Alright. You know how in many different stories the local humans are quickly labeled known one or more as the following-

Warriors
Bloodthirsty
Willing to do anything they deem necessary
Carnivores
Brutal
Warlike
Batshit insane
Bloody-Bloody Gun-Gun

Now, at first I chalked it up on misanthropy. Personally I have no problems with it. At first I went along with it, but then I slowly realized that in their 'Humans Are Bastards' stories, there's actually a good reason for all the ponies to see humans in the way misanthropes do.

A few key facts-

It's usually the ponies that call them that.
The ponies are not the only sapient species on the planet.
They are herbivores.
There are carnivores.
And then everything in between.

Now, back here on Earth, you really can't tell if one human is particularly violent or gentle. That has more to do with their upbringing and personality. Sure, you could make a guess, but even if you get some things right, then, there will be things about them that will surprise you.

Now, go to their world. There are multiple species. Obviously, there will be instinct differences. So that's where I'm getting this headcanon-

The reason most ponies quickly label humans as one of the above, isn't because we are warlike, but because that's how their world works.

Stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason. Like how all Germans drink beer. True, Germany has had a long history with the stuff, but as per human standards, not all Germans like beer. (Blasphemy!) So while you could assume that the German guy you work with loves beer, at the same time, you really couldn't. At the end of the day, we're all human, so the simplest way is to just ask him.

But in their world, they're not all ponies. They coexist with totally different species, who are guaranteed to be wired differently. Take for example, the stereotype of griffons being militant or brutal is because of their ancestors who chewed on some succulent pony leg. That's not their upbringing. That's how their head works. If you see a griffon, you can assume that they won't be the most pleasant to talk to. (Or maybe they will be, if you're like that.) So in their world, stereotypes, aren't. They're legitimate labels on beings of another species. True, it can be suppressed with upbringing, take for example, the local dragon assistant. For most of his life, he's pretty much a pony in scales, but he's shown his greed before. Not because he was brought up that way, but because he's a dragon.

What if there are species that are the 'Jack-of-all-Trades'? Well then my headcanon means nothing. But let's pretend they don't exist.

Take a look at the news. (I know, it's out of nowhere, but stick with me.) What do you see? Another killing? Something about the shitstorm that is the Middle East? More local robbers? Say what you want, but unfortunately, to fellow humans, bad news sells. There's an entire group called Humans Aren't Bastards which was made specifically for combating the stereotype that we're warmongering dicks. Even then the mere existence of the phrase "Look on the bright side of life" says that we like to focus on the bad aspects, even if we don't want to. And most likely, if we meet another species that we can converse and play cards with, that's what we're going to be remembered for. Or maybe they'll actually see all that good that happens on both worlds. Let's hope it's the latter.

tl;dr

Humans are quickly labeled because there are different species and they're all different, thus they will assume we are just one crowd of whatever they remember us for.

So here's a mental picture.

You know how in various stories we see a character get split into different personalities, one for his loving side, his angry side, his sad side, so on and so forth? Well, just imagine that the many different species of their world is like that.

Oh damn. It's four in the morning and I just realized that the coffee I drank is decaf.

Wait. It's water.

Welp. Enough internet for today.

1749136 ITS NEVER ENOUGH INTERNET!!

I wish everyone could see the world like this, knew this whole explication, because this is the truth.
Most writers can't even grasp how the ponies could see us only because here in Earth only the humans are the sentien species.
But anyway, the whole idea behind this is proofed in history, many times, and even though we humans, as species, can be and tend to be violent, we doesn't necessiraly are, within our species.
(Because, in this 'modern' world, that depends on what is in the interest of the government/rich and influental people.)

Welp, good job putting this together sir, you have my respect.

I think the ponies would think of humanity as a whole as "The Determinator".

1749136

Humanity....

