History Main / MostWritersAreHuman

* Can result in heaps and heaps of FurryConfusion. Consider the case of the Tibble Twins in ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}''.

* Could this be why ''WesternAnimation/SantoBugito'', which dealt with a town populated entirely by insects, has been almost completely forgotten?

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Unless we find existence of aliens or other sentient beings that can write, this trope is practically a truism.
** Though the Wikipedia article on humanity does feel like it was written by aliens at times...
** Averted in favour of RealLifeWritesThePlot until the Stone Age, but played increasingly straight ever since.
* Convergent evolution means that even StarfishAliens would have some similarities with humans (think about similarities between ants and humans). For instance, it's probable that they would need to be capable of something resembling our reason, and have limbs able to grasp tools, or else civilization is likely impossible.

* The various ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series:
** For all the non-human races around, the captain of each ship is always human and the crew is always ''primarily'' human. Getting more multicultural, but almost all ''human'' cultures. There have been a good number of on-screen portrayals of Vulcan Starfleet captains, but Vulcans are so ''hugely'' humanoid that may or may not count. Economical effects are a fairly recent thing, so you will only see very alien non-humanoid races in the films, comic books, and more recent series. (Which sets up one heck of a ContinuitySnarl in ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''.) Indeed, even the aliens use the word "humanoid".[[note]]Or at least that's how the UniversalTranslator renders what they're saying into English.[[/note]]
** Unintentional lampshading in the {{Pilot}} of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', when Deanna explains "I'm only [[HalfHumanHybrid half-Betazoid]], my father was a Starfleet officer." Yep, "Starfleet officer" = "human" according to ''a half-Betazoid Starfleet officer''.
** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' came closest to averting this. Less than half of the main characters are human, and the supporting/recurring cast is overwhelmingly alien. It's implied that, despite the Federation being one body, Federation ships tend to be made up of primarily one race. There are a couple instances where we meet all-Vulcan Federation ships, or of new crew members coming aboard who are only used to dealing with their own race. Creator/RonMoore, who contributed heavily to ''[=DS9=]'', [[WordOfGod remarked that]] the overabundance of humans [[RealLifeWritesThePlot was primarily budget-related]], though this doesn't explain how the series managed to put {{Rubber Forehead|Alien}}s on easily half the civilian extras in any given episode but only rarely on extras in Starfleet uniform. The fan assumption is that humans simply have a larger population than most other members of the Federation. It's made clear in canon that Vulcan and Andoria (two of the four founding planets of the Federation) are less hospitable than Earth and thus support smaller populations. And more recent Federation members generally inhabit only a single planet rather than having colonized many worlds like humans have done.

** Somewhat justified though, as an Ork book would probably at best be a comedy with a simple plot, a Necron story would probably be mostly about sleeping (unless it is set during the creation of the Necrons, which would be interesting), and a Tyranid book would be all about how hungry the hive mind is, though it could be used in an interesting {{Xenofiction}} way.
** Although sometimes, this is averted. The alien Tau get quite a bit of representation in stories, mostly because they're the most human-like of all of them. There's also, as mentioned previously, a book series dedicated to the Craftworld Eldar. Perhaps most interestingly, though, is another book series currently which focuses on the Dark Eldar as {{Villain Protagonist}}s. One book also took the standpoint from an Ork Warboss and an Eldar Harlequin. Also, the alien races are [[EnsembleDarkhorse generally viewed as more interesting]] by the game's large and very vocal fandom.
* Generally [[EnforcedTrope enforced]] in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''; the majority of [[DimensionalTraveler planeswalkers]] (the face characters of the franchise) are humans, and a large chunk of the nonhuman ones resemble humans and/or are humanoid. Furthermore, the vast majority of planes include humans on them. WordOfGod has noted several times that nonhumans simply don't appeal to the audience as much as humans.
-->'''Doug Beyer:''' ...our surveys show that [[CaptainObvious we have a lot of human beings among our consumers]]...
** This trope has also been seen in the former lack of presence of merfolk. For years, ''Magic: the Gathering'' had not included merfolk in its sets, because as they lacked legs they could not go on dry land (and thus interact with humans). They eventually started giving merfolk legs, playing into this trope.
** This trope was distinctly averted in Lorwyn/Shadowmoor, a plane that includes elves, halflings, merfolk, giants, trolls, duergars, hags, and angry donkey-men (noggles), but no humans. The development team deliberately went out of their way to create a setting where none of the characters or races could be [[RubberForeheadAliens played by a human in makeup or a suit.]] (It could also be argued that the trope does shine through in the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor blocks by virtue of ''omission''--after all, why should a setting without humans be any more 'special' than one without dwarves or rat-people otherwise?) According to WordOfGod, the lack of humans on Lorwyn/Shadowmoor is one of the many reasons why it's one of the ''less'' popular planes, only serving to further reinforce the enforced nature of this trope.

