History Main / HumansAreAverage

Compare RubberForeheadAliens (this tendency applied to alien looks), and contrast HumanityIsSuperior (where humanity is... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin superior]]) and PunyEarthlings (where humanity is the worst). The inverse of this trope is HumansAreSpecial. Sometimes this is used as a justification for HumansAreDiplomats or HumansAreLeaders when humanity's averageness makes them better-able to interact with or lead other species due to sharing traits with all of them, though those tropes can also be aversions. See HumansAreWarriors, HumansAreSurvivors, and HumansAdvanceSwiftly, for some of the other ways this trope can be averted.

Compare RubberForeheadAliens (this tendency applied to alien looks), and contrast HumanityIsSuperior (where humanity is... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin superior]]) and PunyEarthlings (where humanity is the worst).

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'', this is averted for most of the races of Men, who skew more toward being [[HumansAreWarriors warriors]] (the [[HornyVikings Nords]] and [[MasterSwordsman Redguards]]) or [[WitchSpecies Mages]] (the UnevenHybrid Bretons). However, the Imperials play it straight. They are the JackOfAllStats among the races of Men (and just behind the [[OurElvesAreBetter Dunmer (Dark Elves)]] for all races) who are outclassed in each skill category (combat, magic, stealth) by at least 2-3 other races each but also lack the ''deficiencies'' of those races. The Imperials have managed to forge three empires from their homeland of Cyrodiil (under the Alessian, Reman, and Septim dynasties) thanks to their skills in [[HumansAreLeaders leadership]], [[HumansAreDiplomats diplomacy]], [[ProudMerchantRace mercantilism]], and by having a greater focus on tactics and collective martial prowess, making them the [[SoldierVersusWarrior soldiers to the Nord/Redguard warriors]]. In terms of gameplay, they are a BoringButPractical race to play as, making them a very diverse and accessible race. Their bonuses make them good diplomat-style characters who can back that up with solid cross-class combat ability.

'''[[OurElvesAreBetter Vaarsuvius]]:''' To be fair, you are quite bad at seeing in starlight.\\

If you see any fantasy or science fiction setting involving humans and other sentient races, humans are highly likely to be average. Smart but not the [[ProudScholarRace smartest]], strong but not the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy strongest]], having ability to use magic but no affinity for it, [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters have plenty of bastards among them]] but not necessarily AlwaysChaoticEvil. Having plenty of saints among them but not AlwaysLawfulGood. They live longer than mayflies but shorter than elves. In other words, humans are the literary JackOfAllStats - as well as likely having average stats all around if this is an RPGMechanicsVerse.

If you see any fantasy or science fiction setting involving humans and other sentient races, humans are highly likely to be average. Smart but not the [[ProudScholarRace smartest]], strong but not the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy strongest]], having ability to use magic but no affinity for it, [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters have plenty of bastards among them]] but not necessarily AlwaysChaoticEvil. They live longer than mayflies but shorter than elves. In other words, humans are the literary JackOfAllStats - as well as likely having average stats all around if this is an RPGMechanicsVerse.

[[folder:{{Live-Action TV}}]]

* In ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', despite Crichton's [[HumanityIsSuperior assertions]] to the contrary, what Humans lack in speed, strength and intelligence compared to most of the races in the universe, they make up in sheer tenacity.

** Of course, it bears mentioning that afforementioned Bretonnian Knights and Chaos Warriors are ''also'' Humans from different cultures.
* In the ''Warhammer'' spin-off ''TabletopGame/BloodBowl'', the 'average' stat-line for a blood bowl player is movement 6, strength 3, agility 3 and armour 8. This, incidentally, (because it is) is the stat-line of the human lineman. Teams made up of humans are the empire, [[AmazonBrigade amazon]] and [[HornyVikings norse]] teams, where practically all the players are within one stat-point of the average (the empire teams have fast but fragile catchers and faster-than-average blitzers, while the amazons and norse take to the field in less armour. The norse can also hire [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves]]).

* In ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' humans are the template that everything else is based on. By definition all other races (even ones functionally identical to humans) have some advantages and/or disadvantages relative to humans. A zero-point cost human in GURPS would have average-level basic stats, no training in any skills (just low defaults for untrained use where applicable), and nothing else. A PlayerCharacter, even one without special powers, costs much more.

Second, humans play an important role as a point of comparison in every color. You get to see how tall or tough or magic-inclined goblins are compared to humans, for example, since you get to see them next to red-aligned humans that live in similar environments and have similar color values. You get to see what role griffins or pterons or leonin play in a given setting, because you get to see white-aligned humans riding them or hunting them or making alliances with them. We can afford to get more exotic with our nonhuman races, in part because there are plenty of examples of humans next to whom you can see similarities and differences—and we like that.

