Mister Seahorse: Difference between revisions

'''Amy:''' Yes it's... great. A great miracle.

'''Leela:''' And not one of those bogus everyday miracles like a sunrise. Aren't you a male?|''[[Futurama]]'', "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch"}}

A male character gets pregnant through [[Functional Magic]], [[Mad Scientist|weird science]], [[Gender Bender|gender-bending]], [[Bizarre Alien Biology]], [[Freaky Friday|body swapping]], [[Furry Fandom|actually being a seahorse]], [[Artistic License: Biology|outright ignorance of human biology]] or just plain bad writing. Usually played for laughs, but it can be done seriously or even tragically, especially when it's an [[Alien Impregnation]] from a [[Face Full of Alien Wingwong]].

EspeciallyThe common'''"Mister inSeashorse"''' [[Fanfic]].(or The"M Preg"MPreg") story is especially common in [[fanfic]], and usually considered one of ''the'' scourges of fan writing, second only to [[Mary Sue]], because it is done ridiculously often and [[Sturgeon's Law|almost always badly]]. It is often given [[Hand Wave|no more explanation]] than [[The Power of Love]] [[YouArtistic FailLicense: Biology Forever|overcoming fundamental biology]]. But then, do you ''really'' want to know which lower orifice the baby came out of? (Fanfic criticism circles describe such offspring as "ass-babies"., Usewhich theis term[[Unfortunate withImplications|not carewise aroundto mpreguse writers,around men who canaren't getcis [[Aor Worldwidestraight Punomenon|butthurtfor a few reasons]].).

Sometimes, [[Mthis Preg]]trope is justified when the action takes place in the future or if, the protagonists are non-humans or aliens (especially if they are [[hermaphrodite]]s)., Oror if it's somehow in canon. Regardless of how it comes about, though, fanfic with this often turns into [[Kid Fic]].

In case you missed that class in Biologybiology, the trope name comes from the fact that male seahorses have an egg pouch. In it, they receive and fertilize the eggs of their mates, and carry them to term.

This is ''theoretically'' possible in real life. [[Mad Scientist|A Scientist]]scientist was able to implant an embryo in the abdominal wall of a male baboon, and others report that it is indeed possible to get a man pregnant if the embryo is planted at the proper spot, but only if the man is pumped full of pregnancy hormones. The embryo [[The More You Know|creates its own placenta]], it turns out.<ref>http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2005-07/male-pregnancy-dangerous-proposition</ref> Unfortunately, the abdominal wall is not designed to detach from the placenta, resulting in [[Overdrawn At the Blood Bank|massive bloody injury]]. Route of exit is also problematic, as neither anus nor urethra were designed to stretch ''at all'' (not to mention being our means of getting rid of body waste, with bad consequences should that waste get backed up), and a c-section would either be premature or need to wait for the baby to try to get out on its own first. Needless to say, human male volunteers, not wanting to risk their lives on it, have not been forthcoming.

Probably the most understandable reason to say "[[But I Can't Be Pregnant]]". If the character actually is a female (or at least [[Transgender|has a uterus]]), that's [[Your Tomcat Is Pregnant]].

== Anime &and Manga ==

* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', {{spoiler|Father}}, mid-way through ...comsuming... {{spoiler|Hohenheim}}, appears to be pregnant, with parts of {{spoiler|Hohenheim}} [http://www.mangareader.net/116-35376-39/full-metal-alchemist/chapter-100.html sticking out of him]. It's not any better when {{spoiler|Hohenheim}} completely disappears into {{spoiler|Father}}, making {{spoiler|Father}} look [https://web.archive.org/web/20130728052400/http://www.seaslugteam.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/FMA2-59-06.jpg?cda6c1 grossly overweight]...

* In ''[[Futaba-Kun Change!|Futaba-kun Change]]'', the main character learns that he and his entire family are all [[Gender Bender]]s triggered by sexual arousal, meaning that the person he's always thought of as his father is actually his mother in the purely technical (or biological) sense. Naturally he finds this revelation deeply disturbing.

