Saiyans
When Raditz first tells Goku the big news, this is what he says:
He doesn’t say that Goku isn’t a human, only that he isn’t a human of this planet. Admittedly that’s hardly bullet-proof evidence on its own, but it fits in well with the later quotes. This is also a good example of how a lot of these instances where aliens are referred to as humans tend not to survive translation. Here, it sounds a lot better in English just to say that Goku isn’t from this planet, rather than to bother saying that he’s not a human from this planet. In Viz for instance, Raditz just tells Goku that he “is no Earthling”. I can’t exactly blame them for that, but it does make my job in this thread a tad harder.First, you are not one of this planet’s humans!! You were born on Planet Vegeta, and are part of the strongest warrior race in the entire universe, the Saiyans!!!
Next, there’s when Vegeta explains to Goku about the Oozaru transformation:
There’s a few interesting things about this quote. First of course is that we’ve got a pure Saiyan, born and raised, referring to his race as “human”. Second though is the distinction between human Saiyans and Oozaru Saiyans. In other words, only regular Saiyans count as humans, while once they transform into Oozarus they apparently no longer do. So it seems that in DB terms, being a human isn’t simply a matter of species. Members of a certain species can potentially transform from human to non-human. Being human also apparently doesn’t have to do solely with sentience or intelligence, since as an Oozaru, Vegeta is clearly every bit as intelligent as normal (for as much as that’s worth). This also raises the question of what an Oozaru Saiyan counts as, if they’re not human. I guess they probably count as animals.The battle power of a Saiyan who has become an Oozaru is 10 times what it is when they’re human!!!!
Much later in the series, when No.18 is fighting Vegeta, she says:
So there it is again: Vegeta may be an alien, but he’s still a human.I’m surprised. Even if you are an alien, who would have thought that a flesh-and-blood human could do so much?
Then later in the fight, No.17 adds:
Remember, 17 and 18 may be ignorant of what a Super Saiyan is, but they’re shown to clearly be aware that Goku and Vegeta are Saiyans (the 18 quote above being one example). Speaking of which, I think I just found a plot hole: the first time Vegeta is said to be the Saiyan prince is during the Namek arc, right? But 17 refers to Vegeta as the Saiyan prince during his battle with 18. Gero didn’t monitor Goku and co. on Namek, so how does 17 know that?Son Goku is the strongest in the world, right? Among humans, that is…
Anyway, in the Boo arc when Kibito is healing Gohan, he says:
Kaioshin and Kibito both know what a Super Saiyan is (to a certain extent at least), so they presumably know that Goku and co. are aliens. I suppose that taking this quote on its own you could argue that Gohan, being half Earthling, counts as a human while Goku or Vegeta don’t, but of course the above quotes show that pure Saiyans count as humans. In Viz instead of human, Kibito calls Gohan a “mortal”. Viz likes to have gods (and sometimes demons) refer to regular folks as “mortals”, even though the term doesn’t really fit DB’s worldview, since all DB gods have natural lifespans and are capable of being killed. There are a few other quotes during the Boo arc where Kibito or Kaioshin refer to Goku and the other Saiyans as human, but I’ll save those for the “gods” section later.To think that there would be a human who’d move with such gigantic energy as this
Finally, there’s this quote from Goku from when he’s telling Piccolo about his ingenious plan to drag the Boo arc out a few extra volumes:
So even years after learning that he’s a Saiyan, Goku still refers to himself as a human.I’m no longer a human who’s particularly even supposed to be here…I shouldn’t be the one to do it. It’d be better for these young guys to solve things somehow or another…
There are some quotes that go against this notion that Saiyans and other aliens count as humans, though notably they both come from before the concept of aliens is introduced into the story. First, there’s Goku’s remark during his final battle with Piccolo Daimao:
Still, though Goku entertains the notion of not being a human before he learns of his Saiyan origin, the Boo arc quote above shows that even years after finding out that he’s a Saiyan he still considers himself human.Piccolo: Th…there’s no way that a human could possibly stand against me, Piccolo Daimao-sama…
Goku: Hehehe…I’ve got a tail, so maybe I’m not human…
Then there’s this exchange between Shen and Yamcha at the 23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai:
So Yamcha doesn’t seem to think that aliens are humans. But hey, this is Yamcha we’re talking about here. What’s he know about anything? But then, what does Shen mean when he says he’s not human, anyway? It’s not until the Saiyan arc that the God of Earth learns he’s a Namekian, after all. Apparently, the idea is that being a god means he doesn’t count as a human. Anyway, this brings me to my next two topics: Namekians (plus aliens in general), and gods.Shen: Don’t let this get out, but actually…I’m not human.
