Humans Are the Real Monsters: Difference between revisions

Now? Just wait until we get the hang of intergalactic space travel and discover ''other'' sentient races with land, natural resources, and technology of their very own!

 

 

In a distinct contrast to humans, alien races which humans impose themselves onto are either [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|sufficiently advanced]] enough that anything they could ever want or need is immediately made available to them (thus making greed and violence sound redundant to them) or have achieved a state of equilibrium with their surrounding environment which leaves them perfectly content. Either way, this generally gives an alien race a more empathic or more peaceful outlook and worldview than what humans understand and seek to attain. If these alien races ever attack humans, it will likely be either a reactionary measure to a previous transgression on the humans' part against them or a preemptive strike out of fear that humans will cause them harm at the first opportunity they get. In the event that enough of the galaxy is in a panic over humanity, they may even form an [[Anti-Human Alliance]] and possibly put [[Humanity on Trial]].

In political works, this trope may be invoked to argue that [[Hobbes Was Right]].

 

 

See Also: [[Humans Are Warriors]], [[Humanity Is Superior]], [[Humanity Is Insane]], [[Humans Kill Wantonly]], [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?]] and [[Humans Are Morons]].

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' had an entire episode called ''The Evil of Men'' near the middle of the Buu saga. Essentially, it explores how even we, the normal, non-powerful humans can be just as cruel as the monsters Goku and co fight on a regular basis. Case in point: A gang of thugs arrive to shoot up Buu and Mr. Satan (who is in the process of rehabilitating Buu) and end up shooting Bee the puppy. Later, one of them comes back and shoots Mr. Satan point blank in the back and runs off. Sure Buu managed to save him in time (and saved the puppy in the first attack), but witnessing this cruelty literally caused him to unleash his evil side, and thus, the entire rest of the Buu saga is the world paying the price for what those men did.

** Considering the violent psychic dismemberment the diclonii are capable of, that's saying something.

* In marked contrast, [[Studio Ghibli]]'s ''[[Pom Poko]]'' is a subversion. Some fans call it "[[Fern Gully]] with a Brain". Some of the Tanuki believe that all humans are bad and they argue for open warfare against the humans - and even then, they have a hard time fully committing to this as finding food would be a great deal harder with no garbage bags to rummage through. Other Tanuki argue that the humans are simply unaware that Tanuki are real and can be reasoned with. {{spoiler|After the Tanuki take the gamble of going public, it turns out that this is indeed the case and the humans are happy to come to a compromise with the creatures, setting aside parkland for them to live in. Of course, the fact their default humanoid forms [[What Measure Is a Non-Cute?|are cute looking]] is a real help.}}

* The [[Big Bad]] in ''[[Soul Taker (anime)|Soul Taker]]'', {{spoiler|Kyosuke's sister Runa}} feels this way after [[Freudian Excuse|bad stuff happened]]. In the end, the villain puts Kyosuke in a bind: fight to save humanity who are ungrateful bastards and hate him since {{spoiler|he's technically an alien}} or let them all die and live happily and eternally with said [[Big Bad]]. Kyosuke naturally turns both offers down, [[Take a Third Option|takes a third option]], shows the villain that there IS {{spoiler|[[What Measure Is a Non-Human?|measure to a non-human]]}} and saves the day.

* This is what [[Friendly Neighborhood Vampire]] [[Rosario + Vampire|Moka Akashiya]] first thought of humans before she met her human [[Love Interest]]. After seeing how she was teased and bullied because of her [[Bullying a Dragon|vampire origins]] when she was a kid, [[Kids Are Cruel|who could blame her]]? Ruby and her adoptive mother thought this as well.

* [[Ubermensch|Rau Le]] [[Nietzsche Wannabe|Creuset]] from ''[[Gundam Seed]]'' believes that humans are selfish greedy bastards who will do anything to get ahead even if it means slowly wiping themselves out in the process, and justifies this viewpoint with both Kira's existence and his own existence as both were born through genetic manipulation and cloning respectively; this belief is also what drives him to want to wipe out humanity entirely taking the "I'm [[Taking You with Me]]" ethos to its extreme logical conclusion.

