[[quoteright:200:[[KyouranKazokuNikki http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cit_kyouran_kazoku_nikki_-_catgirl_vs_mandrake_-_will_it_blend.jpg]]Proposed alternate measure: [[WillItBlend Will it]] [[http://www.willitblend.com/ blend?]]]]
-->'''Dark Heart''': You saved me? Why?! \\
'''Christie''': Good or bad, you're still a person. Or whatever you are.
-->--''[[CareBears Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation]]''
-->''"Boy, if those employees weren't robots, I would have looked like some kind of serial killer or something, eh?"''
-->--Dr. [=McNinja=], ''TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja''
There is an [[SortingAlgorithmOfMortality invisible value]] placed on the existence of non-human characters in fiction, compared to the value of the life of a human. Killing/destroying one may or may not be the same thing as [[ThouShaltNotKill killing a human]]. The difference between NotEvenHuman on one end of the scale and NotQuiteHuman on the other can be a fine one, and where a series chooses to draw that line can vary as wildly as the writers' imaginations. YourMileageMayVary as well.
Intelligence and emotions, and whether the character in question is actually alive in the conventional sense, are usually what dictate the morality of the situation. But more often than not, it's based upon how human-like the character is. The scale goes something like this:
* Obviously nonliving things like inanimate objects do not figure into this at all... Unless you're in an EverythingTalks situation where the objects are given names, faces, personalities, and so on. Or if, in the case of the cars in ''TheBraveLittleToaster'' and Jessie from ''ToyStory 2'', they sing sad, sad songs about the day their owners threw them away. Mileage on a CompanionCube may vary, though usually if it gets destroyed/damaged, other ''characters'' will react as if you'd just killed something that was alive.
* Robots and Artificial Intelligence stories examine this quite a lot in their plots, possibly because of the writings of IsaacAsimov. Good robots and other MechanicalLifeforms are considered people most of the time. Killing one is generally the karmic equivalent of killing a human the same way -- except easier to show when kids might be watching, which gets awkward. MechaMooks and bad robots almost always have a very low value in this regard, even if they demonstrate [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots obvious sentience and emotions]], and even [[CreativeSterility creative thinking]]. Regardless, robots are the most frequent victims of HowDidYouKnowIDidnt. It's JustAMachine, after all.
* [[TheUndead Undead]] beings like [[DemBones skeletons]], [[ZombieApocalypse zombies]], and victims of certain strains of TheVirus do not blip ''at all'' in this value. There's hardly any controversy about it either.
** There are some exceptions in the very, very rare works where the zombies are not entirely mindless and retain a bit more personality. One example (albeit a ridiculous one) of this is the 2008 remake of ''Day of the Dead''. It is eventually revealed that [[WallBanger zombies who were vegetarian in life not only don't eat people, but are completely non-violent]]. Because of this, multiple characters argue over whether or not it's okay to kill them. They ''are'' [[CarnivoreConfusion zombies]], but they aren't hurting anyone.
*** In the original Day of The Dead, there's "Bub", Doctor Logan's star pupil. Bub actually knows how to control his hunger and can carry out basic human actions. Also, he is visibly anguished when Logan is killed. I think he was the most sympathetic character in the film.
**** Of course that point of that was Zombies slowly regain their former selfs, so by the time of Land of the Dead, Zombies for the most part are peaceful and only attack the human city because some assholes were killing them for fun, and even then they clearly ignore the thousands of humans living in slums.
** Probably the most interesting exception is the web-turned-actual comic DeadEyesOpen where people start coming back to life as zombies, but retain ''all'' of their memories and personality. They don't even start eating human flesh. The ramification of intelligent living dead are the focus for the rest of the story.
** There are other exceptions in cases where someone close to the hero of a story gets [[WhatHappenedToMommy turned into a zombie or in-world equivalent]]. The good guys usually can't bring themselves to pull the trigger on what is still outwardly a loved one. This often leads to a ShootTheDog moment. A major factor in this is whether or not the infected person's [[OurSoulsAreDifferent mind or soul]] has been irretrievably destroyed by whatever overtook them, which often leads to a FindTheCure situation. (Too damn bad about [[WhatMeasureIsAMook all the nameless assimilated people]].)
** Shoot, the works of TerryPratchett even include a zombie civil-rights activist, who moonlights as a police officer "Undead? Yes. Un-Person? NO!"
*** Hell, in [[Discworld/ReaperMan the same book]], after Windle Poons becomes a zombie, he's actually somewhat ''more'' alive than most humans.
** Handling the Dead (Hanteringen av odöda in Swedish) by John Ajvide Lindqvist is an incredible example of this conflict. The dead come back to life, and depending on how long they've been buried they may even retain basic speech and go through the same routines they did in life. This leads to a social debate about the morality of killing them and if they deserve any basic human rights.
** ShaunOfTheDead has numerous cases of people "still being people" after they've become zombies.
* Vampires, while they are technically among the undead, have variable ranges simply because they will usually have more personality. Most characters can kill them anyway even if they're [[TechnicalPacifist Technical Pacifists]]. Certain depictions of Comicbook/{{Batman}} and King Graham from ''KingsQuest'' have killed off {{Dracula}} with favorable karmic results, even when killing ''anything'' is anathema to them. The idea here, as well as with the other undead mentioned above, may be "Well, technically, they're ''already'' dead, so it's okay! And anyway, Vampires are AlwaysChaoticEvil!"
** Expect that last detail to [[VanHelsingHateCrimes make things awkward]] in fiction where there are [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampires good vampires]], or vampires who aren't evil, [[CarnivoreConfusion just hungry]], operating in the same world.
** Special mention must be made of {{Beta Baddie}}s as they are often on the same level as vampires on this scale (and more than a few vampires have been Beta Baddies). These are characters who ''would'' be considered normal people were it not for a [[UncannyValley few very strange differences]]. The troubling part is this: even though they often look like normal people, even if they go on and on about how [[IJustWantToBeNormal they wish they were normal people]] (and they often gain the audience's sympathy in the process), '''none''' of the heroes seem to take any of this into consideration and dispatch them with clean consciences. Eerily, some fiction in which Beta Baddies appear even [[LampshadeHanging acknowledge]] how twisted this is -- and let the good guys blithely kill then off anyway. SoYeah.
* On to living things. The value of the life of a non-human [[AnimalMotifs animal]] in fiction, distressingly, tends to relate directly to [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute how much humans like said animal]]. Thus dogs are protected by InfantImmortality but [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent snakes]], spiders and [[BugWar insects]] are trampled without a second thought. Sadly, this is TruthInTelevision. To paraphrase an old Dennis Leary routine about the Endangered Species Act, "You ''know'' how this is going to end! Eventually, [[HumansAreBastards only the cute and cool animals will get to live!"]]
** Not that they appear much as characters in fiction, but [[ThatPoorPlant plants, protists, fungi, bacteria, and so on and so forth]] do not count ''at all'' on this scale.
***If a SoapboxSadie is present, though, you can get a major talking-to for this, but it's never really taken seriously, like the character, and often are played for comedy. However, burning down a forest is considering to be a rather deplorable act, and can be a MoralEventHorizon, especially if said forest is a GeniusLoci, but that's a different level altogether.
* [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters Of The Week]], [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever Giant Monsters]] and BigCreepyCrawlies are generally treated as huge pests and exterminated as such without much controversy. There are some exceptions. If you are a monster, the more you resemble a more conventional specimen of the creature you are based upon, the fewer people you directly harm, and (most importantly) the more personality you have, the better your chances are for surviving. Some human or other will recognize that you are merely misunderstood and may try to help you. Of course, if you eat ''that'' human, you're pretty much boned.
* If the BigBad is revealed to be [[NotEvenHuman non-human]] as a TomatoSurprise or [[OneWingedAngel assuming his monstrous true form]], it usually makes it OK to kill them if it wasn't before.
* RubberForeheadAliens rarely have this problem. As their actors are obviously human, it is easy to transfer the value. HumanoidAnimals and HalfHumanHybrids tend to get the same protection as a normal human... but it depends on how humanlike they are. If they take up a form that isn't bipedal, rely on their instincts too much, or otherwise start toward the TalkingAnimal side of things, they can quickly reach the level of monsters-of-the-week.
* As far as other fantastic races, it often seems that the morality of killing the race depends on how much they resemble humans either culturally or physically. [[FiveRaces Dwarves, elves, gnomes and halflings]] all look relatively human, and so killing them is bad, but the bestial-looking [[AlwaysChaoticEvil orcs, goblins and trolls]] are evil and should be killed. Other races who obviously are not human, but possess cultural traits such as music or clothing styles that the human audience can easily recognize or identify with, are also given preferential treatment over whatever evil races exist.
* And then there is an uncomfortable border line occupied by characters who ''are'' human -- but since they aren't "normal", they aren't considered as such. Good [[HollywoodCyborg Cyborgs]], if the brain is still intact, are almost always considered human, except by strawman persecutors who harass them. Bad Cyborgs are treated on the same scale as MechaMooks. Other "partially disembodied" entities, whether they [[BrainInAJar once were humans]] or [[WetwareCPU were made like that]] run the entire spectrum from being accepted as variant humans to "kill them just to [[strike:get rid of {{squick}}]] end their supposedly nightmarish existence and go drink some BrainBleach". The same can be said for Transhuman characters. [[CloningBlues Clones]], [[AllTheMyriadWays parallel universe duplicates]], and other {{Doppelganger}}s are often considered expendable, even if they absolutely ''are'' biologically human and independent individuals with unique personalities. Restoring an AI from a backup copy is often treated like a DisneyDeath. This is all provided at least one "instance" of each character survives. ("Sorry, but we only need one flannel shirt-wearing comic relief guy.") The thing is, [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff400/fv00383.htm it should be more like a twin sibling dying.]] See also AngstySurvivingTwin.
This is often one of the reasons why HumansAreBastards. It can get especially awkward, however, when it happens in works of fiction where many of the ''heroes'' aren't human either, leading to uncomfortable FridgeLogic.
In general, the more thought that is put into the script, the more value nonhuman life will have. This trope is often used as a metaphor for the RealLife issues of animal and human rights. See also WhatMeasureIsANonCute, ThatPoorPlant, and VanHelsingHateCrimes. The flipside of sorts is WhatMeasureIsANonSuper. Related tropes are UncannyValley, TheydCutYouUp, and EmergencyTransformation. See also WhatMeasureIsANonUnique for more modifying factors on this.
For cases in which this treatment applies to characters who ''are'' human, see WhatMeasureIsAMook, MoralMyopia, ImmortalLifeIsCheap, and AMillionIsAStatistic.
----
!!Examples:
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[[folder: Anime ]]
* Discussed in ''{{Bleach}}''. One of the first story arcs deals with the idea that the generic, kill-on-sight enemy Hollows retain parts of their former souls and can even be redeemed.
** And in the Hueco Mundo arc, multiple Espada explain that they see the Shinigami as the cruel ones because they slaughter Hollows mindlessly. Before Zommari dies, he rants to Byakuya about how Hollows are seen as evil and slaughtered simply because they need to eat humans to survive, saying that Shinigami are evil, biased murderers.
*** Of course, this is AFTER he heartlessly takes control of Byakuya's almost dead sister's mind and tries to make her kill herself, so...
*** As this troper recalls, Byakuya specified that he wasn't killing Zommari because he was a Hollow, but because he hurt Rukia.
** Though, Hollows killed by Shinigami aren't actually destroyed, they just have their souls purified and put back into the cycle of reincarnation.
*** The difference is semantic. After Zommari is "purified" he wouldn't be Zommari anymore. The being that is Zommari would be effectively dead, even if his soul reincarnates. If someone were to walk up to you on the street and say to you "Hey man, I'm gonna stab you in the face with this magic sword of mine, but don't worry because your soul will be reincarnated." how would you feel?
** Also on the note of what measure a hollow is, during the Turn Back the Pendulum arc, 4 of the Gotei 13's captains, 3 of its lieutenants, and the Kido Corps' lieutenant were immediately ordered to be exterminated due to being guinea pigs in hollowification experiments.
*** A decision that may or may not have been influenced by [[BigBad Aizen]], SoYeah.
* Actively explored in the {{anime}} ''GhostInTheShell'', which was inspired by the book and movie ''Blade Runner''. The Tachikoma spend long periods of dialogue pondering and debating this subject. They are, in fact, the ''subject'' of the subject, and the main characters join in to varying degrees from time to time. Ultimately, the other members of the force start to treat them more like people than machines and value their lives more. [[spoiler:However, the Tachikoma sacrifice themselves at the end of each season out of loyalty to their human friends. The first time, the Major notes that they were developing "humanity" and the second time Aramaki explicitly refers to them as "some of my men"]]
** How many mechanical parts does it take before a human is no longer human? The Major acknowledges that except for the few brain cells she's left with, she no longer has any human components, but based on the idea that she has a "ghost", whether or not that can be confirmed in a laboratory, she's treated as a human.
** In the manga version, this trope is heavily subverted with the Tachikoma. During routine maintenance, one of them resolves to convince his fellow machines that they should have the same rights as humans, and in fact they are probably superior, and tries to start a revolt. The rest of the Tachikoma decide that humans aren't so bad and anyway if they overthrew them, there would be nobody to fetch them oil and give them maintenance so they treat the rebel as a lunatic. It's later shown that [[spoiler:the so-called rebel was pre-programmed by Major Kusanagi to see what the reaction of the other Tachikoma would be, and whether or not they needed mind-wipe before a ''real'' rebellion occurred.]] The anime also has the Major worrying about the same sort of [[RobotWar rebellion]]. (Her concern about the Tachikoma is painted as a bit hypocritical, since she herself is rapidly approaching the human/not-human line from the other side.)
* Uncomfortably done in ''DragonHalf'', depending on [[ComedicSociopathy how far past the slapstick you're willing to look]]; various non-human creatures with speaking parts (as opposed to "intelligent"; they're usually really stupid) have been indiscriminately killed and sometimes ''eaten'', but when an apparently ''human'' girl gets stabbed, everyone gasps in shock. It turns out she's actually a [[HalfHumanHybrids half-slime]], so (a) that's all right, and (hopefully) more importantly (b) she isn't hurt anyway.
* Lampshaded in ''{{Hellsing}}'' when during their first encounter Seras ascertains that Alucard is not a human before shooting him. Alucard derisively comments on that: "Why? would you have shot me if I was?"
* The usual life value of the MonsterOfTheWeek in a MagicalGirl show is subverted in ''[[PrettySammy Magical Project S]]'', when it's revealed that Sammy doesn't vaporize monsters with her StockFootage magic, but instead teleports them to an island in the middle of nowhere, where they form a [[MonsterTown peaceful, if somewhat eccentric, society.]] "Well, they're people too."
** Of course there's also a double-standard at play in Sailor Moon, as they HAVE revived some bad guys- but only those in-between BigBad and Mook levels. This despite many of those Mooks showing human emotion, wanting to quit the life of villainy for a musical career, or being JUST A FREAKIN' LONELY CHILD (Utomodachi). All in all, Sailor Moon has and will forever remain the worst offender, and that's not even going into many of [[WhatTheHellHero Queen Serenity's decisions, like the banishment of the dark moon tribe- which she had to have known would cause inevitable war.]] There's a reason this fandom has way more ''villain''-centric fics than most...
* This is also explored in ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' in the second season. MissionControl has revealed that the enemy are in fact sentient programs, so "shouldn't be considered as people." ArtificialHuman [[spoiler:Fate Testarossa]] comments that "they're just like me, then." Which results in a hasty response that really, she's just like other humans in that regard. Later as Nanoha confronts one of the programs who denies sentience, she retorts that if someone can talk to her and clearly have emotions, then it's obvious that they are people; just like humans.
** It's suggested that the Wolkenritter were initially emotionless, but may have developed feelings as a result of Hayate's influence.
* In the manga ''{{Samurai Deeper Kyo}}'', countless humans are killed in several fights. In a possible example of executive meddling, the anime adaptation had all the evil characters turn into monsters at some point before they were dealt the fatal blow, possibly for the sake of preserving the good guys' "goodness".
* In ''{{Trigun}}'', the main character, Vash, refuses to kill any form of sentient life, including giant flesh-eating sand worms. Mindless sentry robots are, of course, another matter. The fact that he [[spoiler: is himself a non-human sentient "person"/RidiculouslyHumanRobot]] may help. However, sentience doesn't seem to be the issue here so much as respecting all lifeforms ([[DoubleStandard which the robots ...aren't?]]).
** I think it deserves notice that Vash ''placates the master computer'' and the robots stop, well, trying to kill things as a result. Considering the familiar, understanding tone he takes with the control room, He probably knew ''precisely'' what was going on.
*** In any case, the sentry bots were simply remote controlled extensions of the AI, which was unharmed (though annoyed) by their destruction, rather than independent intelligences.
* In ''{{Robotech}}'' (and possibly the original ''SuperDimensionFortressMacross''), it is only after the Zentraedi are discovered to be ''genetically compatible'' with Earth humans that the possibility of peaceful relations is even ''proposed''.
** In ''MacrossFrontier'', however, humanity eventually accept [[spoiler:the Vajra HiveMind as a sapient, friendly entity, despite the Vajra being StarfishAliens who barely even understand the concept of individual intelligence without fold wave links.]]
* The vagrant [=AIs=] in the ''[[DotHack .hack//]]'' series are treated as worthless and troublemaking pieces of data by the administrators, as is any human that sides with them. The main characters, naturally, see it differently. Nevertheless, they still left the game for good as a type of "growing up" metaphor, leaving the [=AIs=] to fend for themselves.
**Kite returns in a manga set after the .hack//GU games, along with several fan favorites.
** They mostly all ''die'' in ''.hack//GU'', with the writers going [[LostAesop after a different Aesop than the one in the first half of the franchise.]] The [[AIisaCrapshoot AIDA]], unlike the aforementioned vagrant AIs, were attacking people and putting them into comas; including the protagonist's former love interest and the antagonist's little sister. That doesn't mean that their behavior's justified, but it makes it understandable. Also, the final attempt to kill the AIDA ''fails'', deleting only their aggression, and there are no further attempts to destroy them after that. Also, there's a 'good' AIDA in the OVA, and Atoli offers the notion that Player and Aida can coexist peacefully.
* The reason Ralph [[DefectorFromDecadence leaves the Union]] in ''SoukouNoStrain'' is because [[spoiler:they had the idea that they could do whatever they wanted to the Emilies for the sake of research, just because they were aliens]].
* A major theme in ''BubblegumCrisis'' in all its incarnations. The [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots sexaroids]] Sylvie and Anri are more three dimensional and human than some ''human'' characters, and play a considerable role in Priss's acceptance of Boomers as being more than soulless machines (to the point that Sylvie and Priss's relationship, and its sexual/nonsexual nature, is a [[FanWank great source of online debate]]). In the remake, ''Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040'', this was tied into the MythArc, when TheReveal showed that [[spoiler:Sylia's brother Mackie, who throughout the series seems to be mysteriously the same age in both pictures of him from years earlier and flashbacks, is in fact a Boomer. Given the much-less-ambiguously monstrous nature of Boomers by that point, Nene's belief in his humanity (and her romantic interest in him) is what keeps him from simply giving in to Galatea's control]].