Yamcha: Hehhehhe…So that’s what you wanted to say?…Don’t tell me you’re claiming to be an alien or something?
Namekians and other aliens
OK, so actually I haven’t been able to find any instances where Namekians (who are known to be Namekians) are referred to as “human”. There is this statement from Goku during the 23rd TB though:
So according to Goku, God and Piccolo were originally a human. This human split into two; the good half become a god, and the evil half became a demon. Of course, Goku didn’t know God was a Namekian at this point, so this doesn’t really prove anything about Namekians counting as humans. If does however nicely disprove the misconception some people have that Piccolo was only considered a demon because of his funky Namekian features or whatever. Here we see that the child of Katatz was seen as a human, and only Piccolo was considered a demon.God and Piccolo were originally a single human…The evil heart he expelled in order to become God turned into Piccolo…That’s why if either of them kills the other, they’ll both die…
Anyway, there is at least one line indicating that aliens besides Saiyans also count as humans. While fighting Goku, Ginyu says this:
So Ginyu considers himself human. And if aliens like Saiyans count as humans, and even more weird-looking (by DB standards) aliens like Ginyu count as humans, I can’t see any reason why Namekians would not also count as humans as well.The truth is that I’m also the type of human who can freely change their battle power…!
Gods and whatnot
OK, so to backtrack a bit, here are some quotes from the 23rd TB again:
Shen: Don’t let this get out, but actually…I’m not human.
There’s also this one from Shen, during his fight with Piccolo:Goku: God and Piccolo were originally a single human…The evil heart he expelled in order to become God turned into Piccolo…That’s why if either of them kills the other, he’ll die himself…
So Shen/God doesn’t consider himself a human, while Goku refers to him as originally having been a human. So it seems that despite having once been human, now that he’s a god he no longer counts as one.Even considering that I’ve borrowed a weak human body, the gap between our powers is too big…He must have trained considerably in his own way.
On the other hand, there’s Popo’s line from when Goku first comes to the temple. Popo says that Goku is “the first human to have ever come here”. This is inconsistent with the notion that the child of Katatz was a human before becoming God, since obviously he came to the temple before. But then, Popo’s line is pretty inconsistent with all we know about the whole DB god system anyway. Popo’s been around to see many Gods of Earth come and go, and presumably these gods were all selected from amongst the inhabitants of Earth, just as the child of Katatz was. So unless Earthlings don’t count as human in DB terms (!), I’d say we should just ignore Popo’s line about no human having ever come there before.
There are also a few things Popo says to Goku that indicate that he doesn’t consider himself human:
You did well to defeat Piccolo Daimao, despite being a human.
So Popo is not human, and God isn’t a human, but God used to be a human, before he became God (probably).We’re incredibly high in the air up here. The air is thin. It’s tough on you humans.
Moving on to Kaioshin and Kibito, after Goku kills Yakon, Kaioshin says:
It’s kind of interesting that Kaioshin specifically says “humans of the lower world”. So are there humans of the upper world? Perhaps this means that not everybody in the afterlife is automatically a non-human. We now know that Kaios and Kaioshins are chosen from members of a race called the Shin-jin (Core People). Perhaps ordinary Shin-jin count as humans, while only those who have been selected to be Kaios or Kaioshins don’t? They are Core People after all, and aren’t people humans? Maybe?Wh…what a completely unbelievable fact…that I, Kaioshin, should be thrown into a panic by humans of the lower world…
Earlier I quoted a line from Kibito talking about how unbelievable it is for a human like Gohan to have so much energy. This implies that Kibito doesn’t consider himself human. There are some other lines like that. When Kaioshin tells Kibito to bring Gohan to the Kaioshin Realm, Kibito says:
Kaioshin and Kibito have been to the Kaioshin Realm before, so obviously they don’t count as human. And Kibito’s annoyance at the idea of a mere human going where even the Dai-Kaio isn’t allowed indicates that the Dai-Kaio is also not a human. So presumably all Kaios and Kaioshins aren’t human.Y…you can’t seriously mean…that you intend to let a human into the Ka…Kaioshin Realm…!? In…into that sacred region which not even the Dai-Kaio is able to enter…
Finally, once they all reach the Kaioshin Realm and Kaioshin reveals his plan to have Gohan use the Z Sword to defeat Majin Boo, Kibito says:
This shows even more clearly than before that Kibito doesn’t consider himself human.A-are you serious, Kaioshin-sama…?!! There’s no way that a human or the like would be able to use the Z Sword!! That legendary sword which not merely myself, but numerous Kaioshins were utterly unable to handle…
So in summary, planetary gods and their attendants, as well as Kaios, Kaioshins, or their attendants, do not count as humans in DB terms.