** The scary part? ''The show universe itself is so chock full of bigots and assholes he's doesn't really look all that incorrect!'' In fact, considering all the racism and blind hatred fueling the wars (which both sides are aware of and DEFEND as virtuous, especially at their highest levels of authority), he really has a very good claim for arguing his point is pretty valid, and {{spoiler|this is what motivates the antagonist from the sequel to enact a plan to prevent such things from happening again, because he agreed humans became bastards as a result of said hatreds.}}

* The protagonist of ''[[Wolf Guy Wolfen Crest]]'' thinks humans are bastards or at least [[Humans Are Flawed|incredibly petty]]; it doesn't help that he's a certified [[Doom Magnet]] and he's surrounded by the most horrific [[Delinquents]] at school. Subverted when he acknowledges that his narrow view of humans makes him just as bad.

* A main theme point in ''Inugami'', where inugami (wolves with amazing [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/inugami/v01/c000/84.html abilities]) are sent by a mysterious voice in their heads that says "gaze upon man". An inugami named 23 makes friends with a kind human named Fumiki, and his subsequent encounters with humans influences him into seeing humans as friends. The other inugami, Zero, sees humans as an example of this trope, since most of his encounters with them have involved being shot by hunters for [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/inugami/v02/c000/8.html fun], being subdued by police officers without [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/inugami/v02/c000/44.html provocation], and destroying Earth's [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/inugami/v06/c028/4.html environment]. 23 also beings to feel doubt for [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/inugami/v04/c000/61.html humans] when he fights and kills a mutated dog driven insane by animal [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/inugami/v04/c000/52.html experimentation]. This momentary thought, combined with [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/inugami/v06/c028/8.html Zeros], summons a horrifying [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/inugami/v05/c024/27.html creature] [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/inugami/v05/c022/ that appears killing anyone it encounters.]

* ''[[Soukou no Strain]]'' has the revelation that {{spoiler|humans discovered a race of aliens who share a [[Hive Mind]] unaffected by time and distance...and decided to hack them up without anesthetic (because nothing they had worked on the aliens) in order to use their brains for instant interstellar communications. And their [[Hive Mind]] meant they ''all'' felt it. Discovering this is what makes Ralph Werec undergo his [[Face Heel Turn]]; when his sister Sara and her allies learn the same, they're horrified but don't share Ralph's [[Kill All Humans]] attitude.}}

* This is how [[Monster (manga)|Johan Liebert]] views humanity. He believes that all you need to do is add a little fuel to the fire and humans will destroy each other through hatred. Of course, even if you agree with him, [[Complete Monster|he is DEFINITELY the biggest bastard of them all.]]

* This is how [[Faux Affably Evil|Diva]] views humanity in ''[[Blood Plus]].'' [[Freudian Excuse|Well, you would think the same thing if you were used as a lab rat]].

 

{{quote|'''Spider Jerusalem:''' Being a bastard works.}}

* The reason Larfleeze hasn't left Earth after ''[[Blackest Night]]'' is because [[Lex Luthor]] told him that humans are greedier bastards than he could ever hope to match, and that life on Earth is all about owning things. After spending more time on Earth, Larfleeze has come to agree with Luthor...[[Your Approval Fills Me with Shame|and he loves Earth for it.]]

* Zigzagged in ''[[Crossed]]'', whose moral seems to be that while we are ''not'' all bastards, we all have the ''potential'' to be bastards, with the protagonist pointing out that however [[Complete Monster|horrible]] the [[Not Using the Zed Word|Infected]] are, they never do anything that ordinary humans cannot also do. Surprisingly thought-provoking, given that this is a series that's pretty much nothing but [[Gorn]].

