History Main / FantasticAnthropologist

--> -- '''Arthur Weasley''', ''HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets''

* Arthur Weasley in ''HarryPotter'' has his recurring hobby of studying {{Muggles}} as a regular tension reliever in the plot. Mrs. Weasly was not amused when on one occasion he went so far as to use Muggle medicine to try and stitch up some serious wounds he had incurred.

* In Robert Silverberg's "Flies", a human space traveler crash-lands on the planet of a race who are [[HigherTechSpecies able to save him with their advanced medicine]]. In return, they enable him to transmit the feelings of others so that they can study humans, but tragedy ensues when this enables him to inflict grievous suffering without experiencing any effects of remorse.

* The IsaacAsimov short story "What is this thing called love" uses this as a FramingDevice. Specifically, as an explanation for why aliens randomly abduct us all the time.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* Arthur Weasley in ''HarryPotter'' has his recurring hobby of studying {{Muggles}} as a regular tension reliever in the plot. Mrs. Weasly was not amused when on one occasion he went so far as to use Muggle medicine to try and stitch up some serious wounds he had incurred.
* The IsaacAsimov short story "What is this thing called love" uses this as a FramingDevice. Specifically, as an explanation for why aliens randomly abduct us all the time.
* Discordian writer/philosopher Robert Anton Wilson (of ''{{Illuminatus}}!'' fame) claims that Greg Hill (AKA Malaclypse the Younger, author of the ''Principia Discordia'') is this. Hill fervently denies this.[[hottip:*:''Actually, the Principia is the work of a time-travelling anthropologist from the 23rd Century. He is currently passing among us as a computer specialist, bon vivant and philosopher named Gregory Hill. He has also translated several volumes of Etruscan erotic poetry, under another pen-name, and in the 18th Century was the mysterious Man in Black who gave Jefferson the design for the Great Seal of the United States. I have it on good authority that he is one of the most accomplished time-travelers in the galaxy and has visited Earth many times in the past, using such cover-identities as Zeno of Elias, Emperor Norton, Count Cagliostro, Guilliame of Aquaitaine, etc. Whenever I question him about this, he grows very evasive and attempts to persuade me that he is actually just another 20th Century Earthman and that all my ideas about his extraterrestrial and extratemporal origin are delusions. Hah! I am not that easily deceived. After all, a time-travelling anthropologist would say just that, so that he could observe us without his presence causing cultureshock. I understand that he has consented to write an Afterword to this edition. He'll probably contradict everything I've told you, but don't believe a word he says fnord. He is a master of the deadpan put-on, the plausible satire, the philosophical leg-pull and all the branches of guerilla ontology.'']]
* In Robert Silverberg's "Flies", a human space traveler crash-lands on the planet of a race who are [[HigherTechSpecies able to save him with their advanced medicine]]. In return, they enable him to transmit the feelings of others so that they can study humans, but tragedy ensues when this enables him to inflict grievous suffering without experiencing any effects of remorse.
* Ax from the ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' frequently came across as this in his narration. At one early point he laments that, stuck on Earth, there is no opportunity for military advancement. So he decides he will make the most of the situation and become his species' foremost expert on humans.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* DCComics' MajorBummer was given super powers as a school experiment by aliens, but they were inadvertantly sent to the wrong person (Lou Martin instead of Martin Louis).

->"What, exactly, is the function of a rubber duck?"

* Eris from ''AsobiNiIkuYo'' is sent as an scout by her species the [[CatGirl Catians]] to check Earth as a suitable diplomatic partner. Note that the Catians' outlook is pretty much that of tourists: her reports on Japanese cuisine makes the Catian expedition hurry to establish formal relations.

Depending on the point of view of the story can often come off as CaptainOblivious. Frequently an AmusingAlien character. Contrast FantasticScience, CrazyCulturalComparison, IntriguedByHumanity. A subtrope of TheWatcher.

Astonishing as it may seem, not all non-{{Muggle}} characters are on a crusade to murder us {{Muggles}}. In fact, their motivations will turn out to be surprisingly mundane- they want to see how us crazy {{Muggles}} operate. I mean, how do we keep from getting cold without any fur? Where does our food come from if we don't have access to FunctionalMagic? And how do we...[[IfYouKnowWhatIMean you know]]...

This usually non-malicious character type has one primary function in a story- [[RuleOfFunny comedy]]. Because it's hard to beat the humor of someone who doesn't understand human customs trying to make any sort of sense out of them. The FantasticAnthropologist very rarely has long-term story implications due to their job in large part because part of their job is to keep the {{Muggles}} in the dark about what's going on.

** Notably, Dick's love interest and recurring office-mate, Mary Albright, was supposed to be an actual anthropologist, but was never seriously consulted on the study of human behavior (she was involved in more than a few of Dick's [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean experiments in the human condition however]])

* Ax from the ''{{Animorphs}}'' frequently came across as this in his narration. At one early point he laments that, stuck on Earth, there is no opportunity for military advancement. So he decides he will make the most of the situation and become his species' foremost expert on humans.

** Notably, Dick's love interest and recurring office-mate, Mary Albright, was supposed to be an actual anthropologist, but was never seriously consulted on the study of human behavior (she was involved in more than a few of Dick's experiments in the human condition however)

* Mr Copper from ''DoctorWho'' Christmas special ''Voyage of the Damned'' claims to be one of these, but doesn't seem to have much of a clue...

-> '''Arthur:''' "What, exactly, is the function of a rubber duck?"
-->-- ''HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets''

* The entire premise of ''ThirdRockFromTheSun'' has Dick and his "family" observing what life is like on Earth and reporting the findings back to base. Their ultimate goal, however, remains vague throughout the series. We know they're not trained anthropologists, in part because they routinely received poor job evaluations but also because Dick and Tommy are clearly shown to be experts in hard science while Sally is a soldier. Maybe Harry was one [[CloudCuckooLander but who knows]].

** Actually Harry's presence was accidental, while none of the aliens' true form is human Harry's true form is different from that of the other members because he is their pet, his presence as a human is an accident and his personality has to do with him being smartest than Earth's non-human animals but dumber than humans.

-> '''Arthur:''' "What, exactly, is the purpose of a rubber duck?"

* Eris from ''AsobiNiIkuYo'' is sent as an scout by her species the [[CatGirl Catians]] to check Earth as a suitable diplomatic partner. Note that the Catians' outloook is pretty much that of tourists: her reports on Japanese cuisine makes the Catian expedition hurry to establish formal relations.

* Eris from ''AsobiNiIkuYo'' is sent as an scout by her species the [[CatGirl Catians]] to check Earth as a suitable diplomatic partner. Note that Catians outloook is pretty much that of tourists: her reports on Japanese cuisine makes the Catian expedition hurry to establish formal relations.

* Plickly from LiloAndStitch is a "Human expert", who among other things believes that you eat cereal with a fork.