History Main / HumansAreFlawed

--> -- '''TerryPratchett''' and '''NeilGaiman''', ''GoodOmens''

* This trope is one of the underlying themes of ''GoodOmens''.

* Despite shouting "HumanityIsSuperior!" Humans in ''{{Farscape}}'' 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.

* This is one of the main themes (arguably ''the'' main theme) of ''{{Serenity}}''. Even if the Pax had worked perfectly, it still would've been wrong to stifle the human emotional range for the sake of peace.

* The fact that hominids weren't physically equipped for any particular ecological niche -- no fangs for hunting, no claws for digging, etc -- and had to make up for these shortcomings is considered a key driving force behind our invention of tools. Likewise, the fact that we ''can'' be selfish, duplicitous bastards may have accelerated the hominid brain's evolution toward complexity, as after a while there was nothing more challenging to try to puzzle out than another hominid's real intentions. So naturally HumansAreFlawed, because dealing with those flaws is what ''made'' us human.
** So what you are saying is that Humanity is CursedWithAwesome?

* This is arguably the message of ''{{Watchmen}}.'' Because humans are flawed, our heroes will be as well, and thus our longing for perfect messianic figures to 'save us' is naive.
** [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory That's just one of the billions of possible messages.]] Watchmen is, well, [[{{Understatement}} open ended.]]

->''"It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being [[RousseauWasRight fundamentally good]] or [[HumansAreBastards fundamentally bad]], but by people being fundamentally [[ShapedLikeItself people]]."''

->''"Just when you thought that they were more malignant than ever Hell could be, they could occasionally show more grace than Heaven ever dreamed of. Often the same individual was involved."''

* Seems to be [[DoctorWho the Doctor's]] view of humanity, as earth is his "favorite/pet planet" so to speak, but will turn around and ridicule humans about their shortcomings should the situation be extreme enough.

So what if [[RousseauWasRight Rousseau]] isn't right and 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 harder.[[hottip:* :(And yes, bad puns are part of humanity's ''many'' unrepentant flaws.)]]

->''"It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being [[RousseauWasRight fundamentally good]] or [[HumansAreBastards fundamentally bad]], but by people being fundamentally people."''

* [[SystemShock Lo-lo-look at you, ''hacker''. A p-p-pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting and sweating as you r-run through my corridors-s. H-h-how can you challenge a perfect, immortal machine?]]
** [[spoiler: [[JustShootHim Nah]] ]]

* ''{{Monster}}'' is largely about this. [[TheMessiah Tenma]] and [[CompleteMonster Johan]] come to totally different conclusions from this premise.

* While it first appears to set up a HumansAreBastards message, ''EienNoAselia'' in the end opts for this. You have your instantly nice and understanding characters like Yuuto and Lemuria, 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.

--> -- '''TerryPratchett''' & '''NeilGaiman''', ''GoodOmens''

->''Is there a turn to make, Does it matter anymore? \\
Is there something in our history that causes all the war? \\
I read about good and bad, I see the faces on the screen, \\
Hear that talk is even cheaper now; I can see just what they mean. \\
Am I ever to be free of this human condition in front of me? ''
-->-- '''{{Charlie Peacock}}''', "Human Condition"

[[/folder]

[[folder: Comic Books]]
* This is arguably the message of ''{{Watchmen}}.'' Because humans are flawed, our heroes will be as well, and thus our longing for perfect messianic figures to 'save us' is naive.
** [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory That's just one of the billions of possible messages.]] Watchmen is, well, [[{{Understatement}} open ended.]]
* {{Transmetropolitan}}. A lot. Especially towards the end, where Spider constantly drops that, despite being a bastard and some sort of weird figure for the masses, he's still human like everyone else, along with all the great and the extra-evil that humanity does on a daily basis.

[[folder: Video Games]]
* This is the message of ''{{Bioshock}}.'' Whenever a human being attempts to create their [[{{Utopia}} ideal society]] in RealLife, they fail to do so; either because they are DrunkWithPower and [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocritical]] (in the case of Andrew Ryan) or their underlying ideology contains [[TotalitarianUtilitarian no regard for individual rights whatsoever]] (in the case of Sophia Lamb).
* [[SystemShock Lo-lo-look at you, ''hacker''. A p-p-pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting and sweating as you r-run through my corridors-s. H-h-how can you challenge a perfect, immortal machine?]]
** [[spoiler: [[JustShootHim Nah]] ]]
* ''{{Fallout}}''.
* In many ways a staple of ''ShinMegamiTensei'' games. Despite all the bastardery that humans put you through in most games' plotlines, the [[MultipleEndings pro-human endings]] that involve rejecting the supernatural powers that play with mankind are generally considered to be the most optimistic ones of the lot.
** Mainly because [[GodIsEvil the supernatural powers are worse then us.]]
* In ''{{Resident Evil}}: The Darkside Chronicles,'' [[MysteriousWaif Manuela]] comes to the conclusion that the ability to feel pain (mental/emotional pain at our mistakes, in particular) is what makes a person human, and that's a good thing, at least [[spoiler:as opposed to being a super tough (but mindless and destructive) zombie monster.]]

[[/folder]]

* In BabylonFive all the races are flawed.
* Humans in Doctor Who the Doctor LOVES us but know we let greed and our anger get in the way a lot.

