Human

Humans, from the planet Earth, are the newest sentient species of notable size to enter the galactic stage and are the most rapidly expanding and developing. They independently discovered a Prothean data cache on Mars in 2148, and the mass relay networks shortly thereafter.

Biology
Humans have a fairly robust physiology. Their internal makeup and reproductive processes are typical of most bipedal mammals, and their size and proportions give the appearance of being strong, fast and agile. In comparison to the other Council races, humans are roughly physically on par with turians (as very fit humans can punch them over and even throw them off the ground unassisted), and less agile than asari (whom they closely resemble), though fit human males are likely to be far stronger than the average asari. Humans would appear on average to be stronger than salarians but not as fast, due to the extremely elevated metabolisms of the latter. Like most organic races, humans are also capable of producing biotic individuals but there is a high risk of medical complications.

Humans can live to about 150 years, and recent medical advances have eradicated almost all known diseases that afflict them. However, as humans only emerged on the galactic stage within the last thirty years, it is highly likely that the introduction of new technology into their society will greatly increase their average lifespan. Humans reach physical maturity at approximately eighteen years of age, at which point they have usually finished their academic education and either directly enter the workforce or begin training for a profession.

It has been noted that humans are unusual in the galactic community because they have far greater genetic diversity compared to other species with more peaks and valleys. This makes human genetic material useful in biological experiments, as a control group.

Discovery of Mass Effect Physics
In 2148, human explorers on Mars uncovered a long-ruined Prothean observation post, with a surviving data cache that proved Protheans had studied Cro-Magnon humans millennia ago. While religions tried to assimilate this discovery into their doctrine, a global rush began to decipher the petabytes of data from the outpost. Discovering information on a mass relay orbiting Pluto, explorers managed to open the Charon Relay and discovered it led to Arcturus. With the help of the fledgling Systems Alliance, humans expanded to other systems, opening any mass relays they could find.

The First Contact War and Expansion
Humans first came to the attention of the galactic community after a brief but intense conflict with the turians, known by humans as the First Contact War, begun in 2157. The conflict began when the turians attacked a human fleet attempting to activate a dormant mass relay (illegal under Council law) and then occupied the human colony of Shanxi.

Led by Admiral Kastanie Drescher, the Second Fleet then launched a massive counter-attack, which caught the turians by surprise and expelled them from Shanxi. The conflict caught the attention of the Citadel Council, which wasted no time brokering a peace, thus introducing humans to the galactic community. As a consequence of the Alliance's swift and decisive action during the First Contact War, the Alliance became the representative and supranational governing body of humanity. Since then, humans have rapidly risen in prominence.

In 2165, humanity was granted an embassy on the Citadel in recognition of their growing power and influence in the galactic community. The timing of this achievement, less than a decade after first contact, caused some friction with other Citadel races who had waited decades for such recognition.

Humanity continued to expand to unclaimed star systems on the edge of Citadel space, which eventually led to competition with the batarians. When the batarians tried and failed to convince the Council to declare the Skyllian Verge "a zone of batarian interest", they closed their embassy and withdrew from Citadel space. Viewing humans as the cause of their fall from grace, batarians frequently came into conflict with human colonies, especially batarian slavers. Tensions between humans and batarians persist for decades.

The Eden Prime War
Humans were caught off-guard by the geth attack on Eden Prime, humanity's most prosperous colony, in 2183. Systems Alliance forces and the legendary Commander Shepard were involved in several operations against geth incursions into Alliance territory. The conflict between the Systems Alliance and geth later became known as the Eden Prime War, and culminated in the Battle of the Citadel, where a massive invasion fleet led by the flagship Sovereign tore through Citadel defenses. With the timely aid of the Alliance's Fifth Fleet, the geth were defeated. Depending on Commander Shepard's actions, the Council is saved and the Systems Alliance granted a Council seat, or the Council perishes and the Alliance forms a new Council. Thanks to their efforts in the Battle of the Citadel, humanity rises to a new level of prominence in the galaxy.