=== FanfictionFan Works based on [[Anime]] &and [[Manga]] ===

* In the ''[[Hellsing]]'' fanfic ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2847586/1/The_bWay_b_to_an_bHeir_b The Way To An Heir]'', Alucard attempts to impregnate Integra with a spell, but ends up getting himself pregnant. While somewhat bizarre, it actually makes sense ([http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=§ion=&q=girlycard#/d1tpqnr Girlycard duh!])

* Only slightly less disturbing are [[Slash Fic|slash fics]] that use male pregnancy as [[You Fail Biology Forever|a natural]] [[Critical Research Failure|consequence of]] gay sex. One ''[[Death Note]]'' fanfic --— "''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4510558/1/Tears Tears]"—for'' — for instance has Matt getting Mello pregnant, and L forcing Mello to get an abortion because [[Unfortunate Implications|it's impossible to be pregnant and clever at the same time]].

** [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5140063/1/B_is_for_Baby THIS] ''[[Death Note]]'' fanfiction averts and/or parodies the trope in a bizarre way when Beyond Birthday appears to L claiming to be bearing his child.

* In the ''[[Gundam Wing]]'' Fandom:

* Mpreg is ''very'' popular in ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'', as states and provinces are often depicted as the children of nations. However, if you applied a bit of [[Fridge Logic]] to this, you would realize that a country's states are actually parts of their physical body, such as America's [[Idiot Hair|ahoge]] as Nantucket, and [[Know-Nothing Know-It-All|Korea's]] as Seoul, so the entire premise is built upon the [[MST3K Mantra]].

* The ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' fanfic [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4925872/1/Cockroach Cockroach] by Thoth Moon is a brilliant [[Deconstruction]] of this trope. It features [[Mind Game Ship|Sensui]] [[Mad Love|and Itsuki]], the [[Kill All Humans|last two guys in YYH]] [[The End of the World as We Know It|who should be having a baby]] and is presented as a very scary [[Body Horror]] story, with [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?]] added for good measure because of the characters involved. {{spoiler|After numerous failed abortion attempts, Itsuki gives birth through a very painful dimensional rift between his legs. So painful, in fact, that he passes out for a few hours during labor in the bathtub. They end up keeping the dead baby in their freezer after Sensui's "Kazuya" personality slaughters it.}}

* ''[[Fruits Basket]]'' slash authors love doing this to Hatori, who transforms into a seahorse if hugged by a woman.

* A popular element of ''[[Pet Shop of Horrors]]'' fanfiction. Guaranteed to be a ''FOURTH'' of the total fanfics available of this fandom. Possibly justified with {{spoiler|Count D, as he is not human... But ''Leon''?!}}

* There are a lot of ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' fanfics that have either Goku or Vegeta pregnant with each other's baby.

* There's a ''[[xxxHolic×××HOLiC]]'' fanfiction that can be found [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4159169/1/Magical_Donuts here] that has ''Doumeki'' getting pregnant after {{spoiler|eating a magic donut}}. [[Hilarity Ensues]].

* In the ''[[Naruto]]'' fandom, Naruto would get impregnated (usually because of Sasuke) because of several reasons; the Kyuubi is a female (despite the fact it is basically just a mass of malevolent chakra with no real gender), the "fact" that demons can reproduce regardless of gender and this was carried on into Naruto (or other jinchuuriki like Gaara, opening up a whole new can of worms), there is a jutsu that enables males to get pregnant, [[Gender Bender|Sexy no Jutsu]] somehow alters the user's entire biology, or Orochimaru is being his usual sick self and experimented on male pregnancies for some completely unknown reason. Take your pick.

** ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3758047/1/ Companion Crisis]'' takes this to a whole new level, with Itachi, Hidan, and Deidara getting pregnant, as well as Konan. However, [[Better Than It Sounds|the author makes it plausible and it sucked this troper right in. One of the few I can say I would ever want someone to read]].

* Done many times in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' Fanfic. Usually [[Justified Trope|Justified]] by {{spoiler|Jaden/Judai's fusion with Yubel}} granting him (some of) the necessary equipment.

=== FanfictionFan Works based on [[Comic Books]] ===

* Based on a recent arc in the ''[[Mighty Avengers]]'' where Tony Stark was turned into a woman temporarily; a mpreg fic called [http://pandax-pro.livejournal.com/794.html#cutid1 Moth] has been written.

