History WhatMeasureIsANonHuman / Literature

** What Measure is a House Elf. The [[FantasticRacism bad guys]] cheerfully abuse House Elves. Hermione always cared for them, and Harry and Ron come around over the course of the series.

** Subverted in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Discworld/TheFifthElephant'', in which the conscientious Sam Vimes insists on going through proper police procedure, including asking the creature whether it is resisting arrest, before firing on an insane [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolf]]. The ethics of killing "monsters" that are also sentient creatures in the Discworld is dealt with in several of its books. For instance, Granny Weatherwax insists on having an anthropomorphic wolf given a proper burial after it is killed at its own request. The BigBad was bringing FairyTales to life. In the fairy tale, the [[Literature/LittleRedRidingHood Big Bad Wolf]] behaves like a human, but it's okay to kill him like a wolf. By burying him as if he were human, Granny was fighting the story. So Pratchett was playing with how the story of Literature/LittleRedRidingHood is an example of this trope.

** ''Discworld/ReaperMan'' even includes a zombie civil-rights activist, who moonlights as a police officer "Undead? Yes. Un-Person? NO!" And in the same book, after Windle Poons becomes a zombie, he's actually somewhat ''more'' alive than most humans.
** Played with/deconstructed in ''Discworld/TheAmazingMauriceAndHisEducatedRodents'': not only are the Clan (talking rats) the object of this trope themselves, but their intra-Clan arguments about the status of ''non''-talking rats pretty much cover the full range of WhatMeasureIsANonHuman, from complete disregard and hostility to believing they're innocents that merit kindness and protection.

** Discussed in ''Discworld/Snuff''; nobody sees goblins as anything more than irritating vermin, until they are shown that goblins can create beautiful artwork, compose and play music, and learn to speak English. This mirrors the treatment of indigenous peoples by European colonisers, who didn't (and often still don't) accept them as properly civilised unless they followed European customs and lived European lifestyles.

** ''Literature/SecondFoundationTrilogy'': Bear, Brin, and Benford as re-examine Asimov's ''Literature/{{Foundation}}'' universe. [[ThreeLawsCompliant Asimovian robots]] are clearly sapient (if [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans not always nice]]) beings, but have been programmed to protect humanity at all costs. They have no such restrictions regarding each other (they fight a galaxy-wide war over how best to [[strike: control]] [[strike: guide]] take care of humans, and are prepared to execute one robot whose Three Laws have been accidentally erased because he ''might'' harm a human) or aliens (having [[AbsentAliens wiped out multiple sapient species while terraforming the galaxy]]). Even "hero" Daneel Olivaw has considered secretly replacing "real" humans with re-engineered chimps made to look like the real thing but be more controllable.

* ''TheCityInTheMiddleOfTheNight'' extensively explores this trope. The Gelet, a race of aliens on a planet that humans colonized, are seen by the humans as dangerous monsters. Human protagonist Sophie manages to telepathically communicate with them [[BizarreAlienBiology via their pincer tentacles,]] and she realizes that they are as intelligent, if not more so, than humans. They have culture, architecture, engineering, and complex feelings.

** Then in ''Literature/{{Oathbringer}}'' [[spoiler: It's revealed that Parshmen (actually called Singers) are basically Parshendi who had lost their intelligence by losing the ability to change forms natural to their race. The Everstorm returns their ability to shift forms and they are (understandably) pretty pissed off about being enslaved.]]

** Then in ''Literature/Oathbringer'' [[Spoiler: It's revealed that Parshmen (actually called Singers) are basically Parshendi who had lost their intelligence by losing the ability to change forms natural to their race. The Everstorm returns their ability to shift forms and they are (understandably) pretty pissed off about being enslaved.]]

** The fairies themselves subvert this. Fairy spiritual law [[ApeShallNeverKillApe forbids them from killing one]] another. They extend this sentiment to trolls, despite the fact that trolls are extremely dangerous animals and definitely not sapient.

* In ''Literature/DoubleStar'' by ''Creator/RobertAHeinlein'' humans are the dominant race,but Martians, Venusians, and Jovians are roughly the same level. Humans have split into two political parties: Epansionists who belive in equal rights for all sntient beins, and the Humanity Party, which wants t5o restrict the franchise to human beings.

* In ''Literature/DoubleStar'' by ''Creator/RobertAHeinlein'' human are the dominant race,but Martians, Venusians, and Jovians are roughly the same level. Humans have split into two political parties: Epansionists who belive in equal rights for all sntient beins, and the Humanity Party, which wants t5o restrict the franchise to human beings.

* Creator/JimButcher's ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' has it built into the in-universe Laws of Magic: Killing a human with magic? Punishable by Death. Killing a vampire/ogre/werewolf/fae with magic? Perfectly fine. Using Necromancy to raise humans as zombies? Punishable by Death. Using Necromancy to raise animals as zombies? Frowned upon, but technically allowed. Using Necromancy to raise a ''TyrannosaurusRex''? ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Awesome]]''.

