Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Not Even Human

 Not Even Human
type
FeatureClass
 Not Even Human
label
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human
page
NotEvenHuman
 Not Even Human
comment
The Reveal that the Big Bad is actually not even human (or at least not anymore) but rather a monster, alien, robot, or some other manner of non-human, and thus evil and okay to kill after all.
This specific trope tends to fall into camp territory, because usually this revelation is made without any kind of foreshadowing or even any particular relevance to the plot — you can remove the plot twist and the rest of the story will still make sense. Like Kick the Dog, the main purpose here is to remove any doubt about whether the bad guys were really evil and killable.
See What Measure Is a Non-Cute? and What Measure Is a Non-Human?
This phrase actually shows up in comics a fair amount used by villains against heroes who are not technically human. Of course, from the reader's perspective, they always fall on our side of What Measure Is a Non-Human?, so it just makes it seem like sadism for being willing to torture a sapient being. If your hero is the one shocked by their own non-human status, they might have just seen the Tomato in the Mirror.
Can overlap with One-Winged Angel when the character's transformation is what results when The Gloves Come Off, or when they reveal that They Are Not Left-Handed, during a climactic confrontation.
When someone denies the humanity of genuinely human enemies in order to justify violence or mistreatment against them, it's dehumanization instead. The overlap between the two tropes can occasionally give this one Unfortunate Implications.
It should go without saying, but this page is loaded with spoilers. But as mentioned above, none of these plot points are particularly relevant overall, so don't fret too much about it.
Subtrope of Dehumanization. This trope is the inverse of It Can Think.
Compare Just a Machine, which deals with this trope specifically for robots. Contrast The Man Behind the Monsters, where everyone but the leader is a non-human, and Human All Along, when what initially was thought of as a monster turns out to be a human.
 Not Even Human
fetched
2023-10-01T03:32:01Z
 Not Even Human
parsed
2023-10-01T03:32:01Z
 Not Even Human
processingComment
Dropped link to ArtificialHuman: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Not Even Human
processingComment
Dropped link to BigBad: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Not Even Human
processingComment
Dropped link to MonsterOfTheWeek: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Not Even Human
processingComment
Dropped link to OneWingedAngel: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Not Even Human
processingComment
Dropped link to SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Not Even Human
processingComment
Dropped link to VideoGames: Not an Item - CAT
 Not Even Human
processingComment
Dropped link to playercharacter: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Not Even Human
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Not Even Human / int_12ab1d9d
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_12ab1d9d
comment
Nearly every antagonist human being in the second Arc the Lad game turns into a monster of some sort before fighting the main characters: Romalia turned most if not all of its troops into monstrous super-soldiers (granted, this was the only way to give them a shot against Arc, Gogen, Elc and their merry band of nearly unkillable warriors). Then the player realize that, thanks to its very liberal use of Mind Control Devices and other coercive tricks, most of the enemies the heroes killed were either drafted or had their free will destroyed, including the orphans turned monsters slaughtered by Elc & co in the White House laboratories. Twilight of the Spirits, the fourth game in the series twists the knife even more by showing that without Romalia's Mind Control Devices, the human turned monsters regained their full sentience and even were still biologically fully human and able to procreate with normal humans: in other words, the monsters were actually still completely human under their monstrous appearance, most of them were either drafted soldiers or helpless, terrified, and completelly blameless children used as guinea pigs by Romalia's scientists .
 Not Even Human / int_12ab1d9d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_12ab1d9d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arc the Lad (Video Game)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_12ab1d9d
 Not Even Human / int_1367cea0
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_1367cea0
comment
In Worm the Endbringers were originally believed to be parahumans whose powers had twisted their bodies and minds into monsters. Tattletale realizes while watching Leviathan that they were never human. The same applies to Scion.
Echidna was originally a human, but by the time she's killed her power has essentially consumed her. All that remained of Noelle were the memories and a grudge.
The Siberian was a bogeyman due to being completely untouchable. The realization that she was a projection was a major shift in her perception and how she could be fought.
 Not Even Human / int_1367cea0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_1367cea0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Worm
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_1367cea0
 Not Even Human / int_14494034
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_14494034
comment
Abraxas (Hrodvitnon): Subverted in this Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) fanfiction. When Nadezhda finds out that the baby she's carrying isn't exactly a human offspring and is related to Ghidorah (see the spoiler folder), that doesn't make her view it any less as her child, and she's determined to carry the pregnancy to term.
 Not Even Human / int_14494034
featureApplicability
-0.3
 Not Even Human / int_14494034
featureConfidence
1.0
 Abraxas (Hrodvitnon) (Fanfic)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_14494034
 Not Even Human / int_18968051
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_18968051
comment
In the climax of The Brothers' War, it's revealed that Urza's brother Mishra has been cyborgified, showing Urza that there's no hope left for peace or even victory. Foreshadowed earlier, plus there's the fact that the Big Bad himself is an even-more-advanced cyborg. Cue most awesome scene of mass destruction ever.
