Fantastic Arousal

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Oh, you know you like it.

So you have some Half Human Hybrids? What about Petting Zoo People? Rubber Forehead Aliens? Cute Monster Girls? Well, be careful. If a character has some form of non-human anatomy (ears, wings, especially tails), chances are that said physical feature will be... sensitive. Even characters who look mostly human may have erogenous zones in odd areas to establish that they have Bizarre Alien Biology. For obvious reasons, this leads a lot of I Didn't Mean to Turn You On type incidents, especially when one party is unaware that the resident Catgirl gets aroused when someone strokes her tail.

Also for obvious reasons this leads to a lot of Power Perversion Potential and Fetish Fuel when said characters show up in fanfic. If a character does not possess any known Fantastic Arousal, the fans may create one.

Not to be confused with a character having a strange sexual fetish. For example, Milly May Hopkins of Gunsmith Cats and Nice Holystone of Baccano! both have ekrixiphilia, a fetish for explosions and/or gunpowder (which means setting off grenades and shooting guns sexually arouse them), but they are not examples of Fantastic Arousal.

No real life examples, please; at least, not until we have evidence that aliens exist.

Examples of Fantastic Arousal include:

Anime and Manga

  • In one episode of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, the team infiltrates a party of wealthy and powerful men who show off their sex-driods. The host goes even further and loves to have sex with full-body cyborgs -- while their brains are disconnected from the robotic body and are pretty much in sleep mode. The Major convinces him to plug his implants into her body while he does, but then just knocks him out and lets him experience a virtual simulation of it while she sneaks through his offices.
  • Mahou Sensei Negima:
  • The demons from My Balls (don't ask) have each a tattoo somewhere on their body that are both the focus of their demonic powers, and very sensitive to caresses.
  • Lizlet from Omamori Himari is a Tsukumogami; to be more precise, she is the spirit of a 100+ year old teacup. Said teacup is also apparently an erogenous zone, judging by her reaction when the title character strokes and licks it in an attempt to wake her up.
  • Lala from To LOVE-Ru; again, the tail. Its most common use besides the pictured teasing is conveniently covering her crotch. Naturally, there's a chapter where Rito gets his hand stuck to Lala's tail. Hilarity Ensues.
  • In the first episode of Utawarerumono, Eruru gets annoyed with Hakuoro when he touches her tail. For a second she looks like she really likes it, then seems embarrassed.
  • Yumeria: Tomokazu had a daydream in which Neneko's ears were her "weak spot".
  • According to Holo from Spice and Wolf, wolves touching noses is to them what kissing is to humans. Apparently Lawrence's fingers feel like a wolf's nose. So when he does touch her nose...
  • In one episode of FLCL, Naota sprouts cat ears, and Haruko, in typical fashion, teases him by rubbing them, resulting in a wriggling and ebullient Naota.
  • Axis Powers Hetalia:
    • The Italy brothers both have an Idiot Hair which acts as an erogenous zone. Germany messes with Italy's, and Spain messes with Romano's because what kind of world would this be if they didn't?
    • Supposedly Austria has one too, but it's not his Idiot Hair - it's his Beauty Mark.
  • In Birdy the Mighty Decode, the beast-people seem to be aroused by having their chins scratched.
  • In the manga Tail Chaser, the Catgirl cast members' tails. Playing with their tails led to Does This Remind You of Anything? rather quickly.
  • In Seto no Hanayome, young mermaids grow tails when they get wet. Resisting the transformation results in a tickling sensation, which was milked for all it was worth in one episode when two mermaids practice endurance training.
  • Dragon Crisis:
    • Ai's ears and tail are very sensitive to touch.
    • The spot on Rose's back where her wings come out seems quite sensitive, when Ryuji touches her there she blushes and starts trembling. Then there are the scales on the back on Rose's hand.
  • Dog Days has a basic rewarding treatment for dog-warrior race, patting on his/her head. It's shown through a Tsundere Eclair as she blushes when her princess pat her, but goes mad when the Idiot Hero does it.

