History WhatMeasureIsANonHuman / Literature

* ''Literature/AllTomorrows'' averts this completely. The story is mainly focused on the posthuman descendants of mankind created in the wake of a war against [[ScaryDogmaticAliens the Qu]]. While they vary in considerably in size, shape, psychology and society, the Narrator considers all of them- the Mechanical Gravitals, the brutal Killer Folk, the godlike Asteromorphs, the {{Heavyworlder}} Lopsiders, the bizarre-yet-successful Modular People- to all be important. Even the Saurosapients, an intelligent species descended from lizards, are considered just as "human" as any of the other species.

** This trope was also used to demonstrate how dangerous SixthRangerTraitor David was. He claimed that he would never kill another human, but shortly after he transforms for the first time (as a golden eagle) he dive-bombs and kills a real bird for no reason. This foreshadows his later willingness to murder the other Animorphs while they were [[{{Animorphism}} transformed]], since he would "just be killing an animal". He also didn't have a problem with trying to kill Ax, who was an alien. He was, however, unable to bring himself to kill a helpless Marco, and later retreated from a fight against Cassie he probably could have won.
** Also used by the emissary of Crayak, who was not allowed to directly kill sentient organic species. Paraphrased:

** Subverted in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/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 {{Fairy Tale}}s 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.

* 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.

* ''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.

* Creator/JKRowling's ''Franchise/HarryPotter'':

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':

** ''Literature/SpaceWolf'': In ''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.

* ''Literature/TheWordForWorldIsForest'': The majority of the human colonists of the planet Athshe have no qualms about beating, raping, and killing the native populace. Casually and derogatorily referred to as "creechies", the Athsheans are clearly viewed as lesser beings than humans.

* 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.

* In the ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'' short story "Timevault" by Ben Jeapes, the Doctor is facing a sentient, telepathic virus which takes over the minds of its hosts, (which currently happen to be teddy-bear like aliens) but insists they aren't harmed by this. He is able to create a cure, which he injects into an alien child who was infected with a new instance of the virus that didn't know enough to be more cautous. After confirming that the boy found the experience highly unpleasant but was indeed unharmed, he darkly notes that the virus currently has the moral high ground -- it WouldntHurtAChild, but he ''did''.

* 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]].
* 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.

* In ''Literature/TheWitcher'', in an {{Aver|tedTrope}}sion of VanHelsingHateCrimes, Witchers generally have a policy against killing sapient monsters unless they have clear evidence that the monster is guilty of wrongdoing. Several creatures such as trolls, werewolves and dragons are presented as having complex personalities and motivations. Not helping things is Witchers themselves are [[FantasticRacism considered subhuman by the general populace]] despite being humans augmented by magic and alchemy.
* The majority of the human colonists of the planet Athshe in ''The Word for World is Forest'' have no qualms about beating, raping, and killing the native populace. Casually and derogatorily referred to as "creechies", the Athsheans are clearly viewed as lesser beings than humans.
* In Creator/HarryTurtledove's ''Literature/{{Worldwar}}'' series, when the Race's colonization fleet arrives at Earth in the 1960s, one of their ships gets destroyed by a nuclear missile. This gets the Race's leadership hopping mad, until viewpoint character Sam Yeager finds out that [[spoiler:America]] was responsible and tells them, which leads to their [[NukeEm nuking]] one of the offending nation's cities in retaliation and the leader who ordered the attack [[DrivenToSuicide committing suicide out of shame]]. For the rest of the series, most of Sam's fellow Americans (especially those in the military) treat him as if he's the worst traitor in human history. He argues that the attack would be seen as an unforgivable atrocity if the victims had been human, but his critics dismiss the whole thing by saying things like "They ''aren't'' human, they're just Lizards".
* 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.

* 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.

* 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.

* 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.

* 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).

** Subverted in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/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.

