History Main / IntriguedByHumanity

* Peri from ''Literature/TheStormSwimmer'' is one of the sea people, a human subspecies that has adapted to live in the ocean. He's fascinated by the human world and especially by artificial lights. Unfortunately, the magnetic fields created by human-generated electricity affect his navigational system, and too much exposure to human technology causes him to fall ill.

* In ''Film/DarkCity'', the whole reason why [[AliensAreBastards the Strangers]] create the CityInABottle is to study humanity in order to [[BecomeARealBoy become like it]] and reverse the [[DyingRace death of their species]].

* This is the [[GangOfHats Hat]] of the Court of Wine in ''TabletopGame/BleakWorld'' they frequently go to Earth to indulge in their [[InterspeciesRomance baser]] [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl desires]] and then bring the humans they like the most back to Uranus with them.
* ''TabletopGame/Space1889'' The cause of all the player characters troubles in [[spoiler:Beastmen of Mars]] is that a powerful being is scheming to lure humans to him simply so he can satisfy his curiosity about them.

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* Aiwass from ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'' bases all of its plans on what is most interesting, and screwing with and observing human lives takes the cake.

* Played with in ''Literature/{{Durarara}}''. Izaya is fascinated by humanity, and says repeatedly that he loves all humans (minus Shizuo). To express his love, he observes everyone and manipulates them, even going so far as to kidnap/rescue a suicidal girl and watches to see if she really will kill herself. He is behind a good deal of strife in the series, all for the sake of gauging humans' reactions. Despite this, he himself is a human.
* ''Literature/TheFamiliarOfZero'' has Luctiana, an elf who is fascinated by humans and desires to learn more about them, even kidnapping Saito and Tiffania to question them on aspects of humanity. The other elves consider her odd for this interest.

* Lelei La Lelena from ''Literature/{{Gate}}'' is fascinated by the humans that come from Japan, and studies their culture, language, and science with zeal.

* In ''Literature/ShakuganNoShana'', the Crimson Denizen Annaberg expresses his amazement at human ingenuity and inventions. Unfortunately, he likes to destroy things to force the humans to rebuild them bigger and better. He marvels at the construction of the Empire State Building, then tries to blow it up before he is stopped by Margery and Yuri.

* Creator/MarvelComics's Aaron Stack the Machine Man has been alternately fascinated and repulsed by humanity over the years. For most of his life, he experienced a full-blown [[BecomeARealBoy desire to be human]], even if he did often get frustrated with our shortcomings. However, after a series of personal catastrophes (winding up [[OnlyMostlyDead Mostly Dead,]] being reactivated with his mind infected by Sentinel programming, getting a big chunk of his memory erased, getting kidnapped by aliens and then abandoned by them without explanation), he has become far more cynical in general and tends to view humanity mainly with disgust. His best friend these days isn't human either--Comicbook/HowardTheDuck.
* Comicbook/{{Eternals}} villain Druig, of all people, seems to sincerely like humans a lot. He may be an utterly horrible immortal, but he claims he finds them worthy of respect and study - and wants to see what they eventually grow into. Although the humans he counts as friends may not be the most pleasant people - e.g. Subutai’s mongol horde.
* Comicbook/TheMightyThor might as well be the poster boy for this, developing into a love for Earth that transcends millennia, to the point that even as a very old man, he's willing to fight Galactus for the sake of Earth, despite the fact that it's dead and deserted, because he still loves it and because he loved humanity. Asgardians in general classically tend to be, at the very least, curious about humanity, and while some regard humans as being lesser, most of them have a definite respect for humanity's courage and perseverance and a strange fascination with our numerous foibles.

* A ComicBook/New52 issue of ''Comicbook/{{Superman}}'' opens with Orion of the Comicbook/NewGods musing that while humanity may be weaker than his people in dozens of ways, he finds humans more ''interesting.''

* Franchise/WonderWoman:
** Variation; Diana usually tends to be intrigued by "Man's World," given how different it is from her home island. She experiences both the good and bad of it, helping her to grow as a person and better helping her in becoming an effective heroine and teacher.
** Hermes is super fond of humans and their idiosyncrasies, quirks, and ingenuity. In [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 Volume 2]] posed as a human to work and hang out with ComicBook/SteveTrevor and Diana.