** The two sequel series (be afraid...) rather confirm this, each having a non-infected human that gives the Crossed a run for their money in the sick bastard department, without the excuse of having caught a psycho-virus.

== Fanfiction ==

* Humanity and all of its sub-species in [[Aeon Natum Engel]].

* In general, almost every ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' [[Fanfic]] that involves humans features this trope in one way or another. Even if the humans aren't actively malevolent, they'll still be brooding over how embarrassed they are of humanity's evil, or even become an unwitting gateway through which evil and corruption enters the pony universe.

** In one series titled [[The Conversion Bureau]] it's flat-out stated that the ponies, both those born as ponies and the 'converts', teach this constantly to the humans they're trying to recruit into [[Superior Species|their oh-so-superior culture and race]]. It is all very [[Anvilicious]]. It also leads to the rather [[Fridge Logic|obvious problem]] of, if Equestria is a utopia and humans are all evil monsters, then why do the ponies WANT us to become part of the herd?

** [[Article 2]] [[Averted Trope|averts]] this. Although humans seem more aggressive and rude then the ponies, this is treated as different cultures and neither is shown as superior. It is also pointed out multiple times that Shane is just one human, a soldier, and in a very stressful situation, so its not really fair to use him as proof of any faults in humanity as a whole.

* In ''[[The Man qith No Name (fanfic)|The Man With No Name]]'', [[Doctor Who|the Doctor]] goes on one of his famous rants when he finds out what the Alliance did to River's brain.

 

 

== Film - Animation ==

* ''[[Bambi]]'': As a whole, [[Western Animation]] with animal characters tends to be bad about this but "Bambi" is the best known example.

** If you sit down and watch the movie again, "Bambi" is not as bad as [[Bambification|some of its successors]]. For one thing, [[Walt Disney]] pointedly refused to make the hunters larger characters because he would have had to show them as two-dimensional villains given their actions.

** This may be a case of humans seeing themselves as the good guys. But when they see the effects of their policies, realize they're [[Heel Realization|not as benign as they thought.]]

*** They may be horrified, but the sequels mean the humans will be back. The [[Unobtainium]] is too valuable for them to just give up.

** Whenever they find an alien nest in D9, they [[Kill It with Fire|torch it with a flame thrower]] and laugh at the popping noises that the alien larvae make as they boil.

** They set up a firing range and they shock the {{spoiler|main character (who is the only human who can use alien tech)}} to get him to pull the trigger on the gun they strap him to. They then bring in a new alien gun and repeat the process many, many times in order to test the effects of each weapon. Cries of "I'll pull it! I'll pull it!" are ignored, and they ''never once'' see if he'll keep his word and pull it without the shocks.

*** Lampshaded when one ape crosses the [[Moral Event Horizon]], and others find out about it. A human observes that they "just joined the human race."

* [[Ed Wood (creator)|Ed Wood]] naturally [[Narm|overdid it]] in ''[[Plan 9 from Outer Space]]'', with an alien screaming, "All you of Earth are idiots! You see? Your stupid minds, stupid, stupid!"

*** [[Too Dumb to Live|Then again]] the aliens' plan of warning was a [[Zombie Apocalypse]].

* This is the basic premise of the movie ''[[Deadgirl]].'' Human behavior is far more depraved and horrifying than any scary monster the imagination can conceive, and the victim in the movie is said movie monster: a zombie.

* In ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]'', the final voyage has Gulliver land in a place where he encounters the Yahoos — mindless, crude beasts that are ''visually indistinguishable from humans''. To the point that the “enlightened” (and horse‐like) Houyhnhnms eventually forbid him from staying because he’s too much like them. They try to use moral threat as a [[Freudian Excuse]], but they’re obviously not really afraid of Gulliver’s baser moral tendencies. This moral contradiction makes the Houyhnhnms even bigger bastards than anybody, but Gulliver is so wrapped up in his newfound misanthropy that he doesn’t notice (or probably doesn’t want to).