 Not Even Human / int_18968051
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_18968051
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Brothers' War
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_18968051
 Not Even Human / int_1e9b6aa9
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_1e9b6aa9
comment
Sam & Max Season 1: The Big Bad Hugh Bliss turns out to be a colony of sentient bacteria.
 Not Even Human / int_1e9b6aa9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_1e9b6aa9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Sam & Max (Franchise)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_1e9b6aa9
 Not Even Human / int_1f29b520
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_1f29b520
comment
Inversion: The 13th Warrior. The fact that the I'm a Humanitarian monstrous attackers are human prompts the hero (and by extension, the audience) to be more horrified than when we thought they were monsters. After all, people have a choice. More importantly, it took away the attacker's best advantage; they went to considerable lengths to create the impression they were supernatural creatures (only attacking in the mist, wearing shape-obscuring costumes that resemble humanoid bears, weapons designed to give wounds resembling claw marks, carrying off their dead so it seems like they never take losses) and the vikings are terrified of them. Once they realized they were facing mortal men the vikings were able to mount a successful defense. Played straight later on; the hero finds some skeletons and realizes from the shape of the skulls that he was wrong and they're not human after all. The book makes it clear they are a remnant Neanderthal population.
 Not Even Human / int_1f29b520
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_1f29b520
featureConfidence
1.0
 The 13th Warrior
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_1f29b520
 Not Even Human / int_2192aeb3
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_2192aeb3
comment
The first Fire Emblem has the leader of the mostly human Dolhr be a huge monstrous Earth Dragon. He has a humanoid form but even that has a somewhat inhuman appearance.
 Not Even Human / int_2192aeb3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_2192aeb3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fire Emblem (Franchise)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_2192aeb3
 Not Even Human / int_227431b6
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_227431b6
comment
In Runaways, it was a Doombot working for Ultron.
 Not Even Human / int_227431b6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_227431b6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Runaways (Comic Book)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_227431b6
 Not Even Human / int_2670d00c
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_2670d00c
comment
One of the old Johnny Turbo comics ends with this revelation against the strawman "Feka" corporation. Actually somewhat necessary to inflame the reader and justify Johnny Turbo's excessive violence, since the only crime Feka commits during the comics is doling out inaccurate information about video game systems. And making little kids cry by doing so. Amusingly, the Robotic Reveal only comes about because of said excessive violence, making it utterly ineffective as a justification.
 Not Even Human / int_2670d00c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_2670d00c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Johnny Turbo (Comic Book)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_2670d00c
 Not Even Human / int_2cb2e5e0
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_2cb2e5e0
comment
Almost all of the human(oid) villains in Breath of Fire II reveal themselves to be some kinda of monster before they're fought. For example a Crooked arena organizer turns into a two headed humanoid wolf when challenged.
 Not Even Human / int_2cb2e5e0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_2cb2e5e0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Breath of Fire II (Video Game)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_2cb2e5e0
 Not Even Human / int_2d311a08
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_2d311a08
comment
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: "Robots? Let's rock!"
The newer incarnation has an even bigger shock than that when it was revealed that the Shredder was actually an alien squid inside a robot body.
In the Nickelodeon series the Turtles have a lot of difficulty taking down a bunch of surprisingly tough guys in suits. Mikey only finds that they're robots when he's cornered by one and lashes out with his hidden blade in self defense. Once all the turtle s are aware that they're robots they're much easier to defeat. Inverted with the Footbots, the ordinary human members start quitting after being beaten by the turtles so often so they're replaced with robots, who conceal lots of saw blades and are tougher to defeat in general.
 Not Even Human / int_2d311a08
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_2d311a08
featureConfidence
1.0
 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_2d311a08
 Not Even Human / int_2d316ba2
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_2d316ba2
comment
The newer incarnation has an even bigger shock than that when it was revealed that the Shredder was actually an alien squid inside a robot body.
 Not Even Human / int_2d316ba2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_2d316ba2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_2d316ba2
 Not Even Human / int_2d316bc0
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_2d316bc0
comment
In the Nickelodeon series the Turtles have a lot of difficulty taking down a bunch of surprisingly tough guys in suits. Mikey only finds that they're robots when he's cornered by one and lashes out with his hidden blade in self defense. Once all the turtle s are aware that they're robots they're much easier to defeat. Inverted with the Footbots, the ordinary human members start quitting after being beaten by the turtles so often so they're replaced with robots, who conceal lots of saw blades and are tougher to defeat in general.