* Averted and played straight in ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}''. While the vast majority of D-Bees in the game are humanoid, there are quite a few playable races that qualify as StarfishAliens. Also, though a large percentage of the settings in the game are ruled by/predominantly human (it is [[CrapsackWorld Earth]], after all), there are several locations where humans coexist with aliens, are enslaved/dominated by aliens, or humans aren't found in large (or any) numbers.

* {{Averted}} with ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekProdigy:'' where none of the main characters are humans--and, since the show is animated, the alien characters are a bit more exotic than [[Franchise/StarTrek this franchise]] [[RubberForeheadAliens usually goes for]]. The only exception, [[PlayedWith kind of]], is Janeway, who is actually a holographic copy of the ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'' character and serves as TheMentor.

* The hypothetical "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troodon#The_.22Dinosauroid.22 Dinosauroid]]," which was a proposed possible evolutionary descendant of the troodon had it not gone extinct. Dale Russell, the guy who thought up the concept, has been criticized by other paleontologists since the 1980s, many of whom point out that Russell's Dinosauroid is overly anthropomorphic. Most paleontologists think that any possible descendant of the troodon would appear more bird-like than human-like. Some of the criticisms went too far the other way -- one of them asserted, for instance, that a sapient evolved from a dromaeosaur would pick things up in its mouth, like a bird. Only... ''[[CaptainObvious birds have wings]]''. Dromaeosaurs have ''hands'', picking things up is sorta what they're for.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'':

* The AI in ''VideoGame/AIDungeon2'' tends to default the protagonist back to being a human often without explanation as to why or how. Even if you set up a detailed custom prompt to make it clear that the character you're playing as is ''not'' human, expect the character to eventually start performing human actions and movements as the story goes on; [[MindScrew even if it would be physically impossible for the character to perform said actions.]]
** Ironically, this is one of the (very) rare examples of fiction which does ''not'' have a human writer.

Let's not forget that Most Readers are Human as well, and people prefer characters they can relate to. This is why most fictional characters are ''H. sapiens'' instead of, say, '' T. rex'' or ''[[Manga/{{Moyashimon}} A. oryzae]]''. The inherent human quality of [[RuleOfEmpathy relating to those like us and whom we can understand]] is also why ''all'' characters we connect and sympathize with, [[SlidingScaleOfAnthropomorphism human or not]], have at least some human qualities and [[BizarreAlienPsychology psychological characteristics]], or are at least [[CompanionCube perceived by us to have them]] [[note]]In fact human attributes in literature extends far beyond how stories characterize characters. How we describe everything in our world, and by extension fictional worlds, is pervaded by human-relatable concepts and allusions. Literature would read like a bizarre or cold technical paper without this human touch[[/note]].

* While the main characters of ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' are human (or [[AmbiguouslyHuman at least very human-like]]), they're often greatly outnumbered by the number of non-human characters, such as Bowser, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, various {{Mooks}}, and other characters both friendly and non-friendly, animal-like to having human-level intelligence. In spin-off titles, especially in the sports titles, greater emphasis is placed on the 7 most human-like characters (Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Wario, Waluigi and Rosalina).

* Fellow mons series ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' often makes it's beginning and final forms humanoid or at the very least bipedal. This is partially a product necessity, the toys are designed to be able to evolve so they have to have similar structures.