* Another fine candidate for the title of magnum opus of fictional Human Bastardry is an illustrated science fiction novel entitled ''Man After Man''. [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]], the well‐to‐do people of the world set off to leave Earth and colonize other worlds. Before they do, they use [[Lego Genetics|genetic modification]] technology to physically alter the people who weren’t able to afford the trip, changing them to survive in different biomes. Time passes and we get to see how the mutated humans gradually evolve over the eons after being left to their own devices — and then, suddenly, a race of [[Planet Looters]] invades Earth, enslaves the mutants, and strips the planet of its resources. For their next trick, they wipe out all life more complicated than bacteria. {{spoiler|Those invading “aliens” were actually the unrecognizable descendants of the '''humans''' who’d left Earth millions of years ago. Dude…}}

** Just to be clear, the genetic engineering wasn’t ''forced'' on those left behind, and it was actually done in a belated guilt‐trip attempt to replace the many, many species humans had already wiped out. And the ones who eliminated virtually all life at the end {{spoiler|had long since forgotten their origins on Earth, let alone that they were distant relatives of the creatures they were destroying}}.

* [[Mark Twain]]’s satirical essay ''The Lowest Animal'' takes the claim that humans are the “reasoning animal” and totally destroys it by showing mankind’s hatred towards each other and everything else.

* [[Subverted Trope]] (the Qu), played straight (the Gravital) and everything in between in Nemo Ramjet’s ''All Tomorrows''.

* ''[[The Book of Lord Shang]]'' notes that “The guiding principles of the people are base, and they are not consistent in what they value.”

** This does qualify [[Aliens Are Bastards|the aliens as bastards]], though (if we’re the same as them, they’re obviously the same as us).

* In ''Run to the Stars'', by Michael Scott Rohan, we get the following exchange, after Kirsty and Ryly discover that the world government has sent a missile to wipe out a just‐discovered alien species:

* Given [[Rousseau Was Right|the kind of person]] [[Jim Henson]] was, he usually had a more thoughtful take on this issue. To wit:

** ''[[Fraggle Rock]]'' stands dedicatedly on the "humans are misguided" side. Uncle Traveling Matt quickly dubs us "the Silly Creatures", which really says it all. On the few occasions Doc threatened the [[Five Races]], he did so without realizing it (shutting down the pipes in his house shuts down the water supply for the Fraggles, Doozers, and Gorgs). {{spoiler|When he finally meets Gobo face-to-face, he's careful to take this sort of thing into consideration.}}

* Not really avoided in ''[[The Muppet Show]]'' or its movie spin-offs. As far as the biggest bastard Kermit ever met is concerned, [[Roger Ebert]] said it best: "As soon as Kermit gains legs, he meets a human with an unsavory use for them."

** The famous anti-hunting rendition of "For What It's Worth" featured little woodland animals singing about "a man with a gun over there", and periodically ducking under cover as trigger-happy human hunters blundered through the scene, firing at everything that moved.

** {{spoiler|And then promptly subverted at the end when the hunters reveal they were trying to bag ''construction equipment''.}}

{{quote|'''The Doctor:''' [[Humans Are Morons|Humans have got such limited little minds]]. I don't know why I like you so much.<br />

'''Sarah Jane Smith:''' Because you have such good taste.<br />

** Of course, when it comes to supernatural, it's more a case of [[Crapsack World|EVERYTHING is a Bastard]], even the angels.

** To be fair not all the angels are bastards. Castiel and Joshua are pretty decent. Anna too up until you know.... And {{spoiler|Gabriel}} in the end, a possibly a little bit in the beginning.

** And now it looks like Castiel has caught the crazy everybody else had.

* ''[[Lost]]'' seems to be going this route with the overriding conflict between {{spoiler|Jacob}} and the Man in Black/{{spoiler|Smoke Monster}}:

* When [[Our Mermaids Are Different|merpeople]] are concerned, expect a subversion as well. Granted, humanity has had a conflicted relationship with the oceans, but it's usually only mer''men'' that exhibit any misanthropy as a result of it; [[My Species Doth Protest Too Much|it doesn't seem to stop mermaids]] from [[Interspecies Romance|seeking out human boyfriends]].

