History Series / BeingHumanUS

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In "One is Silver and the Other is Pagan", Kat and Aidan have an awkward/cute moment of connection over the American Civil War. She quips "I suddenly feel not-dry." Sure, they had just finished fixing some plumbing together, but...

* ZettaiRyouiki: Sally rocks this look in "For Those About to Rot".

** Ghosts are able to destroy each other via a process called "shredding", completely annihilating the spirit energy of the other ghost. The shredded ghost is sent to a torturous reality known as Limbo where they are punished to relive the way that they died endlessly, or are given an ironic fate.

* {{Adorkable}}: Josh, though he begins to drift away from the awkward "dork" thing in the last few episodes of season 2, a trend that continues for the rest of the series. Surprisingly enough, ''Aidan'' starts to fill this role in his place after the second season.

* GenreSavvy: Kenny the bubble boy is an aficionado of classic horror films, so when his pale night nurse draws extra blood he immediately jumps to the [[{{Vampire}} least logical but correct conclusion.]] Played with when the classic tests he uses to verify his suspicion all fail because the myths they're based on aren't true.

''Being Human'' is a North American remake of Creator/TheBBC's ''Series/BeingHumanUK'', created by Toby Whithouse. It debuted in January 2011 on Creator/{{Syfy}}. As with the original British show, it centers around a trio of friends, each a different sort of supernatural being: Aidan Waite (Creator/SamWitwer), a FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire; Josh Levison (Sam Huntington), a geeky and uptight [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolf]]; and Sally Malik (Meaghan Rath), a CuteGhostGirl; they are later joined by Nora Sergeant (Kristen Hager), Josh's (initially) {{Muggle}} love interest who he turns into another werewolf and moves in with the others. They all live in an old UsefulNotes/{{Boston}} brownstone where they try (and usually fail) to be as human as possible.

* GrandmaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave: Celine, as noted by Josh.

* OvertookTheManga: The original ''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}'' had very short seasons thanks to BritishBrevity. As a cable show, the US ''Being Human'' has shorter seasons than a network primetime series, but it's still way more than ''six'' episodes. As such, what begins as a fairly straight adaptation quickly develops a lot of new material.
** Also, the US version ''not'' having the entire original cast [[RealLifeWritesThePlot decide to bail]] means the UK and US versions are now very different shows.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: The various rules regarding the existence of Aidan and those like him.

** Werewolves are burned by silver. Any wounds a werewolf sustained while transformed will heal, unless inflicted with a silver weapon.

** Older werewolves are generally much more powerful than younger werewolves, particularly when transformed. Lycanthropy also can cause premature aging if someone has the curse for a long time due to how arduous the transformation is. An older werewolf Josh and Nora meet reveals that he is in his 39, despite looking well into his 60s.

** Vampires are created when another vampire drinks from a human, then that human drinks the vampire's blood in turn. A vampire is immortal, but will become weak and sick if they don't drink blood, and will become mindless with hunger if deprived of it for too long. The only way to kill a vampire is decapitating them or impaling them

** There was a time when sunlight was fatal to vampires, but they seem to have adapted to a daytime existence,
Aidan describes them as being "photosensitive". Most vampires seem to deal with this by wearing
** The MustBeInvited rule is also in effect. If a vampire enters the home of a mortal without being invited, their skin begins to boil and burn. Vampires can also be ''uninvited'' from a home, leaving any vampires within the home to burn alive and die. Vampires have no restriction on entering or leaving the house that they were sired in.

*** Vampires that are sired shortly after the cure is found are horribly deformed and have an insatiable thirst for blood. They are also physically stronger than standard vampires, able to fight vampires centuries older than they are. Kenny, Aidan's new vampiric son, is spared death during this period, and returns, apparently completely fine. [[spoiler:He is still heavily deformed but he has gained the ability to permanently compel anyone, including vampires, werewolves, and ghosts. He compels people to see him as a normal human, although drunk people perceive him otherwise.]]

