History Main / HumanityOnTrial

* In ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', the Atlantis expedition (represented by Sheppard's team and Mr. Woolsey) are put on trial by a tribunal representing humans in the Pegasus Galaxy. To be fair, the expedition did screw up pretty badly (they woke up the Wraith, [[CreateYourOwnVillain created Michael]], helped develop the Hoffan drug that Michael uses to attack humans, and changed the Replicator base code which motivated them to start attacking humans in order to fight the Wraith) but, as Sheppard points out, the Atlantis team are the only ones fighting against those threats, trying to protect the humans of Pegasus.

* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' had "[[http://retrooasis.blogspot.com/2013/08/captain-planet-twelve-angry-animals.html 12 Angry Animals]]" with a [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti yeti]] and a court of animals putting the Planeteers on trial for the crimes of humanity. It was exceptionally {{anvilicious}} in a series full of moral anvils.

Sometimes an "act of self-sacrifice" by one of the protagonists will "prove" that humanity deserves to exist. If the aliens didn't know that this was possible, then they really didn't think things through. And since this is the case more often then not, the whole "trial" device frequently gets a distinct tint of PlotInducedStupidity.

* Almost the same thing happened in an episode of ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'', only the Horsemen were acting at the direction of the [[BigBad Source of Evil]] this time. During a clash one of the Charmed (good witches) along with the horseman War got trapped in Limbo so the rest of the teams formed an uneasy alliance to try and free their respective comrades. But when the Charmed found out that once reunited, the horsemen could bring about the Apocalypse, they went back on the deal and essentially sacrificed their sister (that's unusual) to avert the end of the world. This decision, although morally ambiguous by most of the media standards, still amounted to "enough good in humans" and the Source destroyed the horsemen and withdrew until next time. [[spoiler: Oh, and they managed to rescue their sister after all.]]

Sometimes this will happen before humanity even ''knows'' said aliens exist and have yet to make first contact let alone any [[HanlonsRazor knowingly hostile movements]] against them. Not that this helps. Arguing "we didn't know any better," even if true, will only be used as further proof of our inherent arrogance and selfishness. When presented this way, it often seems that the only "crime" we are guilty of is [[FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence simply existing in the same universe as them]] while [[CantArgueWithElves not being "civilized" enough]] for the aliens' liking, and our lower-being status [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop should be self-evident]] to the audience. Also, we [[HumansAreSmelly stink]] so there's that too.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2055 SCP-2055]] is still picking its jury. The immediate problem for the Foundation isn't humanity being found "guilty", it's that [[spoiler: the people who are chosen have to kill themselves in order to go to the next phase of selection]] and there's nothing the Foundation can do to stop the "trial".
* Parodied in the video "L'assemblée Intergalactique" on French comedy channel ''WebVideo/GoldenMoustache''. A group of aliens are discussing what to do with humanity and come up with the idea of teleporting in some random humans and have them defend their race. Unfortunately, the two humans they beam in are in the process of [[ToiletHumour catching their own farts in plastic bottles]], so the aliens immediately decide to [[EarthShatteringKaboom destroy the Earth.]]
[[/folder]]

The hypocrisy of wiping out a fellow sapient species just because it suits them is rarely addressed, and this is especially hypocritical if the aliens list this among humanity's crimes. It's often justified with HumansAreTheRealMonsters, being the only sentient race in the whole universe that does dirty things like [[HumansAreFlawed lying]], [[HumansAreBastards murder]], [[HumansAreWarriors war]], etc. The accusing aliens may have long ago [[ApeShallNeverKillApe overcome such behaviors]] (though one sympathetic advocate might ask, [[NotSoDifferent "Were we so different, at their age?"]]), but they may even drop the bombshell that they ''never'' suffered from them in the first place, and have always been a [[MarySuetopia utopian, perfect race that never as much as littered]]. The accuser also ignores the oddity of punishing an entire species for crimes against itself.

** In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}'' [[spoiler: it turns out the events of these games and the original ''VideoGame/{{Persona}}'' were actually a version of this -- a contest between the {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of human strength and weakness as manifested by humanity's collective unconscious to see which is truly more powerful]].