** The [[Interspecies Romance]] between human and merpeople is a modern thing; in traditional tales, all merpeople hated humans.

 

 

== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==

{{quote|'''[[Cloudcuckoolander|Thorax]]''': When you say you're going to rethink your creation of humanity, in what respect are you going to do so?<br />

'''Monty''': Only in the respects that command their waking thoughts and actions. Their [[Seven Deadly Sins|covetousness and lust]]; their [[Race Tropes|intolerance]], [[Dirty Coward|cowardice]], [[Cold-Blooded Torture|hatred]] and [[For the Evulz|cruelty]]; their [[Corrupt Church|sanctimony]], [[Truth and Lies|mendacity]] and [[Criminals|thievery]]; and [[Reality TV|their intense, feckless voyeuristic love of mediocrity]].... At least for starters.<br />

** Of course, He of the Thousand Masks takes his name from a Lovecraftian [[Eldritch Abomination]] who just likes to mess with sapient life.

** Though there is also Philemon, The Crawling Chaos' rival who believes humanity can become enlightened.

** The third and fourth games, however, focus on subverting this - the protagonists associate with those around them, discover the core of strength that lies at the heart of humanity, and use it to [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulu|smash in the face of an ungodly monstrosity]]. Heck, this is made ''explicit'' in ''Persona 4'', where the final boss {{spoiler|reveals she was using three people to test humanity - one representing despair, one representing destruction, and one representing hope. ''You'' were hope, and as you finish her off, she declares, "Children of man... Well done!"}}

* A recurring theme in the ''[[Lunar]]'' series:

** In ''[[Lunar: The Silver Star]]'', the Goddess Althena finds that humans depend on her too much, and she decides to spread her power among them in order to {{spoiler|live as a regular human; in this case, it's Alex's [[Victorious Childhood Friend]] Luna}}. While she disliked the fact that they depended on her a good deal, she believes that [[Humans Are Special|they can live fully without her and are capable of great things.]] Ghaleon believes in this trope in full force and thinks that humanity needs a god.

** In ''[[Lunar 2 Eternal Blue]]'', Zophar, [[God of Evil|the god of destruction]], also believes in this. [[Mysterious Waif|Lucia]] doesn't directly fall under this trope, but being an [[Emotionless Girl]] who is a servant ([[Epileptic Trees|or something]]) to Althena that is required to sleep on the abandoned Blue Star for thousands of years gives her the impression that Althena alone is the only one capable of keeping Lunar at peace and in line. [[Character Development]] ensues as she adventures with [[The Hero|Hiro]] and the others, and she, too, begins believing in [[Humans Are Special|the opposite trope.]] {{spoiler|Even ''Ghaleon'', the former [[Big Bad]], returns realizing that the human strength that Alex had and that Hiro has are special.}}

* While it doesn't have a Humans Are Bastards theme ''per se'', the [[All There in the Manual|racial backstory]] in ''[[Dungeon Siege]] II'' doesn't exactly put humans in a positive light. It says that the human race has a dual nature, but it only mentions the negative, not the positive; it says that humans are [[Blood Knight|extremely violent]].

** To be fair, there's the Dryads. You'd think that a race of attractive plant girls who have an innate connection to nature would be some of the nicest people around, right? Guess again. Most Dryads are quite militaristic (more so in ''Broken World''), and are unusually suspicious of other races, especially the Half-Giants (though the Elf Amren seems to be on good terms with them). Plus there's that Ring of Submission they have, which senses your intentions before you've even thought of them and then [[All Crimes Are Equal|does painful or even fatal stuff to you accordingly]]. For a race that doesn't like government, that's a pretty fascistic way to treat your prisoners.