** In one of the first few episodes of the ''Sun and Moon'' anime, Meowth has a near-death experience in which he is lured by three Pokémon he immediately becomes infatuated with. Instead of using cat Pokémon you would reasonably expect a fellow cat Pokémon to be attracted to, the writers clearly chose the Pokémon based on whether the human fandom finds them attractive. This is odd, as when Meowth is required to show interest in another Pokémon, they usually do choose another feline Pokémon. Except for Glaceon, Which is a bit like a cat.

* Convergent evolution means that even StarfishAliens would have some similarities with humans (think about similarities between ants and humans). For instance, it's probably they would need to be capable of something resembling our reason, and have limbs able to grasp tools, or else civilization is likely impossible.

Let's not forget that Most Readers are Human as well, and people prefer characters they can relate to. This is why most fictional characters are ''H. sapiens'' instead of, say, ''[[TyrannosaurusRex T. rex]]'' or ''[[Manga/{{Moyashimon}} A. oryzae]]''. The inherent human quality of [[RuleOfEmpathy relating to those like us and whom we can understand]] is also why ''all'' characters we connect and sympathize with, [[SlidingScaleOfAnthropomorphism human or not]], have at least some human qualities and [[BizarreAlienPsychology psychological characteristics]], or are at least [[CompanionCube perceived by us to have them]] [[note]]In fact human attributes in literature extends far beyond how stories characterize characters. How we describe everything in our world, and by extension fictional worlds, is pervaded by human-relatable concepts and allusions. Literature would read like a bizarre or cold technical paper without this human touch[[/note]].

** For all the non-human races around, the captain of each ship is always human and the crew is always ''primarily'' human. Getting more multicultural, but almost all ''human'' cultures. There have been a good number of on-screen portrayals of Vulcan Starfleet captains, but Vulcans are so ''hugely'' humanoid that may or may not count. Economical effects are a fairly recent thing, so you will only see very alien non-humanoid races in the films, comic books, and more recent series. (Which sets up one heck of a ContinuitySnarl in ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''.) Indeed, even the aliens use the word "humanoid".

** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' came closest to averting this. Less than half of the main characters are human, and the supporting/recurring cast is overwhelmingly alien. It's implied that, despite the Federation being one body, Federation ships tend to be made up of primarily one race. There are a couple instances where we meet all-Vulcan Federation ships, or of new crew members coming aboard who are only used to dealing with their own race. Creator/RonMoore, who contributed heavily to ''[=DS9=]'', [[WordOfGod remarked that]] the overabundance of humans [[RealLifeWritesThePlot was primarily budget-related]], though this doesn't explain how the series managed to put {{Rubber Forehead|Alien}}s on easily half the civilian extras in any given episode but only rarely on extras in Starfleet uniform.

* Zigzagged by many religions which claim certain holy books are dictated by [[OurGodsAreDifferent deities]], spirits, etc., but attribute human traits like jealousy and wrath to these spirits and portray them in anthropomorphic forms. Averted in pantheism and the Hindu elephant god Ganesha.

* When [[HumansAreAverage compared to non-human characters]], humans are almost always the JackOfAllStats (unless [[AuthorTract someone]] is [[HumansAreBastards trying]] to [[HumansAreDiplomats make]] a [[HumansAreWarriors point]]). The StandardFanatsyRaces or sapient aliens, taken as a whole, will be different from humans in ways that balance each other out. This is odd, since it would be more likely that humans deviate from the average in some way or another.

** The Hobbits definitely count. They're basically just small humans, psychologically as well as biologically. Elves, Dwarves, Ents, Orcs, and so on are almost never focus characters in either ''Literature/TheHobbit'' or ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. The Elves do get quite a run in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', which is much more mythic and less familiar and homey; their relatability is probably highest when they're dealing with adversity ([[WriteWhatYouKnow war]], [[YouCantGoHomeAgain exile]], [[RememberTheAlamo futile attempts at revenge]], and so on).

* When [[HumansAreAverage compared to non-human characters]], humans are almost always the JackOfAllStats (unless [[AuthorTract someone]] is [[HumansAreBastards trying]] to [[HumansAreDiplomats make]] a [[HumansAreWarriors point]]). The FiveRaces or sapient aliens, taken as a whole, will be different from humans in ways that balance each other out. This is odd, since it would be more likely that humans deviate from the average in some way or another.

