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| 3 | %% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks! |
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| 7 | [[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/StarWars https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/star_wars_species_5.png]]]] |
| 8 | [[caption-width-right:350: [- [[http://kirellbenzi.com/blog/exploring-the-star-wars-expanded-universe/ Image]] courtesy of [[http://kirellbenzi.com/ Kirell Benzi]] -] ]] |
| 9 | |
| 10 | ->''"That cloud of stars is our galaxy, the Milky Way. Our solar system is on the edge of it. We hurl through an incomprehensible darkness. In cosmic terms, we are subatomic particles in a grain of sand on an infinite beach.\ |
| 11 | ... \ |
| 12 | I wonder what's on TV now."'' |
| 13 | -->-- '''Calvin''', ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' |
| 14 | |
| 15 | [[PlausibleDeniability ...at least that we can prove.]] There are no known non-human writers, outside of [[ArtificialIntelligence A.I.]] and a few non-human primates (authoring ''very'' simple works and probably dictating). |
| 16 | |
| 17 | Let's not forget that Most Readers are Human as well, and people prefer characters they can relate to. This is why most fictional characters are ''H. sapiens'' instead of, say, ''[[UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex T. rex]]'' or ''[[Manga/{{Moyashimon}} A. oryzae]]''. The inherent human quality of [[RuleOfEmpathy relating to those like us and whom we can understand]] is also why ''all'' characters we connect and sympathize with, [[SlidingScaleOfAnthropomorphism human or not]], have at least some human qualities and [[BizarreAlienPsychology psychological characteristics]], or are at least [[CompanionCube perceived by us to have them]] [[note]]In fact human attributes in literature extends far beyond how stories characterize characters. How we describe everything in our world, and by extension fictional worlds, is pervaded by human-relatable concepts and allusions. Literature would read like a bizarre or cold technical paper without this human touch[[/note]]. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Besides the large number of stories concerning humans on Earth, this manifests in five major ways: |
| 20 | * For one species on one planet, humanity sure gets around in the fictional multi-[[TheVerse verse]], often to the point of humans simply being present on other planets without any explanation for how they got there in the first place; for all intents and purposes, they might as well have evolved there independent of Earth. Countless SpeculativeFiction settings without Earth include humans, usually [[LikeRealityUnlessNoted just like the ones we're used to]]. |
| 21 | * Non-human characters, particularly in a story without humans, tend to act just like humans; while [[SlidingScaleOfAnthropomorphism degrees of anthropomorphism vary]], human-like intelligence, behavior, and psychological quirks and a fully developed verbal language are almost guaranteed. |
| 22 | * When [[HumansAreAverage compared to non-human characters]], humans are almost always the JackOfAllStats (unless [[AuthorTract someone]] is [[HumansAreBastards trying]] to [[HumansAreDiplomats make]] a [[HumansAreWarriors point]]). The StandardFantasyRaces or sapient aliens, taken as a whole, will be different from humans in ways that balance each other out. This is odd, since it would be more likely that humans deviate from the average in some way or another. |
| 23 | * When animals, monsters, aliens, or any other form of nonhumans creates a society, they will be [[FantasyCounterpartCulture exactly the same as a human society]]; more specifically, they will be [[LawOfConservationOfNormality the same as wherever the author comes from]]. Exceptions ''might'' be made for cases where such a thing is blatantly impossible, for instance, an underwater society not having controlled fire even if it is otherwise 20th-century advancement. |
| 24 | * Where the story falls along the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism depends on how good, valuable, or justified the human condition is evaluated to be. In idealistic stories, a {{Transhuman}}, {{Cyborg}}, DeityOfHumanOrigin, GodInHumanForm, HenshinHero of the alien variety, {{Human Alien|s}} or {{Ridiculously Human Robot|s}} will invariably PickYourHumanHalf, while ScaryDogmaticAliens and [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]] who aren't beaten back or destroyed entirely will find ''something'' admirable or lovable about the old [[CallAHumanAMeatbag organ-sacks]]. They will find that having human emotions is good and human systems of morality work equally well or better than their own. Some of them may even [[HumanityIsInfectious yield to basic human drives/instincts]], such as [[BoldlyComing sexual]] [[RoboSexual relations]] [[DivineDate with]] [[DidYouJustRomanceCthulhu humans]]. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | The inevitability of this varies by [[{{Media}} medium]]; after all, most actors are human, too. There are, however, more non-human actors than non-human writers, at least [[EarthIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse by common knowledge]]. For much more on the subject, see [[http://limyaael.livejournal.com/tag/rants%20on%20nonhumans this series]] of ''Blog/LimyaaelsFantasyRants''. |
| 27 | |
| 28 | Most game systems will reflexively assume that the default player character is human (or at best very nearly so) and allow this assumption to creep into their rules, setting, and suggested campaign styles. For example, nearly any combat system that goes into significant detail will be primarily written for roughly human-''sized'' combatants with two arms, two legs, and one head on top of the body. Descriptions will almost unfailingly assume human-level perceptions with any "super-senses" that player characters might technically also have usually being given short shrift. And so on. At the extreme end, players may only ever be ''allowed'' to play humans and very-near-humans even in a setting where dozens or hundreds of other reasonably intelligent species also exist (such as many D&D campaigns). |
| 29 | |
| 30 | Compare AnthropomorphicShift, where an entirely non-human cast ''gradually'' slips into this trap. As such, this is one of the major sources of FurryConfusion. Sometimes characters are clearly not human but use phrases like "[[DenialOfAnimality I'm only human]]" anyway. It can be a direct cause of a HumanFocusedAdaptation. |
| 31 | |
| 32 | Contrast {{Xenofiction}}, an attempt to avert this by taking the viewpoint of distinctly non-human characters, despite coming from human authors ([[{{Masquerade}} as far as we know]]). No known ArtificialIntelligence writing program is self-aware enough to write its own Xenofiction. |
| 33 | |
