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"Animals have no malice. It's the supreme emotion, one that only humans developed! You must have felt it yourself. Anger, hatred, revenge, destruction! The power of malice!! When you unleash your darkest emotions, that's when you're most human. Evil is the true shape of humanity."
—Dante, Black Clover
"I look down on existence from a much higher perspective than you do. I witness this world, this universe and the truth of all things. That yields deeper understanding. Wisdom. The realization that all mortals should be destroyed. The one and only mistake among all divine creations. That is what mortals are. And this mistake is egregious. To shape existence into the beautiful utopia it was always meant to be, the mistake must be corrected. I will purge all mortals from existence. In place of the gods WHO REFUSE TO ADMIT FAILURE!!"
—Goku Black to Future Trunks, Dragon Ball Super
"This is human nature, Matoi! Prosperity leads to greed; greed leads to their downfall! One taste of an affluent lifestyle and they're enslaved - slaves to a system which I created! They are nothing more than pigs! Pigs in human clothing! Pigs that must be tamed BY FORCE!"
—Satsuki Kiryuin, Kill la Kill
"No matter what we learn, no matter what we manage to obtain, nothing ever changes! People are amazing that way! They become envious, hate each other, and destroy each other! If that's what they truly desire, why don't they simply exterminate each other?!"
— Rau Le Creuset, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
"The mind which most foolish humans have is no praiseworthy thing. It is merely appetite, isn't it?"
—Sima Yi Destiny Gundam, SD Gundam World Sangoku Soketsuden: Soshoki
"The people that fall are the ones who get labeled as villains. Even if you take pride in your "Quirks" and individualism, in the end, this is a controlled society. If you can't fit in, you'll be excluded. There are no exceptions. Doesn't matter if it's democracy or a dictatorship, the origins are all the same. This was an issue before the first traces of society even emerged. It's just human nature."
—All For One, My Hero Academia
"We're both of the same breed, after all… motives for war are of no concern. Religion, ideology, resources, land, grudges, love, or just because… No matter how pathetic the reason, it's enough to start a war. War will never cease to exist… Reasons can be thought up after the fact. Human nature pursues strife."
—Pain, Naruto
"Humans are suspicious and jealous creatures. When they see something perfect, they wanna find a flaw."
— Heiji Hattori, Case Closed
Comedy
"Hitler had the right idea! He was just an underachiever! Kill 'em all, Adolf! Kill 'em all! Jew, Mexican, American, white! Kill 'em all! Start over! The experiment didn't work!"
"I'm tired of hearing about 'innocent victims'. It's fiction. If you live on this planet, you're guilty, period, fuck you, next case, end of report. Your birth certificate is proof of guilt."
Comic Books
"Look at the way they kill each other! I saw it in the war! They don’t care nothing about killing each other by the thousands, all in a single afternoon! I saw it every day in the war! Killing mundys ain't no crime any more than stomping on bugs! How can it be?"
— Jack Horner, Jack of Fables
Tarkan: Funny, isn't it? How much the world has changed. Everything that used to be so important — land, resources. Overpopulation, religion. Those things that once divided us all seem so petty now. Maybe humans are at our best when we're facing a common threat. I don't know. What do you think?
Emma Russell: I don't think anything's changed. Nothing at all.
Emma Russell: I don't think anything's changed. Nothing at all.
Fan Works
"Men care for what they, themselves, expect to suffer or gain; and so long as they do not expect it to redound upon themselves, their cruelty and carelessness is without limit."
— Professor Quirrell, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
"7.3 billion... humans have multiplied way too much... and eventually started to kill for purposes other than eating... I... think... I think that the word "pest" is for sure very much suitable for humans. Humans pollute this planet of life, eat and eat and then just leave behind a mess, without ever thinking of the consequences, all whilst growing their number. If the god who created this planet were ever to see it now... to see the humans... surely, they would get goosebumps, wouldn't they?"
— Seiga, Suikakasen
"I'm sorry to break it to you, but humans don't have the greatest reputation in the greater cosmos. Something about being violent retarded self-centered monkeys that are more likely to blow themselves up a thousand times over than sticking to an agreement for longer than fifty years peacefully even with a kunai to our necks. The few peaceful organizations out there usually avoid making long term deals with our kind."
— Naruto Uzumaki, Take Two Round Two
"You're inhuman!" cried Proton. "Of course you are; what am I saying...that's not the point! What matters is you'll kill vast numbers of innocent people!"
"But you humans do that all the time!" replied D'Ork indignantly.
"But you humans do that all the time!" replied D'Ork indignantly.