Fan Works

  • The Ah! My Goddess fic Vows had the area between their shoulder blades (where their wings appear) to be an erogenous zone. Keiichi has to take lessons from Peorth to avoid injuring Belldandy (or getting injured)...

Urd: Goddesses are required to attend a sex education course when they declare they intend to have a relationship with a mortal. Otherwise, they might lose themselves in the passion of the act and cause the man's heart to cave in on itself and then explode.

    • No need for him to be jealous of her educators, as "her teachers are all goddesses".
  • Crowley and Aziraphale have a huge amount of wingfic out there.
    • Also halokink.
    • This Tropes recalls a rather ... rousing fic where Crowley has a tail. Said tail is very interesting to play with.
  • According to Fanfic, Trance Gemini from Andromeda has a very sensitive tail.
    • That's actually semi-canonical; the show never used it in a sexual way, but it has been shown to be sensitive to injury, such as being stepped on.
  • There's a lot of Doctor Who fanon concerning this, one piece of which is dubiously canonical: in one scene in the Eighth Doctor Adventures, the Doctor gets a back massage. He demonstrates his appreciation via all manner of undignified noises, especially when his neck is being massaged. Some people have taken this to mean that a Time Lord's neck is an erogenous zone.
    • Well there must be a reason behind those collars.
    • Anatomy of Aliens, a Doctor Who fic, pokes fun at this trope, coupled with I Didn't Mean to Turn You On. A P.O.'d Rose jabs her finger into an alien captor's chest a few times to emphasize her ranting and the captor immediately lets them go. To Rose's horror, the Doctor explains that that particular species keep their genitals in their chests...
  • Comes up in a lot of Gargoyles fanfic. Fanon dictates that the shoulders and middle of the back, between the wings is especially... sensitive. It ranges from "that feels good" to "programmed to have sex with you RIGHT NOW if you keep it up".
    • For gargoyles built like Lexington, it may be the place where the wings meet the torso instead.
  • In many Inuyasha fanfics, the eponymous hanyou's ears are much more sensitive than portrayed in canon.
    • Most likely because Rumiko Takahashi though can't create characters that fans won't sexualize, she doesn't do porn - the implication hits hard when one realizes that Inuyasha will only let his Love Interest touch his ears.
  • The amount of times in Invader Zim fanfiction that mentions Zim's antennae to be this trope (which surprisingly has some basis in reality if Zim is physiologically similar to arthropods) has basically made this Fanon.
  • Pretty much anything with elves in it will have their pointed ears be sensitive in this way, and the same follows in Tales of Symphonia fanfiction for half-elves with that feature. (Not all of them have pointed ears, somewhat oddly.) In addition, it also seems to apply to angels' wings.
    • Applies to Vulcans in fanfiction, too.
  • In Touhou fanworks, many of the Petting Zoo People girls are subjected to this:
    • Ran's tails and ears are commonly played with by an unsuspecting Chen or by a bored Yukari, producing interesting reactions, spawning the meme A cat is added as a result of a particular piece.
    • A gag comic has Nitori inflating Yamame's poofy skirt. Gives her quite an interesting expression there...
    • Horns are a common source of this for fans, including Keine in her hakutaku form, Yuugi, and Suika.
    • Wings are also a common item, including Mystia, Remilia, and Aya.
    • Wriggle Nightbug's antennae are partially justified, since they are sensory organs, just not that kind.
    • Reimu apparently really enjoys people donating money to her shrine.
      • Another series by the same artist uses Reimu's hitbox, and the comments indicate he's not the only one.
    • Parsee is so jealous that her Pointy Ears get so much attention!
    • Hina (a curse goddess that absorbs misfortune) was once depicted as becoming aroused because of Kogasa's epic levels of misfortune.
    • Touching Youmu's ghost half has some interesting effects.
    • Or, there is always getting excited because of danmaku.