* Averted and/or Defied in Deep 7's games, like Arrowflight and the Series/RedDwarf RPG. Humans in Arrowflight tend to be more suceptable to getting DrunkOnTheDarkSide than most "Order" aligned races, but also tend to have greater tolerance to climate variations and poisons. Red Dwarf gives humans bonuses to endurance and fortitude because they're the species [[HumansAreInsane crazy enough]] to ''[[TooKinkyToTorture enjoy]]'' things like Yanni concerts and [[BlazingInfernoHellfireSauce five-alarm curries]].
* Played with in TabletopGame/{{World Of Darkness}}. To make a supernatural character, you start with a basic human for a template, then add all the supernatural perks and additions. In actual Gameplay, though, even [[BadassNormal regular humans]] can be very dangerous to an unwary vampire or werewolf. The only real limitation that a human has is how easily they die compared to everything else. Other than that, a large enough and well prepared group of humans can take out a werewolf without breaking much of a sweat. Taken to its [[UpToEleven Logical Extreme]] with the Hunter class; completely regular humans trained and outfitted specifically for the [[BloodKnight destruction]] of supernatural monsters of all sorts.

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'', this is averted for most of the races of Men, who skew more toward being [[HumansAreWarriors warriors]] (the [[HornyVikings Nords]] and [[MasterSwordsman Redguards]]) or [[WitchSpecies Mages]] (the UnevenHybrid Bretons). However, the Imperials play it straight. They are the JackOfAllStats among the races of Men (and just behind the [[OurElvesAreBetter Dunmer (Dark Elves)]] for all races) who are outclassed in each skill category (combat, magic, stealth) by at least 2-3 other races each, but also lack the ''deficiencies'' of those races. The Imperials have managed to forge three empires from their homeland of Cyrodiil (under the Alessian, Reman, and Septim dynasties) thanks to their skills in [[HumansAreLeaders leadership]], [[HumansAreDiplomats diplomacy]], [[ProudMerchantRace mercantilism]], and by having a greater focus on tactics and collective martial prowess, making them the [[SoldierVersusWarrior soldiers to the Nord/Redguard warriors]]. In terms of gameplay, they are a BoringButPractical race to play as, making them a very diverse and accessible race. Their bonuses make them good diplomat-style characters who can back that up with solid cross-class combat ability.

** In gameplay however, humans subvert this. While numerically, they are the average faction, with the Zerg being the TropeNamer for ZergRush and the Protoss being the EliteArmy, Terrans as a whole are oriented towards [[GlassCannon Glass Cannons]]. All Terran units that can attack except for the [[WorkerUnit SCV]] have [[LongRangeFighter ranged attacks]] and on average, terran units have less hit points than their alien counterparts.

* In ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'', humans tend to fall into the middle range compared to the Covenant's member species; they're not as numerous as the Grunts, not as strong/tough as the Elites/Brutes/Hunters, not as smart as the Engineers, not as long-lived as the Prophets, have worse senses than the Jackals, etc. Nonetheless, humanity is able to hold out against the Covenant for nearly three decades precisely because of how balanced they are, though the ''only'' reason humanity doesn't ultimately become extinct is because the Covenant falls into civil war.

* In ''Videogame/SwordOfTheStars'', humanity has average industrial capacity, research ability, terraforming speed and population growth. They are almost in every respect the JackOfAllStats, except for their unusual {{FTL}} drive that makes human fleets something of a FragileSpeedster 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.

** Later in the series, this is slightly averted; While humans sure like to think of themselves as the jack-of-all-trades of the civilized galaxy, the rest of the galaxy does not. To many of these races, the Humans are a young, slightly naive, but most of all ambitious race, who relies on [[TheHeavy mental and physical fortitude]] outside the norm of most of the races - In fact, Humans are counted among the more brutish races, which include [[SpaceRomans Turians]] and the [[BloodKnight Krogans]]. However, humans are less outright aggressive than the former in warfare and likes order much, MUCH more than the latter. On the other hand, humans are infamous for their incredibly laissez-faire manner of colonization, which includes complete freedom for companies to make a colony wherever they want, as long as it isn't owned by another race. Or at least, that's how the traditionally more dogmatic council races, who spends hundred of years planning each expansion, sees it.

