Line #34 Main/HumanityIsSuperior


1	->"''I'm not deficient. I'm SUPERIOR! Humans. Are. '''Superior.'''''"
2	-->-- '''John Crichton''', ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', "[[Recap/FarscapeS02E04CrackersDontMatter Crackers Don't Matter]]"
3
4	Humanity, despite all our [[PunyEarthlings weaknesses]] in comparison to most of the other alien races, have managed to [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters carve out]] or create an [[TheEmpire interstellar empire]] usually with [[EarthIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse Earth as the capital]]. This can be in TheFuture or TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, usually made possible by captured, recently discovered [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum alien]] or Ancient [[AppliedPhlebotinum Phlebotinum]] and through [[HumansAreSpecial sheer willpower or just simply being Human]], enforced with an offscreen RedshirtArmy and {{Cool Ship}}s. In the case of EvilIsCool, humankind is led by an EvilOverlord, or some form of OneWorldOrder with [[FantasticRacism extraterrestrial or mutant racism or hatred]], and the higher echelons of these governments are [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen almost never seen]]. All aliens are portrayed by the government as monsters despite some of them having feelings too, or in the case of [[TheGovernment a nation]] or TheFederation, Humanity is [[DuringTheWar at war]].
5
6	Often the ''Homo sapiens'' race is [[SuperSoldier genetically, technologically]], and [[MightyWhitey racially enhanced]] or turned into a trained TykeBomb force in the attempt to ensure Humankind always comes out on top against the ScaryDogmaticAliens. This usually works, with the resultant super soldiers and the navy turning the tide of the wars in humankind's favor. Eventually, after the war is finished, the super soldiers end up as a sort of SpacePolice, and with the [[TheEvilArmy Imperial Forces]] in the case of an evil humanity. Sometimes the ruling agencies led by a HiddenAgendaVillain has the intent of upgrading the human race genetically.
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8	In the case of EvilIsCool, this can occur with Humanity's subjugation of alien races along the way as well as aiding them in their ultimate goal of having Humans constantly on the top of the [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters food chain]]. However, if there is a [[LaResistance resistance]] with alien sympathizers, usually this will take momentum and can lead to the Empire being overthrown to become TheFederation. If a bunch of aliens ally themselves together to defeat the Human BigBad (often with renegade humans [[MightyWhitey leading the revolution]]), then [[HumanityOnTrial humanity is put on trial]], or it is subtly either the [[KillAllHumans end of humankind]] or the beginning of [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt human subjugation]].
9
10	The prevalence of this trope in early science fiction in particular is partially attributable to ExecutiveMeddling on the part of Creator/JohnWCampbell, editor-in-chief of ''Astounding Science Fiction'' and later ''Magazine/{{Analog}}'' (both defining publications of the golden age of sci-fi) for over thirty years, who flatly refused, under any circumstances, to publish any stories in which aliens were shown as equal or superior to humans, due to his belief that Whites are superior to people of colour.
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12	[[BlatantLies It has nothing to do with]] [[MostWritersAreHuman the writers being humans themselves]].
13
14	SubTrope of HumansAreSpecial. Compare MirrorUniverse, HumansAreTheRealMonsters, HumansAreCthulhu, HumansAreWarriors. Contrast HumansAreMorons, HumansNeedAliens, SuperiorSpecies (for when it's a non-human species that is superior). Whether this trope or HumansAreMorons is the dominant trope in science fiction at the moment is something of a CyclicalTrope. See HumanityIsAdvanced when humans are superior in technology as well.
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16	----
17	!!Examples:
18	[[foldercontrol]]
19
20	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
21	* The ''Manga/OnePiece'' world runs on the rule of thumb that AsskickingLeadsToLeadership. Despite the existence of races far stronger than humans naturally (such as Fishmen and Giants), the [[OneWorldOrder World Government]] and its military is ultimately composed of humans, with humans occupying powerful positions in said military. And on the other side of the spectrum, at least three of the Four Emperors, the strongest pirates in the world, are humans with non-human characters playing supporting roles in their respective organizations. A large part of this comes from Devil Fruit consumers (Fishmen tend to shy away from them) and various other reasons. Furthermore, humans in the ''One Piece'' world are a lot... [[OurHumansAreDifferent stranger than we expect]] (where humans being over 10 feet tall is considered average and the average life span is over 100, with some ''normal'' humans capable of being over 20 feet tall.)
22	* Human(oids) are explicitly stated to be superior in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' due to their ability to access Spiral Energy, because their physical shape is the most efficient form for using it. Even if a creature isn't humanoid, it if can evolve, [[EvolutionaryLevels its shape over time will tend towards humanoid.]]
23	* Guts of ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' is a human swordsman known for casually taking Gods and demons leagues above human ability on a daily basis.
24	* ''Manga/MedakaBox:'' Despite her display of beyond omnipotent abilities, Medaka Kurokami puts strong emphasis on that she is just an ordinary human.
25	* The intrinsic complexity and enormous variety of human culture in {{Anime/Macross}} is an order of magnitude greater than every other species in the Universe combined. Without exaggeration, mankind just plays the latest Top Ten Music Chart whenever they encounter aliens. Said aliens either immediately want to join the Earth {{Fangirl}} Club or experience sensory overload that throws them into an existential crisis.
26	* ''Manga/BlackClover'': Similar to [[spoiler:Julius]] who thinks HumansAreSpecial, Lucius Zogratis is a believer in this as he tells Lucifero. [[VillainHasAPoint He has a point]], considering the non-human enemies the Kingdoms have to fight like Elves and Devils might have immensely powerful magic, but [[UnskilledButStrong they usually aren't that particularly creative or tactical in using them]], so humans can often outsmart them.
27	-->'''Lucifero:''' My magical power... was the greatest in the world...
28	-->'''Lucius:''' That's true. But... in this world, we are the ones... with the most brilliant '''''magic'''''. We humans.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Comic Books]]
32	* {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d in an early Magazine/{{MAD}} parody of ''ComicStrip/FlashGordon'' called "Flesh Garden", in which the evil alien emperor pits Flesh Garden against the greatest enemy of all - a man in boxing gloves.
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35	[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
36	* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' hints that while most of the universe considers Earth to be a magic and monster infested DeathWorld, [[HumansAreWarriors whose dominant species]] are a bunch of primitives happiest when killing something, usually each other, and sees Asgard's fondness for/protectiveness of Earth is a mark of Asgardian eccentricity, the Asgardians see something that they like in us, [[HumanityIsYoung that while we are young]], [[HumansAreSpecial we have the potential to become something great,]] a leading light in the universe, as did a few Kryptonians, so have seen fit to nurture our potential. Besides, what with our [[HumansAreSurvivors determination]] and [[HumansAreWarriors willingness to take on all comers]], [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy they kind of like our style.]] On top of this, a certain ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel\|MarvelComics}} met [[Series/AgentCarter Agent Peggy Carter]] in the '50's and took a shine to her, giving her and SHIELD a massive amount of data that became known as 'the Mar-Vell Files'. Unfortunately, [[YouAreNotReady humanity was not ready]] and this well-meaning gesture went spectacularly wrong, leading to the files being mothballed.