  • Seeker wings. Oh. My. Primus. Door wings and other kibble are pretty common as well, but Seeker wings are definitely the most popular in fan fiction.
  • The Return has Succubus horns being very sensitive; it's also implied that their tails may act as a pseudo-inseminator. You may now wash your brain.
  • Pokémon: Wild Mass Guessing has caused fans of Arceus to believe that the halo surrounding him/her would turn out to be one of these, providing that Arceus ever found itself a mate, of course.
  • Speculation abounds in the Warcraft fandom about elf ears and draenei tails and tendrils.
  • Bleach Fanon does this to the edges of an Arrancar's Hollow Hole.
    • And at least one writer has done this to Grimmjow's ears as well.
  • Buffy fandom frequently suggests that the brow ridges of a vampire's Game Face are an erogenous zone—and when they're stroked, vampires purr. This is most frequently invoked with Spike; most other vampires aren't considered as cuddly, except for Angel, who hates being one.
  • In every Dragonball Z fanfiction in which the Saiyan characters have their tails, said tails will always be—without exception—major erogenous zones. Justified in that a Saiyan's tail is very sensitive, unless the weakness is trained out of it.
    • DBZ fanfic writers love to emphasize how the scars where the tails use to be are extremely erogenous areas.
  • At least one Elfen Lied Fanfiction has shown that the cat-ear-like horns of the Diclonius are quite sensitive. May be a Justified Trope as we see Lucy going into shock or reverting to her more docile "Nyuu" persona anytime her horns are broken off. Then again, who wouldn't go into into shock, or at least suffer agonizing pain if you get part of your skull blown away? That is, if you actually survive.
  • In the Sky High fanfic Stop, the pyrokinetic Warren Peace's hands are erogenous zones due to the special nerves necessary for him to conduct fire. (Although hot - pun unintended - the reader is forced to wonder how that would work, given that that would make him almost constantly turned on, since he has to actually use those hands).
    • Considering he is a high-school age male, seems unlikely anyone would notice anything unusual if he were.
I'm 17. Looking at linoleum makes me wanna have sex.
  • Toy Story fandom has it that pull-strings and wings are erogenous zones.
  • Puella Magi Madoka Magica fans have run away with the idea of Soul Gem Play (directly applying physical contact to a Soul Gem in order to stimulate the poor Magical Girl the Gem belongs to) after that scene where Kyubey reveals the literal truth about the Soul Gems by making Sayaka feel pain through her own Gem.
  • Tron and Tron: Legacy fanon has it that programs' circuits are as sensitive as human genitalia (which programs are often but not always assumed to lack). This is supported by a deleted scene in the original.
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fanon has applied this to both Pegasus wings and unicorn horns.
  • Star Wars: The Clone Wars fics often make Ahsoka's montrals very sensitive.
    • This could perhaps stem from the canonical explanation that Twi'lek's lekku (their head tendrils) are extremely sensitive to the touch and is often used and/or exploited for sexual purposes. So most would assume any species with such similar features -like Togruta- would follow suit.
  • Narutos Fanon foes this with his whisker marks on his cheeks.
  • In the Teen Titans fanfic Bases, Robin and Starfire have some complications with the physical side of their relationship, because for Star's race (canonicaly feline descended) breasts are neither a special nor an erogenous zone. Scratching her behind the ear, on the other hand...
  • In Mass Effect fandom, turians and quarians are subject to this (it also doesn't hurt that a turian and quarian are two of the most popular love interests). For turians, fans have run with the idea that their fringes and mandibles are very sensitive to touch. As for quarians in fanfic... their whole bodies are basically erogenous zones, as since they're stuck in their suits for their entire lives, practically any kind of skin-to-skin contact can get them going.

Film


Literature

Some people say her erogenous zones start some four miles from her actual body. Ford Prefect disagrees, saying five.