 Not Even Human / int_2d316bc0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_2d316bc0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_2d316bc0
 Not Even Human / int_30a5ebfd
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_30a5ebfd
comment
In Naruto, when Naruto powers his way into the 4th Ninja War, he's told that the enemy army consists of plant-monsters and undead ninja. His response is basically, "Good! Now I don't have to hold back!" In this case, it's more a matter of "The enemy won't die so I can beat on them with impunity." For the rest of the fighters though, it's downplayed, because many of the resurrected fighters are people that their opponents knew, such as Zabuza and Haku, Asuma, and the previous generation of Kage who served as mentors to the current holders can't bring themselves to dehumanize their opponents to the point of killing intent, which is only made harder because while their bodies are coming at them with killing intent, their personalities are still very much free.
 Not Even Human / int_30a5ebfd
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_30a5ebfd
featureConfidence
1.0
 Naruto (Manga)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_30a5ebfd
 Not Even Human / int_32dd8ca2
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_32dd8ca2
comment
In the second movie of Arpeggio of Blue Steel Cadenza DC, one of The Reveals is that the "Shouzou Chihaya" with Musashi is not actually the real Shouzou, who had been killed a long time ago, but merely a nanomaterial-made puppet with no will of its own.
 Not Even Human / int_32dd8ca2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_32dd8ca2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Arpeggio of Blue Steel (Manga)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_32dd8ca2
 Not Even Human / int_33dd1d90
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_33dd1d90
comment
This was originally planned to happen to Breen in Half-Life 2, revealing that he had become an immortal cyborg in the final battle. This was ultimately scrapped, although some fans speculate that he may have been turned into an Advisor.
 Not Even Human / int_33dd1d90
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_33dd1d90
featureConfidence
1.0
 Half-Life 2 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_33dd1d90
 Not Even Human / int_3b34143f
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_3b34143f
comment
It is emphasized in Harry Potter that Voldemort, while born a human, has made himself less than human in some ways. Namely, by splitting his soul into multiple pieces, and to a lesser extent, by drinking unicorn blood.
 Not Even Human / int_3b34143f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_3b34143f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Harry Potter
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_3b34143f
 Not Even Human / int_4143637b
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_4143637b
comment
Said word-for-word by Detective Mike Cellucci in Blood Ties (2007) to Henry Fitzroy after figuring out what he is. He says it with such disdain that Henry performs a Neck Lift on him in anger.
 Not Even Human / int_4143637b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_4143637b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Blood Ties (2007)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_4143637b
 Not Even Human / int_43576f5
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_43576f5
comment
Supernatural: Downplayed in "Fresh Blood". Gordon Walker was human when we first saw him, but he had to be turned into a vampire to make it okay for Sam to chop his head off.
 Not Even Human / int_43576f5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_43576f5
featureConfidence
1.0
 Supernatural
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_43576f5
 Not Even Human / int_45a29545
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_45a29545
comment
This was the main topic of the penultimate episode of The Secret Saturdays 2nd season when it turned out that the Saturday's Arch-Enemy V.V. Argost was actually a cryptid in disguise. Not just any cryptid either. He was in fact the same Yeti who slaughtered Drew and Doyle's parents and made them orphans.
 Not Even Human / int_45a29545
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_45a29545
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Secret Saturdays
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_45a29545
 Not Even Human / int_464a2270
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_464a2270
comment
Epic Mickey: Mickey and Gus get quite a shock when they find out the Mad Doctor has turned himself into a Beetleworx. He claims to have done this so that, when the Blot absorbs all of Wasteland's paint he will survive.
 Not Even Human / int_464a2270
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_464a2270
featureConfidence
1.0
 Epic Mickey (Video Game)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_464a2270
 Not Even Human / int_49ff762
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_49ff762
comment
The Torchwood episode "Countrycide" features a Cannibal Clan living in a small town as villains, with no aliens or alien tech present in the story. The audience surrogate, Police Constable Gwen Cooper, was much better at handling the revelation of the existence of aliens than that humans could be so terrible.
 Not Even Human / int_49ff762
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_49ff762
featureConfidence
1.0
 Torchwood
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_49ff762
 Not Even Human / int_5286ec36
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_5286ec36
comment
Who Framed Roger Rabbit: "Holy smoke, he's a toon!" Normal toons aren't evil, but the reveal that the villain is one as well makes him both inhuman and much scarier in hindsight. He has been gleefully Dipping his own kind, and actually invented the chemical mixture that rendered his essentially-indestructible fellows vulnerable. Meaning this makes him even more of a monster than had he been human.
Also crosses with One-Winged Angel because up until the steamroller an ending in which the police show up and arrest him was reasonable. It's already clear he doesn't have the psychological vulnerabilities which allow a toon to be restrained, and the revelation (complete with turning his body parts into power tools) pretty much puts him beyond imprisonment or subdual entirely.
 Not Even Human / int_5286ec36
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_5286ec36
featureConfidence
1.0
 Who Framed Roger Rabbit
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_5286ec36
 Not Even Human / int_533dafcd
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_533dafcd
comment
The final episode of Burst Angel. Turns out that an Ancient Conspiracy is behind everything. Yeah, that's quite an Ass Pull.