*** It should also be noted that the Boomer's only go insane because they've been created as intelligent beings and then had their intelligence altered, basically enslaved and lobotomised by humans.
** Boomers in ''Bubblegum Crisis'' are partially biological, which might make you support them further. However, Adama from ''Bubblegum Crash!'' was a fully sentient fully non-biological android (which was significant for one reason or another), and once again, Priss was the one who got the [[AnAesop Aesop]].
* In the manga ''{{Gunnm}}'', this is explored from pretty much every possible angle: human brains in robot bodies, human bodies with the brain replaced with a computer chip, even split personalities given bodies of their own.
* This concept is intentionally taken to the logical extreme in ''ElfenLied'' (although some of the characters have a different opinion on what is human and what is not).
* The BigBad (initially) in the second season of ''{{Digimon}}'' turned out to be a troubled kid who thought that the setting of the series was just a computer game, and acted like many gamers are [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential wont to in God Games]]. Upon discovering that it was real, he [[HeelFaceTurn immediately changed his ways]].
** The human BigBad of ''DigimonSavers'', [[CompleteMonster on the other hand...]]
* Kurau, Christmas and other "Rynasapiens" in ''KurauPhantomMemory'' get chased, abducted and generally regarded with great disrespect for the fact that they are half-alien hybrids with special powers. The matter gets confused since some Rynasapiens indeed have ulterior motives.
* This is Sensui's dilemma as a teenager in ''YuYuHakusho''. Meeting [[spoiler: Itsuki, a demon, after hating demons all of his life as a Spirit Detective, and finding out that they liked the same TV show- eventually becoming [[HoYay gay]] [[OfficialCouple lovers]]]] was one of the catalysts [[spoiler: the other being the [[MurderInc Black Black Club]]]] for his [[FaceHeelTurn fall from grace]].
** Also inverted later in the series when [[spoiler:there is a debate on whether or not [[CarnivoreConfusion ''demons'' have the right to eat ''humans'']]]].
* Melfina's primary conflict in ''OutlawStar'' is the question of whether or not, as a [[ArtificialHuman biological android]], she could count herself as alive.
* ''FullMetalAlchemist'' loves [[ContemplateOurNavels navel contemplation]] about this.
* The titular girls in ''GunslingerGirl'' become less and less human in behavior as time progresses, which forms a jarring contrast with their appearance and is a source of confusion throughout the series. The loss of humanity is especially evident in the case of [[spoiler:Rico]], who noticeably changes from a bubbly, sparkly child into a robot-like killing machine with sadistic tendencies.
* Early on in ''AngelSanctuary'', Setsuna was urged to kill his best friend, Kira, on the basis that as the spirit of a bloodthirsty, evil sword, there was no point in allowing someone with just the facade of humanity to live. Of course, Setsuna refuses [[spoiler:although considering Kira later turns out to have the soul of Lucifer, this might not have been in Setsuna's best interests]]. Kira himself struggles with his humanity or lack thereof throughout the series, generally insisting he never wanted to become human.
* ''AstroBoy'' dabbles in this. Atom/Astro, after all, was abandoned by his MadScientist father, Dr. Tenma, when he failed to serve as a [[ReplacementGoldfish complete replacement]] for his dead son.
* Human and robot relations in ''AstroBoy'' are driven up to eleven in Urasawa's retelling, ''Pluto''. How human do humans see robots as? How human do robots consider robots to be? How do people feel about it getting harder and harder to tell man from machine? What do older robot models think about newer androids that outclass them both in body and in sentience? At what point do machines count as people? What about robot rights? How many more philosophical questions on artificial intelligence can we cram into the next chapter?
* Some of Kyon's biggest PetTheDog moments in the ''SuzumiyaHaruhi'' novels come from his treatment of [[spoiler:Yuki Nagato, who is not only a near-robotic ArtificialHuman, but the big winner of the SuperpowerLottery who verges at times on omnipotence]]. He treats her the same as he treats everyone else and refuses to use her abilities and obliging nature any more than is absolutely necessary, to the vocal surprise of the pragmatic Itsuki. His treatment of someone who is ''actually'' [[RealityWarper omnipotent]] as neither an object of worship nor something to be controlled is also an example.
* The alien Arume in ''BlueDrop'' create synthetic children to function as bombs or as devices to clean up the remnants of their own biological weapons. All of them are female with bright blue eyes and white blood, just like the Arume themselves, and they grow up just like normal children. Quite a few earthlings definitely regard them as human and try to protect them from their fate and the prosecution of other earthlings. The synthetic Arume also share their creators' tendency to fall in love with earth girls, which makes things even more complicated and leads to a [[GirlsLove lot of drama in the manga]].
* ''BounenNoXamdou'' features people turning into "humanforms", huge monsters that generally spew destruction. When the hero kills one in order to save another human, he gets [[WhatTheHellHero called out on]] how he's being a bigot.
* In ''{{Basilisk}}'', the ninja are all technically human, but many of them are extremely freakish-looking humans. And there is a clear tendency for the more grotesque ninja ([[spoiler:Jimushi Juubei, Kazamachi Shougen, Azuki Rousai...]]) [[SortingAlgorithmOfMortality to die first]].
* In the adorably {{squick}}y ''Alien Nine'' series, elementary school girls bond with deadly alien symbiotes that look like winged fish helmets to combat alien invasions, or alternatively extinguish spy rings preceding invasions. The symbiotes are experienced at this sort of thing...[[BreakTheCutie The girls...Less so.]]
* Averted most significantly by Keiichi in ''AhMyGoddess''. He's willing to reason with others, regardless of what they are. He even aided the demon angel, Blue Lance.
* Done, somewhat disturbingly, in '''InuYasha'''. The titular character's "good" qualities, are measured by his unwillingness to kill humans, even horrifyingly evil ones. However, he kills demons without a second thought. This is true of all the characters, but it's a little disturbing with the demons and half-demons: the "good ones" are the ones who value human life, but seem to place no value on the lives of their own kind. It seems like even humans who are murderers and rapists are worth more than demons who are little more than irritating pests.
** Kagome's bizarre insistence that Inu-Yasha is "may be half-demon, but is half-human too" so can be a good guy is strange given that she's travelling with full-demon demon; Shippo; who is the most innocent member of the cast.
** This is most evident in an early episode when the title character, in a berzerk rage, nearly killing some human bandits who had killed half of a village and enslaved the survivors was treated as approaching a MoralEventHorizon.
* [[spoiler: Hanyuu Furude]] of ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'' [[spoiler: is a [[AGodAmI goddess]]. However,in her destined timeline,she was seen as a monster to many villagers due to her [[UnusualEars horns]]. She is ritually sacrificed by her reluctant '''''nine''''' or so year old ''daughter'',[[BloodSplatteredInnocents Ouka]],since her mom was '''begging''' her to sacrifice her so that all the villagers sins would be atoned. Good 'ol [[MessianicArchetype Hanyuu]] ]]
* In ''VideoGirlAi'', the Video Girls are {{Robot Girl}}s specifically created to help humans who are good-hearted and need emotional/moral support. However, they're supposed to follow only the orders of their creator and/or the needs of the client. Then, one of the Video Girls has her tape played in a broken VCR... and she starts to develop human-like feelings, like falling in love with the UnluckyEverydude she's supposed to aid. As punishment and/or preventive measure, she should have her tape returned and then be "rebooted", but is this the right option? Or should said Video Girl be released and allowed to pursue her own goals? And let's not even think of what would happen when a Video Girl is assigned to an actual pervert...
* ''ElfenLied'' seems to decide that yes, Diclonii are people too. Whether the ending is a BrokenAesop, a [[DownerEnding downer]] or BittersweetEnding or a ShootTheDog moment... well, {{YMMV}}.
* In both ''{{Appleseed}}'' movies all cyborgs besides protagonist Briareos are expendable, and mostly evil. The FinalBoss at the end of ''Ex Machina'' is even more blatant version of the trope - she's been resurrected from the dead with cybertechnoloy, and as result has become something of a Borg Queen. However, the protagonists manage to briefly medicate her with micromachines and bring her back to her senses, at which point she begs to be allowed to die as a human. When two of the three protagonists present are a cyborg and a [[ArtificalHuman Bioroid]], both very clearly fully functional people. SoYeah.
* The ''Anime/{{Witchblade}}'' anime played a with this, in different forms. That is, would it be okay to use dead bodies as reanimated soldiers with electronic 'brains?' And if that soldier's conversion is a successful model, what about cloning him, but as the state he is now? Masane is at first horrified when she discovers [[spoiler:the X-cons are modified humans, and iWeapons are made of human corpses]]. Takayama just considers this to be more expendable than living human soldiers. And NSWF producing the cloneblades [[spoiler:''and wielders for them'']] are more {{squick}}y. Then there's one TykeBomb obsessed with attempts to understand who and what she is. And several quite "real", but batshit insane humans.
* In ''DarkerThanBlack'' many people aware of them think Contractors and Dolls are "no longer human". Dolls may be sold and treated like furniture or devices, Contractors are perceived as a sort of killer robots. Not that there weren't any reasons at all for such an attitude, but...
* In ''PrettyCure'' the girls complain about having to kill the first villain and are told by their {{Non Human Sidekick}}s that they're just making him "return to the darkness". Later they find that [[spoiler:Kiriya]] does a HeelFaceTurn... incidentally proving that the enemies aren't AlwaysChaoticEvil after all and killing them should count as killing people, which is never even mentioned.
* In WaqWaq, Shio, the son of a "Guardian" tasked with defending villages from machines, initially struggles with this after meeting the friendly Pura, but comes to the conclusion that humans and machines can be friends.
*While the Bugrom were in the process of conquering the humans in {{ElHazard}}, you'll notice that no one seems to care the OVA ends with nearly their entire race being killed because they're 'icky bugs'. The fact they display signs of intelligence and personality around the one human to speak their language is ignored.
* [[MahouSenseiNegima Chachamaru]] has been having an inner debate on this one lately. She wonders if she has a soul and can therefore make a pactio with Negi. But as far as the story goes, she definitely qualifies as 'human' as do they local vampire, the half demons etc. But the other robots like Tanaka are definitely just machines, despite speaking on his first appearance. Presumably because they all have the same form, and it's not a cute one like Chachamaru's. And their not as much {{Magitek}} as she is.
** The official position on the souls of artificial beings is [[spoiler: if they're capable of desiring a soul, they have one. Chachamaru's soul was confirmed when her pactio with Negi worked--though considering it only did so after Negi turned his kissing UpToEleven, he may have cheated on this one.]]
*** Magic is just racist. Or Model Number-ist. Or Type-ist. Or whatever it would be that applies to robots.
* Subverted in ToAruMajutsuNoIndex for clones. About ten thousand MISAKA clones have died already, one dies at the start of episode ten and another at the end. [[spoiler:However, after that Touma gets pissed about how they're viewed as being so expendable for such a stupid goal and the next one is saved and the project halted. The original for the clones was already on her way to die trying to stop, and ''even the guy killing them'' always spoke to them first to make sure they weren't 'real' people who had goals etc and feared death. They hadn't lived long enough to really form proper values like that, hence ten thousand casualties.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Comic Books ]]
* Depending on the author, Comicbook/{{Batman}} varies greatly in this regard. However, he is shown many times to consider all sentient life sacred. An example would be where he believes he accidentally killed Judge Death in the ''Batman''-''JudgeDredd'' [[{{Crossover}} crossover]], despite Death being an undead killing machine that just killed three people in front of him.
--->'''Batman:''' I didn't mean to kill him! \\
'''Random police officer:''' It was a monster! It just killed (policeman's name)! \\
'''Batman:''' That doesn't mean I had the right to take its life!
** Not that this mattered; turns out it takes more than being impaled to kill Death anyway.
** Batman's no killing clause varies depending on the author. He has no problem killing undead in the above-mentioned ''Batman Vs Dracula'', and in ''Batman/Aliens'' he goes ahead and jams a Bat-grenade down a Xenomorph's throat.
*** Dracula is debatable. Considering the legends, Batman could have construed he would come back again another day. But as far as the Xenomorph, he probably didn't know if there was any difference between a dog/ant hybrid mentally and the Xenomorph in front of him.
* Speaking of ''JudgeDredd'', their twist on the matter involved an alien shapeshifter escaping to the Big Meg to get out of slavery. Dredd, who wants to arrest the shapeshifter for murder, is partnered with an alien administrator who wants to return it to its owners. The shapeshifter is finally left with the decision to either stay in Megacity One, where he counts as a sentient being and is therefore subject to the city's comically strict justice and faces a long prison term, or return to Alientown, where, legally counting as property, he can not be held culpable for his actions, but will remain a slave.
** Also in Dredd, robots are sentient and ''exactly'' like humans, but are still a slave race and abused. Dredd himself is responsible for destroying a robot revolution and sending everyone ''back'' to slavery. (Usually the writing is on the side of the robots, as is reader sympathy)
*** Should be noted Dredd himself is a robot-rights supported, the robot leading the revolution was clearly evil.
* In ''{{Runaways}}'', during the ''Comicbook/CivilWar'' [[{{Crossover}} crossover]], the [[CapeBusters Cape Killer unit]] is shown to actively rate an enemy's worth based on [[SlaveToPR how much the news-viewing public might object]]. Minors are treated with non-lethal force, adult humans with moderate force, and with artificial beings like [[spoiler:Victor]], it is permissible to use full lethal force. Aliens have no legal standing in the US and do not generate any sympathy from news-viewing audiences, so it is considered the same as hunting an animal.
* The Bizarros in SilverAge {{Superman}} stories were another example. Made of "non-living matter", having them killed off was often a source for comedy; they even made a meteor plunge into one of their cities and kill a lot of Bizarros, on the grounds that Bizarros do things backwards so they want to maximize casualties. This was played as a pure joke.
* GhostRider, at least in his 90s incarnation, did not kill even the most inhuman of humans, to the point where his apparent destruction of a ninja in one issue was retconned into that single particular ninja actually being a robot. However, he was quite happy to maim and slaughter demons and other AlwaysChaoticEvil beings, in one instance tying the photosensitive pseudovampire Blackout to the spire of the Empire State Building and letting him die a horrific burning death as the sun came up.
** To be fair, Blackout didn't actually die and popped up on the Raft about fifteen years later, but Ghost Rider had no way of knowing that.
* Another classic Superman story from #314 (back in 1977): Superman is faced with a dangerous alien Jevik, who he intends to destroy. When questioned about how he can kill when he has a [[ThouShaltNotKill code against killing]], he replies that Jevik is not really alive. When Jevik's heart begins to beat, Superman says that somehow he's come alive, and Superman can't kill him. Apparently for Superman, if you don't have a heartbeat he can do anything he wants to you; merely being able to walk, talk, and act on your own doesn't qualify.
* On the other hand, the ''{{Legion of Super Heroes}}'''s [[ThouShaltNotKill official rule against killing]] extends to anything sentient, including [=AIs=].
** Maybe now it does, but historically that hasn't been the case; among other examples, they originally killed Brainy's malevolent AI creation, Computo, without a qualm, and in the next incarnation tried to do it again, although Superman was the one who struck the death blow that time. Then there was an entire later arc about an invading machine race which raised the issue of the rights of [=AIs=] in the Legion's society (namely, that they didn't have any); at the end the Legion's leader pointed out that they'd been killing the machines all through the storyline, and wondered if this was a violation of their code.
*** In one set of issues they actually published the Legion Constitution, which states that any Legionnaire who uses lethal force against a sapient being must be expelled, unless the act was in the final extremity of self-defence, or a provable only alternative to the deaths of other sapient beings. In the case of the original Computo story, his destruction was very definitely a "provable only alternative."
*** That's a later provision of the Constitution; at the time of the Computo story the Legion did not allow the use of lethal force under any circumstances, however justified...but no one blinked at using it on Computo.
* In ''TheSandman'', Richard Madoc justifies his abuse of Calliope to himself because she's not human; however, this is clearly portrayed as absolutely immoral.
** Also, she's a freakin' demigoddess, and therefore ''above'' humans by classical standards.
* The Red Tornado angsts over this constantly, and when the ''JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' needs a member to sacrifice himself, he's usually at the top of the list.
** In the 1980s, however, he was retconned to contain an alien EnergyBeing called the Tornado Champion.
* In ''{{Hellboy}}: Conqueror Worm'', Director Manning reveals to Hellboy that the BPRD upper brass decided to install a bomb in Roger the Homunculus, as a "fail-safe" to prevent Roger from endangering the lives of agents in the future; their explicit reasoning is that Roger is expendable because he's not human. When Manning gives Hellboy the detonator, HB is not pleased: "You know, '''I'm''' not human, either, remember? When are you guys gonna put a bomb on me?" Then, when an opportunity arises for Roger to kill [[EldritchAbomination the Worm]] by blowing himself up, he's [[MessianicArchetype perfectly willing to do so]], and it's Hellboy who insists they find another way. By the end, Director Manning comes around to HB's point of view, but Hellboy is so ticked by the entire incident (and a few other factors) that he quits the BPRD.
** To be fair they only did it because Roger almost killed a few Agents including Liz, albeit by accident.
** The same story also contains the phrase,
--> To be ''other'' than human does not necessarily mean to be ''less''.
* Subverted in the original Fawcett and [[TheDCU DC]] PreCrisis {{Shazam}} Captain Marvel stories. One of the odder characters is Mr. Talky Tawny, a [[TalkingAnimal talking tiger]] who is taught English and chooses to live with Humanity. He's well dressed and has excellent manners. Captain Marvel made sure that Mr. Tawny is treated as nothing less than a full citizen of the society he chooses to live in, which comes into play when Tawny is on trial for... mauling someone. (Incidentally, the current version of Mr. Tawny in the regular continuity is a magic stuffed toy brought to life, and the Jeff Smith version for DC's kids is a shapeshifter whose favorite form is a tiger.)
* In the reviled ''Superman: At Earth's End'', Superman uses "you're just an android, '''''[[MemeticMutation I AM A MAN!!]]'''''" as justification when he ''punches Ben Boxer's guts out''. There are ''many'' things wrong with this, least among them the fact that Ben Boxer is about as close to human as you can be, with emotions, a personality, and ''brothers''. Oh, and ''intestines''. This guy has ''relatives'' and can ''poop'', man, that doesn't sound all that inhuman to me. Superman then condescends to him further, claiming that Ben is "only doing what your creators programmed you to do"... even though Ben actually has free will and makes his own decisions.
** He has no centralized circulatory system active (see above)?
* The X-Men have issues with this. Most of them are reluctant to kill (with Wolverine the most obvious exception), but will if they think it's the only solution. After they met the Brood, a ChaoticEvil alien race with a [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong rather unpleasant reproductive cycle]], they rapidly modified their policy.
