Humans Are Average: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. [[Crippling Overspecialization|Specialization is for insects]].''|'''[[Robert A. Heinlein]]'''}}
If you see any fantastic setting involving Humans, they are highly likely to be average. Smart but not the smartest, strong but not the strongest, having ability to use magic but no affinity for it. They live longer than mayflies but shorter than elves. In other words, humans are the [[Jack of All Stats]]. They may be [[Humans Are the Real Monsters|bastards]] but not necessarily [[
Another common trait is to make humans more driven and adaptable than other races, which accounts for what they're able to accomplish in comparison to other races that have longer lifespans or greater skills in any given area. Humans might not be as good as magic as elves or as good at blacksmithing as dwarves, but they're still better than dwarves when it comes to magic and they may still be better blacksmiths than elves. As a result, humans in various types of tabletop or online games may end up getting more skill points to reflect their ability to master a variety of situations.
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* [[Diana Wynne Jones]] played with this trope in ''[[Power of Three (novel)|Power of Three]]'', where the main protagonist race seem to be the human stand-ins in a world where there are also fairies and giants. They are 'normal', in-between the 'big people' and the 'little people'. {{spoiler|Turns that the world is actually our world, or one close enough to it, and the 'giants' are actually humans, whereas the race we ''thought'' were humans are more akin to the small, shy and secretive elves of folklore.}}
* ''[[The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy (novel)|The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy]]'': As it turns out, Humans weren't even the smartest creature on Earth. Yet a [[Human Alien]] got elected as president of the galaxy...There are also examples of species [[Aliens Never Invented the Wheel|developing deodorant before the wheel]] and so forth. But when you think about it, almost all the creature in the universe are portrayed as pretty unimpressive.
* In [[Alan Dean Foster]]'s ''[[Literature/The Damned|The Damned]]'' trilogy, this is subverted in the fact that humans are both average in
* Explicitly prohibited by [[John W. Campbell]], editor of ''[[Astounding Science Fiction]]''-slash-''Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact'' during the 40s-50s-60s, whose influence on SF cannot be understated. A bit of a chauvanist, he would reject any story in which humans weren't better than the aliens. (And by "humans" he meant "men of northern European descent", mostly, but that's another trope for another page.)
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* ''[[Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura|Arcanum]]''.
* ''[[Nethack]]''.
* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' has peaceful and warlike races, short-living and long-living, highly [[Clarke's Third Law|biotic]]-prone and unable to use it... Humans are average and adaptive, and they become highly respected thanks to it. While physically, they are normally average, they are lauded for their flexibility and perseverance, and are generally regarded as more creative than others.
The asari have the best individual fighters, but can't stand up in a firestorm. The vorcha and krogans are incredibly biologically suited and disposed to physical conflict, but have to get technology from other races, who they're no good at negotiating with. The turians and batarians have strong senses of duty and collectivism, but aren't very good at economics (being reliant on other species, and destitute, respectively). The salarians are masters of technology and information, but are short lived and relatively fragile. Lacking [[Planet of Hats|the rigidity of other species]], humans can adapt on the fly to new situations, and employ new tactics and techniques quicker than anybody else.
* ''[[Starcraft]]'' has the Terrans, which rely more on numbers than the Protoss, but less than [[Zerg Rush|the Zerg]]. However, they are also the most specialized to range and the least tied to location, and so their specializations give them the greatest feel of adaptability.
* ''[[Starflight]]'': Humans are pretty much the most average species you can select for a crew member.
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* In ''[[Sword of the Stars]]'', humanity has average industrial capacity, research ability, terraforming speed and population growth. They are almost in every respect the [[Jack of All Stats]], except for their unusual [[FTL]] drive that makes human fleets something of a [[Fragile Speedster]] on a strategic level, and also much more vulnerable to entrenchment. Humans also have a fairly high chance of getting most of the weapons techs, unlike most other races, who tend to favor one or two lines of weapons.
* In ''[[The Battle for Wesnoth]]'', humans have no preferred terrain types (except maybe plains by virtue of no one else being exceptionally good on them), have no special preference for melee or ranged combat, have both lawful (loyalists) and chaotic (outlaws) units, and can learn many different kinds of magic without being racially focused on one specific kind.
* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' is kinda like this, taking its page from ''[[Warcraft]]''. Humans, instead of getting a few huge bonuses, get a lot of little bonuses like slightly increased stealth-detection, a little extra expertise with swords, and a small spirit boost
The Horde Version of the humans is typically either the undead (Former humans) or Darkspear Trolls (life-long rivals of humans), mostly due to the similar class-availability before Cataclysm. Instead, the "average" horde race is more Orcs.
* The [[Call a Rabbit a Smeerp|Humes]] in ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]''.
* In ''[[Video Game/The Lord Of The Rings Battle For Middle Earth|The Lord Of The Rings Battle For Middle Earth]] 2'' human infantry and heroes are faster but weaker than the [[Mighty Glacier|dwarves]] but slower and stronger than the [[Fragile Speedster|elves]]. Though it's somewhat subverted with humans having the best cavalry units and having more [[Humans Are Diplomats|heroes with leadership skills]] than other factions.
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