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{{trope}}
[[File:
|[[Flight of the Conchords]] }}▼
For most fictional purposes a '''hermaphrodite''' is an individual that's both male and female; specifically, one that has both male and female genitals. Biologists don't use the word that way, but we are talking about storytelling here, not biology. In real life, however, applying the term to a human is not only inaccurate, but likely
▲{{quote| ''Oh you sexy hermaphrodite lady man ladies''<br />
▲''With your sexy lady bits and your sexy man bits too''<br />
▲''even you must be into you oo oo!''<br />
▲[[Flight of the Conchords]] }}
The word
▲For most fictional purposes a hermaphrodite is an individual that's both male and female; specifically, one that has both male and female genitals. Biologists don't use the word that way, but we are talking about storytelling here, not biology. In real life, however, applying the term to a human is not only inaccurate, but likely stigmatizing and offensive. While sexually ambiguous humans ''do'' exist, [http://www.isna.org/faq/hermaphrodite a true human hermaphrodite has yet to be found, so the term you're probably looking for is "intersex"].
Hermaphrodites tend to pop up in [[
▲The word Hermaphrodite comes from the Greek deity Hermaphroditus. This child of Hermes and Aphrodite was born a hermaphrodite according to Diodorus Siculus [[Older Than Feudalism|(1st century BCE).]] According to Ovid he was a very handsome young man with whom the nymph Salmacis fell madly in love. He rejected her advances, but Salmacis clung to him and prayed fervently to never be parted from him. The [[Jerkass Gods|gods]] [[Literal Genie|granted her prayer]] by [[Fusion Dance|merging the two of them]] into a [[Biological Mashup|single being]], half male and half female. [[Be Careful What You Wish For]].
See also [[Fetish Fuel]], [[Gender Bender]], [[Wrong Genetic Sex]], and [[No Biological Sex]]. If said character is highly sought after, see [[Everybody Wants the Hermaphrodite]].▼
▲Hermaphrodites tend to pop up in [[Hentai]] [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] (where it's called ''futanari'', literally "dual form"), western erotic comics, and [[Science Fiction]] and [[Fantasy]] erotica. Sometimes entire alien species or fantasy races are hermaphroditic [[One-Gender Race|One Gender Races]], thanks to [[Bizarre Alien Biology]]. Hermaphroditism is also a popular way to explain [[Mister Seahorse]] situations.
▲See also [[Fetish Fuel]], [[Gender Bender]], [[Wrong Genetic Sex]], and [[No Biological Sex]]. If said character is highly sought after, see [[Everybody Wants the Hermaphrodite]].
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* The "futanari" (meaning Two-Form) subgenre of [[Hentai]] contains many examples. In Japanese circles, the featured characters are either ladies with both sets of genitalia that lacking a visible pair of testicles, or women that come with testicles on top of the vagina. Confusing either with "shemales" or "newhalfs" (feminine characters without vaginas) is a surefire way to generate a heated argument.
* {{spoiler|Apos, the [[Big Bad]]}} of ''[[Mnemosyne]]'' is intersex, which in that universe is very handy as it gives him/her Immortality (a female only ability) as well as the powers of an Angel (male only ability) upon ingesting a Time Spore. Though it does come with [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|Great Insanity]] and an unnatural pleasure from prolonged torture of his/her victims.▼
** The ''Rebis Dungeon'' (of the eponymous
** A prominent example is Kitami Reika from '' [[Bible Black]]''. Why use strapons when you can pop out a rock-hard cock out of your clitoris and fuck girls with ''style''?
** ''[[Angel Blade]]'' is another good example of the "cock growth" sub-genre: almost all the villains can grow out massive cocks, and they naturally bang the female protagonists hard. [[Simple Staff|They also use their cocks as cum cannons]].
** ''[[La Blue Girl]]'' achieves the same effect of "girl magically grows a large cock" with clitoris enlargement. While not truly hermaphroditic (hyenas are known for their large penis-like clitoris in [[Real Life]], and they're considered female anyway), works like ''La Blue Girl'' are generally considered to be futanari because the end result (hot girl bangs hot girl with her meat) is the same.
▲*
* Kanzeon Bosatsu from the ''[[Saiyuki]]'' manga, [[Mythology Gag|a reference]] to the fact that Guan Yin was originally portrayed as male, but eventually became portrayed as female in China.