37	* In ''Fanfic/FracturedSovereignGFC'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]'']] [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover crossover]] and its sequel, ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'', this is played with--as per Mass Effect's canon there are those in Citadel space who believe in the trope. Cerberus exploits the arrival of more-advanced humans to try to enforce the belief by military means, culminating with a plot to use a cloaked superlaser station to take out a Trans-Galactic Republic Star Dreadnaught. It doesn't work, but [[CorruptCorporateExecutive shady elements]] from the Trans-Galactic Republic's galaxy conspire for Human dominance and were indeed the ones who helped Cerberus acquire technology for their failed coup. Humanity is also (sometimes) the most advanced species (save NeglectfulPrecursors who hit SufficientlyAdvancedAlien levels) in the fan-verse, though ''most'' of them aren't tempted to abuse this fact.
38	* Throughout ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' fanfic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/34264636/chapters/85251547 The Girl from Earth]]'' it slowly becomes clear just how more advanced Earth is in comparison to the Demon Realm. Concepts like cars, video games, nuclear weapons, and especially space travel are completely foreign to the inhabitants of the Boiling Isles. When Luz publicly reveals humanity's space travel achievements to the Isles (under a truth spell so that her information is irrefutable), a mass panic ensues. The Coven heads immediately delay the Day of Unity because of how clearly they underestimated humans, and some witch supremacists were actually [[GoMadFromTheRevelation driven insane]] with the knowledge that witches are in no way the universe's most superior species.
39	** Once Luz finds out about the true plans for the Day of Unity, she becomes immediately worried about the potential MergedReality. But she isn't worried about humanity, no she's worried about the Boiling Isles because she knows [[NukeEm a couple of nukes could easily wipe out the entire Demon Realm]]. While she doesn't publicly reveal everything about human weaponry and warfare, she does give a presentation which cements to everyone that sees it that the Isles ''cannot'' win a war against Earth.
40	-->'''Luz:''' ''"If he brings the Isles to Earth, I can almost assure you it will be destroyed within weeks!"''
41	* [[PlayingWith Played with]] in ''Fanfic/MassEffectEndOfDays''. It is a different-tech fic, where humanity created a synthetic partner-race, the Vision, and developed technologically and sociologically independent from eezo and the relays. When they finally do make contact with the Citadel, humanity's tech is in an order of magnitude higher than the Citadel's. However, it is pointed out that humanity is only on that level thanks to their A.I, which lessens the impact of "organic variables" - like costs and pay - while all the Vision needs is materials and time. The "superior"-part is the fact that humanity managed to achieve peace and understanding with their creations, and their civilization as a whole is presented as superior to the Council. But as individuals, the aliens are just as good.
42	** If anything, the story explores civilization development, and aims to show that 'natural development' - superior, while 'uplifting' - inferior, as this is mainly what separates the Alliance and the Citadel.
43	* [[DefiedTrope Defied]] by Kyril in ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'', who cared nothing for the supposed "purity" of the human race. His P.O.V. notes, "That kind of talk had no place in his company. Anyone who believed otherwise was free to leave."
44	* In one chapter of ''Fanfic/OriginStory'', Alexandra Harris explains to her partner Louise all the ways that humanity would be superior to Kryptonians. If -- that is -- it weren't for the fact that Earth's yellow sun turns Kryptonians into [[PhysicalGod physical gods]].
45	-->'''Alexandra Harris:''' ''"What I mean are things like, your species are wider-ranging omnivores than we are. We're still omnivores, but plants make less of a percentage of our diets than you which means humans can get a wider range of nutrients from plant matter than we do. You have fewer allergic reactions than we do -- trust me, if I weren't all super and everything, I'd be addicted to Claritin by now. Oh, and you're capable of detecting more shades of color than I can. I mean, sure, I can see X-Rays, but you're capable of differentiating something like twelve thousand shades of the color red apart from one another and I can only tell two thousand. To me, coral and salmon just look like the same color: pink."''
46	* ''FanFic/QueenOfAllOni'': Blankman privately expresses the view that since humans managed to drive all magical species into either extinction or hiding, [[FantasticRacism then they are superior to those beings]] and deserve to stand above them. [[EnigmaticMinion Which begs the question of why he's willingly working for the no longer human Jade...]]
47	* ''FanFic/RosarioVampireBrightestDarkness'': This trope is noted to be the very reason that the dark lords started the {{masquerade}} in the first place; it's noted on multiple occasions that as powerful as monsters are, humankind outnumbers monsters a hundred to one at the very least, and human technology and weapons are superior to monster might and magic.
48	* In ''Fanfic/SuperMarioWorldMaxLandis'' the Mushroom Kingdom's physics greatly favor humans, which is why Mario and Luigi are able to perform impossible feats. This is also why Wario is so dangerous, as his enhanced abilities and real-world military tech wreaks havoc on the kingdoms.
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
52	* ''Franchise/StarWars'': Not only are humans one of the most common races (everywhere from Tatooine to Coruscant), they're also the one with the most widely known descendants (Zabrak, Miraluka etc). One of the reasons is that humans are highly adaptable to climate variations, the other is that Force Sensitivity is more common in humans than most species. One of the fundamental tenets of TheEmpire was that [[FantasticRacism Humans were best]] - everyone from Palpatine down was at least partially human unless they were a) extremely lucky or b) [[BunnyEarsLawyer really really good at their jobs]] (see also, Grand Admiral Thrawn). And while Palpatine himself was willing to overlook a lack of humanity in sufficiently skilled subordinates, this was very much not official policy and few in the leadership of the Imperial military felt the same way...so a non-human had to be exceptional enough to merit the Emperor's personal attention if they wanted to get ahead; merely above-average wouldn't cut it.
53	* {{Exaggerated}} in ''Franchise/{{Tron}}'': Humans are the ''[[ThankTheMaker deities]]'' to the Programs and Isos living in [[InsideAComputerSystem the digital world]], and [[RealityWarper humans who get sent there end up]] [[PhysicalGod insanely powerful.]] [[note]] Five hundred and twenty-six times more powerful, according to ''[[VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh Tron 2.0]]'' [[/note]]
54	[[/folder]]
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56	[[folder:Literature]]
57	* Inverted in the ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' novel ''Literature/{{Revan}}'', where it's revealed that the old Sith Empire, while didn't discriminate against humans (those who weren't slaves), had the True Sith holdings all the power (the Emperor and several members of the Dark Council are shown to be True Sith). The humans are still the majority even in the Empire, though. In fact, the True Sith discriminate against other True Sith who aren't Force-sensitive. And by the time of ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' itself (300 years later) the Dark Council was a mix of True Sith and human Sith Lords. By that time the bloodlines were so heavily mixed that most Sith empire citizens have at least some Sith blood, and the "Sith Pureblood" bloodlines are so watered down that they're basically red humans with jowels.
58	* In Nick Pollotta and Phil Foglio's novel ''illegal aliens'', though initially technologically inferior to the alien races they encounter, Humans catch up very VERY quickly (albeit with the help of an alien technician) and surpass the weaponry, medical, and general technological abilities of the aliens they got most of the technology from in the first place, by sheer inventiveness, for example, [[spoiler:they regenerate members of an extinct alien race, create a type of {{unobtanium}} ship armor an alien earlier on in the story was lying about to make them think alien ships were tougher than they really were, created ORIGINAL weapons based on an "atomic vortex" that started with a pistol that was ridiculously powerful and escalated to a cannon that could wipe out massive fleets of automated attack satellites, and generally overcame any and all opposition by races whose technology they hadn't even known about mere months before.]]
59	* In the novel ''Literature/PandorasLegions'', Humans are, on average, smarter than the aliens who invade Earth, only being beaten because half the time the Humans were fighting each other. [[spoiler:The book ends on the twist that a new species has been discovered which appears to be to humans as humans were to the aliens who invaded them.]]