[[folder: Video Games]]
* This is the message of ''{{Bioshock}}.'' Whenever a human being attempts to create their [[{{Utopia}} ideal society]] in RealLife, they fail to do so; either because they are DrunkWithPower and [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocritical]] (in the case of Andrew Ryan) or their underlying ideology contains [[TotalitarianUtilitarian no regard for individual rights whatsoever]] (in the case of Sophia Lamb).
* [[SystemShock Lo-lo-look at you, ''hacker''. A p-p-pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting and sweating as you r-run through my corridors-s. H-h-how can you challenge a perfect, immortal machine?]]
** [[spoiler: [[JustShootHim Nah]] ]]
* ''{{Fallout}}''.
* In many ways a staple of ''ShinMegamiTensei'' games. Despite all the bastardery that humans put you through in most games' plotlines, the [[MultipleEndings pro-human endings]] that involve rejecting the supernatural powers that play with mankind are generally considered to be the most optimistic ones of the lot.
** Mainly because [[GodIsEvil the supernatural powers are worse then us.]]
* In ''{{Resident Evil}}: The Darkside Chronicles,'' [[MysteriousWaif Manuela]] comes to the conclusion that the ability to feel pain (mental/emotional pain at our mistakes, in particular) is what makes a person human, and that's a good thing, at least [[spoiler:as opposed to being a super tough (but mindless and destructive) zombie monster.]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]
* This is arguably the message of ''{{Watchmen}}.'' Because humans are flawed, our heroes will be as well, and thus our longing for perfect messianic figures to 'save us' is naive.
** [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory That's just one of the billions of possible messages.]] Watchmen is, well, [[{{Understatement}} open ended.]]
* {{Transmetropolitan}}. A lot. Especially towards the end, where Spider constantly drops that, despite being a bastard and some sort of weird figure for the masses, he's still human like everyone else, along with all the great and the extra-evil that humanity does on a daily basis.

[[folder: Live Action TV]]
* Despite shouting "HumanityIsSuperior!" Humans in ''{{Farscape}}'' 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.
** Even more than that, it's Crichton's (and humanity's) persistence in the face of the toughest odds that set them apart from other species. It is viewed as a flaw by many, that humans are so ignorant they don't know when they're beat, but that characteristic is what kept Crichton and his shipmates alive for so long.
* This is the whole reason for the Q's "[[HumanityOnTrial prosecution]]" of humanity in ''[[StarTrekTheNextGeneration Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''. Of course, the reaction to this is where the PatrickStewartSpeech got its name.
* The Ancients (despite being humanity's progenitors) and the Nox, super advanced alien races in the ''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 (IfYouKnowWhatIMean). 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'Neil=] 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.
* Seems to be [[DoctorWho the Doctor's]] view of humanity, as earth is his "favorite/pet planet" so to speak, but will turn around and ridicule humans about their shortcomings should the situation be extreme enough.
-->'''The Doctor''': Human beings. You are amazing. Hah! Thank you.\\
'''Zachary Cross Flane''': Not at all.\\
'''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.
** It's not like he doesn't get fed up with [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien his own species]], though. He spends more time hanging out with us after all.
*** [[LastOfHisKind Hanging around with his own species isn't really an option these days.]]
* This is how Jor-El views humans in {{Smallville}}, 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 1960's (even super powered Kryptonians need to eat and sleep). The message on Kal-El's ship:
---> On this third planet from this star Sol, you will be a god among men. They are a flawed race. Rule them with strength, my son. That is where your greatness lies.
* Lucifer in {{Supernatural}} believes this, calling us "broken, abortions."
** [[spoiler: Gabriel]] agrees, but gives us commendation for still trying. [[spoiler: unlike most of his brothers.]]
* A theme in the 1998 ''[[{{Film/Merlin}} Merlin]]'' series, best shown when the Lady of the Lake tells Merlin, "It's human to make mistakes, Merlin, and part of you is human . . . the best part."

[[/folder]]

[[folder: WebComics]]
* This brought up in Chapter 28 of ''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 kill [[IfICantHaveYou a woman who didn't love him and his creations]] 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 [[UnfortunateImplications lab rats.]] Kat has a breakdown after learning all the [[HumansAreBastards bastardly]] things the Court does, but Paz reminds her that the Court is also capable of recognizing its flaws and changing them:
--->'''Paz:''' The Court isn't a big monster that does as it pleases. ''Es'' a collection of '''people''', working to do what they think is right.
* OrderOfTheStick 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."
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life]]
* This is heavily debated. 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.
** Of course, one can empirically observe many flaws in many humans. But this is a less strong claim than ''humans are inherently flawed''.
* 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.
* The fact that hominids weren't physically equipped for any particular ecological niche -- no fangs for hunting, no claws for digging, etc -- and had to make up for these shortcomings is considered a key driving force behind our invention of tools. Likewise, the fact that we ''can'' be selfish, duplicitous bastards may have accelerated the hominid brain's evolution toward complexity, as after a while there was nothing more challenging to try to puzzle out than another hominid's real intentions. So naturally HumansAreFlawed, because dealing with those flaws is what ''made'' us human.
** So what you are saying is that Humanity is CursedWithAwesome?
[[/folder]]

* Humans in Doctor Who the Doctor Loves us but know we let greed and our anger get in the way a lot.

* Pick a criminal. Any criminal.