History Main / SuperiorSpecies

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' vampires are practically immortal, really strong, and ''sparkly''. Practically the definition of CursedWithAwesome. Also, as an exclusively predatory species, they cannot sustain ''nearly'' as high a population as humans, even in optimum conditions. Their long lifespan and inability to (usually) produce offspring of their own in a way that does not reduce the supply of food directly removes the incentive to develop new ideas and improvements for the next generation, removing the impetus for much innovation, making them less mentally productive than humans. Not only that, but according to WordOfGod, they don't feel physical pain as much as we do, yet sex is more pleasurable. They're [[InformedAttribute smarter]], and according to Edward, they feel love more strongly than humans as well. CursedWithAwesome? Not really. More like blessed with awesome.

* The ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreed'' series has the [[{{Precursors}} Isu]], also known as Those Who Came Before, The First Civilization, and Homo sapiens divinus. They are the advanced, ancient race who created humanity as their slaves. They left behind a large number of secret areas and [[{{Magitek}} devices]] that they used to control their human slaves, which the Assassins and Templars have been fighting over for most of human history.

** Each [[OurElvesAreDifferent race of Mer (Elves)]] in Tamriel believes this about themselves, but the Altmer (High Elves) really play it up. They see themselves as the closest in blood and culture to the Aldmer, {{Precursors}} to all of the races of Mer and supposed direct descendants of the Aedra/Ehlnofey, the divine "original spirits" who created and first populated the mortal world. The Altmer believe that the other races of Mer are a result of "degeneration" over the ages (and don't even get them ''started'' on [[FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence the races of Men...]]), while the Altmer actively try to breed themselves back to their ancestral ideal (which includes killing off any undesirable offspring). Come the 4th Era reformation of the [[AntiHumanAlliance Aldmeri Dominion]] under the leadership of the extremist [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]], the Altmer have kicked this belief into overdrive, subjugating the Bosmer (Wood Elves) and [[CatFolk Khajiit]] while waging war against the remnants of the Septim Empire.

* The [[LightNovel/CrestOfTheStars Abh]] are generally considered stronger, smarter, and all perfectly attractive. This, however, has a lot to do with all Abh being DesignerBabies, and they typically aren't smug about it: as far as they're concerned, they're human like anyone else, they just have certain advantages.
* ''Anime/{{Inuyasha}}'' In the feudal era the {{Youkai}} are considered to be stronger, faster, and longer lived than ordinary humans; aside from a few exceptional cases (such as Kagome and Midoriko) whom have attained even more spiritual power than the that of the greatest demons.
* The Catians in ''LightNovel/CatPlanetCuties'' are an advanced and peaceful alien race with universally nonlethal weapons and no sexual taboos. They've come to Earth to [[TechnologyUplift bring them some advanced technology]] and space wisdom, sample our food, and in the first-in scout's case, [[BoldlyComing mate with one of us]]. They avert the arrogance in most ways, replacing it with perfect courtesy (unless they're in heat or high on catnip); for example, they ''change the name of their home planet'' to avoid confusing humanity.

-->'''King Piccolo''': That's the problem with the human race. No respect...for the superior species.

-->'''Picard:''' What gives you the right to judge us?
-->'''Q:''' [[OmniscientMoralityLicense Superior morality.]]
** Similarly, the Borg consider themselves this to such an extent that they don't seem to understand that other races do not want to join the Collective. Even the Borg who do understand this believe that the benefits of joining inherently outweigh any objections.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* According to the tie-in comics mainly, the Asgardian of the [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse MCU]] were (before a TraumaCongaLine and UniquenessDecay hit them) ''the'' officially-recognized GalacticSuperpower in the universe. Since the Bifröst enables them to be anywhere at a moment's notice, fear of them is what kept punks like the Jötunns, Trolls, Badoon, and Marauders in line. As consequence, when the Bifröst went down, all the evil races came out of the bushes and start wreaking havoc. And even putting that all aside, ignoring unique cases like the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/MCUInhumans Inhumans]], [[ComicBook/XMen Mutants]], and [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/MCUEternals Eternals]] (which are too individually varied for them to be worthy of real comparison), they're easily the physically strongest out of all extant sapient races in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having SuperStrength, SuperToughness, an advanced HealingFactor, and being ''especially'' LongLived as just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The only beings that really dwarf them are the Celestials, who act more like [[CosmicKeystone Cosmic Keystones]].