** Jubilee was a particularly extreme example. Normally she's so firmly opposed to killing that she once abandoned an escape attempt -- effectively giving herself up for another round of torture -- in order to perform CPR on a random mook she had injured. Then during Marvel's Secret Invasion crossover, she was killing Skrulls without even blinking.
***It was pointed out in New Warriors by that Jubilee's personality had radically shifted. Never got around to ''why'' before that one ended though.
*Speaking of Skrulls in Secret Invasion ''every'' hero killed Skrulls by the truck loads without blinking every wend there were beaten and on the run, even POWs eating for their lives (ok the only ones that kill those are [[EvilArmy HAMMER]]) it makes you feel real sorry for the Skrulls (even if these ones were religious fanatics who odds are would have whiped out the human race if it wasn't for there Queen)
* Heavily analyzed in ''EarthX'', not so much with the mutated population of the world (they're all people), as with X-51, who suffers from PinocchioSyndrome. At one point, Uatu actually inverts the scale [[spoiler: since he believes the Celestials are so far above ordinary organic life that we might as well be bacteria]], telling X-51 that he is superior to the artificially-created organic being [[PettingZooPeople Woodgod]] ''because'' Woodgod is a biological lifeform--a "beast".
** Speaking of Aaron Stack this veiwpoint traveled with him over to {{Nextwave}}
* Examined in ElfQuest. It's an unwritten rule that elves, especially the Wolfriders, Don't Kill Other Elves. When finally one elf has to choose between killing his enemy and losing his son, it's appropriately traumatic for the character when he decides to shoot. However, the Wolfriders consider themselves part of the forest, and as a result they hunt, kill, eat raw meat, return their dead to the earth, and never interfere when one of their wolves is cast out from the pack (which essentially means a lonely death). The Sunfolk, who live as oasis farmers, take it one step further and lived as vegetarians for close to 10000 years before a lack of rain forced them to take up hunting. One character who particularly fits the trope is the Wolfrider chief Mantricker, who enjoys hunting humans, but would never kill one. In an unfortunate case of a localisation entirely missing the point, his name in the Dutch version roughly translates to "Humankiller".
[[/folder]]
[[folder: DC Animated Universe ]]
* In the ''StaticShock''/''SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' [[{{Crossover}} crossover]] "Toys in the Hood", despite Superman helping Toyman's robot girlfriend hide from Toyman, after her self-destruct sequence is initiated by Toyman (after she betrays both Superman and him), Superman shows ''no concern whatsoever'' about her death. This is jarring, considering how far Superman will go to save even Lex Luthor. He'll grieve if he thinks Lex is dying, is a very strict vegetarian in several incarnations, and indeed was hesitant to kill ''Xenomorphs'' in a crossover with ''[[Film/{{Alien}} Aliens]]''! He's frequently had a double standard with regard to non-biological life, though; see his lack of concern for the Bizarros.
** This is also pretty bad compared to the Superman episode where the robot girlfriend is introduced. The Toyman doesn't want to take over the world or destroy Metropolis; he just wants to get his property and get out. However Superman treats her like a human being, going to the Toyman's lair to rescue her. By the time he catches up to her and teams up with Static though, she's just a robot.
** On the other hand, Superman of the DCAU shows every once in a while that he has no problem being a JerkAss when he feels he needs to be. The Parasite episodes come to mind... He doesn't get any in JusticeLeague, but he makes up for it in Unlimited.
** Of course, it's not that he doesn't care about Bizarro; Bizarro's too misguided to cause anything but harm on his own and is easily manipulated, so it's best to keep him away from Earth.
*** And Bizarro was shown to be perfectly happy on his planet. He had a carefully-built (for him, anyways) rock Metropolis filled with rock people he interacted with, and when he wanted to be a hero, he rolled a boulder at them so he can stop it. And after a hard day of protecting the rock people of Rocktropolis, he went to his 'Cave of Alone-ness' to watch his rock TV with rock Lois on his rock couch. Oh, and play with his vicious alien creature... er, 'cute doggy' Krypto.
* Uncomfortably used in ''JusticeLeague'', where half of the League itself isn't human and, thus, probably ought to have given this issue more thought. Robots and AlwaysChaoticEvil gooey white aliens are destroyed without anyone blinking, no matter what they look like, and the latter can be painfully fried out of a [[ShapeShifter human form]]. Giant monsters and [[EldritchAbomination things with too many tentacles]] get slaughtered easily. The Parademons in the GrandFinale receive DemonicInvaders status honorary of their name and are mercilessly mowed down in large numbers. However, directly killing any normal humans, human-like aliens, or alternate dimension duplicates is unacceptable, no matter how insane, murderous, violent, or dangerous the individual has demonstrated themselves to be. Violating Lex Luthor's JokerImmunity quickly sends an AlternateUniverse Superman JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope, making him a KnightTemplar with the goal of stopping crime [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans no matter the means]].
** OF corse said White Aliens are the reason the Green martians are down to one.
** Mentioned somewhat in one episode where Martian Manhunter is admonishing Wonder Woman for being too aggressive lately. He brings up an incident against alien invaders, and Wonder Woman angrily replies that they weren't innocent, they thought that humans were food.
* Finally, in the ''TeenTitans: Trouble in Tokyo'' movie, one of the heroes [[WhatTheHellHero gets called out on this]] after Robin has (apparently) accidentally killed a villain:
---> '''Robin''': He wasn't human!
---> '''Inspector''': Neither are most of your friends!
* In the BatmanTheAnimatedSeries episode "Growing Pains", Robin befriends a lost, amnesiac little girl he names "Annie". The child turns out to be a portion of Clayface that has gained sentience and an identity of its own, and in the end is re-absorbed into the main body of the villain, effectively "killing" the girl as a separate person. Robin reacts as if she were always a separate being:
---> '''Police Officer''': We'll book him on the robberies and B & E, right? Anything else?
---> '''Robin''': Yeah, murder.
* In the BatmanTheAnimatedSeries episode "Chemistry", Bruce Wayne is briefly engaged to [[spoiler:a plant clone created by Poison Ivy]] who he has a very real romance with. In the end he tosses his wedding ring into the water after watching the ship she is on burst into flames and sink.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Fairytales ]]
*Pinocchio anyone?
*PussInBoots also has elements of this. When he first inherits the cat, the young man's plan is to make some money by selling its skin to make gloves. His ''sentient, talking cat''. Another version has the master promise the cat a golden coffin upon death, in gratitude for all it has done for him. The cat suspects this to be a lie and plays dead. He is furious when the master instead plans to simply throw his body out the window.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Film ]]
* In both the first and the second ''StarWars'' trilogies, droids are established as having hopes, fears, desires, and even moments of insight or creativity. Nevertheless, because they are not organic, no one feels any qualms about slaughtering vast numbers of them in the prequel trilogy (although the Trade Federation droids may not have been sentient, a line of thought which occurs rapidly upon viewing of their ineffective tactics).
** Oddly, in ''Return of the Jedi'', one scene involves the ColdBloodedTorture and maiming of droids. Evidently, it's suddenly okay to show violence inflicted on droids that you'd never get away with if they were living creatures.
*** Arguably, it could be to show the intense cruelty of Jabba the Hutt and his underlings, with a bit of KlingonPromotion as well. It's true that such torture on organic creatures would never fly, but that's mostly because such violence would jack up the rating unnecessarily.
** Worst of all is one of the last scenes in ''Revenge of the Sith''. What would have been a major plot hole is filled in by casually erasing [=C-3PO=]'s memory -- '''including his memory of his nominal father who built him''' -- and the scene is treated as a joke. Mind,[=C-3PO=] probably couldn't be trusted to keep a secret to save his "life".
*** It was actually more of a necessity, to prevent people from knowing the droid's history. Would you want to have any confidence in something that was once the property of a Dark Lord of the Sith?
** In the ExpandedUniverse books by TimothyZahn, it's noted that droids undergo a memory wipe every so often to prevent them from developing personalities, and the reason some droids do develop them is from infrequent wipes.
*** Again, it was explained that this needed to be done, to keep the personalities form "bleeding" into the ship the astromechs were in, to prevent "compatibility" issues between the maintenance hardware, other droids, and humans. Luke's X-wing could only be used by him, and Artoo needed to be there any time maintenance was done, because the ship would only work and communicate with the Luke/Artoo pair.
*** And apparently to prevent sensitive information from getting leaked in the event the droid fell into the wrong hands, as mentioned in StarWarsTheCloneWars.
** And in the ''StarWars'' videogame ''{{Knights of the Old Republic}}'', "Destroy Droid" is considered to be a ''light side'' power.
*** This seems to be the main viewpoint on droids pre-Luke's time. R2-D2 is one of the few droids who is treated as an equal (ie ''never'' had a memory wipe). Obi-wan treats all droids as a dime a dozen.
*** Likely, in a universe that lasted this long, there have been previous attempts by droids like IG-88 to squash all fleshies. It probably came about after stopping one of these attempts, we just haven't gotten the story yet. (We would hope it doesn't start as a rebellion over [[HumansAreBastards general bastardry]] because we really do have too much of that going on now. Maybe turn back the clock to Skynet a bit. "You're all inefficient lumps of carbon! Why must you shut down for a half hour each day to release useable minerals and fibers, and then shut down another eight to function normally! Obviously you biologicals are like outdated software!)
*** Of course, the EU features an incident in which a childcare droid's brain is downloaded into a new body, indicating that droids sometimes get this kind of treatment because they can be rebuilt. How big a problem is this? ''[[ChaoticEvil HK-47]]'' manages to pull it off at one point.
*** Admittedly, a lot of the droids you encounter in the games don't seem to be intelligent.
** To be fair, the audience gets a rather skewed perception of droid intelligence from watching Artoo and Threepio- because protocol droids have to interact with organics a lot in relatively sophisticated ways and astromechs need to be versatile, their models are a lot more intelligent than the average droid. Also both have gone much longer than normal without memory wipes, meaning that they develop personalities in ways other droids seldom do. Most droids are more like the battle droids seen in the prequel movies- to say they're barely sentient is being generous. Whether or not its right to treat the approx 1% of droids that ''are'' sapient as mere machines is actually an important issue ins some parts of the EU, notably the ''Coruscant Nights'' trilogy.
* Johnny 5 in the ''ShortCircuit'' movies subverts this trope to a degree; although he is a thinking, feeling machine, he's hard-pressed to convince anyone else of the "thinking, feeling" part, and is often treated in a way that would be considered abuse if performed on a person, as a result. Of course, once he ''does'' convince someone of his sentience, they react to any harm that befalls him with appropriate shock and horror. The producers have specifically stated that they wanted to avoid the standard "treat 'em as if they're human" response most robot movies portray, and use the movies to look at it from a [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism more realistic]] approach.
* This trope, and all its myriad mutations, basically forms the entire plot of the film ''[=~A.I.: Artificial Intelligence~=]''. The plotline and characters of AI were inspired by a series of short stories/novellas written about 20 years ago by Brian Aldiss. Stanley Kubrick's script was particularly focused on the first story, "Supertoys Last All Summer Long." Some critics later theorized that one reason the film didn't do so well in its initial run was ''because'' the audience disliked having these issues addressed so directly. Like "Blade Runner", it has since developed a cult audience.
** Likewise ''BladeRunner'', though this earlier film was much more subtle in its approach.
** For a ([[NightmareFuel supposedly]]) kid-friendly take, see the book and film ''{{The Mouse and His Child}}'', which gets downright philosophical about it.
* Fairly blatantly played in the BMovie titled ''[[AttackOfTheEyeCreatures Attack of the the Eye Creatures]]''. No, I did not accidentally add an extra 'the'. They did. The hero and his NeutralFemale girlfriend actually have to prove that they didn't run over a person while driving dangerously, but a ''thing'', so that's okay. Nobody wonders if the the Eye Creatures have families at home.
* In the movie adaptation of ''{{Lost in Space}}'', treacherous backstabber Dr. Smith is kept alive, despite having sold them out and tried to have everyone killed, is allowed to live because he's human (though he likes to brag that he saved their daughter's life, the fact that he endangered it in the first place is ignored by everyone). When he becomes a mutant half-human hybrid, the family have far less qualms killing him, or [[spoiler: injuring him so his mutant alien spider spawn will eat him]]. They pretty much admit the only reason they wouldn't kill him was because he's human.
** In defense, the first time he had already been contained; killing a prisoner is always kind of iffy. Once he mutated into the big monster thingie, he was a real threat to everyone, and carrying a WeaponOfMassDestruction in his gut.
-->Professor John Robinson: "I couldn't kill the man... But I can kill the ''[[CompleteMonster monster!]]''"
* Explored ''hardcore'' in ''{{District 9}}''. In theory, the aliens are legal residents of South Africa, with all the standard rights to life, liberty and property that that entails. In ''practice'', they're confimed to an uninhabitable trash-heap, exploited as sub-minimum wage labor, forced to subsist off of offal and cat food, left to fend for themselves against crime syndicates that the police have no interest in dealing with, and are generally treated little better than animals. When an "unlicensed" nest of alien eggs is discovered by the military, they proceed to "abort" the unborn aliens. ''With a flamethrower.''
* Utilised in ''[[TwentyEightDaysLater 28 Days Later]]''. When Frank, a loveable survivor and middle-aged single father, becomes infected, Jim and Selena hesitate for a split second- he's obviously becoming affected by the Rage literally as they watch but his daughter is looking on and Frank was the makeshift team's father figure. The left-over soldiers from West's unit who have been watching them, however, drop their cover and just shoot him already. Charming. Back at the base, Infected soldiers are more of a threat, though the men have almost certainly known them for longer- Lieutenant Mailer is clearly someone they knew in 'life' and they feel no qualms about keeping him on a chain in the yard and watching him starve.
** Well in all fairness the Infected aren't really alive, are they? All they do it kill so it's a clear case of "Us or them".
*** They are alive, just blood crazy
* The film titled ''I, Robot'', though only loosely based on Asimov's works (or Eando Binder for that matter), also deals with this issue. Sonny is practically identical to the rest of the robots he is based on, but because he was built with the ability to ignore the Three Laws of Robotics and therefore act more human, he is seen with much more sympathy by the characters. However, they have no qualms about mowing down countless robots in order to save the day. Hell, even ''Sonny himself'' doesn't seem bothered by brutally destroying his own kin. It's only after the BigBad is defeated that Sonny genuinely begins to worry about them. Although considering the fact that they were trying to kill them, and that only destructive force would suffice, it might be considered justified.
** Kind of a case of being infected by TheVirus: As long as [[MasterComputer VIKI]] controlled them, they were an endless army of {{Mooks}}.
** Note that even if Sonny ''had'' been operating under the Three Laws, he still wouldn't have hesitated to fight other robots to save humans. Technically, Law #3 only requires them to preserve ''themselves'' from harm, not one another, which is why the obsolete robots attacked VIKI's Mooks in the storage lot instead of just obstructed their passage.
*** Even if Law #3 did require them to preserve their kin, it's still overridden by Law #1.
* Played with in ''ReturnOfTheKillerTomatoes'' with Tara and FT, tomatoes turned to the side of good, if only the humans could learn to love them! But, to many, the only good tomato is a squashed tomato...
* Inverted in ''[[{{thethirteenthwarrior}} the 13th warrior]]'', wherein the protagonist learns that the barbaric antagonists are humans wearing bearskins rather then demonic trolls, and is ''more'' willing to kill them as he is distraught that human beings could commit such violence and barbarism.
* Seemingly subverted in George Miller's ''[[{{happyfeet}}Happy Feet]]'', though Your Mileage May Vary, depending on your interpretation.
* ArthurCClarke's novels and their film adaptations ''[=~2001: A Space Odyssey~=]'' and ''[=~2010: The Year We Make Contact~=]'' explore this subject with H.A.L. 9000, the [[AIIsACrapshoot AI]] MasterComputer of the USS ''Discovery''. In ''2001'', HAL goes insane and murders the crew, before being disconnected by the final surviving astronaut, Dave Bowman. The reason for this is not fully revealed until ''2010'' -- he was given [[LogicBomb irreconcilably conflicting orders]]. After he's restored to full functioning, however, it suddenly becomes necessary for the astronauts to leave Jupiter immediately or be killed. The climactic conflict arises over whether it's acceptable to ask HAL to risk his own destruction to save the humans aboard the ''Leonov''. The majority of the crew is for lying to him and disconnecting him if he fails to comply, but Dr. Chandra, HAL's creator, feels that he will make the proper decision if told the whole truth. [[spoiler:Chandra turns out to be correct.]] Their final farewell is a TearJerker.
--> '''Curnow:''' So it's him or us? I vote us. All opposed? [...] The ayes have it.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Literature ]]
* In DouglasAdams' ''TheHitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', Trillian is the only one who consistently treats Marvin as more than just a robot (or at least tries to). Marvin is hard-pressed to deal with that.
* In the {{Xanth}} book ''A Spell For Chameleon'' by PiersAnthony, a manticore asks a wizard whether it, only being 10% human, has a soul like they do. The answer is that the mere act of wondering whether one has a soul is proof of having one.
* ''{{Animorphs}}'' called attention to this one. The main characters are humans who resist an invasion of aliens called Yeerks while maintaining a {{Masquerade}} to the effect that this resistance consists not of humans, but of Andalites, a species of alien opposed to the Yeerks. One Yeerk figures out the truth by noticing that these supposed "Andalites" have killed many nonhuman aliens, but have seldom or never a human. Not to say that the killing of sentient aliens doesn't have an effect on the group (the leader laters suffers serious psychological problems because, near the end of the series, he orders several thousand sentient creatures killed with one punch of a button. And it wasn't particularly necessary.)
** This trope was also used to demonstrate how [[AxCrazy insane]] SixthColumn David actually was. He claimed that he would never kill another human, but the minute he transforms for the first time (as an eagle) he dive-bombs and kills a real bird for no reason. This very nastily foreshadows his complete lack of objections to trying to murder the other Animorphs while they were [[{{Animorphism}} transformed]], since he would "just be killing an animal". He also didn't have a problem with trying to kill Ax, who was an alien.
** Also used by the emissary of Crayak, who was not allowed to directly kill sentient organic species. Paraphrased:
--->"But you are killing us"
--->"No, I am merely putting you in a very hard to escape situation, if you can't figure it out, it's not my fault"
--->"But you are killing the Chee" (A race of sentient androids)
--->"They are just robots"
--->"What about the whale?"
--->"It is barely sentient, I will save it."
** The Chee are generally treated as people by the Animorphs, who are used to dealing with non-humans (One of them is a bird, one is an alien), and can't afford to be picky about their allies. However, in the finale, Jake relentlessly exploits their non-violent programming. Of course he's an asshole to pretty much everyone by that point, but this particular morally questionable act is apparently the only one he doesn't feel sorry for afterwards.
** The two primary AlwaysChaoticEvil races, Yeerks and Taxxons, who are slaughtered without second thoughts for most of the series, receive some sympathy by the Animorphs (in particular Cassie and Tobias, respectively), when it's discovered that their behaviour is caused by biological factors. Of course, this doesn't save them from being slaughtered en masse.
