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8->'''Maria:''' I've been wondering for a while... What does "Minos" mean?\
9'''Jin:''' ''[...]'' Well, it comes from the word "minority." These days, most people are Adepts, so they are the majority. That makes us the minority, and so we're called "Minos." To be honest, I don't like using that word to refer to myself. It feels like admitting defeat.
10-->-- ''VideoGame/LuminousAvengerIX''
11
12It looks like a human, walks like a human, talks like a human, and, for all intents and purposes, it is a human. Yet, for some odd reason, it is not called "human".
13
14In SpeculativeFiction, the word "human" can seem out of place in a universe where every other species is NamedAfterTheirPlanet (unless, of course, [[http://jbr.me.uk/lingo.html they come from Humus]]). As a consequence of this, or perhaps just to sound "exotic", alien cultures often come up with their own monikers for PunyEarthlings. Indeed, the word "Earthling" itself is an example, and it also shows that most of the time, oddly enough, they name humans after our own terms for our planet and its surroundings, rather than whatever Earth or the Sun is named in ''their'' language.
15
16Of course, the word "human" itself originally meant "of earth", arguably making this OlderThanFeudalism. The implied contrast, however, was not inhabitants of the Earth as opposed to those of other planets, but mortals walking the earth as opposed to the celestial gods.
17
18Animal characters will also often refer to humans by something besides "human", even in works where other animals have their standard names. For quadrupeds, it's particularly common for describe humans by their bipedalism, such as using "two-legged".
19
20Sometimes indicative of FantasticRacism, though not as much as CallAHumanAMeatbag or SonOfAnApe. Not to be confused with HumanAliens, or OurHumansAreDifferent. Compare AmbiguouslyHuman, where a specific individual looks reasonably human, but has something off about them that makes people think otherwise.
21
22A subtrope of this is PlanetTerra. Another is CallARabbitASmeerp.
23
24----
25!!Examples
26
27[[foldercontrol]]
28
29[[folder:General]]
30* "Terran" (from the Latin ''Terra'', "Earth") is probably the most popular choice by far, which crept into all kinds of settings, from ''Franchise/StarshipTroopers'' to ''Series/BlakesSeven'' to ''Franchise/StarCraft'', along with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terran other examples.]] It probably got popular because it sounds like [[PlanetOfHats what you might call some alien race]], and, at some point, wasn't immediately recognizable as "Earth", so it feels "alien". "Terran" also [[RuleofCool sounds cooler]] than "Human".
31** ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' uses the term "Terran" not to describe humans, but as a term to encompass any Earth-based sentient species, which includes humans, [[UpliftedAnimal gorillas, chimps, dolphins, and African and Indian elephants]]. And yet aliens still say, [[FantasticRacism "All you Terrans look alike to me"]].
32** There's also the less common "Tellurian" from "Tellus", a variant Latin term for the Earth.
33* "Solar(i)an" (from latin ''Sol'', "Sun") is used less frequently, but to exactly the same effect.
34* An older established term was "Earthling" - something of a DiscreditedTrope, as nowadays this brings to mind "naive children under the bootheels of little green martians", rather than "badasses". [[PunyEarthlings It also immediately conjures up the word "Puny".]]
35** ''VideoGame/StarControl'' used the term "Earthling Cruiser" to describe our Alliance starship in the first game. The subsequent game([[CanonDisContinuity s]]) switched to calling them "Human Cruisers" likely due to the word's discrediting.
36** In Russian sci-fi (or Russian translations of sci-fi from other languages), the word "zemlyane" (Earthlings) is typically used in place of "humans" ("lyudi"), as the latter word also means "people", which doesn't necessarily apply to just humans. Alternatively, in settings with HumanAlien races, you may also hear/read "Earth humanity" when referring to the people of Earth.
37* It's worth bearing in mind that there are several technical words for "beings closely taxonomically related to humans". "Hominid" used to mean "humans and their extinct relatives", but since ScienceMarchesOn and it's found out that gibbons (the lesser apes) branched off of the ape superfamily earlier than humans, according to Website/TheOtherWiki [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hominidae "hominids"]] now refer to all great apes (humans, chimps, gorillas, and orangutans). [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hominini "Hominin"]] is sometimes used as a modern alternative, but taxonomically speaking, it includes both humans and chimps. TheMoreYouKnow...
38** The term "humanoid" refers to anything relatively human-shaped (bipedal, upright, two arms, one head), including RidiculouslyHumanRobots, RubberForeheadAliens, and denizens of the UncannyValley. Sentience and genetic relation to humankind are not required.
39* "Two-leggeds" or something similar is often used in {{xenofiction}} works when the protagonists are quadrupeds. "Man" is also common.
40[[/folder]]
41
42[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
43* ''Manga/SgtFrog'': Keronians give us the title of Pekoponians/''Pekoponjin'', because they refer to Earth as "Pekopon". In the manga the planet was "Pokopen", a rather nasty Japanese word for the Chinese, which was changed for obvious reasons.
44* In ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'', humans and miniaturized Zentradi are known as "Microns" ("Micronians" in ''Anime/{{Robotech}}''), although this is more to do with their size than their race.
45* The Arume from ''Manga/BlueDrop'' refer to earthly human beings as "Horime".
46* ''Anime/HeroicAge'' officially designates Humans as "The Iron Tribe".
47* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', the humans are also referred as "Lilim" by certain in-the-know individuals, due to their descent from the alien lifeform called Lilith, [[spoiler:and the entire human race is the 18th Angel]].
48* In ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', humans are called Spirals in the end. This term also encompasses all humanoid races that can use Spiral Energy.
49* In ''Anime/UchuuSenkanYamato'', the invading Gamillans call the Earthlings "Terron".
