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I think many questions can be answered (ignoring that this is fiction) by taking into account that their world is not Earth and therefore, despite appearances, they are not actually human. I don't think this is something that will ever be part of the story -- the characters in GoT have no idea of where they are or the existence of Earth -- indeed, in their universe there may well be no Earth.

It makes a difference in the sense that many questions about the plausibility of something happening, like people being brought back to life, increases when one accepts that this is not Earth and so these are not humans.

Jeff
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    It's magic, it doesn't need to be that plausible. The question is whether it's been pushed too far for your suspension of disbelief. Have they used too much magic, it sounds like for you that boundary has been broken. – Separatrix Aug 15 '17 at 09:24
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    Why do you assume that if it is not Earth, then they cannot possibly be human? Zillions of fantasy books have been set on what does not seem to be our own Planet Earth (neither in the past nor in the future), but with characters who are stated or implied to be "human," even if no historical connection to the people of Earth is ever referred to. Why should GRRM's characters be any different? – Lorendiac Aug 15 '17 at 10:56
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    So it being not our Earth finally explains why the White Walkers are not storming Norway after all. –  Aug 15 '17 at 13:02
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    There are at least two different types of human in the world of GoT, then Andals who come to Westeros from Essos through Dorne, and the First Men who came from the North. However, by all accounts they are 100% genetically compatible, so they could simply be two different races of the same species. – SGR Aug 15 '17 at 13:48
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    @SGR The First Men also came from Essos through Dorne, but Dorne was connected to Essos by a land bridge at the time. The First Men, Andals and Rhoynar are all just races of one human species. – Patrick Wynne Aug 15 '17 at 17:06
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    If think it gets to philosophy there. In fantasy it's pretty arbitrary who is called human. – Mithoron Aug 15 '17 at 19:56
  • Why is this getting close votes, this is clearly answered by canonical answers. – Edlothiad Aug 15 '17 at 20:13
  • Similar: Are the humans in the Star Wars Galaxy really humans? – wyvern Aug 16 '17 at 00:37
  • @sumelic: They could be ancient ancestors of Earth humans -- it is sort of different because it is implied it is same universe as ours. – Jeff Aug 16 '17 at 00:40
  • Possible duplicate of What planet does Game of Thrones happen on? – Möoz Aug 16 '17 at 04:15
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    Could you please make this post contain a question? no idea what you are asking about.... – Zaibis Aug 16 '17 at 09:48
  • @Zaibis: You are not asking a question; you are telling me you don't understand something, which is very interesting but I don't think I can help you. – Jeff Aug 16 '17 at 09:52
  • Are you are asking if many of the characters in universe of ASoIaF can be considered human, when they exist in a magical universe that includes characters that can exist in states between the living the dead, be reincarnated in some way, or even warg into animals. I think that many of the characters are "human", but the purpose of these other things is to question what identity is and/or to debate if there is predetermined fate running the lives of the characters. – Darth Locke Oct 29 '18 at 20:26
  • It's all MEN must die.:) – A.R.K Oct 30 '18 at 02:45

2 Answers2

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The people are referred to as men, humans and living ones numerous times. They are men, not some fictional race like elves or dwarves or ents etc. Just because their world isn't Earth (Even though it has been referred to as earth, but there are grammatical differences between Earth and earth), doesn't mean they aren't humans.

GRRM has answered the question about what exactly is the World set in ASOIAF.

This may be a silly question, but: When you think of the world you’ve created, where seasons last for years, where is it? It is another planet?

It’s what Tolkien wrote was “the secondary world.” It’s not another planet. It’s Earth. But it’s not our Earth. If you wanted to do a science fiction approach, you could call it an alternate world, but that sounds too science fictional. Tolkien really pioneered that with Middle Earth. He put in some vague things about tying it to our past, but that doesn’t really hold up. I have people constantly writing me with science fiction theories about the seasons — “It’s a double star system with a black dwarf and that would explain–” It’s fantasy, man, it’s magic.

Also on the Planet's size and being round he said:

3) Is your world round. I mean if Dany traveled far enough east couldnt she come to the other side of westeros?

Yes, the world is round. Might be a little larger than ours, though. I was thinking more like Vance's Big Planet.... but don't hold me to that.

People being brought back to life is magic, not some physical capability exclusive to some non human species. As GRRM says, It’s fantasy, man, it’s magic.

