Written by Daniel MacGregor

Thumbnail Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

Fiction is a realm full of imaginary worlds from far up into the stars to deep below the Earth. This article is a deep fiction dive: We’ll explore trends in fictional stories and how these trends can be applied to the real world. In this deep dive, we will be looking at how modern science-fiction stories focus more on the impacts and actions of non-human actors, to the detriment of their human characters who are overshadowed by these (usually) omnipotent or god-like actors.

First, let’s review some definitions. Human agency in works of fiction can be described as any instance where the main conflicts, actions, and resolutions of the story are carried out primarily by characters depicted as (for the most part) regular human beings. A lack of human agency is when a large portion of the story focuses on non-human elements - this might be anything from aliens to gods. Alternatively, it might mean that non-human elements make up most of the agency or conflict in the story. In modern science-fiction, it has become increasingly common for these non-human elements to have the lion’s share of the story’s agency impacting the conclusion. From now on, this lack of human agency will be referred to as the lack-of-human-agency problem.

This issue occurs primarily in science-fiction stories wherein the author is trying to show us what may happen in the future, for better or for worse. Stories that sideline human agency usually involve two main storylines: a storyline featuring human characters, and a storyline featuring mainly non-human characters. The best way to illustrate the extent of the lack-of-human-agency problem is by jumping right into fictional worlds.

Literature: The Expanse

The Expanse is a book series by James S.A. Corey. The Expanse follows a solar system hundreds of years in the future, divided into three main political factions. All three factions are at odds with each other, hoping to gain dominance over the other two. The idea is similar to many wars in human history where there are conflicting states. In this dystopian future, there are three factions. First is the United Nations, which governs the overpopulated and resource-limited Earth. Earth has the largest but most outdated military, and it is still struggling internally with old tensions in rebellious regions. Second, there is Mars, which has been colonized and organized into the Mars Congressional Republic. Mars has a small but advanced military and is working to make the red planet more livable. Finally, there is the Asteroid Belt and outer moons which are populated by an oppressed group known as the Belters, which have organized into a militant group called the Outer Planets Alliance. These three have been at odds for decades as Mars and Earth struggle for dominance, and the OPA fights for independence.

Right from the start, humans have huge problems, from limited natural resources to inter-planetary conflicts. For most of the books, there is a significant focus on these political and military disputes between the three human groups. However, these smaller conflicts are almost always propelled by the main storylines. The main storylines follow the old trope of a dead ancient alien empire which has left behind some portion of its civilization. The remnants of this once great alien civilization drive the story forward and ultimately overshadow the human world’s conflicts.

Anime: Gundam

Do not worry; we won't be going far into the often-bewildering world of Anime. Instead, let’s touch briefly on one of the most famous, Gundam. In case you haven’t heard of it, Gundamn is the one with the giant humanoid robots piloted by teenagers.

Much like The Expanse, the Gundam Universal Century timeline sets up a world with interesting political and social ramifications of space colonization. The human element follows conflicts between a united Earth government, known as the Earth Federation, and numerous space colonies known as "Sides." Sides are primarily oppressed and controlled by Earth via military force. The central conflict is known as the One Year War and is between the Earth Federation and a collective of Sides that declare independence.

So far, a good look at how humans create their own greatest problems, such as total war. However, the solutions to these problems are carried out by humans. Especially in some particular series of Gundam, the plot's central characters are all a further evolution of humans known as “New Types.” The New Types are labelled as the future of human evolution, who have developed enhanced mental capabilities. Some of these capabilities allow them to form mental links with others, detect danger, communicate with people beyond the grave, and even travel in time. In this story, this is explained as a connection to the dimension where the human soul travels to beyond death, a science-fantasy concept that quickly overshadows the actions of the living humans with no superpowers.

Television: Game of Thrones and Tribes of Europa

These two stories have similar plot points, so we can cover both of them together. Both shows involve a world of small states engaged in a power struggle for dominance.

Tribes of Europa, a German Netflix production, deals with the aftermath of all technology in the world failing. It features a fractured version of Europe, which has devolved into hundreds of warring tribes. There are two plotlines that deal with human stories. The first follows the Crimson Republic, a state which is built on old-world (extinct) European values. The second plotline follows the stereotypical black-leather-wearing, Mad Max-like raiders, who are called The Crows. These two plotlines deal with the brutal conflict and intrigue between warring factions. They also depict the suffering caused to the innocent bystanders caught between them, and the overall effects of human war. However, there is a third plotline that is based on non-human agency. The show features three siblings who split apart after their tribe is attacked by The Crows who were looking for a special cube. A third and main plotline of the story follows this cube, which is an object so scientifically advanced it may as well be magic and it originates from a tribe called Atlantis. Finally, it is revealed the real driving force of the story are not the warring human tribes, but rather a non-human swarm of killer robots coming from the east.

Similarly, the widely popular HBO series Game of Thrones involves seven feudal states within a larger kingdom. Each state is vying for political supremacy in a medieval setting, with all the war and horrors such vying brings. Game of Thrones follows a similar trend as that of Tribes of Europa, where a non-human menace threatens all of humanity. In the Game of Thrones’ case, the White Walkers, who are an army of undead, are coming from the North. Although the particular reason why is never entirely explained. Like The Expanse and Gundam, the plotlines following human characters' importance are eventually made irrelevant by the non-human forces and actors.

Video Games: Halo

Halo takes place five hundred years in the future, where a highly militaristic version of humanity has colonized hundreds of planets. The game follows the super-soldier Master Chief, who was created to kill rebels (more oppressed space colonists). However, the appearance of a group of alien religious zealots known as the Covenant quickly overshadows internal human strife. It is revealed that humanity is the true successor to an ancient alien empire that the Covenant worship as Gods. Consequently, the Covenant declares war against humanity for that reason. The leaders of the Covenant decide it's easier to eradicate all of humanity than admit this truth. Once again, human internal conflicts are quickly replaced by aliens.

Conclusion

The trend to have human agency and plot lines replaced by non-human actors is essential because (as far as we know) no omnipotent aliens or divine forces will solve the many problems humanity faces in reality. Like a core ice sample from the arctic used to find clues into the past, literature history provides cues for how this change came to be. Following decades of world wars, clashing ideologies, and rising state powers, it seemed impossible humans could ever solve our own problems.

This loss of hope in the human agency is demonstrated in the classic science-fiction literature of the 20th century, where there seemed to be no worldly solution to the problems of our creation, such as war, colonialism, and famine. In 1984, George Orwell's world left to human agency alone was one of constant warfare, surveillance, and Big Brother. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World was a world of drug addiction, the death of creativity, and worship to capitalism. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is a world of book burning that ends in nuclear destruction.

Following this systematic destruction of human agency’s power and the hopelessness of it being the solution to any of our problems, it is no surprise that science-fiction turned to creating stories where non-human characters drive the plot, and are almost always responsible for solving human problems. Unfortunately for us, no aliens are coming to cause us to come together or fix our problems; only we can correct our problems. It might be the case that we need fiction to show us both a better way forward, and the paths better left untaken.

Fiction Deep Dive: Why Humans Are Never the Solution in Modern Science-Fiction

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