Humans, scientific name Homo Sapiens, are a species of great apes from the planet Earth in Earth-83, and are the dominant species on said planet.
History[]
The genus Homo, encompassing modern humans and their relatives, emerged from the great ape genus Australopithecus roughly 2.5 million years ago in what is now West Africa, with multiple species evolving over the years as members of the genus spread out across Africa and Eurasia. The first species resembling modern humans was Homo erectus, which emerged roughly 2 million years ago, an African population of which would eventually speciate into Homo heidelbergensis, which itself would evolve into different species based on location; Neanderthals and Denisovans emerged from the European population roughly 500,000 years ago, while Homo sapiens emerged from the African population roughly 300,000 years ago.
Initially living as hunter-gatherers, H. sapiens migrated out of Africa during the Last Ice Age, spreading throughout most of Earth by the end of the Ice Age roughly 12,000 years ago despite suffering multiple genetic bottlenecks. By this time, humanity's relatively quick rise to dominance concerned alien researchers observing the burgeoning species, who worried that, left unchecked, the intelligent and social yet highly aggressive humans may eventually become an invasive species throughout the galaxy.
These concerns eventually reached the Galvan, who decided that a severe culling of the species was necessary to prevent future conflict. They began an extermination campaign on Earth, but found themselves opposed by a team of three Magisters from the organization that would eventually become the modern Plumbers, who believed the campaign violated anti-genocide laws. Though the Magisters were eventually defeated and sealed away in stasis by the Galvan, their heated defense of humans and intergalactic law had turned public opinion against using extermination as a solution, and an alternative plan was developed.
The Galvan would go on to engineer a gene-altering virus that they dropped on Earth, artificially modifying the human genome to make them less aggressive and render them incapable of utilizing Kunenga Energy, an omnipresent evolution-influencing energy that allows species to evolve physics-defying abilities. While the ethics of this tactic are debated to this day, there's no doubt that it had the desired effect, as humans began developing agriculture and permanent settlements shortly afterward. Not wanting to interfere with human evolution any more than necessary, the Galvan erased all evidence of their interactions with humanity and retreated from the planet.
For roughly the next 10,000 years, humanity developed civilizations across the planet, maintaining their status as the dominant species despite a lack of supernatural abilities (mostly; we'll get to that). In some timelines, Ancient Egypt developed to such a point that they were deemed safe to interact with by intergalactic law, and were assisted with tasks requiring heavy physical labor by the Animam Creari, a mysterious golem-like species whose presence in a timeline unknowingly foretold its destruction by their creator, an omnipotent, omnicidal being known as the Anti-Life Entity. The only timelines to survive erasure from this series of events were those in which a pharaoh named Osirimes went mad and used alien technology to become an agent of destruction titled "Dethrogue", driving the Animam Creari off-planet.
Even in timelines where this didn't occur, humanity did occasionally receive illegal visits from outer space, though most of these incidents were covered up by the Plumbers in order to avoid influencing humanity's growth. As such, humanity developed almost entirely on its own, with modern governmental bodies even taking up the responsibility of hiding evidence of alien interference themselves. In 1773, a handful of noteworthy British colonials created the Plumbiers, a secret society dedicated to fighting supernatural and extraterrestrial threats. George Washington, one of the founding members, claimed that "Plumbiers" was the French word for "iron workers"; this is false, and given that Washington did not actually speak French, it can be assumed that Benjamin Franklin, another founding member and a man at least fluent enough in French to later become an ambassador to France, intentionally misinformed Washington on this because he thought naming their super serious secret organization after a slightly misspelled version of the French word for "plumber" would be funny (which in all fairness it kind of is).
The Plumbiers would evolve into a men-in-black style organization simply called the Plumbers and later merge with the intergalactic law enforcement agency of the same, forming humanity's first official integration into the intergalactic community. Despite this, the existence of aliens was left unconfirmed to much of the general population until the Incursean invasion of Earth established their existence in no uncertain terms. While certain groups of humans maintain a hostile attitude towards aliens as a whole, a majority of the species has been shockingly receptive to the integration of alien lifeforms and technologies, potentially due to the influence of Omnitrix users such as Ben Tennyson that publicly bridge the gap between humans and aliens.
By the year 2020, Earth had established a reputation as a sanctuary of sorts for aliens unable to thrive on their own homeworlds thanks to humanity's general willingness to accommodate them, with certain specialists such as Dr. Emilia Krauze going so far as to create and distribute rudimentary transformation devices called SapienSwitches that allowed alien immigrants to become humans themselves in order to better navigate the planet's extant infrastructure. More accommodating infrastructure was built as more and more aliens integrated themselves into human society, and by 2040, integration had become complete enough that SapienSwitches became unnecessary in most large cities.
As the only surviving member of the Homo genus, modern humans have long been considered a relatively isolated species, with some alien communities going so far as to call them "The Lonely Ape". Whether this influenced their relatively quick acceptance of other sapient lifeforms to their planet is debatable at best, but either way, they certainly aren't quite as "lonely" anymore.