** Older werewolves are generally much more powerful than younger werewolves, particularly when transformed. Lycanthropy also causes premature aging if someone has the curse for a long time, due to the process of the organs all failing and restarting once a month. An older werewolf Josh and Nora meet reveals that he is in his 39, despite looking well into his 60s.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: There are an enormous amount of complicated rules that dictate the existence of ghosts:

* BigBad: Bishop, at least in season 1.
** Mother in season 2.
** Liam in season 3, though his plans are less grandiose and more violent. He competes with Donna for this title.
** [[spoiler: The house itself in the final season]].

* [[CaliforniaDoubling Canada Doubling]]: Set in Boston, shot in Montreal. Oddly enough, a flashback in late Season 1 is ''set'' in Montreal in the '70s.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: A whole bunch of rules exist for ghosts, like Sally.
** They are invisible and inaudible to normal humans unless they they are open to suggestion, but vampires and werewolves can see ghosts perfectly.
** Ghosts generally have no ability to manipulate the physical world, outside of Sally's emotional state giving her some poltergeist-like powers. Ghosts can improve their control over these powers to haunt people. An exception is any object directly tied to their death, like Sally's engagement ring.
** JacobMarleyApparel is in effect; Ghosts wear the clothes they died in. Sally, because she [[spoiler:was murdered]] right before she was to go to bed, is stuck in her pajamas for two seasons. When her mother is in the hospital and is about to die, she forces Josh to give her some comfortable clothes to wear as a ghost. [[spoiler:After being brought back to life in season 3 only to die again towards the end, Sally makes sure she is wearing something other than her pajamas during her second time as a ghost.]]
** Ghosts remain in the physical world until they resolve any issues still remaining as a result of their death. Once they have done so, a Door to the other side appears for them, allowing them to properly move on to the afterlife. Some ghosts, such as suicide victims, never get a Door, and are theoretically trapped on Earth for all eternity.
** The longer it takes for a ghost's Door to appear, the more they begin to lose their sanity.
** The Door, however, is not available permanently, and a ghost that gives up the opportunity remains trapped in the physical world, and becomes more attached to it, allowing them to move physical objects as if they were alive, but only if they focus hard enough.
** Ghosts can possess humans who are open to suggestion, or under the influence of alcohol or other narcotics, but the ghost can get stuck if they stay in the body for too long, and the possessed person's memories will be slightly mixed with the ghost's. Possession can be prevented through the use of protective spiritual charms, such as the Thai Hill people's Soul Lock.
** Iron will dissipate a ghost's spirit, but the ghost will reform in the place where they originally died.
** Ghosts can be exorcised, usually by trapping them in a salt circle and then using sage and the Lord's Prayer to purify the house they inhabit.
** Ghosts can be destroyed permanently by completely destroying the place where they haunt, particularly the place where they died, known as a Death Spot.
** Ghosts are able to destroy each other via "shredding", completely annihilating the spirit energy of the other ghost. The shredded ghost is sent to a torturous reality known as Limbo where they are punished to relive the way that they died endlessly, or are given an ironic fate. [[spoiler:Nick, who died in a freak drowning accident, is repeatedly drowned in Limbo until Sally frees him. Stevie, who committed suicide by overdosing, is hanged from a tree right outside his childhood home while watching his family live their lives without him. Sally is doomed to fail in getting the three of them out of Limbo by having them each reach the house she shared with Aidan and Josh and the day restarting as soon as they arrive.]]
** The only known way out of Limbo [[spoiler:is through blood magic, restoring the spirit back to their physical body where they live, again, [[OurZombiesAreDifferent but with some restrictions]].]]
** The ghost's death spot can be used as a portal to a purgatory-like dimension, where there is no way to return to the physical world. Sally's is unique [[spoiler:because as she killed Donna, she is able to go back to the living world through Donna's original death spot, but she has to relive the final moments of Donna's first death.]]
** Ghosts not trapped in Limbo can be brought back from the dead through the use of magic, [[spoiler:but another person's soul must be sacrificed to restore the other soul to their body.]]