*** It's also revealed that some or most Taxxons would ''prefer'' to be slaughtered than live with [[HorrorHunger the hunger]] (though a peaceful solution is immediately put into effect when it's discovered that Taxxons aren't willingly AlwaysChaoticEvil, the WhatMeasureIsANonHuman [[{{WallBangers/Literature}} just gets transferred to the entire flight-incapable population of the amazon jungle]]).
* JimButcher's ''TheDresdenFiles'' has this to the point where some of the heroes are trying to save the souls of [[strike:Demons]] fallen angels. [[spoiler: and it works in the case of Lash. Or rather, an imprinted copy of the Fallen Angel Lasciel in Harry's mind. Actual fallen angels are said to be irredemeable, and even the Knights of the Cross who follow HonorBeforeReason are amazed that it is even possible for a fallen's shadow to do a HeelFaceTurn.]] The books follow the trope to an extend: ghouls, [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Red & Black Court vampires]], being AlwaysChaoticEvil and ugly, are mowed down by the dozen. [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Zombies]], being reanimated corpses, are crushed with not even a single thought. Even [[TheRenfield Renfields]], humans who have been irreversably brainwashed into serving [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Black Court vampires]], are treated as {{mooks}} by everyone except Lt. Murphy, who being a police officer, has trouble killing anything human.
* A major running theme of the later books of OrsonScottCard's first ''[[EndersGame Ender]]'' series (''Speaker for the Dead'', ''Xenocide'', ''Children of the Mind''), where aliens (human and non-) are rated based on how alike to oneself they are. It is acceptable - or at least a necessary evil - to kill aliens that are hostile and are impossible to communicate with, or that are possible to communicate with but so different in mindset that communication is essentially futile (lumped together under the term "varelse"). Non-human aliens that can be communicated with and peacefully coexisted with are termed "ramen." Perhaps most important to this scale is that these values are relative to the evaluator's own understanding of the alien: that is, once someone understands how to communicate with an alien, they instantly switch from varelse to ramen. Any alien species in the "varelse" category is a deficiency of understanding of the human classifying them as such. As such, some aliens encountered move from varelse to ramen over the course of one or more books, usually not without a significant degree of bloodshed before understanding by both sides is attained.
** Ultimately, the definition of "varelse" is changed: ones you cannot communicate with you simply stay away from. Varelse are species that knowingly exterminate other intelligent species; Humanity missed this with the Buggers by a ''single fertile female'', and the Piggies by a DeusExMachina involving teleportation. So the jury's still out on whether or not HumansAreBastards.
* In a similar vein, much of the plot of PhilipKDick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" (later adapted into ''BladeRunner'') revolves around [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots androids]] who are so incredibly advanced that it is impossible to tell them apart from actual humans without elaborate tests that need professional training to perform. The main character is a bounty hunter of androids, and he frequently questions the morality of what he is doing.
* A central theme in ''Literature/HouseOfTheScorpion'' where clones are declared nonhuman simply so they can be [[HumanResources harvested for organs]].
* Something very like this is involved in CSLewis's ''[[{{Narnia}} The Silver Chair]]''. [[spoiler:The BigBad forsakes a human form for that of [[ScaledUp a ginormous snake]] just before being vanquished, which makes hacking her head off more acceptable despite the fact that it's ''still the same person'']]. May be more a case of WouldntHitAGirl.
* In Lee Lightner's {{Warhammer 40000}} SpaceWolf novel ''Sons of Fenris'', Cadmus, while surrounded by servitors, nevertheless thinks of himself as alone because they are more machine than man.
** Note that they really are- and not ''sentient'' machines either. Aside from physical enhancements, the process of creating a Servitor essentially consists of tearing out any part of the original human brain not immediately useful for the Servitor's assigned task. In a real sense they're dead- the practice of creating them shows just how much measure even a ''human'' is in the CrapsackWorld of {{Warhammer 40000}}.
*** Although a Tech Priest would see otherwise.
* Used in reverse in Eric Nylund's ''A Pawn's Dream'', Near the start of the story, a Dreamer shoots a coworker of the main character in the head while making sure he is caught on camera, then hires two corrupt cops to beat up and kidnap the protagonist. He then "rescues" the protagonist by killing the cops. He justifies his actions with "they were just non-Dreamers". The only difference between humans and Dreamers is a genetic ability to switch between the two worlds when asleep, giving them magic powers. This is apparently enough difference that humans can be killed just in case your secondary plan, '''mail him a letter''', fails.
* Subverted in TerryPratchett's ''Discworld/TheFifthElephant'', in which the conscientious Sam Vimes insists on going through proper police procedure, including asking the creature whether it is resisting arrest, before firing on an insane [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolf]]. The ethics of killing "monsters" that are also sentient creatures in the Discworld is dealt with in several of its books. For instance, Granny Weatherwax insists on having an anthropomorphic wolf given a proper burial after it is killed at its own request.
** The {{Big Bad}} was bringing FairyTales to life. In the fairy tale, the Big Bad Wolf behaves like a human, but it's okay to kill him like a wolf. By burying him as if he were human, Granny was fighting the story. So Pratchett was playing with how the story of LittleRedRidingHood is an example of this trope, making it OlderThanPrint.
** And of course there's Carrot, whose freeing of Dorfl started the golems' own peaceful self-liberation, and who once ''arrested'' a dragon.
*** This is [[{{Lawful Good}} Carrot]], after all, It would have been more surprising if he hadn't attempted to do those things
* Subverted in JKRowling's ''{{Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix}}'', during the scene where Umbridge clashes with the resident centaur herd. She's scared stiff of part-humans and addresses herself as having authority to command them, but as the centaurs themselves state, "[their] intelligence far outstrips [her] own".
* CharlesStross plays with this a fair amount. In ''The Jennifer Morgue'', it's a reasonably major plot point that the CIA doesn't consider anyone with demonic ancestry to be legally human. Early in ''Accelerando'', the main character delivers an impassioned (and eventually mostly successful) plea for the rights of digitally uploaded personalities.
* The creature created by the titular Dr. {{Frankenstein}} definitely falls under this trope. Even with its intelligence and (at the beginning) good heart, because it's a conglomeration of dead body parts sewn together and brought back to life, fearsome apperance, and unchecked strength, it is immediately considered evil by not only its creator, but anyone who sees it. Therefore, despite the creature practically being his child, Victor has no remorse over his hatred and desire for the creature to die, simply because the creature is not really a human (and looks damn scary to boot).
** Note that this isn't at all portrayed positively, and the fact that the creature genuinely becomes brutal and vindictive is treated as entirely Frankenstein's fault.
* In ''The Thief Of Always'', the hero remorselessly kills off the BigBad's thoroughly convincing and, for all intents and purposes, living minions because they're just dust given life through illusion. [[NotSoDifferent The Big Bad calls him on this]], pointing out that even if they weren't "real", he still killed them.
* Michael Crichton's final published book, ''Next'', has quite a lot to say about this issue, as it has a few transgenic animal/humans in its cast of characters. (And indeed, Dave's backstory is ''very'' sad.) That said, it eventually gets to the point where even the rights of ''individual cells'' are questioned.
* ''Never Let Me Go'' by Kazuo Ishiguro explores this issue with [[TearJerker tragic]] results. [[spoiler: The main characters are clones created for medical purposes, who will eventually die young as they become "donors". Hailsham boarding school was created in order to give the children better quality of life before they were forced to donate, as the first generations of clones were subject to horrendous conditions and were barely treated as people. Despite this, they are taught not to go against the donor program and willingly accept their slow deaths]].
* Explored repeatedly in the "Second Foundation trilogy" by Bear, Brin, and Benford as they re-examine Asimov's Foundation universe. Asimovian robots are clearly sapient (if [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans not always nice]]) beings, but have been programmed to protect humanity at all costs. They have no such restrictions regarding each other (they fight a galaxy-wide war over how best to [[strike: control]] [[strike: guide]] take care of humans, and are prepared to execute one robot whose Three Laws have been accidentally erased because he ''might'' harm a human) or aliens (having [[AbsentAliens wiped out multiple sapient species while terraforming the galaxy]]). Even "hero" Daneel Olivaw has considered secretly replacing "real" humans with re-engineered chimps made to look like the real thing but be more controllable.
* In HarryTurtledove's ''Colonization'' series, America secretly launches a nuclear strike against [[AlienInvasion the Race's]] colonization fleet. Focus character Sam Yeager learns the truth and informs the Race, who respond by nuking Indianapolis in retribution (which in turn leads to the [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]] of the President who ordered the attack). For the rest of the series, almost every member of the US government treats Yeager with thinly-veiled contempt or hatred for "selling out". When he likens the attack to Pearl Harbor, he's dismissed because the victims were "[[FantasticRacism just Lizards]]".
* The book "I am Legend" has this trope as a plot point; [[spoiler: in fact, it's the biggest one at the end of the book, when the protagonist learns that there are also "vampires" that don't feed on humans and yet he's been killing indiscriminately. To be fair, he didn't know about them]].
* Draconians are seen like this (replace the "human" with the relevant name) by... well, everyone, ''including their "allies"''. Admittedly, they're [[AlwaysChaoticEvil usually evil]], but even the upstanding ones get treated this way.
* In WenSpencer's ''Endless Blue'', the genetically modified Blues and Reds are non-human in human eyes, and can be bought and sold. Landing in a place where they interbred with normal humans produces CultureClash. (This place also has plenty of aliens, giving them reasons to stick together.)
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Live Action TV ]]
* Omnipresent in the "Buffyverse":
** Similarly, ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' never really addressed the fact that Buffy would take a sword to ''any'' MonsterOfTheWeek who made its presence known in Sunnydale in Season 1... but then leave her little sister in the care of Clem, a former one-off monster who turned out to be friendly, when the shit hit the fan in Season 6.
** Both instantiated and subverted in the episode "I Was Made to Love You" from season five of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', where, after chasing RobotGirl April for most of the episode with the intent of bringing her down, Buffy finally ends up staying with her as she slowly fades away, allowing April to "die" with dignity. Later, however, she does not show such concern for the worth of the "Buffy-bot" Spike has built for his amusement. Certainly, anyone would be {{Squick}}ed over being the basis of somebody's -ahem- artificial stimulation, but the series had established that these robots are people too.
** Buffy has no problem with beating Spike to a bloody pulp shortly after voluntarily sleeping with him after his HeelFaceTurn. Well, she [[TheMasochismTango beat him to a bloody pulp]] ''while'' she was sleeping with him, too. Sure, Spike is a vampire (but so is Angel, Buffy's previous lover). The justification given was that Spike possessed no soul (true ''at that time''), while Angel did.
** When Willow turns evil and kills people in season 6, Buffy tries her very best to help her and worries for her sake more than for the people she's trying to kill. When Anya turns evil in season 7, Buffy immediately decides she has to kill her, justification being Willow is human, Anya is a demon. It is explicitly said later in the episode that vengeance demons have souls, which makes it all a lot worse.
*** There are other incidents in ''Buffy'' which suggest that, so far as Buffy is concerned, humans are outside her jurisdiction, end of story.
** Willow being "evil" in the first place. If Warren had been anything but human, nobody would have minded Willow going on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. In fact, the group would have gone with her.
* Oddly, ''{{Smallville}}'' lampshaded it and tossed it aside in the 7th season finale. The sentient, apparently emotional robot Brainiac, at Clark's mercy, tells him he could never kill a man. Clark quickly replies "You're a machine," then electrifies him, and that's it.
** Granted, [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready it won't stick]] but Clark doesn't know that.
* RussellTDavies has a rule for his tenure in ''DoctorWho'' prohibiting humans from shooting other humans with "real" weapons. This rule does not, obviously, extend to Cybernised humans, the Futurekind (savage humans) or the formerly-human Toclafane. In fact, the rule gets broken in Russell T Davies' own "Tooth and Claw", in which Queen Victoria shoots a human traitor with a revolver.
** Honestly this show suffers from this trope with the Doctor himself despite the Doctor ''being'' an alien. He kills numerous non-human aliens, he does try to show mercy usually but is [[PingPongNaivete a bit schizophrenic]] about it. On the other hand, he hasn't killed a single human on camera.
*** Not true. In the most recent Christmas Special he murders Miss Hartigan, a woman whose working with the Cybermen. Note that she was NOT cybernised or altered in any way, beyond being put in control of a giant robot. She was still a perfectly normal human being. And he blew her up. Frankly, this troper feels it's a step in the right direction as the Doctor was becoming far too weak and ineffectual (Offering to save Davros...Jesus Christ what's next, giving Hitler a spin in the TARDIS?)
*** [[WordOfGod Well]]...[[http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/24692/Hitler-would-be-top-Timelord/ actually...]]
*** Were we watching the same episode? Miss Hartigan committed suicide and killed the Cyberking. All the Doctor did was dispose of the crashing wreckage.
** [[FridgeLogic Technically]], couldn't Bad Wolf Rose have turned the Daleks into Human Factor Daleks like the ones from ''The Evil of the Daleks'' instead of disintegrating them?
**Remember the first thing "Human Factor" Daleks did was try to *exterminate* the regular Daleks.Some proposed timelines even suggest this was the second to last thing to happen to Daleks.
* Although they were ''all'' technically aliens, ''PowerRangers'' could kill "monstrous" villains but not "[[HumanAliens human]]" ones. In a particularly egregious case, a bunch of "monstrous" villains were killed but the few human-looking ones were turned good, with both of these outcomes resulting from the same attack.
** When he first appears, Andros, a HumanAlien, cryptically says "Not everything human has to come from Earth." The meaning of this statement has been much debated in fandom, but seems to indicate that ''PowerRangers'' considers "looking human" and "being human" to be close enough.
** In an earlier episode, Ecliptor (one of the monsters vaporized in this attack) explains that he (and presumably other monstrous-looking villains) are evil because they were "built that way," while human villains were good-natured at heart but had been corrupted.
** More recent seasons have occasionally featured villains who were human - not HumanAliens or human-disguised monsters, but humans - being vaporized by the Rangers after taking on [[PeopleInRubberSuits rubber suit]] advanced forms.
** Three very telling examples: Camille of ''Jungle Fury'' survives and turns good despite not being human (She has a human form, but traits like her prehensile tongue suggest that this is not her ''true'' form). On the other hand, Zeltrax of ''Dino Thunder'', who does not have a face, is [[strike:killed]] destroyed, despite the fact that we are told not only that he is a human wearing cybernetic prostheses after a lab accident, we are even told his ''human name'' (It's Smitty). Likewise, Frax of ''Time Force'' is turned evil and ultimately dies, despite the fact that he also was once human before being forced into a robotic body.
*** If the space series is any indication, where Zordon sacrificed himself to 'purge evil,' it could be more along the lines of their technology or whatever only recognizing and not destroying 'near-human' enemies. Astronema's right hand Ecliptor was an especially poignant example as he waffled between sides over his honour, yet still got vaped by Zordon anyway. Becoming cyborg reduces human quotient enough for the weapon to automatically swap from Stun to Kill settings. How this actually works is just....just [[WallBanger something you don't even want to try and figure out.]]
**** Just look at those scenes to see this trope. Rita and Zedd - turned good. Divatox - turned good. All the monsters and robots - dust. Including Prince Sprocket, who was technically a kid, and comic relief duo Goldar and Rito. [[FridgeLogic If you think about it]], shouldn't robots be easier than humans to reprogram as good?
***** And this can not be pointed out strongly enough: Rito was ''Rita's brother''. Unless Rita was originally a human(oid) adopted by Master Vile, ala Astronema.
* Several [[JimHenson "Muppet"]] productions have addressed this. The little-known holiday special "The Christmas Toy" takes on the LivingToys issue (we're starting to sense a pattern here). In "The Muppet Movie", one of the first humans Kermit meets wants him to be the spokes-frog for "French Fried Frog's Legs", [[LetsMeetTheMeat effectively selling out his species!]]
* In ''StargateAtlantis'', the Atlantis Expedition has allowed itself to perform war-crime experiments on some captured Wraith, because "if they were there when the Third Geneva Convention was signed, they would have eaten the attendees instead". This comes back to bite them, in the form of Michael.
** It gets worse. The ''Atlantis'' team has yet to extend sympathy to ''any'' non-human that I can recall, including those [[spoiler:that used to be human, like Weir. They guilt her into killing herself and all the other friendly sapient Replicators with her]]. This troper was surprised as hell they let [[spoiler:clone-Beckett]] live. I would've put money on the writers contriving to kill him [[spoiler:again]]. Their utter disregard for non-humans of any kind is reaching DesignatedHero / CompleteMonster levels here.
** What they did to Michael was the entire reason this Troper gave up on Atlantis for good in sheer disgust at the blatant disreguard for anything non-human and the fact that they felt it was ok to genocide an entire race just because they were superior to humans on the food chain. Seriously.
** The Wraith feed on humans like we feed on cattle, but somehow it's ok for us because we are ''human''. /sarcasm
** Some episodes show that the Wraith, or most of them, are not evil per se, but the laws of nature dictate that they feed on humans to survive. Those same laws dictate that humans do not calmly accept this, but instead kill Wraith to survive, ala dolphins killing sharks. It's all a matter of who wins, not good and evil, at least until the treatment to make Wraith not need to feed on humans is invented.
*** The Wraiths' unexplained specific requirement of ''human'' LifeEnergy instead of nonsapient animals brings this far into the FantasticAesop territory. The species is just written to provoke this conflict.
** The team helped a non-human civilization's probe rebuild said civilization recently. It was kind of surprising that Sheppard was so amenable, given that [[spoiler: the probe mentally tortured him]].
** In ''StargateSG1'', O'Neill got the whole freakin' ''galaxy'' in trouble by applying this trope on Humanoid Replicator "Fifth". If he'd just brought him with them when they escaped, he wouldn't have created [=RepliCarter=], who would kill Fifth and attempt to wipe out the galaxy.
*** From O'Neill's perspective, Fifth's FaceHeelTurn just proves he was right not to trust him all along. But then. Jack's morality is a bit more black-and-white than the target audience's.
**** Jack still has more shades of grey though than ''any'' of Atlantis' cast.
** This troper actually found the treatment of [[spoiler:clone-Beckett]] to err too far in the ''opposite'' direction. While he certainly deserves to be treated as a person, everyone seems to have forgotten he is ''not'' the original resurrected. He is another person entirely, and the original [[spoiler:Beckett]], a ''completely'' separate conscious thinking person, is still very much dead. In fact, [[spoiler:clone-Beckett]] deserves [[ThereAreNoTherapists therapy]] for everyone treating him like his dead twin brother, as do the other characters. The fact that he has his memories just makes it worse.
