Human

Human is a creature type. Humans are one of the most prevalent species in the multiverse.
==Description==
Humans are four-limbed bipedal primates of the mammalian class. They have a highly developed brain capable of abstract reasoning, language, and introspection (though they are hardly the only creatures in Magic capable of this). The only inhabited, natural planes where humans are known not to exist at all are Lorwyn-Shadowmoor and Bloomburrow. Humans are the characteristic race for the color white, though R&D is willing to replace them when they find a suitable replacement as they exist in large numbers across all five colors.
===History===
For a long time, 'Human' was the default race for humanoids, and many people thought that it shouldn't have had a separate creature type. This would mean that many cards were just soldiers or nomads if they clearly depicted humans. This became a problem when R&D started creating cards that cared about creature types.
The creature-type human was finally introduced in Mirrodin as a part of the race/class model. The notion was first brought up in the public by Randy Buehler and was met with negative reactions. After much convincing a poll determined that 53.7% of the readers would accept the addition of humans to Magic at that time. As predicted, players eventually came to accept the change fully. 
Humans had no tribal support until Innistrad block. The theme later returned in Shadows over Innistrad block and Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, two cards in Theros and one in Magic 2014.
==Storyline==
Though the way humans act in most planes covers a fairly broad range of behaviors, this range itself is roughly the same across most planes. The same is true regarding the physical traits that they have. But there may also be some planes where there are greater differences.
===Alara===
Humans were the only race native to all five shards of Alara, though their appearance varied by shard.Doug Beyer & Jenna Helland (2008). A Planeswalker's Guide to Alara, Wizards of the Coast. ISBN-13 978-0786951246 
====Bant====
On Bant, humans were regal and severe with pale or olive-colored skin. Segmented into a caste-based society, humans follow a rigid code of honor and discipline. From an early age, children are taught a weapons-based martial art known as Halcou, a name derived from an alabaster bird with legendary grace and speed. While most humans strive for a life of honor and order, perfection is impossible here. Some choose not to follow the rules of society and prefer to live as bandits and thieves.
====Esper====
Esper's humans were tall, slight, and infused with etherium enhancements. On Esper, magic is synonymous with culture. The humans here are devoted, expert mages, and those with the most powerful magic rule the others. For this reason, Esper's history is peppered with occasional crude grabs at power, but each would-be tyrant has been swiftly put down. Subtlety goes much further here than flashy magic or vulgar force.
=====Specialization=====
Among the humans of Esper, specialization is key to establishing one's mastery. This is an incomplete list of such specialized mages:
*Arcanist: A master of secret knowledge and lost lore.
*Stormcaller: A wielder of weather magic.
*Mechanist: An artificer with a talent for infusing complex creations with magic.
*Clockworker: One who manipulates the forces of time.
*Mentalist: A trafficker in thoughts, especially those others try to hide.
*Tidemage: One who uses magic to influence the seas and tides.
In addition to these types, one can also find the more standard voidmages, nullmages, pathmages, etc. Some mages claim to know only one kind of magic, keeping their other skills to themselves.
=====Retinues=====
Every mage of note has a personal retinue. The size and quality of a mage’s retinue is an indication of his or her clout and status. A powerful and influential mage might have an entourage of six or seven, including apprentices, telemins, gargoyles, animal familiars, magically-created humanoids called homunculi, and even specimens of physical perfection just for show. Decorative tethers and leashes on members of one's retinue aren't uncommon as a means of displaying ownership.
=====Telemins=====
A society founded on control needs individuals willing to be controlled. A voluntary "underclass" has emerged among Esper's humans people willing to be the instruments of other mages' artistry. Telemins, sometimes called "mage dolls," allow themselves to be mentally commanded by a mage to perform some task, whether it's menial, skilled, or artistic. Credit for a telemin's skill or accomplishment never goes to the telemin themself but rather to the mage who "plays" them. Some telemins have become famous in the same way that a well-made instrument can become famous, like an exquisite violin.
====Grixis====
The humans of Grixis were often ashen and bloated with diseases. They call themselves "Vithians" after the kingdom of the living that they still attempt to sustain. Vithian mages set up detection spells and elemental runes to guard their borders against roving necromancers and vampires, and warriors learn battle techniques to defeat the undead. Vithian humans eat whatever they can mushrooms, rats, scrubby weeds and grasses, even kathari but were near extinction by the time of the Conflux.
The few living humans take shelter in small, hidden brick cities known as hermitages. Some hermitages, wracked with the amnesia-magic of lethemancers and faced with the daily horrors of the plane, become nothing more than insane asylums. A precious few, such as the mountain fortress of Torchlight, are reasonably well-defended with sword and sorcery, but the renegades who maintain them are constantly under siege by flesh-hungry undead and tempted by the promises of demons.
