History Main / HumansAreSmelly

* Arlong complains about how humans smell in the [=4Kids=] dub of ''Franchise/OnePiece'', prompting him to coin the derogatory term "[=PU=]-mans".

* [[TheFightingNarcissist Sunstreaker]] in ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersMegaseries Transformers: Infiltration]]'' complains about how disgusting humans are due to the amount of dead skin cells and sweat they constantly excrete. Many Cybertronians hold similar thoughts about organic life forms, but Sunstreaker stands out for actually being rude enough to actually say it to a human's face.

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''WebVideo/BackstrokeOfTheWest'', the RecursiveTranslation GagDub of ''Star Wars Episode III: Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', has General Grievous refer to Anakin as a "smelly boy".
[[/folder]]

* In ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'', San expresses disgust at smelling "like a human" after interacting with Ashitaka. The gods and spirits refer to human scent as a "stink" or "stench".

* In ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' Kilowog sniffs Hal Jordan, loud and long, before remarking: "You smell funny."
* In the ''[[Franchise/TheMatrix Matrix]]'' films, Agent Smith is repulsed by the smell of humans. He admits this to Morpheus in ''Film/TheMatrix'' just before trying to physically torture him for Zion's access codes, and in ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'', during his final encounter with Neo while downloaded into Bane:

* General Thade in ''Film/{{Planet of the Apes|2001}}'' tells the orangutan Limbo (a human pet/slave trader) that he stinks of humans. Off-screen, an ape child commented that humans smell.
* Megatron in ''Film/Transformers2007'' [[TheNoseKnows uses his nose]] to figure out where Sam is, although Megatron could also had been being sarcastic.

** {{Inverted}}: While in dog morph, Jake and Marco run across an acquaintance named Erek and discover that he has no scent, which makes them suspect that he's not human. (This book is called ''The Android,'' so you can probably guess the truth.)

* ''Literature/TheTruceAtBakura'': The [[IntelligentGerbil Ssi-ruuk]] have a strong sense of smell and find the scent of species like humans to be sickening. Dev Sibwarra, the [[MagicByAnyOtherName Force]]-sensitive human that they {{Brainwashed}} to serve them, drinks and bathes in special deodorising solvents four times a day along with shaving off all of his hair so that the Ssi-ruuk can stand to be around him.
* In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', the feline characters believe that humans smell, and even once the main character earns his place in the Clan (since he was born as a house cat), other cats still occasionally insult him by saying he smells like humans.
* In ''Literature/{{Runt}}'' by Marion Dane Bauer, after Runt is healed by humans, his mother keeps washing him over and over, trying to get the human scent off him, even when he thinks it's gone.
* ''Literature/TheWitches'': Human children, though not adults, smell just like dog droppings to witches (it's noted that, unlike many examples of this trope, dirt actually blocks the smell). [[BlessedWithSuck They use this trait]] to help them track down children [[ChildHater to destroy them]].
* Half-elf Morley in the ''Literature/GarrettPI'' series taunts Garrett about how his meat-eating habits make him smell funny, although he may be just kidding about that.
* In ''Venus on the Half-Shell'', a science fiction novel attributed to the fictional author [[Creator/KurtVonnegut Kilgore Trout]] but actually written by Creator/PhilipJoseFarmer, among the hundreds of alien races in the galaxy, humans are known as the smelly ones. Wondering why humans smell so bad to other races, some of whom smell like a sewer, it is pointed out [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters that human morals stink]], so that makes our smell stink.

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', it is taken as given, among humans, that goblins smell foul and repugnant. In ''Literature/RaisingSteam'', Moist von Lipwig realises that from a goblin's point of view, humans smell pretty ripely too.
* In ''Literature/{{Protector}}'', the Pak maintain their racial purity by smell, and humans just smell ''wrong.'' ''Very wrong''...
* In the ''Literature/HumanxCommonwealth'' prequel novels, this trope complicates FirstContact between humans and the {{Insectoid Alien|s}} Thranx: not only do humans have [[HumansThroughAlienEyes flesh-draped internal skeletons]], they smell unpleasantly musky to Thranx noses. Conversely, almost every human thinks Thranx smell fresh and floral, despite being phobia-inducing BigCreepyCrawlies.