* Explored repeatedly in the "Second Foundation trilogy" by Bear, Brin, and Benford as they re-examine Asimov's Literature/{{Foundation}} universe. Asimovian robots are clearly sapient (if [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans not always nice]]) beings, but have been programmed to protect humanity at all costs. They have no such restrictions regarding each other (they fight a galaxy-wide war over how best to [[strike: control]] [[strike: guide]] take care of humans, and are prepared to execute one robot whose Three Laws have been accidentally erased because he ''might'' harm a human) or aliens (having [[AbsentAliens wiped out multiple sapient species while terraforming the galaxy]]). Even "hero" Daneel Olivaw has considered secretly replacing "real" humans with re-engineered chimps made to look like the real thing but be more controllable.
** The ''one'' time aliens appear in what is undoubtedly a story set in the Robots/Empire/Foundation setting written by Asimov himself, the human protagonist clearly sees them as no less important than humans -- and manipulates bureaucracy so they (effectively on a reservation of their homeworld) get a chance to leave the overwhelmingly human-dominated Milky Way for another galaxy. This does not mean it could not be played with in other ways in other stories... [[spoiler: for instance, by meddling with the definition of human for the robots made on one planet so as to define ''only'' humans speaking with the local dialect as humans...]]

* In the ''Literature/HIVESeries'', after the reveal that [[spoiler:Otto is a clone, implanted with an organic computer to augment his brain, he]] begins to think of [[spoiler:him]]self as not human. All of the other characters completely disregard this, however, treating [[spoiler:him]] exactly as they did before finding out about [[spoiler:his heritage.]] In fact, the only character who treats [[spoiler:Otto]] as anything but human is [[spoiler:his father.]]
* In ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', Trillian is the only one who consistently treats Marvin as more than just a robot (or at least tries to). Marvin is hard-pressed to deal with that.
* In the ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' book ''A Spell for Chameleon'' by Creator/PiersAnthony, a manticore asks a wizard whether it, only being 10% human, has a soul like they do. The answer is that the mere act of wondering whether one has a soul is proof of having one.
* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' called attention to this one. The main characters are humans who resist an invasion of aliens called Yeerks while maintaining a {{Masquerade}} to the effect that this resistance consists not of humans, but of Andalites, a species of alien opposed to the Yeerks. One Yeerk figures out the truth by noticing that these supposed "Andalites" have killed many nonhuman aliens, but have seldom or never a human. Not to say that the killing of sentient aliens doesn't have an effect on the group (the leader laters suffers serious psychological problems because, near the end of the series, he orders several thousand sentient creatures killed with one punch of a button. And it wasn't particularly necessary.)

** The two primary AlwaysChaoticEvil races, Yeerks and Taxxons, who are slaughtered without second thoughts for most of the series, receive some sympathy by the Animorphs (in particular Cassie and Tobias, respectively), when it's discovered that their behaviour is caused by biological factors. This doesn't save them from being slaughtered en masse.
*** It's also revealed that some or most Taxxons would ''prefer'' to be slaughtered than live with [[HorrorHunger the hunger]] (though a peaceful solution is immediately put into effect when it's discovered that Taxxons aren't willingly AlwaysChaoticEvil, the WhatMeasureIsANonHuman just gets transferred to the entire flight-incapable population of the Amazon jungle).

* Surprisingly, this theme comes up a lot in the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' series.
** "A Shocker on Shock Street" has two android children, unaware of their real identities, being employed to test out increasingly dangerous horror park attractions by their "father." These machines show real human emotions, and their creator [[AbusiveParents doesn't care as long as he has someone to test the park.]] In the TV adaptation, though, they turn on him in a very satisfying manner.
** "My Hairiest Adventure" is about a group of couples who have their dogs illegally experimented on to evolve them into human kids, because they aren't ready to have children. Eventually, the process begins to wear off, and the dogs/kids are terrified. They do grow accustomed to their true identities, but that doesn't excuse how these people screwed with their beloved pets.
** "Stay Out of the Basement" tells the story of MadScientist Michael Brewer, who creates a series of grotesque human plant clones from his own DNA. One of these creatures kidnaps Brewer,tries to take over his life, and is eventually slaughtered by its creator with an axe. He later does the same to the rest of the plants, although this is somewhat justified because they were faulty and suffering.
** In "The Curse of Camp Cold Lake" the protagonist Sarah meets the ghost of Della Raver, a lonely young camper who died in a tragic accident, and now wants a buddy to go to the afterlife. Sarah not only refuses, but rather callously disregards Dellas earlier kindness, probably because she's undead. You can't really blame Della for reacting the way she did.
* Creator/JimButcher's ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''has it built into the in-universe Laws of Magic: Killing a human with magic? Punishable by Death. Killing a vampire/ogre/werewolf/fae with magic? Perfectly fine. Using Necromancy to raise humans as zombies? Punishable by Death. Using Necromancy to raise animals as zombies? Frowned upon, but technically allowed. Using Necromancy to raise a ''TyrannosaurusRex''? ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Awesome]]''.

** The Laws of Magic explicitly only apply to humans - both use of and use upon. Nonhumans using black magic is not in and of itself a violation of any Laws because they're not humans that are using black magic (though the Council destroys hostile nonhuman magic users on principle anyway). And in a similar vein, use of black magic ''on'' a nonhuman doesn't have any repercussions either; a wizard can blow away a thousand fairies or vampires and the Council couldn't care less. This is primarily because the Laws were written only to protect mortals from destructive use of magic, and the Council itself doesn't care about nonhumans. Jim Butcher [[WordOfGod himself pointed out that]] the Laws were written by humans, for humans, and that they're not intended to be fair to nonhumans.
*** Butcher didn't seem adverse to playing around with whether the Laws are natural or man made. Harry describes breaking the laws as leaving a stain on you, that spurs you toward further depravity, much like the Dark Side of the Force. A part of his self esteem issues comes from believing that his education in black magic has left him impure, and he's only one step away from turning into Charles Manson. He was especially worried that this would happen to his apprentice.