| 34 | This trope is often the reason why MammalMonstersAreMoreHeroic as humans are, after all, mammals. See also AliensSpeakingEnglish, BishonenLine, CreatorProvincialism, EarthIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse, HumanAliens, HumanoidAbomination, HumanoidAnimals, MonstrousHumanoid, and WhatMeasureIsANonHuman. Related to HumansAreWhite, when the majority of important human characters in the setting appear to be Caucasian. |
| 35 | ---- |
| 36 | !!Examples: |
| 37 | |
| 38 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 39 | |
| 40 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 41 | * ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' often makes the Digimon's initial and final forms humanoid or at the very least bipedal. This is partially a product of necessity, since the toys are designed to be able to evolve, so they need to have similar structures. |
| 42 | * In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', aside from superpowers, many Quirks can also give people all sorts of mutations, such as weird skin color, abnormal body proportions, multiple limbs, animal characteristics, and more. Yet the main character, his love interest and female lead, his best friend, his two rivals, his mentor, the BigBad, and the GreaterScopeVillain are all baseline humans, with unusual hair color being the weirdest part about them. |
| 43 | * ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': |
| 44 | ** In one of the first few episodes of the ''Sun and Moon'' anime, Meowth has a near-death experience in which he is lured by three Pokémon he immediately becomes infatuated with. Instead of using cat Pokémon you would reasonably expect a fellow cat Pokémon to be attracted to, the writers clearly chose the Pokémon based on whether the human fandom finds them attractive. This is odd, as when Meowth is required to show interest in another Pokémon, they usually do choose another feline Pokémon. Except for Glaceon, which looks a bit like a cat. |
| 45 | ** Also there's a high tendency for Ash's more powerful Pokémon to be bipedal and thus more human-like. While he does have other monsters who have decent levels of competency, none have ever been his regional ace. Just compare Torterra and Infernape's battling records. Though strangely enough, his Pokémon with the best battle record and possibly his smartest[[note]]It's been shown to do things no other Pokémon do, such as consciously help other ones evolve[[/note]] is ''Bulbasaur'', an unevolved, quadrupedal mon. |
| 46 | ** There's also a tendency for the rivals and gym leaders to have their ace as a humanoid Pokemon. Often changing the ace they used in the original games like Blaine. As Red and Blue only having Magmar for humanoid fire types it was his ace over the games Arcanine. |
| 47 | * Even though ''Anime/SpaceDandy'' takes place in a universe where countless aliens live with other aliens, somehow a large chunk of the shows prominent characters end up being humans, or look just like humans anyway. |
| 48 | * The characters in ''Anime/WolfsRain'' are wolves who [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent can make themselves look human]]. They appear human when around humans but otherwise look like wolves... In theory at least. There are a lot of scenes where there are ''no humans'' in sight, except for their ArtificialHuman friend, but they still appear as humans. Part of this can be fanservice, or [[FurriesAreEasierToDraw that humans are easier for the artists to draw]], but a large part probably comes from humans being more able to relate to humans than animals. |
| 49 | [[/folder]] |
| 50 | |
| 51 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 52 | * The writer of ''Fanfic/ApprenticeAndPregnant'' admits to writing their cats very human-like, resulting in human terminology and gestures in a ''Warriors'' fanfic. |
| 53 | * Rather pointedly {{averted}} in ''Fanfic/BaitAndSwitchSTO'', whose author has argued on the ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' forums that even though out-of-universe ''Franchise/StarTrek'' often allegorizes aspects of human culture and history, InUniverse the Federation is supposed to be more than just humans and therefore major nonhuman characters should be more common. The primary viewpoint character of TheVerse, Kanril Eleya, is a Bajoran who only has one human on her CommandRoster (the chief medical officer, who rarely has a speaking role due to being down in sickbay most of the time). |
| 54 | * There is an entire sub-culture of this trope in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. It's called [=HiE=], or "Human in Equestria". Even though ''FIM'' takes place in a vehemently human-less setting ([[RetCon not counting]] the traditionally human characters of [[Franchise/MyLittlePony past]] or [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls later]] generations), it usually features humans as protagonists, or at least as deuteragonists, as they get confronted with the MLP-verse. Interestingly, this plot structure is much more commonly used than the other way around, proving that this trope is in full effect, with authors bringing their own experiences in direct comparison with the show's continuity. |
| 55 | * ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'': If there is a character of non-human [[StandardFantasyRaces fantasy race]] and is not a {{mook}}, they tend to have human-like intelligence and behaviour. While the main protagonist [[spoiler:is an EldritchAbomination disguised as a [[HumanoidAbomination man]], he WasOnceAMan and his human form is meant to be AFormYouAreComfortableWith, though he doesn't really [[IntriguedByHumanity find humans admirable]] in general]]. |
| 56 | * {{Deconstructed}} in ''Fanfic/TheWarOfTheMasters''. The overabundance of humans from Earth in canon Starfleet is attributed to a ''cultural'' dominance of Earthlings in the Federation writ large. This leads to resentment towards Earthlings by many groups in the Federation that rears its head during the Federation-Klingon War in the 2400s. It also leads to such things as Sandra Pickens, a colonial-born Starfleet captain with a ''very'' thick ([[UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents Appalachian-based]]) accent, being repeatedly [[PassedOverPromotion passed over for promotion]] when her very real skills as a starship commander would normally warrant it. |
| 57 | [[/folder]] |
| 58 | |
| 59 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 60 | * Probably the strangest example: Why are there [[MisplacedWildlife lemurs]] in Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}}''? Seems the writers thought us selfish primates wouldn't like the movie unless there was something cute and furry to relate to. Actually, there were lemur-like creatures living during the time of the dinosaurs, however they would have looked more like shrews or rats than what we would recognize as lemurs and evolutionary-wise more closely related to modern marsupials and monotremes. |
