Line #65 Main/FantasticAnthropologist


1	->''"What, exactly, is the function of a rubber duck?"''
2	--> -- '''Arthur Weasley''', ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets''
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4	Astonishing as it may seem, not all non-{{Muggle\|s}} characters are on a crusade to murder us {{Muggles}}. In fact, their motivations will turn out to be surprisingly mundane -- they want to see how us crazy {{Muggles}} operate. How do we keep from getting cold without any fur? Where does our food come from if we don't have access to FunctionalMagic? And how do we... reproduce?
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6	This usually non-malicious character type has one primary function in a story -- [[RuleOfFunny comedy]]. Because it's hard to beat the humor of someone who doesn't understand human customs trying to make any sort of sense out of them. The Fantastic Anthropologist very rarely has long-term story implications in large part because part of their job is to keep the {{Muggles}} in the dark about what's going on.
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8	In terms of narrative, the Fantastic Anthropologist's culture can sometimes be a satire of our own. After all, as wacky as this guy may seem, when it gets right down to it we're not so different.
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10	Depending on the point of view of the story can often come off as CaptainOblivious. Frequently an AmusingAlien character. Compare FantasticScience, CrazyCulturalComparison, IntriguedByHumanity, TheXenophile. A subtrope of TheWatcher.
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12	----
13	!!Examples:
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15	[[foldercontrol]]
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17	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
18	* Eris from ''Literature/CatPlanetCuties'' is sent as a scout by her species the [[CatGirl Catians]] to check Earth as a suitable diplomatic partner. The Catians' outlook is that of tourists: her reports on Japanese cuisine makes the Catian expedition hurry to establish formal relations.
19	* Subverted in ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid''. Elma claimed that the reason she got a job at Kobayashi's office was part of a study to see if beings from the other world could assimilate to Earth culture. Kobayashi quickly realized that this was a lie and she was just too embarrassed to admit that she had no way to get back to the other world on her own.
20	* Nagisa Aizawa from ''Manga/MyMonsterSecret'' was sent to Earth in order to study its culture and determine if her planet can open friendly relations with them. Mostly this means [[YouWatchTooMuchX she reads too much manga]]... I mean "historical documents", but one chapter shows a documentary about her efforts where she struggles to identify the purpose of a baby shower cap before deciding it's a decoration akin to the great frilled lizard.
21	* In ''Manga/SgtFrog'', whenever the Keronians aren't plotting to take over Earth, they're studying its culture, occasionally getting it hilariously wrong: in one chapter, they assume that Natsumi's {{school swimsuit}} is an amphibious battle-suit based on Keronian physiology, and in another, they mistake a bowling alley for a military training center.
22	[[/folder]]
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24	%%[[folder:Comic Books]]
25	%%* Creator/DCComics' ComicBook/MajorBummer was given super powers as a school experiment by aliens, but they were inadvertently sent to the wrong person (Lou Martin instead of Martin Louis).
26	%%[[/folder]]
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28	[[folder:Fan Works]]
29	* By far and away the most popular fan interpretation of Lyra Heartstrings in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fandom. This interpretation depicts her as a fanatical ConspiracyTheorist obsessed with humans, often to the point of wanting to be one, and generally played as a self-TakeThat against bronies and furries. The most well-known incarnations of this fanon is the fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Anthropology}}'', where her wish to see Earth comes true, and the FilkSong of the same name by Awkward Marina.
30	%%* ''Fanfic/TheNextFrontier'': The [[VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram Kerbals]] are not entirely pleased by what they learn about their new neighbours.
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33	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
34	* Pleakley from ''Franchise/LiloAndStitch'' is an "Earth expert" interested in humanity's life on the planet who, among other things, believes that you eat cereal with a fork.
35	* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid\|1989}}'': Ariel is hugely interested in what human life is like. However, she's got some very... ''strange'' notions about us, mostly courtesy of her seagull friend whose info is completely off base.
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38	[[folder:Literature]]
39	* In ''Literature/AlienInASmallTown'', Paul the {{Starfish Alien\|s}} earns his living on Earth as an essayist, writing about human behavior from an outsider's point of view. Human readers seem to like his stuff.