60	* Humans in ''Literature/TheDamnedTrilogy'' by Creator/AlanDeanFoster are faster, stronger, tougher, and fiercer than every other sentient species, bar none. They're also the only species with the ability to resist the PsychicPowers of the Amplitur, who have brainwashed entire species into being happy slaves. So, the discovery of humanity by the Weave of free species at the beginning of the first book marks a critical turning point in their war to remain free. Unfortunately, humans are feared by the other sympathetic alien species precisely for those qualities and the uncomfortable question comes up that if they win the war, what will happen to human/alien relations then? Technically there are faster, stronger and tougher races than humans but Humans are a JackOfAllStats species, faster than the strongest species, stronger than the fastest but fiercer than all. Ironically all three books deal with Humans who try to be more than just warriors.
61	* [[TheEmpire The Empire of Humans]] in Yulia Latynina's "Inhuman" is very much evil, bloated and corrupt; at the time of its founding it was less corrupt and more evil, with constant executions, mind control and biological warfare. However, [[spoiler:almost all of that is revealed to have been NecessarilyEvil: TheEmpire's founder only came to power and introduced those measures ''after'' the democratic government, along with the Earth's entire ecosphere and 98% of the human population, was eaten by the Ttakas, a race of [[ExtremeOmnivore truly extreme omnivores who ate other species as an alternative to eating each other (though they did that too whenever possible)]] that also happened to breed ''very'' rapidly and be incredibly inventive. And those measures worked: humanity survived and built an empire, while the Ttakas were killed off by use of a very nasty, advanced human-engineered virus, along with other things whenever that proved impractical.]] Later wars and oppression really were mostly for the evil, though. Admittedly, it still is not so much a case of humans alone being bastards; more like almost all the sapient species encountered, in one way or another.
62	* In Creator/AnneMcCaffrey's ''Literature/TowerAndTheHive'' series, Humans are the only ones with PsychicPowers, which not only give them CasualInterstellarTravel, they allow them to handily defeat the hostile [[BugWar insectile aliens swarms]]. The Mrdini, who have been restricted to slow GenerationShips and which have to kill off (and it's implied, ''eat'') excess population to finish the trip, and use [[HeroicSacrifice mass kamikaze tactics]] to fight the Hivers, are both grateful and pissed when they meet this species.
63	* Creator/JohnRingo's ''Literature/LegacyOfTheAldenata'' series has humans as one of only two (out of six) races physiologically capable of killing. Naturally, we're better at it than the other one.
64	* In Creator/FredSaberhagen's ''Literature/{{Berserker}}'' novels, the [[TechnicalPacifist technically pacifistic]] Carmpan race (they are literally pained by even indirect performance of a violent act against any species, but have no trouble giving humans militarily useful intel) found in humanity the potential "badassness" to be effective Berserker-killers, and so trained and equipped us to be just that. They were certainly deeply indebted to humanity for suffering the scourge of war through its history until the point where nothing less would serve. But where did the Carmpans train and equip Humanity? What follows suggests that the humans had all the goods:
65	--> When they came, you were dug in and ready on a hundred worlds. Because you were, some of you and some of us are now alive.
66	* The Colonial Union in Creator/JohnScalzi's ''Literature/OldMansWar'' and sequels is very much like this. At least until you start to get a wider view of the 'verse in ''The Last Colony.'' Turns out that, despite humanity's quick expansion immediately after venturing out into the universe, in the last century or two humans have settled into the same StatusQuoIsGod back-and-forth as the rest of the local races. The [[PlotArmor necessity]] of allowing the viewpoint characters to survive gives a very distorted view, one [[InternalRetcon encouraged]] by the government.
67	* Creator/StrugatskyBrothers' Literature/NoonUniverse series depict the humanity as THE superior power in the galaxy, with only a few of other races capable of spaceflight. The humans are so advanced that they are helping other civilizations into space age using covert agents known as Progressors. Subverted in that many alien species are [[HumanAliens humans in anything but name]], and are only written as aliens as an excuse to write dystopian settings (dystopian Earth humans would not be accepted by Soviet censorship).
68	* Turtledove's ''Literature/{{Worldwar}}'' and ''Colonisation'' series both play this straight and divert it. When the aliens come they overrun most of the world using superior (presumed modern) technology, but are unable to full conquer Europe, America and some of Asia due to a combination of lack of numbers and human tenacity, and the fact that the aliens were expecting Crusades level technology. Humanity is also far more variable than the aliens (their homeworld has been civilised for ~50,000 years), and so manage to make up most of the difference in about 50-60 years, and by 100 years after the initial invasion are way ahead, including some sort of faster-than-light drive (as seen in ''Homeward Bound''). It's not just the Race either. Apparently, the Race has already conquered two other races, who were exactly like them (LizardFolk with a set mating season and a slow, measurable approach to innovation).
69	* Another story by Turtledove subverts and plays with this. "The Road Not Taken" involves humanity discovering the universe is full of spacefaring alien races. Thing is, everyone else has a technological level several hundred years behind humanity in every field ''but'' space travel. The result is humanity becoming a brutal race of conquers who go around [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomping]] the rest of the galaxy, regardless of whether they attacked first. subverted in the sequel; as humanity starts conquering the galaxy, its own progress pretty much stops. Then they encounter a race who also doesn't have the FTL technology but are way more advanced than humans in other areas, resulting in LaserGuidedKarma.
70	%%* ''Birthright: The Book of Man'' by Creator/MikeResnick
71	* Name-dropped briefly in Creator/JackVance's ''Literature/PlanetOfAdventure.'' A HumanityOnTrial (by combat) ends with a very angry Reith repeatedly smashing the alien's head against a sidewalk.
72	--> '''Dirdir Elite''': "Sub-men are not subject to arbitration."
73	--> '''Adam Reith''':""I am no sub-man. I am a man and quarry to no one. If a wild beast attacks me I will kill it."
74	* Creator/EricFlint's novel ''Literature/MotherOfDemons'' both plays this trope straight and subverts it, at the same time. On the planet Ishtar, humans encounter a species of mollusk-like sophonts called gukuy. Humans are far speedier than gukuy (in fact, the gukuy are not even able to properly see the running motion of humans until they become used to it because it's very different than they expect), and are capable of using spears, which gukuy cannot use and which can exploit a weak point on the gukuy (namely, it can hit an area unprotected by the hard mantle which results in impaling a gukuy's brain). In fact, gukuy widely consider humans to be demons because of those two factors. Yet, gukuy bodily fluids are so poisonous to humans that they will die within minutes from a ''bite wound'', and humans are only capable of digesting regurgitated "childfood" (partially digested vegetation) produced by the maia (a larger, less-evolved sophont than the gukuy).
75	* This is the belief of the Steel Angels, also known as the Children of Bakkalon, a [[ChurchMilitant militant religious sect]] that appears in Creator/GeorgeRRMartin's "Thousand Worlds" ScienceFiction setting. They are most prominent in the short story "And Seven Times Never Kill Man", in which a human trader attempts to [[TrainingThePeacefulVillagers arm the nonhuman inhabitants]] of a planet the Children have colonized in order to prevent their race from being wiped out.
76	* Pretty much anything written by Creator/GordonRDickson, if it has humans against aliens. Humans may be technologically inferior or physically weaker, but they always win, [[{{Determinator}} one way]] [[HumansAreDiplomats or another]]. Or just by being [[InformedAbility waaay too awesome]] to handle.
77	* Creator/DavidBrin's ''{{Literature/Uplift}}'' universe.