* Pufftail in ''Literature/{{Stray}}'' is a cat who thinks humans smell horrible. According to him, pets learn to tolerate it at best. Pufftail doesn't even understand why humans brush their teeth with "smelly" mint toothpaste.

* In ''Literature/{{Wayfarers}}'', humans are noted to smell bad by some aliens with more powerful senses. Dr. Chef confesses to Sissix that he added special anti-odor powders to the soap of their human crewmates so that the smell would be more manageable, which the humans never notice.
* An unusual human-about-human example in the ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' novel ''The All-Consuming Fire'', when Bernice Summerfield says that "unwashed aliens just smell exotic", but being in a crowded 19th century city surrounds you with a smell that is very specifically telling ''you'', as a fellow human, that these people need a bath.

* On ''Series/{{Angel}},'' we have one of [[HumanoidAbomination Illyria]]'s crazy rants in the middle of danger:

'''[[VampireDetective Angel]]:''' [[ShutUpHannibal Will you just shut up for once?!]]

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1963'': In "Controlled Experiment", the Martian Phobos One comments on humans' smell shortly after his arrival on Earth. Deimos tells him that he has gotten used to it.

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': In "Distant Origin", humans smell really bad to the Voth, a reptilian species descended from dinosaurs, with highly advanced olfactory faculties.
* ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' reveals that humans smell bad to female Vulcans, and that T'Pol has had to take medications to desensitize her. Previous Vulcan main characters were male, which apparently don't experience the same feelings.
* ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'' ultimately reveals that even male Vulcans can’t stand human smells. And this is being said by ''Spock''.

* In ''Series/WizardsVsAliens:'' "The humans are disgusting. They smell of sweat and meat."

* Classic ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'', ''The Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society'' issue 10, article "Contact! Centaurs". The alien race called the K'Kree (AKA Centaurs) were vegetarians who couldn't stand the smell of humans who had recently eaten meat. Before meeting a Centaur, humans had to eat a vegetarian diet for several days to clean all the meat (and its smell) out of their systems.

* In ''VideoGame/Portal2'', Wheatley tells a story about how he was landed with the job of "tending to all the smelly humans". He quickly remembers that Chell is human and corrects himself.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
** The Imga, a minor race of intelligent "ape men," consider the races of Men to be beneath them, copying their [[OurElvesAreDifferent Altmeri (High Elf)]] idols, and pretend to find their smell offensive. They wear {{Pimped Out Cape}}s at all times, with one perfumed corner which they hold over their noses when humans are around.
** ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline'': The [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Dremora]] Lycanth opines that all mortal races have an unpleasant smell of "warm blood and quiet desperation".

* In the webcomic of ''Webcomic/FlintlockesGuideToAzeroth'', the elf Kathrena [[http://flintlocke.thecomicseries.com/comics/209 describes humans]] (to the fellow human Schweitzer) as all smelling as sweat and barbecue sauce and to which the dwarf Flintlocke shows up and ask if someone is cooking barbecue.

* In ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'', Beauregard is told by an ogre that she smells "like a human."
-->"It's a terrible smell... It make me hungry."

* Grodd brings it up again in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'':

* In ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternFirstFlight'', the Guardians are complaining about a human (Hal) joining the Green Lantern Corp, [[HumansAreBastards listing all their faults]], then adds [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking "Plus, there's the smell."]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "The Brave and the Bold", part of Grodd's speech claims that "Humans are slow, ugly, immoral, and have an unpleasant body odor!" Everyone listening ''is'' human, but they're all {{Brainwashed}} and under his control; he's doing it to [[SmugSnake feed his ego]]. Naturally, the [[ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne only part]] that ComicBook/TheFlash himself takes offense to is being called "slow".

* Megatron in ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries'' [[TheNoseKnows uses his nose]] to figure out where Sam is, although Megatron could also had been being sarcastic.

* In ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' Kilowog sniffs Hal Jordan, loud and long, before remarking: "You smell funny."
* Megatron in ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' [[TheNoseKnows uses his nose]] to figure out where Sam is.
* General Thade in ''Film/{{Planet of the Apes|2001}}'' tells the orangutan Limbo (a human pet/slave trader) that he stinks of humans. Off-screen, an ape child commented that humans smell.