====Jund====
On Jund, humans were sinewy and fierce, and some even had slightly reptilian features, such as forked tongues or pseudo-scales covering parts of their skin. Humans divide into tribal groups out of necessity rather than a sense of communal bonding. Dozens of different human tribes occupy territory mostly on the cliffs overlooking the valleys and canyons. Both men and women are warriors, shamans, and chieftains The harsh laws of survival ultimately determine rank and influence.
The tukatongue tree is the primary food staple for humans, and a tribe without access to a tukatongue struggles for survival. Growing on high plateaus, the tree's supple wood and tough bark help it survive fierce winds and a marauding dragon's fiery breath. The tree's roots can be ground into a sticky paste for an unappealing, but reliable, food source. Many stone weapons are wrapped in spiky bark. Humans live in temporary shelters made from tuka frames and covered in lizard skin—a viashino hide is a sign of social status. From a distance, these round huts look like the backs of giant turtles.
Humans are stronger than goblins but are generally no match for the raw strength of the viashino. As a result, humans tend to settle in the scrubby jungles at the base of mountains or the scarred volcanic flats. Human settlements are rudimentary and easily relocated. If a dragon settles nearby or resources run low, the humans pack up and move to a more hospitable location. They form nomadic tribes that are necessary for survival. Known clans include:
*Clan Nel Toth: Former clan of Meren.
*The Ripclan or Tol DurekDoug Beyer (2009), "Alara Unbroken", Wizards of the Coast
*The Tol Antaga: Kresh's splinter clan from the Tol Hera.
*Riftclan Tol Breot: Led by Breot the Slayer. Half the clan was transported to Grixis during the Conflux.
*Highclan Tol Hera: This human tribe, led by the impetuous Javid Hera, believes that humans should not skulk in the low ground but take possession of the heights. To them, the Life Hunt should not be a rare ceremony but an ongoing war against the dragons until one or the other side is exterminated. Unlike other tribes, these humans see no evil in consuming the life energy stored in sangrite crystals to increase their power. Their numbers are small, however, in large part due to their bold forays into the high ground, but every member of the tribe is a fearsome combatant as a result.
At the age of ten, humans undergo a dangerous rite of passage known as the Dark Climb where the warriors climb an active volcano and are forced to bring back a shard of volcanic glass to become a warrior. Not only are the fiery mountains dangerous in themselves, but they are the favored roosts of young dragons. By this age, most children have already faced viashino and dragon attacks, and many are quite resourceful as they make their way into the volcanic peaks. Those who return home with a shard are given an obsidian weapon crafted from their hard-earned volcanic glass and annealed with shamanic magic. 
Children with natural ability are raised within the shamans' enclosure, where they learn the ways of the spirits until their tenth birthday. But unlike the Dark Climb, which tests future warriors, the rite known as the Shamanic Circle tests a child's magical strength. The child is brought before the full Shamanic Circle and given a dangerous drug called Dreamfire Draught, a potent drug and slow-acting poison that causes the child to become a magnet for elemental entities. The circle collectively summons a wild elemental into the circle, and the child must bargain with the elemental for a boon to stop the poison. Success means survival and entry into the circle as an adept. Shamans are highly respected, ranking even higher than a tribe's warrior chieftain. In battle, the shamans summon elementals to fight for their people.
Every eight years, a different shaman is mysteriously gifted a vision of a dragon falling out of the sky, and they become the Vision Shaman. The Vision Shaman summons the most decorated hunters of all the tribes to gather in the Bloodhall. Together, these warriors must hunt and kill a dragon. All are expected to fight to the death, and it is a great dishonor to desert the hunt while any warriors are still alive. More often than not, the dragon is victorious, and the once-proud warriors become carrion for starving goblins. A Life Hunt can even end in an entire clan's disintegration. For Jund's humans, relationships are fleeting, and the death rate is extremely high. A person over thirty is considered old and reaching the age of fifty is nearly unheard of.
In battle, a human warrior will mark a victory by weaving part of their hair into a small braid and binding it with a bit of skin or tendon from a fallen enemy. Shamans take this further and tie bones, tusks, fur, and other such trophies into their hair. The more braids, the higher their social rank. However, only significant kills are so marked a simple food-gathering hunt or repelling a motley thrash of viashino is not enough to earn a braid. Only a few heroes wear more than five braids; a dozen is the stuff of legend.
====Naya====
Naya's humans were singularly beautiful idealizations of the human form. For humans, it’s all about pleasure—the pleasure of the hunt, the pleasure of the body, the pleasure of celebration, and the pleasure of competition. Impulsive and unbound, the humans who dwell on the jungle floor have invented ingenious ways to survive in the most hostile environment in Naya.