 Not Even Human / int_533dafcd
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_533dafcd
featureConfidence
1.0
 Burst Angel
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_533dafcd
 Not Even Human / int_53a10f26
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_53a10f26
comment
Played straight AND inverted in an episode of The Twilight Zone (2002). A team of commandos is hunting a monster called the "Creetur" in the forest. Said monster is very cunning and manages to kill all but one of the commandos, who is captured and taken to its lair. Turns out the monster is really a disheveled human. The reason why he's hunting people? The commandos, the people in the city, everyone is really an android. They overthrew humans long ago and copied their society. "Creetur" isn't derived from "creature" but "creator."
 Not Even Human / int_53a10f26
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_53a10f26
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Twilight Zone (2002)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_53a10f26
 Not Even Human / int_59da62aa
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_59da62aa
comment
In Fallout: New Vegas, if you side against him, Mr. House qualifies, as the game classifies him as an Abomination rather than a human when you open up his isolation chamber and encounter his 200-year-old shriveled up body, which you have to destroy to kill him.
 Not Even Human / int_59da62aa
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_59da62aa
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fallout: New Vegas (Video Game)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_59da62aa
 Not Even Human / int_62570927
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_62570927
comment
Doctor Doom in countless appearances anywhere in the Marvel Universe will turn out to be a Doombot.
In Runaways, it was a Doombot working for Ultron.
 Not Even Human / int_62570927
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_62570927
featureConfidence
1.0
 Marvel Universe (Franchise)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_62570927
 Not Even Human / int_6300d32a
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_6300d32a
comment
The film 300 uses this in one of the scenes where the Spartans are fighting the Immortals. A Spartan rips off an Immortal's mask to reveal that... They're Not Even Human! There's no suggestion anywhere else in either the plot or actual history that the Immortals were anything but, you know, just humans, albeit ones working for the supposedly evil Persian Empire. Or it's blatant propaganda by an Unreliable Narrator.
 Not Even Human / int_6300d32a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_6300d32a
featureConfidence
1.0
 300
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_6300d32a
 Not Even Human / int_671d5c19
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_671d5c19
comment
The Powerpuff Girls (1998) ostensibly-human enemy Roach Coach was dropped from a massive height, provoking a scared response about how it's not okay for them to kill humans. Then he's revealed to be an intelligent roach manning a human robot. He survived the fall, so they decide to keep him a jar.
 Not Even Human / int_671d5c19
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_671d5c19
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Powerpuff Girls (1998)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_671d5c19
 Not Even Human / int_68ff28ca
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_68ff28ca
comment
Any doubt Heather had about killing Leonard Wolf in Silent Hill 3 is dispelled when it turns out he was not only an abusive father to the Big Bad, but also a giant fish person. Of course, it is later hinted that every creature Heather killed was human, no matter how monstrous, and that she had only convinced herself otherwise.
 Not Even Human / int_68ff28ca
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_68ff28ca
featureConfidence
1.0
 Silent Hill 3 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_68ff28ca
 Not Even Human / int_691be369
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_691be369
comment
The homicidal inbreds from The X-Files episode "Home" weren't supernatural or robots or anything else non-fictional. They just had a whole lot of genetic defects that exist in real life.
 Not Even Human / int_691be369
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_691be369
featureConfidence
1.0
 The X-Files
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_691be369
 Not Even Human / int_6c1d09b2
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_6c1d09b2
comment
Fallout 2. The Shi Emperor.
 Not Even Human / int_6c1d09b2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_6c1d09b2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fallout 2 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_6c1d09b2
 Not Even Human / int_6c1d09b3
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_6c1d09b3
comment
Fallout 3. President John Henry Eden, crapshooting AI at your service. Not even a humanoid robot, just a monolithic computer with delusions of grandeur.
Fallout 2. The Shi Emperor.
Not that Fallout as a series has anything against good characters killing humans left, right and center...
But only as long as it's in self defense (at least most of the time). Still, considering that out in the open wastes, essentially everything is trying to kill you, and preemptive strikes are a valid tactic...
Especially if said humans are pretty scummy themselves, like the slavers of Paradise Falls.
In Fallout: New Vegas, if you side against him, Mr. House qualifies, as the game classifies him as an Abomination rather than a human when you open up his isolation chamber and encounter his 200-year-old shriveled up body, which you have to destroy to kill him.
 Not Even Human / int_6c1d09b3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_6c1d09b3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fallout 3 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_6c1d09b3
 Not Even Human / int_6f734712
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_6f734712
comment
Smallville tries to resolve Thou Shalt Not Kill with Clark destroying Brainiac by invoking this trope. It's just a machine after all, despite all the characterization and its struggle to survive, right? Nicely accounts for Superman's irrational commitment to the idea that machines are never people, though.
Averted with Doomsday. Everybody else is trying to convince Clark that his true form is a mindless killing machine, but Clark refuses to give up on the fact that there's a perfectly ordinary human/Kryptonian/something that would be killed in the process.