* Averted in ''Film/{{Avatar}}''. Relations between the humans of the Hell's Gate colony and the Na'vi used to be better, with Grace and the AVTR program even setting up a school for teaching English and the like. However, whatever fascination the Na'vi might have held for the Sky People has long since been buried beneath hatred and disgust - to the point of full-fledged xenophobia - at the [[MegaCorp RDA]]'s destructive mining operations and rather trigger-happy security forces.
* In ''Film/DarkCity'', the whole reason [[AliensAreBastards the Strangers]] create the CityInABottle is to study humanity in order to [[BecomeARealBoy become like it]] and reverse the [[DyingRace death of their species]].
-->'''Mr. Hand''': [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove I wanted to know what it was like … how you feel.]]
-->'''Murdoch''': You know how I was ''supposed'' to feel. That person isn’t me—never was. You wanted to know [[HumansAreSpecial what it was about us that made us human]]. Well, you're not going to find it ''<<points at his head>>'' in here. You were looking in the wrong place.

* ''Film/{{Starman}}''

* In the 2005 ''Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' film, the invading aliens stop to admire a bicycle tire, having never invented anything as simple and practical as the wheel. This is based on the original book, which states that all Martian technology uses legs instead of tires.
* The German film ''Film/WingsOfDesire'' (and its (a) sequel ''Faraway, So Close!'' & (b) ForeignRemake ''Film/CityOfAngels'') depict an angel who becomes human for the love of a good woman.

** [[AC:Death]] finds humanity very interesting, and has created his domain in the style of a human house, even if he hasn't grasped all the subtleties of why the fittings and items inside look like they do. (For example, he has a bathroom despite being a skeleton who doesn't bathe or eat, and this bathroom has a towel rack hung with towels as solid as wood.)

** This trope has led to such improbable CharacterDevelopment as [[spoiler:the original Bogeyman]] evolving into the Tooth Fairy over thousands of years [[spoiler:because he had the epiphany that young children were so vulnerable, as using even a single tooth with a spell could make the child believe whatever the caster wants, someone should protect them.]]
* The portrayal of the Archangel Uriel in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' apparently finds humanity to be baffling in both a positive and negative senses. While he compares people who use names without understanding [[IKnowYourTrueName the power behind them]] to be incredibly frustrating, and is a bit put off by the snarkiness of certain humans, such as Dresden and [[spoiler: Jack Murphy]], he's also impressed by the courage, kindness, and spirit of humanity, averting AMillionIsAStatistic and being touched when Michael describes him as "my friend." Oh, and he enjoyed ''Franchise/StarWars.''

* ''WebOriginal/LoomingGaia'': Mr. Ocean is a cecaelia born in the ocean, but he has always been fascinated by humans and other land-dwelling life. He falls in love with a human woman named Solveig after saving her from both her abusive husband and his genocidal Terrian-hating brother, moves with her on an island and stays with her until her death, promising to her to always protect Terrian life.

* Some of the Gems in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' have a certain fascination with humans, but none more so than Rose Quartz. While initially seeing them as little more than cute animals, her relationship with Greg led to a much deeper love and understanding, to the point where she chose to have a child with him [[DeathByChildbirth at the cost of her physical form]]. Amethyst isn't quite so enamored, but she does have a soft spot for cheesy sitcoms and human food ([[TheNeedless even though she doesn't need it]] [[ExtremeOmnivore and it may not actually BE food]]). [[spoiler:Peridot also grows begrudgingly fascinated by human culture while working to save the Earth (but mostly herself) from the Cluster.]]

* ''Literature/TheMermaid'': Amelia, the titular mermaid, used to enjoy exploring shipwrecks as a child. Her family warned her of the danger and cruelty of humans, but that only whetted her curiosity. As an adult, she [[CallReceptionZone swims too close to the surface to watch for boats]] and eventually follows a ship to the coast of Maine, where she spends days spying on humans. She falls in love with the fisherman Jack Douglas and moves on land to be with him. She spends decades with him in their small area of the coastline, but after he dies, she decides to leave and explore the dry world, which she always wanted to do when she was young. By the end, she learns that HumansAreTheRealMonsters and only wants to go back to the ocean, where animals can be violent but never wantonly cruel.