| 61 | * In all the preview ads for ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens'', the focus was on the monstrous-type monsters. Then the movie itself came out... and our viewpoint character is a normal human woman who was turned [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever 49-feet 11-inches tall]] by a meteorite. Apparently they didn't think we could focus on a really ''monstrous'' monster, so they gave us a dressed-up human. |
| 62 | * Creator/{{Pixar}} is praised for humanizing things that are not human. So far, they have only had a handful of movies where only living humans were the main characters (''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'', ''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2'', ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Lightyear}}''). In the commentary for ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'', the directors noted that they deliberately averted this trope, stating that they wanted the toys to deal with "toy problems, not people problems". |
| 63 | * This trope was most likely the reason why Ralph from ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' was made a human for his final design. Before this, he went through dozens of designs, from anthropomorphic animals, monstrous beast-men to even a steamroller. The artists then chose the one animal that's the most sympathetic for his situation (going through a mid-life crisis): A Human. |
| 64 | [[/folder]] |
| 65 | |
| 66 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 67 | * Creator/JamesCameron invoked this trope in his WordOfGod interview to explain why the Na'vi of ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' look so human, published in the [[http://discovermagazine.com/2010/dec/29-hot-science-geek-look-back-at-2010 December 2010]] issue of ''Discover'' magazine. Word-for-word, he says "...science fiction is not made for a galactic audience. It’s made by human beings for human beings." Which, [[HumansAreBastards considering who the bad guys]] are in the film, raises a few interesting points. |
| 68 | * In ''Film/BillAndTedsBogusJourney'', Death rolls his eyes when Bill & Ted assume that the greatest scientist in the universe must be human. However it wasn't such a bad assumption when it turns out that Station is the only (two) non human in Heaven! |
| 69 | * ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'' is set on an alien world with several different sentient species. Some are humanoid, if [[HumanoidAnimals odd-looking]] (they're like elves or dwarves and some have wings), others are much less so. Guess which ones are the heroes? |
| 70 | * In ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'', the two central roles of Sarah and Jareth are occupied by humans, while muppets are relegated to supporting roles. This was done deliberately to make the roles more relatable, due to the poor commercial reception of ''The Dark Crystal''. |
| 71 | * Lampshaded in ''Film/MartianChild'', which is about a sci-fi writer who becomes an adoptive father. When talking about a book of his he talks about how humans are always present in a sci-fi story so that they serve as a stand-in for the reader and allow the reader to identify with the major characters. He goes on to note that he doesn't actually identify most with the human characters himself, but rather with an alien. |
| 72 | * All the major protagonists in ''Franchise/StarWars'' are human. The only alien who plays a major role is Yoda, and he is treated just like a very short, elderly human. R2-D2 is less humanlike, but he's more of a functional TeamPet than a character. Chewbacca is a main character, but had essentially zero personal effect on the plot. |
| 73 | * This trope was actually a fairly major factor in the writing of ''Film/Transformers2007'', with the human characters taking a somewhat larger role than is traditional for the franchise. (This was also for [[PragmaticAdaptation pragmatic]] reasons; ''every single frame'' of one Transformer or more that appears on screen took ''twenty-four hours'' to render.) According to the PowersThatBe, the main reason was [[CoconutSuperpowers the expense of the detailed robots]]. In [[Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen the second film]], however, there are many more non-humanoid Transformers, of all shapes and sizes, from insects to tiny spheres that roll through small spaces and assemble into one robot when it's gotten where it's going. One character is even [[spoiler:a trio of motorcycles, whose robot forms are all oddly-shaped beings who have one wheel instead of legs. These three bikes together make the new Arcee. They can combine into one in the comics, but they don't in the movie proper]]. There's also more robot screentime than in the previous film. The entire Franchise/{{Transformers}} franchise is prone to this trope. For a race of inorganic mechanical lifeforms with lifespans hundreds if not thousands of years old, more often than not they'll behave no differently than humans do. |
| 74 | * ''Film/{{Tron}}'', where ''computer programs'' are shown looking like humans. Their appearances are even modeled after their programmers. This is true to the point that everyone thinks Flynn (the human transported into the computer) is a program whose ''User'' is Flynn. |
| 75 | [[/folder]] |
| 76 | |
| 77 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 78 | * The underrated ''Literature/AlienChronicles'' series, written by Deborah Chester and commissioned by [[Creator/GeorgeLucas LucasFilm]], thoroughly subvert this trope by taking place in a universe populated exclusively by various [[CatGirl alien]] [[WolfMan species]] (left over from the ''Franchise/StarWars'' character design bins, as a matter of fact). |
| 79 | * ZigZagged in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}.'' The team has four full-time humans, one human who's semi-permanently {{Shapeshifter Mode Lock}}ed as a bird, and an alien. The RotatingProtagonist order is initially set up so that the latter two only get half as many books, because it was assumed that they would be less popular; this turned out to be wrong, however, and the pattern eventually changes, albeit very late in the series. |
| 80 | ** There are also four {{Prequel}} books that focus mostly on aliens; two[[note]]''The Andalite Chronicles'' and ''[[VillainEpisode Visser]]''[[/note]] have major human characters, but the others[[note]]''The Hork-Bajir Chronicles'' and ''The Ellimist Chronicles''[[/note]] are basically pure {{Xenofiction}}, aside from the FramingDevice. |
| 81 | * Creator/PiersAnthony: |
| 82 | ** His ''Literature/{{Cluster}}'' series is a complete aversion. Anthony takes great delight in describing some StarfishAliens, including a species that rolls around on giant ball-bearings (which also play a part in their reproductive cycle), one that rides on magnetic force lines and communicates using biologically-generated laser beams, and one that eats gasses and gets around by jet propulsion. |
| 83 | ** His ''Virtual Mode'' series introduced a creature from a reality based on the Burgess Shale. |