* The ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona'' series uses this in a few of it's games:

* When the aliens are finally defeated at the end of the Creator/ErnestCline novel, ''Literature/{{Armada}}'', it's revealed TheFederation orchestrated the whole thing as a test to see if Earth was fit to join.

* In Miloslav Knyazev's ''Alien Invasion: Republic Curonian Spit'', aliens just wanted to check if people will try protect their territory in combat even if there is no way to win. If official government surrenders and some people are disagree with their decision, they have option of secession (they don't need make it official, they just have to be ready to resist). Countries can't help each other because they are separated by force field walls. Technical level of country uner Test is taken in account. [[spoiler:Lithuania did not pass. Titular separatist republic did. ]].

* Every thousand years, Ming the Merciless from ''Film/FlashGordon'' tests every inhabited planet with natural disasters and if they show signs of recognizing an alien did it, he wipes them out. Hence Zarkov doomed Earth by flying I to space to confront Ming.

* In Literature/TheBible, {{God}} effectively puts all of humanity, present and future (except UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}), on trial in Genesis after the original sin, finds us guilty, and sentences us to death. However, he also makes plans to pardon us, as long as certain conditions are met, and allows hundreds of years pass by in order for humans to accept or reject that pardon. This is also subverted, as the Bible also states that each individual human is on trial for their own sins (not '''just''' the original sin), and (apart from the aforementioned exception) [[HumansAreBastards all humans]], [[HistoryRepeats past, present and future]], [[HumansAreFlawed have sinned in some form or another]]. Since [[HumansAreFlawed humanity]] [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption is not capable of overcoming sin on our own]], and God didn't want us all to condemn ourselves to [[AndIMustScream Hell]], He [[TakeAThirdOption gave us]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} a way out]].

* What [[spoiler:Furfur and Zephar]] pull on EP 6 of ''Anime/UminekonoNakuKoroNi'', towards [[spoiler: two {{Battle Couple}}s: Jessica/Kanon and George/Shannon. It was to see if their love would survive anything]].

If the plot has humanity not playing along and actually fighting back, then the accusers often downgrade to ScaryDogmaticAliens. Otherwise, the verdict is usually that HumansAreSpecial (occasionally, the accusers actually suspected this all along, and just wanted to make sure we live up to our potential). Then again, considering all the criminally irresponsible "parenting" some NeglectfulPrecursors do, one wonders why ''they'' aren't the ones on trial.

Compare to OutsourcingFate, another case where ThePowersThatBe force certain individuals to represent the universe, but by actually putting them in charge.

* ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'': Humanity isn't simply put on trial, they are tossed into a DeadlyGame [[spoiler:against the alternate versions of themselves. The PowersThatBe found the version in the multiverse that is the embodiment of what they think humanity is, and then tested the version of humanity we know from the manga by watching them in their battles with the alternate version.]]

** In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration: Divine Wars'', the alien forces [[spoiler: are sufficiently impressed by the warlike nature and telepathic abilities of Earthlings that they put humanity to a test. This test is passed, and so they attempt to recruit and clone the best (available) human soldiers to act as shock troops in their military.]]

** In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars3'', the Inspectors also seek to destroy all Earthlings before they become too much of a threat. Of course, with the Inspectors there is a slight subversion: [[spoiler: It turns out their leader, Wendolo, is just a psychopathic murderer who wants to use the trope as an excuse to commit genocide.]]
* In ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', the second to last villain in the series and former Spirit Detective, Shinobu Sensui, seeks to unleash the most powerful Demons from Demon World and thusly rid the Living world of Humanity because of how Evil humans are. However, he flat out states several times that he sees this as Humanity's "Trial", with he as the Prosecutor and his replacement, the current Spirit Detective Yusuke Urameshi as the "Defense", Their battle being the trial itself. He continues to use the "Trial" terminology throughout the entire arc, so much so that [[spoiler: When he believed he had beaten Yusuke, he even said "The Trial of Humanity, the Defense Rests".]] The whole situation actually becomes rather ironic when [[spoiler: Yusuke is revived and it's revealed he has Demon Blood, and has been revived as a Demon. Thus, the final battle of this "Trial" for the fate of humanity has a Human as the Prosecutor, and a Demon as the Defense.]] It would later be revealed that [[spoiler: Sensui's motives weren't exactly for the Trial, he just wanted to go to Demon World and be killed by a Demon, and the "Trial" Motive was only a side-effect, however it was still very present and he did discuss it to great lengths.]]