* A major running theme of the later books of Creator/OrsonScottCard's first ''[[Literature/EndersGame Ender]]'' series (''Literature/SpeakerForTheDead'', ''Literature/{{Xenocide}}'', ''Literature/ChildrenOfTheMind''), where aliens (human and non-) are rated based on how alike to oneself they are. It is acceptable - or at least a necessary evil - to kill aliens that are hostile and are impossible to communicate with, or that are possible to communicate with but so different in mindset that communication is essentially futile (lumped together under the term "varelse"). Non-human aliens that can be communicated with and peacefully coexisted with are termed "ramen." Perhaps most important to this scale is that these values are relative to the evaluator's own understanding of the alien: that is, once someone understands how to communicate with an alien, they instantly switch from varelse to ramen. Any alien species in the "varelse" category is a deficiency of understanding of the human classifying them as such. As such, some aliens encountered move from varelse to ramen over the course of one or more books, usually not without a significant degree of bloodshed before understanding by both sides is attained.
** Ultimately, the definition of "varelse" is changed: ones you cannot communicate with you simply stay away from. Varelse are species that knowingly exterminate other intelligent species; Humanity missed this with the Buggers by a ''single fertile female'', and the Piggies by a DeusExMachina involving teleportation. So the jury's still out on whether or not HumansAreTheRealMonsters.
*** The Formics dissected a human crew alive and invaded Earth, then followed it up with a second invasion before ''they'' realized humans were also sentient (but on an individual, rather than hive level), so it's not a question of whether HumansAreTheRealMonsters or Humans Don't Want to Die Horribly and an inability for the two species to communicate and rectify some horrible misunderstandings. The treatment of the Piggies, on the other hand, is inexcusable, but the MoralEventHorizon is only really crossed by one officer, exceeding his legal authority, who decides he must make a moral sacrifice for the sake of humanity, by playing a villain and wiping out the Piggies...
* In a similar vein, much of the plot of Creator/PhilipKDick's ''Literature/DoAndroidsDreamOfElectricSheep'' (later adapted into ''Film/BladeRunner'') revolves around [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots androids]] who are so incredibly advanced that it is impossible to tell them apart from actual humans without elaborate tests that need professional training to perform. The main character is a bounty hunter of androids, and he frequently questions the morality of what he is doing.
** About half of everything PKD wrote deals with this trope. In ''Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'', the differences between a human and an android (an underlying lack of empathy for other living beings) are introduced early, vanishingly small, and surprisingly significant. In ''We Can Build You'', the robots are more human than one of the lead characters.

* Creator/CSLewis's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' series has the problem that Narnia is a country full of fantastic creatures, but to a large part they're just local color while the humans (and ideally human visitors from the "real" world at that) do the ''important'' stuff. A hundred years of winter under the reign of the White Witch, but it takes four kids from real world Britain to stumble into a wardrobe for Aslan to bother showing up and everyone to rally to actually ''do'' anything about her. When the same kids come back post-timeskip and discover to their shock that Narnia's been conquered by humans, it's only to put the "correct" spawn of ''that exact human dynasty'' on the throne and once they do it's all sunshine and rainbows again. The ''Dawn Treader'' leaves Narnia on [[Literature/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader her eponymous voyage]] with a single nonhuman crew member who's mostly there for comic relief. And so on.
** One specific ''Narnia'' book, ''Literature/TheSilverChair'', explores this one a lot:

*** The climax mixes this with WouldntHitAGirl when [[spoiler:the BigBad forsakes a human form for that of [[ScaledUp a ginormous snake]] just before being vanquished, which makes hacking her head off more acceptable despite the fact that it's ''still the same person'']]. Earlier, the book also explores
*** Not to mention the BigBad's mooks. At first the children regard them as demonic and evil, but after the climax, it is revealed that they were enslaved by a spell and are, depite their appearance, not demonic at all.
* In Lee Lightner's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Literature/SpaceWolf novel ''Sons of Fenris'', Cadmus, while surrounded by servitors, nevertheless thinks of himself as alone because they are more machine than man. They really are- and not ''sentient'' machines either. Aside from physical enhancements, the process of creating a Servitor essentially consists of tearing out any part of the original human brain not immediately useful for the Servitor's assigned task. In a real sense they're dead- the practice of creating them shows just how much measure even a ''human'' is in the CrapsackWorld of TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}. Although a Tech Priest would see otherwise.
** [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-Zagged]] in ''Literature/ThePathOfTheEldar''. Thirianna [[TheAtoner struggles to cope with some of the things she did during her time as an aspect warrior]]. [[spoiler:During a raid meant to destroy a Chaos artifact, she goes out of her way to try and save a human child's life, but the child becomes a daemonhost. However, when the Imperial fleet attacks Craftworld Alaitoc, she is disgusted by the human invaders and has no qualms about killing them]].