Monster? You think I'm a monster? I come from a world where rapists and murderers spend less time in prison than people who smoke grass or fib on their tax returns! Where tyrants fill mass graves with little children and stuff people into woodchippers for laughs! Where so-called scientists torture animals to death to invent a new shade of Mascara! Where women throw their newborn babies into dumpsters, or rip them out of their womb in bloody chunks because they don't want to take the responsibility of raising their own offspring and maybe missing the fricking PROM! Where kids murder each other for the right to sell poison to other kids in their own neighborhood! Where leaders lie, perjure, plunder and oath-break, and get voted back in office because they promised their followers free health care and cell phones! Where maniacs strap bombs to their own children and use their wives as human shields! Where they stone women to death for speaking to a man and fly planes into buildings full of innocent people for Allah! Where maniacs slaughter millions for being the wrong race or color and make lampshades out of their SKIN! I'm a monster? There's a thousand monsters, from least to greatest, where I come from. AND I'M NOT EVEN ON THE LIST!
—Darth Vulcan to Princess Cadence, The Rise of Darth Vulcan
Films — Animated
Appa Ali Apsa: I'm afraid the human race of Earth does not have the most stellar reputation.
Ranakar: The fact is humans are crude, base, fearful and untrustworthy.
Guardian: And then there's the smell.
Ranakar: The fact is humans are crude, base, fearful and untrustworthy.
Guardian: And then there's the smell.
Superman: We are not above the law. We have to show the world that there's a better way. That people can be better.
Manchester Black: But that's the problem. They can't. The world's overflowing with sick puppies. Original sin in 36 flavors.
Manchester Black: But that's the problem. They can't. The world's overflowing with sick puppies. Original sin in 36 flavors.
Lucifer: I've had no need to influence humanity for many millennium my dear. I simply introduced sin. Man is the one who has spread it like a disease; cultivating it, empowering it.
Beatrice: It is not our fault, none of it. Man is good.
Lucifer: No, you don't understand. The earth is another form of hell, and men are its demons.
Beatrice: It is not our fault, none of it. Man is good.
Lucifer: No, you don't understand. The earth is another form of hell, and men are its demons.
—Dante's Inferno (animated film version)
Films — Live-Action
"You know, Burke, I don't know which species is worse. You don't see them fucking each other over for a goddamn percentage."
— Ellen Ripley, Aliens
"I'd like the share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. Instead, you multiply. And multiply until every resource is consumed. And the only way to can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease. A cancer of this planet. You are a plague. And we are the cure."
—Agent Smith, The Matrix
"I'll show ya. When the chips are down, these 'civilized' people, they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster; I'm just ahead of the curve."
"Why are we fighting to save the humans? They're a primitive and violent race."
— Ironhide, Transformers
Kyoami: Are there no gods... no Buddha? If you exist, hear me. You are mischievous and cruel! Are you so bored up there you must crush us like ants? Is it such fun to see men weep?
Tango: Enough! Do not blaspheme! It is the gods who weep. They see us killing each other over and over since time began. They can't save us from ourselves.
Tango: Enough! Do not blaspheme! It is the gods who weep. They see us killing each other over and over since time began. They can't save us from ourselves.
—Ran
"Men prefer sorrow over joy... suffering over peace!"
—Tango, Ran
Nux: We're not to blame!
The Splendid Angharad: Then who killed the world?
The Splendid Angharad: Then who killed the world?
"I was thinking of the inconsistency of civilization. The beast of the jungle, killing just for his existence, is called savage. The man, killing just for sport, is called civilized. It's a bit inconsistent, isn't it?"
—Doc, The Most Dangerous Game
John Connor: We're not gonna make it, are we? People, I mean.
The Terminator: It's in your nature to destroy yourselves.
John: Yeah. Major drag, huh?
The Terminator: It's in your nature to destroy yourselves.
John: Yeah. Major drag, huh?
"When a man meets a man, you never know which one will die. But when an animal meets a man, it's always the animal that dies. I'm on the animals' side."
—Mace, Conquest
"Do you know why people like violence? It is because it feels good. Humans find violence deeply satisfying."
"Look at them. They're just asking for it. Maybe the human race deserves to be wiped out."
—James Cole, 12 Monkeys
Diana Prince: I killed him, why are they doing this? Why are they still fighting?
Steve Trevor: Because maybe it's them! Maybe people aren't always good, Ares or no Ares. Maybe it's just who they are.
Diana Prince: No... After everything I saw, it can't be. It cannot be! They were killing each other! Killing people they cannot see! Children. Children! No, it had to be him, it cannot be them!
Steve Trevor: Diana, people...