50* Inverted in ''Franchise/DragonBall'', whose setting doesn't appear to ''have'' a term directly equivalent to "human" as we would understand it, at least not in casual speech. "Ningen" (Japanese for human) is treated as more or less synonymous with "mortal"; it refers to any intelligent life form that is not a [[PhysicalGod god]]. "Chikyuujin" (earthling) can be used to narrow it down a bit more, but this category also includes sapient {{Beast M|an}}en and HalfHumanHybrids. I.e.
51* In ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'', in the original Japanese, humans are written with the kanji for "human", but the pronounciation guide says "tall-man" in English. The official English translation uses the latter. They're also nicknamed "long legs", particularly by shorter races like the dwarves. In the translation, the term "human" is instead used to refer to the sapient races as a whole.
52* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' series almost always have AbsentAliens, but has a variant in different terms for humans depending if they grew up on Earth or in space colonies:
53** In the original Universal Century continuity, they were "Earthnoid" or "Spacenoid".
54** The humans in ''Anime/TurnAGundam'' [[{{Lunarians}} from the lunar colonies]] are known as the "Moonrace". They call humans from Earth "chikyuujin", a comparatively generic phrase considered equivalent to "Earthling", though the subs translate it as "Earther".
55** In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury'', the equivalent terms are "Earthian" and "Spacian".
56[[/folder]]
57
58[[folder:Card Games]]
59* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' considered doing this when they first decided to make Human into a creature type (previously, humans had only a "class" creature type and no "race"). They eventually decided to just use human, though.
60** Kithkin (or Sangamis in the French version), Magic's {{Hobbit|s}} {{expy}}, could qualify. Especially since in the Lorwyn block, they are the creature type closest to what you would expect from humans (live in cities, have pink skin, use tech rather than magic...) They have the proportions of hobbits and lead idyllic, pastoral, cooperative lives. Lorwyn deliberately had no humans in it at all unless planeswalkers count.
61** Other creature types like Metathran and Kor showed up around the same time as Human in much the same manner: previously, all members of these races had only "class" creature types. Apart from their [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation blue skin]], both qualify as examples of this trope.
62[[/folder]]
63
64[[folder:Comics]]
65* ''[[ComicBook/TwoThousandAD 2000 AD's]]'' alien Editor-In-Chief, Tharg the Mighty, refers to humans as "Earthlets."
66[[/folder]]
67
68[[folder:Fan Works]]
69* In ''Fanfic/TheirBond'', wolfos refer to humans and other humanoid beings as "two-leggers". They also call other animals, like deer, "four-leggers".
70* Zwei in ''Fanfic/HumbleBeginnings'' refers to humans as "Creatures", though it seems to be a term for beings in general.
71[[/folder]]
72
73[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
74* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiritStallionOfTheCimarron'', the feral horse protagonist Spirit refers to humans as "two-leggeds".
75* In the Hungarian animated film ''Animation/VukTheLittleFox'' (as well as the novel it's based on), foxes call humans "Smooth-skins", referring to their hairless skin.
76[[/folder]]
77
78[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
79* Though there is no Earth in ''Franchise/StarWars'', most humans are referred to by their planet of origin -- Corellians from Corellia, Coruscanti from Coruscant, Naboo from Naboo and so on. Collectively, they are called humans though however. ExpandedUniverse material (currently non-canon) strongly implies that humans evolved on Coruscant, originally an early space-age species known as the Zhell, but spreading through space through generation ships until Corellians developed hyperdrives. Humans is just a catch-all term.
80* In ''Film/{{Willow}}'', humans are referred to as "Daikini", which may or may not be a racial slur. ''The Making of...'' says that Daikini is a Nelwyn word meaning "tall person", implying that humans might call themselves human..
81* In ''Film/{{TRON}}'', the programs call humans "Users".
82* In ''Film/JupiterAscending'', Caine refers to the humans of Earth as ''"Terrsies"'' in a tone that is [[FantasticSlurs very condescending]].
83* In ''Film/{{Coneheads}}'', Remulakians refer to humans as "Humo-carbs".
84* In ''Film/TheGarbagePailKidsMovie'', the Garbage Pail Kids refer to humans as "normies".
85* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'', humans are referred simply as Men (see literature section).
86[[/folder]]
87
88[[folder:Literature]]
89* ''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'':
90** Creator/JRRTolkien refers to humans in all his Middle Earth's stories as Men (with capital "m") as a counterpart to Elves, Dwarves, Orcs and Hobbits among others. This is carried out to the film adaptations both animated and live action and is probably a CallBack to classic fantasy literature as the term human wasn't common in classic mythology or literature.
91** In one his letters, Tolkien pointed out that Elves and Men being able to interbreed means that they must be the same species. While unstated in that letter, this logic must also mean that the Orcs and Men are the same species -- the Uruk-hai are, after all, HalfHumanHybrids. Another letter has him noting that the Hobbits are an offshoot of Men. Taken together, this suggests the reason that he doesn't call Men "human" is that ''all'' of the main races are humans, and Men refers specifically to the branch of humans that survived to the modern day (this also makes Tolkien one of the few sci-fi/fantasy authors to use the term "race" correctly, as they are in fact different races of the same species).
92* ''Literature/BattlefieldEarth''. Man-animal.
93* Inverted in ''Literature/CatPlanetCuties''. The [[CatGirl Catians]] are so [[RubberForeheadAliens insanely similar]] to humans (having a genetic difference of only 0.00001%), that they not only speak our language but call their home planet Earth and themselves Earthlings. Upon encountering our Earth, they voluntarily changed their name so as to avoid confusion.
94* "Tellurian" (from the Latin ''Tellus'', a Roman earth-goddess) is a related example, most associated with ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'' author Creator/EEDocSmith, but also seen elsewhere, including several episodes of ''Series/DoctorWho''.
95** In addition, Solarian is the term used to describe the races native to the Solar System: Tellurians, Martians, and Venerians.
96* Creator/PiersAnthony's ''Literature/{{Cluster}}'' books used the term "Solarian", named after the star, as opposed to the planet.