* Lampshaded in ''Martian Child'', which is about a sci-fi writer who becomes an adoptive father. When talking about a book of his he talks about how humans are always present in a sci-fi story so that they serve as a stand-in for the reader and allow the reader to identify with the major characters. He goes on to note that he doesn't actually identify most with the human characters himself, but rather with an alien.

* TabletopGame/{{GURPS}} invokes this trope and all but refers to it by name. All customization is done by adding or subtracting features from a human template. The GURPS-based ''TabletopGame/DiscworldRoleplayingGame'' briefly invokes HumansAreSpecial to explain why humanity dominates the Disc instead of trolls, dwarfs or banshees, before acknowledging the ''real'' reason...

* Generally [[EnforcedTrope enforced]] in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''; the majority of planeswalkers (the face characters of the franchise) are humans, and a large chunk of the nonhuman ones resemble humans and/or are humanoid. Furthermore, the vast majority of planes include humans on them. WordOfGod has noted several times that nonhumans simply don't appeal to the audience as much as humans.

** There's also a tendency for the rivals and gym leaders to have their ace as a humanoid Pokemon. Often changing the ace they used in the original games like Blaine. As Red and Blue only having Magmar for humanoid fire types it was his ace over the games Rapidash.

* In a case of All Animals Are Humans, consider how many pet food companies boast of how their dog or cat foods contain only "real meat, not animal byproducts". "Animal byproducts" is a less squicky way of saying "ground bone meal, internal organs, and heads". Guess what parts of a kill predators in the wild tend to chow down on first? But no, our pets are just little furry humans, and ''have'' to share our dietary preferences. We certainly wouldn't want to give our dogs something made from bones, now would we? Oh, wait... Also, people in many cultures have no problem eating internal organs and heads (see ForeignQueasine), so it's not just human dietary preferences that our furry friends must share, but the preferences of a particular subset of humans (Western civilization). Bone meal, on the other hand... In fact, eating a certain amount of this stuff is ''good' for cats and dogs, since they're adapted to it.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'', the metafiction and novels are overwhelmingly human-focused. It is stated multiple times in setting census data that humans are the most common race, despite Orks both maturing early and [[MassiveNumberedSiblings tending to have many children for cultural reasons]]. Taken to extremes with sourcebook art, where humans are nearly always featured, elves are a close second, trolls are very rarely seen, and orks even less so. Dwarves get it particularly bad, with almost no dwarf art existing ''anywhere'' outside of rulebooks with sections pertaining to dwarves. Mildly subverted during the 2nd edition run where the overarching plot had an incredible case of OurElvesAreBetter and nearly always pertained in some regard to immortal elves.
* Most game systems will reflexively assume that the default player character is human (or at best very nearly so) and allow this assumption to creep into their rules, setting, and suggested campaign styles. For example, nearly any combat system that goes into significant detail will be primarily written for roughly human-''sized'' combatants with two arms, two legs, and one head on top of the body. Descriptions will almost unfailingly assume human-level perceptions with any "super-senses" that player characters might technically also have usually being given short shrift. And so on. At the extreme end, players may only ever be ''allowed'' to play humans and very-near-humans even in a setting where dozens or hundreds of other reasonably intelligent species also exist (such as many D&D campaigns).
* Later editions of the ''TabletopGame/{{Talislanta}}'' game have LoadsAndLoadsOfRaces, but none that are explicitly called "human". The closest approximation to "human" is the designation of several humanoid types as "men", but even the races of "men" include people with weirdly-shaped facial features or skin colors unknown in RealLife.
* This was deliberately invoked in early editions of ''TabletopGame/{{DungeonsAndDragons}}'', in which the world was assumed to be dominated by humans while other races kept largely to themselves. Adventurers from other races were supposed to be rare, and far normal representatives of their cultures. Obviously players often wanted to play as non-humans, which led to later editions defaulting to a general melting-pot society in which any combination of race, class and culture could be justified.

* From the title of ''Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy,'' you might expect that Bree, the TalkingAnimal, was the protagonist. Nope--it's the boy, Shasta, and arguably the deuteragonist is Aravis, a human girl. Arguably, all the ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' are examples of this trope, as Narnia can only have a human as a King, and the humans always show up to save the day.