Diana Prince: (in tears) She was right, my mother was right... she said the world of men do not deserve you, they don't deserve our help...
Steve Trevor: It's... it's not about deserve. Maybe, maybe we don't. But it's not about that, it's about what you believe. You don't think I get it, after what I've seen out there? You don't think I wish I could tell you that it was one bad guy to blame? It's not! We're all to blame!
Diana Prince: I'm not.
Steve Trevor: But maybe I am!
Steve Trevor: Because maybe it's them! Maybe people aren't always good, Ares or no Ares. Maybe it's just who they are.
Diana Prince: No... After everything I saw, it can't be. It cannot be! They were killing each other! Killing people they cannot see! Children. Children! No, it had to be him, it cannot be them!
Steve Trevor: Diana, people...
Diana Prince: (in tears) She was right, my mother was right... she said the world of men do not deserve you, they don't deserve our help...
Steve Trevor: It's... it's not about deserve. Maybe, maybe we don't. But it's not about that, it's about what you believe. You don't think I get it, after what I've seen out there? You don't think I wish I could tell you that it was one bad guy to blame? It's not! We're all to blame!
Diana Prince: I'm not.
Steve Trevor: But maybe I am!
"Look at this world. Mankind did this, not me. They are ugly, filled with hatred, weak!"
—Ares, Wonder Woman (2017)
Tanna: What do you think will be the next obstacle the Earth people will put in our way?
Eros: Well, as long as they can think - we'll have our problems.
Eros: Well, as long as they can think - we'll have our problems.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it."
—Agent K, Men in Black
"Human thought is so primitive it's looked upon as an infectious disease in some of the better galaxies. That kind of makes you proud, doesn't it?"
—Agent K, Men in Black
"It is mankind, rather, who insists upon making it difficult for life to exist upon this planet."
—Mrs. Bundy, The Birds
Sara: You're an animal!
Oscar "Manny" Manheim: Worse. Human. Human!
Oscar "Manny" Manheim: Worse. Human. Human!
"As you can imagine, I don't trust humans. I find you to be hateful and selfish."
"I'm a humanist. Maybe the last humanist. Who, in their right mind, Kevin, could possibly deny the 20th century was entirely mine?"
Cornelius: You don't like them very much, do you?
Zira: Who?
Cornelius: Humans.
Zira: We've met hundreds since we've been here, and I trust... three.
Zira: Who?
Cornelius: Humans.
Zira: We've met hundreds since we've been here, and I trust... three.
"You're on me every night like a pack of wolves because you can't stand facing what you are and what you've made! Yes, the world is a terrible place. Yes, cancer and garbage disposals will get you. Yes, a war is coming. Yes, the world is shot to hell and you're all goners. Everything's screwed up and you like it that way, don't you? You're fascinated by the gory details. You're mesmerized by your own fear. You revel in floods and car accidents, unstoppable diseases. You're happiest when others are in pain. That's where I come in, isn't it? I'm here to lead you by the hand through the dark forest of your own hatred and anger and humiliation. I'm providing a public service. You're so scared. You're like a little child under the covers. You're afraid of the boogeyman but you can't live without him. Your fear — your own lives — have become your entertainment. Next month, millions of people are going to be listening to this show and you'll have nothing to talk about! Marvelous technology is at our disposal, and instead of reaching up to new heights, we're gonna see how far down we can go! How deep into the muck we can immerse ourselves? What do you wanna talk about, hmm? Baseball scores? Your pet? Orgasms? You're pathetic. I despise each and every one of you. You've got nothing, absolutely nothing. No brains, no power, no future, no hope, no God. The only thing you believe in is me. What are you if you don't have me? I'm not afraid see. I come in here every night, I make my case, I make my point, I say what I believe in. I tell you what you are — I have to, I have no choice! You frighten me! I come in here every night, I tear into you, I abuse you, I insult you, you just keep coming back for more! What's wrong with you, why do you keep calling? I don't wanna hear anymore, stop talking! Go away!"
—Barry Champlain, Talk Radio
Literature
We were by nature children of wrath even as the rest
—Paul the Apostle, Ephesians 2:3, The Bible (Berean Literal Bible)
"Do no remember heroes. Do not speak their names.
Remember my words, but do not speak my name.
I have a vision of a Galaxy overrun by mankind from Core to Rim. Of four hundred billion stars each enslaved to the rhythms of Earth’s day, Earth’s year. I have a vision of a trillion planets pulsing to the beat of a human heart.
And I have a vision of a child. Who will grow up knowing neither family nor comfort. Who will not be distracted by the illusion of a long life. Who will know nothing but honor and duty. Who will die joyously for the sake of mankind.
