History WhatMeasureIsANonHuman / AnimeAndManga

* This is a prevalent theme in ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}''. In Seasons [[Anime/DigimonAdventure 1]], [[Anime/DigimonFrontier 4]], and [[Anime/DigimonDataSquad 5]], it was handwaved by the heroes since [[BornAgainImmortality the digimon killed would return as digi-eggs]]. The human villains usually see only the Digimon as enemy's, while one glaring human [[Anime/DigimonSavers exception]] and all the other vilains avert this.

* In ''Franchise/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. This line becomes heavily blurred as the seasons go on, to the point where the teams' powers are reclassified as ''purifying'' than outright "destroying". Also, it's quite rare to see a show's main villain be outright killed and if they are, it's a RedemptionEqualsDeath sort of death.

** In ''Anime/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.]]

** There is a notable exception to the half-youkai rule with Jinenji, a large, ugly (but benevolent) half-youkai that was being discriminated against by the village he lived in, only for Kagome and (''[[NotSoDifferent especially]]'') Inuyasha to take his side and get the villagers not to see him as an enemy. This trope is actively explored and played with throughout the episode.

* Averted in ''Anime/MonsterRancher'' where Genki is equally compassionate to the less human looking monsters, even the ones who are trying to kill him.
* The ''Mazinger'' series:
** ''Anime/MazingerZ'': discussed. In the original manga, three [[{{Mook}} Iron Masks]] broke in the house of TheHero Kouji Kabuto. During the scuffle, he learns they are [[spoiler:corpses turned into cyborg by BigBad Dr. Hell]] and they are just {{Empty Shell}}s programmed to obey. when one of them tries to convince him to die and become like them, Kouji angrily yells such a thing not even would be human. Still, Kouji doubts about killing them, even if it is in self-defense, and when finally he gets forced to, he gets shell-shocked and later he wonders if he is not a murderer now.
*** Usually Kouji and his friends think nothing of obliterating a [[{{Robeast}} Mechanical Beast]] in horrific ways (ramming a fist through its chest or punching its head or limbs out, dismembering it, blowing it up to bits, melting it, turning it into a heap of corroded scrap metal...), usually treating them like unliving, unfeeling machines. However, if a Beast exhibits more traces of independant thought, they may be more reluctant to fight and even can feel sorry about destroy it (such like Spartan K5 or Jenova M9).
*** Minerva-X is a complicated case. She was a HumongousMecha Dr. Kabuto designed. He programmed her to think independantly, acting on her own and even feeling emotions (including love). Everybody treated her like if she was alive and was a person, and [[spoiler:mourned her death]]. And in ''Manga/ShinMazingerZero'' she has been traveling through time and dimensions, and we learn she ''is'' the original Minerva, so she MUST own an soul! Can it be said she is non-human, then? the implications are... unfortunate or mind-boggling.
*** Human-looking robots were treated like simple machines or human beings depending on the instance. [[spoiler:The robots posed like Prof. Yumi or Kouji Kabuto]] were destroyed without a second thought. {{Robot Girl}}s [[spoiler: Erika or Lorelei]] were mourned when they died, and Shiro blamed Mazinger-Z for the latter's death and even temporarily hated him. However, the Gamia sisters were also {{Robot Girl}}s and Kouji did not hesitate on destroying them (although he was very unsettled and even sickened after seeing their remains since they were REALLY human-looking). In ''Shin Mazinger Zero'' Shiro freaked out when he ''accidentally'' sliced one of them in half, thinking he had killed one girl, but his brother's friends told him she was only a robot to reassure him. The difference on treatment seems depending on how many human traits the robot exhibits rather what side it is on.
** ''Anime/GreatMazinger'': The Mykene are a civilization whose island was destroyed for an earthquake and were forced to seek shelter underground. To survive they grafted their brains into mechanical bodies. Therefore, the [[{{Robeast}} War Beasts]] are giant cyborgs once were humans, and they were more alive than any Dr. Hell's Mechanical Beast. However, Tetsuya and Jun never seem caring at all about destroying them. Then again, Tetsuya is a BloodKnight sees himself like a soldier fighting a war, and he accepts he can die at any time. So he treats the War Beasts how he expects being treated.
** ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'':
*** Duke did not particularly care about destroying [[{{Robeast}} Saucer Beasts]]... until a Vegan spy revealed to him that the Saucer Beasts he had been fighting [[spoiler:are powered by the minds of his home planet's slain people (including his own little brother)]]. Duke [[HeroicBSOD flipped out completely]].
*** Before the outbreak of the war, Kouji was convinced Earth people could communicate with folks of other planets and become friends. After the AlienInvasion began, he did not seem feeling conflicted or remorseful about shooting faceless {{Mook}}s or Vegan ships. It was different if instead of an anonymous minion they had to confront an enemy they had got to meet and know about his/her personality or motivations, though. Then they could mourn him or her, regretting his/her death and wishing things could have been different.
* Although never discussed in the actual webcomic/manga/anime, ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' has [[MoeAnthropomorphism personified countries]] as characters, and fans tend to argue whether they are actually human or not.
** Well, there's one Lost Strip where a Frenchman notices something ''odd'' about France, namely that he hasn't aged since the Crimean War. The 2011 version of the same strip tackles the issue more head-on, though France's answer is rather...[[MagicRealism cryptic]].
** More than a few fics explore the possibilities of this trope, though it usually doesn't go well for the Nations themselves. These themselves tend to result in them becoming either media freak shows or guinea pigs for testing.
** Played with in the ''Manga/HetaliaBloodbath2010'' event, where a newsreporter mentions the disappearance of 'those people.' [[EpilepticTrees This could possibly hint of their existence as fairly common knowledge (at least to certain segments of society), though probably not their ''true'' identities. Or alternately, they ''do'' know the truth but prefer not to talk about it.]]
** And in the earlier 2007 April Fools event, Hungary suggests "exposing" France to the public as his punishment, though that may have just been her suggesting that he be paraded around in the nude..
* Actively explored in ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', which was inspired by the book and movie ''Film/BladeRunner''. 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/GhostInTheShell manga version]], this trope is 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.)

* ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'':
** Lampshaded 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?"
** Seras and Alucard have no problems killing Vampires and Ghouls but Seras is disgusted after Alucard massacres Brazilian troops storming in their hotel room. Alucard rebuts her by saying that they were coming to kill them and that it doesn't matter what they are, human or not.
* ''Anime/KillLaKill'':
** Nudist Beach considers Senketsu little more than a weapon whilst Ryuko considers him the same as a human being. The revelation of this [[spoiler:send Ryuko into a rage and makes her refuse to wear him until getting a much-needed wakeup call after being brainwashed and forced to wear Junketsu by Ragyo]].
** To further accentuate her inhuman nature, Nui Harime [[spoiler: is the only one to suffer permanent scarring and loss of limb]], and that no one in-universe would actually feel, let alone show, her any pity.
* The usual life value of the MonsterOfTheWeek in a MagicalGirl show is subverted in ''Anime/MagicalProjectS'', 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."
* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'':
** The rule of thumb in ''Manga/SailorMoon'' anime seems to be that if you're a Monster of the Week, you're dead meat. Even you do display some level of sentience. Since the monsters of the week are always artificial life forms and in many cases actually transformed humans or created from the souls of the humans the Senshi are trying to save, there's some justification for this. But it is amusing that the value of their lives is never discussed.
** The manga is more ambiguous about this: most of the villains get killed by the Senshi because they're pure evil and remorseless, so this discussion becomes moot, but Minako knows from her experience that some of them are not (and in fact has an HeroicBSOD at the end of ''Manga/CodenameSailorV'' (of which ''Sailor Moon'' is the MorePopularSpinOff) after killing the last enemy of the series in spite of having realized beforehand he wasn't really evil)... And so, after [[StepfordSmiler forcing herself to go on and smile]], is the one who kills the ones who she knows have a conscience.

* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'':
** This is also explored in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs''. 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 (she had been crying for most of the fight), 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.
** ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'' also has this, tempered with a bit of FridgeLogic. A key part of Jail's plan is that he has clones of him implanted in the wombs of the Combat Cyborgs, who are actual perfect copies of him, ready to age to adulthood in months and resume his work if he is taken out. Many artificial humans in the series are given consideration, but it seems that all the fetus clones were summarily aborted.
* In ''Manga/SamuraiDeeperKyo'', 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 ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', the main character, Vash, refuses to kill any form of sentient life, including giant flesh-eating sand worms. Mindless sentry robots are 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?]]).
** 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 ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'' (and possibly the original ''Anime/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 ''Anime/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.]]

