“There are no rules in the Omegaverse!”
Berklie, otherwise known as Professor Alpha on TikTok, reiterates in answer to the barrage of questions related to the intricacies of this popular subgenre. Please note that this is also an important statement to keep in mind as you read this article, because questions will undoubtedly come up. Most importantly, however, there are no limits to the answers! Now, let’s get into it!
The Omegaverse is a subgenre of erotic speculative fanfiction. It’s most popular within fanfiction circles, where it began, but there has been a recent surge in omegaverse-inspired published works. For omegaverse stories, authors take the concept of the canine hierarchyー i.e., alphas, betas, and omegas, and animalistic or instinct-driven actionsー and apply its different roles to humans. Alpha, Beta, and Omega become the “secondary sex,” meaning characters may be classified as female alphas or non-binary omegas or male betas, and so on. But where did the omegaverse come from?
Although the first fanfiction that became the base for all future Omegaverse tropes and concepts originated from the Supernatural fandom, the concept of pon farr from the original Star Trek was a notable inspiration. Pon Farr refers to the process whereby a Vulcan male will go through their mating cycle, but if he doesn’t mate, he dies. Sounds very familiar, doesn’t it? It is from this concept of heats and mating cycles that the Omegaverse takes form; combined with the dynamics of A/B/O and animalistic instincts, fanfiction never stood a chance.
In the Omegaverse version of mating cycles, Alphas undergo mating seasons or ruts, and are the ones able to impregnate, while omegas experience heat and can become pregnant. During ruts and/or heats, their instincts take over and they’re unable to do anything except want to breed or be bred; they revert to “primal” instincts of reproduction, protection, and satiating hunger. Rule of thumb (more or less): regardless of any given character’s sex, what matters is whether they can knot or be knotted. This is why, more often than not, Omegaverse fics are typically classified as smut.
However, Omegaverse-inspired tropes aren’t necessarily written smut. Because there are no rules, every Omegaverse universe is different and ultimately depends on what the author wants to write about. Other aspects such as scenting, packs, fated mates, etc. can be explored in unique ways, which may expand this genre beyond just smut in order to include explorations of found family or soulmates. We get to explore and see different relationship dynamics play out in ways we don’t usually see, from polyamory to queerplatonic relationships to male omegas being impregnated by their female alphas. Hence, anything and everything is possible within the Omegaverse because the only rule worth noting is that there are no rules.
Eventually, the Omegaverse evolved from a plot device for a variety of sexual scenarios into a means to explore queer relationships and dynamics outside of a heteronormative, patriarchal society. Since, within the Omegaverse, what matters is the secondary sex, the expectations of a heteronormative and patriarchal society are erased and replaced with the expectations of the alpha, beta, and omega hierarchy.
The stereotypes in Omegaverse fics are that alphas are dominant and aggressive, and omegas are submissive and breedable. Meanwhile, betas are just there despite the fact that, more often than not, they make up the majority of the population. Hence, alphas and omegas are pretty rare. However, alpha and omega stereotypes are still extremely popular within the fanfiction community. The most popular trope in Omegaverse stories features a dominant and aggressive alpha character who takes a submissive and breedable omega in heat for themselves. A substantial amount of fics almost exclusively portrayed alpha x omega relationships with these (lowkey toxic, let’s be honest) dynamics.
However, as of late, there has been an uptick in challenging these stereotypes. These unconventionally disruptive fanfictions that feature relationships that go against what is expected in “an alpha x omega centric society” and their struggles because of its expectations are increasing every day; not unlike how the LGBTQIA+ community has done and continues doing in our reality with girls love (GL) or boys love (BL) series, which portray queer relationships in a heteronormative society. There are increasingly more fics in which a variety of tropes and challenging stereotypes happen; like omegas mating with other omegas, alphas with other alphas, submissive alphas, dominant omegas, asexual characters, platonic mating, etc. These stories have also begun focusing on the struggles that come from fighting those stereotypes, as well as by simply focusing on featuring the joy and domestic fluff of the fanfiction’s plot.
Through the Omegaverse, queer people have found another way to create and see the representation and lives they would like for themselves. Authors are open to exploring what an omega x omega couple could look like in a society where alpha x omega is the norm and readers can explore their issues with society and see their struggles through the lens of fictional worlds where everyone gets a happily ever after.
The Omegaverse, and its lack of concrete rules, allows for the subversion of the societal expectations of our reality and opens the doors for the exploration of too many possible universes. It allows authors and readers alike to create and look for exactly what they want to see. Maybe the answer lies in utterly chaotic world-building that creates more questions than it answers, or perhaps the reader is seeking some comfort-driven found family stories. Regardless of what the fandom is craving, the possibilities within the Omegaverse are endless.