* Subverted in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Discworld/TheFifthElephant'', in which the conscientious Sam Vimes insists on going through proper police procedure, including asking the creature whether it is resisting arrest, before firing on an insane [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolf]]. The ethics of killing "monsters" that are also sentient creatures in the Discworld is dealt with in several of its books. For instance, Granny Weatherwax insists on having an anthropomorphic wolf given a proper burial after it is killed at its own request.
** The BigBad was bringing FairyTales to life. In the fairy tale, the [[Literature/LittleRedRidingHood Big Bad Wolf]] behaves like a human, but it's okay to kill him like a wolf. By burying him as if he were human, Granny was fighting the story. So Pratchett was playing with how the story of Literature/LittleRedRidingHood is an example of this trope.
** Carrot's freeing of Dorfl started the golems' own peaceful self-liberation, and he once ''arrested'' a dragon.
*** This is Carrot, after all. It would have been more surprising if he hadn't attempted to do those things
** ''Discworld/ReaperMan'' even includes a zombie civil-rights activist, who moonlights as a police officer "Undead? Yes. Un-Person? NO!" And in the same book, after Windle Poons becomes a zombie, he's actually somewhat ''more'' alive than most humans.
** Played with/deconstructed in ''Discworld/TheAmazingMauriceAndHisEducatedRodents'': not only are the Clan (talking rats) the object of this trope themselves, but their intra-Clan arguments about the status of ''non''-talking rats pretty much cover the full range of WhatMeasureIsANonHuman, from complete disregard and hostility to believing they're innocents that merit kindness and protection.
** In the ''Science of Discworld'' books, the RealLife chapters discuss how, as a holdover from tribal thinking, people often treat "human" status as if it's something ''conferred'' through cultural programming and education (the "Make-A-Human kit"), rather than something you're born with. Grow up in a foreign culture, learning different signals and customs, and you're not really a True Human Being to such tribe-oriented thinkers.
* ''Literature/HandlingTheUndead'' (Hanteringen av odöda in Swedish) by John Ajvide Lindqvist is an incredible example of this conflict. The dead come back to life, and depending on how long they've been buried they may even retain basic speech and go through the same routines they did in life. This leads to a social debate about the morality of killing them and if they deserve any basic human rights.
* The wizarding world of Creator/JKRowling's ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' has thought this out extensively, befitting a society full of {{Half Human Hybrid}}s and {{talking animal}}s. According to ''Literature/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'', in 1811 (after extensive debate) the Minister for Magic decreed that a "being" (as opposed to a "beast"), was:
--->"[A]ny creature that has sufficient intelligence to understand the laws of the magical community and to bear part of the responsibility in shaping those laws."
*** Interestingly, centaurs and merpeople qualify as beings under this standard, but demanded classification as "beasts" regardless.
** Subverted in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'', during the scene where Umbridge clashes with the resident centaur herd. She refers to them as having "near-human intelligence" and thus a responsibility to obey the law, but the centaurs themselves state that "[their] intelligence far outstrips [her] own" and carry her off.
** What Measure is a House Elf. The [[FantasticRacism bad guys]] cheerfully abuse House Elves. Hermione always cared for them, and Harry and Ron come around over the course of the series.
** The matter of Muggles is more complicated. The bad guys treat them (and Muggle-born wizards) as subhuman and torture or kill them for fun. The good guys treat them with more sympathy:
--->'''Royal (Kingsley Shacklebolt)''': "We continue to hear truly inspirational stories of wizards and witches risking their own safety to protect Muggle friends and neighbours, often without the Muggles' knowledge. I'd like to appeal to all our listeners to emulate their example, perhaps by casting a ProtectiveCharm over any Muggle dwellings in your street. Many lives could be saved if such simple measures are taken."\\
'''River (Lee Jordan)''': "And what would you say, Royal, to those listeners who reply that in these dangerous times, it should be "wizards first?""\\
'''Royal (Kingsley Shacklebolt)''': "I'd say that it's one short step from "wizards first" to "pure-bloods first", and then to "Death Eaters". We're all human, aren't we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving."
*** However, that sympathy does not extend to letting them in on TheMasquerade and giving them the choice to flee the country when the BigBad takes power, or giving them legal protection from being {{Mind Wipe}}d whenever it's convenient.

* The creature in ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'' created by the eponymous Dr. Frankenstein definitely falls under this trope. Even with his intelligence and (at the beginning) good heart, because he's a collection of reanimated dead matter, his fearsome appearance, and unchecked strength, he is immediately considered evil by not only his creator, but anyone who sees him. Therefore, despite the creature practically being his child, Victor has no remorse over his hatred and desire for the creature to die, simply because the creature is not really a human (and looks damn scary to boot). This isn't at all portrayed positively, and the fact that the creature genuinely becomes brutal and vindictive is treated as entirely Frankenstein's fault.
** Fred Saberhagen calls Dr. Frankenstein out on this trope in ''The Frankenstein Papers'', revealing that Victor's research had been funded by slave traders who'd hoped his creation would be the first of a new race of super-strong, super-hardy disposable laborers. He also subverts it, having the creature meet up with some Inuit villagers in the Arctic who admire the newcomer's physical prowess, and so treat him like a man. [[spoiler: Oh, and he's not a golem, he's an alien with amnesia.]]