* This is a major theme in ''Anime/PlasticMemories''. Given that Gifitias are gifted in having emotions as human beings, some do not take the business of handling and retrieving expired androids that well. This is lampshaded by Chizu during the first episode when she criticizes Tsukasa's company for treating her Giftia as a product rather than an actual family member. They are treated mostly identically to humans while alive though, and even have human rights.
* The reason Ralph [[DefectorFromDecadence leaves the Union]] in ''Anime/StrainStrategicArmoredInfantry'' 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 ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'' in all its incarnations (although the original OVA series is ''lighter'' on this content than you might expect, all told). 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]]). That being said, the aforementioned boomers only appear in two episodes; the rest of the time, our ladies have no qualms about killing even seemingly sentient boomers.
** 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]]. The Boomers of ''2040'' only go insane because they've been created as intelligent beings and then had their intelligence altered, enslaved and lobotomised by humans. (How true this is for the original OVA is unclear, though.)
** 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 ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita'', this is explored from 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 is a prevalent theme in Digimon. In seasons [[Anime/DigimonAdventure 1]], [[Anime/DigimonFrontier 4]] and [[Anime/DigimonDataSquad 5]], it was handwaved by the heroes since [[BornAgainImmortality the digimon killed would return as digi-eggs]]. The human villains usually see only the Digimon as enemy's, while one glaring human [[Anime/DigimonSavers exception]] and all the other vilains avert this.
** Season [[Anime/DigimonTamers 3]] averts the trope by demonstrating that there is no difference between digital and organic life, since ''both'' Digimon and Humans (military, innocent bystanders, car drivers) '''die''' permanently (no DisneyDeath) in this series. This is especially interesting because the most mourned death was [[ItWasHisSled Leomon's]] and not one of the humans [[spoiler: because the Tamers didn't witness it first hand]]. Early on, there is a debate/fight over whether or not to feed on wild Digimon's Data, strengthening the partner Digimon, which is solved very subtely [[spoiler: They decide not to absorb the data, in hope that those that are too violent and have to be killed (those that were spared were killed by Yamaki with Juggernaut later on) are reborn elsewhere, which is later disproven when they arrive at the Chuchidramon village.]]
** The BigBad (initially) in the second season of ''Anime/{{Digimon|Adventure 02}}'' 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]].
** Strangely applied in the second season in regards to the good guys delivering killing blows to enemy Digimon. In season 1, the good guys were willing to kill enemy Digimon, as long as they weren't good Digimon infected with Black Gears. Yet in Season 2, the new generation of heroes is shocked and appalled by Ken and Stingmon's nonchalant killing of Thundermon during a fight, until it's discovered that it, along with other Digimon they encounter, are artificially made by control spires by a villain and are simply mindless drones (save for BlackWarGreymon, who was made from 100 and developed free will as a result). When the Daemon Corps attack the real world, the new kids are uncomfortable about killing them, while the kids from season 1 are okay with it. Largely because these Digimon were terrorists, whose acts of ruthlessness included threatening a bus full of children.
** The [[Anime/DigimonFusion sixth]] season plays it straight completely, since the human characters have zero compulsion to spare enemy Digimon, without knowing if they'll ever be reborn, despite calling digimon friendly companions in the opening.
*** Justified that they are in a war, and that they only defeat enemy Digimon. They generally do not attack friendly or neutral foes.[[spoiler: Additionally, because the digimon that were killed were later reborn, the example falls into the exception opened by the previous series, the difference being that the protagonists didn't know beforehand.]]
* Kurau, Christmas and other "Rynasapiens" in ''Anime/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.
* In the ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' episode "Jamming with Edward", the bounty-head is revealed to be [[spoiler:an ArtificialIntelligence that Ed had been interacting with]]. As AI are not considered organisms, they are not subject to having bounties placed on them, thus no bounty is awarded.
* This is Sensui's dilemma as a teenager in ''Manga/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 ''Manga/OutlawStar'' is the question of whether or not, as a [[ArtificialHuman biological android]], she could count herself as alive.
** There is also the sentient [[spoiler:cactus plant with mind control powers that begs for its life as it's squashed to death.]]
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' loves [[ContemplateOurNavels navel contemplation]] about this.
** If your show includes a good guy who happens to be a suit of armor, homunculi, and human transmutation, you automatically invoke this trope.
** Let's not forget that little girl turned into a chimera, that gets killed by Scar in what he considers to be a MercyKill. People do mourn her loss, but they had already started mourning her when she was turned, before Scar killed her. Everyone seems to be in agreement that killing her was a kindness.
** Edward's [[ThouShaltNotKill inability to kill things]] seems to only apply to humans, things that resemble humans, and things that were once human. He has little issue killing animals and animalistic chimeras (which are made using animals). To be fair, the anime does show both him and Al killing their first animal, and it was done with huge reluctance. By the end of [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime]], he has no qualms about killing [[spoiler:the Homunculi]], either - even though they're arguably ''more'' human than their manga counterparts. However, this also seems to be with some reluctance, given his freak-out over [[spoiler:Greed dying]], which he didn't intend since Homunculi normally take injuries as little more than a set-back. His later fights also had more on the line, since Alphonse was being targeted [[spoiler: after being turned into a Philosopher's stone]].
* The titular girls in ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'' are cyborgs, as a huge part of their body has been altered scientifically, yet they still act and seem like normal children for the most part. This causes even more of an issue as they're treated more like sub-humans and are [[ChildrenForcedToKill made to be assassins]].
* Early on in ''Manga/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. 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.
* ''Manga/AstroBoy'' dabbles in this often. 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. Astro is very into having robots treated respectfully and as individuals.
* Human and robot relations in ''Manga/AstroBoy'' are driven up to eleven in Urasawa's retelling, ''Manga/{{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?
* ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan'': Saitama kills obviously-sentient non-human monsters (even ones whose inhumanity is physically slight, like a CuteMonsterGirl) without the slightest hint of remorse; but he refuses to kill humans ever. [[spoiler:This is particularly obvious in the Garou arc, where Saitama decides that Garou is human and won't allow the heroes to kill him.]] Part of this is that some monsters were never human in the first place. Those who were human typically went crazy due to a particular trauma or obsession and mutated; after the mutation, the monsters have lost all humanity and will slaughter and kill without rhyme or reason, so Saitama shows them no mercy. [[spoiler: One reason he refuses to see Garou as a monster is that Garou won't kill other humans.]]
** Saitama's standard, however, seems to be whether the monster is an immediate "lethal" danger toward people; he's let [[spoiler: Garou and the weed monster]] live since they were only beating people, he's also let [[spoiler: Black Sperm and Rover live (he even keeps them as pets)]] when they were in a weak form, and finally he's allowed monsters to surrender (Armored Gorilla was spared). He still shows a little more mercy towards full humans (he lets Sonic live, even though he never surrenders or stops being a danger).
** More generally speaking, monsters tend to suffer horrible graphic deaths, being obliterated, exploded, torn to pieces, crushed, bisected, beheaded...while human characters suffer at worst severe but not crippling injuries.

* The alien Arume in ''Manga/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 persecution by 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]].
* ''Anime/XamdLostMemories'' 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 ''Manga/{{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 ''Manga/AlienNine'' 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 ''Manga/AhMyGoddess''. He's willing to reason with others, regardless of what they are. He even aided the demon angel, Blue Lance.

* [[spoiler: Hanyuu Furude]] of ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' [[spoiler: is a [[AGodAmI goddess]].]] However she was originally seen as a monster to many villagers due to her [[spoiler:[[HornedHumanoid horns]]]], though it turns out she's a normal human with a physical condition. She is ritually sacrificed by her reluctant preteen ''[[SelfMadeOrphan daughter]]'', [[spoiler:[[BloodSplatteredInnocents Ouka]], as Hanyuu thought her sacrfice would cause all the villagers sins would be atoned. They didn't and Hanyuu is regretful of it centuries later. Good 'ol [[MessianicArchetype Hanyuu]].]]
* In ''Manga/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...
* ''Manga/ElfenLied'' seems to decide that yes, Diclonii are people too. [[spoiler: And then they're all exterminated to preserve humanity.]]
* In both ''Manga/{{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 cybertechnology, 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 [[ArtificialHuman Bioroid]], both very clearly fully functional people.
* 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 ''Anime/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 ''Franchise/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. This line becomes heavily blurred as the seasons go on, to the point where the teams' powers are reclassified as ''purifying'' than outright "destroying". Also, it's quite rare to see a show's main villain be outright killed and if they are, it's a RedemptionEqualsDeath sort of death.
* In ''Waq Waq'', 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 ''Anime/ElHazardTheMagnificentWorld'', you'll notice that no one seems to care the OVA ends with nearly their entire race being sent to another universe because they're 'icky bugs'. The fact they display signs of intelligence and personality around the one human to speak their language is ignored.

