This article will give a systematic and in-depth talk about the classic and controversial ABO worldview setting in the online culture and fan literature circle. It will be completely disassembled from the perspectives of ABO origin, three-sex structure, ABO setting elements, social structure, cultural significance and controversy, which will not only let you see the structural logic of ABO, but also help you understand the charm and problems of ABO at the cultural and psychological levels.
The Origin and Development of ABO Settings
1. The Origin of ABO
The ABO setting first originated from the European and American wolf fan circle, and appeared around 2010. Inspired by the structure of the wolf pack hierarchy (Alpha-led, Beta-followed, Omega passive) in animal behavior.
The word ‘fanren’ comes from the Japanese word ‘fanren (どうじん, doujin)’**, and its original meaning is ‘a person with the same aspirations’. ‘Fan circle’ is a subculture group composed of fans and is the core carrier of ‘Fan culture’. People in this circle are centered on ‘Love Second Creation’ and create and communicate around certain works, characters, and CPs (role pairing).
ABO was originally used to mimic beastly characters, such as werewolf, werewolf AU, etc., and gradually transformed into a human setting in Danmei (BL) fan.
2. The evolution of ABO
From wolf pack level → anthropomorphic setting → add biological mechanisms such as ‘pheromones’ and ’estrus period’. The ABO setting was widely transplanted to the European and American fan circles (Supernatural, Teen Wolf, etc.), and later introduced into the Japanese, Korean and Chinese circles, evolving into a more romantic, socialized, and even classized ABO social structure.
The current ABO worldview has become a fixed ‘fan literature setting framework’. Just as there are always kingdoms, magic, and dragons in Western fantasy settings, ABO settings also have their world construction rules.
ABO three-sex classification: structural basics
1. Alpha(A)
- Represents: Power, dominance, and instinctive dominance.
- Usually in the upper class of society, with a high status and strong competitiveness.
- Male Alpha is often portrayed as a domineering president and officer-type role.
- Female alpha is becoming more and more common, and is often a cold and powerful woman with wrists.
2. Beta (B)
- It is often set as ‘ordinary person’ without estrus and pheromone influence.
- Psychological and physiological fluctuations are less likely to fall into emotional or biological out-of-control.
- Sometimes set as marginalized (for example, without fertility value).
3. Omega (Ω)
- Set core roles during estrus, and in most settings, regardless of gender, they may be ‘fertile’.
- Social status is often low, but it has a strong sense of existence in terms of ‘combination’ and ‘reproductive value’.
- Male Omega is particularly common in BL literature: it is physiologically male, but its psychological and social functions tend to be ‘female’ roles.
Core setting elements: ABO’s biological mechanism
| element | Set content |
| Pheromones | Each gender emits a unique odor that is used to attract/irritate a specific subject, especially during estrus. Often used as a pairing judgment mechanism. |
| Heat | Most are unique to Omega, with periodic attacks, extreme desire to combine, and strongly attract Alpha pheromone; at this time, they are very physiologically sensitive and prone to pregnancy. |
| Marking | It usually refers to the formation of an 'mark' through the glands when 'binding' with Omega, forming a 'mark' to establish an exclusive relationship. There is a distinction between one-time and permanent. |
| Binding glands (Gland) | A pseudo-organ located on the neck or other body parts, a source of pheromone release, will be 'bite' or 'stimulated' when combined to form a paired mark. |
| Pregnancy/birth | Omega (regardless of physiological gender) usually has fertility; in some settings, Alpha also has fertility, and may even have an extreme division between 'male fertile alpha' and 'neutral infertility beta'. |
These settings not only carry traces of quasi-biological settings, but also strengthen the structural tension of dominance-surrender, control-controlled.
Further reading: ‘Is SM attribute testing really accurate? A article tells you whether you are shaking M or dominant S’
ABO Social Architecture: From Gender to Class
In a mature ABO setting, it is not just a physiological difference, but a complete social system:
1. Class Structure
- Alpha: The upper management class, police, officers, and leaders are often composed of Alpha.
- Beta: stable positions such as technical, middle-level management, teachers, and researchers.
- Omega: Most of them are ‘family-type characters’ or marginalized groups, and have strong social prejudice.
2. Social discrimination and conflict
- Omega has fewer opportunities for education, is considered an ‘unstable factor’ during estrus, and requires compulsory medication or registration.
- In some settings, Omega is not even legally autonomous and must be regulated by ‘Guardian Alpha’.
- Some works describe issues such as Omega’s awakening, fighting for equal rights, and Alpha reflecting on privileges.
Cultural and Psychological Meaning: Why is ABO popular?
- Reconstruction of gender role: Deconstructing gender from ‘male/female’ to ‘Alpha/Beta/Omega’ combination system, making traditional gender relationships more complex and creating more narrative space.
- Dover the expression container of surrender fantasy: Alpha × Omega pairing often has strong control-obedience, initiative-passive, protection-dependent tension, and is extremely emotionally tension.
- The aesthetic of ’taboos and transgressions’: Omega’s ‘unable to control’ + Alpha’s ‘instinctive dominance’ setting during estrus provides the rationality of ‘must happen’ for writing and provides a ‘irrational’ fig leaf for taboos.
- Literary tools for men and boys: MPreg (male pregnancy) setting is difficult to establish in a non-ABO context, and ABO provides a relatively rational ‘physiological logic’.
- Social fable function: Some works use ABO settings to reflect gender inequality, heterosexual hegemony, and oppression of marginalized people, which has a certain critical and realistic reflection.
Criticism and controversy about ABO
- Gender stereotypes deepen: Binding feminization/Omega settings with ‘weak, submissive, fertile’ may deepen gender bias.
- Strengthen Domination Fantasy: Some works beautify the “forced marking” and “forced combination” of Alpha, which may cover up the violent or involuntary behavior in reality.
- Biodeterminism hidden worries: Attributing behavior to ‘pheromones’ and ’estrus periods’, sometimes blurs the boundary between free will and responsibility.
ABO’s typical works and psychological tests
ABO’s typical works:
- ‘Alpha’s Sweet Trap’, ‘Pheromone Lies’, ‘You Are Omega, I Don’t Love’, etc. are representatives of ABOs in the Chinese online literature circle.
- There are also a large number of ABO AU creations in the fan circle, including ‘The Master of Demonic Way’, ‘Genshin Impact’, etc.
ABO Psychological Test:
- ABO Psychological Gender Test (Personal Prone Analysis Edition): Are you Alpha, Beta or Omega? Test your hidden personality and gender!
- ABO Gender Pheromone Identity Awakening Test (Professional Edition)
Summarize
ABO is not a simple ‘setting’, but a set of ‘social structure simulators’. It simulates macro issues such as gender, power, fertility, discrimination and class, and finds a middle ground between emotional fantasy and reality reflection by setting three genders (Alpha/Beta/Omega).
It can be both a container of sexual fantasy and a stage of social criticism, depending on the perspective and intention of the creator.
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