*** He has the same memories and personality. That he his in a new body makes no difference.
* The 2000s ''BattlestarGalactica'' is practically built on toying with every permutation of this trope. At the beginning, humans automatically treat Cylons as machines and Cylons automatically treat humans as cattle. As the series goes on, dissenters emerge in both races. Made more confused by the fact that Cylons, despite being artificially born and having cybernetic neural properties, practically are biologically human, and several 'human' characters are [[{{TomatoInTheMirror}} Cylon sleeper agents.]]
* Tokusatsu series ''ChouseishinGransazer'' has an ugly version of this. Many episodes feature a MinorCharacterOfTheWeek, who may be a human or a benevolent alien. At the end of each such episode or arc, such a characer will almost always be saved if human, but an alien will invariably die. Often ostensibly by a HeroicSacrifice, but to this viewer it came off as RedemptionEqualsDeath to atone for the "crime" of being an alien.
* ''{{Farscape}}'' subverts the "duplicates are worthless" concept, ''hard'', with a villain who has a machine that can create instant, perfect duplicates - such that the question of "which is the original" is, for all intents and purposes, meaningless. When Chiana is duplicated and one of them is killed, she tries very, very hard to convince herself that she's okay because it was just a clone and she's definitely the original... but she chokes up when she gives this speech. Both Johns are treated as equal, [[spoiler:and when one of them dies, Aeryn can't even look the other in the face for a while]]. Also, the AllTheMyriadWays treatment of identical opposites is thoroughly deconstructed (see that page). As for the show's and the characters' treatment of humans versus non-humans, well, the characters are various degrees of amoral and the creators love painful deaths, so it's hard to say.
* The Winchesters of ''{{Supernatural}}'' and their allies seem to care less and less about killing or torturing demons as the show goes on, despite them possessing human bodies with the original occupant still in there. To be fair, they are in a very bad situation where mercy isn't always an option, and it's stated and shown that many demons put their hosts through a lot of punishment, possibily killing them even if they are expelled. This is why the human version of [[WhatTheHellHero Meg calling Sam out on it]] was such an awesome moment. But it looks like Sam's still in denial about that, though, especially when it comes to leaving his brother and going off to play with Ruby.
** In fact, ''no'' supernatural creatures are allowed to live, with the exception of the nest of vampires (led by [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Amber Benson (Tara)]], ironically) who live off animal blood. Even the sympathetic (or just pathetic) creatures, like shapeshifters (who were born preternaturally mutated and cast out from society) and werewolves (people who are bitten black out when they turn and have no idea that they spend the night murdering innocent people) must die. The only werewolf episode is "Heart" (which is either a TearJerker or pure {{Narm}}, [[YourMileageMayVary depending on how you look at it]]), and it explores this trope. Two of the three shapeshifter episodes, "Skin" and [[spoiler: "Monster Movie"]], give us pieces of insight into the shapeshifters' painful existence; the first shapeshifter was an intentionally cruel rapist/murderer, but the second was incredibly lonely and a victim of society's narrow-mindedness and his own killer instincts:
--->'''GirlOfTheWeek:''' Did you ever think you might be lonely because you kill people?
--->'''Shapeshifter:''' Or maybe I kill people ''because'' I'm lonely.
*** Which is a godawful excuse, but that guy was twisted. Dean actually felt sorry for him, which is a change. A similar example would be a man who was turning into a creature known as a rougarou, which feast on humans. He was born that way and the brothers tell him what is happening to see if he can fight it off and hold in his vicious nature. Then a fellow hunter forces him to turn into a monster and they are left with no choice.
** On the other hand, [[GrimReaper Reapers]] must be kept alive.
* ''HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' explores the question in an episode which reveals that most of the mythological monsters Hercules killed during the first season were, at one point, just as sentient and emotionally complex as anyone else. Though it's played for comedy at first, as Hercules learns all this from their bumbling GentleGiant father, it comes to a dramatic head when he finds out that Hercules has killed them all: the ensuing fight's only resolved when a regretful Hercules (now realizing that he'd unfairly dismissed them as mindless monsters) convinces him that there really wasn't any other option, since BigBad Hera had brainwashed them into becoming her EvilMinions.
*This is exploited in the ''MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode ''Screaming Skull''. Before the main film, Mike and the 'bots watch the ''{{Gumby}}'' short "Robot Rumpus", in which a bunch of housework-performing (and apparently non-sapient) robots go rampant and start destroying property. Gumby and his dad forcibly dismantle the wayward robots, and this is all presented as comedy. Crow and Tom Servo, robots themselves, are thoroughly traumatized by the proceedings.
** On the other hand, Tom Servo has ''hundreds'' of duplicates of himself, and takes no issue with blowing them up at the end of the series.
*A question often posed in ''TheSarahConnorChronicles'', especially relating to Cameron. The characters have varying degrees of belief in the value of Terminators as a whole and Cameron in particular; Derek Reese views her as a dangerous, inhuman threat, Sarah views her as a useful machine but who lacks emotions or a soul, and John views her as a close confidant, protector, and friend who he'll go to any lengths to protect, just as she would for him.
** Interestingly, even Cameron herself angsts over this, paradoxically seeming to possess something like enough to a soul to be capable of being bothered by the idea of not having one.
* Something similar has popped up in, of all places, the past few years of ''Series/{{Witchblade}}''; Sara Pezzini has read a monster its rights at least twice. Of course, the monster responds by attacking and she gets to kill it anyway.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: ''Star Trek'' ]]
* The standard StarTrek {{Aesop}} was that all sentient races should be treated equal. Kirk didn't kill the Gorn commander, even though the SufficientlyAdvancedAliens had set them up to fight to the death.
* ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' explored this question, primarily with the android Data. In "Measure Of A Man," he is the subject of a hearing by the Judge Advocate General of Starfleet to determine his legal status: is he property or a person? The judge mentioned that they were ''"dancing around the basic issue -does Data have a soul?"'', which she concluded could not be proven or disproven, just as it could not proven or disproven for humans and other organic sentients. Later episodes on the topic featured Data defending the right of other artificial sentients to live, and the question of Data's "daughter," Lal.
** More than a little {{Anvilicious}}, given that Data already held the rank of Lieutenant Commander prior to this. It's rather implausible that Starfleet, or ''any'' military or [[MildlyMilitary quasi-military]] organization, would put someone/thing they considered "property" in a position to issue orders to those considered unambiguously to be "people".
* ''StarTrekVoyager'' explored the rights of the holographic doctor, including his right to have a say in his treatment. In one episode, rather than delete months of his memory (and personality), Janeway eventually allowed him to work through psychological problems that could have kept him out of Sickbay for weeks or even months -- despite the risk this might pose to the crew. Janeway had initially decided to just reboot the Doc, but changed her mind upon talking to Seven of Nine. When Janeway pointed out that the Doc was more like a replicator than a human, Seven pointed out that she, too, being Borg, was composed of parts not unlike the replicator, and wondered whether Janeway would eventually override her free will as well.
** In one episode of ''Voyager'', the Doctor had written a novel and submitted a draft, pre-editing, that the publisher thought was delightfully salacious in the way it seemed to impugn the Voyager crew, and promptly started distributing. The Doctor sued to have it stopped; the publisher argued he couldn't sue because he wasn't a person. This editor was waiting through the entire episode for someone to look through Starfleet's records and discover that an artificial being that has intelligence that can improve itself, have sex, and express itself artistically ''is'' a person, because Data was found to be so in the ''[[DidNotDoTheResearch second season]]'' of ''The Next Generation''. This was done again with polymorphic tools called Exocomps that were proven to have gained low-level intelligence and were excellent problem-solvers. Admittedly, ruling that the Doctor was a person would open the door to ruling the same for Mark I [=EMHs=] all over the Federation, who had by then been consigned to manual labor; meanwhile, there was only one Data. It gets even less justifiable when you consider that the Doctor is essentially a [[{{ProjectedMan}} Projected Android]].
*** [[{{Squick}} Wait, the Doctor and Data can ''have sex''?!]]
*** [[{{FetishFuel/StarTrek}} Can]] and did. As Data told Tasha Yar, he is "fully functional". And holograms made out of HardLight could be programmed for anything, sex included, just ask the Ferengi Quark and his holosuite ''brothel''. The Doc specifically ''said so'', in "Message in a Bottle", when the EMH-II asked about his self-applied "upgrades".
**** The EMH-II asked the Doc to upload those modification to his database before leaving. Quite why the solid projection of a computer programme designed purely to be a doctor would be so keen on sex that he'd ask for a [[spoiler: penis to be added]] 20 mins after being [[{{Squick}} turned on]] for the first time is never made clear.
** Also, all other holograms. If the world recognizes the fact that the Doctor achieved full sentience after being left running for long enough, suddenly using a ProjectedMan the way all the TNG-era Treks do becomes the stem cell debate times a thousand. Using them as novel characters (let alone ''combat practice'') would be right out. As such, Starfleet recognizing the Doctor as a person is never going to happen. Ever. Interestingly, it ''does'' seem that your average Trek hologram can become sentient if given the chance: Just ask not only the Doctor, but the hologram Hirogen prey from ''Flesh and Blood,'' the woman we thought was Dr. Zimmerman's daughter until Deanna found she couldn't read her, Vic Fontaine, Professor Moriarty, and on and on. ''Trek'' hologram use is ''serious'' MoralDissonance. And, since AIIsACrapshoot, it bites them in the hindparts enough that such use goes beyond GenreBlindness and into WhatAnIdiot territory.
** Carried even further, the right to vote was mentioned inside the episode. The Federation quite sensibly has no desire to extend suffrage to an easily-replicated computer program that can be given whatever personality, desires and values the programmer wants it to have (not to mention have it's Ethics directory deleted with a push of a button). For what it's worth, the final decision is a bit of a subversion of the usual outcome: the court decides that the Doctor is ''not'' legally a "person". However, in a PoundOfFleshTwist twist, the court decides that while he does not qualify as a "person", he ''does'' qualify as an "artist", and therefore is granted ownership rights to his holonovel anyway. There have been instances of respecting non-Doctor holograms, though, such as Janeway putting the ship at risk to save the holographic town of Fair Haven. Except that the town's achievement of self-awareness was treated as a malfunction to be fixed--a malfunction specifically caused by running too long, the usual cause of sentient holograms.
*** Who says all holograms are created equal? The Doctor is obviously very powerful and sophisticated, but a combat practice hologram could be little more "intelligent" than an AI bot in a video game--a completely unliving set of routines with no consciousness or sensations.
*** Entire story arcs are dedicated to analyzing the status of holograms... and never really reach a satisfactory conclusion. Janeway actually breaks the PrimeDirective and buys off a [[PlanetOfHats entire race]] of [[EgomaniacHunter Egomaniacal Hunters]] with hologram technology; they refine and develop the technology so the holograms feel pain, fear and rage. This makes [[AIIsACrapshoot AI a crapshoot with loaded dice]]; they [[RobotWar rebel and start killing every one of them they can find]]. The Doctor sympathizes with them, but a [[MoralDissonance truly disturbing conversation]] ensues where the "flesh and blood" characters blithely discuss modifying their programs in ways that could only be performed on organics via brain surgery. The Doctor defects, and it looks like a WhamEpisode awaits... then they [[DebateAndSwitch render the whole plot moot]] by showing that the rebel holograms have gone ColonelKilgore; they kill organics to "rescue" holograms no more intelligent than tricorders, then strand the hunters on a toxic moon to hunt them down themselves. They're rescued, the Doctor is forced to eat crow, and one of the "nice" hunters decides to pretend he's dead and "fix" the holograms. SoYeah.
* In a [[http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/In_a_Mirror%2C_Darkly Mirror Universe]] episode of ''{{Enterprise}}'', this trope is played with to an almost sadistic degree. The viewers get to see the crew torture an insect-like Tholian by lowering the temperature in it's prison cell to uncomfortable depths. (Tholians naturally exist at extreme levels of heat and pressure.) To really drive it in, we get a close-up view as the creature explodes. What makes it worse is that the Tholians are fighting against the Federation and [[HumansAreBastards their cruelty towards non-humanoids]] in this Universe (for the record, there's ''no'' closeup as a helpless humanoid Gorn gets shot half a dozen times). Given the lurid special effects during the torture scene, this became a deeply FamilyUnfriendlyAesop for many.
* The treatment of duplicates in ''Trek'' is even more schizophrenic. Just to examine two episodes featuring [[{{StarTrekTheNextGeneration}} Riker]]:
** In ''Up the Long Ladder'', the crew encounters the Mariposans, a planet whose [[{{PlanetOfHats}} hat]] is reproduction through cloning, but the [[{{CloningBlues}} "replicative fading"]] is starting to catch up to them. They rip off [=DNA=] from Riker and Pulaski. When this is discovered, Riker and Pulaski (a ''doctor''!) find the lab and blithely massacre the duplicates. Riker states that the clones' existence "diminishes" him.
*** Though, if this editor remembers the scene correctly, the clones that Riker destroyed were only partially formed things, looking diaphanous and only vegetatively alive. On the other hand, I don't remember anyone checking level of brain-function on them before Riker started zapping with the phaser.
**** Which would make it more akin to abortion, but ''Trek'' wasn't going to touch that.
** In ''Second Chances'', the crew discovers another Riker (who comes to use "Thomas", his middle name), created unknowingly by a transporter accident early in Will Riker's career. Even though they clash, Tom's personhood is never questioned (Will treats him as the twin brother he never knew and even saves him!), and he eventually comes to be treated as if he were a newly awake coma patient, leaving to build a new life.
*** Though the accident that created Thomas simply sent equal parts of Riker to two different locations, so that they were both equally the "real" Riker. The clones, on the other hand, were just copies of the originals, though that doesn't diminish the {{Moral Dissonance}} of killing them.
**** Especially when one remembers that in the {{Deep Space Nine}} episode 'A Man Alone' Odo actually specifically states that killing your own clone is still murder.
***** Though the law Odo enforces is Bajoran, rather than Federation.
* On the concept of aliens, This Troper gives you the [[StarTrekEnterprise Xindi]] scale of alien-ness:
** The Humanoids are most like Humans, and thus most trust them.
** The Arboreals aren't as like humans, but eventually come around.
** The Aquatics are basically the arbiters; alien enough from humans to not be convinced by them initially, but not so alien as to tip the scales in the humans' favor at the end.
* The scale falls down towards the end however.
** The totally alien Insectoids are alien enough to see the plan through almost to the end
** Only The Reptilians remain absolutely convinced of Earth's destruction being needed all the way to the bitter end. Though this is most likely because it was easier and cheaper to give RubberForeheadAliens more screen time.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Machinima ]]
* Averted in ''[[RedVsBlue Red vs. Blue: Reconstruction]]'' - the Chairman of the Oversight Committee implies that their government has a series of moral guidelines for dealing with [=AIs=]. [[spoiler:After evidence that the Director of Project Freelancer tortured an AI in his experiments comes to light, the government decides to create a set of strict morality protocols.]]
** {{Subverted}}: In the Epilogue, the Director justifies his actions, [[spoiler:implying that the torture he inflicted on the Alpha AI was acceptable because it was created based on his own mind - he was essentially torturing ''himself''.]]
** And odds are same with the main Halo universe which RvB is based on.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]
* The value of nonhuman life is often very low in HeroicFantasy, particularly so in ''DungeonsAndDragons'', in which "savage" humanoids such as orcs or goblins get slaughtered en masse. In [[TheLordOfTheRings Tolkien]], orcs were practically [[AlwaysChaoticEvil evil-shaped-like-a-man]], so it can be excused, but in ''D&D'' they're just another species whose culture happens to be at odds with humans'. The game's 3rd Edition had downplayed this, going to greater lengths to give humanoids distinctive cultures and making them fully playable races. (Most campaigns still mow them down by the hundreds, though.) The 4th edition, while adding new exotic races like living constructs and dragonkin, has removed half-orcs, among other things, from the playable races, at least for now. See AlwaysChaoticEvil. Of course, human life has little to no value as well.
** This may arguably be in part because the game ''system'', owing to its historical wargame roots, makes killing opposing combatants the ''default'' way of dealing with them. Nonlethal and especially unarmed attacks tend to get significantly penalized in any edition of the game.
** Taken to a hilariously hypocritical point in the 3.5 edition add-on ''[[HolyHandGrenade Book Of Exalted Deeds]]'', with the Vow of Nonviolence. In order to get a bonuses in certain areas, the character takes a sacred vow to never kill a humanoid or monstrous humanoid, if it can be helped. Okay, there's just one problem: humanoid and monstrous humanoid protects orcs and humans and elves and so on. Know what it doesn't protect? Angels, planetouched and elans (both are which ARE humans, but don't have the humanoid type), dragons (over half of which are more good than angels), and, you guessed it, [[KickTheDog puppies]]. Also there's the tiny fact that this feat stipulates that if an opponent refuses to surrender, your allies are allowed to kill them with no penalty. So there's the ultimate godly forgiveness... and no need to apply it to the people who honestly believe differently than you, and you can still beat anything with more than two hands and two legs.
** ''Lords Of Madness'' tops the ''[=BoED=]'' in this specific regard. It starts with lumping things into never-before-present MetaOrigin and continues with "Aberration Hunter" idea and corresponding magic effects. Given that Aberration is a type where all monsters not fitting into others can be piled (though one can squirrel away [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute cute]] ones into Magic Beast at will) and 3rd edition adds an Mix And Mash Worlds to the old D&D MixAndMatchCritters tradition, the whole picture is rather... funny: TheMultiverse rightfully belongs to the humanoids and knows it. That's after AD&D Monster Manuals where ''everything'' has "Ecology" entry.
* The old ''Marvel Super Heroes'' game from the '80s replaced the experience systems with a "Karma" system that rewarded heroes for doing heroic things, and penalized them for being unheroic. Killing a living person reset you to zero. But robots didn't count, so you could kill them all you wanted. Problem was, people like The Vision or Machine Man were also counted as robots. So you could gun down the Vision without penalty, unless you nicked the Scarlet Witch in the process. (This was clarified in a supplement to mean ''non-sentient'' robots, but by then the damage was done.)
* In one particular Living Greyhawk Veluna event a city of sentient illusions was discovered. This led to a lengthy discussion both in and out of character by many players, continuing in discussions of the event on internet chat communities, concerning whether or not the illusions destroyed were "people".
* Early on, the fact that the {{Ravenloft}} setting is evidently an artificial creation of the Dark Powers caused some gamers to argue that, if the domains weren't "real", then neither are the people who live there: that other than Mist-napped outlanders, everyone in the setting was only a construct and could be killed with impunity. Having ''Feast of Goblyns'', the first published adventure for the setting, involve the creation and ''dissolution'' of a populated domain, due to the PCs' own actions, did nothing to clear up this MoralDissonance.
** Debates of this sort eventually quieted down after the ''Domains of Dread'' hardback and 3E products from Arthaus made playing natives of the Land of Mists more common. Guess nobody wants their ''player character'' to be branded "only a construct".
* ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' deals with this quite handily - ''anything'' that isn't human must be [[KillItWithFire purged with flame]]. Or humans who vary too far from the flawless ideal. And anything human that has talked to anything non-human. Or looked at it too long. Or any human that won't worship the Emperor. Or anyone who condones the above. Not to mention even if you are considered human still, your individual death generally won't miff the higher-ups in [[TheEmpire the Imperium]] - not having died fighting is probably considered much worse to the military.
** Sure, but being all the grim and all, it's clearly stated in the novels of CiaphasCain that commisairs who mistreat their troops (to give an specific example) dont last longer, since they usually end as ''victims'' of friendly fire, seriously, humans can be cannon fodder in 40K, but they still have enough sense of preservation and justice to know when something is going really wrong, and they would rebel against incompetent and corrupt governors and commanders (ok, if they are lucky superior instances like the Inquisition will give them the reason, otherwise, you couldn't say at least they tried...), even the own Inquisition have shown that those too happy-triger and eager to use Exterminatus will sooner or later have to answer for their actions.
** The {{SpaceMarine}}s are discussed by fans on whether they are actually human, due to their being genetically-engineered and mentally conditioned toward their duty of serving the Imperium (mostly by fighting), both of which essentially makes them superhuman on the battlefield at the very least - though casuality is usually not brought up (you know, [[CrapsackWorld being Warhammer 40000]]).
** Population of the Imperium considers Space Marines more like legendary figures send by the Emperor himself, which means they are actually seen by the average imperial citizen as better than any other human (and respectfuly feared).
*** In ''[[HorusHeresy False Gods]]'', a Titan commander responds to a general alert by saying that he'd be opening fire if he was with the Imperial Army, but wasn't going to risk it for Marines.
** Then again, every race in Warhammer 40000 thinks the same way. Even the "idiotic to the point of hilarity" orks. What measure is a non ork, anyone?
*** '''"Crump any o' dose gits what ain't Orky enuff!!!!"'''
** The Eldar are willing to sacrifice millions of human lives to protect their Craftworlds. They ''are'' a dying race, but they do go to extremes.
*** The Eldar would be willing to sacrifice millions of Human lives to protect ''one Eldar''. "What measure is a Non-Eldar" is the ''cornerstone'' of their culture.
** Well, these [[OurOrcsAreDifferent orks ARE fungus]] after all... It's harder to garner player sympathy when one can replace himself a hundred times over by scratching his chin to flake off his skin. And to the credit of the Orks, they aren't about to change anyone's preconceptions. (Going by Deth Squadron, and how they are with each other, and how they handle death, treating them any other way would probably offend them and just cause them to WAAUUGGH! harder.) In general, Orks and Necrons are purely walking ShootMe signs. That can shoot back. A lot.
*** And according to some fluff, they handle death so well partially because the Nightbringer missed them out on his Great Fear Of Death MindRape Spree and partially because they believe wholeheartedly in reincarnation - if an Ork loses a friend, he figures "Krogsnik's gonna get back an' go krump sum uvver gitz soon!"
*Believe it or not, the Phyrexian Sleepers in MTG. In Time Streams I knew a few girls who fell for Kerrick and were heartbroken by the fact he was Phyrexian and when he wanted to kill Jhoira.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Theater ]]
*Brought up during the second act of ''Into the Woods'', when the characters are figuring out how to deal with a rampaging giant:
-->'''Witch''': Since when did you get so squeamish? How many wolves have you carved up?
-->'''Little Red Riding Hood''': A wolf's not the same as a person!
-->'''Witch''': Ask a wolf's mother.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Video Games ]]
* In ''SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'', it is against the "rules of war" to use nerve gas on your enemies; doing so will earn you the ire of all the other factions. But in the ''Alien Crossfire'' expansion, nobody bats an eyelash if you use the nerve gas on the Progenitor (non-human) factions (still, the Progenitor factions feel the same way toward humans, so this may explain things).
** The "rules of war" in SMAC are a mutually agreed upon set of regulations that can be disbanded by 67% majority vote. The Progenitors have never signed the treaty, and do therefore not fall under it's protection. Additionally, most CPU factions will push to remove the regulations if they ever think it will benefit them.
* Console {{RPG}}s in general, even in the cutesiest and most family-friendly games, follow the example of DungeonsAndDragons by having by having the protagonists cheerfully slaughter armies and armies of various non-human and semi-human creatures, sometimes to the point of genocide, throughout their quest. Very rarely is the morality of this questioned, and its visual impact is usually lessened since EverythingFades. To be fair, games like ''FinalFantasyVII'' and ''FinalFantasyVIII'' treat the deaths of human enemies the same way, so it's hard to ascribe it wholly to human-centrism.
** On the '''other''' hand, we see a number of more or less unique defeated enemies (only occasionally mini-bosses, like Biggs and Wedge) return to attack the players again (likewise with the Turks in FFVII, though they were all humans). So we can assume that defeated enemies are [[OnlyMostlyDead not quite as dead as they seem]]. This still doesn't make all the enemies you supposedly 'knock out' and leave behind when escaping the inevitable base on a self-destruct countdown any less dead though.
** Possibly purposefully used in Crisis Core ''FinalFantasy VII'' [[spoiler:by Zack's mentor Angeal, when he purposefully turns himself into a monstrous form in order to force Zack to kill him, after Zack proves reluctant to even fight back against him in his human form. However, he changes back before dying and Zack is completely devastated regardless, so it doesn't exactly suggest that he was worth less because of it]].
** The trope itself is used in other places in the game, however, such as [[spoiler:in regards to Genesis' clones, which are treated just like the monsters, despite looking human, and are perfectly okay to kill in large numbers.]]
*** Killing Genesis clones could be justified in that the clones share emotions with the original (Genesis was evil so his clones are evil too). But there were moments in which clones weren't just XP farms, specifically in regards to the Angeal clones. Even a monster that happened to also be a clone of Angeal became kind of a sub character (Zack actually looked sad when it died), then again it was a dog-like monster.
****Not only that, but since Genesis clones are [[spoiler:created by transforming other people]], it could be taken that killing them frees the mako.
*****Can this be reversed with Sephiroth? He considers humans on Earth worth less than s**t after he finds out a lot about himself. Remember his little talk with his mother?
******Then again, Sephiroth's mom is pretty much [[spoiler: a god]]
******* "What about the people of this planet?"
"Well, that's entirely up to you, Cloud."
** ''FinalFantasyX'' has the "fiends" composed of "pyreflies", [[{{OurSoulsAreDifferent}} "bundles of life energy"]], which are freed by the destruction of the monster.
*** Fiends are what you get when people aren't given last rites, and it's considered truly horrifying when it occurs. Killing the resulting monsters is considered a case of ShootTheDog... or the dog will eventually kill a lot ''more'' people and create ''more'' fiends.
** Sometimes individual quests, designed by more thoughtful programmers, will have a nonviolent option, which will often give more XP than just killing them. These could be more jarring than the standard way of doing it because not ''every'' quest where it would be reasonable has such an option.
** ''FinalFantasyIX'' played it pretty straight with the Burmecians and Cleyrans, though this troper has a hard time believing that anybody but Steiner could accept Beatrix after the end. "We were just following orders!" didn't work for the SS, after all. Also, there were the Genomes- Garland viewed them only as tools (though he recanted somewhat following his death), and Kuja went nuts after realising that they would all live longer than him (Obviously, he set out to rectify this).
** Final Fantasy XII, oddly, doesn't have any of the party react to killing Imperials, but on killing a human boss? No victory song for you. Which is a good thing, though, as all of the human bosses were actually story-relevant, but since the party gets to meet some decent Imperials, one of which pays for the hunting of a mark out of his own pocket for the sake of Dalmasca, the party's lack of sympathy for the imperials falls a bit flat.
* ''WorldDestruction'' (or ''SandsOfDestruction''). You have good guys being humans and beastmen having bad guys. There are some beastmen who tags in your party (and are actually part of the bad team), but the problem is that they barely look like beasts at all.
* KingdomHearts has an odd relationship with this trope. Disney villains tend to retain their original fate, which often means that their deaths take place in a [[OneWingedAngel less-human]] form - though the ones who remain human aren't any less likely to die. Series-exclusive villains, on the other hand, are rarely fully human, even when they look like they should be.
** [[BetaBaddie Nobodies]] are a particularly controversial example, due to the stark juxtaposition of the sympathetic development focused on [[spoiler: the PlayerCharacter Roxas, as well as Namine and Axel]] throughout the unusually long prologue and Yen Sid's claim that Nobodies feel no emotion and hence aren't really people. The fact that ''[[TheMessiah Sora]]'' believes that claim and acts accordingly practically ensures InternetBackdraft in any discussion involving the morality of Nobodies.
*** For example, Nobodies don't have hearts, so they don't have emotions. However, they pretend to have emotions when they believe they should feel a certain way, because they still retain the memories of their past lives (when they were actually human). So what's the difference between faking an emotion and actually having them? Well, normal people would say "Well, if you were faking an emotion, you probably feel different than the emotion you're faking." But they DON'T feel different, because they can't. So are they really faking?
*** In the end, it's not really a point for discussion in the main storyline, as the methods or Org. 13 leave something to be desired, and they do actively attempt to kill Sora.
****What, no mention for the Riku Replica? He starts questioning his own existence after he realizes that he's not the real Riku.
* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''TalesOfSymphonia'' in a z-skit between Genis and Regal - because he's hurt and killed dozens, if not hundreds, of humans and half-elves in [[RandomEncounters self-defence]], Genis is unwilling to hate Regal purely for being an admitted murderer.
** It is also played straight numerous times throughout the game. Half-Elves are hated by humans for just not being human, and also by the Elves for not being elves. And then the [[ChosenOne Chosen]] who are treated badly for nothing more than being born with a [[PoweredByAForsakenChild Cruxis]] [[GreenRocks Crystal]] in their hand. (Mind you, this is related to the BigBad's plan.)
*** Of particular note, the [[BreakTheCutie treatment of Colette]] [[HumansAreBastards by the Iselians]], [[TragicBackstory and just how bad her life was]] until [[TheHero Lloyd]] showed up is downright wrong. And why? She's the ChosenOne, so she's going to die at a young age BecauseDestinySaysSo (that, and the BigBad says so as well). Knowing how she was treated, and seeing how much of a PetTheDog moment it generally is for Lloyd to treat Colette like an actual human.
* ''DragonQuest'' games (from ''DragonQuestIV'' on) elevate the monsters from dangerous animals to intelligent (sometimes) creatures that can learn human language, work with humans, and in some games form towns, thus making this trope painfully obvious. Retooling the entire game system to avoid it doesn't appear likely, though, especially since it treats the vanishingly rare human enemies the same way.
** One of the worst examples this troper can think of is in ''DragonQuestMonsters: Joker'', where the main character and his monster partner hesitate to fight the BigBad because he's human. Then, as soon as he goes OneWingedAngel and transforms into a monster, the main character's partner says something that roughly means "He's not even human anymore! It's okay to kill him now!" It's a bit strange to hear a monster saying that, since it's eventually evoking this trope on ''itself'' by saying it's fine and dandy to kill monsters.
* It's a major recurring theme in ''FireEmblem: Path of Radiance'' and its sequel ''Radiant Dawn'' that the Laguz, basically [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifting]] PettingZooPeople who can [[{{Animorphism}} turn into animals]], are discriminated against by the majority of their "Beorc" (Human) neighbors. The [[HalfHumanHybrids offspring of a Beorc and a Laguz]], called Branded because of the markings on their skin, isn't always accepted by either, though a Branded may be able to pass off as an ordinary Beorc if the brand is covered or passed off as the mark of a spirit charmer (Beorc who have gained magic abilities by forming pacts with spirits, which results in the pact-maker having a mark similar to that of a Branded). The Begnion Empire in particular kept the Cat and Tiger tribes as slaves for many years, and the corrupt Senators of the empire had the entire population of the Heron Tribe massacred (except [[spoiler:four members]] of the royal family) and their forest burned to the ground after blaming them for the assassination of their previous Empress, which [[spoiler:the Senators themselves orchestrated]]. Furthermore, the BigBad of the first game, the Mad King Ashnard of Daein, was an outspoken bigot against the Laguz, as were most of the people of Daein. Ashnard married [[spoiler:the princess of the Dragon Tribe]], knowing that she would lose her [[spoiler:power to transform]] after conceiving their son. He even enslaved [[spoiler:his wife's brother]], using him as a mount like a common Wyvern just to further insult the Dragon Tribe.
** Racism is actually something Ashnard is not guilty of. He's a true {{Darwinist}} and BloodKnight.
** [[spoiler: Pelleas is not related to Ashnard. It's Soren, the wind mage who [[HoYay may be gay for Ike]], who's actually his son. And judging by the fact that there was someone who was taking care of him, Ashnard might of had some care for him, however little that may be.]]
* Another ''Fire Emblem'' example is the seventh game (first one released in North America.) Your major enemies are [[BetaBaddie BetaBaddies]] who are pretty much human except for their eye & hair color. Your army has no problem destroying them by the hundreds, yet go out of their way to subdue and capture human opponents.
** Another issue involves the several side missions that deal with Kishuna, the first (and incomplete) artificial creature. During several flashbacks, the BigBad contemplates on whether Kishuna was alive or not, eventually banishing it for not being good enough. The heroes never fully understand why Kishuna blocks their path with armed guards, and the game is pretty vague about its motives (if any.) But the mission goal is "defeat Kishuna" so they destroy him too.
* ''{{Portal}}'' has a strange example in the [[spoiler:Weighted CompanionCube, which [=GLaDOS=] insists vehemently is not conscious, does not speak and "only feels some pain," and the Cube itself is no different from any of the other [[BlockPuzzle plain blocks]] that you've used throughout the game except for a heart decal. You're forced to "euthanize" it in order to progress, and [=GLaDOS=] will taunt you until you do so. Despite the fact that it is ostensibly an inanimate object, [=GLaDOS=] maintains that you're a murderer for destroying it and notes you set a new record in how little time it took you to destroy your "loyal companion". Even more interesting is the explicit parallels given between that act and [[AIIsACrapshoot GLaDOS's destruction,]] not to mention that the Weighted CompanionCube is [[EnsembleDarkhorse one of the game's most popular characters.]]]]
** [[spoiler:Considering there are only three characters (four if you include the cute talking gunturrets) ''all'' of them are among the game's most popular characters.]]
*** Pfft: ''nobody'' gives a damn about [[HeroicMime Chell]].
* The early ''{{Contra}}'' games had the main player character and several enemy characters changed into robots when localized for Europe for this reason. Apparently in some countries, Germany supposedly, depiction of violence against humans in games is not suitable for kids. Despite this censorship, some thought the robots of Probotector, the new name of the series, were much better protagonists than the original Rambo/Predator inspired humans.
* Sergei Vladimir stays one step ahead of the undead, demonic, but humanoid Albert Wesker through most of ''Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles''. But when Sergei [[OneWingedAngel turns himself into a "thing"]], it's all over.
** A villain's chances of success actually seem to decrease in Resident Evil once they go OneWingedAngel.
* ''[[DungeonSiege Dungeon Siege II: Broken World]]'': Even though a lot of peoples' friends and loved ones have been turned into murderous Bound creatures and insane [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity Rogue Magi]], said people still get mad at you for killing the Bound creatures. As a matter of fact, only the first questgiver in the game sees the wisdom of [[IDidWhatIHadToDo what you needed to do]].
* Not quite subverted, but played a little differently in ''MassEffect'': after slaughtering his/her way through legions of homicidal alien BigCreepyCrawlies, the protagonist finds out that [[spoiler: the Rachni are actually sentient and potentially peaceful beings who were may have been manipulated by Reapers. After finding this out though, you still have to kill them all, since they are irredeemably insane due to the treatments they received. The queen however, you can choose to set free and allow her to reestablish the species in a peaceful manner, or you can kill her and put the species into extinction once and for all]].
** Played straight with the Geth, sentient (confirmed by their own creators) robots who are nothing short of MechaMooks. While they are given a justification for what they are doing, as well as their RobotUprising against their creator, no effort is made to try and talk them down or convince to stop what they are doing. On the other hand, traitorous ProudWarriorRaceGuy Saren and his associate Benezia all given a chance to surrender.
** Interestingly, in a conversation with a Quarian NPC (the Geth's creators), the Player can point out that, by trying to exterminate the Geth during the beginning of their fledging sentience, the Geth ''were'' just trying to protect themselves. Any sympathy for the Geth is summarily abolished however by their tendency of ''impaling'' prisoners on ''spikes''. ''Without even asking.''
***That, and the fact that all attempts to try to set up a peaceful coexistence with the Geth are met with massed fire and/or sending the diplomats back impaled on spikes doesn't help much.
** This troper argues that maybe this trope isn't played as straight as it seems with the Geth. After all, you're never in a position where you really can try to reason with them, and they're generally treated, at least in combat, like any other kind of mook. Plus, it's mentioned that [[spoiler: the Geth are being manipulated by Sovereign, and are in fact more susceptible to its powers because they are more closely related to it, being a form of artificial intelligence.]] Given that discrimination is a huge theme in Mass Effect, plus all the little hints dropped that point towards the Geth being deeper than you're led to believe (such as the one mentioned above), I wouldn't be surprised to have this subject further developed in the sequels.
***In fact, all AI are treated very poorly in game, generally considered extreme, murderous threats by the entire population of the galaxy, who are more than willing to exterminate them all. All the [[AIIsACrapShoot Artificial Intelligences]] you meet, though, behave no better (admittedly, you actually talk to just two, and one is [[spoiler: a Reaper]]), leaving both sides to blame for the bad situation.
**** Possibly [[JustifiedTrope justified]] ''by'' [[spoiler: the Reapers, since they're ancient AI CosmicHorror monstrosities. It's implied that they've been manipulating AI development throughout history along with everything else, to ensure that ''they'' don't have to face beings that might reach their own power levels.]] Yeah, the BigBad is basically racist too.
**** And then screwed with by [[spoiler: Vigil, the Prothean AI on Ilos. It's been 45000 years since he's had anyone to talk to, he's spent the entire time writing a virus to use on the hidden mass relay to Dark Space in the Citadel, and he's perfectly sane. Oh, and his prior attempt to stop the Reapers is the only reason that the game happens.]]
* The game ''Jet Force Gemini'' garnered a Teen rating from the ESRB, in spite of the fact that most enemies (and, er, friends) can be shot, blown up, set on fire, horribly dismembered, electrocuted, etc. etc. and always in a horrifically overdone shower of blood and gore by the player. This is entirely because the antagonists are all hideous insectoid aliens, and therefore acceptable for slaughtering.
** Likely the innate human fear of creepy crawly things is why bugs are #1 bad guys in games.
* In MMORPG ''{{Runescape}}'', this is parodied when in a quest cutscene an NPC guard openly acknowledges that the guards are killed all the time with noone complaining. Of course his partner is horrified, at least until someone comes and kills both of them
* The FirstPersonShooter ''F.E.A.R.'' has both clone supersoldiers and the occasional normal security guard as enemies. Despite the latter being realistically much weaker and easier to kill... they're inexplicably much harder to [[LudicrousGibs gib]] -- though not impossible.