* What [[spoiler:Furfur and Zephar]] pull on EP 6 of ''Anime/UminekonoNakuKoroNi'', towards [[spoiler: two {{Battle Couple}}s: Jessica/Kanon and George/Shannon. It was to see if their love would survive anything.]]

* In one ComicBook/PostCrisis Franchise/{{Superman}} story (aptly titled "ComicBook/TheTrialOfSuperman"), Superman is put on trial for the destruction of Krypton as the last Kryptonian. The minor detail of him being an infant at the time was considered irrelevant. Eventually, there is a crisis where the alien Judges begin fighting amongst themselves and Superman saves the day. However, the judges will not exonerate him, instead they compromise by sentencing him to effectively "community service", namely he has to continue his Neverending Battle for Truth and Justice.
* In a ''[[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Donald Duck]]'' comic, Donald is taken by SufficientlyAdvancedAliens (who mistake him for a sports champion who happened to be in Donald's vicinity) to represent Earth in an intergalactic tournament that will determine whether or not Earth will become part of their [[CityInABottle collection of miniaturized planets]]. He keeps losing each part of the competition horribly to the other champions, which include much stronger, faster, and intelligent aliens and robots. The way he eventually wins is ingenious: He claims that no form of life can sleep longer than him, which the other contestants challenge by going into hibernation for centuries or millennia. The judges angrily revoke the contest and send Donald back to his home world when they realize that they'll have to wait ''50,000'' years before they can declare the winner.

* The remake of ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill2008'', where Klaatu actually had authority to judge Earth. In the original, Klaatu's mission parameters exclusively covered delivering the message. The message being that humanity could either join the galactic civilization or stay on Earth. If we stayed on Earth, then we would be left alone. But if we decided to join, then we would be expected to obey their rules, and be annihilated unless we gave up our warlike ways.
* The mostly forgettable ''Zarkor the Invader'' subverts this somewhat in that the alien representative explaining the test to the chosen human brushes away his questions on the morality of this test with a quick "We're powerful enough to do whatever we want."

* In Literature/TheBible, {{God}} effectively puts all of humanity, present and future (except UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}), on trial in Genesis after the original sin, finds us guilty, and sentences us to death. However, he also makes plans to pardon us, as long as certain conditions are met, and allows hundreds of years pass by in order for humans to accept or reject that pardon.
** This is also subverted, as the Bible also states that each individual human is on trial for their own sins (not '''just''' the original sin), and (apart from the aforementioned exception) [[HumansAreBastards all humans]], [[HistoryRepeats past, present and future]], [[HumansAreFlawed have sinned in some form or another]]. Since [[HumansAreFlawed humanity]] [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption is not capable of overcoming sin on our own]], and God didn't want us all to condemn ourselves to [[AndIMustScream Hell]], He [[TakeAThirdOption gave us]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} a way out]].

* Miloslav Knyazev's Alien Invasion:Republic Curonian Spit, aliens just wanted to check if people will try protect their territory in combat even if there is no way to win. If official goverment surrenders and some people are disagree with their decision, they have option of secession (they don't need make it official, they just have to be ready to resist). Countries can't help each other because they are separated by force field walls. Technical level of country uner Test is taken in account. [[spoiler:Lithuania did not pass. Titular separatist republic did. ]].

* This happens in the ''Series/WonderWoman'' episode "Judgment from Outer Space", where the titular character must prove that the human race is capable of more than just hate and destruction, which really seems hypocritical--the alien race is going to destroy the entire human race because it can't seem to get along part of the time?