78	** Deconstructed. Humans are the only [[spoiler:current]] race in the civilized galaxy that evolved on their own, not being uplifted by another race. Rather than making humanity look like a bunch of awesome badasses, it's made us pariahs in the galactic community; at best the other races think we're lying about not being uplifted (or think that we were abandoned mid-uplift), at worst they think we're a bunch of heretical punks who need to be put in our proper place. Not only that, but while humanity evolved on its own, it's still pathetic in terms of technology compared to everyone else.
79	** Reconstructed in the form of the Library, which gives uplifted species access to massive supercomputer simulations and calculators with effectively infinite capacity before most of them even develop arithmetic. As a result, almost the entire galaxy does every last bit of their math by brute force, and views the human use of things like basic calculus in their design as something akin to black sorcery. As a result, once humanity does gain the specs for a technology (either from an allied species directly or by finagling a library reference code) it tends to be fully functional and integrated into the human fleets and settlements in a matter of months or years instead of the usual millennia of trial-and-error.
80	* Also deconstructed in Robert Reed's ''Literature/GreatShip'' universe. Humanity is one of the most advanced races in the galaxy and basically own the [[PlanetSpaceship Greatship]], but not because of our inherent superiority. Rather it's because humans just happened to get lucky and find the Ship first. The humans who run the ship, known as the Captains, have developed something of a god complex, [[FantasticRacism believing themselves to be superior to other races]] and thinking they're the only thing keeping the ship functioning (which is blatantly untrue). They violently rebuked attempts by other species to explore the Great Ship before they hit on the idea of selling space on the ship. Note that said Ship is absolutely ''huge'' (bigger than most planets) and humanity wasn't in conflict with any other races, so there was no real reason for them to withhold access to the ship other than their own petty egos.
81	* In ''Literature/{{Protector}}'', it is said that humans have the potential to beat the hyper-intelligent Pak Protectors, because, compared to them, we war ''less'', and cooperate to develop technology that a Protector wouldn't consider necessary. This is actually true for most of ''Literature/KnownSpace'', because humans are neither so xenophobic as the [[StarfishAliens Trinocs]] or the [[TheChessmaster Puppeteers,]] nor as warlike as the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Kzinti]]. It ''does''' help that we're the favorite toys/tools of the Puppeteers. In general, though, it's a strikingly humanist fictional universe. It also helps that non-Protector humans are much more intelligent than non-Protector Pak (which aren't even fully sentient), that human Protectors are much more likely to adopt the entire human race as their protectorate instead of just their own personal bloodline, and that Protector forms for both species think in extremely narrow ways thanks to biological imperatives.
82	* In Creator/TimothyZahn's short story "Pawn's Gambit," a human is just one of many unlucky species abducted for a new round of unethical experimentation by a local alien superpower, until it turns out that humans possess a natural talent for tactics and strategy. So much so that an average human can go toe-to-toe in a strategy exercise with a trained military expert of any other species. This so disturbs the test-givers that they decide Earth's population has to be exterminated. But they miss that the human has already cleverly passed the location of Earth and the testing world to his alien "friend," allowing the friend's people to mount a rescue mission and create an alliance against the superpower.
83	* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/VictoryUnintentional": The ZZ robots accidentally convince the Jovian aliens that humanity is physically superior in every respect, because nobody remembered to tell them that the ZZ robots aren't human.
84	* This was an EnforcedTrope at ''[[Magazine/{{Analog}} Astounding Science Fiction]]'' when Creator/JohnWCampbell was in charge. He required that any story involving aliens must show them to be inferior to humans to reflect his personal belief that white men were superior to other races.
85	* ''Rescue Party'', the first story sold by Creator/ArthurCClarke (to Campbell's ''Astounding''). An alien spaceship rushes to Earth when they discover our sun is about to go nova, only to find the planet deserted because humanity has evacuated in a fleet of generation ships. As they go to make FirstContact with this fleet, they joke that they better be polite to such a determined race. "After all, we only outnumber them about a thousand million to one." The final line is: ''Twenty years afterward, the remark didn't seem funny.''
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87	[[/folder]]
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89	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
90	* ''Series/BlakesSeven'' has [[TheFederation the Terran Federation]] survive an alien attack in the home galaxy with warning from the Liberator. The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergalactic_War_(Blake%27s_7) Intergalactic War]] cost the Federation [[http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7/SevenCyc/I.html 80%]] of the navy. In "Aftermath" two officers state the Federation's 'historic' victory was bought at a terrible price. Later in the series, the Federation suffers [[http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7/Essays/ServFed.html multiple revolts]] and is forced to use a mind control drug since they lack military power.
91	* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' has the Sebacean Peacekeepers as a ruthless [[TransplantedHumans space 'human']] [[TheEmpire empire]] with [[TykeBomb hardcore soldiers]]. But the quote is from John Crichton, the only true human in this part of the universe. However, the instance quoted is a subversion -- in the episode in question, "[[Recap/FarscapeS02E04CrackersDontMatter Crackers Don't Matter]]", an alien is attacking them through their eyes, and Crichton is the only one with [[DisabilitySuperpower dull enough eyesight to fight it]].
92	* The ''Franchise/StargateVerse'' has humanity surviving against near-impossible odds against the ScaryDogmaticAliens who've annihilated many other species who attempted resistance. This is mostly limited to humans from Earth (known as the Tau'ri in the Goa'uld language) since the Goa'uld has enslaved humans and the Wraith cull entire civilizations. Even with humans from Earth this is occasionally subverted with an AlternateUniverse where [[TheBadGuyWins the good guys lose]].
93	* [[TheEmpire The Terran Empire]] in the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' MirrorUniverse used captured Vulcan technology to carve their own empire, which ended with them being subjugated. Of course, this only happened because they started being nice. After having pissed off a large number of races inclined to hold a grudge. The sudden total transformation of the [[TheEmpire Terran Empire]] is something that no-one in their right mind would have trusted in - not after a couple of centuries of utter brutality.
94	%%* ''Series/UprightCitizensBrigade'' eloquently stated, "Humans RULE, dolphins can SUCK IT!"
95	%%** "No way dolphins! You'll never get our jeans!"
96	* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E11Utopia Utopia]]", it's revealed that baseline humanity (as in, non-{{Transhuman}}, look-in-the-mirror humans) is one of four species that makes it through to the dying days of the Universe, ''100 trillion years'' into the future (well, the Doctor actually explains they went transhuman and back a few dozen times, including periods as pure data, but they always eventually revert to the default "hairless monkey" model). Let that sink in for a while, and also consider that of the other three species, [[WordOfGod one is the]] [[PlanetLooters Sycorax]].
97	* In the backstory of ''Series/{{Lexx}}'', humans led by the Brunnen-G destroyed the Insect Civilization. The Insects were mighty planet-sized monsters with greater resources, but their human opponents had greater resourcefulness. [[spoiler:The last surviving Insect possessed a human and created the Divine Order because it (rightly) believed it would be more successful using humans to defeat themselves.]]
98	* Spoofed in ''Series/{{Quark}}'' which has a RunningGag in which Ficus, from an [[TheSpock emotionless race]] of PlantAliens, is always able to demonstrate the InsaneTrollLogic this argument is based on. For instance when a MasterComputer [[JobStealingRobot looks like making the crew redundant]], Ficus concludes that humans are indeed superior, as no other creature could endure the HumiliationConga that Quark has just undergone and still believe he's relevant.
99	* An InvokedTrope in ''Series/TheGoodies'' episode "U-Friend or UFO?" Faced with a possible AlienInvasion, the Goodies decide to convince the aliens that humanity is a race of supermen! Cue the Goodies jumping into a [[VisualGag row of phone booths]] and emerging in HeroicBuild and TheCape. Their efforts re this trope are [[HumansAreMorons less than convincing]].
