Human

Average mass
 Skin color
* Dark brown
* Pale pink
* Reddish
* Black
 Eye color
* Brown
* Amber
* Hazel
* Green
 Hair color
* Light brown
* Brown
* Dark brown
* Blonde
* White
* Gray
* Auburn
 Average lifespan
 Distinctions
* Extreme genetic variability
* John Shepard
* James T. Kirk
 Notable groups
* United Federation of Planets
* Earth Systems Alliance
* Unified Earth Government
* United Nations Space Command
* Outer Insurrectionists

**Humans**, taxonomically referred to as ***Homo sapiens*** ***sapiens*** (Latin for "*wise man*") are a sentient mammalian species native to Earth, in the Sol system. In the wake of the Reaper War and due in part to an esteemed lineage, humanity has grown to be recognized as one of the most important races in galactic history. A part of the primate family, they are the only extant species of a formerly diverse genus of multiple species once classified as human. Members of the species, like many other galactic species, are four-limbed and bipedal, which enables them to walk upright on two legs and use their arms and hands (including opposable thumbs) to hold and manipulate objects such as tools.

## Overview

The history of humanity is incredibly complex and cannot be pinned to one single planet or even one era, but several galactic dark ages would result in a massive loss of historical records. It was known by the Ecumene that Earth was indeed their original home.

In 110,000 BC, an earlier inter-species confederacy of humans known as the First Men (*Homo sapiens divinius* and several other species) had achieved a thriving interstellar civilization nearly on par with the Protheans, although their catastrophic defeat in the Thousand Year War would see them reduced to a pre-industrial state as hunter-gatherer tribes, forced to achieve technological sophistication on their own once again. Thanks to the efforts of the Prothean known as the Librarian, however, the First Men and their descendents were elevated to the role of "*Reclaimers*", intended to inherit the Mantle of Responsibility the Protheans used to hold.

The ancient human species would quickly rejuvenate after the firing of the Halo array. They would create a new civilization, simply called the First Civilization, and in time they would advance into at least Tier 3 status in only a few thousand years. Their mastery of technology resulted in the creation of the Pieces of Eden, as well as a new species of human, *homo sapiens*, whom they used as a domestic workforce. With early humans unable to comprehend the First Civilization for what they truly were, they were looked upon as gods. However, the First Men would prove themselves unworthy of the Mantle only 10,000 years after rebuilding their civilization, and their decadent and sedentary lifestyles would breed seeds of rebellion in the minds of their human slaves. Eventually, war broke out between the First Civilization and the humans. This, coupled with the onset of the Toba catastrophe, would see the First Men become extinct. Despite this, their legacy would live on for thousands of years in various myths and legends; some of their tools also withstood the test of time.

With the extinction of their unworthy masters, the Mantle would pass down the line to the humans. However, humanity would not begin to rise from the confines of their homeworld until nearly 40,000 years later, with the re-invention of space travel in the mid-20th century and the beginning of space colonization in the later half of the 21st century.

In the late 21st century, the resources of Earth where all but exhausted, and following a lengthy and costly World War, a devastating nuclear exchange would befall the planet. After a 40 year dark age, during which little advancement took place, humanity would rise from the ashes matured and humbled.

After World War III, the Great War of 2077 and an ensuing series of violent conflicts across the Sol system, humanity at large was finally brought under a single banner with the establishment of the Unified Earth Government in 2170. The invention of the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine heralded a new golden age for humanity. No longer confined to their home system, humans spread across the neighboring systems.

At the end of the 25th century, this age of flourish was coming to an end, and the rising economic and political tensions across the colonies eventually culminated in a series of civil conflicts collectively known as the Insurrection Wars. The war claimed millions of lives over the next three decades, but a far more dire threat loomed. In 2525, a theocratic alien hegemony known as the Covenant Empire invaded the colony world of Harvest, beginning the apocalyptic Human-Covenant War. For nearly three decades, humanity, under the emergency military governance of the United Nations Space Command, was pushed back by the relentless Covenant war machine, until the tide turned in 2552. With humanity teetering on the brink of extinction, the discovery of a Prothean artifact known as Halo set in motion a course of events which would lead to the fragmentation and eventual destruction of the Covenant.

Following the end of the war, humanity began to take on a more active role in the galactic community formed by the Covenant's dissolution, with new technological developments sped up by the discovery of Forerunner relics. However, these developments have not yet elevated them to the Tier 2 of technological advancement held by the Covenant. Despite the defeat of the Covenant, humanity continued to be gripped by conflict in the years following the war. In addition to threats from within in the form of renewed dissidence across the colonies, the UNSC was involved in hostilities with resurgent Covenant factions and the Ur-Didact's reawakened Promethean constructs.

