In Defense of the Human Fighter in Baldur's Gate 3, D&D, and Other TTRPGs

Whether it's "John Fighterman," "Johnny Standardclass," or any other John, the human fighter character combo has earned more loving and mocking names from RPG fans than any other combo in the genre—and for good reason. According to D&D Beyond, it's by far the most picked combo in the fifth edition of the tabletop, and the third most common in Baldur's Gate 3. There are plenty of potential reasons for the combo's popularity, as well as possibilities, which means you may be in the wrong to write it off as boring.
From a gameplay perspective, two big reasons spring to mind when explaining the popularity of the human fighter in D&D and Baldur's Gate 3: ease of access and versatility. Players just getting started with Baldur's Gate 3 will find that this archetype is much easier to learn and subsequently master. Human fighters play double duty as the foundational race and class on which both systems are built, and just as well, the lack of intricate racial abilities or class-specific spells makes them vanilla and instantly understandable.
Human fighters are versatile too, and veterans who care about the biggest damage rolls utilize the combos' high combat ability scores to find them often with all kinds of offshoot builds. The combo can use all types of equipment and armor with relative ease, and they are great at supplementing and buffing tons of party compositions. These gameplay benefits don't preclude the human fighter from being just as narratively interesting, though.
Just as there are players who play these RPGs more for the love of the capital G, there are plenty of players who are in it more for the RP. The reputed blandness of the human fighter espoused by some of these role-players should be considered nothing more than a nasty misconception. It's definitely simpler to conjure up a compelling story for a human fighter than it is for something like a Duergar cleric, but writing it off because of that ease of access is limiting. Not only does the combo afford new players the ability to roleplay effectively, but there's no limit to the depths of imagination players can reach as the race/class combo.
In a magical world filled with ancient dragons and innately arcane races, it isn't easy to understate the narrative fulfillment of playing a nobody with a sword, holding their own against a world far more intricate than themselves. Be it a soldier, a sell-sword, or a subsistence farmer, the beauty of RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 or D&D is that anyone can be anything, and that rule applies to the seemingly inconsequential all the same, if not more so. Starting at the base of the mountain as a sword-wielding commoner among Faerun's youngest and (shockingly) most mysterious race makes reaching the peak at the climax of a campaign all the more gratifying.
What's more, that magical world can evolve a simple human into so much more, adding consequence, meaning, and impact to the journey to level 12 in Baldur's Gate 3 or 20 in a D&D campaign. Starting as a fighter doesn't mean players must end as a fighter, at least not alone; human fighters are a total blank slate for multi-classing with demonic warlock benefactors, paladin oaths, or a late education in the harnessing of magic. The gameplay benefits of multi-classing are mirrored equally by the potential for roleplaying.
Ultimately, the beauty of Baldur's Gate 3 and Dungeons & Dragons is that the possibilities are endless, but endlessness means that no single class is more or less interesting than another if the story is well told and the characters are strong enough. It's familiar enough for this concept to fall through the cracks when players have so much to explore. Still, it's absolutely worth resisting that routine, especially for the human fighter combo.