| 84 | * A subtle example in ''Literature/ArtemisFowl.'' The first book introduces the [[OurCentaursAreDifferent centaur]] Foaly and the ([[BizarreAlienBiology quite different]]) [[OurDwarvesAreDifferent dwarf]] Mulch, who remain recurring characters throughout the series. However, pretty much any other important [[OurFairiesAreDifferent fairy]] introduced in the later books ([[BigBad Opal]] and her minions, Doodah Day, Turnball, Vinyaya) are either an [[OurElvesAreDifferent elf]] or a [[OurPixiesAreDifferent pixie]]--i.e., members of the two most human-like fairy races. This aside from Holly and Commander Root, who are also elves, and of course, the actual human protagonists. ''The Lost Colony'' is an exception, focusing on [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]], likely because it's a DolledUpInstallment. |
| 85 | ** The SequelSeries, ''Literature/TheFowlTwins,'' has an [[NonHumanHumanoidHybrid elf-pixie hybrid]] as its main fairy character. |
| 86 | * Creator/IsaacAsimov: Despite being willing to create HumanAliens in his early stories and working out BizarreAlienPsychology, Dr Asimov was frustrated with "aliens" that failed to seem convincingly alien. His own efforts failed to impress him, as did the attempts by other ScienceFiction authors. This led, in part, to his frequent use of a [[AbsentAliens human-only Milky Way]]. |
| 87 | * Also literally averted by ''Literature/AtlantaNights'', where chapter 34 was produced by the [[http://www.critters.org/bonsai/ Bonsai Story Generator]]. It fits as well in the story as any other 2 chapters not named 4 and 17 (which are exactly the same). |
| 88 | * Averted in ''Literature/BlackBeauty'', which is written from the first horse -- not first person -- perspective. |
| 89 | * ''Literature/{{Bolo}}'' novels are often done from the point of view of the large sentient battle fortresses. The biggest trouble is making it relate to an AI that is usually identified as 'smarter' than human. So many plot devices to either limit their out of combat AI or to have them damaged is the norm, with full Battle Reflex Mode having them figure out how to kill the enemy in .02 seconds and spend the rest of time in Battle Reflex Mode analyzing Music while carrying out the plans. It's also presented that it's a good thing that they are hard wired to be Knights in Shining Armour, because humans are often the villains of the piece as well as the Bolo-aligned protagonists. |
| 90 | * Averted by Peter Watts in his uber-hard novel ''Literature/{{Blindsight}}'' where the alien is truly alien and even the human characters are alien. |
| 91 | * Arguably, all ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' are examples of this trope, as Narnia can only have a human as a King, and the humans always show up to save the day. |
| 92 | * Creator/ArthurCClarke nicely averts this trope in his [[Literature/RendezvousWithRama Rama]] series. The few times any aliens interact with humans, great lengths must be gone to for an exchange of ideas to even become possible. |
| 93 | * The often-reprinted short story "The Dance of the Changer and the Three" by author Terry Carr (''not'' Terri Garr) both applies and subverts this trope. It is narrated by a human but concerns a race of pure-energy beings whose very motives are unclear even to the narrator as well as the reader. |
| 94 | * Weirdly applied in ''Literature/{{Dinotopia}}''. We're assured that only about ten percent of the population is human; everyone else is an IntellectualAnimal. Funny, the illustrations suggest otherwise... |
| 95 | * ''Literature/{{Embassytown}}'' somewhat averts this trope, as well as justifying it: the Hosts are very much not human, but become more human in their thinking (although still remaining StarfishAliens) by the end of the book because of the actions of their human neighbors--and even then they are markedly different from the human characters. Humans make up the entirety of the main cast however, and it takes a long time for important Host characters to show up, of which there really are only three in the whole book. |
| 96 | * Subverted and played straight in the Creator/VernorVinge novel, ''Literature/AFireUponTheDeep.'' Humans are only one of a vast multitude of advanced aliens in the galaxy, and the main cast of characters includes aliens that are essentially mini- {{Hive Mind}}s ''or sentient plants.'' Several times we see messages sent by aliens that are so inhuman that even the Super Advanced Translation Technology this universe contains can't keep up. However, the book ''is'' still mostly about humans; humans play the deciding role in whether or not the galaxy will get eaten by the Blight; and most of what we see of the interstellar internet is a posting group called "Homo Sapiens Interest Group." Which contains all humans as well as a number of alien races that just think humans are cool. Lampshaded in prequel, ''Literature/ADeepnessInTheSky''. |
| 97 | * Literally averted (sort of) in a segment of ''Literature/GodelEscherBachAnEternalGoldenBraid''; a student of the author once designed a computer program to produce artificial Zen koans, and one early result is part of the book. Amusing, as a programming error caused the computer to print out a bit of code instead of an English word in one place. |
| 98 | * From the title of ''Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy,'' you might expect that Bree, the TalkingAnimal, was the protagonist. Nope--it's the boy, Shasta, and arguably the deuteragonist is Aravis, a human girl. |
| 99 | * Somewhat averted in ''Literature/TheIronTeeth'' web serial as the protagonist is a goblin, who doesn't act and think quite human. Most characters are human though. |
| 100 | * Parodied to hell and back in a scene in ''Literature/MostlyHarmless'' where Arthur is looking for a planet of humanoids and must seek advice from a '''very''' [[StarfishAliens alien Alien]]. And then further, when the planet it recommends has a population that might [[HumanAliens look human]], but are psychologically less human than any alien he's met thus far. The book's title itself derives from an earlier joke where Ford Prefect named himself after [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Prefect the car]] under the mistaken assumption that cars and not humans were the dominant life-form on Earth (subsequently describing Earth in the Guide as "mostly harmless" after nearly being run over while trying to introduce himself). |
| 101 | * The {{Xenofiction}} novel ''Literature/RaptorRed'' has a weird variant on this; most of the story is about a female Utahraptor's adventures, but for two chapters in the middle of the novel the story swerves into a random subplot about an insectivorous little mammal, mainly because he's one of humanity's ancestors. It isn't a ''bad'' subplot, just out of left field. |