* Subverted in ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' 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.]]
** Kazakiri Hyouka [[spoiler:Fuse=KAZAKIRI]] is an interesting example of this as she is an individual consciousness and yet is also a sentience of the AIM field created from all the Epsers of Academy City. In particular, she decries herself as a monster (twice in the anime, at least) and it's Touma and Index who say otherwise. That doesn't stop Aleister from treating her like a tool as suits his needs.
* If you can look past the rampant {{fanservice}}, cuteness and comedic moments, this is a major element explored in ''Manga/{{Chobits}}''.
* ''Manga/VampirePrincessMiyu''. [[KickTheDog OH]] [[ShootTheDog SO]] [[TearJerker MUCH.]] The Shinma, especially humans made into ones, can be endearing, if villainous. If anything, poor little Hiyoku...goes through hell, turns into a Shinma and expects life to be better, only to get fried. Also related to this is the pair of good rogue Shinma who end up frozen by the Queen Bitch Reiha in the Light of the Sea arc, and some others.
* In the ''Anime/YuGiOh'' English anime, the deaths of human characters (as well as many threats of death of human characters, like Marik's Rare Hunter duels) are [[NeverSayDie censored with banishment to the Shadow Realm]] (for instance, instead of Marik stabbing his father as he did in the Japanese version, he banishes him to the Shadow Realm). They do not seem to have a problem killing off monster characters, like the Great Leviathan and Zorc, or evil spirits like Yami Marik (though Yami does say he will "vanish into the Shadow Realm", but he seems to explode nonetheless) and Yami Bakura. A few exceptions to this have been made; Mahad is destroyed, though he becomes the Dark Magician (a Duel Monster) first. Cecelia Pegasus is said to have been killed by an illness, and of the seven who perish in the virtual world when it is destroyed (Gozaburo, Noah, and the Big Five) only Noah's death is censored (because he is the one who turns good), by the characters speculating that he saved his mind on a backup drive. However, in this case the Big Five are all imprisoned in unseen corners of the virtual world as it is destroyed (and have barely been mentioned since their defeat), and therefore their deaths are offscreen, while Gozaburo transformed into a fire monster at the end and survived for a few seconds, as a beast of fire in the real world, where he attempted to eat the blimp and everyone in it.
* Mostly averted in ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}''. The protagonist humorously blow up non-human and human mooks with equal enthusiasm, although there are more non-human mooks that attack them. If any bloody slaughter is shown, it's always of non-human races, but the story and the protagonists don't treat it as if it isn't terrible. Perhaps the series uses this trope to keep the age rating lower, but they avoid most of the MoralDissonance.
* This is pondered upon by Uragon from ''Anime/TheTowerOfDruaga'', which surprises some viewers since he was TheNeidermeyer up until that point. This came up after he saw that he was the only one who wasn't visited by anyone when the various groups ended up at the House of the Dead ([[VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead no relation]]), and found one of Pazuz's magic knights when he sat down on a bench.
* Contemplated in Creator/RumikoTakahashi's ''Manga/MermaidSaga''. The monstrous, violent "Lost Souls" --humanoid, scaly beasts with frog-like appearances and enormous strength-- are the remains of an unlucky human who ate mermaid flesh and neither died instantly nor became immortal. For the most part, they're treated as {{Giant Mook}}s driven by instinct and prone to violence, so the protagonists destroy them in self-defense with nary a thought. But then Mana is saved by one who retains enough intelligence to dress in robes and hide his horrifying demeanor from others, even living as a hermit in the woods for his own safety as well as other people's (although he also has the strength to dig Mana out of a landslide or tear a deer's head off in order to feed.) Mana comes to understand him and realize that, even as a Lost Soul, he's kind and gentle and wants to keep her safe... but neither Yuuta nor the villagers know this, and the Lost Soul is killed as all the others.

*** More generally, giant animals (not just Sea Kings) in One Piece are frequently sliced in half by protagonists for being territorial/hungry/in the way. This wouldn't be so jarring were it not for the fact that even the most murderous human and humanoid villains in the series--some of whom have killed friends/mentors of the heroes--tend to wind up beaten and humiliated by the protagonists but very much alive. The fact that the heroes seldom use this same non-lethal force to deal with non-humanoid enemies suggests that they don't value animal lives much.
* In ''Manga/PsychicSquad'', the conflict between humans and espers ''generally'' falls under [[FantasticRacism another trope]], but in one episode this is tackled head on, when Minamoto argues for the destruction of [[WeaselMascot Momotaro]] on the grounds that he's an animal, not a human, and a dangerous one. The Children veto this rather forcefully, and Sakaki notes that "they see him as one of them." Later, Kyosuke (an esper) challenges Minamoto to shoot him down in front of Kaoru and show her how humans treat "dangerous animals." [[spoiler: He doesn't take the shot.]]
* This is a major theme in ''Anime/TimeOfEve''. A particularly jarring example is when [[spoiler: Akiko, the resident GenkiGirl, is seen in the protoganist's school with her ring. A passing student simply tosses a bag at her.]]
* This is kinda tricky in ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', as Guts, who was originally [[HiredGuns a mercenary]], has killed scores and scores of scores of people with little [[spoiler: [[HitmanWithAHeart he wasn't too proud]] when he accidentally assassinated a kid]] to no qualms ([[MoralMyopia so long as they weren't people that he liked]]). But after some [[TotalEclipseOfThePlot life-changing events]] and [[DemonSlaying a sudden career change]], Guts now kills scores and scores and scores of monsters - most of whom [[WasOnceAMan used to be human.]] This trope is best exemplified during the Lost Children Arc, where Guts fought with the apostle Rosine and her apostle spawn even after learning that ''they were still children.'' Now, Guts has become quite ruthless after the Eclipse - [[HeartBrokenBadass and with]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds understandable reason]] - but he still tries [[HeWhoFightsMonsters to remain as human as possibly]] by not killing willy-nilly; rather, he'll merely ''threaten'' to kill you, mainly if you're either unarmed or a woman or a child. But if you make the choice to become an apostle - that's it. Guts doesn't have a lick of sympathy for you anymore. Even if [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes you have loved ones]] begging for mercy nearby, he'll shove them aside and won't just kill you: [[ColdBloodedTorture he's going to maim you]] [[ForcedToWatch and force them to watch.]] However, people only become apostles after ''feeding people important to them to other apostles'' as part of a DealWithTheDevil. Which is what happened to Guts' comrades. Small wonder Guts doesn't feel any sympathy for apostles.
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', humans have imprisoned the Tailed Beasts and been using them as living weapons for centuries despite the fact that they are sentient. [[spoiler:This turns out to be the reason the Tailed Beasts hate humanity.]] The same happens to the humans who serve as the Tailed Beasts' vessels, treated as weapons and monsters instead of people.