The 28th century marked another historic change in human history. The discovery of an ancient Prothean data cache on Mars and of a mass relay buried on Pluto's moon Charon would push human technology forward 200 years. Humans first came to the attention of the galactic community as a whole after a brief but intense conflict with the Turians, known by humans as the brief but costly (for humanity) First Contact War, began in 2757. The conflict occurred 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 and several other bordering systems.

After the conflict with the Turians, a war-torn humanity would see aid given to them by the Vulcans, one of the most powerful races in the galaxy. This would thrust humanity into the limelight of galactic society. The humans and the vulcans would eventually found the United Federation of Planets, which encompassed a majority of both the Alpha and Beta Quadrants and eventually nearly a quarter of the entire galaxy.

Humanity and the Federation would come into conflict with several galactic empires, including the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Star Empire, and the Borg Collective. They would also assist the Citadel in several wars, against the Borg and in the brief Romulan Rebellion. Humans would be granted an embassy on the Citadel in 3165, nearly 500 years after discovering the Citadel. While this waiting period was by no means short, many species in the galaxy felt they had been given preferential treatment by the Council.

## Detailed History

### Prehistoric humans

The origins of humanity lay in the ancient race of beings known as the Precursors. Responsible for seeding the Milky Way with life, the Precursors genetically engineered early human species along with almost all other species in the galaxy, including Protheans, a would-be rival species to humanity. The First Men is a collective term usually associated with the prehistoric human civilization composed of a variety of human species. It can also refer to the First Civilization, the prominent human civilization in the centuries after the firing of the Halo array. The Precursors intended the First Men and their line to inherit the Mantle of Responsibility, their assumed role of guardianship for all life in the galaxy. The creation of the Catalyst artificial intelligence and subsequent creation of both the Reapers and the Cycle would lead to events spiraling out of the Precursor's control, and eventually leading to their extinction. After the Catalyst's extermination of the Precursors, the Protheans would eventually become the most powerful race in the galaxy, taking the place of the Precursors. They claimed the Mantle for themselves, using it not only as the basis of their society and religion but also as justification for securing their own dominance for thousands of years.

One of the oldest species of human, *Homo sapiens divinius*, is believed to have appeared in Earth's fossil record between approximately 200,000 and 300,000 years ago (another branch of *Homo sapiens* known as *Homo sapiens idaltu* was believed to have lived in around 160,000 BC). The first of the human genus evolved from a genus of upright ape-like hominids called Australopithecus (likely *Australopithecus afarensis*).

### Creation

*Homo sapiens* is not most recent species of human to have evolved on Earth, but they were rather artificially created by the First Civilization around 90,000 BC as a slave labor workforce. Other branches of the genus *Homo* were all species of what were once collectively known as "humanity", but now is only used in regard to *homo sapiens*, the only extant species. In prehistoric times, there was significant contact between the advanced humans of the species *divinius* and other members of the genus, both cultural and genetic, coexisting with species such as *Homo erectus*, *neanderthalensis* and *floresiensis*, and, based on residual genetic evidence, interbreeding with other species (1-4% of the DNA in European and East Asian humans is Neanderthal, while Melanesian people have 4% of Denisovan blood).

*Homo sapiens* was artificially created by the First Civilization to serve as docile servants, workers or soldiers, who saw their creators as gods. However, as time progressed, humanity came to resent the rule of their "gods". Two human slaves, Adam and Eve, would spark the rebellion by stealing an Apple of Eden. Other events followed and the period of peace that had existed between master and servant gave way to the Human-First Civilization War in around 75,010 BC.

The war blinded both humanity and the First Civilization to the goings-on beyond their planet, and as such neither race foresaw the pending catastrophe, a solar flare, that would nearly destroy both races.

Brought to the brink of extinction with the solar flare striking in about 75,000 BC, humanity and their "gods" came together to rebuild. Together, both species built at least three Vaults beneath what would become the city of Rome, to serve as a warning to humanity's descendants; unlike their "gods", whose small population was approaching complete extinction, humanity's sheer weight of numbers ensured their survival.

### Passing of the Mantle

As the years passed, the First Civilization inevitably became extinct, though humankind continued to revere them as gods in their various Pagan religions. It was not until the rise of three monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which soon spread across Earth, that humanity began to forget their "gods", though there were those who continued to worship them, and those who came to see the First Civilization for what they really were. Foremost among these groups were the Templars and the Assassins. These orders would persist for many ages, with each one trying to defeat the order in a conflict that was collectively about 77,000 years long. With the fall, redemption and extinction of the First Civilization, *homo sapiens*, being both their creations, descendants and the last human species alive, received the Mantle of Responsibility.