97* Similarly, the Lizards in Creator/HarryTurtledove's ''Literature/{{Worldwar}}'' novels refer to humans as "Tosevites" -- derived from Tosev, their name for Sol. When speaking formally, anyway. In casual speech, they're just as likely to refer to humans as "Big Uglies". It's implied that the names of the two races previously conquered by the Race (the Halessi and the Rabotevs) are not native names.
98* Arthur Dent of ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' gets called Earthman, although he is one of only two remaining humans. (Trillian is only ever "Trillian".)
99* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' averts the convention that aliens are named after their own home world, and instead, they call their planets "the Andalite home world," "the Hork-Bajir home world," and so on; it's mostly unclear whether they have any other names for these planets. Despite the fact that they use this convention for every other inhabited planet, they still call this planet "Earth" rather than "the human home world."
100** In ''The Andalite Chronicles'', Elfangor asks Loren if she is an "Earther" after hearing the name of her homeworld for the first time, leading to some speculation that the Andalite homeworld is called Andal.
101** According to ''The Hork-Bajir Chronicles'', it's actually the other way around: Andalites name planets after the dominant sentient species. Unless, like Earth, the dominant species already has their own name for it.
102** Other than Earth, the only exception seems to be Leerans, from the planet Leera.
103** WordOfGod is that every species calls their home world their language's equivalent of the word "Earth", so the "_______ home world" naming is more a case of TranslationConvention.
104* In the ''Literature/{{Antares}}'' novels by Michael [=McCollum=], the Ryall aliens refer to humans as "Monsters".
105* In Creator/FredSaberhagen's ''Literature/{{Berserker}}'' universe, ''all'' sapient life forms are called Human. Homo sapiens is called the E.D., or Earth Descended "theme" of humanity. (Non-human Earthlife is also referred to as E.D. lifeforms.)
106* In Creator/LarryNiven's ''Literature/KnownSpace'' stories, humans get different titles based on what planet they're from. Few of of these are references to the name of the planet. Earth humans are Flatlanders, humans from the asteroid belt (or any asteroids in the Solar System) are Belters, those from "We Made It" are Crashlanders (guess how they -- and the planet -- got THAT name?), natives of Plateau are Mountaineers, and so on.
107** Just to further complicate things, planet-born visitors to the Ringworld informally took to calling themselves "Ball People" to distinguish themselves from the indigenous hominids and kzinti.
108* Creator/RobertSheckley's ''The Monsters'' features aliens identified in the text as "humans," who regard the visiting actual humans as (you guessed it) "monsters."
109* In Literature/TheCulture, humans are the most common species - apparently capable of interbreeding - despite evolving independently on thousands of different worlds, and the word "human" is generally understood to refer to all of these people.
110** Well, within the Culture itself at least, but they all have tons of specialized organs which probably contributes to their capability of reproducing with other Humanoids outside the Culture (such as one half-Culture-by-biology character in ''Literature/ConsiderPhlebas'' who becomes pregnant with the child of a non-Culture Humanoid).
111*** In ''Literature/ThePlayerOfGames'', at one point, the main character is forced to bet his reproductive organs on the outcome of a match and his AI companion assures him that the Culture has no intention of letting such "advanced biological equipment" fall into a potentially rival civilization's hands (the reverse engineering possibilities would be disastrous). If it came down to it, they would simply evacuate him as soon as he lost and face the political/military consequences.
112** Interestingly, this does not seem to include ''H. sapiens'' itself -- Earth is an uncontacted backwater through most of said books.
113* In ''Literature/CodexAlera'', Aleran isn't ''technically'' just another name for humans. Alera is the name of the continent they live on, and of their empire. ''However,'' since Alera is the ''only'' incontestably human nation (The Marat are ''Homo'', but may not be ''sapiens''), it's mostly a distinction without a difference.
114* Played with in the ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'' books: both the actual humans ("Easterners") and the [[OurElvesAreDifferent basically-elves]] ("Dragaerans") refer to themselves as human and the other group as the alternate name. In some places outside of the Dragaeran Empire, humans call Dragaerans "elfs," and Dragaerans call humans "dwarfs."
115* In the ''Literature/SectorGeneral'' books, every sentient species refers to themselves as "human", or by a word that the TranslatorMicrobes translate as "human". As this is utterly useless to the medically-oriented protagonists, they frequently have to insist that their patients use the hospital's four-letter code description for different species.
116* In the ''Literature/TairenSoul'' series the word that isn't used is ''human'' or even ''Man''. Instead they call the humans by their nation's name or [[OurElvesAreDifferent elves and fey]] call them ''mortals''.
117* In the ''Literature/PrinceRoger'' series, Mardukans (9-foot tall [[MultiArmedAndDangerous 4-armed]] guys with horns) call the stranded human company ''basik'', after a rather dim creature that fills the same niche in the ecology as a rabbit. They quickly learn that this is a [[HumansAreWarriors big]] [[PintsizedPowerhouse mistake]]. The humans, in turn, call Mardukans "scummies" due to their slimy moist skins (they evolved from amphibians).
118* In Creator/HilariBell's YA science fiction novel ''Literature/AMatterOfProfit'', the humans call themselves the Vivitare.
119* The [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Kantri]] of Literature/TalesOfKolmar call humanity "Gedri", [[YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord Silent Ones]], because humans [[spoiler: mostly]] can't use or hear the psychic "truespeech" that Kantri have as well as vocal speech.
120* The animals from Creator/TamoraPierce's ''Literature/TheImmortals'' quartet call humans "two-leggers", for obvious reasons.
121* In the Literature/MythAdventures books, the dimension humans come from is known as Klah, and the humans themselves are Klahds (pronounced "[[HumansAreMorons clods]]").
122* In ''Literature/TheSecretsOfTheImmortalNicholasFlamel'' the [[PhysicalGod Elders]] typically call humans "humani".