**Played with in the sequel, ''Project Origin'', where the disturbing nature of the Replica and the logistics and mentality of them comes into play. The Replica themselves are specifically stated as "disposable" and "easily replaced," and spend most of their lives sealed inside stasis tubes until activated - at which point they emerge, ready for combat, instantly. They are utterly and completely loyal to their missions and won't break even when flat-out terrified, which makes their existence disturbing and, in a way, almost ''sad.''
* ''ProfessorLaytonAndTheCuriousVillage'' brings up this trope a small bit, right near the very end. [[spoiler:If the Golden Apple - the treasure, that is - is taken out of the village, all of the villagers will stop working and, effectively, die. Of course, Luke, Flora, and Layton don't lay a hand on it]].
* Certain RPG series, including ''{{Final Fantasy}}'' and ''{{Breath of Fire}}'', feature races based on [[FunnyAnimal real-life animals]] that possess their own societies, their own cultures, and so forth, that more or less get on with human society. They may live among humans like any other citizen, or they may possess their own reclusive societies, but they are not viewed as monsters the player has to fight or kill in the same way that orcs and goblins are in {{Dungeons and Dragons}}.
* ''{{Persona 3}}'' uses it twice, with [[spoiler:Aegis and once with Ryoji.]] In the first example, it's an inversion, since [[spoiler:Aegis is questioning her life's worth as it compares to the humans on the team, who all consider her to be just as important as they are. This is driven home when she's repaired near the end of the game, and it's clear that the other members of the team wanted her back not just for her power in combat, but so that she would be back.]] The second may also be an inversion, [[spoiler:as it's a non-human character begging to be killed in order to spare the rest of the main characters from suffering. Doing so nets you a Nonstandard Game Over.]]
** Also in ''{{Persona 4}}'', one of your party members [[spoiler:(Teddie).]] is [[spoiler:A lonely shadow who took a more family friendly form and learned to speak so that he could be friends with humans (despite being a shadow he has to face his own shadow and later summons a persona).]]. After getting his persona he [[spoiler:gets a human form.]].Thats a whole lot of spoilers.
** And don't forget you can avert combat with everyone in previous installments (the creatures of myth and legend and some just completely random looking) by talking to them. Well, except the humans, because {{HumansAreBastards}} and will try to kill you no matter what you say. Kind of an inversion, but only kind of as they have story-related reasons for their shoot-first-ask-later mentality. You aren't really killing anyone in an unjustified manner, no matter how many humans you randomly encounter and slaughter. Also many of the boss enemies are human and must be killed, or under the control of said humans.
* In ''MegamanBattleNetwork'' the first game says Navis are not really sentient, they just follow their programing (that happens to be the same reason {{Chobits}} gives) [[spoiler:Megaman, being a ReplacementGoldfish made from a human]] is, as is Bass, being [[InstantAIJustAddWater being born of the collective information on the internet]]. But latter games are not entirely consistent in the regard, treating them more and more human each game. In addition mentions of back up copys disappear after the 2nd game, makeing deletion a permanent ordeal, an obvious move to humanizing them.
** In MegaManStarForce, Geo deletes a Jammer with impunity until he finds out that he's a human merged with a virus. (He actually saved him from said virus, and he's just knocked out.)
* After the first generation, Pokedex entries mentioning {{Pokemon}} eating one another existed only when reused or slightly altered from existing mentions, corresponding to increased humanity by Pokemon as the series goes.
** That still doesn't stop trainers from collecting them and stuffing them in boxes, never to be seen again. The game treats Pokemon as pets and if dead, treats them just like one would the death of a family member/pet. The anime treats any Pokemon death dramatically, which is not much more different than the other parts of the franchise, except it does much more with it. The manga doesn't really feature death or injuries; aside from the Arbok incident and [[spoiler:Pryce's Lapras dying]], humans are more subjected to this than the Pokemon themselves.
* ''{{World of Warcraft}}'' offers from Fridge Logic when it comes to low level quests, several of which boil down "Clear out those pesky gnomes/orcs/whatever so we can get back in the mine." This troper and his wife have come to refer to them as "Ethnic Cleansing" quests.
** This might not be the best example, particularly on the Alliance side. The issue is less that the targets in question aren't human, but tat they're invading Alliance territory, seizing resources, and threatening the local populace. Adventurers are well within their rights to kill them on those grounds - to say nothing of groups like Defias, which is predominately human and just as much of a target.
**There's far too much of this on the Alliance side, to the point where this Troper got sick of the self-rightious BS and perminantly defected back to her original Horde server.
*** To be fair, the Horde tends to wind up killing humanoids a lot of the time, though between Grimtotem tauren, Wretched blood elves, voodoo trolls, demon-worshipping orcs and ''[[TheVirus the Scourge]]'', they kill more of their own side for quests than the enemy. Kinda cuts down on the self-righteousness.
**** Yes, but all of those examples are chaotic evil versions of the Horde. Grimtotem tauren are xenophobic, racist, and murderous, Wretched blood elves are like addicts suffering from withdrawal but completely insane and willing to kill anyone for just a little magic, voodoo trolls are cannibalistic and also murderous, and demon-worshipping orcs well, worship AlwaysChaoticEvil demons. All of these examples are ready and willing to kill the player's character, so it's not as if the Horde (and Alliance, for that matter) is slaughtering innocents. They're viable threats. ThisTroper can see where you're coming from with The Scourge, though, because if The Forsaken and The Knights of the Ebon Blade both managed to break away from The Lich King's control and became sentient creatures with their own wills again. Or at least The Knights of the Ebon Blade went from completely evil to morally questionable.
*** Speaking of the Forsaken and the Ebon Blade, both groups are undead and neither care if people in their own group are killed. So the 'sub-humans' themselves are falling to this trope.
* This becomes one of the central issues in the ''{{Geneforge}}'' series. The Shapers treat their creations as living weapons, tools, or at best servants. Creatures who show too much intelligence or willfulness are frequently killed. Even the human Rebels who are supposedly fighting for the rights of creations are willing to use the less-intelligent creations as {{Mooks}}.
* A bizarre application of this occurs in ''AvalonCode''. You can use the Judgment Link on mook-level monster enemies to juggle them in the air -- if you max out the combo count, or they hit the ground after running out of health, they'll explode like fireworks, granting you some combination of the game's currency, MP restoration, and HP restoration, depending. You ''can't'' do this with mook-level human enemies -- apparently, even if they're your enemies, making humans explode isn't okay.
* In the Good ending of ''PhantasyStar'' Portable,[[spoiler: the only reason Vivienne isn't scrapped is because nobody knows what to label her as.]]
* This is the central theme of the ''MegaManZero series''.
* Subverted in Crusader of Centy. At the beginning of the game you're told to kill the monsters outside cities because they're dangerous or a pest. Later [[spoiler: when you become (literally) one of the monsters the plot starts revolving about the morality of killing sentient and mostly benign monsters]].
* A potential theme in ''[=~Star Ocean: Till the End of Time~=]'' after TheReveal. [[spoiler: the entire universe as we know it pre-{{reveal}} is actually a network of complex AIs being wiped out by a company who thinks of them as nothing more then computer programs. The main characters, themselves programs under this threat, are tasked with showing this group just how human they are.]]
* The ESRB itself plays this trope pretty straight; you can usually get a T rating no matter how messily you kill your enemies, as long as they're not human. Castlevania is a good example, as almost none of them are M-rated, yet in all of them since SOTN you'll happily behead, bisect, incinerate, impale, etc your enemies, with at least one enemy every game whose death animation will be an absolute ''shower'' of blood. On the flip side, if you want to make a game where humans are the main enemy, the only way to avoid the M is to make it ''completely'' bloodless, a la Medal of Honor. (and even that doesn't always work...I still can't figure out how God Hand got an M.)
* In the LegendofZelda, you fight humanoid (but still ugly) goblins who communicate by grunting. In Twilight Princess, you discover they are capable of speech, and it astonishes both Link and Midna.
**Also, in TheWindWaker, a girl actually falls in love with a moblin, a pig-headed relation to the goblins mentioned above that you butchet remorselessly throughout the game. They even send love letters to each other, although in the moblin's case, its somewhat difficult to tell if he really does love her back or simply wants to eat her...
* ''DwarfFortress'' has a "[[FantasticRacism What Measure Is A Non Dwarf]]" version. If a dwarf emissary or merchant is killed, they are buried with honour in a dwarven grave. If the hapless merchant is an elf, it's onto the rubbish heap with the goblins. (They'll still gleefully loot both corpses, however).
* In ''VegaStrike'' history [[http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/mediawiki/index.php?title=Faction:Lightbearer Lightbearer faction]] with its HumansAreSpecial idea stumbled on the Klk'k and tried to mess with them. Andolians who thought it's not good to kick around civilized sapients soon discovered this, and so started the first human interstellar war. When in the course of war they discovered Lightbearers has genetically engineered human slave race, it turned into war on extermination and everyone else just left Lightbearers to their fate.
*''StarshipTitanic'''s robots, despite having uploaded human minds, can have their personalities 'tweaked' to make them more cooperative.
*The Space Pirates in the ''{{Metroid}}'' series were originally random space aliens with little backstory. The Prime trilogy, however, includes hundreds of pieces of flavor text on computers in their various research stations, explaining their hierarchy, society, and culture, and giving them a sense of purpose. In the third installment, Samus even [[spoiler:visits their homeworld]].
*''PuzzleQuest:Galactrix'' has a mission in which you must obtain a present for a member of the Jahrwoxi leadership. The Jahrwoxi, being a scavenger race, have something of a blood feud with the Keck, an avian merchant race. The present suggested by the Jahrwoxi member of your crew is a Keck egg. First, you request one at their home planet, which your crew member laughs at you for, then tells you to go look at the trade station. The quest ends with you abducting a Keck egg, since none were for sale, and then delivering it personally, meaning you either just orphaned a kid and sold him into slavery, or just destroyed an entire family and fed Jahrwoxi leadership some SoylentGreen. The notable parts are that nobody on your crew bats an eyelash, and it's a required quest to get to ANY end of the game--good, bad, or morally ambiguous.
* In Neverwinter Nights for Windows and Mac, you can go ahead and slaughter countless Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, Half-Elves, Orcs, Goblins, and other races in their hundreds. And that's not just the community created modules.
**Although the Big Bad of Chapters 1,2, and 3 are all human, the BIG Big Bad is a creepy Lizard-Woman.
*** In the expansion, the Big Bad is yet another reptilian monster. What's up with Bioiware and scaley critters?
****The most humanoid Big Bad may just be The Valsharess...
***** Until you free the Devil
* ''{{Grandia}}'' ''II'': Shortly after you recruit Killer FemBot With A Heart Of Gold Tio you find a factory full identical models of her. The first response from any of your party members? Roan says that the entire factory has to be razed, because ''the robots are too evil to continue existing.'' Uh, but what about your newest party member, the one that could potentially drop a tornado on your head if someone flips her PersonalityChip to "evil"? Does she get to live because she's cuter or something?
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Webcomics ]]
* ''{{Goblins}}: Life through their Eyes'' is about a clan of Goblins who have to deal with the fact that they are essentially walking chunks of [[ExperiencePoints XP]] for [[CharacterLevel first-level]] heroes.
* Aversion: In ''It's Walky!'', when Joyce kills her EvilTwin (who has only existed for hours), her friends in SEMME are forced to [[strike:immediately]] eventually arrest her for murder. She eventually gets off of it, but not because of the value of the clone's life.
* Turned upside-down in [[http://www.drunkduck.com/I_Was_Kidnapped_By_Lesbian_Pirates_From_Outer_Space/index.php?p=205599 this]] page from ''I Was Kidnapped By Lesbian Pirates From Outer Space''; the pirates fatally shoot what the narration assures us is "really an unfeeling, heartless android. It's OK to kill him!" But in the last panel, it shows an alien woman sobbing over the dead android.
** Hey, that's an expensive piece of equipment! If someone shot a hole through my Unimog I'd probably cry too!
* The ''OrderOfTheStick'' prequel book, "Start of Darkness" [[spoiler: reveals that the gods really did create humanoid races such as goblins and kobolds purely as a source of XP for the 'proper' races. Understandably, they're pretty pissed about this, and the antagonist Redcloak's plan involves holding the gods to ransom to try and get a better deal for all 'savage' races.]]
** Another Redcloak example: Redcloak is a goblin, eventually leading a hobgoblin army (the "hob" bit makes a big difference when you're a (hob/)goblin), and he's willing (and even eager) to throw away their lives since they're just hobgoblins. Then one of them sacrifices himself to save Redcloak, and he realizes the insanity of throwing away their lives, since they're goblins just like him. (So not "What measure is a non human?", but "What measure is a hob goblin?")
** In a later comic we have Celia calling Haley out for using this trope. After Belkar kills one of the hobgoblins in the group [[spoiler:keeping them from leaving Azure City]], Haley rationalizes the act, saying that it's one less Hobgoblin for [[spoiler:The Resistance]] to fight. Then Belkar knifes a random benign gnome and Haley freaks out, prompting Celia's response.
--->'''Celia''': "Wait, Haley! I have a solution. We paint the corpse orange and sharpen his teeth a little. You know, so you can rationalize it more easily."
***They (The hobgoblins) were part of the invading army, and in uniform!
** We also have the character of Miko. As a stereotypical "[[KnightTemplar detect first, smite second, ask questions never]]" Paladin, she makes it quite clear that the value of an Evil creature is zero. Even if it is human. Even then her opinion of Evil by the end bcomes "Anyone who doesn't agree with her".
**The usage of this trope and the effects such a mindset has is a constant theme in the comic. In the current storyline, [[spoiler:the mother of the black dragon the Order killed in the starmetal arc wants revenge on Vaarsuvius for her son's death. It's revealed she lost his father in the same manner--killed by adventurers for treasure and XP.]]
***[[spoiler:And then Vaarsuvius uses an attack called [[MoralEventHorizon "Familicide".]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Yeah.]]]]
* Half this, half CarnivoreConfusion. There is a debate in [[DanAndMabsFurryAdventures the world of Furrae]] whether "Creatures" (supernaturals like Succubi) should eat "Beings" (sentient anthropomorphic animals), and whether or not it's any worse than Beings eating livestock. Many Creatures argue that it's a law of nature that the stronger eat the weaker, whilst Beings insist that you're not supposed to eat sentient entities.
* Completely averted in ''AMiracleOfScience''. Artificial Intelligences are considered people, both legally and ethically. Especially notable since the EvilPlan of the MadScientist they're hunting is to TakeOverTheWorld using a robot army. Even though he's a villain and thus exempt from the moral standards held by the protagonists and society in large, he still treats his creations with respect and [[GenreSavvy actually listens to their advice]].
** Further respect for the AIs: Benjamin and Caprice are getting shot at by an army of robots. They grab a motorcycle and run for it, until [[HiveMind Mars]] can determine that their pursuers are simple robots, ''not'' Artificial Intelligences, at which point Benjamin makes quick work of them with his [[MoreDakka pistol rail gun.]]
* {{Lampshaded}} in [[http://nonadventures.com/2008/05/31/bad-to-the-clone/ this strip]] of ''TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella''. Of course, Wonderella's a HeroicSociopath, and Dr. Shark is a [[FriendlyEnemy Friendly Villain]], so this type of behavior is perfectly normal for them. A clone [[http://nonadventures.com/2008/05/31/bad-to-the-clone/ is fine too]].
* ''GirlGenius'' has the clanks, which for the most part are mindless, sometimes expendable order-following robots. However, even the more sentient ones, like [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20051005 Dingbot Prime]] or [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20050928 the Muses]] (who even look human) aren't exempt from being dismantled in the name of study and/or improvement. Another notable instance is in the Sturmhalten arc of the comic when [[spoiler: the Anevka puppet, which had gained its own sentience by the time the person it was built for died, is deactivated by her 'brother']], as seen [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060911 these]] [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060913 strips]]. Possibly an aversion, though, as he admits it was much harder than he thought it would be. To be fair [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040105 Humans are dissected as well]]
** Othar Tryggvassen, GentlemanAdventurer!, should be counted more along the lines of dissecting a construct, considering that he's gone through windows, out of ''airships'', and God knows what else and survived with no scarring to show for it. Agatha's [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20071005 cheery volunteering of Wooster to have holes drilled in his head]] would probably fit better with the dissecting humans thing.
** In the town of Zumzum, the townspeople hang Jägers just for passing through. Okay, they do have fangs and claws and odd skin colors and maybe might have killed a few hundred people, but that's no reason to try to ''hang'' them. [[TheManTheyCouldntHang Not that it ''worked'', anyway.]]
*** Jagerkin are constructs, which seem to be an artificial race of people created and maintained by the Heterodynes. They're a lot closer to human than anything else, but they never grow old, they just have mechanical breakdowns. Peasants often view them as organic monstrous humanoids.
** Although most of this is the result of the amorallity/madness of most sparks. After all, they're just as happy to vivisect/mutate/experiment on/shoot normal human and other sparks as they are to waste Clanks/Jaggers/Revenants/Monsters/Etc. So, in a way, I see this an a subversion of the trope, since Sparks treat all intellegent beings equally. They just treat them all as expendable materials.
* ''The Challenges Of Zona'' has a character page that [[AllThereInTheManual assures the reader]] that the [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent scaly humanoid lizard people]] are AlwaysChaoticEvil and that we shouldn't "waste any sympathy on these guys". Even the HalfHumanHybrids they can breed with humans (slaves, of course) are ''mostly'' evil.
* Despite featuring a wide array of non-human creatures and plenty of violence, ''SluggyFreelance'' usually avoids this issue by treating ''all'' life, human and non-, with varying degrees of respect and irreverance [[MoodWhiplash depending on the tone of the story]]. It ''is'' parodied in [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=010717 these]] [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=971012 strips]], however, and gets played straight in the "Aylee" chapter, where, even though most ghouls seem only semi-sentient and attack humans on sight, Aylee still feels uncomfortable with the [[ComedicSociopathy lethal practical jokes]] she and Torg play on them. [[spoiler:This is made worse for her when she discovers that the "ghouls" are actually aliens of her own species.]]
* DrMcNinja speaks: "And because you're all cold, soulless robots, you won't mind if I snap into your robotic spines like a Slim Jim!" ...Despite the fact that said RidiculouslyHumanRobots are shown having thought balloons and responding to fear.
** Dr. [=McNinja=] also plows mercilessly through mooks and zombies - and [[WhatTheHellHero gets chewed out]] by a relative of one of them.
* In ''{{Gnoph}}'', the Gnoph symbiotes were created to be organic computers. While some of them are sentient, they are generally not regarded as such. In the most notable instance, a doctor casually murders a Gnoph [[MauveShirt which has become quite sympathetic to the audience]] and then is bewildered by the heroes' horrified reactions. To her, it was just like throwing away an obsolete computer: "I've seen guys be that emotional over cars, but never a gnoph. It was as though I killed his dog or something." The doctor genuinely didn't know the Gnoph was sentient, but is also portrayed as being [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate unethical and amoral]], and in any case the heroes are [[UnstoppableRage very upset]] over the death. ''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge Very]]''.