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Magazine]]
103	* ''{{Magazine/Analog}}'': Creator/JohnWCampbell had {{Enforced\|Trope}} this idea while Chief Editor of the magazine. He required that any story involving aliens must show them to be inferior to humans and this was often assumed to reflect his personal bias that white men were superior to other races.
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
107	* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
108	** Humans are the dominant race in most settings, thanks to extra versatility with none of the mechanical drawbacks other races suffer. While other races have intrinsic situational advantages, humans can always pick up the right skill for the job.
109	** In 1[[superscript:st]] Edition, even friendly non-human races like dwarves are barred from many classes and have a lower level cap than humans. Humanoid races like orcs are AlwaysChaoticEvil cannon fodder with spellcasting limited to "shamans" and "witch doctors". Creator/GaryGygax confirmed that the system was built to favour human player characters.
110	** This is the ethos of the god [[http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20041203a Zarus]] -- who also happens to be a LawfulEvil egomaniac who believes that [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman non-humans]] deserve enslavement and {{Half Human Hybrid}}s deserve death, and whose official dogma reads like bad self-insert fanfiction, so his word on the subject is less than reliable.
111	* In the ''TabletopGame/FadingSuns'' RPG setting, humans have been expanding onto other planets and [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters conquering alien races]] for thousands of years with little trouble- until they meet [[ScaryDogmaticAliens the Vau]]. Not so much expanding now: the Vau aren't as expansive or aggressive as the humans, but they could be called ultra-defensive.
112	* ''FAITH: The Sci-Fi RPG'' features humanity as one of the physically strongest intelligent species in the known Universe. Human weapons and natural instinct for combat make them the deadliest warriors as well. If mankind did not nuke itself into a MadMax society centuries prior, humans might have been unstoppable galactic conquerors. In fact, this very fear is why other aliens want to sterilize all Earthlings who leave Earth, to ensure they can't mass together and form an independent empire away from observation.
113	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' brings us the Imperium of Man, a massive galactic [[TheEmpire empire]] whose domain encompasses millions of worlds and countless citizens. Its armies number in the trillions, with thousands upon thousands of war machines at their disposal (including HumongousMecha the size of ''mountains'') and include many of the deadliest warriors in the galaxy. While human technology is not the most advanced of the setting, the Imperium is nevertheless capable of achievements that often match (and in some cases exceed) those of other races. Given the [[EvilVersusEvil grim morality]] of the setting, it's no surprise that the position of humanity as the dominant galactic power is reflected in their attitude towards alien civilizations.
114	--> ''"It is our destiny to rule the universe, just as it is the destiny of the Xeno to pave our way."''
115	* ''Web and Starship'' is a 2–3 player board game where the players compete to form the largest empire. One species travels faster than light by using the Web, which allows near instantaneous travel between planets that are part of the Web, but to get to a new planet takes years. The second uses Starships, which get to new planets much quicker, but results in slower internal communication. In a three player game, the third species is humanity, who starts off with no means of traveling faster than light. But each of the first two races will be negotiating with the humans to get an advantage over the other race, and humans are capable of developing both Web ''and'' Starship, which makes it pretty easy for the humans to win if they do.
116	* Humans are the biggest and the baddest in the ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'' universe.
117	* Interestingly and cruelly [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstructed]] in ''TabletopGame/SirenTheDrowning'', where Sirens from the Abyssal Current of Lethe have come to the conclusion that Humanity indeed ''is'' superior to any supernatural species on Earth, Sirens included... and not only have they deduced [[CantArgueWithElves humans are completely justified in anything they do]] (including [[KickTheDog damaging the planet through pollution]] and [[MoralEventHorizon hunting down Sirens so they can become immortal by eating their flesh]]), but they also [[LesCollaborateurs actively help them against their fellow Sirens because they "want to be on the winning side"]].
118	[[/folder]]
119
120	[[folder:Video Games]]
121	* ''Franchise/{{Doom}}'': [[Main/{{Hell}} The vast, damned legions of Hell]] vs. [[Main/SpaceMarine one lone space marine]]. '''[[OneManArmy Hell doesn't stand a chance]]'''.
122	* It's shown in ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'''s fluff that the Covenant tend not to be very inventive or innovative when it comes to their own superior technology, as the vast majority of it was reverse-engineered from what they found in the remains of Forerunner civilization (specifically, this is because the Covenant worship the Forerunners and everything they built, meaning that any attempt to better understand Forerunner tech, or even just improve the Covies' own knock-off versions, runs a big risk of being seen as heresy). Humans, on the other hand, had to pretty much build everything on their own; indeed, after the war ends, ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}''-era media shows that humanity has been able to somewhat surpass the technological barrier, though most of what they have is still closer to pre-war tech levels. Not only that, but humanity shows itself to be quite impressive at war too, holding out against the technologically, numerically, and often physically superior Covenant for almost three decades during the war.
123	** Even before first contact, the UNSC was already ahead in AI and computer technology, again because of the Covenant religion. The [=AIs=] themselves are a big part of the reason for humanity's surprising pace of advancement; in ''VideoGame/HaloReach''[='s=] data pads, it's revealed that [[spoiler:a group of human [=AIs=] have actually been secretly guiding humanity for centuries, making sure they develop in the right way. None of this is malevolent; they see it as necessary, both to their survival and as service to their "Creators"]].
124	** Lampshaded in one of the entries in "Conversations from the Universe" (a booklet which came with the Limited Collector's Edition of ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}''), which had two Elites talking about the humans. One talks about how brave and persistent the humans are (wondering why they hadn't asked the Humans to join the Covenant yet) while the other just claims they're puny (and points out that as formidable as the Chief is, they've killed his kind before).
125	** This trope as a whole is slightly subverted in that humanity would have lost the war had the Covenant not splintered in two, with the Separatists deciding to ally with the humans; in fact, the Flood might have taken all of Earth had the Separatist fleet not sterilized a good chunk of Africa. Additionally, the Elites in particular had already reached roughly the same technological level as 26th century humanity ''before'' the former ever began messing around with Forerunner technology (which itself happened well before the Roman Empire ''even existed'').
126	** As originally revealed in ''Literature/TheForerunnerSaga'', [[spoiler:prehistoric humanity had already established an interstellar empire capable of defeating the Flood and putting up a good fight against the Forerunners, before the latter basically nuked them back to the Stone Age. That said, humanity did have some help from Prophet allies who had also managed to independently develop an advanced interstellar civilization, not to mention the fact that both humans and Prophets had to research Forerunner technology themselves in order to hold out as long as they did during their war against the Forerunners]].
127	** [[RecursivePrecursors The Precursors]] apparently believed this was the case, [[spoiler:choosing ancient humanity over the Forerunners when deciding who should be given the Mantle]].
128	* Played with in ''Franchise/MassEffect'': humanity's sudden rise to power has been unprecedented, as they're new to the galactic stage (having only discovered the technology everyone uses 30 years ago) yet have become more powerful economically, militarily, and population-wise than several pre-established powers like the batarians and hanar. They've also introduced several technological advances of their own to the galactic community, like space aircraft carriers and medigel. However, humanity is still MUCH weaker than the most powerful races in the galaxy: the turians, asari, and salarians. There are also a number of human organizations who use this as their core belief. Of note are Terra Firma, a political organization that constantly lobbies the Systems Alliance government, and Cerberus, a secret black ops group with many government connections and wealthy financial backers whose goal is to ensure human superiority in the galaxy. These two are closely linked, with Terra Firma serving as Cerberus' political mouthpiece.