Demons
OK, so gods don’t count as human, but what about demons? They don’t seem to make the cut either. During the Daimao arc, there’s several instances of Piccolo and his spawn referring to humans in contemptuous terms. For instance, there’s Tambourine’s line from his second fight with Goku:
Then there’s Piccolo’s line from his final battle with Goku, quoted earlier:I'm…impossible…There’s no way we warriors of the Demon Clan…could be d…done in by a human…
There’s also a few other lines like that, particularly with Piccolo during the 23rd TB, but you get the idea. Daimao and his demon spawn don’t consider themselves human.Th…there’s no way that a human could possibly stand against me, Piccolo Daimao-sama…
What about Majin Boo? He does refer to humans in an “othering” sort of way like Piccolo and co. do, going on about killing humans, eating candy made from humans, etc. Also, Oob’s Daizenshuu 7 bio describes him as Majin Boo reincarnated as a human, indicating Boo himself wasn’t human.
Androids
As you probably know, androids are literally jinzou-ningen, “artificial humans”. And we’ve already seen the quote where 17 refers to Goku as the strongest in the world…among humans. There’s also Kuririn’s attempted wish after the Cell Games where he asks Shenlong to return Androids No.17 and 18 into the “humans they were before”. So 17, 18, Cell, etc aren’t humans…they’re artificial humans. Fairly simple. Incidentally, the idea that Cell, a being made primarily from alien DNA, is an “artificial human” is another example of how aliens count as humans in DB.
Animals, animal-type Earthlings, and monsters
In DB there are those humanoid animal people, like Oolong or the King. The daizenshuu and later guidebooks classify these people as animal-type Earthlings. Here’s an explanation from Daizenshuu 7:
Daizenshuu 4 describes animal-type Earthlings in this way: “they look like animals, but they speak, use weapons, express human emotions, and behave just like humans”. Human-type Earthlings are the “most numerous kind of Earthling, the general human type”; these include people like Bulma or Yamcha. Meanwhile, monster-types are “Earthlings who fit into neither the animal-type nor human-type”, such as weirdoes like Pilaf. As seen in the Daizenshuu 7 quote, confusingly all 3 of these types count as humans, although only one in particular is identified as “human-type”. They’re just extra humany humans, I guess. Regardless, it’s clear that Oolong and co. are human.Earthlings are by nature composed of 3 completely different-looking types of humans. These are the human-types, the animal-types, and the monster-types. What’s more, even within those types of humans, there are many people who look completely different. Because of this, it seems that they have developed an ethics of not discriminating against humans based on their appearance.
On the other hand, there are regular animals like Sea Turtle or Bee, who don’t have humanoid bodies like Oolong. Daizenshuu 4 classifies them as simply animals, separate from animal-type Earthlings. Animals like these presumably don’t count as humans. When Goku meets Bulma, he says that she’s the first other human he’s met, though he’s been constantly surrounded by animals like tigers, bears, and fish. Oozaru Saiyans would probably also qualify as animals, since as we’ve seen they’re not humans.
Either that or they’re just monsters. Daizenshuu 4 refers to Giran as a “monster who is neither a member of the Demon Clan nor a monster-type Earthling”. So just as regular animals are separate from animal-type Earthlings, there are also regular monsters who are separate from monster-type Earthlings. Buyon’s also counted as a monster. Monsters like these probably aren’t humans either. Then there’s Yakon, who Kaioshin refers to as a majuu, a demonic/magical beast. Essentially, this is the animal equivalent of the term majin, demonic/magical person. So Yakon counts as a beast, not a human.
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And that’s about it. Here’s a chart to help keep all of that straight:
Human
Human-type Earthlings
---Kuririn, Tenshinhan, Bulma, etc
Animal-type Earthlings
---Oolong, Puar, Shuu, the King, the Carrotizer Bunny, etc
Monster-type Earthlings
---Pilaf, Mummy-kun, Dracula Man, the Invisible Man
Saiyans (except when Oozaru)
---Goku, Vegeta, etc
Namekians (probably)
---Dende, the child of Katatz, Piccolo (after recovering from his spat of demonism), etc
Miscellaneous aliens
---Ginyu, Freeza (probably), etc
Non-Human
Gods and their attendants
---God of Earth, Mister Popo, Kaios, Kaioshins, Kibito, etc
Demons
---Piccolo Daimao, Tambourine, Majin Boo, etc
Animals
---Sea Turtle, Oozaru Saiyans, Yakon (kind of a crossover between “animal” and “demon”), etc
Androids
---Nos.17, 18, Cell, etc