Vanishing Colonies
Less than two years after the Battle of the Citadel, contact with some human colonies in the Terminus Systems is lost. Investigations reveal that the colonies' inhabitants have completely disappeared, with no trace of what happened to them. The Systems Alliance does little to intervene; with no explanation for the disappearances, the Alliance is unable to prevent further incidents. Humans on fringe colony worlds perceive the lack of action as an unwillingness to aid them, and begin to harbor resentment against the Alliance. The Alliance tries to rebuild trust through goodwill efforts, such as providing Horizon with new anti-starship defense turrets, but suspicion lingers.

The colony abductions cease just as mysteriously as they began. While the Alliance publicly blames the abductions on Terminus Systems slaver rings, the fate of the thousands of missing colonists is never conclusively resolved.

Culture
Humans are generally seen to be very intelligent, abnormally ambitious, highly adaptable, individualistic and thus, unpredictable. They have a powerful desire to advance and improve themselves, and do so with such assertion that the other normally staid Council races have been taken aback by their restlessness and relentless curiosity. Their economy, while much smaller than any of the other Council races, is very powerful relative to their size, and their military prowess is amongst the greatest in the galaxy, despite the fact that only 3% of humans volunteer for the Alliance military, a far smaller proportion than other races. Their ability to defeat the turians in the First Contact War demonstrated graphically the potential of human military strength and is therefore a subject of concern for many races, who fear the consequences of another human-turian conflict.

Galactic Relations
The Systems Alliance, which represents a majority of humans, has had an embassy on the Citadel since 2165. Many other species dislike their sudden ascendancy compared to their status as relative newcomers on the galactic stage. Some species feel that humanity is overly expansive in its colonization efforts and aggressive attempts to advance its position in galactic affairs. It took other species centuries to achieve what humanity has done in decades.

Humans have also been doing what the Council could not: colonize planets in the Attican Traverse, the Skyllian Verge and along the borders of the Terminus Systems, all volatile regions where the Council has little authority. Human forces came into minor conflicts with the batarians over the Verge, which the batarians had been attempting to colonize themselves. When the batarians asked the Council to declare the Verge a "zone of batarian interest", they were refused; in response, the batarians became a rogue state, blaming humans for depriving them of valuable resources, and human-batarian relations have been hostile ever since.

Unlike many species in Citadel space, humans have no close allies among the other races, though they are trade partners with the turians and asari. Without alliances or key political positions, humans have had to follow the edicts of the Council without having much influence on their decisions. Human ambassadors finally had their wishes answered when Shepard was admitted into the Spectres, the Council's elite operatives, and even further when they were given a seat on the Council, after either having saved them from the Battle of the Citadel, or having Humanity rebuild the Council when they were lost. However, now that Humanity has a seat on the Council, they are able to influence the Council's rulings, protect their own interests and have a say in the governing of Citadel space.

Notable Humans
See Category: Humans for an alphabetical list of human characters.


 * Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams
 * Captain David Anderson
 * Ambassador Donnel Udina
 * Admiral Hackett
 * Jacob Taylor
 * Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau
 * Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko
 * Kasumi Goto
 * Miranda Lawson
 * Commander Shepard
 * Subject Zero
 * The Illusive Man
 * Zaeed Massani

Human Worlds

 * Earth - homeworld
 * Akuze
 * Amaterasu
 * Anhur
 * Arvuna
 * Asteria
 * Bekenstein
 * Benning
 * Chasca
 * Cuervo
 * Cyrene
 * Demeter
 * Dobrovolski
 * Drasta
 * Eden Prime
 * Elysium
 * Euntanta
 * Fargone
 * Fehl Prime
 * Feros
 * Ferris Fields
 * Franklin
 * Freedom's Progress
 * Gei Hinnom
 * Gilead
 * Horizon
 * Israfil
 * Intai'sei
 * Joab
 * Jupiter


 * Luna
 * Mars
 * Mercury
 * Mindoir
 * Naxell
 * Neptune
 * New Canton
 * Oliveira
 * Olor
 * Pluto
 * Proteus
 * Sanctum
 * Sathur
 * Saturn
 * Shanxi
 * Sinmara
 * Sirona
 * Terra Nova
 * Therum
 * Tiptree
 * Trebin
 * Trident
 * Tyr
 * Uqbar
 * Uranus
 * Venus
 * Watson
 * Yandoa
 * Zion

Trivia

 * Humans are a playable race in Mass Effect 3's cooperative multiplayer mode.

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