129	** It is worth noting that despite not suddenly overcoming their shortcomings, the games take place thirty-odd years after Humanity's entrance onto the galactic stage--fifty years prior no one even knew they existed. They introduced themselves by giving the premier superpower in the galaxy ([[ProudWarriorRaceGuy the Turians]]) a bloody nose in the First Contact War. They then proceeded to take their nextdoor neighbours, the Batarians, on, and beat them so thoroughly they're ''still'' recovering, and gobbling up half the galaxy simply by not being afraid to colonise close to the lawless Terminus systems or smack colonies down on planets that other races consider uninhabitable or at least not worth it. By the end of the first game, they've saved the Galaxy from the Reapers and gained a spot on the Citadel Council--something most races are ''still'' waiting for after hundreds of years, making them, at least politically, one of the four top superpowers in the galaxy. And there are still two more games to go--in which they further cement themselves as [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast someone to take very seriously]]--even to the [[EldritchAbomination Reapers]].
130	*** For context, that's like if one of those secluded Amazonian Tribes suddenly came out of the jungle and introduced themselves by beating the sh*t out of the US Military and then successfully invading Mexico.
131	*** It's also worth noting that one of the premier terror organisations in the galaxy is a human ultranationalist organisation--Cerberus. So potent they feature on the second and third games and in the third are almost as serious a threat to the galaxy as the Reapers themselves. Not bad for space pyjaks, eh?
132	* The Black Lance organization, in ''VideoGame/WingCommander IV'', was part of a far-ranging plot to upgrade the human race after the war with the Terran Confederation's war with the Kilrathi out of the belief by [[spoiler:Tolwyn]] that humanity ''wasn't'' superior without genetic modification of humans and their society.
133	* Played with in ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarUniverse'': following a war between the four major races of the Guhral System, the Tripartite Treaty granted rule over each planet to the three non-Human races of Newmans, [=CASTs=], and Beasts. Parum, the homeworld of Humans, was placed under CAST rule, with the Humans becoming an underclass: while [=CASTs=] make up a small fraction of Parum's population, they are the ones in the most positions of power in government and the local planetary military. The expansion "Ambition of the Illuminus" introduces a Human supremacist organization known as Illuminus, which seeks to take control over the Gurhal System by exterminating all non-Humans.
134	* ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'': Alakazam has an IQ in the thousands. Macargo is hotter than the surface of the sun. Ponyta's hooves are harder than diamond. There are several more Pokémon with similar godlike abilities (or who are simply ''gods''), yet humans are the ones in charge.
135	** Humans invented pokeballs, giving them a bit of an advantage. On the other hand, however, as anyone who's played the games can tell you, those things only work two, maybe four times out of ten once you get to that level of play.
136	--> '''Game''': [insert Pokémon name here] was only pretending to be caught!
137	--> '''Player''': FUUUUUCK!
138	** Of course humans fixed that little problem with the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Master Ball]]. PowerEqualsRarity is the only reason they're not mass produced.
139	* ''VideoGame/{{Runescape}}'': Theoretically, humans are the weakest race of all, except maybe goblins. All of the major countries, however, are human dominated, except for Morytania (vampyre) and the Elven forest which is in the middle of a civil war. This vast human power is attributed to runestone magic: thanks to rune stones produced via the recently discovered Runecrafting skill, any Muggle can become a mage with the proper training.
140	** Nex, a terrifying creature feared by the gods, and a dreaded servant of the ambiguously dark god Zaros, prefers humans in her army instead of the undead or demons. Despite her terrifying appearance, Nex is apparently a BenevolentBoss. Torva, Pernix, and Virtus, her three best human soldiers in history, were noted to have died as mortals of old age, not in battle, and Nex honored their memory.
141	* ''[[{{VideoGame/XCOM}} X-COM]]'':
142	** In the titular series of games, the organization goes from a clandestine U.N.-backed organization (''UFO Defense'') to a self-sufficient paramilitary entity dedicated to preserving Earth's interests in space (''Interceptor'' and ''Apocalypse'') thanks to a tenacious penchant for reverse-engineering alien technology. Organizations outside X-COM, however, exhibit some HumansAreTheRealMonsters with their wanton discrimination against androids and [[HalfHumanHybrid alien-human hybrids]].
143	** [[VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown The Firaxis remake]] reveals that [[spoiler:the Ethereals want to turn humans into {{Super Soldier}}s to face an even greater enemy. All the enemies you fight are their previous, failed, attempts at marrying physical strength, cybernetics, intelligence, and [[PsychicPowers the Gift]]. Unfortunately for them, their plan [[GoneHorriblyRight works too well]], provided you complete the game and destroy TheMothership]].
144	* ''X-COM''[='s=] SpiritualSuccessor series ''VideoGame/UFOAfterBlank'' has humanity recovering from being almost completely wiped out to successfully scaring the beejesus out of a superior alien species (in ''[[VideoGame/UFOAftermath Aftermath]]''), successfully destroying not one, but ''two'' alien invasion forces (in ''[[VideoGame/UFOAftershock Aftershock]]''), and successfully {{terraform}}ing Mars, despite the attempted intervention of ''four'' separate alien species (in ''[[VideoGame/UFOAfterlight Afterlight]]''). This trope almost taken to the extreme, if you exclude the fact that more of the principal characters are driven by desperation rather than heroics.
145	* The extremely racist Lord Garithos of ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII: The Frozen Throne'' holds this belief. He's a JerkAss toward his dwarven and elven allies, and is pretty much the reason that the Blood Elves break away from the Alliance. The rest of the universe definitely disagrees with him since the humans needed their alliance with the high elves and dwarves to beat back the Horde. It's very clear that currently, no singular race would ever be able to rule over the rest of Azeroth.
146	* [[spoiler:The Fal'Cie]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' believe that HumansAreTheRealMonsters ''and'' that humanity is superior. Their entire scheme revolves around taking advantage of both of these traits to manipulate humans into [[spoiler:destroying Cocoon (which would doom the Cocoon Fal'Cie and the human populace) in order to bring back The Maker]].
147	* ''VideoGame/GalacticCivilizations'': for thousands of years, interstellar travel relied upon slowly moving jump-gates into position at subluminal speeds; humanity, meanwhile, slaps together a hyperdrive in about half an hour and sends it to everyone, even minor players, before becoming a significant galactic power. Of course, whether or not humanity actually wins over everyone else is mostly down to you, except in the campaign for ''2'', [[spoiler:where humanity ultimately gets seven shades kicked out of it by the Dread Lords, leaving the Drengin to rise to dominance in ''Dark Avatar'']]. Hilariously, there is a Minor Race in the game that is noted to have been mere ''months'' away from perfecting hyperdrive themselves, and are rather disgruntled that humanity stole their thunder.
148	* Humanity in ''Videogame/DarkSouls'' and [[Videogame/DarkSoulsII its sequel]] [[spoiler:or rather, the Dark Soul that makes humans "human"]] empowers the setting's greatest champions (in the form of the protagonists) and its greatest horrors [[spoiler:the Abyss and its progenitor Manus]].
149	* Consistently the case in every ''VideoGame/EscapeVelocity'' game:
150	** In the original game, the ongoing [[LaResistance Confederate/Rebel conflict]] came off the heels of a failed alien invasion that occurred several decades prior. While humanity could not even come close to matching the aliens incredible technology, they eventually overwhelmed the aliens through [[DeathOfAThousandCuts extreme determination and sheer numbers]]. This is alluded to [[spoiler:in the final mission of the game for both factions, where the player is aided by a military carrier fleet to destroy a lone alien battleship that somehow survived the war. It's still a very difficult fight]].