  • In Robin Hobb's Ship of Destiny, Malta, as a result of spending a lot of time on the Rain River, ends up with a ridge on her forehead which appears to be, basically, a facial clitoris.
  • In Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, the catlike ears of Ogier are explicitly stated to be erogenous zones. Exposing them completely is scandalous, and Loial becomes embarrassed after accidentally mentioning his fiancee's.
  • In the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Gotals' horns are both electromagnetic sensors and erogenous zones. The Twi'lek's head-tentacles likewise.
    • Given that the Twi'lek language also involves a body language/signing component using the head tentacles, this effectively makes Twi'lek communication the equivalent of a woman waving her breasts at the person she's speaking to in order to communicate her mood.
    • In-story they're explained more as being used like arms; there's a specific sign language that few people of other species understand, but the major use is gesturing and emphasis. Tales From Jabba's Palace has Oola using hers to indicate Sarcasm Mode and express disbelief without anyone but Threepio knowing it.
  • Wings were mentioned for Aliisza from War of the Spider Queen. But then, she's Alu-fiend (half-Succubus)...
  • Apparently Temeraire dragons' tendril-y ruff is like this. Cue very embarrassed Laurence.
  • In The Hollows, when Rachel first moves in with her bisexual vampire co-worker Ivy, she unintentionally does a pile of things that tend to arouse vampires, such as borrowing Ivy's clothes (causing their scents to mix). It's made worse by the fact that Ivy has been trying to avoid drinking blood.
  • In the His Dark Materials trilogy is it considered taboo to touch the daemon (manifestation of a soul in animal form) of another human being. At the end of the trilogy Will and Lyra accidentally and then deliberately touch each other's daemons, and the subtext couldn't be more obvious.
  • Sapient Ship Daisy Mae (USS Des Moines) in the Posleen War Series book Yellow Eyes has a spot directly between her reactors that needs to be scrubbed regularly...
  • The section on mermaids in The Encyclopedia Of Fantasy: People of the Light uses this as half a solution for the Mermaid Problem, although it's not the tail, it's the hair.

Ismael Merindol reveals that mermaids spend so much time combing their hair because it that is their erogenous zone, and a source of incomparable pleasure. He writes: "In my youth I had a mermaid for a lover, but I was unable to give her pleasure in the usual way. However, if I scratched her scalp in a certain way she would very quickly swoon away. For what other women have between their legs, mermaids have in their hair."

    • This means that all those mermaids you see innocently combing their long tresses are in fact masturbating. Who needs privacy, anyway?


