Name: Human (Homo Sapiens)
Homeplanet: Earth
Sentience: Sentient



Strengths

Humans are incredibly resilient and tenacious when it comes to the species as a whole. Multiple times have they managed to fight their way through odds and survived the threat of extinction multiple times. This can be attributed to their intelligence. Their technological evolution over the last 500 years has been very fast; having invented FTL travel within the early days of their colonisation. Their intelligence alone has granted them control of multiple colonies and advancements in technology including the creation of fully sentient AI as well as supersoldiers and power armour.



In terms of anatomy, Humans can be seen as a fragile species when compared to other species such as Sangheili, Jiralhanae, Vampires and Lycans. Nontheless, through proper conditioning these physical limitations can be lifted slightly, the only limiting factor being their biological limitations. However there are exceptions. The UNSC's Spartan supersoldiers are shining examples of Humanity breaking the barriers of their own biological limitations in terms of strength, speed, endurance and durability. However Spartans aren't the only examples of bio-engineering, as soldiers in their army and navy and airforce and sometimes given adrenaline injections to increase their performances on the battlefield. While normal Humans are fairly weak compared to larger species, they are still able to tap into hidden reserves of energy known as the adrenaline rush which boosts a Human's strength and pain tolerance for a short while.





Weaknesses

Normal Humans have their bone structures are made of calcium and as such can only withstand moderate stress. Their muscular system is on average weaker than larger and stronger species such as those listed above. This makes an unarmed Human fairly easy to kill for said species. Furthermore Humans have an average sense of hearing, sight and smell - a factor that can also be used against them by species that excel in any of these qualities.



It is also not out of the question that Humanity can be outsmarted. Any species with a superior understanding of the different sciences and superior technology can be more than a match for Humans. This was almost the case when Humanity were forced into a 30-year war against the Covenant, coming out on top only due to civil war breaking out within the Covenant. However were it not for such luck, Humanity would have been wiped out years ago.





Appearance and Anatomy

Humans are mammals and like all other mammals on Earth, they give birth to live young, nourishing their offspring with milk. They have four fingers and one opposable thumb - this hand structure has helped them with the construction of tools earlier in their development. Their circulatory system consists of one heart and several blood vessels. Their blood is iron-based which makes it appear red. Humans also have two lungs through which they breath nitrogen-oxygen based atmospheres.



Humans have four limbs: two arms and two legs, two eyes, ears and a nose and a mouth. They possess thin patches of hair on their arms, legs, chest and head which differs in colour depending on race. They are also omnivorous, meaning they eat both vegetation and meat. Their heights on average range from 5-6ft with outstanding examples rarely ever exceeding 7ft.





Culture


On a superficial level, human culture has changed little since the 21st century. As before, humanity remains multicultural amongst its still independent nations on both Earth and the colonies, although on the whole it has been heavily influenced from what was once thought of as Western culture. The United Nations Space Command, in particular, draws heavily from the former United States of America in terms of military practices and tradition, combined with the continued adoption of English as humanity's primary used language, although other languages remain in use among human populations. Humans continue to practice a number of religions, although apart from several exceptions faith is largely considered a personal matter. Several cultural phenomena have emerged following the 21st century, including flip-music (similar to rock), the stylight musical instrument, and Cosmic Commedia Cooperative, a form of 25th-century absurdist theater.



There is virtually no segregation or discrimination evident among humanity on the basis of gender or ethnic group. In contrast to common practices in the 21st century, males and females serve in the military in an equal capacity. Much like the cultural changes brought by the colonization of the Earth in the past, space colonization had its own effects on the cultures of colonial populations. While some colony worlds are multicultural from the beginning, others receive the majority of their colonists from a given region or nation on Earth, which often makes its own mark on the development of the colony's own culture. As populations settle new worlds, cultures distort and sometimes amalgamate; however, it is common for the locals to consciously hold on to their Earth cultural heritage.



The UNSC's predominance casts a distinct air of militarism over most of humanity; military service and heroism are glorified to great lengths by UNSC propaganda, as well as the media. While the press evidently enjoys some degree of freedom, the media is heavily regulated by ONI's Section Two.



History

Humanity achieved an advanced state early in its history, well over 1'100'000 BCE, when their earliest, long-forgotten cultures attained space travel and spread across many worlds. Eventually reaching a level of technological sophistication close to that of the Forerunners, Humans of this era were on average larger and superior to modern humans in many respects, including intelligence and physical strength.

Humanity resented Forerunner dominion over the galaxy, and as a result expanded their civilization outward along the Orion Arm and across the galactic margin, away from the Forerunners' sphere of influence. This civilization formed an alliance with the San'Shyuum (another species that had risen to a similar level of power) and later warred against the nascent Flood. While Humanity lost a third of their population, the Flood was eventually driven out of the galaxy. However, the conflict led to a war against The Forerunners, a war which Humanity lost. As punishment, the Humans were stripped of their technology, nearly all evidence of their civilization was erased from the galaxy, and the scattered remnants of their species were exiled to their homeworld, genetically "devolved" to more primitive forms and reduced to a pre-technological state from which they would be forced to start again.

The rest of Human history went as everyone knows it, and the species underwent different ages such as the Stone Age, Iron Age, Iron Age, Medieval Era, Industrial Revolution, etc. The human species was able to explore the space immediately surrounding their home planet in the 20th century, as the population began to advance beyond the capacity of the planet to comfortably sustain their civilization. The subsequent conflict over resources, economics, religion and politics on Earth gave way to numerous wars. Furthermore, these tensions put great pressure on the species in the late twenty-first and early twenty-second centuries, and the transnational mediator organization known as the Unified Earth Government engaged in more frequent space colonization and sought to represent the entire species, even though no one state ever previously ruled the entire human race.

After decades of internecine conflict, humanity as a whole was forced into their first major war against an outside opponent when they were discovered by the genocidal alien hegemony known as the Covenant. As the decades-long war wore on, the human species gained the reputation as a worthy adversary against the Covenant, despite the fact that they were technologically and numerically inferior. Despite the fact that humans could hold out and even defeat the Covenant on ground combat, the Covenant could in turn withdraw to space where they had virtually undisputed supremacy and would be capable of glassing the planet. despite great courage and tenacity, the future seemed dark for the survival of the human race as the Covenant continued to methodically exterminate their colonies, marching ever closer to Earth, eventually discovering and invading it on October 20, 2552. In the ensuing battles over possession of Earth, humanity suffered heavy casualties.

Following the final battle of the war on December 11 2552, the Human-Covenant War ended in a victory for humanity and their newfound Sangheilli allies - the majority of the Covenant military having been defeated at Delta Halo by the Sangheili Fleet, while the rest were annihilated by the joint Sangheilli-UNSC forces at The Ark.

Approved