* Makoto, the main character of the manga ''[[Boku no Futatsu no Tsubasa]]'' (My Two Wings) is a
* Very probably Envy of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''
* Satan in the [[Go Nagai]] series ''[[Devilman]]'' is portrayed this way,
** In another Go Nagai work, ''[[Violence Jack]]'',
* Baron Ashura from ''[[Mazinger Z]]'' is a strange being formed from the halves of two lovers, sewn together down the middle. What
* Yubel in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]''
* Kei/Megumi, protagonist of the manga ''[[The Day of Revolution]]'', is described as a hermaphrodite by her doctor
▲** The ''Rebis Dungeon'' (of the eponymous [[Hentai]] manga/doujin artist Rebis<ref>Not to be confused with "Negative Man"/Rebis</ref>) collection of works is simply ''rife'' with futanari of almost any kind. Of note is that the artist appears to be an avid ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' fan -- and [[Rule 34|yes, he has hentai fanart of it]], which includes hermaphroditic Slaaneshi Daemons.
* In the third series of ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]] Ryo-Ohki'', it is revealed that {{spoiler|Kagato used to be intersex, and that Noike is actually Kagato's "female half." Sort of. Kagato started out as another character called Naja Akari, a close friend of Washu. When she died, Washu used the Masu creatures to resurrect her in a female body. Later, Naja assimilated with a male 'Ryoko' prototype body, becoming intersex and calling
▲* Yubel in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh GX]]''. Is never referred with either male or female pronoun {{spoiler|even in its past life}}, and has a [[Yandere]] fixation on Judai and speaking in a feminine voice slightly more often, but refers to itself using male pronouns.
▲* Kei/Megumi, protagonist of the manga ''[[The Day of Revolution]]'', is described as a hermaphrodite by her doctor, but that's an obsolete usage of the term. She's actually intersexed.
▲* In the third series of ''[[Tenchi Muyo]] Ryo-Ohki'', it is revealed that {{spoiler|Kagato used to be intersex, and that Noike is actually Kagato's "female half." Sort of. Kagato started out as another character called Naja Akari, a close friend of Washu. When she died, Washu used the Masu creatures to resurrect her in a female body. Later, Naja assimilated with a male 'Ryoko' prototype body, becoming intersex and calling him/herself Kagato. Later, Kagato ejected the female part of his body (and possibly mind) into the form of a young girl, also called Kagato, and left her behind. This girl was then sent drifting through time by Tenchi/Tenchi-kami-sama and was somehow fused into Noike's body by Dr. Clay. It's implied that the two will merge into a single personality in the future.}}
* Nataku from ''[[X 1999]]'', who is said to be a "created being" with both female and male genes. Even though he looks more like a guy now (because his father gave him some body parts), his base is a little girl.
* Amazume Ryuta's [[
** ''Bra Girl''<ref>
* [[Big Good|Adam Kadmon]] from ''[[Angel Sanctuary]]'' represents Primordial Man, being God's first creation who existed before the "duality" of gender and power emerged.
* The
== Comic Books ==
* ''[[Cerebus]]'', while
* Steinbeck of ''[[X
* Desire, one of the Endless from ''[[The Sandman]]'', is
* Negative Man or Rebis of [[Grant Morrison]]'s ''[[Doom Patrol]]'' is a fusion of Larry Trainor (white male test pilot, original magic-word-transformation superhero Negative Man), Eleanor Poole, (black female, his doctor) and the Spirit Mercurius, an [[Energy Being]] that [[Sickly Green Glow|glows green]], [[Viewers Are Geniuses|heavily referencing Carl Jung]], [[Mind Screw|on the moon]].
* Shaalis, the main character of Michael Manning's ''Spider Garden'' erotic graphic novel series, is a "true" hermaphrodite, and is more commonly referred to by the titles of "Sacred Androgyne", and "mastress". Although the series revolves around a far-future clan-based society of genetically-modified "metahumans", ''s/he'' seems to be the only 'true' hermaphrodite.