** The events of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' turn out to be this. As revealed in [[spoiler: the True Ending, the goddess Izanami created the Midnight Channel and "sparked" the power of three Persona users representing emptiness, despair and hope in order to ascertain what humanity truly desired. Thanks to Adachi, who represented emptiness, having the greatest effect on the town of Inaba, she decides humanity wants oblivion and it's up to you, who represents hope, to beat the crap out of her in order to prevent her from turning everyone into Shadows.]]
** In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}'' [[spoiler: it turns out the events of these games and the original ''VideoGame/{{Persona}}'' were actually a version of this -- a contest between the {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of human strength and weakness as manifested by humanity's collective unconscious to see which is truly more powerful.]]
** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'' is similar to the ''Persona 2'' example above: [[spoiler:It's revealed near the end of the game that the final boss and personification of control, Yaldabaoth, constructed a game to see if humanity would give into its sloth and a need for a higher power to control them, or see if they would be able to embrace the thieves' mission of overthrowing the corrupt establishment. Since humanity chooses to turn against the thieves (and thus give into sloth), he decides that at best, they need to be ruled by him, or else be utterly destroyed. That said, he did rig the game ''heavily'' in his favor; like, for example, ''imprisoning and impersonating Igor''.]]
* The last boss of ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork 4'' is [[spoiler:Duo, a program that plans to destroy Earth because his mission is to "judge and destroy evil." After you defeat him, he decides to go away for awhile and come back later to see if we're still evil.]]
* The point of the Reaper's Game in ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'', only one city is put on trial since the judge believes if said city is destroyed there will be no need to destroy the rest of humanity, and also because the rest of humanity is outside of his jurisdiction.
** However, Reaper's Games in general are meant to judge whether individual dead humans deserve a second chance.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2''. [[spoiler: The Patriots use Raiden's personality and actions]] to judge whether humanity is worthy of free will.
* ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'': [[spoiler:The entire crisis is God testing humanity to see whether they are still worthy of free will. If you screw up, humanity comes underthe rule of God. If you really screw up, humanity is left in the ruins of its world with demons running everywhere. An unusual example in that the trial is also largely justified, given that humans not only struck first (and intentionally) but are risking taking down their own universe in the process.]]

** The new scenario in ''2'''s UpdatedRerelease [[spoiler:pointedly averts this. The new invaders, the Triangulum, are explicitly out not to test humanity but to ''[[KillAllHumans destroy them]]'', as the heroes' [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu victory over Polaris]] at the end of the last campaign [[MortonsFork has marked them as too dangerous to allow to continue existing]].]]

* In ''VideoGame/TheLastRemnant'', [[spoiler:mortals have ''already'' failed their trial by abusing the power of the Remnants. The Conqueror, a humanoid Remnant, awoke to act as executioner.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' had Sasquatch and a court of animals putting the Planeteers on trial for the crimes of humanity. It was exceptionally {{anvilicious}} in a series full of moral anvils.

* In ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "The Magicks of Megas-Tu", humanity is put on trial by the Megans for the crime of being xenophobic jerks. The trial is actually for "humanity and those who would aid them" in order to account for the nonhuman crew members. Humanity initially had its sentence suspended after the first trial (held on Earth), because the Megans felt they were no real threat; but once they manage to find the hidden Megan homeworld, the case is reopened. This time, humanity is found not guilty after Kirk risks his life to protect a Megan who had been sentenced to AFateWorseThanDeath for associating with them. When asked why they didn't just consult the ''Enterprise'''s records to discover for themselves that humans were capable of things like a HeroicSacrifice, the Megans reply the records could have been faked.

* What [[spoiler:Furfur and Zephar]] pull on EP 6 of ''LightNovel/UminekonoNakuKoroNi'', towards [[spoiler: two {{Battle Couple}}s: Jessica/Kanon and George/Shannon. It was to see if their love would survive anything.]]

** Zigzagged would be a better adjective. They didn't put him on Trial, the recurring Q (Creator/JohnDeLancie) is putting him on trial. Voyager is defending him and his right... to commit suicide. So, its a trial where the prosecution is bringing up examples to justify that the gods are necessary to humanity and thus humans shouldn't tolerate when a god wants to not exist any more as a matter of his own personal choice.

* Thoroughly subverted in one ''Series/TwilightZone'' episode. An alien race, claiming to have created us, announces that they're disappointed by our "small talent for war" and intend to terminate the experiment. The nations of the world rush to sign a disarmament treaty in time to change the aliens' mind... which turns out to be exactly the wrong thing to do. The aliens were breeding warriors, and what disappointed them was our ''small'' talent for war.