| 102 | * {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in the ''Literature/StarTrekTitan'' novels, in which a nonhumanoid crew member takes bets on whether the ship's motto will be a human proverb despite the extreme diversity of the ship's crew, and loses when the Vulcan saying "Infinite diversity in infinite combinations" is chosen. He asks whether Vulcans count as human, as they're far more humanlike than a cybernetically-enhanced featherless ostrich with a prehensile tail. |
| 103 | * At first, nearly every novel in the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' puts humans - and humans from the movies, at that - in all of the important positions. The same two human women (Leia Organa Solo and Mon Mothma) switch back and forth as President of the New Republic. Humans are the important Jedi, the major heroes, the minor characters, and quite often the major villains. Nonhumans are relatively rarely in prominent positive roles; they're typically the minor villains, the {{Non Human Sidekick}}s, in supporting roles at best, though sometimes they do manage to be ScaryDogmaticAliens. Some books try to justify this by saying that when the New Republic was the Rebel Alliance it was humans who founded it and those who survived stayed in power, and that humans are probably the most populous species out there. However, this becomes downplayed as the EU develops, with later books including multiple major non-human characters, who often think and act differently than humans do. |
| 104 | ** Also lampshaded in the Coruscant Nights series, where a particular alien characters spends a while musing over how humans are so ridiculously common in the galaxy, and how because of this, everything is built or designed to their standards. That series had a few more alien leads then usual, but the humans were still much more common. |
| 105 | ** Humans are canonically the most common intelligent species in the galaxy, which to an extent explains why most characters are humans. But even then, most of the other species who are established to have numerous colony worlds the same as humans do, rather than living almost exclusively on a single homeworld (such as Duros, Neimoidians, and Rodians) are extremely under-represented. ''Especially'' the Duros, who canonically were the early humans' primary rivals in exploring the galaxy and creating colonies, and who (given their [[PlanetOfHats Hat]] of tending to be brilliant pilots and navigators) seem like they ought to be major players in an galaxy-wide society. Yet in most stories they're lucky if they get a token Duro in a pilot's suit in a cantina or spaceport scene. The only non-human species who (eventually) got representation anywhere approaching their canonical proportion of the galactic population were the Bothans. Conversely, [[RubberForeheadAliens the more human-like aliens]] such as Twi'leks (native to a mostly inhospitable planet, with no known colonies of their own) often get vastly disproportionate representation. |
| 106 | * ''Literature/TolkiensLegendarium'': |
| 107 | ** Creator/JRRTolkien invoked this in one of his letters regarding Middle-Earth. The gist was that such fantastic stories should be centred on humans, since when you get down to it, a ''human'' writer won't be able to portray an elf as anything but a man in a funny suit. And yet, ''Literature/TheHobbit'' has no human main characters (unless you count the hobbit himself[[note]]Hobbits are really only a pygmy sub-species of humans that evolved a culture of their own -- from the Elves' point of view, they're no different from the other Mortals[[/note]] -- Gandalf isn't a human at all), instead featuring Dwarves; and ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' only has two major human characters out of nine, one of which dies (again, unless you count Hobbits). Though Aragorn plays some important roles early on, and Boromir has the memorable death scene in book two, the first large-scale plot involving regular humans is the one with Rohan. In Book Three. |
| 108 | ** All this being said, Hobbits are effectively just small humans (plus a few other minor physical differences). Psychologically and culturally they're no more different from humans than any other two human cultures in the setting. Elves, Dwarves, Ents, Orcs, and so on are almost never focus characters in either ''Literature/TheHobbit'' or ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. The Elves do get quite a run in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', which is much more mythic and less familiar and homey; their relatability is probably highest when they're dealing with adversity ([[WriteWhatYouKnow war]], [[YouCantGoHomeAgain exile]], [[RememberTheAlamo futile attempts at revenge]], and so on). |
| 109 | * David Brin's ''Literature/{{Uplift}}'' series delights in mixing the viewpoint characters between humans, Uplifted Earth animals, and aliens ranging from humanoid-but-doesn't-think-like-humans to StarfishAliens. |
| 110 | * In ''Literature/WarriorCats'' the cat have such human-like qualities and intelligence that they can do dexterous actions like splinting a broken leg. The cats also live in Clans (unlike real cats) and the bad guys are racist. The author even says she doesn't think about cats when coming up with ideas, giving them more humanity-based themes. |
| 111 | ** Poppy seeds are used in the series as a sedative/painkiller. While poppy is sometimes used in painkillers for humans, it's actually poisonous to cats. |
| 112 | ** A more obvious example: Firestar's most distinguishing feature is his red pelt and an entire prophecy revolves around it. In RealLife, cats can't see red. |
| 113 | [[/folder]] |
| 114 | |
| 115 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 116 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': Our hero, a {{Human Alien|s}} called the Doctor, can go anywhere in time and space yet spends the majority of his time on Earth, on a human colony, or with a majority of humans. This is sometimes justified or averted in various ways over the course of its decades-long run. |
| 117 | * ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' somewhat averts this and somewhat doesn't--technically there is only one human character in the entire show (if you exclude Jack, who is usually either a memory of John's or an insectoid {{Starfish Alien|s}} in AFormYouAreComfortableWith), many of the aliens who are encountered are HumanAliens (especially Sebaceans, who basically ARE humans), and most other aliens are HumanoidAliens who behave like humans for instance Delvians (despite being PlantAliens), and Luxans. There are a few aliens who either look (Hynerians, Pilots, Scarrans) and/or behave (Leviathans, Ancients, Drak) quite different from humans, however. |
| 118 | * The speculative documentary series ''Series/LifeAfterPeople'' suffers a mild version of this in that, despite the title, more emphasis is given to the nonliving artifacts of human civilization than what happens to actual living animals. However, the show still covers possible evolutionary paths for the animals that we've domesticated or kept in zoos. |