* Given that very few fictional works actually show their protagonists' genitals, it's a common fanfictional conceit for all members of a particular species or society to be hermaphroditic (or at least for the females to have hyena-like genitalia.) This is slightly weird when applied to [[Green-Skinned Space Babe|Green Skinned Space Babes]] (e.g. [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Starfire]]), and ''really'' weird when applied to [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture|Fantasy Counterpart Cultures]] whose real-world equivalents quite obviously aren't hermaphroditic (e.g. [[Code Geass|Britannians]].<ref>Granted, the author of the latter was apparently Japanese, so it's anyone's guess whether he's ever seen a British woman's genitals.</ref>)▼
* In [[Naruto Veangance Revelaitons (Fanfic)|Naruto Veangance Revelaitons]], which is full of typos, spelling mistakes and [[Freudian Slip|Freudian Slips]], Sakura, on more than one occasion, is said to have a penis.▼
{{quote| tjen i started 2 fingr her cunt realy hard and juicy girtl cum was flowin frum her '''dick''' like a waterfal}}▼
== Fan Works ==
▲* Given that very few fictional works actually show their protagonists' genitals, it's a common fanfictional conceit for all members of a particular species or society to be hermaphroditic (or at least for the females to have hyena-like genitalia
▲* In ''[[
▲{{quote|
* There's this ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fanfic called ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1913307/1/Resuscitation_of_Agape Resuscitation of Agape]'' in which... well, you'll just have to read it.
* In ''[[The Return (
== Film ==
* Hutts in the ''[[Star Wars]]'' universe are gastropods and therefore functional hermaphrodites. A given Hutt is usually referred to as "female" when pregnant
* The Gyaos in the Heisei ''[[Gamera]]'' trilogy.
* The [[Fan Nickname|Xenomorphs]] from the ''[[Alien]]'' films. [[Word of God|According to]] [[
* [[All There in the Manual|Tie-in material]] for ''[[
* ''[[Big Top Pee-Wee]]'' features a hermaphrodite in the circus' side show named Shim, who has a male left half and female right half (or possibly the other way around).
▲* [[All There in the Manual|Tie-in material]] for ''[[District 9 (Film)|District 9]]'' on Christopher's blog states that the prawns are all fully functional hermaphrodites.
▲* ''Big Top Pee-Wee'' features a hermaphrodite in the circus' side show named Shim who has a male left half and female right half (or possibly the other way around). Said, by the circus announcer, to be the only person who can marry "shimself."
* In the sequel to ''[[Tremors]]'', the resident scientist [[Squick|sees the Screamer stage reproducing]] and says they're "hermaphrodites"; but they're actually [[Did Not Do the Research|just the opposite]] in that they have ''no'' genitals and reproduce asexually by vomiting up a new one after gorging. She says IMMEDIATELY afterwards "They reproduce asexually", so whether it's a case of the writers not knowing the difference or just her (being a geologist, not a biologist) is never brought up...unlike the phrase "pre-Cambrian."
* Referenced in ''[[The Lair of the White Worm]]'', when the characters discover some cave art depicting a figure with large breasts and an erect penis. {{spoiler|A subversion, as it turns out to be a sketch of the film's immortal villain, a lesbian snake-woman who likes to perform [[Human Sacrifice]] with [[Refuge in Audacity|a sharpened ritual strap-on]].}}
* The dinosaurs in ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' were sequential hermaphrodites as a result of [[Lego Genetics|frog DNA being used to fill the gaps in their own deteriorated helixes]]. All the dinosaurs were engineered female, which obviously was just the sort of population imbalance needed for some of them to turn male and start breeding.
== Literature ==
* The lengthy '''[[
* {{spoiler|Roselle Pollard}} in Dean Koontz' ''The Bad Place'' is fully reproductively functional as both sexes {{spoiler|and by self-impregnation, gives birth to a protagonist and the villain, plus two other children}}.
* The central character of [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[All You Zombies]]'' had internal male genitalia discovered during a cesarean section, and complications forced the doctors to supersede her external female genitalia with them. Both sets of genitalia were fully functional; in fact, {{spoiler|s/he's not only the mother, but the father and ''daughter'' as well, via [[Stable Time Loop]] orchestrated by the protagonist much later in life, making four distinct characters the same person}}.
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* James Reese's trilogy consisting of ''The Book of Shadows, The Book of Spirits'', and ''The Witchery'' feature Herculine, a hermaphrodite with functional genitals from both genders. She/he is an unusual member of a Witch Species that normally gives birth to female witches and male humans. She/he has the powers of a witch, but {{spoiler|is able to impregnate a human woman and father a witch daughter and a human son.}}
* Sadako in the ''[[The Ring|Ring]]'' novels counts twice. {{spoiler|Her original body was genetically male, but with testicular feminization syndrome - her outward appearance was female, unless you took a really close look between her legs. After her rebirth in ''Spiral'', she describes herself as a "complete hermaphrodite" with both a womb and testicles, fully functional.}}
* In [[H. Beam Piper]]'s sci-fi novel ''[[Uller Uprising]]'', the Ullerans are a race of silicon-based, vaguely reptilian [[Proud Warrior Race Guy
* The Titanides from [[John Varley]]'s [[Gaea Trilogy]] are...complicated. Genetically engineered to resemble the [[Our Centaurs Are Different|centaurs]] of myth, they, shall we say, ''divert'' from that model by having ''both'' genitalia on their horsey halves
** Another [[John Varley]] character, Kenneth "Sparky" Valentine from ''The Golden Globe'', is specifically ''not'' a hermaphrodite despite his trick [[Magic Plastic Surgery|reversible penis.]] He's just an actor who uses it to play female roles.