That is a hero. And I will never know her name.
Always remember: a brief life burns brightly."
Remember my words, but do not speak my name.
I have a vision of a Galaxy overrun by mankind from Core to Rim. Of four hundred billion stars each enslaved to the rhythms of Earth’s day, Earth’s year. I have a vision of a trillion planets pulsing to the beat of a human heart.
And I have a vision of a child. Who will grow up knowing neither family nor comfort. Who will not be distracted by the illusion of a long life. Who will know nothing but honor and duty. Who will die joyously for the sake of mankind.
That is a hero. And I will never know her name.
Always remember: a brief life burns brightly."
—Hama Druz, founder of the Interim Coalition of Governance, Exultant.
"Of all living things, humans are the most greedy, the most ruthless, the most selfish, the most deceitful. That's why they rule the world."
—Argal, Doglands
"We have observed that most of the trouble in the world has been caused by ten to twenty percent of folks who can't mind their own business, because they have no business of their own to mind, any more than a smallpox virus."
I never use the words humanist or humanitarian, as it seems to me that to be human is to be capable of the most heinous crimes in nature.
— Elphaba Thropp, Wicked
"I have endured many a fight with my own kind. I have known the cruelty of foxes, and the savagery of dogs; but there is nothing to match the venomous cruelty of human beings."
— Pufftail, Stray
"This is humanity's legacy, Arthur. This place. This girl. Not to be dramatic, but all that will be left in its wake are death and disease and pestilence. And do people throw their hands up and wail at their inadequacies? At the horror they have wrought on the world? No. It is an inconvenience. A fucking inconvenience, Arthur! This! History! The future! It's an aggravating afterthought! People poison this planet. They tear it apart. They take, and they take, and they take. And this is what they leave behind. These temples of shit. Like ugly signatures. They kill themselves, poison their children and they do it because it's convenient. Because it's easy. Because they are fucking monsters, Arthur. People are awful and monstrous."
— Clyde 2.0, Anti-Hero, by Jonathan Wood
I wondered about the image of Hork-Bajir and humans living side by side if the Yeerks were defeated. Humans didn’t have a great record of getting along with people different from themselves.
Humans killed one another over skin color or eye shape or because they prayed differently to the same god. Hard to imagine humans welcoming seven-foot-tall goblins into the local Boy Scout troop when they couldn’t even manage to tolerate some gay kid.
Humans killed one another over skin color or eye shape or because they prayed differently to the same god. Hard to imagine humans welcoming seven-foot-tall goblins into the local Boy Scout troop when they couldn’t even manage to tolerate some gay kid.
—Tobias, Animorphs
Why should I help any of them? They do what is right only when forced to, when there is no alternative. They fell of their own accord and are fallen now, of their own accord, by what they have voluntarily done. My mother is dead because of them; they murdered her. They would murder me if they could figure out where I am; only because I have confused their wits do they leave me alone. High and low they seek my life, just as Ahab sought Elijah's life, so long ago. They are a worthless race, and I do not care if they fall. I do not care at all. To save them I must fight what they themselves are and have always been.
“Maybe,” he said hesitantly, “maybe there is a beast.”
The assembly cried out savagely and Ralph stood up in amazement.
“You, Simon? You believe in this?”
“I don’t know,” said Simon. His heartbeats were choking him. “But. . . .”
The storm broke.
“Sit down!”
“Shut up!”
“Take the conch!”
“Sod you!”
“Shut up!”
Ralph shouted.
“Hear him! He’s got the conch!”
“What I mean is . . . maybe it’s only us.”"''
MAN, n. An animal so lost in rapturous contemplation of what he thinks he is as to overlook what he indubitably ought to be.
His chief occupation is extermination of other animals and his own species, which, however, multiplies with such insistent rapidity as to infest the whole habitable earth and Canada.
His chief occupation is extermination of other animals and his own species, which, however, multiplies with such insistent rapidity as to infest the whole habitable earth and Canada.
"When it talks, it is a race of whales; but a king knows it for a race of tadpoles. Its history gives it away. If men were really men, how could a Czar be possible? and how could I be possible? But we are possible; we are quite safe; and with God's help we shall continue the business at the old stand. It will be found that the race will put up with us, in its docile immemorial way. It may pull a wry face now and then, and make large talk, but it will stay on its knees all the same."
— Leopold II of Belgium, King Leopold's Soliloquy: A Defense of His Congo Rule
Live-Action TV
"Do you know that you're one of the few predator species that preys even on itself?"
—Trelane, Star Trek: The Original Series ("The Squire of Gothos")
Merlin: I ask you to hold Excalibur for me, until a good man comes to take it from you.