*** The books that introduced Arcturus's son Valerian show him as a pretty decent guy with a passion for history, while his father only focuses on the practical. About the only thing the father and son can talk about is Valerian's collection of antique swords, which Valerian sees as art and Arcturus sees as weapons. This is likely because he was mostly raised by his mother, while Arcturus was busy defeating the Confederacy and setting up his empire.

* ''[[Warcraft]]'' shows many humans who are pigheaded and prejudiced against races they view as "savage", and if a racist character shows up, it's more likely than not to be a human. But like other examples on this list, the other races in the world have their own prejudices, ranging from the orcs refusing to accept their role in the atrocities of the first two wars, the high elves blaming the Alliance (that they left) for not saving them and continuing to practice magic despite the destruction it's caused and the Forsaken seeking to [[Kill All Humans]], more than a few gleefully.

*** They only refuse to own up to the rather distorted view of their sins that the Humans placed on them. Internally, many orcs from that era feel conflicted over the utter destruction they caused. While Thrall still led the Horde, he did everything he could to keep hostilities to a minimum, while humanity was more or less the [[Jerkass]] in such situations (Varian was the one to declare war on the Horde, not the other way around). The Horde under Garrosh, however, is a completely different story.

* In ''[[Breath of Fire 4]]'', this is the reason why Fou-Lu, the antagonist, turns into an [[Omnicidal Maniac]] and decides to [[Kill'Em All|destroy humanity]]. {{spoiler|Having your girlfriend tortured into insanity so her body, mind and soul can serve as consumable fuel for a [[Fantastic Nuke]] aimed (and actually fired) at you can do that to a guy.}}

** At least in this case the problem didn't seem to be blamed on humanity being evil, but that humans were heavily influenced and manipulated by [[Eldritch Abomination|Lavos]], who uplifted mankind to the top of the ecosystem for its own purposes (To eat said ecosystem). So we're not world-wrecking monsters, we're just minions of a world-eating monster. That's a bit better... ish...

** They are also called out by the Dwarves who kill the faeries because humans accidentally poisoned their home. Clearly accidentally poisoning someone's living place is worse than actual genocide. Really the only people who has any right to call out humanity are the demihumans of Marbule as they never tried to kill anyone else.

*** In ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'' every race got a chance to be a bastard, with the Reptites and Mystics waging wars in different time periods with the intent to wipe out humanity for ill-defined reasons. Even if humanity committed atrocities in the backstory that's a little extreme. The nature-based empire from ''Cross'' was the evolved form of the Reptites from ''Trigger'' which, to exist, likely killed off all the humans in their own timeline where Lavos never landed. Of course, it's humans that defeat Lavos and [[Save the World]] in the end (albeit with help from non-human allies.)

* And that is not the only example to be found when it comes to the [[Tales (series)]]. In fact, this is a major theme of ''[[Tales of Rebirth]]'' (along its [[Fantastic Racism]]), but the message is not "humans are bastards" as much as it's "all people, Humas and Gajumas, are bastards period". They hate each other because they do, and both do pretty nasty things to each other (some Humas refused to give medicine to a Gajuma woman while she was dying ''in front of her daughter'', and some Gajumas chased an old couple out of town, forcing them to live in the middle of a desert filled with monsters). They get better... sort of. {{spoiler|The end of the game implies that they keep on being douches, but at least [[The Powers That Be|the powers in command]] are doing something about it}}.

* In the ''[[Star Control]]'' universe humans are hardly one of the evil races, but they have had their... poor moments. They designed a race of super-intelligent clones, the Androsynth, then declared them inferior and put them into manual labor. This backfired rather spectacularly when the Androsynth, being more intelligent than your average Joe, still invented hyperspace travel before the humans, escaped, and eventually joined the Ur-Quan Hierarchy, hoping for some sweet revenge.