 Not Even Human / int_6f734712
featureApplicability
-1.0
 Not Even Human / int_6f734712
featureConfidence
1.0
 Smallville
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_6f734712
 Not Even Human / int_71e013f3
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_71e013f3
comment
Drakengard 3 puts this trope to disturbing effect in Four's DLC story. She sets out on her dragon mount Gabriella to shoot down some pirate ships, only for it to become clear that the ships are full of elves desperately trying to flee. Gabriella calls out Four on this but Four replies cheerfully that they're not human so they have to be evil, and it's fine — necessary, laudable even — to kill evil people. Which she does. All this ends up making it perfectly clear how twisted Four's moral code really is.
 Not Even Human / int_71e013f3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_71e013f3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Drakengard 3 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_71e013f3
 Not Even Human / int_747d9a6f
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_747d9a6f
comment
Played with in [PROTOTYPE], where it's revealed that the Alex Mercer you play as is just viral biomass that inhabited Mercer's corpse and thus believed itself to be him; the real Mercer is dead. So the hero, or at least the lesser evil was Not Even Human.
Of course, this is subverted by the human Alex Mercer being worse than the Blacklight version.
 Not Even Human / int_747d9a6f
featureApplicability
-0.3
 Not Even Human / int_747d9a6f
featureConfidence
1.0
 [PROTOTYPE] / Videogame
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_747d9a6f
 Not Even Human / int_7668653b
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_7668653b
comment
In Mass Effect 3, it's revealed that all the Cerberus troops you fight in the game have been given Reaper implants that make them resemble Husks, just to set the tone for all the Mook Horror Shows you'll be inflicting upon them in the rest of the game.
 Not Even Human / int_7668653b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_7668653b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_7668653b
 Not Even Human / int_7cea4fb2
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_7cea4fb2
comment
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019): A variation. The revelation that Ghidorah is actually an alien in origin rather than a terrestrial Kaiju certainly has shades of this. This movie portrays the Kaiju as ultimately being essential to the maintenance of Earth's ecology and by extension humanity's long-term survival despite the damage they can cause to humans, but since Ghidorah has no place in Earth's natural order as an invasive extraterrestrial, his continued presence on Earth causes the complete opposite of ecological restoration, nevermind the fact that he's genuinely malicious and wants the human race to die screaming. This makes the cast's subsequent efforts to save the world by helping Godzilla to kill Ghidorah completely justifiable according to the movie's aesop.
 Not Even Human / int_7cea4fb2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_7cea4fb2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_7cea4fb2
 Not Even Human / int_7f5bc680
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_7f5bc680
comment
Not that Fallout as a series has anything against good characters killing humans left, right and center...
But only as long as it's in self defense (at least most of the time). Still, considering that out in the open wastes, essentially everything is trying to kill you, and preemptive strikes are a valid tactic...
Especially if said humans are pretty scummy themselves, like the slavers of Paradise Falls.
 Not Even Human / int_7f5bc680
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_7f5bc680
featureConfidence
1.0
 Fallout
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_7f5bc680
 Not Even Human / int_846beec3
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_846beec3
comment
Inverted in Vandread. The idea of harvesting body parts from humans is so repulsive to the main characters that they assume their foes cannot be human. They are human, and from Earth to boot.
 Not Even Human / int_846beec3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_846beec3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Vandread
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_846beec3
 Not Even Human / int_8e68cca9
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_8e68cca9
comment
Inverted in Digger, when the creepy figures with black speech bubbles serving a buried god are revealed to be ordinary living hyenas. This causes some complication for the surface-dwelling hyenas, since it means that a tribe member who was killed by the god's servants needs to be properly avenged, which requires some unusual Loophole Abuse to achieve.
 Not Even Human / int_8e68cca9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_8e68cca9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Digger (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_8e68cca9
 Not Even Human / int_90b916ba
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_90b916ba
comment
A Batman: The Animated Series episode has people being replaced by robots. Batman doesn't realize until he pushes Bullock into a spotlight and electrocutes him. The commentary for the episode even points it out.
 Not Even Human / int_90b916ba
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_90b916ba
featureConfidence
1.0
 Batman: The Animated Series
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_90b916ba
 Not Even Human / int_90e2f673
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_90e2f673
comment
The climax of the '94 animated BattleTech series is a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown between Major Adam Steiner and Star Colonel Nicolai Malthus. Malthus curbstomps Steiner's mech, Steiner fakes Malthus out with an empty escape pod, then Colossus Climbs Malthus's mech and sabotages it. During the ensuing replay with Good Old Fisticuffs, Malthus informs Steiner as to the meaning of the epithet he's been spitting for twelve episodes. Steiner is a "freebirth": born of a random match between individuals, where Malthus is a "truebirth": cultivated from carefully selected genetic material and gestated in a controlled environment. Steiner's response is to name the trope with disgust. He suckers the Designer Baby into grabbing a live wire and stands there watching him fry, then spares him and claims victory.