* The Human Mercenaries warband in ''VideoGame/MordheimCityOfTheDamned''. All their units have fair (but not exactly stellar either) points in mobility, attack and defence, and they have the widest selection of weapons and armour among the six factions. It's the best choice for a first-time warband because they lack the finickiness of the other five; you can throw just about any combination of equipment and skills on your units and they'll probably turn out decent. You can run tanky troopers with shields and heavy armour, lightly-armed raiders with clothing and bows, you can take handgunners or riflemen plus pistols on your heroes and melee fighters for MoreDakka, you can have a pair of Warlocks slinging spells everywhere, or you can go a combined arms approach.

* The lore of ''VideoGame/LineageII'' describes humans as being made of a combination of all the four elements, but because the "better" elemental essences have been used up to create the other races, the humans end up as a lesser, JackOfAllStats creatures who aren't much good for anything.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'', humans are the default race. All other "metatypes" cost character creation points. Humans receive no attribute bonuses or penalties, except they start with an extra point of Edge, which is basically luck.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': Humans are average even in size. Their distinguishing trait as listed by Treebeard is that they are "Master of horses".

* ''[[Franchise/SaGaRPG SaGa]]'' games (particularly the early ones) use this as part of their ClassAndLevelSystem. Humans can equip anything they want, but have meh stats and are totally at the mercy of the RNG for getting stronger. All other races get awesome abilities at the sacrifice of something else equally useful.

* In the 1989 film ''Film/{{Arena}}'', there is an intergalactic fighting championship. the film states that there has been no human champion in over 50 years, as well as featuring many creatures nastier than humans, along with many who were wimpier.

-> ''Humans are common and uninteresting.''
--> -- '''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'''

* ''VideoGame/SaGa'' games (particularly the early ones) use this as part of their ClassAndLevelSystem. Humans can equip anything they want, but have meh stats and are totally at the mercy of the RNG for getting stronger. All other races get awesome abilities at the sacrifice of something else equally useful.

Considering MostWritersAreHuman, you can expect to see that HumansAreSpecial in a specific way regardless. The closest thing to humanity's [[PlanetOfHats "hat"]] is diversity, adaptability and non-linear thinking. Humans might not be as good at 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. They are frequently portrayed as more driven and adaptable than other races which are [[MedievalStasis significantly more stagnant]], 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, often eliciting some FantasticRacism upon themselves in response. If left unchecked, humanity may leave everyone else in the dust as it progresses on the fast-track on [[AbusingTheKardashevScaleForFunAndProfit Kardashev's scale]]; the end result is the EndOfAnAge when humans inherit the world, but, sadly, TheMagicGoesAway.

* Surprisingly not the case in ''MasterOfMagic''. Humans (High Men) are balanced in their stats, but they trade off the ability for building some endgame buildings for a handful of elite units. On the other hand, [[OurOrcsAreDifferent orcs]] have no strikingly elite units but can build every town improvement in the game, and their combat stats are also average.

* Averted in ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''--the ''[[OurElvesAreBetter Dunmer]]'' are the ones who are the JackOfAllStats. What's more, there's no one single human race to choose from--instead, there's several ethnicities that each have their own special perks.
** Though the Imperials, with their primary focus being on [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath social skills]] with a little swordsmanship rather than a solid focus on either combat ([[HornyVikings Nords]], [[ScaryBlackMan Redguards]]) or magic ([[HalfHumanHybrid Bretons]]), don't really have any deficient attributes and can play a variety of different builds quite well, playing this straight.

* The [[HumansByAnyOtherName Hylians]] of ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' are typically portrayed this way compared to the other races, especially in games like ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'' where such differences form a major component of the gameplay and the story. They aren't reliant on the makeup of any particular biome to survive like, say, the water-reliant [[FishPeople Zora]] or rock-eating [[SiliconBasedLife Gorons]], nor do they have any particular elemental weaknesses, all of which results in them being the most widespread of all the races. Even certain other human or AmbiguouslyHuman tribes such as the [[{{Ninja}} Sheikah]] and the [[OneGenderRace Gerudo]] tend to have cultural quirks that result in them being more insular. Granted, they're also said to be the chosen people of the Goddess Hylia who have a special role in protecting and preserving the land of Hyrule, but this usually only overtly applies to very special individuals such as [[TheChosenOne Link]] or [[RoyaltySuperPower Zelda]].

* In ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsBattleForMiddleEarth 2'' human infantry and heroes are faster but weaker than the [[MightyGlacier dwarves]] but slower and tougher than the [[FragileSpeedster elves]]. Though it's somewhat subverted with humans having the best cavalry units and having more [[HumansAreDiplomats heroes with leadership skills]] than other factions.