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Overview
Omegaverse (also known as A/B/O(/G) or simply Alpha/Omega) is one of the most prevalent, long-living and popular AUs in fandom. Though it originates as a smut-centric, niche AU, it has long-since grown to accommodate the need of contemporary fandoms and fans alike. Though it remains very smut-centric, there are a lot of themes that are often included (if not exclusively tied with) the omegaverse AU.
It details a world where people are divided according to two sexes instead of one: a primary sex (male or female) and a secondary sex (Alpha, Omega, Beta or Gamma). Though the primary sex will constitute for a large portion of the individual’s reproductive anatomy, the secondary sex will modify and emphasize a particular demeanor within the individual's reproductive physiology.
Secondary Sexes
In general (and especially for betas), secondary sexuality will vary somewhat between individuals. There is no super hard or fast rule for every omega male or alpha female or thensome, just general anatomy for each secondary sex and some of the things they can expect of their body and mind.
It is also not unheard of or impossible for an individual not to identify with the anatomy of their secondary sex just as much as their primary, and are able to take hormones to supplement or suppress characteristics of the typing they identify as. For example, it isn’t uncommon for, say, a Beta-A male or female to take alpha hormones, or a Gamma male or female to take omega hormones.
Background / History of Omegaverse
From the Alpha/Beta/Omega page on fanlore:
“The trope originated in Supernatural fandom with a few very specific AU kink meme prompts for the J2 RPF ship. The first one was in May 2010 and has also been identified as the culprit responsible for the popularity of knotting in SPN fandom….The trope was a natural extension of SPN's popular werewolf and knotting kinks.”
The origins of omegaverse go as far back as 2010, as stated in the quote above, from the Supernatural fandom. The SPN fandom at the time was known for it’s abundance of inhuman characters, monsters, demons and thensome, often taking inspiration from mythology and popular adoration of monsters for a majority of it’s lore.
Werewolves were a very common theme in various SPN fanfics, and is what spawned the original inception of omegaverse as a way to include the popular heat, knotting and male pregnancy kinks without including most other aspects of a werewolf AU fic, such as shape-shifting.
Omegaverse took hold as a pan-fandom AU soon afterward, but remained associated mostly with male/male smut, due to its origins only including males as alphas or omegas. Even today, omegaverse is still regarded as a smut-centric AU due to the elements most popular works include, but has diversified with the inclusion of several other sexes (Betas and Gammas) as well as including sexual relationships outside male/male.