* Almost the same thing happened in an episode of ''Series/{{Charmed}}'', only the Horsemen were acting at the direction of the [[BigBad Source of Evil]] this time. During a clash one of the Charmed (good witches) along with the horseman War got trapped in Limbo so the rest of the teams formed an uneasy alliance to try and free their respective comrades. But when the Charmed found out that once reunited, the horsemen could bring about the Apocalypse, they went back on the deal and essentially sacrificed their sister (that's unusual) to avert the end of the world. This decision, although morally ambiguous by most of the media standards, still amounted to "enough good in humans" and the Source destroyed the horsemen and withdrew until next time. [[spoiler: Oh, and they managed to rescue their sister after all.]]

** The new scenario in ''2'''s UpdatedRerelease [[spoiler:pointedly averts this. The new invaders, the Triangulum, are explicitly out not to test humanity but to ''[[KillAllHumans destroy them]]'', as the heroes' [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu victory over Polaris]] at the end of the last campaign has marked them as too dangerous to allow to continue existing.]]

This usually involves plucking out a certain person or group of people - coincidentally, our protagonists - and putting them in a metaphorical court, to testify on behalf of the human race. Sometimes, there are individuals plucked from all ages of humanity's past (with the usual TimeTravel cliches in effect).

Sometimes this will happen before humanity even ''knows'' said aliens exist and have yet to make first contact let alone any [[HanlonsRazor knowingly-hostile movements]] against them. Not that this helps. Arguing "We didn't know any better", even if true, will only be used as further proof of our inherent arrogance and selfishness. When presented this way, it seems the "crime" we are guilty of is [[FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence simply existing in the same universe as them]] while [[CantArgueWithElves not being "civilized" enough]] for the alien's liking, and our lower-being status [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop should be self-evident]] to the audience. Also, we [[HumansAreSmelly stink]] so there's that too.

The hypocrisy of wiping out a fellow sapient species just because it suits them is rarely addressed, this is especially hypocritical if the aliens list this among humanity's crimes. It's often justified with HumansAreTheRealMonsters, being the only sentient race in the whole universe that does dirty things like [[HumansAreFlawed lying]], [[HumansAreBastards murder]], [[HumansAreWarriors war]], etc. The accusing aliens may have long ago [[ApeShallNeverKillApe overcome such behaviors]] (though one sympathetic advocate might ask, [[NotSoDifferent "Were we so different, at their age?"]]), but they may even drop the bombshell that they ''never'' suffered from them in the first place, and have always been a [[MarySuetopia utopian, perfect race that never as much as littered]]. The accuser also ignores the oddity of punishing an entire species for crimes against itself.

One way to avert the hypocrisy is to make the accuser species ''self-consciously'' no more moral than the humans on trial. They're not thinking of destroying us because of any particular [[ScaryDogmaticAliens ideology]], but because we are a potential threat. This can be treated with varying degrees of sympathy--you might be alarmed by the sudden appearance of strange ape-like beings in your backyard too, especially when at least a few of them can be proven to be violent and even fratricidal.

If the plot has humanity not playing along and actually fighting back, then the accusers often downgrade to ScaryDogmaticAliens. Otherwise, the verdict is usually that HumansAreSpecial (occasionally, the accusers actually suspected this all along, and just wanted to make sure we live up to our potential). Then again, considering all the criminally irresponsible "parenting" some NeglectfulPrecursors do, one wonders why ''they'' aren't on trial.

Sometimes this will happen before humanity even ''knows'' said aliens exist and have yet to make first contact let alone any [[HanlonsRazor knowingly-hostile movements]] against them. Not that this helps. Arguing "We didn't know any better", even if true, will only be used as further proof of our inherent arrogance and selfishness. When presented this way, it seems the "crime" we are guilty of is simply existing in the same universe while [[CantArgueWithElves not being "civilized" enough]] for the alien's liking, and our lower-being status [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop should be self-evident]] to the audience. Also, we [[HumansAreSmelly stink]] so there's that too.

* There's a play called ''Kangaroo Court'' which is an environmentalist BlackComedy in which a pair of humans are put on trial for various cruel and destructive things done to animals and their habitats. The judge is a cockroach who gloats about his species outliving humanity, the witnesses include a lab rabbit and a veal calf, and the couple's pet cat is implied to have StockholmSyndrome. Now if only I could remember who wrote it...