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| - Humanity is just plain less cool than the other sapient peoples of the universe. By any standard one cares to choose, aliens of any type are greater than or equal to humanity, with the occasional weak point, often due to their Bizarre Alien Biology. Even in Space Opera, where we do most of the landing, it's rare to encounter a species that is inferior to humanity in all ways; the Cargo Cult are usually not advanced technologically or mentally, but they may very well be stronger and tougher than their so-called god. Just to add to the insult, they all live longer than humans, too.
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| abstract
| - Humanity is just plain less cool than the other sapient peoples of the universe. By any standard one cares to choose, aliens of any type are greater than or equal to humanity, with the occasional weak point, often due to their Bizarre Alien Biology. This makes sense in the case of aliens landing on Earth; you have to be pretty self-assured in your own abilities to risk landing on a rock dominated by near-hairless apes with nuclear weapons. One would assume that a weaker alien - at least one without massively compensatory technology - would just keep right on flying, and go land on a planet full of Smurfs. Even in Space Opera, where we do most of the landing, it's rare to encounter a species that is inferior to humanity in all ways; the Cargo Cult are usually not advanced technologically or mentally, but they may very well be stronger and tougher than their so-called god. In comics, nearly every alien is outright superpowered. Of course, almost all major characters in mainstream comics are super, so that's not so illustrative. This is also a staple of Tabletop Games and other fantasy games, where humanity is almost always the "Middle Race", with no one attribute that stands out, but instead a balance of all stats and abilities as they are usually the basis of the design of all other main races. Just to add to the insult, they all live longer than humans, too. One thing humans can do to balance the scales, apparently, is mate with any of these superior species to create Half Human Hybrids with those traits. Sometimes even humans that were only raised by aliens are likely to somehow "inherit" abilities from their foster parents. The more "human" the alien is, the greater the apparent tendency to give them superpowers. This may be due to the fact that aliens in fiction are, more often than not, either outwardly indistinguishable from humans or just humans with stuff tacked on. No actor would put up with the makeup artist taking parts away. As if all the above wasn't humiliating enough, aliens also are viewed as (or view themselves as) morally stronger than weak-principled humans who do such unthinkable things as murder, rape, pillage and hate. Thus, they have the ethical imperative to put us all on trial for our crimes if they so desire. Apparently, humans are the ONLY sentient race in the whole universe who've ever killed one of their own kind in anger; nobody ever questions this. Point any of this out in the presence of the hero, though, and you're likely to get yourself a Patrick Stewart Speech. Sometimes the speech is justified; often even the physically superior aliens will admit that Humans Are Special. On the other hand, sometimes our "inferiority" isn't necessarily a bad thing. While humans might lack the strengths of the aliens in question, they might also lack its weaknesses. More than anything, humans are adaptable, oftentimes moreso than the supposedly "superior" races. Unless you take into account that many of these weaknesses are usually very rare, while they can bathe in stuff that can kill humans in seconds. This trope is common because, even among Earthly life forms, most people (and intellectuals/writers) believe humans are squishy wizards who hold an obvious advantage only in intelligence. Other animals are always faster, stronger, tougher and more agile than a human. In truth, humanity stacks up decently enough against many individual species rather than the vague "animal kingdom" amalgam that it is most often compared to, but quite badly against other predators. It is in fact likely that a human (even prehistoric) deprived of their intelligence and thus ability to manufacture tools, clothing, and shelter would rapidly die from starvation and exposure. Other predators rely purely on their innate physical abilities. Contrast Humanity Is Superior, Humans Are Special, Humans Are Cthulhu, and Humans Are Warriors. See also Humans Are Bastards, Humans Are Morons, Humans Are Average, and Insignificant Little Blue Planet. Not to be confused with Earthlings. Examples of Puny Earthlings include:
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