* This topic is a constant point of contention in the world of ''Manga/{{Gangsta}}''.
* In ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico'', the Earth is being invaded by the alien "Jovian Lizards" - as they are unseen reptilian monsters, it's nice to kill them and destroy their ships. [[spoiler: They're not: The Earth government hides the fact that Jovians are lost human colonists, because if that be public, the Earth soldiers would be reluctant to fight the Jovians. In fact, once the crew of ''Nadesico'' discovers this truth, many crewpeople refuse to fight the Jovians.]]
* Quite a lot of this trope going on in ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'', but perhaps the most jarring example is a short scene in ''The Second Renaissance'' Part I. As it opens, you see a group of men pushing around a young, defenseless girl--a scene of physical abuse made more chilling by the fact that it's uncomfortably common in RealLife. Then one of the men hits her on the head with a sledgehammer, [[RoboticReveal revealing robotic circuitry under her skin]]. She tries escaping, as another man rips off her dress for additional implied rape imagery. Then she is shotgunned to death, with her last cry being "[[BecomeARealBoy No! I'm real!]]"
* One of the major themes of ''Manga/{{Sekirei}}'', as the titular beings are essentially HumanAlien {{Mons}} raised by a MegaCorp to take part in a cruel game of ThereCanBeOnlyOne. They are dehumanized in a variety of ways, from [[YouAreNumberSix having a number]] and being given a personal name only as an extra identifier, being subject to a monthly MeasuringDay to gather data on them, and even sometimes treated like prizes to be awarded to the winner because it'll spice up the Game. Each Sekirei has a destined master (an Ashikabi) they're meant to be with, an explicitly romantic bond that strengthens them through ThePowerOfLove......however, they can be forcefully bonded to be different master, an action fully encouraged by the GameMaster. Not all Ashikabi are kind to their Sekirei, with some treating them as disposable or outright abusing them, as many are submissive badasses that will tolerate mistreatment rather than suffer their bond being broken. These types see nothing wrong with their actions, since the Sekirei aren't human and [[SlaveRace belong to them]], right? One of the primary goals of the protagonists is to set the Sekirei free, since they're ''people'' and not things.
* In ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'', a few hoodlums are up against a "shadow". While they've killed before, the narration explicitly notes that they don't feel there's anything wrong with trying to kill it. Said "shadow" is Celty, HeadlessHorseman, CuteMonsterGirl, and the main character. Oh, and a badass, so they really didn't have a chance.
* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', the heroes tend to have little issue with killing Angels, most of whom display little sentience. It is only when Shinji kills [[HumanoidAbomination Kaworu]], a teenage boy and the final Angel, that he shows any real remorse or regret.

* This is a major part of the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' mythos - [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Newtypes]], [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Coordinators]], [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE X-Rounders]], humans with amazing powers, but seen as little more than weapons for their war machines. Even worse, you got humans who are modified to combat these people, too.
** And then there's the actual aliens in ''Gundam'', the ELS of ''Anime/Gundam00AwakeningOfTheTrailblazer''. In one scene, a human politician is seen saying "Hold on, we're talking about ''hunks of metal'' here! They aren't even alive!" Comes to a head in some of the [[Manga/Gundam00Sidestories side stories]], which talk about a revolt against Innovators and ELS (and especially ELS-Innovator hybrids) by humans fixated on maintaining "pure humanity".
** This even extends towards light-hearted entries. In ''Anime/GundamBuildDivers'', [[spoiler:when it is revealed that Sarah is actually a highly powerful AI system accidentally created by GBN, Sarah's friends within Force Build Divers want to protect her and strain for a way to save her. On the other end, Game Master, the head admin for the game, just sees her as a bug and a threat to the system and constantly refers to her as "EL-Diver". It comes to a head near the finale when Build Divers is put in a situation where they must fight virtually every other Diver in the game to save Sarah's life, but their determination and love for Sarah ends up inspiring everyone and they later aid the team in making sure she makes it safely. Interestingly, in the final episode, both sides admit how selfish their actions were - Riku admits that putting Sarah ahead of GBN was selfish and childish and Kurt, a member of Rommel's 7th Panzer Division, apologizes for the trouble his situation caused for everyone.]]
** This continues on into ''Anime/GundamBuildDiversReRise''. [[spoiler: [[AIIsACrapshoot The AI known as Alus]] sees the peaceful inhabitants of Eldora as alien invaders who have taken over his protected planet and seeks to eradicate them. Hiroto and his companions initially see the Eldorans as [=NPCs=] to GBN, but once they're hit with TheReveal over the planet and its inhabitants, they become willing to risk their lives to protect them from the malfunctioning AI. As well, Kazami ends up developing a crush on one of them, Maiyu.]]
* In ''LightNovel/ICouldntBecomeAHeroSoIReluctantlyDecidedToGetAJob'', Delila MAGTEC, a provider of products for the MegaCorp Amada, forces docile monsters to make their goods in order to save money. They literally work them to death. When Sarah expresses how terrible this is, the staff member accompanying them simply says "We're only talking about monsters here."
* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'', ghouls - with the exception of their [[RedEyesTakeWarning kakugan]] and [[NaturalWeapon kagune]] (which only manifest when they're near-starving or in a fight) - are visually indistinguishable from humans, but eating anything other than [[HorrorHunger human flesh]] makes them violently ill and impacts their health. While some of them are prolific serial killers, [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire peaceful ghouls]] (who stick to collecting corpses from suicide hotspots and the like) are also treated as fair game by [[KnightTemplar the Doves]], and citizens are encouraged to turn any suspected ghouls into the CCG, where they may be tortured for information ([[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil at least one of the worst villains was created this way]]), experimented on, and have their organs extracted for use in anti-Ghoul weaponry. Early on, the protagonists ask a CCG employee if she feels conflicted over hunting down a child ghoul, only to be cheerfully told there's nothing wrong with it because ghouls aren't human. The result is a long-running and vicious CycleOfRevenge stuffed to the brim with VanHelsingHateCrimes.
* Completely averted in ''Anime/MonsterRancher'', where despite the main character Genki being a human boy, most of his companions (except [[TheHeart Holly]]) are very much not humanoid. This includes a blue horned wolf, a giant rabbit, a rock monster, a massive yellow eyeball, and even an armored mochi monster. This also extends to many of his non-human enemies, whom Genki will try to save (including a robot who developed {{Fantastic Racism}} towards humans for exactly what this trope implies). Some of the {{Big Bad}}'s most monstrous looking minions even performed {{Heel Face Turn}}s, among them a bug-looking wolf, and a serpentine lizard man, while some more attractive and humanoid antagonists remaining unrepentent. Even the Big Bad Moo, an evil overlord whose true form is a massive dragon, was once Holly's father whose body became possessed by the villain's soul.