151	** In the sequel ''Override'', the human United Earth is engaged in an active war with the ruthless [[AliensAreBastards Voinian Empire]]. According to the backstory, humanity was losing worlds left and right when the invasion began, but by the time the story begins... the Voinians really aren't doing so hot anymore. Not only have the aliens repeatedly been beaten back by the human alliance, the game's [[TacticalRockPaperScissors unusual ship balancing]] ensures that the United Earth's particular composition of shielding and mobile ship engines gives them a significant edge against the Voinians in nearly every engagement. The Crescent Strands, another group of aliens who similarly counter the United Earth ships, are too busy ''killing each other'' to influence the war one way or the other. On the flip side, it is implied that there's nothing ''inherent'' about humanity that is superior and that humanity was simply lucky that it didn't encounter the Voinians until after humans had already established a thriving interstellar civilisation (and that the Voinian Empire had grown arrogant and stagnant, leaving it less able to adapt to new tactics).
152	*** Interestingly, Override's planned direct sequel, ''Age of the Council'', would have moved away from it -- the Strands would have ended up united as a reaction to human meddling destabilizing the Strand War, with the resulting Council beginning a cold war with United Earth that humanity would have had no chance to compete in if not for helping found a grand Alliance with other alien civilizations, and to top it off the ''player character'', with their role of tipping things one way or the other, wasn't human but rather from an independent Crescent station.
153	** The only intelligent alien species in ''Escape Velocity Nova'' are the Wraith, a [[EnergyBeings bizarre spacefaring species]] that began openly attacking ships belonging to the human telepaths known as the Polaris after a [[WeComeInPeaceShootToKill violent misunderstanding]]. Polaris scientists managed to reverse engineer the aliens' ability to form energy beams and cloak themselves at will, neutralizing any advantage the Wraith had in battle. They are currently camped out deep in uncolonized space, defending themselves when possible but wishing the humans would simply leave them alone.
154	* A small but certainly present aspect of the Purity philosophy in ''VideoGame/CivilizationBeyondEarth'', combined with GoodOldWays. The Purity affinity is all about terraforming the alien world (and exterminating the local alien fauna wherever appropriate) and making it more like dear old Earth, and likewise, rejecting the rampant transhumanism of the [[HalfHumanHybrid Harmony]] and [[{{Cyborg}} Supremacy]] philosophies and instead aiming for more moderate genetic augmentation to create an "optimised" humanity freed from the shackles of disease and defect. The military utilises a variety of conventional arms alongside cadres of elite battlesuits, arguing that the human form is already well-suited for combat and only needs suitable weapons to capitalise on it. In the ''Rising Tide'' expansion, this dynamic is also played by Purity/Supremacy hybrid civs, except without the cybernetic enhancements of full-Supremacy and instead venerating the relationship humans have with machines - basically, replacing the GoodOldWays aspect of full Purity and going with ScienceHero, claiming that human technology and ingenuity can challenge and overcome any obstacle.
155	* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'': The guiding philosophy of the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Commonwealth of Man]] preset empire, a LostColony formed from the survivors of an ark ship which ended up in the far-flung Deneb system and landed on an alien moon they named Unity. Being stranded there for generations and fighting for survival against hostile alien wildlife has turned them into a xenophobic and highly militant people hellbent on asserting human dominance across the galaxy, and if xenos have to pave the way then so be it.
156	* The core philosophy of the United Empire in ''VideoGame/EndlessSpace'' and [[VideoGame/EndlessSpace2 its sequel]], the Empire being effectively a LighterAndSofter version of [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} everyone's favourite militaristic, human-supremacist star-spanning regime]]. Ironically the Empire is itself not a good example of the trope (like its main inspiration it is a badly-run totalitarian hellhole rife with corruption and anti-intellectualism, unless you can shift the gears through certain decisions - at which it becomes the Imperium of Man without the constant DoingInTheScientist). It's the ''other'' human faction, the Vaulters, who really demonstrate this trope; the Vaulters are the second-most technologically advanced faction in the entire setting behind the eternally curious and [[VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram Kerbal-like]] [[MadScientist Sophons]] (but the Vaulters can also fight pretty well too, [[CripplingOverspecialisation unlike the Sophons]]). The last human faction, the Horatio, doesn't really play into this as Horatio the First sees himself as so superior to all other creatures, human or not, that he thinks the galaxy should have himself and [[CloneArmy all his other selves]] as its main and probably only inhabitant. Plus it's unclear if he's even human by then; he doesn't seem to think so anymore.
157	* Discussed and parodied in ''Mutant Football League''. Humans have nothing terribly special about them compared to any other race, either in strengths or weaknesses. They still take great pride in being themselves and will assert that the one thing they are superior at compared to all other races in is ''touchdown dancing''.
158	-->'''Grim Blitzrow:''' "Y'know with Orcs, we'll never be the strongest. With Robots, we'll never be the toughest. And with Aliens, we'll never be the fastest. But it'll be a cold day in hell before anyone tells me we don't have the greatest goddamn dance moves in the world."
159	* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games, the races of Mer ([[OurElvesAreDifferent elves]]) are more skilled, longer lived, more sophisticated and more magically talented than the races of Men, but in this setting HumansAreWarriors and they are favoured by the gods to boot. Several times in Tamriel's history have humans taken the opportunity to say ScrewYouElves to the Mer - the Nords versus the Falmer and then later the Dwemer, the Nedes versus the Ayleids, the Empire and later Hammerfell versus the Aldmeri Dominion, to name a few.
160	* ''VideoGame/StarControl'':
161	** ''Star Control II'' zigzags the trope. While it is the human captain that spearheads the successful counterattack against the Ur-Quan and organizes the various alien races into helping out, the actual leaders of the Alliance of Free Stars are the Chenjesu/Chmmr, who are still far more advanced, powerful, and respected than humanity. Further, humanity's technology is considered somewhat primitive compared to most of the other races... the only reason they're a player at all is that they're barbaric enough to still use nuclear weapons.
162	** ''[[ContinuityReboot Star Control Origins]]'' plays the trope much straighter. Within a few years of emerging from their solar system, and largely with ONE SHIP, humanity engineers numerous alliances among alien races and breaks the back of the Scryve Empire that has held power for thousands of years. The Scryve do say that humanity isn't unusual; that remarkable and "superior" races like them come along every few hundred years or so, but even then humanity is the only one that has defeated the Scryve.
163	[[/folder]]
164
165	[[folder:Web Comics]]
166	* King David from ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'' takes this view, almost never corrupting humans in his plans, but freely affecting other species. He also serves as a deconstruction of this trope, showing just how far someone with this mindset would be willing to go and what they would do in order to achieve and maintain this.
167	* Toyed with in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', where some of the alien [[OurTrollsAreDifferent trolls]] attempt to show their superiority over the humans at every possible moment. In practice, however, the kids outwit their attempts at every turn and end up becoming so powerful that they could kill the trolls any time they wanted to. Good for the trolls that they're all buddies.