* In the ''[[Well World]]'' series, the communistic states on some of the more hivelike planets have engineered humans to be full hermaphrodites to [[Individuality Is Illegal|make everyone "equal".]] It doesn't work. The population of the [[Well World]] itself contains a variety of hermaphoditic species as well.
* The eponymous character of the Thomas T. Thomas novel ''Crygender'' (it stands for 'cryptic gender") is a former terrorist who elects to become a (surgically created) hermaphrodite in order to "hide in plain sight."
* When the [[Evilutionary Biologist]] villains of [[Jack Chalker|Jack L. Chalker's]] ''[[The Moreau Factor]]'' [[Involuntary Transformation|transform]] their victims into [[Half-Human Hybrid|Half Human Hybrids]] they also make many of them hermaphrodites, apparently [[Power Perversion Potential|just because they can]]
* Burgoyne 172 in ''[[Star Trek: New Frontier]]'', a member of the fully hermaphroditic Hermat species. S/he ([[Pronoun Trouble|bear with us here]]) mates with a Vulcan, of all species, and the baby they produce (well, the Vulcan produces) is male. Originally the considered pronoun was S/he/it. Say it out loud and you'll see why it didn't catch on.
* Melissa Scott's novel ''Shadow Man'' involved humanity becoming a five-sexed race as a side-effect of adaptation to faster-than-light space travel. Of course, not everyone accepted it.
* Ralf Isau's novel ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20131122174653/http://www.isau.de/shop/index.html Galerie der Lügen]'' (translating to "Gallery of Lies") has a hermaphrodite {{spoiler|protagonist}} and {{spoiler|an ex-hermaphrodite [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]].}}
* Pie O'Pah in ''[[Imajica]]'' is a bit like Desire as mentioned above -- "he" is whatever his current sexual partner is most attracted to. Another main character who falls in love with him learns to see his true form, which rather than having two sets of genitals has one unusually-shaped organ that can somehow fulfill both jobs.
* Thorn of Gary Jennings' ''Raptor'' is a hermaphrodite born during the last years of the Roman Empire. Thorn is remarkably convincing as either gender, and switches between them as needed. Unlike some fictional examples, however, Thorn is sterile.
* The entire planet of Winter in Ursula K. Le Guin's ''[[The Left Hand of Darkness]]'' is populated by humans who are hermaphrodites and androgynes. Most of the time, people are genderless, unless they're in heat. Two lovers in heat will assume genders at random (though some people have preferences, male or female) and if one gets pregnant, she remains so until the baby is born, then goes back to being an androgyne. This is explored in great detail - and made slightly complicated by the fact that the narrator translates pronouns as "He" most of the time (though a later book referred to all Getheniens as "she").
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* In ''[[Star Shards Chronicles|Thief of Souls]]'', the eponymous soul-eater Okoya takes a hermaphrodite body.
* Laurie J. Marks's [[Winged Humanoid|Aeyries]]. They're also [[Whale Egg|oviparous]].
* In the later [[
* The Ledom, an "advanced" (what exactly that means is an important [[Plot Point]] in the novel) type of humans, in Theodore Sturgeon's ''Venus Plus X'' are all hermaphroditic, peace-loving, and empathetic. {{spoiler|Late in the novel, the protagonist (and the reader) find out what's ''really'' going on.}}
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* Gene/Jean in ''[[Quark]]'' is a "transmute," meaning he has both male and female chromosomes. Whether he has both sex organs, however, is never revealed.
* [[Mr. Show|"I'm Tatyana, the Weather Hermaphrodite"]]
* In the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' episode
{{quote|
== Music ==
* A "big, fat hermaphrodite with [[A Flock of Seagulls]] haircut and only one nostril" stole [["Weird Al" Yankovic|Al's]] lucky, lucky autographed glow-in-the-dark snorkel in the (not really) autobiographical song "Albuquerque."