Live Action TV

  • Alien Nation: The Tenctonese women are aroused by, among other things, certain notes (coincidentally one of them is the TV test card tone), contact with their lower back but as a species their genitals are less of an issue sexually. (They're egg-layers, sort of—their sex is... complicated.)
    • Also, a blow to the armpit has the effect of a Groin Attack on Tenctonese males.
  • Ivanova on Babylon 5 takes advantage of this trope to get out of having sex with an alien race that traditionally uses it to conclude negotiations. He goes away with the impression that human sex consists of putting your hand on someone's head and dancing around them singing.
    • Although it is unclear how fooled he really was. It would appear most likely he was aware he was being manipulated, but could not object. His own headshake as he left, the meaningful, sarcastic look his interpreter gave her, and the note she received reading: "Next time: my way" (which came with a diaphragm!) seem to indicate that he was indeed aware she'd tricked him, but could not bring himself to admit an "inferior" species had gotten the better of him, and he left to save face.
  • Farscape: the Hynerian "ear brow" is very sensitive.
    • And don't forget Zhaan's "photogasms". As one character put it "She's a plant. Put her in the light and watch her smile."
    • Not to mention a Luxan's "tenkas." The tentacles on a Luxan's head are very sensitive, though in the show it's usually to pain. Though during the body-switching episode, D'argo notes that his "tenkas are a little sore," and he wonders what Chiana was doing with them. Knowing Chiana, she was enjoying her (new) self. A lot.
  • Star Trek has the Ferengi, whose ears are an erogenous zone (and "oo-mox" is basically a sex act involving stroking the ears).
    • The Ferengi thing is interesting because if you look at it as a stand-in for the penis, you have scenes such as Quark rubbing himself onscreen, a woman trying to get something from a Ferengi by rubbing his groin, and a woman who grabs a Ferengi by "the balls" to bargain with him. There was even a joke about too much oo-mox making you go deaf...
    • There is also a point in one of the DS9 books where it is very strongly implied that Ferengi do not, in fact, have penises. Quark, Rom, and Nog go to see the doctor about a rash on their ears, and remark about it being "...the same as if a hu-man got it on their..." though the rest of the sentence is cut off.
    • An unintentionally hilarious scene from Voyager involves Chakotay discovering that aliens are leaving carvings of ears at a shrine. He remarks that it must be some kind of fetish, using the anthropological meaning of a ritual object. Then the crew discovers the shrine was built for Ferengi lost through a wormhole...
    • Also in Trek, we discover that Cardassians get a bit hot and bothered when somebody strokes their neck ridges.
    • For Vulcans, the touching of fingers seems to be equivalent to a kiss. There's a sort of finger caress that's a bit more intimate as well. That's because Vulcans have psychic powers that work by touch. Brushing fingertips specifically isn't anything special, quite the opposite - it's the most skin contact they'll allow (in public).
      • Which makes you see the scenes from the first two movies, when Spock almost died and Kirk is holding his hands as he wakes up, and when Spock actually dies and the two are pressing their hands against the window separating them, in a slightly different light. Rumor says that Roddenberry was very well aware of this.
  • The Tenth Kingdom. For Wolf, it's the tail. He even gets do use it in a Something Else Also Rises sort of way now and then.
  • An Italian comedy show once had a sketch featuring an interview with a woman with a wandering G-spot. Obviously, when the host shook her hand...
  • An episode of Angel involved a demon species whose females had bony ridges along the spine that became red hot when they were in heat. The extremely patriarchal males of the species would cut off these ridges to keep their females docile, as sexual arousal was implied to make the women supernaturally strong. Of course, the whole episode was a big aesop about female genital mutilation.
  • An episode of Merlin has Arthur react with distinct pleasure when Gwen strokes his recently acquired donkey ears (long story).
  • The pilot of Battlestar Galactica had the (female) Cylons' spines glow during sex. This was dropped for the rest of the series, however, as a major plot point early on was how to detect the Cylons among the fleet and was pointed out that Baltar had a Cylon detector in his pants.
  • From Saturday Night Live we have the Coneheads, aliens with, what else? Cone-shaped heads! And they have some sort of game or something where they put a special ring on said cones. And guess what? This game has something to do with sex!
    • Used in the film as well, when their daughter tries it out with her (human) boyfriend. Her parents freak out on walking in on this.


Video Games

  • If any fantasy story has any mentionings about sexuality, elven ears are always erogenous zones. Actually, this is true for many humans as well.
  • A fan-made modification to the main campaign of Neverwinter Nights 2 gives Neeshka an... interesting... reaction if you try manipulating her tail without warning.
  • That certain conversation with Mordin in Mass Effect 2 hints at this trope, with Mordin offering aides to Shepard which includes "erogenous zone overviews" when romancing either Garrus or Tali, neither or which are human.
    • Also, an easily missed conversation in Lair of the Shadow Broker gives us the "Azure", or slang for an asari erogenous zone "in the lower reaches, near the bottom." The end of the DLC hints that this is in the lower back.
      • If you're still faithful to Liara, at the end, Shepard's hand goes to said spot, which instantly turns her eyes black with a smile on her face, along with a gasp.
  • In Sam and Max Freelance Police: What's New, Beelzebub?, there's a Workplace Sexual Harassment chart which indicates the zones where Sam should not be touched as his crotch and his floppy dog ears. Shambling Corporate Presence's are in a variety of obscure places, the most obvious being the ends of his tentacles. Max just has a big question mark over his body along with a Stop sign and the caption 'approach with caution'.
  • In Planescape: Torment, Annah's skin gets hot when she, uh, gets hot.
  • In the Old World Blues DLC for Fallout: New Vegas, Dr. Dala is disturbingly fascinated by your breathing due to the fact that as a Brain In a Jar she hasn't had a body of her own in centuries. It's even possible to induce The Immodest Orgasm in her after finding this out.
  • In Star Control II, the Slylandro's "glowy bits" are visible to humans but not to Slylandro; the fact that humans can see them makes at least one Slylandro more . . . stimulated.