* The trope shows up repeatedly in ''TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' with the artificial beings Molly, Galatea, and Roofus. Bob and Jean treat them as fully human, but other characters (especially [[MenInBlack Agent Ben and Agent Jerry)]] often do not. The trope is also subverted in that the alien Nemesites, who have [[AncientConspiracy legally owned Earth since before the dawn of man,]] consider ''humans'' to be wildlife (because we don't have interstellar spacecraft) and the whole planet to be a nature preserve.
* Painfully deconstructed in ''AlienDice'' as more of a 'what measure is a sentient being with free will?' The Dice (semi-sentient creatures such as cats who are transformed into self aware creatures), despite sometimes displaying intelligence greater than their owners, are used, recycled, and in some cases destroyed because it's convenient for the owners. Even more atrocious is the dehumanization of the Indentured Players (who are sentient aliens turned into Dice), who ''lose the right to choose mates or claim their offspring'', among other things. Some characters see the Dice as ''sentient'', but others see them little more than objects to be used at will.
* A major portion of the backplot of ''{{Terinu}}'' as one of the secrets of the rebellion against the Varn was the destruction of their source of power. Which just happened to be composed of cute little humanoids uplifted from animals. Though designed to be subservient, the Ferin were sentient beings, and the wholesale slaughter by the humans was essentially a genocide.
* The rights of non-humans are an important theme in ''{{Freefall}}'', with a [[StarfishAliens squid-like alien]] protagonist, an anthropomorphic, intelligent, genetically engineered wolf who is technically still ''property'', and a host of apparently sentient robots struggling with or ignoring the three robotics laws. In one story arc, [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1300/fc01277.htm robots have been dismantled against their will]]. As Sam asks: is this a crime or simply overly aggressive recycling?
* In ''SchlockMercenary'': [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20031130.html "Food that talks is not food."]] If it's talking to you, odds are that it's going to get treated as having the exact same rights as everyone else, whether clone, artificial intelligence, or alien. Of course, given the subject matter, those 'rights' include the right to be blown to fine chunks by the HeroicSociopath protagonists or whoever the current baddies are. There's still the question if a goon doesn't get a chance to [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20040307.html say anything]] before being eaten.
* Subverted in ''{{Minus}}'' [[http://www.kiwisbybeat.com/minus38.html here]], where she ends up apologizing.
* SamAndFuzzy's "Edwin" storyline. Sam gets called out on this by Detective Morris.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Western Animation ]]
* [[{{Transformers}} Optimus Prime]] has a very clear opinion on this, with his famous "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings." motto.
* The first quote on this page comes from one of the more bizarre and contrived demonstrations of this trope. Darkheart is a demon and he is the BigBad in ''[[CareBears Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation]]''. From scene one, there's absolutely no doubt that he is profoundly evil, as he tries to kill off all the Care Bears when they are ''babies''. During the course of the movie, not only has he added further attempts to kill the Bears to his evil resume, he has also turned a campground full of children into a den of evil and bound the little girl Christie to a [[DealWithTheDevil Faustian bargain]]; he'll make her a BornWinner if she aids him in his evil plans. About halfway through the film, Darkheart joins Christie in a rowboat shortly after capturing a significant number of the good characters with her help. Darkheart falls out of the boat and Christie ''rescues him'', leading to the quote above. [[spoiler: The incident messes with Darkheart's head as well, and later on, when he hurts Christie, he vows to be a good guy (probably the fastest HeelFaceTurn ever) if the Bears will save her.]]
** The "Care Bears Family" series had a BigBad named No-Heart (creative writers, these) who was darn near identical to Darkheart. The thing is, ''nobody'' questioned whether or not he had a good side. Or, for that matter, if he was a "person".
* In ''SamuraiJack'' [[MechaMooks expendable robots]] have variable intelligence, so despite Jack meeting all kinds of bizarre races the audience doesn't feel bad for them. A significant portion of the enemies faced by Jack appear to be completely organic, sometimes more so than actual organic beings, and only prove to be robotic when sliced open.
** A [[DeconstructedTrope strange and very bleak exception]] is one late FilmNoir episode featuring a troubled but sympathetic robot-turned-hitman who conveniently gets an EmotionChip, building up to the inevitable but stark ending where [[spoiler:he fails and gets dispatched by Jack - who isn't even aware of it.]]
***[[spoiler:There's a fantastic moment at the end of the episode when, with his last breath, X9 asks Jack to take care of his dog. Jack looks back over his shoulder and a brief look of doubt crosses his face.]]
** There was also an episode where [[CuteKidsAndRobots two young siblings and their charming robot servant]] are brought to [[BigBad Aku]]. When the demon orders the kids around and their robot protests, he casually destroys him and the deed is treated by the kids with as much horror as any coldblooded murder.
**Basically, this strange double standard results from the arbitrary censorship rules that the cartoon makers had to work within. It's okay to show suffering and death, even of sentient beings, so long as nothing actually bleeds. Thus, anything that has to be dispatched handily will ultimately prove to be robotic or otherwise nonliving. The point is clearly made in the pilot, where Jack shows his baddassery by cutting off a mercenary's hands, which, naturally, were bionic. Later in the same pilot, he destroys an entire army of gigantic robotic scarabs. Each bug he slices open sprays a wealth of black oil everywhere, culminating in a scene that is extremely brutal and gory while, technically, no living things are hurt.
** When Jack does fight organic creatures, such as a group of bounty hunters that were definitely not robots, they are generally killed by a [[BloodlessCarnage bloodless slash]] from his sword or their fate is obscured by an explosion.
** It should be noted though that Jack has never turned down anyone in need due to species. Human, Robot, Ape, Alien, Talking Dog, no matter. The only thing important was that someone needed his protection.
* Human characters who don't regard ''{{Transformers}}'' as sentient beings are, in general, not treated sympathetically by any series in the franchise. However, it's apparently okay for younger viewers to see a Transformer die, even in a time slot where killing off a human character would bring down the wrath of the [[MediaWatchdog Media Watchdogs]] upon all involved. This may be more of a method of GettingCrapPastTheRadar.
** A truly telling example would be the Dinobots in ''[[TransformersAnimated Animated]]''. After the incident that gives them the ability to function on their own, Prowl is the only one to suspect that they're truly alive. They are huge, lumbering, and destructive, and Prowl is shocked when, after their defeat, Optimus Prime agrees with the decision to melt them down. [[spoiler: So he and Bulkhead sneak out in the middle of the night and transport the Dinobots to a forested island where, concealed by holograms, they can live peacefully.]] Later, [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Porter C. Powell]] argued that since Transformers have no legal status, it's not a crime to do anything to them. (Of course, he's a villain, and we're not meant to agree with him.) Later they use their lack of legal status to threaten (and eat) him with impunity. (Don't worry, Grimlock spits him back out unharmed; these are the ''Autobots'' we're talking about.)
*** I believe it has more to do with the fact that Grimlock has good taste, and with all the hair product necessary to keep his rockin' mullet in place, Porter C. Powell probably tastes horrible.
* In the penultimate episode of ''DannyPhantom'', this issue became a plot point in more ways than one since the subject in question is both a [[HalfHumanHybrids Half Human Hybrid]] ''and'' a clone:
--->'''Danny''': She's not just a ghost, she's also a ''girl''. And if Vlad [[NeverSayDie destroys]] the ghost half, the human half is destroyed along with it.
--->'''Valerie''': No, that's not my problem. She ''is'' a ghost, and I destroy ghosts!
--->'''Danny''': Fine! Destroy ghosts! But can you really take part in destroying a ''human''?
** Also called up in Danielle's premiere episode- Vlad became [[MoralEventHorizon fully irredeemable]] when he treated her as less than human in the climax-
--->'''Vlad''': [[ThisIsSparta You! Exist! To serve! ME! JUST! DO IT!]]
***Also arguably averted in the same episode when both Danny and Danielle had no qualms seeing the perfect clone die in their hands. Considering said clone is a step above Danielle and clearly shows conscience as he dies, this is a rather jarring matter.
* ''MegasXLR'' will never kill off humans, and will only very rarely have any kind of organic being die. The giant robots that are frequently the enemies though, are pretty much cannon fodder, regardless of their level of sentience. One particularly extreme example is when Coop accidentally blows up ''an entire planet'' of sentient robots (although they ''were'' AxCrazy and sort of fascist). Keep in mind though, if they could get away with it, the writers would also have plenty of ''humans'' killed to (and a few still are).
* ''{{Ben 10}}'' is ''horrible'' about this. You can accurately predict how much violence is inflicted on an enemy based on how humanlike they are. Actual humans are merely subdued and non-humanoids are dismembered, exploded, or something else particularly deadly. This becomes especially awkward when you realize that, thanks to the very nature of the powers of the Omnitrix, Ben himself isn't human half the time!
** A rather jarring example occurs in an episode where an alien bride at a marriage between a pair of StarcrossedLovers has to ''help Ben kill her parents'' so she can marry her human groom. She makes a disturbingly nonchalant joke right afterwards. As if to bring the thing home, she [[VoluntaryShapeshifting assumes a form]] that looks [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe far more humanoid]] than the evil members of her family.
** In the [[TimeSkip time skipped]] Alien Force, Gwen scolds Kevin that "You hit him too hard!" when he decks a guard. Kevin placates her with, "Not him. It." and removes the holographic mask disguising the alien as a human. This could be potentially problematic, as a later episode reveals that these aliens are in fact [[TheVirus humans taken over by alien parasites]], and the Omnitrix is ''capable of reversing the transformation.''
*** In the SeasonFinale Ben states that they never actually kill any of them for that reason, and he then starts using the Omnitrix to cure them on a large scale (why [[ForgottenPhlebotinum he forgot about that until now]] is anyone guess).
*** He did remember it once before the season finale. The difference is he didn't have the Master Control unlocked, basically allowing him to do whatever the fuck he wanted with the Omnitrix. He was limited to skin contact before that.
* A tip of the hat to ''TheBraveLittleToaster'', the movie that made some of us feel ''just'' a little guilty about replacing old household machines with new ones.
* Populated, as it is, by humans, robots, sewer mutants, talking animals, and aliens of all varieties, ''{{Futurama}}'' naturally takes this one on with tongue firmly in cheek. To wit:
--->'''Fry:''' So we're going to an uninhabited planet?
--->'''Bender:''' No, it's inhabited by ''robots''!
--->'''Fry:''' Oh... you mean like a garage is inhabited by boxes.
** Furthermore (and possibly as a tribute to ''The Brave Little Toaster'') Professor Farnsworth "teaches the toaster how to love". In a dream sequence he goes so far as to bring it to life, turning it into a raccoon. Of course, everyone else still treats it like an old toaster... might have something to do with the two slots and heating coils that are still in its back.
** Mix CarnivoreConfusion into the issue, and you've got yourself ''The Problem With Popplers'' episode.
* Pixar seems to like this trope. To wit:
** Is there anyone who didn't treat their toy collections a lot nicer after hearing Jessie's song in ''ToyStory 2''?
*** Me--since I saw ''ToyStory'' first. Which actually has Woody react this way when he sees what Sid did to the other toys. Especially when they drag a wounded Buzz off ...
** Remy the rat has to fight hard for respect in ''{{Ratatouille}}''.
** ''{{Wall-E}}''. End of discussion.
* In the ''{{WITCH}}'' episode "H is for Hunted", Will is brought to tears after unknowingly trying to absorb an Astral Drop (normally soulless) that Nerissa has transformed into a living, feeling Altamere.
* ''TheVentureBrothers'': Brock Sampson has a code against killing women and children. He was curious if there was any circumstances in which that would be dismissed. Eventually, his mentor accepted "Lady Dracula", as undead don't count.
** And in the two-part Season 3 finale, "The Family That Slays Together, Stays Together" (Part 1, to be specific) once The Monarch has infiltrated the Venture Compound, he reviews the plan with his team. #24's part is to "Subdue the Venture robot" to which Monarch replies, "Subdue? You can ''kill'' the robot, it's a ''robot''."
* ''BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'' has hordes of robot drones that are just there to be shot (granted, they don't appear to possess any brain function). More egregious examples are NOS-4-A2 (a to-all-outward-appearances-sentient robot and the only non-drone villain to be actually killed) and XR, the PluckyComicRelief RobotBuddy who spends much of his time getting blown up, crushed, dismembered and tortured in various ways- and none of the protagonists seem to care, despite the fact XR displays myriad human traits and emotions (having outbursts rivaling those of a hormonal 13-year-old girl) and has just as well-rounded a personality as any organic character on the show. As a result, a far amount of FanFic looks at him as [[TheWoobie a victim]]. It may just be because XR [[IGotBetter gets better]] every time. Still, he seems to feel ''pain'', and react to it [[ComedicSociopathy accordingly]].
** XR is ''designed'' to be [[MadeOfIron competely indestructible]], so it's not like he has much to worry about.
* Played straight in ''KimPossible'', where the only beings to die is a too human drone and two aliens (at least according to WordOfGod).
** Let's not forget the AndIMustScream with Monkeyfist. Not fully human, thus AcceptableTarget.
* The way this applies to giant monsters is partially subverted in ''InvaderZim'', when Zim transforms a hamster into a giant monster. Even though it's on a rampage, people still stop to gawk at how cute it is.
* ''SpongeBobSquarePants'' [[MoralEventHorizon feeds]] [[NightmareFuel a talking worm]] to his adopted baby scallop.
--->'''Spongebob:''' All we have left is this apple! [a worm emerges from it] \\
'''Worm:''' Hello sea creatures! I bring you greetings from Apple World! [the scallop approves and jumps up for it] \\
'''Spongebob:''' Of course! Scallops love worms! [picks up the worms] \\
'''Worm:''' Huh, wait! We will bury yooooou! [drops it in the scallop’s mouth and it eats it]
* The original ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987}} Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' animated series gave the Turtles a chance to actually use their weapons as forces of deadliness by turning Shredder's foot soldiers into robots.
** Possibly the most [[MoralDissonance WTF]] example of this is the episode "Donatello's Duplicate", where Donatello creates a clone of himself specifically to have it do his chores for him, and basically treats the duplicate as his slave. When the clone turns against him and becomes evil, it gets wiped out of existence. And it's apparently perfectly okay by all the others. You know, the ''good'' guys.
** And there's also Metalhead, the robotic Ninja Turtle, who has no rights. For this to be more acceptable, it has a tendency to go berserk (or switch sides), thereby destroying the illusion that it has real sentience or "free will".
* Basically anything by DonBluth. Generally, the less human a character looks, the cartoonier their animation, the less respect they receive from the story. Non-human minor characters (unless they are effectively human due to {{Rotoscoping}}) are prone to be splatted at any moment, without a death scene to drum up audience sympathy.
* In the Disney ''Fluppy Dogs'' PilotMovie, Stanley, who is a humanoid dog like alien posing as a dog, is about to turn in for the night. His human friend, Jaimie, is asked by Stanley where he is going to sleep and the boy is about to tell him to sleep on the floor like an animal. Fortunately, Jaimie realizes just in time that he was about to humiliate his intelligent friend and invites Stanley to sleep in his bed with him.
* While not necessarily Non-human, Disney's {{Pocahontas}} seems to address this with the song "Savages"
**"They're savages! Savages! Barely even human!"
**"They're not like you and me, which means they must be evil! We must sound the drums of war!"
* Applied thoughtfully in {{The Zeta Project}}. The title character, Zeta, is a robot who gains a conscience and decides not to kill anymore. With time, it becomes evident he's his own person, with opinions, thoughts and knowledge he was never meant to have, and he's learning from the world around him much like a child would. The problem is that the agency that created him doesn't [[strike:know]] [[JustAMachine believe]] he's sentient now; they think he's been reprogrammed. They treat him like a dangerous weapon. Zeta's friend Ro, however, treats him as a normal human being, since she's realized he's just a sweet, harmless, very very very innocent guy.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Real Life ]]
* This is the heart of the hot abortion debate. Pro-life says that all fetuses are human, while pro-choice differentiates between when one is human or part of the mother.
**I assume the above to only be referring to fetuses of the species Homo sapiens?
** Three words: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell_controversy Stem cell research]].
*** Read ''Solomon's Knife'', by Victor Koman. Even if someone found a solution, every ObstructiveBureaucrat would try to ban it; divisions like this trope are great for snowing people.
*** Notably most pro-choice people would still be [[{{Squick}} Squicked]] by the abortion of a well-developed fetus, as it has distinct neural functions, and therefore a developing mind, as opposed to an embryo, which is approximately on the level of a shrimp.
**** Disturbingly, some people would be upset more at the death of a shrimp.
* For that matter, dehumanizing the enemy has been a distressingly common propaganda tactic for much of human history. Depending on who you ask, people of any given nationality, ethnicity or religion (or atheists, for that matter) might be considered "subhuman" and therefore fair game for extermination.
**Disturbingly, this seems to be a universal (and therefore probably innate) tendency for viewing people who are part of an "outgroup." However, on the plus side there seems to be a similarly innate capacity to extend ones relevant ingroups (at least, relevant enough to be considered too human to kill) to include much or all of humanity and that this capacity is affected by experience and culture.
***This troper once read an article describing studies that suggested this innate xenophobic tendency may have evolutionary roots in being a protection from disease: aversion to unfamiliar and unusual things lessens the risk of infection. Outsiders bring the risk of unfamiliar infections to which your tribe may not have developed resistance (for instance, the smallpox epidemic brought by Europeans to America), and many contagious illnesses have outwardly visible symptoms like rashes and lesions.
* The British armed forces conducted research and tried to get down to the core of this trope during the 1950s, to see how well both soldiers and civilians would react to non-human intelligence and human-like objects; the result was the formulation of the UncannyValley.
* Another common thing is the justification of racism or sexism, on the grounds that "they aren't really persons".
* Animal. Rights. Just... let's leave it at that.
* Ableism, or discrimination against people based on disabilities and handicaps, both physical and mental, really comes down to this as well, sadly.
* Many Transhumanists hold that anything that demonstrates sapience should be a person.
** People according to them: Great Apes, Dolphins, potentially Artificial Intelligences that pass the Turing Test or extraterrestrials.
*** Now also crows and other ''Corvidae'', deemed nearly as intelligent as chimps.
** Not people: the majority of animal life on Earth (for the time being anyway), and embryos of any species.
* [[http://reason.com/news/show/131717.html Some scientists think they have everything they need to clone a Neanderthal man.]] Some people object to this, on the grounds that the Neanderthal counts as a human, and that human cloning is unethical. This is odd, considering that these people seem not to have a problem with the cloning of animals. Determining whether or not the neanderthal counts as a human comes down to its ability to speak (for some people, anyway).
**It should be noted that in taxonomic terms, every species in the genus Homo (H. habilis, H. erectus, H. neanderthalensis, H. sapiens) is by definition a human or "man".
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