Are humans naturally evil? Or do we all have a little evil in all of us? Think of it this way:

All of us in some point in our lives got angry at something or someone. And when we get angry, we tend to think and say things we don't mean. We also tend to feel like we want to harm someone, or if someone has wronged us, some of us tend to see to get revenge. So assuming ponies get angry as well, which they do, they get angry in the show, wouldn't they have similar tendencies as I just listed above? And wouldn't ponies have this "evil" in them as well?

In today's world as ISKV said, every time you go on the news, there is almost always a story such as someone murdered someone, or the conflicts in the Middle-East, or the war on terror ect.
So naturally when you see this, you are going to think that there are evil/bad people in the world, but not all of us are bad. It is the stereotype that makes us look bad as a whole.

And as for the griffon example, there very may well be griffons who are not violent, carnivore eating/pony eating/flesh eating bird monster. And some of them may be just like that, or not to that extreme. Maybe some of them are vegitarian and do not prefer to eat meat?
As humans, we are naturally omnivirous, but some of us prefer vegitarian foods, so wouldn't that apply to griffons? Assuming they can eat plant based foods as well?

Like ISKV said, it's the sterotypes that make humans look bad in a lot of the fics that authors post on here.

1749217 The way I see Humanity is this, we are yin and yang dark and light in balance, our nature tends to be chaotic and alternates between chaotic good and chaotic evil. We are the most dangerous predators on the planet and yet can be the most docile creatures as well. If humans ever went to equestria one or more of four things will happen, one discord will gain more power from our presence, two ponies will be scared and confused at seeing us if not out right thinking we are monsters, three ponies and humans get along and some interspecies relations will happen. Four humans get curious and start exploring and scientifically examining everything, gathering all knowledge and placing it into a great library. Humans will then study and safeguard that knowledge, ponies seeking greater knowledge would seek out this library, twilight would get a nerd boner when she gets there and where we accept her as our head librarian. Oh and Lyra will be obsessed with us.

I think what everyone here is forgetting is that in most fics ponies know nothing about humans. (Except in the case where we are mythical creatures for some odd reason)

This means that the main character is usually the first human contact they have had and would mean that ponies would have little to no information to base a stereotype on. Only that we are an unknown species and might be dangerous. In Zecora's episode (I forget the name) they weren't afraid because she was a zebra but because her reputation was bad due to her generally spooky demeanor and that she lived in the Everfree forest.

This makes me think that if a human ever came into contact with ponies they would be afraid of the human but would probably warm up quickly after it was demonstrated that said human was not a threat.

After that it may or may not go down hill due to them learning various things about us.

In a situation where a pony was subjected to human culture without any kind of priming they would probably see us as materialistic, antisocial, and violent (by their standards not ours) a lot like dragons are supposed to be, huh I just noticed that.

One final thing that I would like to point out is that the news is not full of murders and thefts and wars ect because there are more of these things now than in the past but because our modern information gathering means are so much better that an entire nation can hear about every single incident that takes place on a global scale.

1749177

It's been done so many times in fiction, that, I think it's pretty much a slight truth to us, especially in societies where hard work and never letting yourself down become big known virtues, such as America, and other countries. We are built as nature's determinators. Considering how Tunchanka-like our world is in pony eyes, I wouldn't be surprised if we got the label of being so hard headed and tenacious that we do the most craziest things for our own gain.

Because the pones are scared of the Everfree Forest and our world is like that (wild weather, untamed animals etc.)

They may see us as Eldritch Abominations. But after they get to know us, mostly harmless and friendly Eldritch Abominations. But at the same time, if we see a threat, they'll see how deadly we can be.

1749269
You literally listed off every HiE cliche in existence.

1752344 just because they are cliche doesn't mean they wont happen, and you have to remember fantasy and sci-fi is speculative fiction and so is going to be cliche laden. for example elves, dragons and all manner of mythical beasts are cliched. but that's the majority of what happens in mlp the ponies are attacked by hydra, griffons, dragons etc does that in essence mean that mlp is cliche, no because what matters is what you do with them. also if my examples where to your dislike provide your own. i want to see what you think would make a non cliche HiE story.