Powers and Abilities[]
Humans, though generally considered powerless in comparison to the general intergalactic community, have some natural abilities that have cemented their place as the dominant species on Earth.
- Heightened Intelligence
- Contrary to what you might believe after browsing Twitter, humans are the most intelligent species on Earth, making use of tools like no other. Unarmed humans are essentially lion food, but humans with rocks and sharp sticks are the most OP bullshit on the planet.
- Heightened Stamina
- Humans are pursuit predators, having exchanged a protective coat of fur for the ability to sweat, which wicks heat away from their skin while they're running. Many animals are faster than humans, but none can outmatch their endurance, making it nearly impossible for them to escape a dedicated hunting party. Humans are basically the horror movie villains of the animal kingdom.
- Adaptability
- Humans originated in the arid plains of Africa and have spread to every continent in the world save for Antarctica. A naked great ape from the savanna really has no business living in the freezing cold of the Arctic, but they decided to do it anyway.
- Enhanced Sense of Smell
- Contrary to popular belief, the human sense of smell is actually quite impressive in certain situations, able to distinguish at least 1 trillion different odors. They have the ability to discern the health, emotions, and even genetic compatibility of other humans through smell alone, and can smell petrichor (the scent released when rain hits the ground) at concentrations as low as 400 parts per trillion, allowing them to smell rainstorms long before they come into view. Due to the prevailing myth that the human sense of smell is weak, this ability is rarely trained up or capitalized on, making it difficult to judge its true potential.
In addition to these, humans have several latent abilities that can either be trained up or used in special circumstances.
- Mana Control
- Humans are one of only a few species with magic and mana control, though only a certain few can use these abilities.
- Echolocation
- This ability is generally limited to humans born blind, as it takes an incredibly long time to develop and train.
- Heightened Strength
- Humans can gain more muscle mass with training, and some are simply born with more strength potential. The strongest human ever known was Louis Cyr, who was once able to lift 4,337 pounds (1,967 kg) on his back in Boston by putting 18 men on a platform and lifting them.
- Heightened Fighting Prowess
- Humans have invented numerous martial arts, each of which, if properly mastered, can put them on top in a fight.
- Adrenaline Reactions
- In life-or-death situations, the human body's performance can be multiplied to an impressive degree, albeit only momentarily. The brain's processing speed may accelerate to the point that their surroundings appear to be moving in slow motion, and the natural limiters on their muscles may be released, potentially tripling their strength.
Weaknesses[]
Humans are generally weak compared to most aliens, and are far more susceptible to attacks that would bounce right off most other species. Their skeletons are too fragile to endure the full strength of their muscles, meaning that when their limiters are released during emergency situations, they run the risk of breaking their own bones.
Humans often underestimate their own strength and impact on the environment, leading to the unintentional genocide of multiple species and the gradual worsening of their planet's climate.
Though generally cooperative and well-meaning, humans can easily develop biases against various groups for various reasons, making any sort of species-wide collaboration difficult at best.
As a result of Galvan interference, humans lack access to the Kunenga Energy that gives other sapient species their powers, limiting them to what their bodies are physically capable of.
Delta Humans[]
Shortly before the Neolithic Revolution (relatively shortly, I mean; we're still talking hundreds of years), humans developed large amounts of Kunenga Energy, enhancing their natural adaptability and endurance tenfold but also increasing their aggressiveness. This development is what ultimately spurred the Galvan into taking action to curb the species.
Osmosians[]
Small pockets of Delta Humans who lived in areas plagued by disease had developed extremely powerful immune systems as an adaptation, resulting in the Galvan's virus being exterminated by their bodies before it could deliver the entirety of its genetic recoding. As a result of this incomplete rewrite, near-identical genetic defects were inflicted on these populations, resulting in the gradual growth of small horns on their scalps and reducing their powers in such a way that they could only adapt their bodies to new circumstances by absorbing external resources.
Despite the effects of these mutations, the goal of making these Delta Humans more peaceful was generally achieved and the operation was thus seen as a success by the Galvan; unknown to them, however, it turned out that the rewrite was only partially effective in this respect. If these mutated Delta Humans used their abilities too much, they would begin to revert to their original violent personalities.
Over time, the mutations caused by the virus branched apart into different abilities, body types, and so on as these mutants integrated into society. Interbreeding with regular humans resulted in the population of mutated individuals sharply declining, and by today, resurgence of these mutant genes is incredibly rare, and usually results in the manifestation of abilities largely unconnected to the original population's.
As such, collectively naming these mutants "Osmosians" based on the abilities of a single individual who happened to carry similar traits to the original mutations was a dumbass idea and would make much more sense if they were an alien species.
Trivia[]
- Other than the obvious in-universe things like mana and Kunenga Energy, all of the "abilities" listed here are real. Humans are at the top of the food chain for a reason, but our modern overworked yet sedentary lifestyle often entails self-destructive behavior and the worsening of our physical and mental health, making us perform well below our potential.