[Loved Trope] Humans have something inherently interesting about them instead of being average or the "weak but populous" species.

[u/funcancelledfornow]

Also known as "humans are special", this trope is actually rarer than I expected it to be.

1) The humans in the Wake graphic novel series are the only species without telepathic powers, which means they're immune to psi abilities and are hard to detect.

2) In the Grand Central Arena books, while trying to achieve faster than light travel, the crew of a ship end up in the place where all the species of the universe meet. They pretty quickly realize how humans are way more willing to take risks compared to all the other species.

[u/Sex_E_Searcher]

DnD 3.5E - Humans get an extra feat and skill point, making them arguably the strongest of the core player character races.

[u/nir109 → u/Sex_E_Searcher]

Same for vereint humans in dnd5e2014

[u/MrGreen44 → u/nir109]

And Versatile Human in Pathfinder 2e

[u/Zealousideal_Leg213 → u/Sex_E_Searcher]

But they also get neither an ability bonus nor an ability penalty, which means they can be alright at everything, but maybe not the best.

In 4th Edition D&D, most species get bonuses to one ability score and to their choice of two others and no penalties. Humans get a bonus to one ability score, but it can be to any one. They also get the extra feat and extra skill and can take either an extra starting at-will power (making them more flexible) or the Heroic Effort power, which lets them add a bonus to one of their rolls to turn it into a success.

[u/Zealousideal_Leg213 → u/Sex_E_Searcher]

In Basic D&D, the main classes (cleric, fighter, thief, wizard) were all human and non-humans were their own class. Humans could achieve 36 levels of experience whereas elves, dwarves and halflings were restricted to fewer than 20.

[u/themat6 → u/Sex_E_Searcher]

Ad&D/bg1-2 human dual classing too

[u/KaboHammer → u/Sex_E_Searcher]

Good example, bad explenation.

The human quirk in both mechanics and lore of DnD 3.5 is that they learn everything considerably faster then other main races. Hence the extra skill points and feat and also why they are everywhere and more importantly why they are thriving everywhere.

They also don't have a specific, or can choose, a favoured class, which also puts the focus on them learning to be good at what they choose rather then being naturally good at something like all the races that have a preset favoured class.