A Superior Species doesn't have to follow all of these requirements; demonstration that the species is "superior" to humanity is enough. And no, this trope is not automatically a ''[[MarySue Sue]]''[[IncrediblyLamePun perior species]].

*** The [[FantasticRacism institutional racism]] asari have against the offspring of asari-asari unions ("purebloods"). On Illium you speak with a pureblood asari whose mate was killed in the geth uprising, and whose daughters were killed on the Citadel in the geth attack. A dozen metres away a pair of asari are loudly proclaiming how purebloods need to be "purged" and that they "should be prevented from breeding!" The asari in question is devastated by her loss, and those assholes, ''within earshot'', are screaming that they '''they don't give a shit, because they're purebloods'''. The main reason for the prejudice is that such unions are possibly more likely to produce their equivalents of [[HornyDevils Succubi]], though it's an incredibly rare genetic disorder by itself. Another minor reason is that since Asaris can breed with any other race, breeding within the Asari race means that "nothing is gained", though again, any benefit or detriment of breeding outside the Asari specie or inside is marginal at best.

Members of the Superior Species ''never'' engage in something as stupid as warfare unless justifiably provoked, where they will wipe the floor without effort, they ''certainly'' never pollute their world, and they must ''definitely'' be just better than you, yes? They are [[TheBeautifulElite prettier than you]], more badass than you, [[HumansAreSmelly smell better]] than you and probably [[WeAreAsMayflies live longer than you]] in their MarySuetopia. And of course, [[CantArgueWithElves you can't argue with them]].

A Superior Species doesn't have to follow all of these requirements; demonstration that the species is "superior" to humanity is enough. And no, this trope is not automatically a ''Sue''[[IncrediblyLamePun perior]] [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant species]].

[[folder:Film]]

*** Their distant cousins, the Daxamites take this Post-Crisis characterization UpToEleven, being not just xenophobic but outright genocidal toward other sentient species. This has come back to bite them in their asses more than once, especially when the [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Sinestro Corps]] invaded Daxam.

** Each [[OurElvesAreDifferent race of Mer (Elves)]] in Tamriel believes this about themselves, but the Altmer (High Elves) really play it up. They see themselves as the closest in blood and culture to the Aldmer, {{Precursors}} to all of the races of Mer and supposed direct descendants of the Aedra/Ehlnofey, the divine "original spirits" who created and first populated the mortal world. The Altmer believe that the other races of Mer are a result of "degeneration" over the ages (and don't even get them ''started'' on [[FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence the races of Men...]]), while the Altmer actively try to breed themselves back to their ancestral ideal (which includes killing off any undesirable offspring). Come the 4th Era reformation of the [[AntiHumanAlliance Aldmeri Dominion]] under the leadership of the [[UpToEleven extremist]] [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]], the Altmer have kicked this belief into overdrive, subjugating the Bosmer (Wood Elves) and [[CatFolk Khajiit]] while waging war against the remnants of the Septim Empire.

* Viltrumites from ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}''. To boot, they're a race of extremely powerful {{Flying Brick}}s that can easily punch buildings into rubble and fly faster than supersonic jets, They're NighInvulnerable, live for [[Really700YearsOld thousands of years]] (and only age slower as they get older), their technology is way more advanced than ours, and pretty much lack any KryptoniteFactor bar a very specific virus. Needless to say, they're very much aware of this trope and embrace it with both arms and legs, launching a campaign of genocidal conquest on an universal scale simply based on their belief that their race is superior to all others. This backfired on them ''badly'' as it eventually drove the Resistance desperate enough to create a biological weapon that ended up wiping out nearly the entire Viltrumite race, to the point that they had token Viltrumites lead armies of enslaved alien races to hide how badly they'd been depopulated, just to keep the empire from imploding. By the end, there were maybe 100 Viltrumites left in the universe.

* Viltrumites from the ''{{WesternAnimation/Invincible}}'' cartoon adaptation. See their comic book section above for details.

* Viltrumites from ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}''. To boot, they're a race of extremely powerful {{Flying Brick}}s that can easily punch buildings into rubble and fly faster than supersonic jets, They're NighInvulnerable, live up to [[Really700YearsOld thousand of years]], their technology is way more advanced than ours, and pretty much lack any KryptoniteFactor. Needless to say, they're very much aware of this trope and embrace it with both arms and legs, launching a campaign of genocidal conquest on an universal scale simply based on their belief that their race is superior to all others. This backfired on them ''badly'' as it eventually drove the Resistance desperate enough to create a biological weapon that ended up wiping out nearly the entire Viltrumite race, to the point that they had token Viltrumites lead armies of enslaved alien races to hide how badly they'd been depopulated, just to keep the empire from imploding. By the end, there were maybe 100 Viltrumites left in the universe.