123* Creator/IsaacAsimov
124** "Literature/HomoSol":
125*** This is an InvertedTrope example because the over two hundred HumanoidAliens of the [[GalacticSuperpower galactic Federation]] are considered members of "mankind", and are "humans".
126*** This story has a straight example of this trope because each intelligent species is given the genus designation Homo and species designation of the star system they evolved in. There is Homo Arcturus, Homo Alpha Centauri, and, in our case, Homo Sol. Each species can also be called by their system name; Arcturians, Centaurians, and Solarians.
127** "Literature/TheHazing": Williams calls [[HumanoidAliens the other human races]] "Galaxy men", in parallel to the term "Earthmen" for the humans of Earth.
128** "Literature/TheSecretSense": Several nouns are used for human beings in this work; human, Earthmen, and Terrestrial.
129* Creator/IsaacAsimov and Creator/JanetAsimov's ''Literature/TheNorbyChronicles'': Rather than being introduced as Earthlings, human characters tend to introduce themselves as Terrans, and they speak [[CommonTongue Terran Basic]]. There is a small impact on the plot with this; AncientAstronauts came and visited Earth in the distant past and brought a community to colonize the planet Izz, so there are technically two planets of human beings and Terrans would distinguish ''which'' race of humans are meant.
130* In the ''Literature/{{Eldraeverse}}'' the eldrae are seven-foot tall immortal humanoids with pointy ears who are descended from heavily {{Precursors}}-modified TransplantedHumans. The few fossils of these ancestors are identified in their scientific literature as (in translation) ''Pseudoeldrae archaea''.
131* In Creator/MikhailAkhmanov's ''[[Literature/ArrivalsFromTheDark The Missing Link]]'', the protagonist lands on a rogue planet and names it Chthon (which literally means "Earth" in Greek) and its extinct people Chthonians (making them Earthlings?).
132* In Creator/VladimirVasilyev's ''Literature/DeathOrGlory'' books, aliens tend to call humans "Homo", likely derived from "homo sapiens".
133* Cats in ''Literature/TailchasersSong'' refer to humans as "m'an" and as "(the) Big Folk" (in contrast to cats being the normal "Folk") or "Big Ones". "M'an" means "out of the sunshine", referring to the JustSoStory about how the first human was an exiled cat who was deformed by a demi-god due to his cocky behavior.
134* In ''Literature/WingsOfFire'', dragons call humans "{{scavengers|AreScum}}" (due to humans scavenging off of dragon treasures). Overlaps with CallAHumanAMeatbag as dragons think humans are weak creatures only good for a snack. The fact one of their queens was killed by a scavenger, who also stole her treasure, is a source of embarrassment and mockery.
135* Creator/ErinHunter:
136** ''Literature/WarriorCats'':
137*** Humans are most commonly referred to as Twolegs. They have also been called Nofurs and Upwalkers, as well as housefolk and workfolk (for pet cats).
138*** Humans are referred to as "Man" (always capitalized) by dogs.
139** In ''Literature/SeekerBears'', different bears refer to humans as different things. Polar bears call them "no-claws", black bears call them "flatfaces", and grizzly bears call them "smoothpelts". Humans are usually referred to as "flatfaces".
140** In ''Literature/SurvivorDogs'', dogs and wolves refer to humans as "longpaws".
141* According to ''Literature/DisneyFairies'', Never fairies refer to humans as "clumsies". This is because, compared to them, humans are unusually ungainly and clumsy.
142* ''Literature/{{Kherishdar}}'': The Ai-Naidar always refer to humans as "Aunera", aliens.
143* In ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'', Narnians prefer the more formal and religiously themed terms [[Literature/TheBible "Sons of Adam" and "Daughters of Eve"]] to refer to humans.
144* In ''Literature/CatPack'', cat slang for humans is "two-leggeds".
145* In ''Literature/{{Felidae}}'', cats refer to humans as "can-openers", which has an edge of CatsAreSuperior to it.
146* In ''Literature/TheColdMoons'', humans are referred to with both "human" and "man".
147* In ''Literature/HouseOfTribes'', mice call humans "nudniks".
148* In ''Literature/NoGameNoLife'', humans are the 16th race of the Exceed, called "Imanity". They're the lowest of the Exceed, having no outstanding physical capabilities or inclination towards magic. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that Imanity was not one of the Exceed originally, but instead were elevated to such status by Tet when he ascended to One True God. The is derived from combining the words for "immunity" and "humanity".]]
149* ''Literature/Overlord2012'': Since every member of Nazarick is of a nonhuman species, their terms for humans tend to be less than flattering. Narberal in particular refers to every human she talks to as some species of insect/arachnid/small insignificant lifeform, and has yet to use the same one twice.
150* ''Literature/HollowKingdom2019'': Most of the wildlife refers to humanity as "The One Who Hollows", with individual humans being called "Hollows"; this references the species' collective tendency to hollow away nature for their own ends. S.T. the crow calls humans "[=MoFos=]" instead, due to being raised by a man with a rather colorful vocabulary.
151* In ''Literature/TheDarkSideOfTheSun'', "human" is a legal status indicating sentience and conferring rights. It cover actual ''homo sapiens'' (known as "Man" InUniverse), various species of aliens and sufficiently intelligent robots or AIs.
152* In ''Literature/TheBlackFoxOfBeckham'', foxes call humans "furless ones."
153* In ''Literature/MermaidsSong'', merfolk call humans "split-tails."
154[[/folder]]
155
156[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
157* "Tau'ri" in the ''Franchise/StargateVerse'' is an example that does ''not'' involve an Earth term, although, strictly speaking, it only refers to humans born on Earth (since most aliens are human). And even then, they couldn't resist the temptation to use "Terran" as well, because "Terra" [[JustifiedTrope just happened]] to be what the Ancients called Earth. The season six episode "Cure" also has an alien use the term "Earthans"... about Jonas Quinn and Teal'c, both of whom are actually HumanAliens. Jonas then corrects her: "Earth''lings''".