** Vampires are immortal, but need to drink blood to keep themselves strong and healthy. If deprived of blood for too long, they will grow increasingly weak and sick before eventually shutting down and entering a sort of stasis. They will normally lose control of their inhibitions and attack humans long before this point, though.
** Vampires are unnaturally strong and fast. The older a vampire is, the greater these abilities are, with some vampires being thousands of years old.
** Vampires are sired when a vampire drinks a human's blood, and then the vampire's blood is transferred back to them.

** They can go into sunlight without bursting into flames, but Aidan describes them as being "photosensitive". All vampires seem to prefer leather jackets and dark black sunglasses for this reason.
** The only surefire ways of kill vampires are to pierce the heart with a wooden stake, beheading, or draining them of blood.

** Vampires can [[{{Glamour}} compel]] humans into thinking whatever they want. Some vampires are better at this than others. Aidan is particularly bad, and often relies on others to help him.

** Vampires can be restored back to life [[spoiler:through the same magic that brings ghosts back to life, but depending on how long they were a vampire, the new life isn't that long.]]
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: The rules affecting Josh [[spoiler:and Nora]]:
** A werewolf is created when a human is bitten or scratched by a transformed werewolf. The victim does not become a werewolf until the next full moon. There is no way shown to prevent this change.
** Werewolves are forced to transform during the full moon. For the short period before, and after the change, they are physically stronger and have heightened senses in their human state. It also improves their sex drive.
** Werewolves appear to be mangy four-legged wolves with a vaguely human bone structure.
** Werewolves are practically impossible to kill without a silver weapon when transformed.
** Werewolf blood is extremely toxic to vampires. Although it gives vampires a temporary high, they soon begin to convulse and they expel all of the blood from their bodies, leaving them extremely weakened. [[spoiler:It is however the only way to stop the effects of the human flu that has been killing vampires.]]
** Older werewolves are generally much more powerful than younger werewolves, particularly when transformed. Lycanthropy also causes premature aging, due to the process of the organs all failing and restarting once a month. An older werewolf Josh and Nora meet reveals that he is in his 40s, despite looking well into his 60s.
** Josh initially believes lycanthropy is a biological disease and catalogs everything that happens to him, [[spoiler:assisted by the research of an older werewolf he was forced to fight to the death]]. However, Nora learns from Brynn that it is a magical curse, and the only cure is to kill the werewolf who cursed you in the first place, but only while they are still human. [[spoiler:The curse is only lifted within that "generation", leaving anyone turned by the werewolf still cursed, as Nora and Josh discover after Josh manages to kill Ray.]] If the werewolf is killed by someone else, the curse can never be lifted.
** Werewolves are generally loners, with packs only supposed to be formed as a result of blood ties or love. Some werewolves do try to make packs, but it doesn't seem to turn out right.
** Purebred werewolves exist, and are the children of two other werewolves. Purebred werewolves are stronger than other werewolves, with their senses constantly at the level that normal werewolves feel near the full moon. They view their humanity as the true curse, as they would rather be wolves all the time. They also enforce a strong camaraderie among other werewolves. When they are killed, they turn into their wolf form.
** Werewolf pregnancy is about triple the rate of a human pregnancy, even between two cursed werewolves. The only way that the child survives the pregnancy, including the transformations, [[spoiler:is that the baby is a purebred werewolf, and is transformed in the womb, turning human shortly after birth]]. From Josh and Nora's first experience, [[spoiler:it would seem that the child of a human and werewolf is also born a werewolf, but the human's body cannot handle the fetus's transformation and results in a miscarriage. However, the miscarriage may have been the result of the severe burns Nora had on her stomach from the abuse she suffered at the hands of her prior boyfriend, seeing as Sally heals the scars and Nora's fertility issues after learning magic in Season 4.]]
** Josh seems to have difficulty remembering what he does as a werewolf, as do several other cursed werewolves. He is only aware of his wolf's actions the following morning after vomiting up whatever his human body cannot handle, [[spoiler:such as the wolf's own feces]]. Purebred wolves [[spoiler:and Nora]], don't have this problem.
*** Nora believes that the repressed emotions concerning prior abuse makes her werewolf more vicious, as it uses her anger to lash out much more violently.
** Werewolves can meditate as humans to try to get in touch with their inner wolf. [[spoiler:Josh's wolf is afraid of him for trying to repress him for several years, and takes it out on him spiritually when transformed, and moreso after being re-cursed, as mentioned below.]]
** After [[spoiler:being re-cursed by Liam]], Josh is attacked by his inner wolf during the transition into Donna's realm. After the next full moon, Nora awakes [[spoiler:to see Josh has not turned back into a human. This time around, he is cursed as the werewolf for every day ''but'' the full moon, leaving his sanity in shambles each time, as he has aparently had difficulty in remembering how to be human. He also began to contemplate suicide after realizing the strain his situation is having on Aidan's and Nora's lives. Sally, after freeing herself from Donna's purgatory, discovers the situation, and uses her new magical skills to perform a spell that will return Josh to normal, as a werewolf at least. However, as her magic throws her back in time, the spell isn't properly completed, leaving the wolf partly in control of Josh on a daily basis, making him more irritable and prone to violence from the wolf's control. This also enables him to transform into a werewolf without the need of the full moon, and later learns how to transform at will, but it is mostly tied to intense emotional distress. Mark, the would-be alpha of Boston's wolf pack, tries to use Josh to curse people who volunteer themselves to become werewolves, beliving Josh's new abilities will be able to one up the newly revived vampire race. It doesn't work out well for them. Sally later helps Josh confront his inner wolf through her ghostly possession, allowing Josh and the wolf to come to an understanding that Josh is in control every day but the night of the full moon from then on.]]

