Humans (人間, also known as the Human Race Ningen) (人類 or Earthmen Jinrui) (地球人, are the dominant species indigenous to the planet Chikyūjin)Earth, and the primary focus of the Godzilla
Humans (人間, also known as the Human Race Ningen) (人類 or Earthmen Jinrui) (地球人, are the dominant species indigenous to the planet Chikyūjin)Earth, and the primary focus of the Godzilla series and most other kaiju-related media. Unlike the majority of other alien races, humans are not united under a single government, but divided into numerous sovereign nations and organizations that may themselves wage war or form alliances.
Humans take on many different roles in kaiju films, from worshipers of kaiju that are defended by them, as is the case of the Infant Islanders to Mothra, the Azumi tribe of Okinawa to King Caesar, and the people of the Hanabusa kingdom to the Daimajin Arakatsuma. Although there are also humans that would attempt to exploit kaiju, like Dr. Who and Carl Denham attempted to do with King Kong. Particularly in the case of Godzilla, humans are often attempting to eliminate him, though very few attempts have been successful. In nearly all of the films featuring him, Godzilla has been seen as a consequence of the human race's tampering with nature that stands to remind them of their ignorance and their place in the world order. Gamera, on the other hand, is typically seen protecting humans, particularly children, from various threats, usually other, more malevolent kaiju. While not typically in kaiju films, in some kaiju-related television programs humans have been known to transform into giant sized-superheroes to combat kaiju threats. Some humans are capable of becoming a type of kaiju in their own right, gaining unusual monstrous traits or powers through exposure to radiation or by undergoing scientific experiments. Such humans are often referred to as kaijin.
Humans generally refer to themselves as people, human beings, or men and women. Alien races typically identify humans by their planet of origin, referring to them as "earthlings" or "earthmen." Other races indigenous to Earth, such as the Muans and Seatopians, while technically humans themselves, do not identify with their brethren on the surface and will often refer to the rest of mankind as "surface-dwellers."
While the physical characteristics of humans vary greatly, humans are uniformly bipedal creatures with two arms and legs. They tend to possess a large concentration of hair on the top of their heads and in smaller concentration throughout the rest of their body. Some alien races, such as the Mysterians and Xiliens, closely resemble humans, potentially suggesting common ancestry of some kind. Other races do not actually resemble humans, but use their technology to disguise themselves as humans in order to better blend in or interact with humans.
- Disclaimer: The role of humanity across all media covered on this site is too extensive to document on this page. For this reason, this section will focus specifically on the role of humanity in the GODZILLA anime trilogy.
GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters
Following the devastation of their planet in the 21st century by the emergence of kaiju, particularly Godzilla, humanity joined forces with two alien races, the Exif and Bilusaludo, to form the United Earth, a military organization whose goal it was to defend the human race from Godzilla. The United Earth failed to defeat Godzilla, so humanity was forced to evacuate its own planet and relocate to Tau-e, located in the Cetus constellation. When the emigration vessel, Aratrum, arrived on Tau-e, humanity found that its new home was basically uninhabitable, so a group of humans, Exif, and Bilusaludo organized a return expedition to Earth, intending to finally reclaim the world from Godzilla. However, when the Aratrum returned to Earth, its crew learned that 20,000 years had passed on Earth, and its ecosystem had adapted to Godzilla's biology.
Compared to most other alien races, humanity's technology is relatively primitive. According to the Mysterian Leader, his race possessed nuclear weapons while Earth was still in the Neolithic Age. However, humanity is capable of creating a vast array of technology, allowing human civilization to expand around the planet and last for thousands of years. By the 20th and 21st centuries, humanity possesses limited space travel, as well as nuclear weapons.
In the GODZILLA anime trilogy, humanity has seemingly benefited from technology provided by its alien allies, the Exif and Bilusaludo.
While the human race is not united by a single sovereign authority, its nations have occasionally joined together to cooperate or combat a common threat. This section lists some of the most notable international human organizations.
The United Nations is a real organization founded in the aftermath of World War II to facilitate cooperation between nations and prevent further warfare between nations. In the Godzilla series, the UN often takes an active role in defending the human race from kaiju or alien threats, funding military organizations whose goal is to combat threats to the UN's member nations.
Earth Defense Force
The Earth Defense Force, or EDF, is an international military organization formed through the combination of the militaries of the rest of the world. In The Mysterians, the 