 Not Even Human / int_90e2f673
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_90e2f673
featureConfidence
1.0
 BattleTech (Tabletop Game)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_90e2f673
 Not Even Human / int_9e2f90f4
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_9e2f90f4
comment
This may be the case with One Piece's Kaido of the Beasts. As one of the Four Emperors, he's definitely a contender for World's Strongest Man... but no one ever refers to him as a 'man'. He's called the strongest "creature" in existence (Whitebeard was the "strongest man"), and Charlotte Linlin (herself an Emperor) refers to him as "that thing". He has also shown the ability to turn into a gigantic eastern dragon.
 Not Even Human / int_9e2f90f4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_9e2f90f4
featureConfidence
1.0
 One Piece (Manga)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_9e2f90f4
 Not Even Human / int_9e99fedb
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_9e99fedb
comment
The Lawnmower Man brings up the trope by name near the end (though not as a surprise, just underlining how far he's gone).
 Not Even Human / int_9e99fedb
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_9e99fedb
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Lawnmower Man
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_9e99fedb
 Not Even Human / int_a0b1e0ae
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_a0b1e0ae
comment
They Live! reveals the capitalists in Reagan era America are really Skullfaced aliens using a satellite signal to hide their true appearance.
 Not Even Human / int_a0b1e0ae
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_a0b1e0ae
featureConfidence
1.0
 They Live!
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_a0b1e0ae
 Not Even Human / int_a6520c47
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_a6520c47
comment
Similarly, in the prequel novel The Thran, Yawgmoth's troops in the final battles are bizarre Magitek cyborgs, including some former colleagues of the main characters.
 Not Even Human / int_a6520c47
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_a6520c47
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Thran
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_a6520c47
 Not Even Human / int_a825da3e
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_a825da3e
comment
Magic: The Gathering novels:
In the climax of The Brothers' War, it's revealed that Urza's brother Mishra has been cyborgified, showing Urza that there's no hope left for peace or even victory. Foreshadowed earlier, plus there's the fact that the Big Bad himself is an even-more-advanced cyborg. Cue most awesome scene of mass destruction ever.
Similarly, in the prequel novel The Thran, Yawgmoth's troops in the final battles are bizarre Magitek cyborgs, including some former colleagues of the main characters.
Later, in Planeswalker, Urza is trying to eliminate Sleepers, Phyrexian artificial humans secretly infiltrating the population of his home world of Dominaria. Heck, Planeswalker proved that Yawgmoth was most definitely asleep at the helm, er, hub, of Phyrexia when the first batch of Newts were made. The kicker — somehow, despite having once been fully physical and human himself, a few millennia ago, Gix managed to forget that humans have different genders and reproductive, as well as waste, systems. The entire first batch of Newts (the Sleepers) looked human, but mostly teenaged boyish, with no genitals whatsoever — and glistening oil for blood. Way to go there, Gix, you schlep. This was improved on in later batches, of course, but this mistake proved costly for Gix...
 Not Even Human / int_a825da3e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_a825da3e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Magic: The Gathering (Tabletop Game)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_a825da3e
 Not Even Human / int_ac719b97
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_ac719b97
comment
Stargate. While Ra was a long-lived alien in a human body, his Mooks were humans, and it never stops anyone, in the movie or shows. (Not that it isn't justified in these cases: they shoot back when shot at. It's just that Ra didn't become more killable by proving non-human: Thou Shalt Not Kill was never in effect.)
 Not Even Human / int_ac719b97
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_ac719b97
featureConfidence
1.0
 Stargate
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_ac719b97
 Not Even Human / int_b3b15bc1
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_b3b15bc1
comment
In X-Men: The Animated Series, there are a few instances of Mecha-Mooks looking human at first, and the heroes having to pull their punches... until one gets hit a little too hard, shows circuitry... and the heroes realize that they can smash and bash at will. (Wolverine loves discovering Mecha-Mooks, as it let him act more like his comic-book self who got to slice up real Mooks.)
 Not Even Human / int_b3b15bc1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_b3b15bc1
featureConfidence
1.0
 X-Men: The Animated Series
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_b3b15bc1
 Not Even Human / int_bbbccf7
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_bbbccf7
comment
In Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo, Robin apparently kills one of Brushogun's mooks. When he gets arrested for the act, he tries to play this angle without success.
However, Robin's guilt is gone once it's discovered the creature was nothing but an animated drawing. Later, they are fighting the Big Bad's apparently human army of mooks...once a hit reveals them to be drawings as well, the Titans say "no need to hold back", and don't.
Earlier in the series, the team fights armored agents of Slade, and later is shocked to find out that they're actually robots.
This references an incident early in the New Teen Titans comic book. Starfire, newly arrived on Earth and before learning the language, is involved in the Titans' action against some apparent drug smugglers: she blasts them to pieces. Tackled to the ground by Robin, she kisses him and learns the language. The point was that she casually killed several minor villains, who providentially turned out to be robots.