* Webmind, the AI in the ''Literature/{{WWWTrilogy}}'', finds humans to be a source of endless fascination and amazement, and is generally fond of us.

* ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'' has Luctiana, an elf who is fascinated by humans and desires to learn more about them, even kidnapping Saito and Tiffania to question them on aspects of humanity. The other elves consider her odd for this interest.

** In the television movie "[[Recap/BabylonFiveFilm01InTheBeginning In the Beginning]]", Londo reflects that a reason why the Centauri Republic cultivated its diplomatic relationship with the Earth Alliance was mainly because of Centauri fascination with humanity itself. He also notes that while he personally had already worked with them for years, he gained a newfound respect and admiration for them in their defiance during the hopeless and genocidal war against the Minbari.

** [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Data]] and [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Odo]] have elements of this: though they interact with humans as equals and have emotional ([[TheSpock or the nearest equivalent]]) connections as well as intellectual interest in humans, both also spend time observing and analyzing the people (human and alien alike) around them. Data even states in the pilot that he wants to ''become'' human, and Riker calls him [[LampshadeHanging Pinocchio]] in response.

* ''Series/AvataroSentaiDonBrothers: Nōto's enforcers spend their free time trying to figure out what makes humans tick. Sonoi [[PerfectionIsImpossible ponders]] over art, Sonoza [[InhumanEmotion tries to]] learn to laugh and Sononi [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove thinks]] about love. Their results are mixed at very best and not always what they expect either.
* ''Series/BabylonFive'': At first, G'kar is mostly intrigued by Earth women, but later he gains an appreciation for human ideas and integrates them into his own Narn beliefs--which then become part of a new religion.
** In the television movie "In The Beginning", Londo reflects that a reason why the Centauri Republic cultivated its diplomatic relationship with the Earth Alliance was mainly because of Centauri fascination with humanity itself. He also notes that while he personally had already worked with them for years, he gained a newfound respect and admiration for them in their defiance during the hopeless and genocidal war against the Minbari.
-->'''Londo:''' But as a culture grows decadent, it grows intrigued by art, by trinkets, by eccentricity. And the humans had art and trinkets and eccentricity to spare.
* The Doctor in ''Series/DoctorWho'' (old and new versions both) loves humanity and is fascinated by it far beyond his general fascination with other species and the universe in general. Most of his companions are humans, and he's constantly begging them to come travel with him not just in space, but in time, so that they can look at humans throughout their whole history. In fact, Earth is sort of an informal protectorate of the Doctor's: in the new series' fifth season premiere "The Eleventh Hour," he faces down an attacking alien ship while asking them to check their databanks to see whether this planet is defended. When they do, and see just ''[[{{Pun}} who]]'' it's defended by, they hightail it out of there immediately.

* Michael in ''Series/TheGoodPlace'', a celestial being [[spoiler:specifically, a demon]], finds humanity fascinating, and so has a bunch of tchotchkes like wax lips and a cheesegrater around for some reason. [[spoiler:In Season 2, the main characters declare him an "honorary human" and give him a box of random junk - car keys for him to lose, a stress ball with a corporate logo for him to contemplate throwing out and so on. He's genuinely touched.]]

** Q from ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' -- a being of almost limitless power who spoke disparagingly of humanity (and put it [[HumanityOnTrial on trial]]), yet was also fascinated by humans, devising countless annoying and dangerous ways to explore our natures, and appearing as a human each time. The one time he was ''really'' turned human, as a punishment, he was not particularly happy about it, though. (But then, he was given the choice of which less-advanced alien to be turned into, and chose to be human.) Although it's hinted that it's not so much humanity in general he's intrigued by, but ''Picard'' in particular.
** Data and Odo have elements of this: though they interact with humans as equals and have emotional ([[TheSpock or the nearest equivalent]]) connections as well as intellectual interest in humans, both also spend time observing and analyzing the people (human and alien alike) around them. Data even states in the pilot that he wants to ''become'' human, and Riker calls him [[LampshadeHanging Pinocchio]] in response.
** On one TNG episode, an alien entity caused itself to impregnate Troi and become her baby, to be born and live as one of us. He accelerated the process so that he did all this over a few weeks, rather than months or years. When the child realized his presence was endangering the ship, he died so he could revert to his [[EnergyBeings natural state]] and leave the ship, thus removing the risk, and thanking Troi for the experience as he left.
** [[TheSpock Spock]] himself is a particularly interesting example: he often seems to know more about Earth history and culture than the human characters, which at first seems odd but makes sense considering his dual human heritage--he may shun it in public, but is obviously intrigued by it in private.
** His father, Sarek, is intrigued enough to [[InterspeciesRomance marry two human women]]. He apparently considers his human fetish to be...logical.