40	* ''Literature/AlwaysComingHome'' is structured like an anthropologist's notes on the distant future Kesh people. But in a couple of segments, Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin inverts the plot device and provides Kesh perspectives on then-current real humans. The Kesh think "[[HeadTurnedBackwards they all had their heads on backwards]]".
41	* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': At one early point, the alien Ax laments that, stuck on Earth, there is no opportunity for military advancement. So he decides he will make the most of the situation and become his species' foremost expert on humans.
42	* At one point in ''Literature/TheDinosaurLords'', Karyl has an odd encounter with a strange and likely non-human woman who tells him she's visiting dying men to ask them what it's like to be human. Being as he is (amnesiac, naked, cold, and dying), he gives her an unflattering description, which she listens to with interest.
43	* In Creator/RobertSilverberg's "Flies", a human space traveler crash-lands on the planet of a race who are [[HigherTechSpecies able to save him with their advanced medicine]]. In return, they enable him to transmit the feelings of others so that they can study humans, but tragedy ensues when this enables him to inflict grievous suffering without experiencing any effects of remorse.
44	* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Arthur Weasley has his recurring hobby of studying {{Muggles}} as a regular tension reliever in the plot. Mrs. Weasley is not amused when on one occasion he goes so far as to use Muggle medicine to try and stitch up some serious wounds he had incurred.
45	* Ford Prefect from ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' does this for the titular Guide. However, the editors trim down the comprehensive article he wrote about Earth to "Mostly Harmless" (it previously read "Harmless").
46	* In ''Literature/TheShadowOutOfTime'' the Great Race of Yith swap consciousnesses with people from different times and planets in order to learn from them. [[spoiler:And evaluate their potential as future hosts.]]
47	* ''Literature/SpotsTheSpaceMarine'': Samuel Colt is a non-comic example. While his primary mission is weapons evaluation, he studies human customs as a hobby.
48	* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/StrangerInAStrangeLand'': Michael Valentine is a human raised by Martians who returns to Earth as an adult, eventually he discovers that the Martians have been monitoring his thoughts to evaluate humanity's [[spoiler:threat potential, and starts a religion to teach Earth PsychicPowers so they can compete with them]].
49	* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/WhatIsThisThingCalledLove": The alien protagonists are [[AlienAbduction abducting humans]] in order to [[HumansThroughAlienEyes better understand us]].
50	%%* Discordian writer/philosopher Creator/RobertAntonWilson (of ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}!'' fame) claims that Greg Hill (a.k.a. Malaclypse the Younger, author of the ''Principia Discordia'') is this. Hill fervently denies this.[[note]]''Actually, the Principia is the work of a time-travelling anthropologist from the 23rd Century. He is currently passing among us as a computer specialist, bon vivant, and philosopher named Gregory Hill. He has also translated several volumes of Etruscan erotic poetry, under another pen-name, and in the 18th Century was the mysterious Man in Black who gave Jefferson the design for the Great Seal of the United States. I have it on good authority that he is one of the most accomplished time-travelers in the galaxy and has visited Earth many times in the past, using such cover-identities as Zeno of Elias, Emperor Norton, Count Cagliostro, Guilliame of Aquaitaine, etc. Whenever I question him about this, he grows very evasive and attempts to persuade me that he is actually just another 20th Century Earthman and that all my ideas about his extraterrestrial and extratemporal origin are delusions. Hah! I am not that easily deceived. After all, a time-travelling anthropologist would say just that, so that he could observe us without his presence causing culture shock. I understand that he has consented to write an Afterword to this edition. He'll probably contradict everything I've told you, but don't believe a word he says fnord. He is a master of the deadpan put-on, the plausible satire, the philosophical leg-pull, and all the branches of guerrilla ontology.''[[/note]]
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53	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
54	* ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'':
55	** Dick and his "family" observe what life is like on Earth and report the findings back to base. Their ultimate goal, however, remains vague throughout the series. We know they're not trained anthropologists, in part because they routinely received poor job evaluations but also because Dick and Tommy are clearly shown to be experts in hard science while Sally is a soldier and Harry is their communication link to the home planet making him, effectively, equipment. Earlier episodes imply that they are not used to running into planets or lifeforms with diverse cultures or complex emotions. Most notably, their initial stay was supposed to last only a few weeks, long enough to copy over the sum of human knowledge and leave. When they discovered there was ''more'' to humanity than just the dry facts of our history, they decided that Earth warranted longer investigation and extended the mission in order to explore the "human condition" by experiencing it first hand.