** Oh, and humanity also managed to collectively alienate the VUX by insulting their appearance in the first contact - ironically, humans look just as attractive to the VUX as the other way around (VUX is sometimes treated as an acronym for "Very Ugly Xenoform"). This would lead to a massive political crisis and, indirectly, to the VUX joining the Ur-Quan as well as, isolated, they could not match the Hierarchy. So out of 7 races in the original Hierarchy, humankind is responsible for two. Unsurprisingly, the Alliance (which humans were members of) eventually lost the first war.

** Played straight since according to the official site humans are largely responsible for the tradition of war and conflict on Prodesto.

* Subverted and parodied (in a straight manner) in ''Elven Legacy''. The main characters, who are elves, will often (oh so often...) go on a rant about human bastardness, while at the same time acting either in equally bastardly manner or topping humans by quite a bit. Most blatant when the protagonist accuse humans of arrogance for daring to think elves would be humble enough to surrender their weapons and meet with their lord.

*** The Charr information is subverted by Guild Wars 2 lore as it's revealed that Ascalon is a massive [[Propaganda Machine]]. The Charr use 'meat' as a derogatory term, but the idea of Charr eating people was introduced by the humans to reinforce the vision of the Charr as 'mindless savages', when the truth was that they [[Not So Different|weren't so different]] after all. The Charr became [[Villains by Necessity]] as those who didn't obey the tyrannical Fire Legion (who had enslaved the Charr) were put to death. Eventually though the Charr overthrew their [[Evil Overlord|evil overlords]] and went their own way (abandoning magic and becoming very independent in the process). The Charr seem angry at the humans, but they [[Not Evil, Just Misunderstood|aren't evil]] but rather are kind of ticked off as their first encounter with humanity was humanity engaging in an ethnic purge, trying to wipe out as many Charr as they could and stealing charr lands in the process. I think it's understandable that the Charr held a grudge. Furthermore, Ascalon had a case of [[Written by the Winners|revisionist history]], often using propaganda to reinforce a positive view of humanity whilst painting the Charr as a faceless evil. The reason this propaganda was rehearsed so readily was to help the humans hide the [[Awful Truth]] from themselves - that with their constant warring between the three human nations, the attempted ethnic cleansing of the Charr, and having driven one race to extinction, they truly are the most horrible bastards that Tyria has to offer. Hell, the Charr refer to one of their 'greatest heroes' as 'Gwen the Goremonger.'

** And then there's the Asura this is part of their official description, by the way: "Inventors, scientists, and spellcasters of every stripe, the Asura consider many other races beneath them and are not afraid to tell them so at every opportunity."

* The human deathknight Charna in ''[[Heroes of Might and Magic]] 4'' is described as being capable of evil that 'even the demons balk at'.

* A major plot point in ''[[Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura]]'', where humans have triggered an industrial revolution with dwarven technology acquired by Arcanum's richest businessman [[Meaningful Name|Gilbert Bates]]. As a result, the Forest of Morbihan has been transformed into the Morbihan Plain over a few short years, and the most industrialized city, Tarant, is also one of the most polluted. Members of other races such as [[Our Dwarves Are All the Same|dwarves]] and [[Our Elves Are Better|elves]] theorize that because humans have relatively short livespans, every action they take is motivated by the fear of their impending deaths, and they do not live long enough to see the consequences of their actions.

* Revealed in one dialogue during ''[[Mega Man Zero]] 3'', stating that humans of the dystopian Neo Arcadia only indulge themselves in food and comfort, letting the authorities do the thinking for them while regarding the conflicts [[The Hero|Zero]] and [[Big Good|Ciel]] have been fighting as mere daily news on the televisions. In ''Z4'', Zero also further condemns humans fleeing from [[Big Bad|Weil's]] iron fist as cowardly beings who would do nothing about their refugee leader getting kidnapped just to avoid another war. It is not until [[The Dragon|Craft]] blows up the city do humans finally wake up with terrible pain in their minds.

** Dr. Weil also implies in Zero 3 that Humans innately feel that ruling all the eye can see and making others work for them is the ultimate joy for them, and believes that no Reploid could ever understand this joy, although Zero [[Shut UP, Hannibal|counters]] this by stating that he doubts any decent human would understand Weil's viewpoint, either.