| 119 | * ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' has this problem often. Despite the general premise of a group of humans saving Earth from alien invaders, they're always very humanoid alien invaders. There's also a recurring problem of the dialogue of the MonsterOfTheWeek. Most often, the aliens invaders spend little to no time on Earth, and the monsters are often created during the episode. Despite being only minutes or hours old, they still have enough of a grasp of Earth culture to snark to the Rangers (such as one monster calling the morphed rangers "The Jellybean Patrol"). |
| 120 | * The various ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series: Every series in the franchise takes place on a Federation Starfleet ship or station. In spite of Earth being only one of many members in the United Federation of Planets, the cast of each show is predominantly human. Most senior officials are also human, and the capital of the Federation is on Earth, giving the impression that the Federation is itself a predominantly human organization. Dialogue across the shows often, whether intentionally or not, implies that "Federation" is synonymous with "human." |
| 121 | [[/folder]] |
| 122 | |
| 123 | [[folder:Myths & Religion]] |
| 124 | * Zigzagged by many religions which claim certain holy books are dictated by [[OurGodsAreDifferent deities]], spirits, etc., but attribute human traits like jealousy and wrath to these spirits and portray them in anthropomorphic forms. Averted in pantheism and the Hindu elephant god Ganesha, monkey god Hanuman, and various other distinctly non-human deities. |
| 125 | * [[OurGeniesAreDifferent Djinn]] authors may be an aversion, as ''Literature/TheQuran'' says they have free will like humans. However what books, if any, are written by them is not common knowledge. |
| 126 | [[/folder]] |
| 127 | |
| 128 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 129 | * In the great majority of fantasy settings (and science fiction too, for that matter), humans are ''always'' the dominant and major race. |
| 130 | * ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': This was deliberately invoked in early editions, in which the world was assumed to be dominated by humans while other races kept largely to themselves. Adventurers from other races were supposed to be rare, and far normal representatives of their cultures. Obviously players often wanted to play as non-humans, which led to later editions defaulting to a general melting-pot society in which any combination of race, class and culture could be justified. |
| 131 | * TabletopGame/{{GURPS}} invokes this trope and all but refers to it by name. All customization is done by adding or subtracting features from a human template. The GURPS-based ''TabletopGame/DiscworldRoleplayingGame'' briefly invokes HumansAreSpecial to explain why humanity dominates the Disc instead of trolls, dwarfs or banshees, [[WatsonianVersusDoylist before acknowledging the real reason]]... |
| 132 | -->''At this point, it's traditional to explain at length how, despite the fact that humans are smaller, squidgier, less magical, or poorer at mining than other races, we have some kind of crucial edge – perhaps a willingness to kill, or willpower, or the ability to cooperate, or the favour of the gods, or just the capacity to out-breed everyone else. But the important point is that these stories and games are created by and for human beings.'' |
| 133 | * Generally [[EnforcedTrope enforced]] in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''; the majority of [[DimensionalTraveler planeswalkers]] (the face characters of the franchise) are humans, and a large chunk of the nonhuman ones resemble humans and/or are humanoid. Furthermore, the vast majority of planes include humans on them. WordOfGod has noted several times that nonhumans simply don't appeal to the audience as much as humans. This trope has also been seen in the former lack of presence of merfolk. For years, ''Magic: the Gathering'' had not included merfolk in its sets, because as they lacked legs they could not go on dry land (and thus interact with humans). They eventually started giving merfolk legs, playing into this trope. |
| 134 | * The rulebook of ''TabletopGame/{{Nobilis}}'' specifies that Nobles (usually) start off as humans, in order to ground its rather strange and abstract concept into something approaching the human experience. Therefore [[PlayerCharacter players]] generally portray ''former'' humans (versus former something elses). |
| 135 | * In ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'', the metafiction and novels are overwhelmingly human-focused. It is stated multiple times in setting census data that humans are the most common race, despite Orks both maturing early and [[MassiveNumberedSiblings tending to have many children for cultural reasons]]. Taken to extremes with sourcebook art, where humans are nearly always featured, elves are a close second, trolls are very rarely seen, and orks even less so. Dwarves get it particularly bad, with almost no dwarf art existing ''anywhere'' outside of rulebooks with sections pertaining to dwarves. Downplayed in the 2nd edition run where the overarching plot becomes highly elf-centric instead. |
| 136 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Talislanta}}'': Later editions have LoadsAndLoadsOfRaces, but none that are explicitly called "human". The closest approximation to "human" is the designation of several humanoid types as "men", but even the races of "men" include people with weirdly-shaped facial features or skin colors unknown in RealLife. |
| 137 | * ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': |
| 138 | ** Humans are the main focus in most of the stories, to the point the ''Literature/HorusHeresy'', a {{Prequel}} dedicated to the backstory of the Imperium, has more books than ''[[https://www.reddit.com/r/40kLore/comments/1271n9c/factions_repartition_in_black_library_output_over/ all non-imperial factions combined]]''[[note]]And some of those "non-imperial books" are either anthologies of short stories, which ''also'' tends to be majorly Imperial-flavoured, or Chaos-focused, who are "[[EvilCounterpart evil humans]]"[[/note]]. |
| 139 | ** One of the most commonly-stated truths about the Eldar, meant to emphasize their cruel pragmatism and lack of care for humanity, is a declaration along the lines of "the Eldar would cause the deaths of a thousand humans just to save the life of a single Eldar." While certainly not a pleasant viewpoint, it leaves out the fact that the Imperium would ''[[MoralMyopia also]]'' kill a thousand Eldar to save the life of a single human--indeed, they would kill a thousand Eldar [[AbsoluteXenophobe just for the sake of killing a thousand Eldar]]. Hell, in the case of the Imperium's leadership, it's pretty likely that [[WeHaveReserves killing a thousand humans]] just to kill one Eldar would be perceived as a pretty good trade. [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality But since it's the Imperium, it's okay when they do it]]. |