### Early civilizations

The development of recognizable human civilization started from the ability to harness the growth cycle of plants, producing edible food-energy in a systemic fashion. This time is referred to as the Neolithic Revolution, which occurred first on Earth over 10,000 years ago and soon spread to disparate human groups. The stability that came from systemic agriculture allowed for more permanent settlements and the development of ever-more-complex tools to further benefit the members of the species.

Innovated tool-making and the domestication of other species on Earth gave human populations greater and greater power to expand their populations, and trade ensured the diffusion of new technologies to adjacent groups. These exploding populations led to the formation of the first genuine civilizations over 8,500 years ago. The sites of such early cultures are believed to have formed in Southwest Asia and Asia Minor, and appeared elsewhere soon after. The infrastructure of civilizations continued to expand and grow in complexity as innovative technologies and larger populations allowed for increasing food-energy availability. Economic, political and scientific advancement continued to quicken as this species was able to automate many tasks in the Industrial Revolution several thousand years down the line.

#### Indus Valley and Mesopotamia

The Indus Valley civilization was a society that began around 3,000 BC and flourished around the Indus Valley region, which would eventually become India and Pakistan. Notable cities include Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. The Indus was one of the first to include a sewage system and governmental jurisdiction. Bath houses and ancient apartment-like complexes were dotted across their cities. Surprisingly, this civilization did not indulge in warfare very often, and it persisted for several centuries before eventually declining.

The next civilization rose in the region known as Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers around the same time as the Indus at around 3,500 BC. Slave labor began to be used once more in this time period, with many people being required to irrigate and tend the land, which was flooded irregularly. This was one of the first civilizations to introduce kings and monarchy to humanity, a governmental system which has been adopted by several other societies in the galaxy. A writing system was developed in Mesopotamia around 3,400-3,300 BC. Hammurabi of Babylon established a code of law, one of the first on the planet, and amassed a large empire.

#### Egypt

In about 2649 BC the ancient Egyptian civilization began to rise, which would last until 332 BC. The Nile river was instrumental in the establishment of this civilization, with regular and routine flooding allowing for a surplus of food. There were several dynasties and periods in Egypt's history, with the so-called "Old kingdom" lasting from about 2,649 BC to 2,152 BC, the "Middle" from 2,040 BC to 1,640 BC and the "New kingdom" from 1,550 BC to 1,070 BC. Hieroglyphics and several other writing systems were developed during this civilization. The Egyptians were famous for building several famous Earth structures, including the Pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx.

The Israelite Moses was born in Egypt around 1,393 BC. Moses' people had been oppressed in Egypt for long before his birth, and his being raised in the Egyptian government gave him a position of power that could not have been achieved by any other Israelite. He would go on to lead his people to freedom and eventually be responsible for the founding of the monotheistic religion of Judaism.

#### Greece and Persia

Perhaps two of the most famous early civilizations were the Persian Empire and the Greek civilization. The Persians rose at around 559 BC with the reign of Cyrus the Great. Cyrus conquered Babylon and most of Mesopotamia, and his descendants would conquer the Indus Valley, Egypt and several other civilizations. The Persians, while Zoroastrian, would enforce freedom of religion, a rarity among empires.

Greece, on the other hand, had been separated among various quarreling city-states. While culturally significant in their contributions to human art, architecture and philosophy, Greece as a whole would not unite until the city-state of Athens made war with King Xerxes' Persian Empire between 490 BC and 480 BC. These events where called the Persian Wars. Notable battles included the Battle of Thermopylae and the Battle of Marathon. Athens would seek the help of the other Greek city-states such as Sparta, winning the war and ushering in a new golden age for Greece.

#### India

India evolved from the Indus Valley civilization, which itself fell around 1,750 BC. Aryan migration to the Indian region led to the founding of the religion known as Hinduism, much of it out of the ancient text known as the Vedas. Hinduism and Buddhism, two of the most common religions in the region, are closely tied, with Buddhism largely growing out of old Hindu teachings. Reincarnation and karma are two of the persisting ideas from these two religions.

In 624 BC, Siddhartha Gautama was born in India, a wealthy prince who's father attempted to lock him away from all suffering. He recieved much but thought that there must be more to life. He escaped from the palace and after grasping the nature of suffering began to travel and teach, and the religion of Buddhism was born.

### Digital Revolution

The automation that began in the Industrial Revolution eventually gave birth to the Digital Revolution, in which computing machines allowed scientific discovery and technological development to accelerate with explosive speed. Larger urban centers and tools for civilian and military uses were able to develop, as were more modern economic and political systems. As these systems developed further, the species was able to enjoy longer, more pro-creative, and more comfortable lives, virtually impervious to other creatures from whose midst they sprang. Thus-unchecked, human population growth eventually led to the presence of several billions more humans on Earth than could be comfortably sustained, ultimately leading to a high demand for resources.