Humans hunt in packs and communicate by drumming and knocking on buttress roots in a practice called drumhunting. Roots have distinct sounds, so everyone can identify where a particular group is located and coordinate hunting maneuvers. When there is an emergency, humans summon all groups to the base of the largest tree in the lowlands by drumming on the root in a specific rhythm.
Naya's humans have developed an immunity to the poisonous bloodthorn trees and sometimes build their settlements inside bloodthorn groves. The middle of the thicket is hollowed out, leaving a ring of bloodthorn trees as a barrier against predators. They have similarly cultivated an immunity to the sting of the scarlet wasp, and often build near their huge nests for protection. In small doses, the wasp toxin can be distilled into an elixir that provides humans with increased strength.
There is an increasing divide between the humans who live in hollowed buttress roots in the jungle and rely on hunting for food and the humans who are experimenting with agriculture and domesticating animals. Humans who make their home in the small cities within the jungle are referred to as the Exuberants. They are a hedonistic, vital group adept at living in the moment, providing luxury and relaxation for drumhunters as they move from place to place. They also host competitions and make sacrifices of food and precious objects as the elves instruct.
More humans are building permanent settlements and villages in the few open areas that exist in Naya. Calling themselves Sunseeders, their quest for an open sky is developing spiritual proportions. Led by a charismatic man named Hadran, the Sunseeders are undergoing an agrarian revolution and are creating more open spaces for cultivating crops. When a tree falls in the jungle, a massive hole is punctured in the canopy. Thousands of seeds are waiting for the chance to grow and fill the space, but humans bring in plowbeasts to beat back the natural world. Often they will have a rudimentary structure built within a few days, with a herd of pip fawns to eat the green shoots before they can reclaim the precious open space.
In addition to plowbeasts, humans keep griffins tethered on long cords near their fields. Part guard animal and part familiar, griffins are often decorated with colorful leather straps and embroidered cloth. Every group of Sunseeders has a herd of pip fawns as well. Because of the massive amount of grass and plants they eat, the size of pip fawn herds is carefully managed. If a herd is too big, it will attract the gargantuans.
All humans and even some elves come together in open areas to play games, the most popular of which is Matca. In this game, two humans wrestle in a stone-bordered arena in an attempt to pin each other to the ground. Advanced Matca fighters wear spike armor.
===Amonkhet===
The humans of Amonkhet are the only race there not associated with one of the five gods. This left them free to either dedicate themselves fully to one of them or find a balance between all five virtues espoused in their trials.
===Avishkar/Kaladesh===
The humans of Avishkar are passionate dreamers who strive to achieve the impossible through their inventions. While they are the only race on Avishkar whose physiology is untouched by the presence of aether, their curiosity and ambition drive innovation, and they excel at synthesizing ideas.
===Dominaria===
Humans are the earliest known inhabitants of Dominaria, existing on the plane even before the Ur-Dragon spawned the elder dragons. The earliest known humans to occupy Terisiare were the subjects of the cruel and powerful Primeval Dragons. These people overthrew their draconic masters and formed a large empire based in Otaria. Humans today exist across the entirety of Dominaria in diverse cultures.
===Eldraine===
Though the large majority of Eldraine's humans live in the Realm, some have always existed in the Wilds, whether driven by desperation or a desire to live outside the courts.James Wyatt et al. (2023). "D&D Monstrous Compendium: Vol. 4: Eldraine Creatures". Wizards of the Coast. These humans include hunters, foresters, and artisans, and they often pick up some of the eccentricities of their fantastical neighbors.
===Innistrad===
On Innistrad, there are no elves, dwarves or goblins. Humans are the main sentient species. They are both the protagonists and the victims, preyed upon by vampires, werewolves and the like.
===Ikoria===
On Ikoria, humans are the only remaining sentient species of the plane. Living in large cities called sanctuaries, the humans of Ikoria try to survive against the endless onslaught of their world's mutated monsters. The plane's primary sanctuaries are Lavabrink and Skysail, as well as the former cities of Drannith and Orn. Some of them, known as Bonders, establish mystical bonds called eludhas with beasts but this practice is frowned upon and is cause for exile from the cities.
===Ixalan===
Humans on Ixalan first appeared in the plane's core. They were known as the Komon Winaq, or Fifth People. The Komon would go on to found the Oltec civilization within the core, and later the Sun Empire on its surface.
The people of the Sun Empire on Ixalan believe they were formed from clay by the loving hands of Kinjalli, the Wakening Sun. They live alongside dinosaurs, without taming or domesticating them, but leading them into battle and harnessing them to heavy loads.Explore the Planes: Ixalan The humans of Torrezon live under the rule of aristocratic vampires of the Legion of Dusk, while others have fled to form the Brazen Coalition.