56	** On occasion they would run into other aliens. One such alien was a Fantastic Anthropologist with a far more specific goal -- determine whether Earth was valuable enough to avoid destroying (since it was [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale somehow]] blocking their view of part of the universe).
57	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Mr. Copper from "[[Recap/DoctorWho2007CSVoyageOfTheDamned Voyage of the Damned]]" claims to be an expert on Earth cultures and leads a tour group of HumanAliens on a visit to London. It becomes obvious right away that Copper is a KnowNothingKnowItAll whose PhonyDegree in "Earthonomics" is from a diploma mill (that also operates as a dry cleaner). He lied about his qualifications to get the cushy job travelling the universe and gets away with it because his employers and customers know even less about Earth than he does.
58	* ''Series/MorkAndMindy'': Mork was originally sent to Earth to observe humanity in their natural environment and report back to the other Orkans. Each episode ends with him sending a report to his superior, Orson.
59	* ''Series/MyFavoriteMartian'': Uncle Martin is a Martian anthropologist and the foremost expert on the planet Earth and Earthlings. As Martians are friendly but unbelievably advanced, his views on Earth range from bemusement to frustration with Earth's backwardness.
60	* ''Series/{{The Outer Limits\|1963}}'' episode "Controlled Experiment". A pair of Martians investigate the quaint Earth custom of murder by using a time machine to run an actual murder forward and backward in time.
61	* ''Series/{{The Twilight Zone\|1959}}'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S2E19MrDingleTheStrong Mr. Dingle, the Strong]]", both the Martians and the Venusians conduct experiments on Luther Dingle to see how he'll react when he gains SuperStrength and then SuperIntelligence.
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64	[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
65	* ''Series/FraggleRock'': Gobo Fraggle's uncle, Traveling Matt, [[BoldExplorer explores]] "Outer Space" (the human world), trying to understand the differences between Fraggle-kind and humanity. Every episode, he sends a postcard back to Fraggle Rock with details of a recent adventure he's had involving humans.
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68	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
69	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 5e has the Anthropologist background, which may be played as this should the player wish. They could also be interested in genuinely exotic cultures, but most players enjoy the novelty of a LizardFolk who studies human culture.
70	* Europan Emissaries in ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' immerse themselves into the social roles of different cultures, to gain a greater insight into the other peoples of the solar system.
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73	[[folder:Webcomics]]
74	* ''Webcomic/GetMedieval'' features anthropology student Asher Hane as one of the {{Human Alien\|s}} protagonists stuck in 14th century France.
75	* ''Webcomic/NotSoDistant'' stars an alien interning as an archaeologist in a post-apocalyptic Earth, [[spoiler:only to find a TimeMachine and make the switch to anthropology.]]
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78	[[folder:Western Animation]]
79	* Gus from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' is a big fan of all things human, to the point of having started the Human Appreciation Society at his school, which is dedicated to analyzing the few human artifacts that wind up in the Boiling Isles... often coming to hilariously incorrect conclusions about what they're used for. (For example, he ponders why humans would nail bits of metal to their children's teeth, and concludes it must somehow be beneficial for them to be magnetic.) He's thrilled to meet [[TokenHuman Luz]], who's happy to answer his questions and even comes to a Human Appreciation Society meeting as a guest speaker. (Fittingly, Luz was [[AscendedFangirl a huge fan of fantasy fiction]] before coming to the Boiling Isles and was equally delighted to find out witches and other magical creatures are real.)
80	* ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'': Celery and Carrot Propulsion came to Earth to study it. They return to Bortron in 'Return to Bortron 7' and give a report on it.
81	[[/folder]]

Context Main / FantasticAnthropologist