* Kryptonians in the ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'' were the most powerful and formidable race in their setting. Even on their stagnant state, their technology was so advanced that it could destroy entire planets. When bathed by yellow sun, they become even more powerful than ''literal gods'' such as Ares, Enchantress and Steppenwolf, and their weaknesses are exceedingly rare. One can only imagine what their true potential would have been when they were in their height and were billions of them.

* Viltrumites from ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}''. To boot, they're a race of extremely powerful {{Flying Brick}}s that can easily punch buildings into rubble and fly faster than supersonic jets, They're NighInvulnerable, live up to [[Really700YearsOld thousand of years]], their technology is way more advanced than ours, and pretty much lack any KryptoniteFactor. Needless to say, they're very much aware of this trope and embrace it with both arms and legs, launching a campaign of genocidal conquest on an universal scale simply based on their belief that their race is superior to all others.

** While not species, as such ''[[SpaceMarine Adeptus]] [[SuperSoldier Astartes]]'' are physically, mentally and spiritually superior to everyone else to the point it would over takes a hundred men to match a single marine. They are however ''dicks'' about it. The best example of them are the Marines Malevolence, who not only consider ordinary humans as canon fodder, but they consider themselves to be more important than other Space Marines.

If HumansAreTheRealMonsters, then it follows that other races must be better than us. Even when humans are realistically portrayed, there may be a race that is [[PunyEarthlings stronger]], [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens smarter]], and [[PerfectPacifistPeople purer]] than us.

Members of the Superior Species ''never'' engage in something as stupid as warfare unless justifiably provoked, where they will wipe the floor without effort, they ''certainly'' never pollute their world, and they are ''definitely'' just better than you. They are [[TheBeautifulElite prettier than you]], more badass than you, [[HumansAreSmelly smell better]] than you and probably [[WeAreAsMayflies live longer than you]] in their MarySuetopia. And of course, [[CantArgueWithElves you can't argue with them]].

It seems they're not above arrogance, though -- they usually feel the need to rub [[CulturalPosturing their superiority]] in our faces, or [[HumanityOnTrial hold humanity on trial just for crimes committed against itself]]. Take solace that some of these arrogant prick species inevitably went through bloody periods in their history even if they'll never admit it to us dumb hairless apes, showing they were at some point no better. All too many others, though, [[ApeShallNeverKillApe didn't and don't hesitate to point out why this also makes them better than humanity]].

See also ThisLoserIsYou, {{Ultraterrestrials}} and CantArgueWithElves (for a species that ''thinks'' they're superior and likes to brag about it). Contrast HumansAreFlawed, where humans not being perfect is a ''good'' thing. Compare BornWinner, where an ''individual'' is innately better than everyone else; DesignerBabies, a common method of artificially developing one of these; SuperSupremacist, where {{Differently Powered Individual}}s hold themselves as superior to mundane humans; and HumansNeedAliens, for when the alien race decides to help humans. Not to be confused with EldritchAbomination, which a species is conceived superior due to their incomprehensible nature. For a species that only ''thinks'' they're this, and want to force everybody else to think it too, see MasterRace. If it's the humans themselves at the top of the ladder, you might be looking for HumanityIsSuperior instead.

* Fanfic/TheConversionBureau stories go to great lengths to show how ponies are morally superior to the {{Puny Earthling}}s. The fact that the ponies' superiority was so heavily hammered in led to other Conversion Bureau stories where the "[[ScrewYouElves puny Earthlings]]" win, with one, "Ten Minutes" ending with Princess Celestia being vaporized, along with many other Equestrians, by a [[NukeEm nuke]].

* The Neanderthals in Robert J. Sawyer's ''Literature/TheNeanderthalParallax'' seem this way at first, being portrayed as more intelligent, technologically advanced and peaceful than puny ''homo sapiens.'' It is because that they achieved this through eugenics and a "Big Brother" style system of constant surveillance for every individual. The author [[ValuesDissonance considers the surveillance concept to be a good thing]].

* OurGodsAreDifferent is essentially a special case of this; the idea of "superior" lifeforms that more or less invisibly live in the same world as we mere mortals do and that may sometimes feel inclined to help us out a little as long as we pay our proper respects and don't tick them off is a basic building block of just about every religion ever.