* In ''Anime/CrossAnge'', most of the characters have no problem at all slaughtering the [=DRAGONs=], but will balk if asked to kill a human being. [[spoiler:When it comes to light that the [=DRAGONs=] are actually human (heavily genetically modified humans, anyway), the main cast doesn't take it well. Ange is shown vomiting from the sheer horror of knowing she's ended human lives.]] Mana based society is another story: Normas, which make up the bulk of the cast, aren't even considered human to begin with, therefore, Ange also returns the favor: She doesn't even consider them humans, but just merely selfish pigs; the only ones she considered 'human' are the Norma and [[spoiler:[=DRAGONs=]]], or those who know decency to others. And turns out, Mana users are [[spoiler:genetically modified by [[BigBad Embryo]], so structure and DNA-wise, they couldn't be pure humans but believed themselves as humans anyway. Norma, on the other hand, was considered a genetic defect but overall turns out to be closer to normal humans which didn't have Embryo's meddling, and turns out metaphorically symbolic in Embryo's downfall.]]
* Notably averted in ''Manga/MonsterMusume'', despite expectation: the "monsters" are really just "HumanSubspecies". The problem they face is common human prejudice akin to different minorities rather than being being alien species, leading to a different trope entirely. This is mainly because 1) they've always existed, rather than as a fantasy introduction; [[TheMasquerade the human government has just kept them hidden]] and 2) they are indeed "human subspecies" and for the most part they act like humans with physical quirks; [[spoiler:in fact, humans and some extra-species have always reproduced together]] and the zombie extra-species is, in fact, composed of [[OurZombiesAreDifferent actual former humans anyway]]. However, the less humanoid-looking mosnters, such as the more horse-like centaur males, will generally be seen as beastly and gross compared to their more humanoid female counterparts.

* In ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'' there are female warriors who are hybrids of humans and youma. And youma are "demons" that eat human entrails. The humans despise and fear them, or hate them even, and refer to them disparagingly as "silver-eyed witches". For almost all humans these female warriors are no more than youma. But they themselves see themselves as humans. It is also an important thing for them that they do not become a Awakened Being, because then they lose their human mind and would become monsters, also mentally. And indeed the anime shows many humans as evil, but that most warriors are really good.
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' explores this trope to create considerable drama. A series that starts out featuring humans desperately trying to exterminate mindless monsters becomes more complicated with TheReveal that [[spoiler: Titans were once human]], and other humans present an even greater threat. The cast struggles in various ways with having to kill other humans to survive, applying Titan-killing skills against their fellow man. From there, things get even more difficult: [[spoiler: The Titans are created from the Eldian people, an ethnic minority that the majority of the cast belong to. Not only have they been killing their own people all along, but they learn that the ''rest'' of humanity considers them to be inhuman monsters. In the outside world, Eldians are not considered human, and treated as a SlaveRace with no rights. Abusing, torturing, and killing them is considered perfectly acceptable and the nation of Marley treats them like disposable military equipment]].
* Discusssed in ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia''. During the Pro Hero arc, Endeavor fights the High-End Nomu, a powerful ArtificialHuman with multiple Quirks, and is ultimately forced to kill it. A few dozen chapters later, Ending, an insane villain who [[DeathSeeker wants to die by Endeavor's hand]], says that while heroes [[ThouShaltNotKill aren't supposed to kill people]], Endeavor killed that Nomu, a creature that is neither dead nor alive. Ending claims to be the same in that regard, and insists that Endeavor kill him.
* In ''Manga/OdeToKirihito'' by Osamu Tezuka, a newly discovered, fatal disease [[spoiler: caused by exposure to high levels of mine runoff]] called Monmow's disease causes people to change into doglike mutants before dying within about a month. Dr. Osanai Kirihito is assigned to medical research in the African village where the disease originated by his [[CorruptCorporateExecutive boss]] in order to [[ProfessorGuineaPig gather data]] on the disease.
* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean'' has Foo Fighters, [[UpliftedAnimal a sentient colony of zooplankton]] that was granted both consciousness and a Stand by Pucci to protect his large stockpile of stolen Stand discs. Originally a loyal minion, Foo Fighters switched sides after being [[DefeatMeansFriendship defeated and then saved from death by Jolyne]], becoming an ally and a good friend. [[spoiler: Jolyne is heartbroken when she [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices herself to save Anasui and Jotaro's memory DISC]], and asks to not be brought back, since [[DyingAsYourself it probably wouldn't be the same Foo Fighters]]. She thanks Jolyne for being her friend and fades away.]]
* ''Manga/KemonoJihen'':
** Tademaru's revealed to have hundreds of animalistic half-siblings due to his uncle Akio's insemination experiments on his mother. Akio's also shown to keep many of these these half-siblings as attack animals on standby in case he gets caught -- except for Aya, the youngest and most humanoid, who also happens to have been born with the genes he was hoping for. The rest of his siblings die in battle, and Aya even briefly questions if her brother paid attention to her because she was the only human-looking sibling, despite being as much as a "tool" for Akio as the rest. Their mother also expresses this in a way: when referring to her children, she only refers to Tademaru and Aya.
** The issue is complicated when it comes to Kemono and humans: while they did coexist with each other for a time, they've mostly been separated after the war. Some Kemono can get along with humans fine, to the point of living in human circles and even having HalfHumanHybrids by them, but others view humans as mere tools and food sources. Even the heroes' opinions vary: they're willing to stop Kemono from needlessly putting humans in danger, but protect a {{People Farm|s}} from falling into enemy hands since a lot of Kemono would lose a reliable food source if they shut it down completely.