** Witches are noted for their ability to practice magic.
** They can bring the dead back to life, depending on where the spirit remains.
*** If the dead is simply a ghost, magic can bring them back, [[spoiler:at the cost of another soul's existence. This is how Donna herself is brought back to life after being falsely executed as a witch during the time of the Salem witch trials. A coven decides to bring her back and make her their 13th member.]]
*** If the dead's spirit is in Limbo, then witches have to use blood magic to bring them back. One of the components of this spell is [[spoiler:a human heart]]. There are also several restrictions on the person brought back, many of which only satisfy the witch, [[spoiler:such as anyone the revived meets from their previous life is destined to die within 24 hours of the reunion, and that person's ghost gets sent to the witch]].

** Witches can only be killed through another magic spell, which Sally is taught by the medium that Danny first hired to exorcise her. However, Donna manages to withstand the spell, and consume's Sally's spirit, [[spoiler:only for the spell to work and kill Donna, again.]] After this, Sally gains the ability to use magic, particularly through Donna's old spellbook.
*** [[spoiler:The spellbook is actually still under Donna's control, and while she does use it to help Sally out, she primarily uses it to trick Sally into performing a spell to bring Donna back from Purgatory so she can get Sally back into Purgatory. Sally ends up destroying the book and it becomes a part of her.]]
** When Sally performs magic, she is thrown back in time to either the past of herself, her friends, Donna, or the house. When Donna discovers this, she tries to warn Sally that she may get stuck in the past permanently. [[spoiler:This ultimately happens when Sally goes back to the night she was killed, and possesses herself to change the course of history. However, things don't go as planned, and the Donna of the new timeline helps Sally return back to her normal timeline. The consequence of which throws her into the near future to see Aidan apparently kill Josh.]]

** The revived ghosts have full faculty of their original bodies, but [[spoiler:being revived through blood magic adds a few restrictions, mostly to benefit the witch.]] They are also like other supernatural beings in that they can see ghosts.

* MrFanservice: Aidan. Wow. Josh is no slouch either.

* MoodWhiplash: Josh makes Sally and Aidan a nice dinner to have some semblance of a normal evening without any monster-related business... then reality hits when the only things they have to talk about are monster-related things. Not to mention that Josh is the only one of them that eats food.

* LotusEaterMachine: Sally becomes trapped in a cheery fantasy world when [[spoiler: Scott takes control of her mind. Notably, he even played the part of her fiancee.]] Season 4 begins with her trapped in one, alongside Donna.

* MagicPants: Averted. Josh is completely naked before, during and after a werewolf transformation. He does manage to [[WholesomeCrossdresser steal a dress]], though.