168	* {{Deconstructed\|Trope}} and then {{reconstruct\|ion}}ed in ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}''. Sam Starfall, the only alien seen so far, is a member of a sapient octopus race that evolved on a planet that managed to avoid mass extinction events and thus has less advanced cell chemistry. Despite apparently looking like some EldritchAbomination outside his suit and being able to [[ExtremeOmnivore eat things that would kill a cockroach]], he's more-or-less physically inferior to most of what has evolved in Earth's biosphere. To put it in perspective, he once got beat up by a child back when he tried [[ItMakesSenseInContext mugging humans for a living]], and when he went swimming nude he ended up covered in ''frog bites''. Even the robots in the comic are generally inferior to humans. Economics has made it so most[[note]]aside from the ones built as heavy machinery[[/note]] are built from relatively flimsy materials, making them physically inferior to humans, and their neural nets are only rated for up to 80 years, while humans at the time are expected to live at least 160 years.
169	[[/folder]]
170
171	[[folder:Web Original]]
172	* ''Literature/TheSalvationWar'': [[http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?t=118771 Armageddon]]: in response to {{Satan}} declaring dominion over humanity and "{{God}}" (or rather, Yahweh) closing the pearly gates... humanity fights back, and eventually, the U.S. military [[spoiler:''kills {{Satan}} with a pair of anti-ship missiles'']]. As a defecting general turned newly-installed-by-the-U.S.-government ruler of Hell puts it:
173	-->"[[spoiler:{{Satan}}]] is dead. Humans killed him with their weapons. With their weapons, not with magic, for magic and superstition is powerless in the face of human science. We are powerless in the face of human engineering. They have won this war and nothing we say or do can change that. Hell is changed forever and nothing we can do will change that either. The humans have told me they wish me to be the new leader in Hell, answerable only to them. I have agreed. If you do not like the idea of me as your leader, don't tell me." [[spoiler:Abigor]] gestured at the Marines and their vehicles. "TELL THEM!"
174	* The story of [[http://www.orionsarm.com/xcms.php?r=oaeg-view-article&egart_uid=483ae5827604f Glarion: The Glorious Conquerer]] from ''Website/OrionsArm'' is a deliberate contrast to the rest of the setting where humanity is anything but superior. Terragen civilization on a whole ''is'' superior in many ways to all xenosophonts it has contacted though, but there have been still more advanced civilizations discovered elsewhere - just not contacted yet because of the distance.
175	* Explored in Literature/TheJenkinsverse, where humans' evolving on what is by galactic standards a horrific death world has resulted in their being far, far superior to other species in ''every'' regard. Borders on {{Deconstruction}}. Humans, and everything associated with them (diseases, etc), are so much stronger than galactic norm that even basic interactions become [[MadeOfPlasticine problematic, if not dangerous]]. Without the proper precautions, a human can kill a ship [[spoiler:or a world]] just by being there. This causes most races to want to avoid associating with them, especially in the wake of the Hunters' ultimatum.
176	* Witness the [[http://www.reddit.com/r/hfy Humanity, Fuck Yeah!]] subreddit, which exists solely for this trope to blossom (with a nice helping of HumansAreWarriors and occasionally HumanityIsInsane and/or HumansAreCthulhu). Numerous other articles similar to it have been spawned since, and some of them exaggerate it to the point of {{parod\|iedTrope}}y. We humans aren't just conquering, genocidal, resource-stripping pieces of shit, [[CardCarryingVillain we actively aspire to be and relish in being conquering, genocidal, resource-stripping pieces of shit]].
177	** [[AliensStealCable If there are any aliens are up there reading this]], this subreddit is PlayedForLaughs mostly. Please don't take it hard.
178	*** In fact, over the years the subreddit has become largely hostile to stories where humans are xenophobic assholes, labelling these stories as 'Humanity, What The Fuck' instead. Most HFY stories still have traits of HumanityIsSuperior, but use it more for comedic or DareToBeBadass purposes.
179	** One of the largest stories spawnned by HFY, ''Literature/TheJenkinsverse'' veers into {{Deconstruction}} instead. Humans are much stronger, faster and quicker-witted than nearly all species in existence, due to evolving on (by the standards of most life-bearing planets) an insanely dangerous DeathWorld. However, this comes at the cost of our finely tuned biology existing on a much narrower comfort curve.
180	* In ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'', Ecclesiarch Decius is faced with the near impossible task of telling the rest of the church that the Emperor [[AGodIAmNot isn't a god, as per the Emperor's instructions]], meaning that their entire doctrine is a lie. How does he avoid being lynched on the spot? By [[https://youtu.be/Pq-6aj9sNvo?t=1m45s launching into an epic speech]] about how [[spoiler:there are around a dozen gods in existence, and that it is insulting to compare the Emperor to them when he is ABOVE them (individually lambasting each and every one of them for good measure).]] His voice starts clearing up as he delivers the point that [[spoiler:the Gods and their false promises of power are for fools and weaklings and certainly not above Man, and by the time he states Humanity is the greatest race in the Galaxy, and the Emperor, the first and finest of them all, shares their blood with them]], he's speaking in a clear, powerful voice. It's enough that they accept his words.
181	-->"All hail the Man-Emperor of Mankind!"
182	* In ''Roleplay/ThereIsNoGATEWeDidNotFightThere'', the Empire has managed to dominate most of the continent under human leadership and with a mostly human populace. Consider the fact that the setting is completely filled to the brim with monsters, opposing and hostile demihuman tribes, and civilization-ending Hardy beasts, yet the Empire has managed to endure the horrors of the world for ''nine hundred and forty-nine years'' by the start of the roleplay.
183	* WebVideo/TierZoo is a youtube series presenting zoology as if the species of earth were in an MMO called Outside. Humans, with max [[OneStatToRuleThemAll Intelligence]] and the broken abilities Sweat, Overhand Throw, and access to the whole tech tree, are considered an in-universe GameBreaker. The show does point out a few bad matches for humans, mostly against [[ScaryStingingSwarm eusocial flying insects]], because few humans prestige into the gear to handle them, but humans otherwise completely dominate the current meta. Even before modern tech, humans had coordinated hunting and endurance hunting. Humans are also unique in being able to ally with or exploit almost every other class, including other top-tier classes, even against their wills. That's how humans got the horse, dog, cow, sheep, many birds of prey, and other guilds as servants or allies.
184	** Humans are so broken that every Outside player reading this page is a filthy human main.
185	[[/folder]]
186
187	[[folder:Religion and Mythology]]
188	* A prominent theme in Christianity and Judaism. The first chapter of the Bible talks about humans being made in the image of God and meant to be masters of creation. God is called their Father, and in Psalm 82:6, God says "You are gods, all of you are sons of the Most High"[[note]]though the rest of Psalm 82 is more of a [[HumansAreMorons Humans are Morons]], but still[[/note]]. The deuterocanonical book of Esdras outright states that everything was made for mankind. On the other hand Islam largely averts this, due to having another race (djinn) that are superior to humans, but on the bright side, Allah ordered angels to bow before the newly created Adam, and Satan became Satan due to refusing that.
189	* But Christianity takes this even further. Jesus is both fully God and fully man. This means that of all the living beings in creation, humanity is the only species that God is a member of. Aside from this, Jesus is called the "Second Adam" with various implications, including humans being co-heirs with Christ, meaning we will inherit the entirety of creation when [[GodEmperor Jesus]] comes back. If after reading this section (including the Psalm mentioned previously) you thought "doesn't all this mean that humans are sort of gods?", [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divinization_(Christian) well...]]
190	[[/folder]]
191
192	[[folder:Philosophy]]
193	* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropocentrism Anthropocentrism]] is this trope as a philosophical belief. It holds that human beings are the most significant entity in the Universe and that the well being of humans should come before everything else. Environmental Ethicists often criticize it for the root cause of environmental disasters, but Anthropocentrists argue that protecting the environment is in humanity's best interest as well.
194	[[/folder]]
195

Context Main / HumanityIsSuperior