DC Omegaverse designation

[goddessofroyalty]

Anon: You’ve stated the dynamics of Bruce, the Batboys, Ra’s, Kon, and Alfred, but what about the Batgirls and Birds of Prey, the Justice League, Young Justice (comics), Teen Titans, or the other Gotham Rouges? It might be that the posts about them and how they appear in your DC ABO are just further down and harder to see at first, but I’m really curious.

No I don’t think I’ve stated any of them (I actually had a moment of “wait when did I say Alfred” before remembering). Also when I say I don’t know a character it sometimes doesn’t even mean I haven’t consumed a lot of media with them just… I haven’t hit something that made it click in my brain. Probablys are “this is my gut so far but I’m not settled”. 

As a general statement you’ll probably find I put more “first gen” heroes as alphas while ex-side-kicks tend be a more even spread. That’s because I think alphas would be more raised to have the personality where the reaction to crime and villianry is “I’m going put on a costume and beat it up”. The side-kicks are often unrepresented when they join so are more likely to get an even-spread. 

I will undoubtedly miss some (some of these groups are really big and/or really subject to change)

But okay here goes (I’m using heads more for my own memory purposes than necessarily) 

Cut because there’s a lot of characters so got a bit long. 

Birds of Prey 

Barbaba (Oracle) - Alpha 

Dinah (Black Canary) - Omega

Helena (Huntress) - Alpha 

Zinda (Lady Blackhwak) - Beta (probably) 

Charlie (Misfit) - Beta (probably) 

Lady Shiva (look this is probably where I’m going to be using her the most): I don’t know (gut says alpha but I think she might end up being just a really contrary omega) 

Cass and Seph (the other two Batgirls): I think one’s a Beta the other’s an Omega… haven’t figured out which is which. 

 

Teen Titans 

Donna (Wonder Girl): Alpha 

Roy (Speedy): I don’t know (and I have a feeling he’s going to change depending on ship and narrative wants) 

Wally (Kid Flash): Alpha (probably) 

Garth (Aqualad): Alpha (proably) 

Kori (Starfire): Alpha (or alpha-equivilent) 

Gar (Beastboy): Beta

Victor (Cyborg): I don’t know, leaning towards Beta 

Raven: I really don’t know (she is one I can’t seem to crack) 

Rose (Ravenger): I don’t know

 

Young Justice (Comics) 

Cassie (Wonder Girl): Alpha 

Bart (Impulse): Omega

(I think I covered everyone else earlier) 

 

Justice League 

Diana (Wonder Woman): Depending on how I do the Amazons (well, if I let them include Alphas) either Alpha or Beta

Clark (Superman): Alpha (or so indistinguishable from an alpha he might as well be called it) 

Arthur (Aquaman): Alpha 

Oliver (Green Arrow): Alpha

Green lanterns I’m still learning how to identify as different people… 

Martian Manhunter: None 

Barry (Flash): I don’t know (maybe Beta?) 

 

Gotham Rogues 

Poison Ivy: I don’t know what she actually is but she can use her pheromones to ‘read’ as any 

Harley Quinn: I don’t know

Catwoman: I don’t know (either beta or omega I think) 

Joker: I really don’t know 

Bane: Alpha 

Penguin: Probably alpha 

Black Mask: Alpha 

Deathstroke: Alpha

Riddler: Beta

Two faced: Probably Beta (would also pay Alpha easily) 

Catman: Alpha

Scarecrow: Beta

Mr Freeze: Beta

Professor Pyg: Beta 

Talia: Alpha

Anon: Lady Shiva is probably a beta or an omega given Cass exists and that Cain is a sexist alpha-type asshole who would prefer maximum fertility options. Plus, she’s often underestimated by those who first see her or don’t know who she is because they think “unusually tall and pretty but non-threatening looking (half?) chinese woman” until she’s going for a crippling blow. Her whole lesson to baby robin Tim about encouraging people to underestimate him and using that to take them down is telling.

Again - yeah pretty much. These, plus the “she takes Black Canary (who I say is an omega and don’t really change from) under her wing and tries to basically replicate herself onto her including switching ‘lives’ with her for a little” plot in Birds of Prey.

She tends to pick up characters I VERY quickly designate as ‘omega’ and basically go ‘you can be like me’ to them which is also kind of telling.

