Why do we treat nonhumans as if they were human? Not entirely sure what brought this on maybe a combination of thinking about what to write for my mudfest review of Beatless reading Elfen Lied and seeing all these onifags want to 002 / Rem in global / discord but its been bothering me for a while now. https://media1.tenor.com/images/303fa578c015329fec602c34240ef58e/tenor.gif?itemid=10904607 Humanity... or Inhumanity? It can be argued that treating nonhuman sentients as human is an effort to give them the same status as human beings as opposed to animals or as often said in Beatless objects. While this does work in some settings to differentiate characters that see the nonhuman as capable of rational thought and emotion I feel like it is a cheap way to create sympathy for the nonhuman and make the human doing the recognition good. This method is lazy. Nay Ill go beyond that and say this technique is outright demeaning to the nonhuman. https://media1.tenor.com/images/1e971dba8e566350f3b1856f784a118a/tenor.gif?itemid=9753178 Nisemono. Fake. Pretender. Con man. Someone who tried to be something they are not. This is the main issue with pretending a nonhuman is human it leaves them feeling exactly like a human with a different appearance maybe a different way of speaking or communicating too if youre lucky. In extreme cases this can lead to nonhumans getting a flat humanimitating personality and no character development because the writer does not wish to deal with the details of trying to create a character that truly interprets their world through a different lense than everyone else in the cast. Spoilers for monogatari specifically Nisemonogatari inside the following example. As much as I enjoy monogatari character is a good example of this pitfall. Although she isnt human possibly straight up one of the most inhuman members of the recurring cast she acts just like a normal girl in her position would more or less. If I recall correctly correct me in the comments if Im wrong this is handwaved by the writer by saying shes unaware of it and being raised among humans gives her at least the human nurture if not the human nature. I dont quite buy it however and see this as insulting laziness to her unique position. A different view To explain what I mean when I say nonhuman characters have a unique position compared to human characters lets look at one of the in my opinion betterdone alien characters: https://media1.tenor.com/images/dbbf045c9b76955d210a6e8631f00b66/tenor.gif?itemid=11226312 Thats right Kyuubey. Just as a warning to anyone who hasnt watched Madoka Magica there are going to be major unmarked plot spoilers from this point til the end of the section. Hit pagedn or something to skip past. Also as a note to those why have watched Rebellion Im referring to QB from the anime series. They butcher his character a bit in Rebellion IMO making some of the examples Im going to use invalid or at least on weaker ground. Alright now that the disclaimer is out of the way lets get started. So QB. Quite possibly the most hated character to modern anime fans. How could he possibly be a good example of how nonhuman characters can have a different perspective? Well thats just it. His perspective is so out there its barely understandable. Conversely he is incapable of understanding human morals. While a viewpoint this far off from humanity is typically unnecessary it shows just how far this character can go should it be necessary. This flexibility makes it sad that these characters are reduced to just different faces for standard character types. The Outcast / Oppressed 400https://i.ur.com/hL86DAW.jpg Another common use for this type of character is to make them the target of discrimination by either their peers or the entire cast except the protagonist. In other words an easy way to generate sympathy for the character. This is especially common in cases where the nonhuman is also the love interest as how else would the often otherwise shitty MC have a chance at getting laid. I already dont care much for the damsel in distress trope and this certainly doesnt make it any more justified. Further more if they want to show discrimination theres several things you can use that are actual reallife examples. Look at Koe no Katachi for heavens sake. Or are the writers too scared of SJW backlash for that? Almost Bestiality https://media1.tenor.com/images/6298a3ce68a33db01bbab898bce11e61/tenor.gif?itemid=5748302 Finally I find it rather disturbing that another major use for these characters is to make them sexual targets. Although they are sentient and thus the act is not as depraved as bestiality unless consent is not given which makes it more depraved though that is another topic entirely. However its still interspecies intercourse so you have to wonder if the expectations by both parties would be the same. Hint: if the character is properly designed it wont be. Closing Thoughts In conclusion nonhuman characters are being insulted by improper utilization. Maybe if writers were focused less on feeding the fantasies of lusty males I wouldnt have had to write this rant. mic drop