 Not Even Human / int_bbbccf7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_bbbccf7
featureConfidence
1.0
 Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_bbbccf7
 Not Even Human / int_bef11602
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_bef11602
comment
In Wolfenstein (2009), the evil General Zetta appears to have the ability to shoot magical balls of energy out of his hands and blocks bullets with his mind. Turn on your spectral vision, though, and you see he's really a giant slug monster; apparently being exposed to the Black Sun dimension turned him into that.
 Not Even Human / int_bef11602
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_bef11602
featureConfidence
1.0
 Wolfenstein (2009) (Video Game)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_bef11602
 Not Even Human / int_bef4b763
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_bef4b763
comment
The Lost in Space movie — actually, it's a case of the villain becoming a monster, but it has the same basic results, very baldly stated.
 Not Even Human / int_bef4b763
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_bef4b763
featureConfidence
1.0
 Lost in Space
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_bef4b763
 Not Even Human / int_c41fac
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_c41fac
comment
In A Better Word Than Humanity the T.C.R.I. are notably surprised and fascinated by Leonardo demonstrating enough humanity to attempt to annoy them, making it implictly clear neither of the Hamatos under their "care" are considered actually equal to a human in the process.
 Not Even Human / int_c41fac
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_c41fac
featureConfidence
1.0
 A Better Word Than Humanity (Fanfic)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_c41fac
 Not Even Human / int_c7f59f7d
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_c7f59f7d
comment
This references an incident early in the New Teen Titans comic book. Starfire, newly arrived on Earth and before learning the language, is involved in the Titans' action against some apparent drug smugglers: she blasts them to pieces. Tackled to the ground by Robin, she kisses him and learns the language. The point was that she casually killed several minor villains, who providentially turned out to be robots.
 Not Even Human / int_c7f59f7d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_c7f59f7d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Teen Titans (Comic Book)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_c7f59f7d
 Not Even Human / int_ca1d284
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_ca1d284
comment
Snake's Revenge, the non-canonical NES sequel to the original Metal Gear, has Big Boss revealing at the end that he was forced to undergo a transformation into a cyborg in order to survive the injuries he sustained in the first game.
Metal Gear 2 for the MSX2, the canonical sequel, parodies this by having a character gossiping that Big Boss may had become a cyborg and then subverts it by having Big Boss killed with a mere makeshift flamethrower.
 Not Even Human / int_ca1d284
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_ca1d284
featureConfidence
1.0
 Snake's Revenge (Video Game)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_ca1d284
 Not Even Human / int_d390d6f9
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_d390d6f9
comment
Shortly after Doom 2099 has taken over the US, he learns that Avatarr, CEO of Alchemax and one of the main Big Bads of the 2099 universe, is, in fact, an alien trying to rule the world via Mega Corps. Of course, Doom only learned this after he shot the guy's eye out.
 Not Even Human / int_d390d6f9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_d390d6f9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Marvel 2099 (Comic Book)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_d390d6f9
 Not Even Human / int_d76723b5
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_d76723b5
comment
The sadly bungled movie Ultraviolet (2006): in the final fight, Daxus turns out to be a "vampire" like Violet herself. Except that in the book, he just had night-vision goggles.
 Not Even Human / int_d76723b5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_d76723b5
featureConfidence
1.0
 Ultraviolet (2006)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_d76723b5
 Not Even Human / int_dab32bd
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_dab32bd
comment
Subverted in Mega Man 2. In the final battle, Dr. Wily reveals himself to be an alien of some sort, but after defeating him you find that the alien was really just a hologram that Wily controlled from a machine in the corner of the room.
 Not Even Human / int_dab32bd
featureApplicability
-0.3
 Not Even Human / int_dab32bd
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mega Man 2 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_dab32bd
 Not Even Human / int_dbb68ab6
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_dbb68ab6
comment
The White Witch from The Chronicles of Narnia is actually half Jinn and half Giant.
In The Silver Chair, the Green Witch turns into a giant snake, at which point Rilian believes it's all right to kill her. Though this isn't just because she's no longer human, but because she's no longer a human woman; Rilian Wouldn't Hit a Girl.
 Not Even Human / int_dbb68ab6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_dbb68ab6
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Chronicles of Narnia
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_dbb68ab6
 Not Even Human / int_df72e458
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_df72e458
comment
At the end of The President's Analyst the good guys storm The Phone Company headquarters to rescue Dr. Schaefer. When the backup power comes on, they realize the TPC president is sitting nearby as he starts to politely admonish them for breaking in. After a few uncertain moments they realize, to their amusement, that he's an automaton.