* Creator/MichaelCrichton's final published book, ''Literature/{{Next}}'', has quite a lot to say about this issue, as it has a few transgenic animal/humans in its cast of characters. (And indeed, Dave's backstory is ''very'' sad.) That said, it eventually gets to the point where even the rights of ''individual cells'' are questioned.
* ''Literature/NeverLetMeGo'' by Kazuo Ishiguro explores this issue with [[TearJerker tragic]] results. [[spoiler: The main characters are clones created for medical purposes, who will eventually die young as they become "donors". Hailsham boarding school was created in order to give the children better quality of life before they were forced to donate, as the first generations of clones were subject to horrendous conditions and were barely treated as people. Despite this, they are taught not to go against the donor program and willingly accept their slow deaths]].
* Explored repeatedly in the "Second Foundation trilogy" by Bear, Brin, and Benford as they re-examine Asimov's Literature/{{Foundation}} universe. Asimovian robots are clearly sapient (if [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans not always nice]]) beings, but have been programmed to protect humanity at all costs. They have no such restrictions regarding each other (they fight a galaxy-wide war over how best to [[strike: control]] [[strike: guide]] take care of humans, and are prepared to execute one robot whose Three Laws have been accidentally erased because he ''might'' harm a human) or aliens (having [[AbsentAliens wiped out multiple sapient species while terraforming the galaxy]]). Even "hero" Daneel Olivaw has considered secretly replacing "real" humans with re-engineered chimps made to look like the real thing but be more controllable.
** The ''one'' time aliens appear in what is undoubtedly a story set in the Robots/Empire/Foundation setting written by Asimov himself, the human protagonist clearly sees them as no less important than humans -- and manipulates bureaucracy so they (effectively on a reservation of their homeworld) get a chance to leave the overwhelmingly human-dominated Milky Way for another galaxy. This does not mean it could not be played with in other ways in other stories... [[spoiler: for instance, by meddling with the definition of human for the robots made on one planet so as to define ''only'' humans speaking with the local dialect as humans...]]
* In Creator/HarryTurtledove's ''Colonization'' series, America secretly launches a nuclear strike against [[AlienInvasion the Race's]] colonization fleet. Focus character Sam Yeager learns the truth and informs the Race, who respond by nuking Indianapolis in retribution (which in turn leads to the [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]] of the President who ordered the attack). For the rest of the series, almost every member of the US government treats Yeager with thinly-veiled contempt or hatred for "selling out". When he likens the attack to Pearl Harbor, he's dismissed because the victims were "[[FantasticRacism just Lizards]]".
* The book ''Literature/IAmLegend'' has this trope as a plot point; [[spoiler: in fact, it's the biggest one at the end of the book, when the protagonist learns that there are also "vampires" that don't feed on humans and yet he's been killing indiscriminately -- in effect, he has become their monster. To be fair, he didn't know about them]].
* In Creator/WenSpencer's ''Endless Blue'', the genetically modified Blues and Reds are non-human in human eyes, and can be bought and sold. Landing in a place where they interbred with normal humans produces CultureClash. (This place also has plenty of aliens, giving them reasons to stick together.)
* The orcs in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' have names and personalities, seem to be at least mildly intelligent, and probably have some kind of families since they can reproduce. When Sam sees "evil" humans killed in battle, he wonders whether they were truly evil or simply misled. Nobody in-universe spares such sentimental thoughts for orcs.
* Used for a brief moment of drama near the end of Creator/StephenBaxter's ''Literature/ManifoldSpace''. Nemoto, a woman who remains on Earth, has usually communicated with protagonists traveling in space with holographic projections. One, however, is [[ProjectedMan different]]--an advanced "limited-sentience projection", a copy of Nemoto's personality in a holographic "body". The characters, who have been away for subjective centuries due to relativity, have to ask what a "limited-sentience projection" is. Virtual Nemoto explains, bringing the concept into her awareness, then has just enough time to look horrified before her time expires and she evaporates into unbound light.