* Singing comedian Steven Lynch had the song "Hermaphrodite" (pronounced to be a pun with Aphrodite) which is about him having a hermaphrodite "girlfriend."
* In the music video for the [[
* The [[
* ''S-E-X-X-Y'' by [[They Might Be Giants]] is implied to be about this.
* In the [[She Wants Revenge]] music video "Tear You Apart", it's implied but not said for the girl to actually be intersex. It results in her being cornered and about to be stripped by a mob of high schoolers. Then the duo burst in and rescue her. Then it results in a [[Cliff Hanger]] with them saying there much to talk about.
== Mythology ==
* In the [[Mesopotamian Mythology|Babylonian version]] of ''[[
* Many ancient cultures had gods (usually fertility gods, for obvious reasons) like this.
== Tabletop RPG ==
* Slaanesh, the youngest [[Eldritch Abomination|Chaos God]] in ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' and ''[[Warhammer
* ''[[
* In ''[[
* ''[[Exalted]]'': Marilaq A'Lam, Sister of Neomah, a Demon-Blooded turned more-or-less full demon, is an example of this. Fully functional at that; she's quite capable of impregnating herself. She does seem to maintain a female identity, despite her ''[[Eldritch Abomination|three sets of genitalia]]''.
** Another, non-fully functional example is Livillia, the actual ''[[Odd Job Gods|goddess of prostitution]]''. As befitting her nature, she's not nearly as [[Squick
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== Web Original ==
* In ''[[
* Bernard Doove's [[Furry Fandom|felinoid]] [[Chakona Space|centaurs]], named [http://www.furry.org.au/chakat/ chakats], are a genetically engineered race, intentionally designed with fully functional equipment for both sexes. Many of the other species in his Chakat universe are hermaphrodites. The pronouns "shi" and "hir" that he came up with are often used by [[Furry Fandom|furries]] with "herm" characters.<ref>Also, more rarely, "xie" and "xir".</ref>
** In general, the [[Furry Fandom]] produces many more hermaphroditic characters than your run-of-the-mill fandom.
* [[Touhou Project|Yukkuris]] are biologically hermaphroditic, their only restriction being that two yukkuris of the same type can't have a baby together (unless they're Rinnosuke-types). However, they are always referred to by the same pronouns as the characters they're based on --[[
▲* In ''[[The Return (Fanfic)|The Return]]'' [[One-Gender Race|Succubae]] reproduce two ways. One is [[Viral Transformation|turning]] that results in a succubus regardless of what gender they were as a human. The other is one succubus impregnates another. [[Beware My Stinger Tail|Tails]] are implied to be [[Naughty Tentacles|involved]].
▲* [[Touhou Project|Yukkuris]] are biologically hermaphroditic, their only restriction being that two yukkuris of the same type can't have a baby together (unless they're Rinnosuke-types). However, they are always referred to by the same pronouns as the characters they're based on --[[Improbably Female Cast|which 99% of the time would be "her"]].
== Western Animation ==
* Cartman's mom from ''[[South Park]]'' was infamously revealed to be Cartman's father as she is a hermaphrodite (and had sex with basically the entire town). It was later revealed that the town was lying to protect the Broncos, as {{spoiler|Jack Tenorman, Scott Tenorman's father had sex with Leanne at the Drunken Barn Dance}}.
* Fluffy and Uranus from ''[[Duckman]]'', Duckman's teddy bear secretaries: they appear to be female and have feminine voices but they have male genitals.
* In ''[[Futurama
* Yuck of ''[[Yin Yang Yo
* The main character of ''[[Kaeloo]]'' is a either a [http://i43.tinypic.com/2zq644m.png true or sequential hermaphrodite]. Her friends seem to think she's female.
== Video Games ==
* As it turns out In ''[[Digital Devil Saga]]''
* The Liir from ''[[Sword of the Stars]]'', as well as being psychic space-dolphins.
* The Father-Mother in ''[[Zeno Clash]]'', the protagonist being one of her children - who also murdered her in cold blood.
* Deeth in ''[[Record of Agarest War]]'' is a hermaphroditic ''god''.
* Kainé from ''[[
* [[Artificial Human|Minogame]] from ''[[Hellsinker]]'' is a hermaphrodite. He was constructed that way in order to invoke the fusion of male and female into a godlike being.
* In the Facebook game ''[[Happy Aquarium]]'', one of your possible starting fish will have no gender indication, and be capable of mating with both sexes.
== [[Real Life]] ==
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