158** It actually means "the first world," because HumanAliens are [[TransplantedHumans Earth humans taken to other worlds long ago]] to be used as [[SlaveRace slave labor]] by the villains. It sorta drifted to mean the people as well as the place.
159*** In earlier seasons, they were referred to as "Humans of the Tau'ri." After a while, people probably decided that was too clunky, and shortened it to just "Tau'ri."
160** There was some kind of relationship between the Alterans, a.k.a. the Ancients, a.k.a. the {{Precursors}}, and the Romans. It's hard to see exactly what that relationship was - the Alterans are literally millions of years old, and had long since become EnergyBeings governed by a [[AlienNonInterferenceClause noninterference doctrine]] by the time the city of Rome was founded - but the similarity between "tau'ri" and "terran" was not the only Latin-like alien word used on the show. The cancelled MMO ''Stargate Worlds'' explained this as the Ancients having created the humans as a successor species, like the rest of the Four Races (Nox insisted that none was needed, Furlings created the Goa'uld, and the Asgard worked on the "Solacris", which backfired).
161*** It goes a bit further than that. The actual Ancient language is supposed to be similar to Latin in universe. Odds are it is a matter of certain parts of the universe lore pre-dating the point in the series where the Ancients began to be fleshed out in more detail rather than intentional.
162** Played with in the ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' episode "Letters from Pegasus". Carson Beckett is recording a letter to his mom, and starts going off on a tangent about how "Earthlings are a scrappy bunch". Ford immediately stops him, assuming the use of the word "Earthling" as opposed to "human" to be a security breach. Carson matter-of-factly states, "She knows I'm from Earth."
163* ''Series/TheTomorrowPeople1973'' (and the [[Series/TheTomorrowPeople2013 2013 reboot]]) call normal humans "saps" (short for ''Homo sapiens'', or just because they're saps).
164* In ''Franchise/StarTrek'', most species have a name for the species in Federation Standard (English), which is usually derived from the Federation Standard name for their planet. (Bajorans from Bajor, Vulcans from Vulcan; in an aversion, Klingons from Qo'noS (pronounced Kronos)). However, they also usually have a name for people from any particular planet. So a member of any species that was raised on Earth would be an Earthling, or on Bajor would be a Bajoran and so on. However, all species have at least one language of their own, which has a different name for their species that may have nothing to do with their name for their home planet. For example, in Imperial Standard Klingon (The Klingon language used by the Imperial Council, that can be learned at the Klingon Language Institute in RealLife) Klingon = tlhIngan. But their homeworld is called Qo'noS. Presumably the English word 'Klingon' was just a bad Human pronunciation at first.
165** Names for the earlier races seem to be names given to them by Humans, rather than what they actually call each other. The two Romulan home worlds are Romulus and Remus, then there's the afore-mentioned Vulcan and Kronos...whoever was naming these races seemed to have a yen for Greco-Roman mythology.
166** On at least one occasion, a Klingon has been heard referring to his homeworld as Kling. Of course, Star Trek suffers massively from CanonDiscontinuity. And, it's also been said that the original Klingon Homeworld was destroyed, and Qo'noS is the "new" Klingon Homeworld.
167** Also in ''Star Trek'', one (nonhumanoid—indeed, ''inorganic'') alien race referred to our intrepid crew as "ugly bags of mostly water." The science officer points out that this is technically accurate.
168** At least once, in [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the original series]], a Romulan referred to humans as "Terrans". Additionally, in the MirrorUniverse (except in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''), all humans are called Terrans.[[note]]The first use of the term "Terran" and "Terran Empire" was in ''Series/DeepSpaceNine'', later retconned in ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' and ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery''; thing is it became so popular that it's often forgot that in the episode "Mirror, Mirror" TheEmpire is never named.[[/note]]
169** Blue-skinned Andorians are known to refer to humans as "[[HumansAreWhite pink-skins]]."
170* In the first episode of ''Series/{{Sliders}}'' that the Kromagg appeared humans are referred as "homo sapiens". Makes sense considering that the Kromagg are not aliens but hominids evolved in a parallel Earth and thus from the genus homo (homo means human in latin). In any case, the writers soon get tired of it and all other episodes just go straight to humans, as in most shows.
171* Earthlings is used by most aliens in ''Series/LostInSpace'', probably because most of them are simply HumanAliens.
172* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S4E21PromisedLand Promised Land]]", the Tsal-Khan refer to humans as "beings."
173* ''Series/YoungDracula'': Vampires and other supernatural creatures refer to humans as "breathers".
174* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Humans are called Men by the DemiHuman Races, though Poppy, a Harfoots refers to Men as humans at a point.
175* In ''Series/SpaceAboveAndBeyond'' the Silicates (androides) call humans "Carbonites", and according to them their Chig (alien) allies call humans something translatable as "Red Stink Animal".
176[[/folder]]
177
178[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
179* Mysteron agents in ''Series/CaptainScarletAndTheMysterons'' would use "Earthman" after having broken, or in order to break, the {{Masquerade}}. The invisible Voice of the Mysterons themselves also announced "We know that you can hear us, Earthmen" each week.
180* Several episodes of ''Series/FraggleRock'' had letters from Gobo's Uncle Travelling Matt describing [[HumansThroughAlienEyes his hilariously-flawed observations of life among the "Silly Creatures", i.e. humans]].
181* In the earlier Creator/GerryAnderson show ''Series/Stingray1964'', various sea-dwelling uglies would call humans "Terraneans", since we come from land (terrain).
182[[/folder]]
183
184[[folder:Mythology]]
185* Myth/ClassicalMythology including such works as ''Literature/TheOdyssey'' generally refer to humans simply as mortals.