* Inverted in ''Manga/KemonoJihen'', due to the cast consisting almost entirely of kemono:

* In ''Manga/KemonoJihen'',

* In ''Manga/KemonoJihen'', Tademaru's revealed to have hundreds of animalistic half-siblings due to his uncle Akio's insemination experiments on his mother. Akio's also shown to keep many of these these half-siblings as attack animals on standby in case he gets caught -- except for Aya, the youngest and most humanoid, who also happens to have been born with the genes he was hoping for. The rest of his siblings die in battle, and Aya even briefly questions if her brother paid attention to her because she was the only human-looking sibling, despite being as much as a "tool" for Akio as the rest. Their mother also expresses this in a way: when referring to her children, she only refers to Tademaru and Aya.

* Discussed in ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''.

* The vagrant [=AIs=] in the ''[[Franchise/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.

** 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.

* This is a prevalent theme in Digimon. In seasons [[Anime/DigimonAdventure 1]], [[Anime/DigimonFrontier 4]] and [[Anime/DigimonSavers 5]], it was handwaved by the heroes since [[BornAgainImmortality the digimon killed would return as digi-eggs]]. The human villains usually see only the Digimon as enemy's, while one glaring human [[Anime/DigimonSavers exception]] and all the other vilains avert this.

** The [[Anime/DigimonXrosWars sixth]] season plays it straight completely, since the human characters have zero compulsion to spare enemy Digimon, without knowing if they'll ever be reborn, despite calling digimon friendly companions in the opening.

* Notably averted in ''Manga/DailyLifeWithMonsterGirl'', despite expectation: the "monsters" are really just "HumanSubspecies". The problem they face is common human prejudice akin to different minorities rather than being being alien species, leading to a different trope entirely. This is mainly because 1) they've always existed, rather than as a fantasy introduction; [[TheMasquerade the human government has just kept them hidden]] and 2) they are indeed "human subspecies" and for the most part they act like humans with physical quirks; [[spoiler:in fact, humans and some extra-species have always reproduced together]] and the zombie extra-species is, in fact, composed of [[OurZombiesAreDifferent actual former humans anyway]]. However, the less humanoid-looking mosnters, such as the more horse-like centaur males, will generally be seen as beastly and gross compared to their more humanoid female counterparts.

* 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.

* In ''Manga/KemonoJihen'', Tademaru's revealed to have hundreds of half-siblings due to his uncle Akio's insemination experiments on his mother. He's also shown to keep many of these these half-siblings as attack animals on standby in case he gets caught -- except for Aya, the youngest and most humanoid, who also happens to have been born with the genes he was hoping for. The rest of his siblings die in battle, and Aya even briefly questions if her brother paid attention to her because she was the only human-looking sibling, despite being as much as a "tool" for Akio as the rest.

* Notably averted in ''Manga/DailyLifeWithMonsterGirl'', despite expectation: the "monsters" are really just "HumanSubspecies". The problem they face is common human prejudice akin to different minorities rather than being being alien species, leading to a different trope entirely. This is mainly because 1) they've always existed, rather than as a fantasy introduction; [[TheMasquerade the human government has just kept them hidden]] and 2) they are indeed "human subspecies" and for the most part they act like humans with physical quirks; [[spoiler:in fact, humans and some extra-species have always reproduced together]] and the zombie extra-species is, in fact, composed of [[OurZombiesAreDifferent actual former humans anyway]].

* Although never discussed in the actual webcomic/manga/anime, ''Manga/AxisPowersHetalia'' has [[MoeAnthropomorphism personified countries]] as characters, and fans tend to argue whether they are actually human or not.

* ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}''

* ''Anime/KillLaKill''

* ''Manga/FullMetalAlchemist'' loves [[ContemplateOurNavels navel contemplation]] about this.

* ''Manga/OnePunchMan'': Saitama kills obviously-sentient non-human monsters (even ones whose inhumanity is physically slight, like a CuteMonsterGirl) without the slightest hint of remorse; but he refuses to kill humans ever. [[spoiler:This is particularly obvious in the Garou arc, where Saitama decides that Garou is human and won't allow the heroes to kill him.]] Part of this is that some monsters were never human in the first place. Those who were human typically went crazy due to a particular trauma or obsession and mutated; after the mutation, the monsters have lost all humanity and will slaughter and kill without rhyme or reason, so Saitama shows them no mercy. [[spoiler: One reason he refuses to see Garou as a monster is that Garou won't kill other humans.]]

* In ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', Chachamaru 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 the 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.

* This is kinda tricky in ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'', as Guts, who was originally [[HiredGuns a mercenary]], has killed scores and scores of scores of people with little [[spoiler: [[HitmanWithAHeart he wasn't too proud]] when he accidentally assassinated a kid]] to no qualms ([[MoralMyopia so long as they weren't people that he liked]]). But after some [[TotalEclipseOfThePlot life-changing events]] and [[DemonSlaying a sudden career change]], Guts now kills scores and scores and scores of monsters - most of whom [[WasOnceAMan used to be human.]] This trope is best exemplified during the Lost Children Arc, where Guts fought with the apostle Rosine and her apostle spawn even after learning that ''they were still children.'' Now, Guts has become quite ruthless after the Eclipse - [[HeartBrokenBadass and with]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds understandable reason]] - but he still tries [[HeWhoFightsMonsters to remain as human as possibly]] by not killing willy-nilly; rather, he'll merely ''threaten'' to kill you, mainly if you're either unarmed or a woman or a child. But if you make the choice to become an apostle - that's it. Guts doesn't have a lick of sympathy for you anymore. Even if [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes you have loved ones]] begging for mercy nearby, he'll shove them aside and won't just kill you: [[ColdBloodedTorture he's going to maim you]] [[ForcedToWatch and force them to watch.]] However, people only become apostles after ''feeding people important to them to other apostles'' as part of a DealWithTheDevil. Which is what happened to Guts' comrades. Small wonder Guts doesn't feel any sympathy for apostles.