Aegon
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  • But, are GoT humans, human in biology and stuff? Like, they don't bleed green or anything, right? Not a GoT reader / watcher – Malady Aug 15 '17 at 12:17
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    @Malandy Humans are humans by all available evidence. The only exceptions are some of the Targaryens (fire resistant) which suggests some non-human lineage. The giants, and children of the forest are non-human. The White Walkers are not really human any more but there is a suggestion that they may have been created out of humans. – Tim B Aug 15 '17 at 12:30
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    @Malandy No they don't. They are humans by both anatomy and morphology. They have same body parts, same blood, same traits and everything – Aegon Aug 15 '17 at 12:35
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    @TimB it's been said again and again that Targaryens are not fire resistant. What happenned with Dany is a one time magical thing. See https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/37473/84138 – Rosme Aug 15 '17 at 12:36
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    @TimB No Targaryens aren't fireproof.Dany being unburnt is a miraculous one time event. Plenty of Targaryens died of burns. Author has been clear on this. White Walkers themselves are a distinct species in the books, in the show they are converted men – Aegon Aug 15 '17 at 12:36
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    @Rosme Dany at least twice, and hints in other place. She used it both when the dragons were hatched and when she was captured by the Dothraki and burning down the house around her. There was also a scene where she entered a bath that was too hot with no sign of discomfort and the scene where she took the hot eggs from the fire but they burnt her handmaiden..... I can't speak to the books as I haven't read them so my comment is specific to the show. – Tim B Aug 15 '17 at 12:41
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    @Aegon ^ see above – Tim B Aug 15 '17 at 12:41
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    It's clearly not a universal trait (her brother burnt just fine from the gold crown he was "given") but Dany herself and potentially others clearly have something going on which is connected to their dragons but the origins are unclear. – Tim B Aug 15 '17 at 12:43
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    @TimB I have actually answered a question on specifically multiple instances of fire immunity. Dany liking hot water is not something special, I do as well, I am not blood of the dragon. The dragons however don't feel heat like others do e.g Aegon V used to be very cool in heat. Dany was the same. And they have better immunity from disease, at least dany does. The house thing is show only event, not a books event so GRRM cant be blamed – Aegon Aug 15 '17 at 12:50
  • @Aegon I'm not "blaming" anyone (and GRRM consults on the show so he clearly signed off on it). Either way it sounds like we're saying the same thing. Some of them (but definitely not all) have an unspecified form of fire immunity from an unknown source. That source seems to be inherited as the family is linked with dragons and the dragon was not near her in the cottage incident so it's not dragon proximity. If it is inherited then that suggests they are not fully human - at a minimum their association with dragons has enhanced them. – Tim B Aug 15 '17 at 12:58
  • So Planetos is not a thing? Cos I was really hoping that Planetos would be a thing... Also, @Aegon, does a quote exist where "their world" (i.e. Planetos) is referred to as earth? – Lord Praxis Aug 15 '17 at 14:18
  • @LordPraxis Planetos is a fandom joke. I am not aware if GRRM has adopted that. As for quotes, There are plenty – Aegon Aug 15 '17 at 14:21
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    @Aegon: I was very disappointed that the show had the White Walkers as converted humans -- much better that they be a distinct species. Or at least that we don't yet know what they are. – Jeff Aug 15 '17 at 15:22
  • @Jeff Join the club mate ;) – Aegon Aug 15 '17 at 15:26
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    Whatever affinity the Targaryen lineage have with fire and dragons is a result of ancient Valyrian fire magic, not their genes having fire-resistant midichlorians or other sci-fi crap. As GRRM has clearly stated than once, the Urbunt event was a one-off miracle. It's not a species trait anymore than Jesus' ability to walk on water. (The fishy people, on the other hand, may well be the result of interbreeding with non-human abominations, given that they're a direct tribute to Lovecraft. Or else they're just altered by sea magic.) – melissa_boiko Aug 15 '17 at 21:17
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    @Aegon: There's a club?? What do you do at meetings besides discuss origins of White Walkers? Too specific for me, I'm afraid. – Jeff Aug 15 '17 at 23:29
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    @TimB, actually, GRRM has said that his association with the show has been very little since Season 5. He has signed away creative rights in a large way and does not have a direct hand in where they are taking the story. He has also explicitly stated that Dany has no form of fire immunity, the birth of her dragons was a unique event. In fact, in the books she actually is singed by a near Miss from Drogon. The show is fun and I enjoy it, but you can't draw ASoIaF conclusions from what happens in the show, it's like they are different 'canon'. – Paul Aug 16 '17 at 15:01
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It is true that magical nature of A Song of Ice and Fire purposes a different set of quantum mechanics than our real world humans of Earth, but since you have not defined your intended definition of being human outside of a location for humans to exist (Earth), you have to consider all of the things that make someone human whether on a biological level (homo sapiens) or a conscious level (sentient) or emotional level (qualities and characteristics of human beings: social/cultural anthropology) and that doesn't necessarily rely on "where" a human is from...

IMO most of the characters presented in the work have human qualities, despite whether they are textbook human or not by reacting to their experiences in ways the reader or viewer can relate to.

However, I do think the magical nature of the universe, including characters human and/or otherwise either existing in states between life and death (Lady Stoneheart, TV series White Walkers, army of the dead), or some characters that can metaphysically transform (wargs, glamour magic, reincarnation), or are from a non-human lineage (Targaryens) are all included in the work to make us question what identity is, as there are arguments and mysteries presented through out the work about whom any of these characters really are or if what they believe is the absolute truth. There then is a question if identity or concerns over identity is also inherently a human trait?

This is furthered by notions that there may be some predetermination (ie: Hodor's Paradox) in which all of the characters may be at the expense of cycle cosmology (fate) and have little control over their fates, despite what any of them believe to be true. This doesn't really make then less human (figuratively speaking) however, because no single character is all powerful and all knowing, which is still true to how most of people of Earth experience life.

Darth Locke
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