters.

* 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 subconscious 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 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.

** Millia Rage was orphaned at an early age and coerced by her ex-BastardBoyfriend to assassinate people, but she has since betrayed her employers and [[HeroicNeutral really just wants to be left alone now]]. She struggles to form relationships with people, she grapples with her past, and [[StrawFeminist she is rather cynical and spiteful towards men]]. She is a fairly decent person deep down, however.