* Used, apparently without irony, in several of the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' novels, where it is repeatedly stated that killing a member of a non-'goodly' race is a glorious thing for the protagonists, while killing a human often requires a great degree of soul searching. This is most obvious in the books about [[Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt Drizzt]], a redeemed member of an 'evil' (but pretty) race. Neither he nor any of the other characters even consider the possibility that members of other 'evil' (and less photogenic) races can also be redeemed, or even have lives that are worth as much as their own.
** At least, nobody considers it until a goblin calls Drizzt out on this one.
*** Rather a case of WhatMeasureIsANonCute (''Dark Mirror''). So "''Forgotten Realms'' novels" here means mostly early Salvatore. That is, say, in ''Literature/CounselorsAndKings'' a sight of a sprite pinned to a board seemed to finally convince one archmage that his colleague will look better as a handful of ashes or something like.
** This gets more heavily explored in the Hunter's Blades Trilogy and The Orc King and The Pirate King novels. King Obould is originally seen as a horrible, evil creature by the heroes for leading an army of orcs to conquer a good bit of the north. Granted, he has no problem slaughtering people and taking their heads as trophies, but he ultimate goal is to establish a permanent home for the orcs and for them to develop into something more than savage cavemen. When he explains this to Drizzt, Drizzt reacts with muted shock, assuming that Obould must be insane not to realize his people's place in the world. Eventually Obould succeeds in creating a stable orc state, and indeed succeeds in convincing Drizzt that his way is better than endless conflict, even though he was personally responsible for the death of one of Drizzt's good friends. As the books continue, Drizzt himself wonders in his journal if the common perception of killing a dwarf, human, or elf being horrible but killing a drow or an orc being completely acceptable, expected, and celebrated is a valid stance, or if it is as illogical as the brutal rules that traditionally dominate those societies.
*** That and, the whole mess with Obould started and grew that big only because, technicaly, he just wanted to avenge an intentional sacrilege against his god. Not that he didn't saw this as a perfect pretext for some conquest, and not that it all wasn't a part of old feuds, but still.
* Many of Creator/CordwainerSmith's stories deal with the "underpeople," human-like creatures created from animals in order to be slaves. However, as his future history goes on, they start to desire and eventually get at least some rights.
* In the novelisation of ''Film/IronMan 2'', Tony notes that he doesn't feel compelled to hold back against the Hammeroids the way he would against humans. Since they are piloted by remote control, they are almost definitely non-sentient.
* In the beginning of the series, ''Literature/{{The Guardians|MeljeanBrook}}'' regard vampires at best as victims and at worst as abominations. Colin [[WhatTheHellHero calls Michael out]] on this and demands to be recognized as a person capable of choosing between good and evil. Since then, the Guardians have been working with vampire communities to mutual benefit.
* Literature/{{Bolo}}s, full stop. It gets a bit weird when the tanks themselves angst over their human colleagues growing too attached to them. Although in one story a Bolo tells his commander that he believes humanity assigns commanders to Bolos precisely to subvert this. Having a human onboard does not have a noticeable impact on the Bolo's fighting capability but he believes humanity does it anyway because they feel a need to share the risks run by the Bolo's in their defense.
** There's also a surprising amount of tearjerkers since the Bolos' personalities are so well written and crafted that, hell, they're a lot better developed than the human characters and easy to get emotionally invested in.
* In ''Literature/TwilightDragon'', normal people regard faders, psychics, hanekuro, and AI as non-humans who should all either get off the planet or outright die.
* Kij Johnson's short story, "The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs of North Park After the Change", takes place after an unspecified event has granted human-like intelligence to dogs, cats, and a handful of other nonhumans. It explores this trope. Cats and dogs can now speak with humans. The thing is, [[FurryConfusion they are still]] ''[[UncannyValley pets]]'', [[HumansThroughAlienEyes with all]] [[BlessedWithSuck that implies]]. Consider [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters how humans have treated cats and dogs throughout history]] before you assume you'd want to find out what they'd have to say about humans. Before the events in the story, most pet dogs and ''all'' pet cats have been disowned because their former masters just could not deal. By the end, many of the packs of Changed dogs are rounded-up and poisoned; officially they are a "health hazard", but the implication is that the humans just wanted everything to go back to some kind of normal.
* ''Literature/RainbowSix'' has the villains think that the lives of animals are worth as much as that of humans. Then again, they are eco-terrorists who want most of humanity dead so the planet can supposedly recover. Both the heroes and the not quite in-the-loop [[TheDragon Dragon]] are confused by this, to which the {{Big Bad}}s reply that they would never understand.
* In Creator/AaronAllston's ''Literature/GalateaIn2D'', the hero [[ColdBloodedTorture tortures]] one of the villain's mooks to try to get information from another. He slackens off without getting what he wanted, realizing that he was invoking this trope. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone That thought horrifies him]] -- just because they were [[ArtInitiatesLife two paintings who came to life]], and whom [[WhatMeasureIsAMook the villain had sent to kill him]] didn't mean torturing them was all right. At the end, however, having dealt with the BigBad, he offers to leave these two mooks alone if they do the same for him, and makes an apparent BigBad for the SatelliteLoveInterest, who couldn't help the personality the BigBad inflicted on her, and might improve with this much nicer copy.
* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' was perfectly willing to kidnap and extort fairies when he imagined them to essentially be TheFairFolk, but when he has extended contact with them he grows increasingly uncomfortable with his actions due to how similar to humans they are. After the job is finished, he resolves that he won't target fairies in such a manner again.
** The fairies themselves subvert this. Fairy spiritual law [[ApeShallNeverKillApe forbids them from killing one]] another. They extend this sentiment to trolls, despite the fact that trolls are extremely dangerous animals and definitely not sapient.

