Human

Humans were a race of humanoids native to Earth. They also were referred to as Tellurians (referring to Tellus, another name for Earth) by some races such as the Androgums and Lurmans and as Terrans by others. According to Mesanth, the word "human" can refer to any human-like creature, so a more specific term, like Earthon, must be used to refer to the inhabitants of Earth. (NSA: Shining Darkness) Neither of these terms, however, have been widely used. The pejorative term Earthling was sometimes used.

Characteristics

Powers and Abilities

Humans were special in the universe, as they had an innate skill with time travel, rivalling that of even the Time Lords. (PDA: The Quantum Archangel)

Innate psychic abilities were rare but not unknown. Many humans had telepathic powers, though in nearly all cases this was suppressed or weakened. (NA: The Left-Handed Hummingbird) Individual humans displayed such psychic powers as psychometry, telepathy, or time-sensitivity. (DW: Planet of the Spiders, Image of the Fendahl, The Unquiet Dead) Despite this, humans had little in the way of telepathic emissions and were difficult to track telepathically. (NA: Blood Heat)

Unusual Traits of humanity

Jack Harkness mentioned off-handedly that humans are the only species which goes camping. (TW: Countrycide)

He may have been joking.

The Tenth Doctor claimed humans were the only species in the Mutter's Spiral which invented edible ball bearings. (DW: Fear Her)
The I-Spyder Book of Earth Creatures states that the humans were the only species native to Earth that voluntarily wear clothing. (NSA: The Last Dodo)

Various sub-species of Earth Reptiles have also been known to wear clothes.

Perceptions by Other Species

Other species had a variety of traits which they ascribed to humans.

The Doctor praised the species for their indomitable spirit (DW: The Ark in Space, DW: Utopia) and for their daring explorer spirit. (DW: The Impossible Planet). On the other hand, he also believed they were capable of amazing cruelty (DW: The Christmas Invasion), as well as an innate talent for self-deception (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks). Whether by accident or intent, all but a very few of the Doctor's many companions have been human and, specifically, humans from Earth.

The War Lords considered humans the most aggressive and war-like species in all of Mutter's Spiral and hoped to conquer the galaxy with them. (DW: The War Games)

The Veltrochni thought humans were a stubborn species, but very vicious. They also knew them for their trait of banding together against common enemies. (MA: The Dark Path)

Dalek Sec of the Cult of Skaro described humans as "the ultimate survivors", citing the fact that versions of New York would continue to exist throughout history, as opposed to the Dalek race which was wiped out. (DW: Daleks In Manhattan)

The Doctor's Thoughts

The Doctor has often stated that he thinks humans are "brilliant" (particularly during his fourth and tenth incarnations) and has praised them for their strong spirit even during the hardest of times. He also states how despite the fact that humans are (compared to most species) "thick" they can still come up with ideas and inventions that some species would never even think of. He also hates to see humans getting hurt or killed due to them being defenseless (from alien attacks) and often finds himself risking his own life to save theirs. The Doctor also finds human culture and history extremely fascinating and has shown often to have a vast knowledge of human Culture and History equal to (or vastly exceeding) that of an actual human. He finds them to be an extremely "simple yet fantastic" species, praising them for their good sense of heart and strong nature which, according to the Doctor, is what makes humans so great. However, he is also aware that humans can be dominated by pride, xenophobia, aggression and greed, and sometimes have the capacity to commit terrible crimes. He can lose patience with them and protect other races (such as the Ood) from human cruelty. When severely pushed, he has even called humans "stupid apes" (DW: Rose, Father's Day) or "monsters" (DW: The Christmas Invasion), and claimed that they "grab whatever's nearest and bleed it dry" (DW: 42). When asked about how he viewed humans by Wilfred Mott who believed he must see humans as ants, the Tenth Doctor replied that he saw humans as "giants." (DW: The End of Time)

History of human Evolution

For a detailed, human-focused history, see timeline. For the social developments and beginings of humans, see Earth.

Humans evolved due to the influence of a variety of species, such as the Silurians, (BFA: Bloodtide), the Fendahl (DW: Image of the Fendahl) and the Dæmons (DW: The Dæmons). It is known that the Silurians caused the development of a racial fear, while the Fendahl caused the development of much of humanity's cruelty and capacity for evil.

At some point after the 20th century, some of humanity's latent psychic powers were awakened using special drugs. (NA: The Left-Handed Hummingbird)

Early in the 21st century, the entire human race (or, to be precise, the 6 billion-plus humans present on Earth at the time) were temporarily transformed into genetic and physical duplicates of The Master and dubbed the Master Race. This was later undone by the Time Lord Rassilon. (DW: The End of Time). In the late 21st century, humans begin to develop interstellar travel. (DW: The Waters of Mars).

By the 26th century, human genetic engineering eliminated wisdom teeth. (BNA: Dry Pilgrimage)

By the 42nd century, intergalatic travel was common for humans.

By the 51st century, humans engineered themselves advanced pheromones which made them naturally nice-smelling and attractive to others. humans had developed time travel (TW: Fragments)

By the year 5,000,000,000, interbreeding and evolution had resulted in there being only one "pure" human left, Cassandra O'Brien.Δ17, although this individual no longer had a recognizable human form due to the life-extending surgeries she had undergone. Although believed killed soon after the destruction of the Earth (DW: The End of the World), she survived, only to die several decades later after a failed attempt at transferring her consciousness to Rose Tyler (DW: New Earth).

Despite O'Brien being described as the last human, the human race in some form continued. At some point in their history, the humans spent millions of years as a gas, and also spent time as downloads before eventually re-evolving into humanoid form. (DW: Utopia)

Ultimately, humans would continue to exist until the year 100000000000000, becoming one of the universe's last surviving races; by this point they had reevolved to be virtually indistinguishable from the humans the Doctor encountered during the 21st century and earlier. (DW: Utopia) This fulfilled a legend that humans would be one of three species left at the end of the universe, one of the other two being the Sycorax. (IDW: Agent Provocateur)

The last known humans, transported to the world called Utopia and under the influence of the Master, underwent one final evolution into a machine-clad race called the Toclafane. The Master attempted to conquer the Earth of the early 21st century with the Toclafane, but after the Doctor and his colleagues were able to reverse time, the Toclafane invasion was erased from history, and it was expected that the Toclafane, no longer able to travel through time and space, would eventually die out along with their cousins, thus resulting in the final extinction of humanity. (DW: The Sound of Drums, Last of the Time Lords) Although it is possible they may have found some way to survive into the After-Universe.

Related species

For a complete list, see Species related to humans.