===Kaldheim===
The humans of Kaldheim live in the realm of Bretagard. The five clans are perpetually in conflict with one another, but can keep the peace through the "Code of Clans". These are the Beskir (), the Omenseekers (), the Skelle (), the Tuskeri () and the Kannah ().
===Mirrodin===
The humans of Mirrodin adapted to the metal planet, as had all races imported to the plane by growing organic metal pieces on their bodies. Mirrodin tribes consisted of the Auriok of the Razor Fields, the Neurok of the shore of the Quicksilver Sea, the Moriok of the Mephidross, the Vulshok of the Oxidda Chain, and the Sylvok of the Tangle.
All species on Mirrodin have metallic growths and plates that permeate and cover their bodies because of the effects of certain substances on the plane that interact with organic life. Humans all have such metallic growths, but color, material, coverage, and shape vary from tribe to tribe.
When the Phyrexians launched their initial assault, the Mirrans could not put aside their cultural differences, which made them easy to divide and conquer. The Morioks fell first, followed by the Neuroks, and finally the Sylvoks. Only the Aurioks and Vulshoks managed to hold any of their ground, and their populations were still decimated.
===Rabiah===
====Bird maidens====
===Rath===
Two tribes of humans, the nomadic Vec and the settled Dal, inhabited the blasted plains of Rath. Along with the Kor, an allied race of nonhumans, the Rathi tribes were steadfast enemies of the plane's cruel evincars save for the il, those of their numbers who joined the evincar's evil forces.
For more, see Rathi Tribes.
===Ravnica===
For unknown reasons, possibly to do with the higher standard of living, the humans of Ravnica have longer lifespans than humans on other planes. They are the only race that has members in large numbers in all of the plane's guilds. However, none of the guild's paruns are human, and human guildmasters are seldom.
===Zendikar===
The humans of Zendikar are incredibly resourceful, but their appearance is rather ragged, on account of the ongoing conflict and battle for survival.
==Trivia==
*Though many hybrid humanoid species exist, it is implied through Jace Beleren and Vraska's relationship that gorgons and humans are reproductively isolated. 
==Grand Creature Type Update== 
In the Grand Creature Type Update the following creature types were changed to Humans:
===Zombies===
The default race for zombies is human, which is usually never mentioned in the type line.
==Tokens==
The default for tokens is that they have just one creature type for simplicity, often excluding humans. R&D breaks that rule usually when it mechanically matters. For example, Human tokens are relevant for Innistrad block's tribal theme. In Amonkhet block, all embalmed and eternalized tokens keep their original types (also gaining the Zombie type), meaning that the block features many Human tokens.
;Heroes of the Realm
;Test cards
==Gallery==
File:ZendikariHumanConcepts.jpg|Black-aligned Zendikari Human concepts.
File:ZendikariHumanConcepts2.jpg|Black-aligned Zendikari Human concepts.
File:ZendikariHumanConcepts3.jpg|Zendikari Human concept.
File:InnistradiHumanConcepts.png|Innistradi Humans. Concept art by Steve Prescott.
File:InnistradiHumanConcepts2.png|Innistradi Humans from the Church of Avacyn. Concept art by Wayne Reynolds.
File:InnistradiHumanConcepts3.png|Innistradi Humans from the Church of Avacyn. Concept art by Steven Belledin.
File:InnistradiHumanConcepts4.png|Innistradi Humans. Concept art by Steve Prescott.
File:InnistradiHumanConcepts5.png|Innistradi Humans. Concept art by Richard Whitters (left) and Steve Prescott (right).
File:InnistradiHumanConcepts6.png|Innistradi Humans from the Church of Avacyn. Concept art by Steven Belledin.
File:InnistradiHumanConcepts7.png|Innistradi Humans. Concept art by Wayne Reynolds.
File:MonsterHunterConcepts.png|Ikorian monster hunters.
File:KaldheimrConcept.jpg|Concept art of a Kaldheimr Human warrior.
File:HumanWarriorModel.gif|3D model of a Kaldheimr warrior.
File:KaldheimrModel2.jpg|3D models of Kaldheimr warriors.
File:KaldheimrModel3.jpg|3D models of Kaldheimr warriors.
File:KaldheimrModel4.jpg|3D models of Kaldheimr warriors.
File:SkelleConcept2.jpg|3D models of Skelle raiders.
File:SkelleConcept3.jpg|3D models of Skelle raiders.
File:SkelleConcept4.jpg|3D models of Skelle raiders.
File:KaldheimrTrailer.png|A Kaldheimr warrior in the Kaldheim trailer.
File:TuskeriTrailer.png|A Tuskeri hedonist in the Kaldheim trailer.
File:Ruthless Ripper MTGA avatar NPE.png|An assassin of Clan Silumgar on Tarkir.
==References==