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WORLD GUIDE
This is my guide to an original interpretation of the Alpha/Beta/Omega (ABO) system, it is heavily inspired by existing fics. While it borrows familiar terminology from the trope, many conventions have been intentionally reworked.
Core Principles
- Secondary gender does not determine personality. An Alpha may be gentle, an Omega may be demanding, and a Beta may be assertive. Biology influences the body, not morality, identity, sexuality, or character.
- Consent remains absolute. Pheromones cannot override consent, and neither heats nor ruts compel sexual behaviour.
- There are no fated mates or soulmate bonds. Relationships can be built through choice, trust, and mutual consent.
The guiding principle of this universe is simple:
Biology creates physical realities. Society creates expectations. Individuals decide who they become.
THE WORLD
Secondary genders first appeared roughly two hundred years before the current events. Society has fully adapted to its existence, and governments, medicine, education, law, architecture, and workplaces have evolved alongside it.
Everyone is born without a secondary gender.
Between their 20th birthday and the following three months, every individual undergoes Presentation, a gradual biological process in which they develop into an Alpha, Beta, or Omega. Presentation is medically monitored and considered one of the most significant milestones in a person's life.
The earliest sign of Presentation is the development of an individual's secondary scent. As Presentation progresses, hormonal changes reshape the body to match the person's secondary gender, including reproductive anatomy where applicable.
Presentation functions similarly to puberty. Illness, severe malnutrition, or endocrine disorders may complicate or delay development.
Because Presentation determines an individual's secondary gender, society generally considers completion of Presentation—not simply turning eighteen—the transition into full adulthood. Many career choices, relationships, and family expectations are culturally viewed through the lens of whether someone has Presented.
SECONDARY GENDERS
Alpha
Alphas possess dominant scent profiles and generally develop larger, more muscular physiques.
They experience periodic ruts, lasting approximately five days.
A rut is not a state of sexual aggression.
Instead, it is characterised by heightened protective instincts, territorial behaviour, sensory sensitivity, physical restlessness, and an increased need for emotional regulation and affirmation. Many Alphas instinctively seek familiar environments or trusted people who help regulate their nervous system.
Beta
Betas are physiologically the most stable secondary gender.
They experience neither heats nor ruts and are therefore often regarded as the biological baseline.
Because they do not require cyclical leave or hormonal suppressants, Betas are frequently viewed as economically and professionally advantageous.
They can still bond with others, scent and smell pheromones.
Recessive Alphas and Omegas may initially be mistaken for Betas due to their comparatively subtle endocrine characteristics.
In exceptionally rare cases, prolonged extreme physiological stress has been observed to trigger spontaneous secondary gender transition. The phenomenon is poorly understood and remains the subject of ongoing medical research.
Omega
Omegas usually develop sweeter scent profiles, and their bodies are generally better adapted for pregnancy.
Female Omegas and male Omegas are both capable of becoming pregnant. Male Omegas are intersex and possess a uterus alongside male reproductive anatomy.
Omegas experience heats, lasting approximately five days.
Heat similar to ruts is not sexual in nature.
Instead, it resembles an intensified menstrual cycle marked by hormonal discomfort, pain, fatigue, and an increased need for comfort, security, and emotional support. It aligns with their period.
Society commonly teaches that only an Alpha can provide that comfort.
Medical research does not support this belief.
Comfort may come equally from friends, partners, family members, Betas, Alphas, or fellow Omegas.
Female Alphas and male Omegas continue to challenge traditional gender expectations despite their long-standing place in society.
SCENT / PHEROMONES
Every secondary gender develops a unique scent.
- Alpha scents are naturally dominant.
- Omega scents are typically sweeter and more noticeable.
- Beta scents are comparatively neutral.
Scents influence mood and perception but cannot control another person's thoughts, emotions, or consent.
Because of this, scent suppression patches are legally required in public.
Individuals may remove them only within private property or designated medical environments.