* 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/MarketOfMonsters'', with a few exceptions like kelpies, most "unnaturals" look either fully human despite their supernatural powers, or obviously human but with physical anomalies like sharp teeth or pink skin. In any event, they can all interbreed with mainstream humans, and they're all equally as sapient and intelligent as mainstream humans. This doesn't stop a good portion of the population from seeing them as animals and kidnapping, killing, and selling them (not always in that order) on the black market (unnatural body parts are a popular delicacy). Another portion believes all or some species are so dangerous that they should be exterminated solely for the crime of existing.
* 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'.

* 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...
* 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." ''

* 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...
* 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.

* In ''Literature/TheThiefOfAlways'', the hero remorselessly kills off the BigBad's thoroughly convincing and, for all intents and purposes, living minions because they're just dust given life through illusion. [[NotSoDifferent The Big Bad calls him on this]], pointing out that even if they weren't "real", he still killed them.

* ''Literature/TheArtsOfDarkAndLight'': TheChurch plays this straight as far as most monstrous races and species are concerned, judging (for example) that goblins are soulless and so may be treated like brute beasts. In contrast, however, [[OurElvesAreDifferent elves]] are apparently seen as especially holy (despite being magic-users and atheists who by and large hold the Church in contempt), and get special treatment. There's even a ban on enslaving them--even though the Church accepts slavery for ''human'' races.
* 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.

** It's also pointed out that the reason Harry has no mercy for fully-turned Red vampires even though they still possess a degree of their human personality is because to get to that state, you ''have'' to have drained a human to death- meaning that ''all'' Red vampires are murderers by definition, usually many times over.

** 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...

*** The climax mixes this with WouldntHitAGirl when [[spoiler:the BigBad forsakes a human form for that of 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'']]. 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.

* 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.

"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 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.

* In ''Literature/TheMetamorphosis'', Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning to find he's inexplicably transformed into a gigantic insect. Instead of being shocked or horrified by this, [[AbusiveParents his parents]] find the whole thing an annoying burden. Not only are they repulsed by him, but they live off the fruits of his hard work, do little else to help him or even provide for themselves. The very second he turns into a bug, they're quick to discard him and his little sister Grete is the only one to care of him for a while. [[spoiler: When Gregor finally dies, his parents are relieved they can finally move on to a better life.]]

* 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''. Allowed.

* In ''Literature/TheMetamorphosis'', Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning to find he's inexplicably transformed into a gigantic insect. Instead of being shocked or horrified by this, [[AbusiveParents his parents]] find the whole thing an annoying burden, as he's been the one providing for them. They live off the fruits of his hard work, do little else to help him or even provide for themselves, and the very second he turns into a bug, they're quick to discard him, though his little sister Grete does care of him for a while. [[spoiler: When Gregor finally starves to death, his parents are relieved they can finally move on to a better life.]]

* TheChurch in ''Literature/TheArtsOfDarkAndLight'' plays this straight as far as most monstrous races and species are concerned, judging (for example) that goblins are soulless and so may be treated like brute beasts. In contrast, however, [[OurElvesAreBetter elves]] are apparently seen as especially holy (despite being magic-users and atheists who by and large hold the Church in contempt), and get special treatment. There's even a ban on enslaving them--even though the Church accepts slavery for ''human'' races.

** Discussed in ''Literature/{{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.

* A bizarre inversion occurs in ''[[Literature/NightWatch Twilight Watch]]''. The main hero Anton practically has to enforce this maxima upon himself before he can resolve to face a renegade vampire and his ex-friend Kostya. As expressed in his briefing with the head of the Watch Geser:

* In ''Literature/MarketOfMOnsters'', with a few exceptions like kelpies, most "unnaturals" look either fully human despite their supernatural powers, or obviously human but with physical anomalies like sharp teeth or pink skin. In any event, they can all interbreed with mainstream humans, and they're all equally as sapient and intelligent as mainstream humans. This doesn't stop a good portion of the population from seeing them as animals and kidnapping, killing, and selling them (not always in that order) on the black market (unnatural body parts are a popular delicacy). Another portion believes all or some species are so dangerous that they should be exterminated solely for the crime of existing.