186* In Guatuso Mythology, the Gods endearingly refer to humans as "our curassows" (Crax Rubra), since this is their favorite bird.
187* "Son of man" is a common term for humans in the [[Literature/TheBible Hebrew Bible]], especially when contrasting humans with God ("God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind"). The term is frequently used in the ''Literature/BookOfEzekiel'' by God when calling Ezekiel. The ''Literature/BookOfDaniel'' also uses the term for a coming messianic figure, hence why "Son of Man" is one of the Christian titles for Jesus.
188[[/folder]]
189
190[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
191* ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'' divides "humaniti" into the "Solomani" (humans from Earth), the "Vilani" (humans from the planet Vland), and the "Zhodani" (humans from the planet Zhodane). The ancestors of the Vilani and the Zhodani were originally [[TransplantedHumans moved]] to those planets by the {{Precursors}}. There are several other minor human races, which were similarly transplanted from Earth.
192* In ''TabletopGame/{{Nobilis}}'', humans get referred to as "beasts".
193* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', the Eldar race refers to humans as "Mon-keigh" (this being the eldar word meaning 'inferior', not to mention one of the [[SonOfAnApe least subtle]] puns ever). The Tau race use the base word "Gue" for humans, and distinguish between allies and enemies with "Gue'vesa" or "Gue'la" respectively.[[note]]The latter being another incredibly unsubtle pun, derived from a Chinese word for foreigners.[[/note]] The remaining species of the universe (Orks, Necrons and Tyranids) refer to humans as "'[[{{Funetik Aksent}} umies]]", "[[CallAHumanAMeatbag the living]]", and "[[HordeOfAlienLocusts dinner]]", respectively.
194* The chock-fulla-weird-races ''TabletopGame/{{Talislanta}}'' game system generally refers to humans by their nationality, and virtually ''never'' as "humans". The fact that some of those "human" nationalities lie well outside the range of physical types known on Earth -- green humans, metallic golden humans, purple humans; humans with bat ears or webbed hands or no nose -- would make the use of "human" seem incongruous at best.
195* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'' Dwarfs' word for "human" is ''Umgi'', which in dwarfen also means "shoddy". It's unclear whether the dwarfs' word for shoddy derives from their word for human, or ''vice versa''. In the former case, it means their word for "bad craftsdwarfship" literally means "like it's been made by a human", in the latter that dwarfs view humans as badly put-together dwarfs (which, [[FantasticRacism given dwarfen attitudes on practically every other sentient race]], is a lot more complementary to humans than you'd think).
196[[/folder]]
197
198[[folder:Roleplay]]
199* Amadeus Gryffindor on ''Roleplay/NoPixel'' came to Los Santos from another dimension, and calls humans "chompskihomps."
200[[/folder]]
201
202[[folder:Theme Parks]]
203* In ''Ride/ETAdventure'' at Ride/UniversalStudios, Botanicus exclusively refers to the guests as "earth people".
204[[/folder]]
205
206[[folder:Video Games]]
207* ''VideoGame/{{Starflight}}'': In ''2'', [[spoiler: after defeating the big bad, it is revealed that the Umanu are the human descendants of the Noah 6 colony ship.]]
208* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':
209** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfRebirth'' humans are referred to as "Huma", and {{BeastM|an}}en are called "Gajuma".
210** ''VideoGame/TalesOfHearts'' calls humans "Organicans", as opposed to crystal-based Minerans and {{Ridiculously Human Robot}}s Mechanoids.
211** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfArise'' everyone is referred to as either Dahnan (natives of the conquered planet Dahna), or Renan (more advanced, magic-capable HumanAliens from the planet Rena). Both races look completely indistinguishable from humans. [[spoiler:Eventually it's revealed that Renans, in fact, descend from a group of Dahnans who were abducted by the ''real'' natives of Rena. As such, they end up being more like different ethnicities, not races, but the word "human" is still not used.]]
212* Most ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games refer to humans as humans, but ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI,'' ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' call them Humes. And the four tribes of the ''Crystal Chronicles'' games include human-looking Clavats and Selkies (and Lilties, if you allow for their flower-like hair).
213** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' in particular still preserves the word "human" in adjective form; an {{NPC}} describes the mannequins you can have assembled in a quest as "more human than Hume!"
214** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' refers to humans as "Hyur". In ''Shadowbringers'' [[spoiler:the alternate dimension of the First has different names for its races, and in a MythologyGag to the aforementioned entries, the counterparts of Hyur are known as Humes]].
215* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' is an odd case. Hylians are variously the only humans, not humans, or just one of a few races of humans. For example, in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'', and some games that have come out since, humans are broken up into races or tribes that include Hylians, Gerudo, Sheikah, and maybe some others. Other times, they're the ''only'' humans in the game. Normal round-eared humans appear in some games but not in others, and whether they're distinct from Hylians as a species is vague at best, although they do not seem native to Hyrule; games set outside of it, such as the Oracle duology and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening Link's Awakening]]'', have Link as a lone pointy-eared person in a cast of fully round-eared ones, while ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' has humans with round ears in Ordona and ones with pointed ears everywhere else; at no point in any of these games, however, are humans and Hylians explicitly identified as separate races.
216* "Human" and "Earthling" are ''mostly'' interchangable in ''VideoGame/StarControlII''. This is in part because they just arrived on the galactic scene (through donated technology from the Chenjesu), and because of the overprotective Arilou. (It's explained exactly ''why'' the Arilou are overprotective in ''Star Control 3''.) In the situations where the difference matters, "Earthling" means "from Earth", while "Human" means ''Homo sapiens sapiens''. A squirrel is Earthling, but not human; the protagonist is human but not an Earthling. (An Arilou catches itself making this mistake at one point, and corrects itself.) The status of the Androsynth is somewhat vague, but knowledgable characters in-game consistently refer to the Androsynth as a ''culture'', not a species in its own right.