** In the [[Prototype 2|sequel]], Mercer's growing disgust with humanity's flaws {{spoiler|drives him to become a [[Dark Messiah]] bent on uniting the entire world into a [[Hive Mind]] so he can end all conflict.}}

* Casually tossed here and there in ''[[Kid Icarus|Kid Icarus Uprising]]''. Palutena notes, when talking about Magnus, that humans are fundamentally driven by desire, using the mercenary as an example. {{spoiler|Hades gets humans to war with themselves to an insane degree by spreading the rumor of the Wish Seed. This draws the ire of the nature goddess Viridi, who begins attempting to annihilate humankind for their greed, violence, and wastefulness. Dark Pit seems to be the only one willing to tell the gods that they're just as bad, if not worse}}.

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* The ''[[Order of the Stick]]'' prequel book ''[[Start of Darkness]]'' does this, with humans killing off goblins and other races solely for being classified as evil, even if they weren't doing anything. However, the goblin Redcloak, whose village was slaughtered by human paladins and went on to become [[The Dragon]], shows himself to be just as bad in his own way, with his hypocrisy and less-than-balanced view of humans being brought up both in the book and in the on line strips.

** In ''[[Kevin and Kell]]'', whenever humans show up they're generally portrayed as the equivalent of [[Sealed Evil in a Can]] (and once, literally). The inhabitants of the furry world often make disparaging remarks about how stupid our world is in comparison to theirs (in which sentient creatures constantly slaughter and devour each other without so much as a hint of remorse or guilt), and in fact portrays humans as so evil that introducing a single one into the K universe almost ''destroyed the world''.

*** Actually, ''[[Kevin and Kell]]'' has lately disproven the theory that the mere presence or awareness of humans has an adverse effect on instincts. It's that characters moving between the worlds throw at least one of them off balance. Once the balance is restored, you can pay as much attention to humans as you like and not lose your instincts. In fact, it turns out that [http://www.kevinandkell.com/2009/kk1017.html the animals are equally destructive to their own environments]. It's promptly subverted in the next strip...

** In ''[[Jack (webcomic)|Jack]]'', the [[Big Bad]] {{spoiler|isn't Satan, but a human that has become the personification of Envy. However, he's the only remaining human in Hell -- it is assumed the rest have redeemed themselves and have moved on.}}

** [[Newshounds]] has [[Cerebus Syndrome|gotten really bad]] about this trope.

** When humans appear in [[The Kenny Chronicles]] they tend to refer to Tarnekis as animals or rant about how they are a danger. Of course Tarnekis were created by pirates (who they are implied to have killed) and some of their ships were stolen (though the Ballyhoo was bought).

* This trope, as it relates to animals, is spoofed in an episode of ''[[Family Guy]]'' where Death goes on a date with a woman who works at a pet shop. She insists that there'd be no more wars if people were more like animals, and he says "What are you talking about? Animals fight all the time!"

* The movie ''[[Battle for Terra]]'' plays with this trope. The Earth is destroyed and what's left of the human race is forced to live in a military fleet which invades the peaceful title planet. While they are doing this by force and goal to the kill all the aliens they are portrayed as just desperate {{spoiler|if you want to know why don't they just live together, the humans and terrans don't breath the same air}}.

* In ''[[Adventures of the Gummi Bears]]'', the Gummis are in hiding because humans were too determined to get their hands on their technology.

* ''[[Dante's Inferno (video game)|Dantes Inferno]]: An Animated Epic'' - A major point Lucifer tries to make to Dante's captured wife's soul, Beatrice. Trying to convince her that mankind is forever destined to fall into hell by their weak minds and free will, he pushes the point further by filling her head with images of mankind's greatest atrocities throughout time, one of them an image of [[Adolf Hitler]] and his empire, which suggest that Lucifer can foresee the future.