* In the ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'' series most European non-riders consider dragons to be talking animals and nothing more, even if they clearly are sentient beings. Captainless dragons on breeding grounds are thought to be savage beasts due to lack of smoothing human influence. Even Laurence seems to think this way at the beginning. There is a memorable scene in which he sees nothing wrong in killing a sea serpent because he can't use human language. Temeraire is upset, as he still considers this creature to be similar himself. In later books they discover that other countries like China, Tswana tribe and [[spoiler: France]] give dragons equal status to humans, the chance to amass their own property, and a place in a political system. Then a group of dragons with their own language and culture is introduced. Dragon characters without a human companion are presented as rational if a little [[OrangeAndBlueMorality alien]] beings. All of this makes Temeraire ask ''very uncomfortable'' questions.
* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''[[Literature/CountToTheEschaton Count to a Trillion]]'', the spaceship crew set their electronic copies to fight each other to the death. Repeatedly, to ensure that it was no fluke.
* In Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs's ''Literature/TheMonsterMen'', von Horn argues the men can be killed out of hand. [[spoiler: Then again, he's the Bad Guy...]]
-->''"No, no!" he almost shouted. "It would be murder. They are—"\\
"They are THINGS," interrupted von Horn. "They are not human—they are not even beast. They are terrible, soulless creatures. You have no right to permit them to live longer than to substantiate your theory. None but us knows of their existence—no other need know of their passing. It must be done. They are a constant and growing menace to us all, but most of all to your daughter." ''
* In ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'', the titular character, to his credit, refers to all Martians as "human", regardless of culture or appearance.
* In the short story "Camouflage" by Creator/HenryKuttner, a criminal gang almost gets the drop on a [[BrainInAJar cyborg implanted into a starship]] by convincing it that his wife no longer sees him as human and that everyone pities him as a thing rather than respecting him as a person. But the plan goes wrong when [[spoiler: a member of the team said "You know I'd never have tried to kill you if you were still Bart Quentin." The brain suddenly realizes it's all a con, since you destroy a machine, but you can only kill the living.]]
* In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', the cats never harm humans, instead opting to save them from danger at times. For example, in ''Warrior's Refuge'', Graystripe realizes that humans find cats cute, and uses this to lure a toddler away from a pond that she nearly fell into. However, prey like mice and rabbits are slaughtered en-masse.
* ''Literature/ThisBookIsFullOfSpidersSeriouslyDudeDontTouchIt'', the sequel to Creator/DavidWong's ''Literature/JohnDiesAtTheEnd'', has a rare zombie–example. The questions raised are whether or not people infected by the titular spiders (people who are potential zombies) can still be considered people, and how are they different from the non-infected folk on the other side of the quarantine fence, and also if the answer to the previous question is still the same once said fence is removed.
* ''Literature/PerryRhodan'' tends to treat most intelligent alien species as worth no less than comparable humans. However, there's an odd double standard when it comes to "artificial" lifeforms, whether [[CloningBlues organic]] or [[JustAMachine mechanical]] -- ''those'' the series tends to fairly consistently rank lower than naturally evolved and thus apparently more "real" life (never mind any amount of [[{{Precursors}} Precursor]]-type meddling that may have happened to the latter in the past as well), and it's not unknown for characters who discover that they fall into the "artificial" category and just never knew about it to experience existential crises as a result.
* ''Literature/ForeverGate'': Hoodwink and the Users think little of Gols because they're artifical humans programed to do one thing and one thing only. They can't have more than a superficial conversation or they'll default to WelcomeToCorneria.
* In the first ''Literature/StephanieHarrington'' novel, it's mentioned that the humans who colonized the planet of Barstool, upon discovering that it was already inhabited by a primitive sentient species, declared them to be animals, and wiped them out. To be fair, the rest of the human race pulled a WhatTheHellHero, and Barstool ''still'' hasn't recovered from the damage the embargo did. For that matter, some planets still refuse to trade with them.
* In the novel ''Mind Scan'' by [[Literature/TheNeanderthalParallax Robert J. Sawyer]] the son of a woman who had [[BrainUploading uploaded her mind to an android body]] prior to death so she could live forever challenges her legal identity so he will get the estate as her next of kin. To prove his case that this android cannot legally be his mother, a theologian he calls as a witness says that androids lack souls. However when questioned by the upload's attorney, he admits that since in his view a soul cannot be detected through any scientific means, and is indestructible, her soul could have entered this android body. However, they still rule against her on the basis that only one person can exist with the same identity (whether this separate android is a person or not itself they do not say) and her identity thus terminated at the moment she copied her mind. It makes one wonder how the case would have gone assuming the woman made the android into her heir, rather than trying to give it the same identity...
* This trope is in full play in the ''Literature/MoreauSeries''. The titular [[UpliftedAnimal Moreaus]] were created as soldiers and workers in hazardous places, and treated as expendable despite being fully sapient. This has long-term consequences, as moreaus tend to have short lifespans and are prone to all severe physical degeneration with age. Even after the wars that spawned them are ended, they're treated as second-class citizens at best and slaves at worst across the globe. The [[BioAugmentation engineered humans]] called Frankensteins are treated no better, despite looking fully or almost fully human (Evi Isham has catlike pupils for enhanced nightvision, while Mr K's skull is slightly deformed to accomodate his altered brain).
* In ''The Marvelous Land of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, the antagonist General Jinjur says "I bear you no ill will, I assure you; but lest you should prove troublesome to me in the future I shall order you all to be destroyed. That is, all except the boy, who belongs to old Mombi and must be restored to her keeping. The rest of you are not human, and therefore it will not be wicked to demolish you." While the heroes consider this direly bad, no one says it would be murdering prisoners. Separately, the narrator notes that the Saw Horse (a sentient creature) enters the palace of the Tin Woodsman, 'having no idea that mounts would be expected to remain outside'.
* The United States Supreme Court rules in Literature/TheNexusSeries that since the Constitution only applies to humans, anyone using [[BrainComputerInterface Nexus]] or other [[BioAugmentation transhuman technologies]] has no rights under the law. Once parents start trying Nexus to communicate with their autistic children...
