History Main / FantasticAnthropologist

* Inverted in Lyra Heartstring's ''Fanfic/{{Anthropology}}''.

* 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).

** Earlier episodes imply that they are not used to running into planets with complex life. Most notably, their initial stay was supposed to last only a few weeks, which they had officially extended after reporting that Earth warranted longer investigation. Either this is a team meant to examine simpler things (Which would explain Tommy and Dick), or complex life is rare and there is no need for anthropologists. Of course, the most likely explanation is that competency is not a key characteristic of the Home Planet.

** What is especially odd is that there are so many muggle born witches and wizards. FantasticRacism aside, why isn't one of them given his position?

** What is especially odd is that there are so many muggle born witches and wizards. [[FridgeLogic Why isn't one of them given his position?]]

* Eris from ''LightNovel/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.

* In ''KeroroGunsou'', whenever the Keronians aren't plotting to take over Earth, they're studying its culture, occasionally getting it hilariously wrong: in one chapter, they assume that Natsumi's {{school swimsuit}} is an amphibious battle-suit based on Keronian physiology, and in another they mistake a bowling alley for a military training center.

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits'' TOS episode "Controlled Experiment". A pair of Martians investigate the quaint Earth custom of murder by using a time machine to run an actual murder forward and backward in time.

* Uncle Traveling Matt from ''FraggleRock''

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

** Honestly, its a little bit scary that a person who's ''this'' interested in muggles, to the point of being in charge of our protection by the Ministry of Magic, knows this little about us.

* Inverted in Lyra Heartstring's {{Anthropology}}

* [[Webcomic/GetMedieval Get Medieval]] features anthropology student Asher Hane as one of the HumanAlien protagonists stuck in 14th century France.

* In the LittleMermaid, Ariel is hugely interested in what human life is like. However, she's got some very...''strange'' notions about us, mostly courtesy of her seagull friend who's info is completely off base.
* In an WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender episode, a general anthropologist/historian appears who is absolutely fascinated in Air Nomad culture (and by extension, Aang). Eventually [[spoiler: he chooses to stay in a magical spirit library that contains more knowledge than anywhere else in the world.]]

* ''TheTwilightZone'' TOS episode "Mr. Dingle, the Strong". Several alien experimenters (Martian and Venusian) give the title character various superpowers (strength and intelligence) to see how he'll react.
* ''TheOuterLimits'' TOS episode "Controlled Experiment". A pair of Martians investigate the quaint Earth custom of murder by using a time machine to run an actual murder forward and backward in time.
* 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 (and Harry is some sort of ''pet'', apparently).
** Earlier episodes imply that they are not used to running into planets with complex life. Most notably, their initial stay was supposed to last only a few weeks, which they had officially extended after reporting that Earth warranted longer investigation. Either this is a team meant to examine simpler things (Which would explain Tommy and Dick), or complex life is rare and there is no need for anthropologists. Of course, the most likely explanation is that competancy is not a key characteristic of the Home Planet.

* ''MorkAndMindy'': Mork, at least theoretically.

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* Samuel Colt from ''SpotsTheSpaceMarine'' is a non-comic example. While his primary mission is weapons evaluation, he studies human customs as a hobby.

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

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** Honestly, its a little bit scary that a person who's ''this'' interested in muggles, to the point of being in charge of our protection by the Ministry of Magic, knows this little about us.

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* In the LittleMermaid, Ariel is hugely interested in what human life is like. However, she's got some very...''strange'' notions about us, mostly courtesy of her seagull friend who's info is completely off base.

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* Arthur Weasley in ''Literature/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.

%%* 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.[[note]]''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.''[[/note]]

* 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.

* 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.'']]

* 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.

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

* In RobertSilverberg'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.