Slylandro: Ah... your species sees in a different spectrum than we do. We can't see those. As for what they are... erm... well, they're used for... um... when a male and a female... uh, look, can we talk about something else?


Webcomics

  • In Keychain of Creation, Marena, the foxy Lunar Exalted, gets very turned on when Racer, a fellow Lunar, starts stroking her ears.
  • The D'Bo sisters from Our Home Planet are somewhat of an odd example: Their antennae secrete a protein, that, simply said, at one point causes Rika's finger to have an orgasm. It hasn't been shown yet, but given that the antennae are said to be the most sensitive parts of their biology and that they're their reproductive organs (eww), fiddling with them should have this effect.
  • In Twokinds, this trope is probably the reason why the Basitin consider non-bandaged feet obscene.
  • For Uryuom in El Goonish Shive empathy / limited telepathy does most of the job (they are androgynous, anyway). It's far from being limited to their own species and this property is inheritable. The genetic lottery leaves some Half Human Hybrids without the human form of attraction and others with a combination of both.
  • In Dangerously Chloe Teddy discovers that horns of the Succubi are sensitive, thanks to his habit of testing things by touching them and another succubus trying to impersonate Chloe without being up to those specs in any part of the figure. Before that, he applied the same scientific method #1 to a young angel girl's wing, but it's not clear whether she blushed and slapped him because that was uninvited touching in general or specifically a wing.


Web Original

  • Played straight in Cosmos Eternal. The Fellpool race (no relation to Star Ocean) have prehensile monkey-like tails that keep them balanced when moving, and give them ennate skill with acrobatics. This furry tail is a heavy erogenous zone. Stroking it can make a Fellpool purr like a cat. Heavy stroking can even make a Fellpool sexually aroused. Light nibbling, licking, and other acts can make a Fellpool orgasm. The main character even at one point strips down because of how hot the arousal is making her (much to her crew's mixed reactions). And this affects both male and female Fellpools, but luckily (or unluckily) this pleasure only applies when someone else rubs a Fellpool's tail. On the opposite scale, damage to the tail can be so unbearable that a Fellpool can pass out. Getting their tail cut off has even made some Fellpool who aren't combat-trained die from the pain.
    • Featherfolk (also no relation to Star Ocean) are similarly affected with their wings. The downside, however, is that their wings are so goddamn sensitive that just grabbing one can make them cry out in agony. Plucking even a single feather is painful enough to make them pass out or empty their bowels. Serenity apparently had her rare golden feathers plucked by slavers, which is noted in that her wings have some patches with no feathers. It's explicitly stated that, theoretically, a Featherfolk could feel pleasure from their wings' sensitivity. But their sensitivity is so great that few things can tough them light enough to cause pleasure without crossing into pain. Serenity is noted as enjoying light breezes, it seems... Hmm...
    • Chimeras, animal-human hybrids, get this treatment with their ears and tails.
  • For Shirelings in Tales of MU, it's strongly implied to be the feet.


Western Animation

  • Spoofed in a Robot Chicken short; a character wishes for unicorns to be real, after which one appears at his window and takes him away to have "fun adventures"... which include stripping down and polishing his "magic horn".
  • When she was freed from her cuffs by Robin in Teen Titans, Starfire pulled him in and kissed him (her alien biology has a power that lets her learn languages through "lip contact"). She didn't know what a kiss really was on Earth at the time, but she later realizes that it means "more... or so [she] has heard."