So while my gut-gut says alpha because of how she holds herself and the fact the narrative often treats her as a very serious threat and most of the hero community recognize her as a threat, I have a feeling she’s probably actually a beta or an omega. It’s just… almost getting myself to let go of my own biases which is kind of ironic seeing SO MUCH of my designation-justification is “no but look a little deeper and get rid of your inherent biases and you’ll see they more fit x”. But I do think she probably is like an omega I just need to get my head off it’s gut-reaction and into the actual plot that deal with her and her identity instead of her-as-a-threat.

Anon: Ivy’s life story makes me think omega for her. Upper class family wanted her to marry well but instead she became a botanical doctor, creepy boss pushed his attentions on her and tried to kill her for refusing him, and her whole thing is using her beauty and seemingly docile mannerisms (she’s acting but still) to seduce and control powerful men before murdering them. Harley seems either omega or beta, another well-to-do family though they supported her being a psychiatrist until she snapped.

Yeah for Ivy I agree that she probably first presented as an omega but like… now it doesn’t matter as much because she’s impossible to read if she doesn’t want you to. Plus it gives her a bit more adaptability and also keeps her potent against characters that I’m switching to like omega (she can just start producing alpha hormones to keep their attention when she figures out why the omega ones weren’t working). So what she was born as might be a line or two in a fic (you know like “originally she presented as an omega but now her powers make her able to seem like anything she wants” sort of throw-away) but certainly not something that I’ll ever likely deeply go into. 

And I agree with the Harley stuff. Even if Ivy’s an omega Harley as either a beta or omega would still be a queer relationship so that doesn’t decide it for me. I feel like it’ll just end up being whatever I think fits best in the beat of the current narrative I have her in.

Anon: For the green lanterns, Hal’s an alpha, Guy’s an alpha, Jon is a beta, Kyle and Jessica could both go either way as beta or omega. Most lanterns are aliens so they don’t have abo dynamics or have rough equivalents. Batwoman’s an alpha, Shazam’s a kid but probably beta, Power Girl is totally an alpha equivalent as is Supergirl, Barry is definitely a beta, Constantine and Zatanna could both go any way. I’m not as familiar with the rest of the League but most of them are probably alphas or betas.

I’ll believe you on the green lanterns (IDK my brain just currently goes ‘that’s a green lantern’ and then refuses to pay attention to their name). The rest are year alien so either have the rough versions or none.

Batwoman is an alpha yep.

Shazam is probably unrepresented currently and like the Shazam persona is weird and magical so nobody questions why he doesn’t have a clear designation (superheroes be like that).

All Supers seem to be alpha-equivalent to me. So yeah Power Girl and Supergirl are that as well. I don’t think the planet had like more alphas or whatever but the ones that made it to earth all seem to be alphas.

Glad my gut on Barry is right.

Constantine and Zatanna are yeah probably a bit hard to pin down as well.

And yeah pretty much. Superheroes have a really high alpha rate. Not because alphas get powers more but because they’re raised in the whole “you are protected/you can do anything/you are owed stuff” mentality more and that tends to lead to their response to getting powers/other tragedy to be “become a superhero”. Betas would be next most likely and omega the less common because they’re least raised with the right society-view of them to gain that response (again side-kicks excluded because they present after they signed up for the mess and aren’t giving it up).

Anon: Roy is probably either an alpha or an omega because it would add to the tension with him and Ollie and provide extra reasoning for why Ollie tends to judge him so harshly—“disobedient bullheaded alpha” versus omega who tries hard and gets judged harshly for his fuckups. And it also depends on how you interpret his relationships with his lovers, from Cheshire to Grace Choi to Donna. He tends to go for alpha-type women so he reads as an alpha who likes alphas or a very pushy and aggressive omega.

Roy’s a bit hard because there’s a bit of “what point in the narrative do you judge” because like for the most part he’s very much “ether an alpha or omega I don’t know which” but there are times where he seems very alpha (normally when he’s battling for power with Dick), times where he seems omega (normally when he’s more dealing with Lian), and times where he even seems beta (when he actually is given control of the Teen Titans and sort of does the “I’m trying to be a leader but it isn’t inherent in my personality”).