MEDICINE
Modern healthcare has fully integrated secondary gender medicine, with specialists in Alpha, Beta, Omega, endocrine, reproductive, and Presentation-related care.
Heats and ruts are considered normal biological processes rather than illnesses.
Most people simply allow them to run their course, either at home or within dedicated Heat and Rut Centers, which provide private accommodation, medical supervision, hydration, pain management, and emergency care.
Professional caregivers may also be hired to assist individuals through their cycles. These services are comparable to nursing or respite care and are entirely non-sexual.
Though there is a black market for this, and it has a sexual nature.
Suppressants exist to delay heats and ruts, though access varies according to national healthcare systems and personal finances.
Emergency medicine also includes treatment for pheromone overdoses, severe bite trauma, scent gland disorders, and complications arising during Presentation.
BITES
A bite may occur anywhere on the body.
It carries strong romantic and sexual symbolism but holds no legal significance.
It does not constitute ownership, marriage, or consent.
Individuals may choose to undergo bite-removal surgery, and only the person bearing the bite has the legal authority to consent to its removal.
SOCIETY
While biological sex continues to shape many social expectations, secondary gender has become equally and in some contexts more socially significant.
Many forms of discrimination mirror real-world sexism. Rather than replacing prejudice based on biological sex, secondary gender introduces an additional social hierarchy. Individuals may therefore experience discrimination based on sex, secondary gender, or the interaction between both.
Omegas face social and economic disadvantages similar to those experienced by women, particularly regarding healthcare, reproductive expectations, workplace discrimination, and trafficking.
Alphas also experience discrimination relating to hormonal cycles and societal expectations of protection, leadership, and emotional restraint.
Betas are generally regarded as socially stable due to the absence of cyclical hormonal conditions.
Anti-discrimination laws exist, though prejudice remains part of everyday life.
Cultural beliefs about Alphas, Betas, and Omegas often extend far beyond what biology actually supports. Many stereotypes persist despite contradictory medical evidence.
ECONOMICS
Despite legal protections, secondary gender continues to influence economic opportunity.
Betas are generally considered the most employable secondary gender due to the absence of heats or ruts.
Alphas and Omegas often require medical leave during their approximately five-day cycles, leading to subtle workplace discrimination despite legal protections.
Access to suppressants, specialist healthcare, private Heat or Rut Centers, and other medical resources varies according to personal wealth and national healthcare systems.
GENDER AND IDENTITY
Biological sex and secondary gender are distinct biological characteristics. Neither replaces the other; together they shape how individuals are perceived within society.
A person's biological sex (male or female) and secondary gender (Alpha, Beta, or Omega) each influence how society perceives them. Neither replaces the other.
Because society assigns expectations to both, individuals may experience prejudice based on one, the other, or both simultaneously.
Gender identity exists much as it does in the real world.
People may identify differently from their biological sex, their secondary gender, or both.
Medical transition exists for both primary sex and secondary gender.
"Bitching" (Alpha-to-Omega) does not exist. Secondary gender transition is achieved through gender-affirming surgery and long-term scent and hormone treatment.
GENETICS
Secondary gender cannot be predicted with certainty.
Family history may suggest statistical likelihoods but offers no guarantees.
Identical twins overwhelmingly present as Betas.
The leading medical hypothesis attributes this to Prenatal Hormonal Equilibrium Theory, which proposes that identical twins regulate one another's hormonal development in utero, suppressing extreme Alpha and Omega endocrine expression and resulting in Beta presentation.
RARE PRESENTATIONS
A small number of individuals present as Enigmas.
Enigmas exhibit endocrine activity resembling an extreme Alpha presentation.
Their hormone production is dangerously excessive, causing severe physiological instability and progressive strain on multiple organ systems.
Although heightened protective and caregiving instincts are common, the condition is medically self-destructive and requires lifelong specialist monitoring.
Enigmas are treated as rare endocrine disorders rather than a separate social class.