See also ThisLoserIsYou, {{Ultraterrestrials}} and CantArgueWithElves (for a species that ''thinks'' they're superior and likes to brag about it). Contrast HumansAreFlawed, where humans not being perfect is a ''good'' thing. Compare BornWinner, where an ''individual'' is innately better than everyone else; DesignerBabies, a common method of artificially developing one of these; and HumansNeedAliens, for when the alien race decides to help humans. Not to be confused with EldritchAbomination, which a species is conceived superior due to their incomprehensible nature. For a species that only ''thinks'' they're this, and want to force everybody else to think it too, see MasterRace. If it's the humans themselves at the top of the ladder, you might be looking for HumanityIsSuperior instead.

A Superior Species doesn't have to follow all of these requirements; demonstration that the species is "superior" to humanity is enough. And no, this trope is not automatically a ''[[MarySue Sue]]''[[IncrediblyLamePun perior]] [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant species]].

* In Creator/JohnVarley's Literature/GaeaTrilogy, [[OurCentaursAreDifferent Titanides]] are sometimes accused of being a MarySue race ( among other things). They are ten times stronger than humans, twenty times faster, shoot any weapon perfectly, perform fantastically complicated music by instinct, and can [[AuthorAppeal mate in seventy-two different combinations]]. Plus they do handicrafts in their sleep, with results more beautiful than the best human art. In the third novel we find out that they are also infallible judges of character, and the protagonists explicitly trust that any human killed by a Titanide was truly evil and needed to die.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'': Very deliberately subverted in an article dealing with the elves. The author, who hated both the MarySue depiction of elves and the vicious backlash against them which often depicts elves as the ButtMonkey of any given setting, instead depicts the elves of ''Greyhawk'' as being truly gifted and exceptional in a variety of areas... but they've never managed to parlay these talents into widespread power or even unity. When it comes to magic and nature, elves are rightly known for their amazing skills, but they've always been extremely fractured and divided, due largely to infighting among the elven gods when they were first created, which prompted the newly born elven race to split into several factions.

** The ''yahg'' are also close to this; from the perspective of the ''next'' cycle, should Shepard fail, they'd probably be in charge: they're larger than krogan and probably stronger, as smart as the salarians but live significantly longer, they fall in with the most competent leaders even if they're from a different tribe (and are thus potentially as organized as the turians), their tribal culture bred into them a very keen sense of perception (they're nearly impossible to lie to) so they're probably as good with politics as the asari, and since ''one'' of them was able to infiltrate, take over and manage the single largest intelligence organization in the known galaxy for decades without anyone even knowing what ''species'' he is, it would be safe to say they're as adaptable as humans. They'd be pretty much a MarySue species if not for their rampant savagery and comparably primitive technology. That said, the intelligence and adaptability may not necessarily be a species-wide trait but rather something specific to the Shadow-Broker, as Mordin mentions outliers and we never encounter another yahg in a context where such qualities come into play. It is also mentioned in the Shadow Broker dossiers that they had to kill several before finding one who wanted to leave, giving the outliers theory credence.

** The draenei are sometimes accused of being a MarySue race, but they are a weird case. On the one hand, they are long-lived or maybe even immortal. They have {{magitek}} that makes them able to construct inter-dimensional floating castles/spaceships, complete with teleporters, holograms, hard-light floors and escape pods (making them one of the most technologically advanced race in the setting). They are the first (and only when they were introduced) race to master elemental magic, arcanic magic (they were so good at it that Sargeras, who wants to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy all life]], tried to make them his lieutenants) and light magic (they had paladins millenia before humans supposedly invented them, and talk directly to beings who are one with the Light). They are as tall and muscled as taurens, who were previously the tallest and most muscled race. They were introduced as the pure, original version of a previously established race. Even their weapons are made from pretty crystals. Finally, they are the closest thing the franchise has to a LawfulGood race. However, their society isn't really romanticized by any character in the games (in fact they [[HufflepuffHouse barely are mentioned]]), they lost every single battle where they stood on their own, and their overwhelming goodness is more-or-less [[JustifiedTrope justified]] as they're the faction of their species who refused to follow Sargeras and TheLegionsOfHell.

** Mists of Pandaria's portrayal of the previously well liked Pandaren have also been accused of this. They have virtually no evil individuals, every race that opposes them is portrayed as AlwaysChaoticEvil, and their morals are always depicted as correct. It didn't help that entire races such as the Orcs were demonized to help facilitate their aesops and that the narrative doesn't admit that the Pandaren [[NotSoDifferent exhibit the same]] merciless attitude towards their enemies that the "inferior" species show.