And like my next option from narrative is relationships - we have Oliver, Dick and his romantic inclinations as the strongest bases for what he might be like. And yeah Oliver leans more towards either an alpha who keeps butting heads with the other alpha or an omega who is trying kind of desperately to not just be seen as an omega and is destroying himself in the process. Dick is either he’s an alpha battling with his respect for Dick, Dick’s ability, and knowledge that Dick has a better leader personality AND the society inherent ‘you’re alpha you should be boss’ OR he’s an omega who is very much fighting the same fight Dick is and so while they both get each others situation it also means they’re less likely to put up with each others bullshit because they can’t hide behind “you don’t understand what it’s like to be omega and in charge”. He tends to be attracted to women who seem like they would be alphas (but I also ship him with Dick and Jason because it me) but that could mean he’s an alpha who also likes alpha-women or he’s an omega who just refuses to be thought of lightly.

Or basically: none of this really helps. He is not a character that easily and automatically converts. Which is kind of frustrating and tends to end up with me being like “okay what works best for this idea”.

Anon: I’d actually put Steph as either an alpha or a beta, in part because so many people automatically assign her the omega position. She started as a mirror for Jason so I’d lean towards alpha, though with her pregnancy storyline being a pushy beta might fit better. Cass could go any which way depending on which arc you like best to use as her character base. Her being a beta fits best in my opinion because she tends to be more settled and her problems are bad enough without designation angst.

So I try not to automatically designate female characters as beta just because the fandom-side of the omegaverse community (and this totally includes me) has a bit of a habit of just designating female characters as beta while males get a more even spread. And I get why that happens (female characters not being given as much narrative as male ones making it harder to go to either alpha or omega), but it’s still a bit of an annoyance. Unfortunately I seem to be going the other way (or maybe DC just has female characters with actual narratives places that therefore make them more like other designations).

Yeah the pregnancy storyline sort of throws a wrench into making her alpha (which you know considering she’s normally recognized as ‘Tim’s girlfriend’ would be the easy and obvious one - base it on relationship not narrative) . Like it’s possible to work around (my alphas can still get pregnant but it’s DAMNED rare) but it’s a lot easier to go okay she’s not an alpha. I just don’t know if beta or omega fit better for her.

And yeah Cass is… less inclined to make every situation a shit-show like the rest of the batfamily. And I do think a lot of her narrative place seems to be a very Beta one. My rule-of-thumb for Beta is “characters nobody questions be there but are kind of surprised when they become plot-important” and Cass seems to fit in that position. Like yes every Batfamily-inclusive plot will likely include her but when she actually does stuff to influence the plot it tends to be a bit of a surprise (again think Alfred - nobody questions Alfred being around but when Alfred actually gets involved in a way that isn’t just exposition-dumper/emotion-translater it’s always a bit like “oh that’s right - he’s here”).

Anon: Joker could go any which way depending on which aspects of his personality are played up most, but him as an alpha fits a bit less than a beta or an omega. If he’s a beta that would fit why he tends to be a feared and respected gang leader without question, if he’s an omega it could help explain why he has yet to be executed by the state and why some people underestimate him or otherwise get pulled in and deceived so he can use them until he gets bored and murders or otherwise abandons them.

Pretty much.

The Joke is a character that changes so often depending on what writer is at the helm of him or even just what sort of chaos they need him to create.

Harley doesn’t help matters much either - because that is very much treated as a “straight” couple so like to keep it that way (which you kind of need to for how a lot of the narratives around them are formed) you need them to be of designations that would be considered “straight” which just limits the options for Joker even further.

I feel like I’ll normally have him be a beta just because it leads to his insanity being very much his insanity instead of being seen as like alpha-or-omega gone wrong as well as keeping his relationship with Harley straight and allowing him to have almost a smugness about not being effected by the designation stuff.

But that’s very much because of the kinds of narrative I think I’ll end up dealing with him in. Which I mean kind of proves the first point of this response - what he reads as depends on what the writer writing him has him as.

Anon: Oh! Also, I forgot Connor Queen and Mia Dearden. I’d say beta for Connor and omega for Mia, Mia was really desperately in need of acceptance and recognition, and her being an omega would add angst to her past as a former child prostitute who is HIV+, while Connor’s the chill Zen monk type. Also, younger Roy aka Arsenal could potentially have presented differently than his older clone Red Arrow did. He’s angry and aggressive but bleeds hurt and need for acceptance so being an alpha or omega fits.

From what I know of both of them those sound about right.

Yeah the cloning thing raises a whole slew of questions. Because like in theory the clone would be holding the same DNA so would present in the same way as the original. But like the clones of characters can have wildly different narratives and that makes it hard for me to want to say they would present the same way because I normally base designation of narrative-place. Like if someone was meddling with the DNA you might be able to argue that they changed the designation but if they just copy-pasted cloned then really the clone should be of the same designation.