The Rock Of Ages: THEN I WILL BE HOLDING IT FOREVER. IF NOT LONGER... [chuckles softly]
The Rock Of Ages: THEN I WILL BE HOLDING IT FOREVER. IF NOT LONGER... [chuckles softly]
"Let me tell you something about hu-mons, nephew. They're a wonderful, friendly people as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working, but take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time and those same, friendly, intelligent, wonderful people will become as nasty and as violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon."
— Quark, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, "The Siege of AR-558"
"We're bad. No, we are. As a species, we're bad. Don't start giving me Shakespeare's sonnets. We're wicked!"
— Alan Davies, QI
Dr. Molly Clock: Perry, no one's "pure evil"! I mean, yeah, some people have a hard outer shell, but inside, everybody has a creamy center.
Dr. Perry Cox: There are plenty of people here on this particular planet who are hard on the outside and hard on the inside.
Dr. Clock: So they'd have more of a nougat-y center?
Dr. Cox: Lady, people aren't chocolates. You know what they are mostly? People are Bastards. Bastard Coated Bastards with a bastard filling. But I don't find them half as annoying as I find naïve, bubble-headed optimists who walk around vomiting sunshine.
Dr. Perry Cox: There are plenty of people here on this particular planet who are hard on the outside and hard on the inside.
Dr. Clock: So they'd have more of a nougat-y center?
Dr. Cox: Lady, people aren't chocolates. You know what they are mostly? People are Bastards. Bastard Coated Bastards with a bastard filling. But I don't find them half as annoying as I find naïve, bubble-headed optimists who walk around vomiting sunshine.
—Scrubs, "My Common Enemy"
"You know why God cast me down? Because I loved Him. More than anything. And then God created... you. The little... hairless apes. And then He asked all of us to bow down before you, to love you, more than Him. And I said, "Father, I can't." I said, "These human beings are flawed, murderous." And for that, God had Michael cast me into Hell. Now, tell me, does the punishment fit the crime? Especially, when I was right? Look at what six billion of you have done to this thing, and how many of you blame me for it."
— Lucifer, Supernatural, "The End"
Crowley: What was it he said that got everyone so upset?
Aziraphale: "Be kind to each other."
Crowley: Oh yeah. That'll do it.
Aziraphale: "Be kind to each other."
Crowley: Oh yeah. That'll do it.
— Good Omens (2019), at the Crucifixion
"I don't see the worst in everyone. I see the everyone in everyone."
— Lt. Everett Backstrom, Backstrom
"The ball is the first game ever being invented. Stone Age Man, he picked up ein rock. He said, "Ah! Das ist ein ball!" He threw it, and it killed a man. He said, "Oh, what fun!" And now, everybody loves the balls! Until the year five billion, when the very last human kicks off the skull of his enemy, and said, "That is the final ball of all."
— The Toymaker, Doctor Who, "The Giggle"
Music
So this is what you want?
A world not suitable for life?
(Self-damning idiots, with traits abhorrent and hideous)
Damn your traditions, god damn your religions
Shit on your systems, to hell with your decisions
As long as gravity holds these two feet to the ground
A world not suitable for life?
(Self-damning idiots, with traits abhorrent and hideous)
Damn your traditions, god damn your religions
Shit on your systems, to hell with your decisions
As long as gravity holds these two feet to the ground
—Cattle Decapitation, "Not Suitable For Life"
Our greed and vanity has brought this final shame
We fanned the flames inside our home
Exiled humanity and all of us to blame
We only hope we're not alone
But who can trust us once they learn why we're adrift
If we can't even trust ourselves?
We are but insects undeserving of their gifts
We all deserve to burn in Hell!
We fanned the flames inside our home
Exiled humanity and all of us to blame
We only hope we're not alone
But who can trust us once they learn why we're adrift
If we can't even trust ourselves?
We are but insects undeserving of their gifts
We all deserve to burn in Hell!
Tabletop Games
"Above all else, it is important to portray Descent as much a product of humanity's failure — on the part of the Sleepers and the Awakened alike — as it is the result of Nephandi success, if not more so. Descent can result only when the overwhelming majority of the human race loses all concern for the world, the people in it, the sanctity of the human soul and the possibility of something better. Only a feast of apathy and spiritual atrophy can produce victory for the Fallen. In many ways, Descent will come about because humanity deserved nothing better, because it chose to die rather than to feel, try or care.