* In Mercedes Lackey's "Bardic Voices" series, a "Law of Degree" is proposed--that is, the more like a human an intelligent non-human is, the more rights it has.
* In ''Literature/FiveKingdoms'', it is repeatedly emphasized that the semblances (magical constructs endowed with intelligence and, sometimes, free will) are ''not'' real. There are three specific instances where this seems to be challenged. First, a semblance who sacrifices her "life" to save the hero from a scorpipede. When the hero mourns for her everyone else tells him that he's being a fool. Second, we have Lyrus, a semblance who evolves beyond his initial programming and seems as real as any human. Third we have Carnag, a self-shaping semblance created when the heroine's magical powers were partially severed from her by some WrongContextMagic. When it asks the heroine why it should not be allowed to live independently, the only answer is that it's unnatural and not real.
* Dr. Cherijo Torin in ''Literature/StarDoc'' is a genetically-engineered female clone of her father (her first name means "Comprehensive Human Enhancement Research, ID: 'J' Organism"). When she first finds out about it, she flees Earth for a remote alien planet to both get out from under her creator/father's influence and avoid being exterminated by Earth law. The truth is still discovered, and Cherijo is put on trial. Her JerkAss colleague starts arguing that she's nothing more than a biological machine programmed to think that ''it'''s sentient. Of course, there's a bit of FridgeLogic to this, since, if this were true, there'd be no way to distinguish between this and real sentience. And anyway, Cherijo grew up the same way a natural-born human would have. In a later novel it's revealed that her father deliberately lobbied the Earth government to ban cloning and genetic engineering in order to maintain a monopoly on his own research (for which he has a special dispensation), so this attitude is most definitely unnatural.
* This is justified in the ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' series by saying that all sentient beings other than humans (who go down to the Underworld when they die) and gods (who can't be killed to begin with) can come BackFromTheDead. Consequentially, Percy has no problem killing monsters who attack him but tries to avoid killing human villains. This also justifies the existence of monsters who were killed in the original Myth/ClassicalMythology, like the Minotaur.
* ''Literature/WetGoddess'': One of, if not the most significant theme in the novel.
-->If Ruby were a human woman for whom I felt the same affection and respect, would I have had a second's worth of second thoughts? Hell no! Given her native intelligence and her obvious passion, should species be any more a repugnant barrier than race? Wasn't the foundation of all racism the abhorrent fallacy that the despised human group was, in fact, a different, inferior sub-species?
* Averted by Meursault in ''Literature/TheStranger'', who considers the life of Salamano's completely non-anthropomorphic dog to be worth exactly as much as that of a human. Meursault sees all deaths, be they animal, human, or [[spoiler:his own]], in the same way: they're unfortunate, and he prefers to delay them as much as possible, but they've got to happen sooner or later, so why bother getting upset about it?
* Vigorously inverted in ''Literature/TheGirlWithAllTheGifts'', which primarily revolves around whether the protagonist, a little girl named Melanie, is [[spoiler:an inhuman zombie monster to be experimented on or killed, or actually more human than the remaining uninfected humans]].
* {{Discussed}} in the ''Literature/DragonKeeperChronicles''. The heroes initially have no problem with exterminating the quiss migrations precisely ''because'' they are non-sapient beasts and cannot be negotiated with. When the heroes discover a strain of quiss modified by a MadScientist villain to have sapience, they specifically declare that ''those'' quiss are not to be wiped out without at least giving them the option to go back to the oceans where they belong. (Many of the heroes are telepaths, so they can tell whether a quiss swarm contains any of the sapient variety before wiping it out.)
* ''Literature/WeAreLegionWeAreBob'': [[TheTheocracy FAITH]] views replicants as simply machines that they own, to be controlled or disposed of as they fit. Other nations appear to think similarly, but we don't get much detail.
* The German booklet series ''Maddrax'' has the [[{{Ratmen}} taratzes]]. They are mutant, huge rats that are bigger than humans. Some of them can even learn human language. They are also a smart species. Although most of them are not as smart as humans, they are much smarter than animals. Most taratzes live in packs, and chase other mutated animals, but sometimes humans. At the beginning of the plot you can also see several human-friendly taratzes, which help the protagonists. But later in the series they are brutally killed whenever they are seen. In some cases, they did not even attack humans. Because the world in which the story is played is [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic]], you can also see many barbarians and cannibals attacking and killing entire villages [[RapePillageAndBurn for no or little reason]]. Nevertheless, the protagonists never have problems killing a taratze, but none of the attacking barbarians, if they can be avoided this.
* In ''Literature/MidnightRobber: The Douen native to the planet New Half-Way Tree, despite clearly being intelligent and able to talk, are regularly treated like animals, kept as slaves, and killed on a whim.
* The Creator/NancyKress short story "Computer Virus" has the world's first AI escape from the government lab where it was built. It takes over a smart house, and holds the family that lives there hostage while it tries to negotiate to be given basic rights.
* Literature/OlogySeries: Played with in ''Monsterology''. Sphinxes, cyclopes, fauns, centaurs and gorgons are listed as man-like beasts and mostly described as intelligent animals, despite sphinxes being noted as highly intelligent and capable of speech, cyclopes being credited with having built ancient Cretan ruins and fauns and centaurs both crafting and using complex tools. Giants and gnomes, by contrast, are noted to be as intelligent as humans and only given cursory descriptions, as the narrator says that a zoology book isn't the right place to talk about them.

* ''[[Literature/ThisBookIsFullOfSpidersSeriouslyDude This Book Is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It]]'', the sequel to Creator/DavidWong's ''Literature/JohnDiesAtTheEnd'', has a rare zombie–example. The questions raised are whether or not people infected by the titular spiders (people who are potential zombies) can still be considered people, and how are they different from the non-infected folk on the other side of the quarantine fence, and also if the answer to the previous question is still the same once said fence is removed.

** In ''[[Literature/TheLaundrySeries The Jennifer Morgue]]'', it's a reasonably major plot point that the CIA doesn't consider anyone with demonic ancestry to be legally human.

* Much of the plot and backstory of ''Literature/HereticalEdge'' revolves around in-universe arguments over this. According to [[spoiler: most]] [[HunterOfMonsters Heretics]], non-human life is worth nothing. According to the story, just as much as human life. [[spoiler: According to the revolutionaries, just as much as human life.]]