| 140 | ** Another commonly-stated truths about the Eldar is that they are [[SmugSuper arrogant asses]]. While that ''is'' true, it leaves unsaid that the Imperium believe [[UsefulNotes/ManifestDestiny they have a divine right to the entire galaxy and everyone else deserves to die]] merely for existing. Compared to ''that'', the Eldar calling humans [[FantasticSlur Mon'keigh]] and dismissing them as "savages" is much tamer, and [[JerkassHasAPoint a pretty reasonable assessment]]. |
| 141 | * ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'' has three main player-character origins: homids (werewolves born from werewolf/human pairings), lupus (werewolves born from werewolf/wolf pairings), and metis (werewolves born from two werewolf parents). The vast majority of viewpoint characters in the metaplot were homids, as lupus werewolves were extremely unpopular (due to equal parts the fact [[BestialityIsDepraved they're explicitly the result of a sapient being having sex with a wolf]] and their main faction, [[KillAllHumans the Red Talons]], being easily the most hated tribe in the game) and metis were heavily discriminated against in the fiction and thus unlikely to play major roles. |
| 142 | [[/folder]] |
| 143 | |
| 144 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 145 | * Parodied in the 20th First Annual Theatre/IgNobelPrizeCeremony, with a speech by Creator/NeilGaiman which "proved" that virtually all books are written by ''bacteria''. But most of them are still about humans, for some reason. |
| 146 | [[/folder]] |
| 147 | |
| 148 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 149 | * ''VideoGame/AIDungeon2'': The AI tends to default the protagonist back to being a human often without explanation as to why or how. Even if you set up a detailed custom prompt to make it clear that the character you're playing as is ''not'' human, expect the character to eventually start performing human actions and movements as the story goes on; [[MindScrew even if it would be physically impossible for the character to perform said actions.]] Ironically, this is one of the (very) rare examples of fiction which does ''not'' have a human writer (although the AI was created ''by'' humans, and trained using text written by humans, so even non-human writers can't escape human influence, it seems). |
| 150 | * ''Franchise/DragonAge'': This is the reason that humans are the dominant culture in Thedas (or at least in the regions the games let you explore), and why the glimpses into the elf, dwarven, and Qunari cultures are less prevalent. For instance, it's worth noting that [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins the Blight]] is really only an immediate problem for the people living on the surface, but the dwarves get roped into helping to deal with it, anyway. This pops up a lot in the ''Dragon Age'' series. A number of times throughout the series, humans are treated as ''the'' race, with their dominance played up and other races (primarily elves) being downplayed more and more. A constant theme in particular is humans being better at elven culture than elves themselves, and ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' constantly having the (voiced) PC be lectured on elven history, primarily by humans, even if they're an elf themselves and should know all this. |
| 151 | * ''Franchise/MassEffect'': |
| 152 | ** Many fans of ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' believe this is the reason why Shepard could engage in a sexual relationship with Liara (an asari, the most human-like alien in the game's universe), but not with Tali, Garrus, or Wrex, all of which are very inhuman physically (especially Wrex!). This is totally averted in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''. Not only does the game allow you to have sex with the quarian, turian, drell or asari members of your crew, but the ship physician will send you notes on the relevant precautions. For example, he prescribes antibiotics to the quarian (to lessen- not eliminate- the aftereffects that out-of-suit exposure will have on her) and warns against "consuming turian tissue" (as it may cause an allergic reaction). |
| 153 | ** Also fits in the game's usage of humans as the JackOfAllStats, to an extent. Of the council races, salarians are known for being extremely intelligent, asari are known for their diplomatic talents, and turians are known for their military. The game lampshades this to an extent, by pointing out the talent diversity of humans. In the second game, Mordin even mentions that they have more genetic diversity than any other species, which is presumed to be the reason the collectors chose to target them over other species for [[spoiler: the construction of a reaper]] (though no explanation is given for why humans might have more genetic variance, particularly given that we have an abnormal ''lack'' of variance by Earth standards). |
| 154 | * ''VideoGame/{{Starbound}}'': Each alien species has a culture based around a (usually stereotypical) human culture. [[PlantAliens Florans]] are cavemen, [[FishPeople Hylotl]] are Japanese, and Novakids are [[SpaceWestern Space Westerners]]. |
| 155 | * ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': While the main characters are human (or [[AmbiguouslyHuman at least very human-like]]), they're often greatly outnumbered by the number of non-human characters, such as Bowser, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, various {{Mooks}}, and other characters both friendly and non-friendly, animal-like to having human-level intelligence. In spin-off titles, especially in the sports titles, greater emphasis is placed on the 7 most human-like characters (Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Wario, Waluigi and Rosalina). |
| 156 | * ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has been heading in this direction since Cataclysm. The major players of the Alliance are nearly all human in those two expansions, with the exception of a few Night Elves and Dwarves. In Mists, Varian is declared High King of the Alliance (a military rank), despite the Alliance containing individuals with much more experience such as Muradin and Tyrande (in fact, the scenario "A Little Patience" was written to [[CreatorBacklash discredit the idea of Tyrande leading the Alliance's armies]] and [[CharacterShilling promote Varian]]) while the non-human faction leaders are kept in the background. ''Warlords of Draenor'' also seems to be a return to ''Warcraft II''[='s=] of humans vs orcs, although the Draenei have a major role and most of the non-human Alliance characters are Night Elves. |
| 157 | [[/folder]] |
| 158 | |