'''Optimus Prime''': [[NotSoDifferent Were we so different?]] They are a young species. They have much to learn... but I've seen goodness in them. Freedom is the right of all sentient beings...

It seems they're not above arrogance, though -- they usually feel the need to rub [[CulturalPosturing their superiority]] in our faces, or [[HumanityOnTrial hold humanity on trial just for crimes committed against itself]]. Take solace that some of these arrogant prick species inevitably went through bloody periods in their history even if they'll never admit it to us dumb hairless apes, [[NotSoDifferent showing they were at some point no better]]. All too many others, though, [[ApeShallNeverKillApe didn't and don't hesitate to point out why this also makes them better than humanity]].

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'''s ''[[Fanfic/CrucibleMassEffect CrucibleVerse]]'' introduce [[HalfHumanHybrid the Hybrids]] a new species born between humans and turians as a side-effects of the Crucible. According to WordOfGod, although there're no species that is culturally, morally or psychologically superior to others but In-Universe, it's obvious that the Hybrids are much more powerful than any currently-known species at least in term of physical abilities. The combination between turians' strength and discipline with humans' adaptability and flexibility has created a race of, as in Garrus' words, "weapons-made flesh and built for war". [[RealityEnsues As the result,]] [[HalfBreedDiscrimination most people either fear, hate or jealous of the hybrids]] and [[WoobieSpecies out to make their life a living hell]].

* ''Literature/{{Witchmark}}'' and ''Literature/{{Stormsong}}'' by C.L. Polk: The "Amaranthine" are [[TheAgeless ageless]], vastly more magically powerful than humans, and [[InhumanlyBeautifulRace beautiful enough]] to drive humans insane. Moreover, the LandOfFaerie is widely believed to be [[PhysicalReligion the human afterlife]] and the Amaranthine to be directly endowed with divine authority, so their Grand Duchess outranks every human monarch.

** By the time of "Legacy of the Void" the Protoss are easily enslaved by [[spoiler:Amon]], who takes over the Khala and turns them into mindless pawns for his grand plan of galactic genocide. Fortunately Artanis is able to escape Amon's grasp and is dead set in destroying him by reuniting the Protoss.

** The Protoss were actually created by the [[{{Precursors}} Xel'naga]] to create a purity of form, so their alleged superiority is mildly justified; however they were also created by [[spoiler: Amon]] who violated the AlienNonInterferenceClause by [[spoiler: designing them artifically as a super species to his own likings]]. However, [[TooCleverByHalf the few mistakes they actually do make tend to be far more epic than their human counterparts]]. [[spoiler:Witness the loss of their homeworld to a HordeOfAlienLocusts, one of them trying to kill a political leader without informing anybody that she was BrainwashedAndCrazy, exiling the only warriors who eons later would prove to be able to destroy their worst foe yet, setting a planet on fire regardless of who lives there to burn out a potential threat...]] The list goes on and on, and that's only [[ExpandedUniverse in the game!]]

** The protoss were actually created by the [[{{Precursors}} Xel'naga]] to create a purity of form, so their alleged superiority is mildly justified. However, [[TooCleverByHalf the few mistakes they actually do make tend to be far more epic than their human counterparts]]. [[spoiler:Witness the loss of their homeworld to a HordeOfAlienLocusts, one of them trying to kill a political leader without informing anybody that she was BrainwashedAndCrazy, exiling the only warriors who eons later would prove to be able to destroy their worst foe yet, setting a planet on fire regardless of who lives there to burn out a potential threat...]] The list goes on and on, and that's only [[ExpandedUniverse in the game!]]

*** The [[FantasticRacism institutional racism]] asari have against the offspring of asari-asari unions ("purebloods"). On Illium you speak with a pureblood asari whose mate was killed in the geth uprising, and whose daughters were killed on the Citadel in the geth attack. A dozen metres away a pair of asari are loudly proclaiming how purebloods need to be "purged" and that they "should be prevented from breeding!" The asari in question is devastated by her loss, and those assholes, ''within earshot'', are screaming that they '''they don't give a shit, because they're purebloods'''. The main reason for the prejudice is that such unions are possibly more likely to produce their equivalents of [[HornyDevils Succubi]], though it's an incredibly rare genetic disorder by itself.