Don't forget to illustrate the human hubris, selfishness and folly that earn mankind the sentence of Descent. As the haves step over the have-nots in the street (with perhaps only a snide "Get a job" to indicate any awareness that a sentient being is slumped in the gutter); as the weak and innocent are preyed upon by the malevolent strong; as hope is drowned amidst a sea of layoffs, sex scandals and conflicts born of political ambition and the desire for profit; as people do nothing to reverse this tide, it becomes clear how all of this came to pass. The Traditions are fighting an admirable battle, but they are doing so for a human race that has, for the most part, not done much to warrant such support."
Don't forget to illustrate the human hubris, selfishness and folly that earn mankind the sentence of Descent. As the haves step over the have-nots in the street (with perhaps only a snide "Get a job" to indicate any awareness that a sentient being is slumped in the gutter); as the weak and innocent are preyed upon by the malevolent strong; as hope is drowned amidst a sea of layoffs, sex scandals and conflicts born of political ambition and the desire for profit; as people do nothing to reverse this tide, it becomes clear how all of this came to pass. The Traditions are fighting an admirable battle, but they are doing so for a human race that has, for the most part, not done much to warrant such support."
—Mage: The Ascension — Ascension
"It sickens me to my core when I think of Sigmar's vision of human unity and prosperity, and the see the selfish, petty and ignorant people we have become. Sometimes, I wonder if we as a people are becoming too sick to survive."
—Warhammer, Liber Chaotica
"Why do I still live? What more do you want from me? I gave everything I had to you, to them. Look what they've made of our dream. This bloated, rotting carcass of an empire is driven not by reason and hope but by fear, hate and ignorance. Better that we had all burned in the fires of Horus' ambition than lived to see this."
— Roboute Guilliman, Warhammer 40,000
Theatre
What keeps mankind alive?
The fact that millions are daily tortured
Stifled, punished, silenced and oppressed
Mankind can keep alive thanks to its brilliance
In keeping its humanity repressed
And for once you must try not to shirk the facts
Mankind is kept alive by bestial acts
The fact that millions are daily tortured
Stifled, punished, silenced and oppressed
Mankind can keep alive thanks to its brilliance
In keeping its humanity repressed
And for once you must try not to shirk the facts
Mankind is kept alive by bestial acts
Video Games
"I have stood knee deep in mud and bone, and filled my lungs with mustard gas. I have seen two brothers fall. I have lain with holy wars and copulated with the autumnal fallout. I have dug trenches for the refugees; I have murdered dissidents where the ground never thaws, and starved the masses into faith. A child's shadow burnt into the brickwork. A house of skulls in the jungle. The innocent, the innocent, Mandus, trod and bled and gassed and starved and beaten and murdered and enslaved. This is your coming century! They will eat them Mandus, they will make pigs of you all and they will bury their snouts into your ribs and they will eat. your. hearts!"
—The Engineer, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
Alfred: A question, sir, If I may? How did Waylon Jones come to be the way he is?
Batman: Atavism from the looks of it. An unfortunate genetic mutation.
Alfred: Do you think the condition causes physical pain? Might that explain his rage?
Batman: It goes deeper than that. Imagine growing up looking like he did. Children are cruel, Alfred.
Alfred: So are adults, sir. All part of the 'human condition,' I suppose. We've a tendency to fear - often outright despise - that which is different. Ahh. But you already knew that.
Batman: Atavism from the looks of it. An unfortunate genetic mutation.
Alfred: Do you think the condition causes physical pain? Might that explain his rage?
Batman: It goes deeper than that. Imagine growing up looking like he did. Children are cruel, Alfred.
Alfred: So are adults, sir. All part of the 'human condition,' I suppose. We've a tendency to fear - often outright despise - that which is different. Ahh. But you already knew that.
"In the annals of history, the Great Mistake will forever be seen as a terrible and glorious war which damaged our homeworld beyond repair. In this, history is wrong. The mistake was not the war — it was our belief that we could start over. That when faced with mutual destruction, there could be peace between nations. It is only now, many years later, and halfway across the universe that we see the truth: There is only one path to peace and it must be walked alone."
— Domination Victory text, Civilization: Beyond Earth
Every age, it seems, is tainted by the greed of men. Rubbish to one such as I, devoid of all worldly wants. [Evil Laugh, followed by wistful sigh] Hmmm, I dunno, maybe it's just the way we are.
— Unbreakable Patches, Dark Souls III
"Just when humanity should be coming together, they turn on each other instead."
— Chuck Greene, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record
"Mankind is so depressing... Nothing but greed, stupidity and violence... 5,000 years of civilisation just to get to where we are..."
— Carl Manfred, Detroit: Become Human
"Yeah, the more I learn about people, the more I love my dog."
—Hank Anderson, Detroit: Become Human, quoting Mark Twain
Man: Anybody would've done what we did.