*** In the third season, the [[OurZombiesAreDifferent resurrected corpses]] of Sally, Nick and Stevie feel intense cravings for raw meat [[spoiler: to counteract the decay of their bodies.]] Both are driven to eat small animals like mice and cats before feeling the urge to chow down [[ImAHumanitarian on human flesh]]. [[spoiler: Stevie actually does.]]

** [[spoiler:After the plague all but wipes out the vampire population and weakens the rest, the werewolf population is booming, and they seem to be making a push to reverse the trend if not wipe out their kind completely. Liam seems to be a leader in this movement but the fact that Aidan remains strong gives him pause. And then Liam's actions to try to kill Aidan result in the discovery that werewolf blood acts as a vaccine to the plague flue.]]

** [[spoiler:After the plague all but wipes out the vampire population and weakens the rest, the werewolf population is booming, and they seem to be making a push to reverse the trend if not wipe out their kind completely. Liam seems to be a leader in this movement but the fact that Aidan remains strong gives him pause.]]

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: Through the use of magic, the dead can be brought back to life. [[spoiler:Sally, Nick, and Stevie all come back to life through these means.]]

** Revived people can never see anyone from their prior life. [[spoiler:The result is that their old friends and loved ones are doomed to die and become spiritual nourishment for the witch.]] This restriction can be lifted, [[spoiler:at the cost of the revived person's soul upon their second death.]]

* ShownTheirWork: In order to make it appear that Sally is a ghost, when Meaghan Rath had to sit on anything on set, [[http://collider.com/meaghan-rath-interview-being-human/ it was made from concrete]], preventing her from leaving an imprint on any cushion. She once sat down too hard on set and bruised her tailbone. They would also often have to redo takes if she accidentally moved something or instinctively touched one of her co-stars, or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcOlZ_ZcH-U if her outfit got snagged on part of the set]].

* StatusQuoIsGod: [[spoiler: Much of Season 3 deals with the character's deepest wishes seemingly being fulfilled(Josh's curse gets lifted, Sally is brought back from the dead, etc.), but everyone falls back in line in the last couple of episodes.]]

* ShownTheirWork: In order to make it appear that Sally is a ghost, [[http://collider.com/meaghan-rath-interview-being-human/ anything that Meaghan Rath sat on on set was either made of concrete or supported by concrete, preventing her from leaving an imprint in a cushion]]. She once sat down too hard on set and bruised her tailbone. Scenes would be refilmed if she accidentally moved something or instinctively touched one of her co-stars. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcOlZ_ZcH-U Like if her outfit got snagged on part of the set]].

* NoPeriodsPeriod: Averted in the appropriately named "That Time of Month". Sally reveals one of the ingredients for the spell [[spoiler:to turn Josh into a human (or at least a normal werewolf) again]] is menstrual blood, to Nora and Aidan's disgust. Then Aidan sheepishly reveals that as a vampire, he can smell when a woman, namely Nora, is on her period, much to her disgust.

* NoPeriodsPeriod: Averted in the appropriately named "That Time of Month". Sally reveals one of the ingredients for the spell [[spoiler:to turn Josh into a human again (or at least a normal werewolf)]] is menstrual blood, to Nora and Aidan's disgust. Then Aidan sheepishly reveals that as a vampire, he can smell when a woman, namely Nora, is on her period.

* CulturalTranslation: The remake's plot is almost completely different from that of the UK version to begin with, but even some of the elements that were carried over across the pond are tweaked for a North American audience. For instance, Aidan was turned during the American Revolutionary War, not World War 1. The old aristocracy of vampires consists of European nobility, but of a Mafia-like criminal organization who answer to a group of vampires who live with the Amish to live as they did centuries ago. Some characters (including the protagonists) also own and use firearms in the remake, which obviously couldn't happen in the UK because of British gun control laws.

** More properly goes to the character of Nina in the [[BeingHumanUK UK original]], whom the character of Nora was based on. Still applies, though.

** This also occurs when vampires consume garlic. Rather than being repelled by it (as in most vampire fiction), garlic makes a vampire's inhuman appearance come out.*