Human
I admire them - the bravery of idiots is bravery nonetheless!
Humans are a race of humanoids native to Earth. They are also referred to as Tellurians by some races such as the Androgums and Lurmans, which refers to Tellus, another name for Earth. 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 is sometimes used.
Characteristics
Powers and abilities
Humans are special in the universe, since they have an innate skill with time travel, rivalling that of even the Time Lords. (PDA: The Quantum Archangel)
Innate psychic abilities are 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 might display such psychic powers as psychometry, telepathy, or time-sensitivity. (DW: Planet of the Spiders, Image of the Fendahl, The Unquiet Dead) Despite this, Humans have 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 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)
- The Sea Devils have also been known to wear clothes. This might suggest that they only wear clothing to deal with the elements.
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)
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)
By the 26th century, Human genetic engineering eliminated wisdom teeth. (NA: Dry Pilgrimage)
By the 51st century, Humans engineered themselves advanced pheromones which made them naturally nice-smelling and attractive to others. (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 100,000,000,000,000, 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)
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, resulting in the final extinction of humanity. (DW: The Sound of Drums, Last of the Time Lords)
Related species
- For a complete list, see Species related to Humans.