| 159 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 160 | * ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend'' takes place in a future where birds have become [[UpliftedAnimal uplifted]] and taken over society, and humanity has declined. In the backstory we see that this decline was catastrophic and this was a hostile takeover, but bird society is almost identical to the human version, down to traffic laws, human-style chairs in classrooms, and Prime Ministers. Five years after the uplift virus started to spread birds ''wrote a declaration of independence'', an act which is clearly based on human culture. Maybe birdkind was helped and taught by a few humans early on. [[note]]That said, in this particular case it's very clearly justified by RuleOfFunny, given that "pigeons doing human things" is Hatoful Boyfriend's primary gimmick and source of humor.[[/note]] |
| 161 | [[/folder]] |
| 162 | |
| 163 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 164 | * While the cast of ''WebAnimation/TheAmazingDigitalCircus'' is formed by all sorts of bizarre creatures, protagonist Pomni looks like a normal girl in jester costume. |
| 165 | * The demons in ''WebAnimation/HazbinHotel'' come in all different shapes and sizes, but the most humanoid ones are the only ones that make up the main cast. |
| 166 | * The LittleBitBeastly Faunus of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' run the gamut in terms of animal designs and characteristics when seen in crowds. Likely for animation purposes, most of the plot-critical faunus are the ones who could pass for normal humans in shape and characterization. |
| 167 | [[/folder]] |
| 168 | |
| 169 | [[folder:Web Comics]] |
| 170 | * In [[http://www.drunkduck.com/Dragon_City Dragon City]], the comic is about a race of dragons that live underground unbeknownst to the humans, but due to human culture saturation, the dragons essentially act human. |
| 171 | * In ''Webcomic/{{Harkovast}}'' there are no humans, but all of the races are very human in their behaviours. |
| 172 | * The Ambis in ''Webcomic/{{Jix}}'' are an alien race who act like Ancient Romans in that they move from planet to planet conquering them to build up their Empire. The main character, Jix suffers from the human mental ailment of split-personality, though being an intelligent race, it's possible that this might crop up in other intelligent races. |
| 173 | * In ''Webcomic/{{SERGOM}}'' it is shown that while not one of the cast are human, they all act and go through their lives in a completely human manner. In fact, without the glaring visual representation that the crew aren't human, they can be mostly considered to act like humans. |
| 174 | * The aliens in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' are pretty varied physiologically (a being with two separate radio-linked bodies, a flightless avian with a prehensile tongue, a round...thing with four limbs evenly distributed on it's body, various genetically engineered terran animals, various [=AIs=] etc.), but most of them act human to a large degree, generally in the [[RuleOfFunny interest of humor]]. |
| 175 | [[/folder]] |
| 176 | |
| 177 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 178 | * ''[[WesternAnimation/IlEtaitUneFois Once Upon a Time... Life]]'' features humanoid red blood cells as protagonists. They carry oxygen to cells manned by even smaller humanoids, complete with factories, command centers and vehicles. Given that it's a show about human biology designed for young children, the heavy use of metaphors is [[JustifiedTrope justified]]. |
| 179 | * Wait, shows with ''E. coli'' as the main characters? There's always ''Film/OsmosisJones'', where the cast is made up of red blood cells and fat cells and cold medicine and viruses and.... oh, no, wait, they turned all of the characters into humanoids. Of course, since the show is a FantasticVoyagePlot, most of the characters aren't just human, they're A human. When a dog cell get into Hector's body, it has a canine form and habits. Presumably if Ozzy and Drix had visited the dog's body, it would've been set up like a gargantuan kennel. |
| 180 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': The Boiling Isles, the show's main setting, is home to many different bizarre creatures species. Yet the main witch species that makes up most of the main cast, are basically human-like beings with PointyEars and sometimes other [[RubberForeheadAliens different atributtes]] such as a ThirdEye or horns, as well [[BizarreAlienBiology an organ that lets them perform magic]]. |
| 181 | * {{Averted}} with ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekProdigy:'' none of the main characters are humans--and, since the show is animated, the alien characters are a bit more exotic than [[Franchise/StarTrek this franchise]] [[RubberForeheadAliens usually goes for]]. The only exception, [[PlayedWith kind of]], is Janeway, who is actually a holographic copy of the ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'' character and serves as TheMentor. Granted, their personalities are still pretty human. |
| 182 | [[/folder]] |
| 183 | |
| 184 | [[folder:Other]] |
| 185 | * The hypothetical "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troodon#The_.22Dinosauroid.22 Dinosauroid]]," which was a proposed possible evolutionary descendant of ''Troodon'', had it not gone extinct. Dale Russell, the guy who thought up the concept, has been criticized by other paleontologists since the 1980s, many of whom point out that Russell's Dinosauroid is overly anthropomorphic. Most paleontologists think that any possible descendant of the troodon would appear more bird-like than human-like, or at the very least would largely retain most of the characteristics of the dinosaur it would have evolved from. Some of the criticisms went too far the other way -- one of them asserted, for instance, that a sapient evolved from a dromaeosaur would pick things up in its mouth, like a bird. Not implausible, since birds evolved from such dinosaurs and their hands turned into wings in the process, but picking things up is sorta what hands are for. |
| 186 | * In a case of All Animals Are Humans, consider how many pet food companies boast of how their dog or cat foods contain only "real meat, not animal byproducts". "Animal byproducts" is a less squicky way of saying "ground bone meal, internal organs, and heads". Guess what parts of a kill predators in the wild tend to chow down on first? But no, our pets are just little furry humans, and ''have'' to share our dietary preferences. We certainly wouldn't want to give our dogs something made from bones, now would we? Oh, wait... Also, people in many cultures have no problem eating internal organs and heads (see ForeignQueasine), so it's not just human dietary preferences that our furry friends must share, but the preferences of a particular subset of humans (Western civilization). Bone meal, on the other hand... In fact, eating a certain amount of this stuff is ''good'' for cats and dogs, since they're adapted to it. |
| 187 | [[/folder]] |
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