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Human Exclusion Syndrome

 Human Exclusion Syndrome
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 So you have a fictional universe filled with all types of fantastic and supernatural beings. Intelligent beings of all types share a thriving community together. Magic, or something like it, is commonplace, and at the disposal of nearly all intelligent beings to use as they please.
But for 99% of human beings, well... life isn't all that different from what we have in the real world. Among the presumed billions of humans who aren't relevant to the plot, magic is rarely a significant part of anyone's life, even when it has clear potential to make life significantly better for them. Rarely does a human have the opportunity to learn magic, and supernatural beings seldom if ever interact with them, generally preferring not to reveal their presence when they do.
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })It's as if all other intelligent beings have singled out humanity (or at least the vast majority of humans) to be left in the cold, receiving at most only minimal exposure to anything supernatural or otherwise fantastic. The alignment of these beings doesn't matter, nor do their views on humans; all seem to agree that, with few exceptions, humans are to live mundane lives, separate from the "real world" that everyone else gets to experience.
This sounds like Fantastic Racism—and when you get down to facts, that's more or less what it is—but it's not written in any way to suggest that's what the writers were going for. Instead, it's presented almost as common sense, a sort of unwritten rule inherent to certain genres. It's rarely questioned even by humans who become involved, and every character who's aware of the status quo (again, humans included) seems to accept it as a given that this is, for whatever reason, the way things should be.
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })Considering Most Writers Are Human, it's kind of odd that situations like this are so commonly portrayed in a positive light, when you really think about it.
Symptoms of Human Exclusion Syndrome may include:
Humans are Puny Earthlings, and even if there is some way to change this, the possibility will never be brought up, at least not in a positive light.
The presence of a Masquerade, where everyone except for humanity is in on the secret. In these cases, generally at least a few humans are in on it, and these humans are generally spared from any unfair treatment from supernatural beings.
Whether it's common or not, if any humans do have access to magic (or its equivalent) in some way, they may find themselves subject to arbitrary rules that severely cripple its utility, which aren't applied nearly as much, if at all, to supernatural beings. For example, a human who attempts to use magic to make his/her life better may have their attempt fail or backfire in some way, and their actions may be portrayed as somehow immoral even when there's no reason to think anybody could have been harmed, while supernatural beings regularly do so without these rules ever even being discussed. Or humans may be expected to meet high moral standards in order to use magic, standards which aren't applied to other races, even intrinsically-evil ones like demons.
Supernatural beings (especially The Fair Folk and their ilk) are all portrayed as shy, rarely letting themselves be seen by humans, despite having no problem with anyone else seeing them.
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); })This goes hand in hand with Urban Fantasy, and in fact a likely Doylist explanation for the ubiquity of this trope is the desire to write that genre while still portraying human society in a realistic way.
Any work that features a Wainscot Society hiding behind a Masquerade is likely to have elements of this. Compare and contrast Being Human Sucksnote when a character is aware of the raw deal he/she gets as a human, and wishes to be something else instead, Puny Earthlingsnote when humans are simply inferior to all other sapient species, which often occurs along with this trope, and Masquerade Paradoxnote a Sub-Trope that specifically deals with a Masquerade with no apparent reason for existing.
 Human Exclusion Syndrome
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 Human Exclusion Syndrome / int_55be77a4
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 The Caster Chronicles: The Masquerade in Gatlin is comprised of numerous supernatural characters, who all have their own little society under everyone's noses and whose power can quite literally fry a human just by touch. There are Incubi and Succubae, Casters, Seers, Ghosts, and more. The human characters might have special circumstances that allow them to be involved, such as Ethan and his destiny as Lena's Wayward, but for the most part they exist in ignorance and live their normal lives while excluded from the magical underworld. Even in death, their afterlives are kept separate, though they can still cross to the other side without much hassle.
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 In The Fairly OddParents, children with fairy godparents are required to keep them a secret from anyone who doesn't have fairies of their own. However, it's evident that the rule only really means it must be kept secret from regular, non-magical, humans. Other magical beings, aliens from other planets, and even humans from other universes are all okay, but your 100% supporting and trustworthy parents or best friend? Say goodbye to your fairies, and all memories of them; that's where they draw the line. It's worth mentioning that this seems to only apply to direct evidence or disclosure of the existence of fairy godparents. Mere witnessing of something clearly magical does not appear to be an issue as long as the fairy godparents are kept secret, even if someone is smart enough to connect the dots and figure that part out on their own.note Though with almost everyone's Weirdness Censor turned Up to Eleven, there's only one character who's regularly shown to be able to figure it out.
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 The Mask is set in Edge City, and the titular mask, worn by Stanley Ipkiss, contains Loki's spirit, but magic only appears rarely. The Sequel Episode "Enquiring Masks Want To Know" features magical beings and Stanley/Peggy as the only people who know of this.
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