Woman: You ask me, that's exactly the problem.
Woman: You ask me, that's exactly the problem.
— Vault 11 recording, Fallout: New Vegas
Reuben: I couldn't sell arms.
The Jackal: Bullshit, Reuben. You have all the skills to be an arms dealer. Better one than me, even. You're smart, you're creative, you're a salesman - heh, you sold me on doing these dumb interviews. Man, the rest is just paperwork.
Reuben: I mean I'll be unable, psychologically, to sell arms.
The Jackal: I'm talking facts and you're talking theory. You're not a "good person", Reuben, you've just been lucky enough - you've never had to be otherwise. When it comes down to it, what a man can do is what a man will do. But believe what you want.
The Jackal: Bullshit, Reuben. You have all the skills to be an arms dealer. Better one than me, even. You're smart, you're creative, you're a salesman - heh, you sold me on doing these dumb interviews. Man, the rest is just paperwork.
Reuben: I mean I'll be unable, psychologically, to sell arms.
The Jackal: I'm talking facts and you're talking theory. You're not a "good person", Reuben, you've just been lucky enough - you've never had to be otherwise. When it comes down to it, what a man can do is what a man will do. But believe what you want.
"Jealousy. Hatred. Greed. Friends and family are driven to murder one another by these petty emotions. Such emotions spawn fathers who would even kill their own brood. As long as humans control, as long as humans dictate, as long as humans exist, this madness will never end."
—Zephiel, Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade
"Thanks to our heroes, the world is safe again. Right? Wrong? No one can say. But as long as humans rule the world... The Orochi awakening is not so far away... Is humankind too late to avoid destruction? When the ambitions of many drive the world to destruction... To stop this, the Orochi exist. The Orochi...God's messenger? Perhaps... Maybe humankind is at fault. Humankind. Ambitious, cruel, resilient. But it cannot be forgotten... the real enemy is not Orochi. Humankind's real enemy? We've seen the enemy, and it is us..."
—Edit Team Ending, The King of Fighters '97
"The destiny of destruction... Still awaits... So long as you have hearts, hate will lurk in the shadows. You who possess the wellspring of emotion known as the heart... You are the true Mavericks!"
—Serpent's last words, Mega Man ZX
"No matter how much you change the rules, no matter how much you refuse to admit defeat, in the end, the creatures known as "people" will always sign their own death warrant by acting out of stupidity and evil."
—King P, Mother 3
Maximus: Why can't we all just get along, Sameth?
Sameth: Because most of us are *honk*, little buddy.
Sameth: Because most of us are *honk*, little buddy.
— Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, Episode 2: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak
Strip away the restrictions of law and common decency, and it becomes clear that the engine that drives humanity is their own selfish ambition. To achieve one's own goals necessitates trampling those of others underfoot. Yet mankind is all too anxious to label those who would do so as evil. What tragic irony.
— Seth, Street Fighter IV
"Snipin's a good job, mate! It's challengin' work, out of doors...I guarantee you'll not go hungry 'cause at the end of the day, long as there's two people left on the planet, someone is gonna want someone dead."
— Sniper, Team Fortress 2
"Sooner or later, humans will kill off all Aen Seidhe, all dwarves and all gnomes. Then they'll start murdering each other. Your kind knows no other way, it's in your genes. You'll keep killing each other until only one remains: the strongest among you. A thousand years from now, a dim-witted human barbarian will climb to the top of a pile of bones, sit down and proclaim: 'I win!'"
— Iorveth, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
"Watch humans closely and you'll learn one thing: Deep down, they wish they were dead. They kill each other like they swat flies, running towards oblivion like blind rats. They see the divine flame of life and piss over it. Heh, they're genius at that. In a class all of their own, really."
"You have done nothing wrong. You simply strode forth towards the future. But the olden humans, they did not find value in it. You must have realized? This is not where you belong. Why make a martyr of yourself? Why be a stepping stone? For as long as the old is not excised...mankind has no future!"
Web Animation
"Molecular evidence shows that they are the sole surviving members of the genus — and knowing them, I can venture a guess why."
—Sophodra, Humans-B-Gone!
"Now I'll be the first to admit: Humans are the worst. (gestures to himself) Case in point."
—Roman Torchwick, RWBY
"...For example, I was an elf, and every now and again characters would say, "Hello, you are an elf!" If I were a human presumably they'd say, "Hello, you are an asshole!" I'd like to see a Tolkienesque fantasy where the humans aren't the biggest pricks in the room; I mean, a lot of my friends are humans and some of them are all right."
—Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, Zero Punctuation on Dragon Age: Origins
Web Videos
"Humanity is just the worst to itself."