217** There is also an interesting note in that humans called themselves 'earthlings' when they first were meeting with alien races in an attempt to avoid the [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman implied speciesism in calling aliens inhuman]], while the aliens skipped all the bother and just called them humans. Except for the Spathi, of course, who continually refer to them as "Hunams".
218** Androsynth are refered as Androsynth, as they are no longer Earth-connected AND make pretty clear that they are not in friendly terms with Humans. Not that we can blame them. 100 years of racism and slavery can cause it, just because you weren't born in the normal way.
219* The two major human factions in the ''Videogame/{{X}}-Universe'' series are called the Argon and the [[PlanetTerra Terrans]]. The Argon Federation is a LostColony that was cut off from Earth several hundred years before the games take place, and is [[NamedAfterSomebodyFamous named after its first leader]], Nathan ''R. Gunne''. The Earth State (commonly just called "Terrans") is the continuation of Earth's government, and controls the Solar System. Members of the minor factions like the [[ActualPacifist Goners]], [[LostColony Free State of Solara]], and the [[AllThereInTheManual Hatikvah Free League]] are generally just called humans.
220* Averted in ''Franchise/MassEffect'' - humans are still referred to as humans. The only exception is the volus, who refer to humans as "Earth-clan" per their practice of calling other races "(planet)-clan" (the volus are "Vol-clan" to themselves and an exception to that rule, another being quarians getting the title "Clanless"... or "migrant-clan" and/or "star-clan" if the volus is feeling polite). This extends to aliens as well -- in the game, no aliens species are named for their homeworld (asari come from Thessia, salarians come from Sur'Kesh, turians come from Palaven, krogan come from Tuchanka, quarians and geth come from Rannoch, elcor come from Dakuuna, volus come from Irune, and hanar come from Kahje), and, unlike many, ''many'' other SF franchises, spell them in all-lowercase, just like the word "human".
221** The one exception is the Protheans. [[spoiler:''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' introduces Javik, who reveals that "Prothean" is the collective term for all species that his own species has conquered, although "Prothean" was originally the name for just his species.]]
222* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' has two races of characters: Beastmen are known as "Laguz" and Humans are known as "Beorc". 'Human' can also be used, but it's actually a [[NWordPrivileges racist remark unless said by another Beorc]] (the equivalent of calling a Laguz 'sub-human').
223** Yune, the goddess of chaos in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' has all sorts of names to refer to the player characters, including but not limited to "Meat puppet".
224* In ''VideoGame/TheLastRemnant'' humans are called "Mitra".
225* The colonists in ''VideoGame/AceOnline'' are called "Decaians".
226* ''VideoGame/RagnarokIITheGateOfTheWorld'''s humans are called "Normans," which is probably a portmanteau of Human and [[Myth/NorseMythology Norse]]. More likely it refers to the Normans, a viking descended people who ruled various European lands during the Middle Ages.
227* In ''VideoGame/GuildWars: Eye of the North'', the [[OurGnomesAreWeirder Asura]] use the pejorative term "bookah" for humans. In a cutscene, the term is revealed to refer to a violent, clumsy, stupid, bellowing imaginary creature used to frighten Asura children. This has somewhat expanded to cover any race they see as less intelligent than the Asura, meaning every other race.
228* ''Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns'' referred to humans as the Mareten.
229* ''VideoGame/ConquestFrontierWars'' gives us the Terrans and it's only a matter of time before the bug aliens declare a [[{{Pun}} war on Terra]] (sorry).
230* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', the [[OurElvesAreDifferent elves]] (particularly the Dalish) refer to humans as shemlen. The shorter term "shem" is used in a derogatory manner (not surprising, given [[EnslavedElves what]] humans did to them). "Shemlen" means "quickling" or "quick children", as the Dalish believe that their ancestors used to live for centuries. Additionally, the word "Qunari" actually refers to a culture (it literally means "people of the Qun", Qun being their religion/way of life) not a race. The race the original Qunari belong to is technically called "Kossith", though the people who take the time to distinguish between Kossith and Qunari are extremely few and far between, even among the Qunari. Even this isn't consistent; nobody in-universe is quite sure whether Kossith was a name for the race or a different political or religious group that the Qunari broke off from, and other members of the race who don't follow the Qun reject it's claim on the term and call themselves "qunari" as though it were a race name.
231* ''VideoGame/{{Albion}}'' uses the expression Celt and Helromier (a portmanteau of Hellenic and Roman) to distinguish the magic using humans of Albion and the technologically advanced Terrans. Terran humans are also referred to as Earthlings by the Kenget Kamulos.
232* In ''Franchise/StarCraft'', the term "terran" (lowercase even!) is used as a substitute in nearly all instances to describe humanity, even if the ones speaking are themselves humans. This is particularly strange since Earth (Terra) isn't even really a factor for most of the game. Oddly enough Earth is never actually referred to as Terra.
233** Interestingly, when contact is re-established with Earth in the expansion for [[VideoGame/StarCraftI the first game]], the United Earth Directorate fairly consistantly refer to themselves as humans and humanity, rather than as terrans!
234** The naming convention has been applied for the Zerg in ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' (at first it may seem like a retroactive application, but the planet had in fact already been mentioned in the lore section of the manual for the first game): they come from Planet Zerus (''not'' {{Zeerust}}), and to tell the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Zerus-zerg]] from [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Overmind-zerg]], the from-Zerus ones are called "Primal Zerg". Neat, huh?
235* While the term "human" is used in ''VideoGame/{{Rift}}'', humans are more likely to be referred to by whichever of the two battling nations to which they belong.
236* The Locust in ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' tend to refer to humans by the derogatory term "groundwalker". Because the humans walk on the surface.
237* ''VideoGame/ImperiumGalactica II'' calls humans "Solarians" and reveals that many alien races are actually HumanSubspecies. This is averted in the first game, which appears to be set in a different universe.
