Omegaverse

Omegaverse fiction typically focuses on wolf or other canid-like behavior in humans, especially as it pertains to sexual intercourse. This includes rutting and heat cycles, pheromonal attraction between alphas and omegas, penises with knots ("knotting"),[1] scent marking,[2] breeding, and pack structures.[3] Male omegas are often envisaged as being able to become pregnant. The genre often features other fantasy elements, such as the presence of werewolves or other fantastical creatures.[1] Some works introduce a caste system, where Alphas are depicted as the upper class elites while Omegas are at the bottom tier and face discrimination.[4] Omegaverse works are most frequently focused on male-male couples, a sub-genre of fan fiction known as slash fiction, though heterosexual Omegaverse works have been produced.[2]

Genre tropes associated with Omegaverse emerged in the late 1960s in fan fiction based on the American television series Star Trek. The 1967 episode "Amok Time" introduces the concept of pon farr, the Vulcan mating cycle wherein Vulcan males must mate or die. Pon farr became a popular plot conceit for fan works in the Star Trek fandom, particularly fan fiction focused on the Kirk/Spock pairing. The concept of mating and heat cycles among humans was subsequently adopted by other fandoms, and became a staple of the Omegaverse sub-genre.[5]

The origin of the contemporary Omegaverse sub-genre is typically attributed to the fandom surrounding the American television series Supernatural, as an offshoot of the male pregnancy sub-genre of erotic fan fiction.[1] A 2010 real person fiction work focused on Supernatural actors Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles mentions "alpha" males having knots on their penises, and those men without the knots being the "bitch males".[5] In November, 2010, a similar work was posted in a Supernatural fan fiction community and used the now-commonly used terminology of alphas, betas, and omegas, along with their basic traits. The genre subsequently expanded in popularity to other fan communities, particularly those focused around the 2013 television series Hannibal, and the 2011 television series Teen Wolf.[1]

As of 2020, over 70,000 Omegaverse fan works have been published on the fan fiction website Archive of Our Own.[1] In addition to these derivative works, Omegaverse has emerged as its own genre of original commercial erotic fiction: the 2007 novel With Caution by J.L. Langley is noted as the first commercially published novel with Omegaverse tropes.[6] Moreover, roughly 200 Omegaverse novels were published on Amazon from January to June 2020.[1] Omegaverse has also emerged as a sub-genre of both commercial and non-commercial yaoi (manga featuring male-male couples).[7]