—MatPat, Game Theory: Are Your Mobile Games ILLEGAL?
"And yeah, this feeds into why I don't like Toshiki Inoue's "world of assholes" thing. As it underminds the heroes trying to protect the innocent and their associated journeys to become pinnacles in their own right, when the ones being protected are always worst people than the monsters. There's trying to show not all bad guys are evil and victims have clean slates, (you know complex themes that aren't always recognized in the old good vs evil conflict) and then there's rooting for the villains to win, simply so that the world would by default become a better place."
— Des Shinta explains why he hates Toshiki Inoue's Humans Are Bastards trope in his Kamen Rider 555 review.
Webcomics
Zorblaxian: Are humans good or bad?
Human: Neither. We're group oriented.
Human: As long as I'm convinced humanity is part of a single in-group, I'm basically a saint. I'm generous, loving, hard-working.
Human: But, if you convince me someone's part of an out-group, given enough programming, by god I'll eat their livers out of their living flesh.
Zorblaxian: I'm gonna write down 'bad' on my checklist.
Human: And I don't even like liver!
Human: Neither. We're group oriented.
Human: As long as I'm convinced humanity is part of a single in-group, I'm basically a saint. I'm generous, loving, hard-working.
Human: But, if you convince me someone's part of an out-group, given enough programming, by god I'll eat their livers out of their living flesh.
Zorblaxian: I'm gonna write down 'bad' on my checklist.
Human: And I don't even like liver!
"I wonder if Satan ever gets tired of winning."
Western Animation
So yeah, of course, it was the humans in the menagerie that set the moopsy free. They'd seen how profitable they were as an attraction, so they wanted to kill Narj and keep the station for themselves. Humans. We really are the worst.
— Beckett Mariner, on a pair of humans who deliberately freed a Killer Rabbit knowing what it was, Star Trek: Lower Decks, "I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee"
Real Life
"Along comes Jesus with this wonderful, moralistic philosophy, about why we should be tolerant and understanding of our fellow human beings, and then we spend the next two thousand years killing one another, because we can't quite agree on how he said it."
— Interview with the Monty Python team
"On internet messageboards, there is no subject so vile or indefensible that someone won't post positively/in defense of it."
— Skarka's Law, RPG.net
"We stopped searching for monsters under our bed when we realized the monsters are all inside us."
—Sam Stevens
Homo homini lupus est. (Man is a wolf to man)
— Unknown, attributed to Plautus
Man is the cruelest animal.
"Hitler had said that when he died, he would leave a great and strong Germany behind him. Instead, he gave the world a very different legacy: new knowledge of what human beings are capable of."
—The Nazis: A Warning from History
"I believe that if we do away with all of the pretentious facade in this world, we would find a dark area hidden inside humans that likes death and discrimination."
Goodness has only once found a perfect incarnation in a human body and never will again, but evil can always find a home there. Human nature is not black and white but black and grey.
— Graham Greene
"Look down at me and you see a fool; look up at me and you see a god; look straight at me and you see yourself."
—Charles Manson, convicted cult leader
"I am pessimistic about humanity and people, because we experienced the Cultural Revolution, so I am very vigilant and careful, as man is the most terrifying animal...I saw man eating man, man harming man, and it is the same now. Now, any time, someone can harm you, and they might not even know why they must harm you."
—Yang Lipingnote
note "Man is the only animal who causes pain to others with no other object than wanting to do so."
— Arthur Schopenhauer
"Six mistakes mankind keeps making century after century:
Believing that personal gain is made by crushing others;
Worrying about things that cannot be changed or corrected;
Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it;
Refusing to set aside trivial preferences;
Neglecting development and refinement of the mind;
Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do."
Believing that personal gain is made by crushing others;
Worrying about things that cannot be changed or corrected;
Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it;
Refusing to set aside trivial preferences;
Neglecting development and refinement of the mind;
Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do."
— Cicero
"...it is gratuitous to advise any human being to look out for himself. You can be sure that he will. It is far more difficult to persuade him to help his neighbor to build a dam or to defend a town or to give food he has accumulated to the victims of a famine."
So many of Brooker's characters are forced to face the monstrosity of their own actions — done while looking through a filter; a theme Brooker has explored since the first episode: the entire population of Great Britain, punished for entertaining an idea so ugly and ridiculous it can only be a joke... until it becomes real. The metaphor unsheared. The distance between actor and act finally closed. And we're back to the start, the original science-fiction tragedy: a new discovery, the failure of empathy, and a brand-new form of cruelty.
Brooker's tech isn't broken; his people are.
Brooker's tech isn't broken; his people are.