238* Averted in ''VideoGame/EarthAndBeyond''. Humans are still called that, although the human race became divided during the initial colonization of the Solar System. Those who remained behind on Earth are called Terrans, those who settled Mars are called Progen, and those who colonized the moons of Jupiter are called Jenquai. By the events of the game, the terms refer to nation-states, not worlds of origin, as all three have colonized other star systems which remain under their rule.
239** ''VideoGame/FreeSpace'' uses Terran for humans, but also flips the trope by naming one alien race "Vasudans" after the Sanskrit word "Vasuda" which means... "Earth".
240* In ''VideoGame/{{Wildstar}}'' the humans on the [[TheEmpire Dominion]] side are called "Cassians", after their homeworld in the setting, Cassus. The [[LaResistance Exile]] humans on the other hand are simply called humans despite originating on the same planet, as they fled generations ago and have spent the time since in space. Presumably the differentiation is because of the animosity between the two.
241* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles''
242** Similarly to the examples for ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' and ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV XIV]]'', humans in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' are known as Homs. The only difference is apparently that Homs need ether to survive. Even so, the adjective "human" is still in use. [[spoiler:At the very end of the game we do meet two humans and learn there IS a difference between them and Homs]]
243** Inverted in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'', where every humanoid race is called, "Human," despite Blades, Machina, and other races like them being treated as seperate from human in the previous entries.
244* Averted in ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars'', where none of the species are named after their home planet and generally have acceptable terms used by all other species they have diplomatic ties with -- for humans, this is "human" ([[SonOfAnApe "ape" is more often used in informal settings, however]]). It is flipped by the hivers, however, who are called that by all other species in formal settings but do not refer to themselves with that name (the hivers' name for their own species is unpronounceable by human mouths but means "the children" in their own language). The Zuul also twist it because they don't have a name for themselves at all -- [[ScaryDogmaticAliens in the Zuul worldview, their species is "chosen", their creators are "master"; all others "slave"]]. The word "Zuul" is only used by the other races to describe them, and is essentially the Liirian word for "complete and utter ☠☠☠☠" which pretty much tells you all you need to know about the Zuul.
245* Out of the [[HumanSubspecies Twelve Tribes]] in ''VideoGame/ChroniclesOfElyria'', the one almost identical to Earth humans is called "the Neran."
246* ''Videogame/WarcraftIII'': The Tauren chieftain Cairne Bloodhoof refers to invading Alliance forces as "pinkskins" (which could apply to humans, elves, and dwarves), since the only other outlanders he's met are the greenskinned orcs.
247* In ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'' humans are referred to as "Folk".
248* In ''VideoGame/TheSims'', humans are called "Sims".
249[[/folder]]
250
251[[folder:Web Animation]]
252* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' has Shisno, which means the excrement of the excrement of the most repugnant creature in the world. Though this is indicated to be a FantasticSlur; it's not mentioned what aliens friendly to humans call them.
253[[/folder]]
254
255[[folder:Web Comics]]
256* Aliens in ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' usually call humans Earthlings.
257* ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'': Then Inak call humans "spider paws". Humans are monstrous to them having destroyed their homelands and enslaved them in greed for the valuable [[AntiMagic first materials]] the Inak had. Humans tend to call the Inak "two-toes", so both groups came up with names for the other based on their difference in digits.
258[[/folder]]
259
260[[folder:Web Original]]
261* A variant in ''Website/OrionsArm'', the term "Terragen" is used to denote anything with an ancestry going back to Earth. This includes humans, {{Uplifted Animal}}s, AI's, machines, virtual minds, and everything in between. Actual ''homo sapiens sapiens'' make up a little less than 1/20th of a percent of the population of the Terragen civilization, and are referred to as "baselines". Genetically engineered variants tend to be known collectively as "hu".
262* Nepleslians of ''Roleplay/StarArmy'' are displaced humans who were taken from the EarthThatWas to [[ALongTimeAgoInAGalaxyFarFarAway a distant sector of space]]. Naturally, they're the setting's main source of {{Badass Normal}}s.
263[[/folder]]
264
265[[folder:Western Animation]]
266* The baseline humans are referred as "Terrans" in ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad'' to distinguish them from Neosapiens ''and'' get around the small fact that both races are human, regardless of the fact that they don't call Earth "Terra", or that many humans are natives of Venus or the [[SpacePirates moons of the outer planets]].
267** And possibly because the ''Homo sapiens'' like to call the ''Neo sapiens'' "Neos" or "Sapes", the only similar nickname for the ''Neo sapiens'' to call them back to differentiate would be "[[HaveAGayOldTime Homos]]".
268* Characters from ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' sometimes use the intentionally odd term "Earthicans" instead of more common monikers, though Earthican refers to anyone native to Earth, not just to humans and not to all humans. It's also used as a nationality, as Futurama's Earth is all one 'country'. Therefore, Earthican refers to anyone who is a citizen of Earth, just like 'French' or 'American' describes someone from someone from France or America. Aliens and robots could be considered 'Earthicans' if they are recognized as citizens of Earth (pay taxes, etc.).
269** Especially in earlier episodes, Earthling is used as a derogatory term for humans, usually when they've just been conquered... again.
270** Also, we have Amy, who is human but ''not'' an Earthican--she's a Martian. Not to be confused with ''Native'' Martians, who are non-human.
271* In ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim,'' when [[VillainProtagonist Zim]] first discovers Earth, he refers to the inhabitant as "Earthenoids;" he switches to "humans" after he's learned the word. In another episode, he also refers to the extinct inhabitants of Mars as "Marsoids."
272* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicKey'', the children encounter a giant who refers to normal-sized humans as “Knee Nibblers”.
273* In ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR'', humans are called Earthers by the [[{{Cthulhumanoid}} Glorft]].
274* ''WesternAnimation/WidgetTheWorldWatcher'' also used "Earther."
275[[/folder]]

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