* Starfire from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' seems to be fascinated by human culture.

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* Aiwass from ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' bases all of its plans on what is most interesting, and screwing with and observing human lives takes the cake.

* Played with in ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}''. Izaya is fascinated by humanity, and says repeatedly that he loves all humans (minus Shizuo). To express his love, he observes everyone and manipulates them, even going so far as to kidnap/rescue a suicidal girl and watches to see if she really will kill herself. He is behind a good deal of strife in the series, all for the sake of gauging humans' reactions. Despite this, he himself is a human.

* In ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'', the Crimson Denizen Annaberg expresses his amazement at human ingenuity and inventions. Unfortunately, he likes to destroy things to force the humans to rebuild them bigger and better. He marvels at the construction of the Empire State Building, then tries to blow it up before he is stopped by Margery and Yuri.

* Creator/MarvelComics's Aaron Stack the Machine Man has been alternately fascinated and repulsed by humanity over the years. For most of his life, he experienced a full-blown [[BecomeARealBoy desire to be human], even if he did often get frustrated with our shortcomings. However, after a series of personal catastrophes (winding up [[OnlyMostlyDead Mostly Dead,]] being reactivated with his mind infected by Sentinel programming, getting a big chunk of his memory erased, getting kidnapped by aliens and then abandoned by them without explanation), he has become far more cynical in general and tends to view humanity mainly with disgust. His best friend these days isn't human either--Comicbook/HowardTheDuck.

This is when some being (often one on a higher plane of existence) finds humanity interesting, [[ItAmusedMe amusing]], or otherwise engaging, often enough to attempt to become one of them (or at least disguise themselves as such). This is often the source behind {{Half Human Hybrid}}s, where the inhuman half is Intrigued by Humanity enough to marry or mate with one. An EmergentHuman or someone with PinocchioSyndrome may have this as their reason for becoming more human. This trope is probably related to HumansAreSpecial--even god-like beings and SufficientlyAdvancedAliens find us fascinating!

This trope isn't ''always'' related to PinocchioSyndrome though. Oftentimes you will see incredibly powerful beings who would consider themselves far superior to humans, and would be outright ''insulted'' at any suggestion that they may wish to become human. And yet they still find humans to be fascinating little critters. Most entomologists would find insects to be intriguing and fascinating, after all, and yet...

* Creator/MarvelComics's Aaron Stack the Machine Man has been alternately fascinated and repulsed by humanity over the years. For most of his life, he experienced full-blown PinocchioSyndrome, even if he did often get frustrated with our shortcomings. However, after a series of personal catastrophes (winding up [[OnlyMostlyDead Mostly Dead,]] being reactivated with his mind infected by Sentinel programming, getting a big chunk of his memory erased, getting kidnapped by aliens and then abandoned by them without explanation), he has become far more cynical in general and tends to view humanity mainly with disgust. His best friend these days isn't human either--Comicbook/HowardTheDuck.

* In ''Film/DarkCity'', the whole reason [[AliensAreBastards the Strangers]] create the CityInABottle is to study humanity in order to [[PinocchioSyndrome become like it]] and reverse the [[DyingRace death of their species]].

* Illyria from the fifth season of ''Series/{{Angel}}'', which is definitely a precursor of a more serious PinocchioSyndrome. As GodKing of the [[EldritchAbomination Old One]]s, Illyria starts out purely contemptuous of humans. But being reborn into [[HumanoidAbomination a human body]] with full access to the human's memories results in her becoming more and more intrigued by them.

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** [[AC:Death]] finds humanity very interesting, and has created his domain in the style of a human house, even if he hasn't grasped all the subtleties of why the fittings and items inside look like they do.