 Not Even Human / int_df72e458
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_df72e458
featureConfidence
1.0
 The President's Analyst
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_df72e458
 Not Even Human / int_e293455a
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_e293455a
comment
Happens with individuals often enough on Buffy the Vampire Slayer that people eventually stop being surprised by it. It plays an important part in the episode "Ted", specifically.
 Not Even Human / int_e293455a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_e293455a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Buffy the Vampire Slayer
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_e293455a
 Not Even Human / int_ed0795d4
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_ed0795d4
comment
In The Silver Chair, the Green Witch turns into a giant snake, at which point Rilian believes it's all right to kill her. Though this isn't just because she's no longer human, but because she's no longer a human woman; Rilian Wouldn't Hit a Girl.
 Not Even Human / int_ed0795d4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_ed0795d4
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Silver Chair
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_ed0795d4
 Not Even Human / int_eeaaec28
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_eeaaec28
comment
Martian Successor Nadesico pulls an inversion reveal when it turns out the Jovians are really rebellious colonists with a lot of Imported Alien Phlebotinum. This just turns Akito from "scared" to "pissed off". In this case, it actually is an important plot point.
 Not Even Human / int_eeaaec28
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_eeaaec28
featureConfidence
1.0
 Martian Successor Nadesico
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_eeaaec28
 Not Even Human / int_f2041376
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_f2041376
comment
It appears rather often on Charmed, and in one case the whole episode ("Mr. and Mrs. Witch") plays itself out without the Charmed Sisters ever becoming aware of it. The Monster of the Week is in fact a demon, but he appears to be a human Corrupt Corporate Executive. The demon is quite aware that the Charmed Ones won't kill him as long as they think he's human, and in fact the Charmed Ones never do find out. The demon is still vanquished by his superiors for failing to accomplish their evil plan, and, in fact, the Charmed Sisters read about this evil executive's "suicide" in the newspaper, without ever being the wiser that this was a demon who they could have dealt with by vanquishing him.
 Not Even Human / int_f2041376
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_f2041376
featureConfidence
1.0
 Charmed (1998)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_f2041376
 Not Even Human / int_f8705c18
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_f8705c18
comment
In Hellsing, it turns out that the Major is a full-conversion cyborg. However, he still claims humanity on account of both still having a human brain and never engaging in vampirism. Besides, his enemies would be perfectly willing to kill him anyway even if he were human, since he's still a Nazi nutjob leading an army of artificial vampires against London itself.
 Not Even Human / int_f8705c18
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_f8705c18
featureConfidence
1.0
 Hellsing (Manga)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_f8705c18
 Not Even Human / int_f8956ef3
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_f8956ef3
comment
YuYu Hakusho pulls a very minor example of this near the end, when the reveal that Yusuke is actually descended from one of the most powerful demons serves as the Deus ex Machina that allows him to defeat Sensui. This is explored more fully in the following arc but it's rushed through so quickly that the revelation can still come across as little more than an excuse to resolve the previous conflict, making it a partial example of this trope. It also helps that there is no foreshadowing for any of this, sure Yusuke had been gaining power at an abnormal rate but pure-blooded humans becoming absurdly strong through mere training doesn't appear to be that rare in the setting.
 Not Even Human / int_f8956ef3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_f8956ef3
featureConfidence
1.0
 YuYu Hakusho (Manga)
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_f8956ef3
 Not Even Human / int_fbc58609
type
Not Even Human
 Not Even Human / int_fbc58609
comment
Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas dies shortly after The Reveal that he's only a big colony of bugs pretending to be a person. With slight What Measure Is a Non-Human? issues, though, since those seem to be talking bugs anyway.
 Not Even Human / int_fbc58609
featureApplicability
1.0
 Not Even Human / int_fbc58609
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Nightmare Before Christmas
hasFeature
Not Even Human / int_fbc58609

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Not Even Human
processingCategory2
Morality Tropes
 Not Even Human
processingCategory2
Speculative Fiction Tropes
 Johnny Turbo (Comic Book) / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Punisher (2022) (Comic Book) / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 A Better Word Than Humanity (Fanfic) / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Mass Effect: Human Revolution (Fanfic) / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Minority Report / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Smart House / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 The Brain (1988) / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 300 / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Ultraviolet (2006) / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Peter and the Starcatchers / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Wayside School / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 TokenNonHuman
seeAlso
Not Even Human
 Hellsing (Manga) / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 A Korean Odyssey / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Charmed (1998) / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Stargate Atlantis / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Advanced Education with Viktor Strobovski (Video Game) / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Dragon Quest IX (Video Game) / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Mega Man 2 (Video Game) / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Silent Hill 3 (Video Game) / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Tombs & Treasure (Video Game) / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Death Note: The Abridged Series (kpts4tv) (Web Video) / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Abide in the Wind (Webcomic) / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Evil Hall (Webcomic) / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 A Close Shave / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Moville Mysteries / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 The Secret Saturdays / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Digimon Adventure 02 / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human
 Legend of Legaia (Video Game) / int_79857505
type
Not Even Human