* In ''Manga/ZettaiKarenChildren'', the conflict between humans and espers ''generally'' falls under [[FantasticRacism another trope]], but in one episode this is tackled head on, when Minamoto argues for the destruction of [[WeaselMascot Momotaro]] on the grounds that he's an animal, not a human, and a dangerous one. The Children veto this rather forcefully, and Sakaki notes that "they see him as one of them." Later, Kyosuke (an esper) challenges Minamoto to shoot him down in front of Kaoru and show her how humans treat "dangerous animals." [[spoiler: He doesn't take the shot.]]

* Mostly averted in ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}''. The protagonist humorously blow up non-human and human mooks with equal enthusiasm, although there are more non-human mooks that attack them. If any bloody slaughter is shown, it's always of non-human races, but the story and the protagonists don't treat it as if it isn't terrible. Perhaps the series uses this trope [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar because dead humans will get them M-ratings]], but they avoid most of the MoralDissonance.

* Discussed in ''Manga/KimiToBoku'' when the boys converse about how festival games involving catching fish with thin nets is toying with their lives. They say the man who owns the booth doesn't value the goldfishes lives enough. They end up getting him so mad that he gives them better nets, which lets them catch multiple fish.

** In the first story arc, the Hollows are established to be human souls corrupted before they could be purified by the Shinigami. They eventually lose sight of their human lives. A Shinigami's job isn't just to kill them, but purify their souls and allow them to pass on properly. One of the reasons the Shinigami went to war with the Quincy is because their abilities out right oblierate hollows, destroying the soul they used to be.

** Early in the plot, Inuyasha off a arm of his half-brother Sesshomaru in a battle. This gets the arm of a dragon youkai, and attacks him again. Inuyasha then uses the hidden attack of his sword for the first time, and in this way hurls Sesshomaru away. Shortly afterwards, Totosai explains that Sesshomaru is angry at Inuyasha because he got a more powerful sword from her father than he did. Miroku is puzzled that it sounds like Sesshomaru is still alive, and Totosai explains it is. Neither Miroku nor Kagome, Sango, Shippo, or even Inuyasha himself were bothered by Inuyasha's willingness to kill his half-brother. And the bad thing is that Sango and Kagome also have brothers.

*** In ''Anime/InuYashaTheMovieSwordsOfAnHonorableRuler'' Inuyasha is obsessed by the demonic sword So'unga. He follows a young woman, and Miroku stands in his path, holding his hand as if he would to suck him in, though he appeals to him to fight the power of the sword before. Inuyasha later does not accuse him again of this murder attempt.

* [[spoiler: Hanyuu Furude]] of ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' [[spoiler: is a [[AGodAmI goddess]].]] However she was originally seen as a monster to many villagers due to her [[spoiler:[[HornedHumanoid horns]]]], though it turns out she's a normal human with a physical condition. She is ritually sacrificed by her reluctant preteen ''[[SelfMadeOrphan daughter]]'', [[spoiler:[[BloodSplatteredInnocents Ouka]], as Hanyuu thought her sacrfice would cause all the villagers sins would be atoned. They didn't and Hanyuu is regretful of it centuries later.]] Good 'ol [[MessianicArchetype Hanyuu]].]]

* In ''Manga/{{Gunnm}}'', this is explored from 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.

** There is also the sentient [[spoiler:cactus plant with mind control powers that begs for it's life as it's squashed to death.]]

** In all fairness, Scar only killed her because he could tell that she was in great pain (no doubt due to her transformation). So to his way of thinking it was probably a MercyKill. Doesn't excuse what he did of course, but still.

** In the first story arc, the Hollows are established to be human souls corrupted before they could be purified by the Shinigami. They eventually lose sight of their human lives. A Shinigami's job isn't just to kill them, but purify their souls and allow them to pass on properly. One of the reasons the Shinigami went to war with the Quincy is because their abilities out right oblierated a hollow, destroying the soul they used to be.

** This even extends towards light-hearted entries. In ''Anime/GundamBuildDivers'', [[spoiler:when it is revealed that Sarah is actually a highly powerful AI system accidentally created by GBN, Sarah's friends within Force Build Divers want to protect her and strain for a way to save her. On the other end, Game Master, the head admin for the game, just sees her as a bug and a threat to the system and constantly refers to her as "EL-Diver". It comes to a head near the finale when Build Divers is put in a situation where they must fight virtually every other Diver in the game to save Sarah's life, but their determination and love for Sarah ends up inspiring everyone and they later aid the team in making sure she makes it safely.]]

* In ''YuushaNiNarenakattaOreWaShibushibuShuushokuOKetsuiShimashita'', Delila MAGTEC, a provider of products for the MegaCorp Amada, forces docile monsters to make their goods in order to save money. They literally work them to death. When Sarah expresses how terrible this is, the staff member accompanying them simply says "We're only talking about monsters here."

* In ''Anime/CrossAnge'', most of the characters have no problem at all slaughtering the [=DRAGONs=], but will balk if asked to kill a human being. [[spoiler:When it comes to light that the [=DRAGONs=] are actually human (heavily genetically modified humans, anyway), the main cast doesn't take it well. Ange is shown vomiting from the sheer horror of knowing she's ended human lives.]] Mana based society is another story: Normas, which make up the bulk of the cast, aren't even considered human to begin with, therefore, Ange also returns the favor: She doesn't even consider them humans, but just merely selfish pigs; the only ones she considered 'human' are the Norma and [[spoiler:[=DRAGONs=]]], or those who know decency to others.