* A decent [[Affectionate Parody]] of the genre is ''[http://dorksidefiker.livejournal.com/148547.html That Damn MPreg]'', featuring the ''[[Young Avengers]]'' characters Wiccan and Hulkling. Oddly enough, these two characters are relatively easy to explain away in terms of an [[M Preg{{PAGENAME}}]]: Hulkling is a shapeshifter, and Wiccan can alter reality in a limited fashion (by way of example, the character who he is based off of, Scarlet Witch, got pregnant off a robot, which is on alevela level of insanity equal to [[M Preg{{PAGENAME}}]]).

=== FanfictionFan Works based on [[Film]]s ===

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120517113804/http://NonArtisticActienonartisticactie.deviantart.com/art/An-Unexpected-Miracle-98892118 This extremely frightening fic] has the Joker knocking up Scarecrow. It's [[The Dark Knight Saga|Nolanverse]] ... if that helps.

* Naturally, the Parody Fic series ''[[Sith Academy]]'' had a couple of things to say on this topic. In the first, no actual [[M Preg{{PAGENAME}}]] takes place; it is simply that an addled Yaddle ''assumes'' that all the patients for her free clinic are pregnant. The follow up to this involves [[Bizarre Alien Biology]] in the otherwise human-seeming [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Jon-Tra Volta]], and a wild night with a wookie.

* Used in the ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]'' fanfic ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4735614/1/Parental_Guidance Parental Guidance]'' in which it's [[Transvestite|Dr. Frank N. Furter]] who ends up pregnant. Most of the ''questionable'' aspects of Mpreg are [[Hand Wave|Handwaved]]/explained via [[Bizarre Alien Biology]]. Long story short, Frank becomes pregnant (the "father" is yet to be revealed), [[Temporary Bulk Change|grows]] ''[[Balloon Belly|really]]'' [[Temporary Bulk Change|fat]], and, instead of giving birth to live young (which is the standard for most Mpreg fics), ends up laying a clutch of eggs.

* ''[[X-Men: (film)|X-MenFirst Class]]'':First Class, wherein just one [http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmu1ns2IfH1qlwxvho1_500.jpg hilarious macro image] launched an entire wave of fanfics wherein Erik impregnates Charles. The science is usually handwaved using the idea of Charles simply having a second mutation.

=== FanfictionFan Works based on [[Literature]] ===

* ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fanfic writers love this to death. At least the unpredictably of magic gives it a fair reason/excuse. Most of the time.

** A Snape/Lupin mpreg story can be read here [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6784730/1/bForget_b_to_bLove_b_bLove_b_to_bForget_b\here]. It's not a slash story and surprisingly well written, despite the first chapter being a bit OOC.

** ''[[My Immortal]]'' unintentionally references this in the line where Harry fends off two peeping toms by yelling "ABRA KEDAVRA!" and "pointing his [[Rouge Angles of Satin|womb]]".

* ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'':

** The creators of ''[[Bag Enders]]'' are also known for comedic mpreg, and described it thus in their "[httphttps://web.archive.org/web/20040803004651/http://bagenders.stormpages.com/story/define.html Horrifically Honest Guide to Fanfiction Terms]": "Since there exists no fanfic genre of ‘M-PMT’ or ‘M-bloody awful period pain’, this is one outlet to make your characters get all the suffering of being female with none of the benefits. Bwahahaahahaa!"

* One ''[[Redwall]]'' fanfic unintentionally references this. The [[Mary Sue]] heroine's sidekick was supposedly the daughter of the canon characters Brome and Keyla. Brome is a male mouse, and Keyla, despite the [[Gender Blender Name]], is a male [[Improbable Species Compatibility|otter]]. As they didn't appear in the fic, one can only assume the author forgot the gender and/or species of at least one of them, but the mental image wasn't fun. [[Fetish Fuel|Unless you're into that.]]

=== FanfictionFan Works based on Live Action TV ===

* [http://www.englishchick.com/badfic/biology.htm This] ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' fanfic is a classic parody of mpreg fanfic cliches.

* ''[http://scarletts-awry.livejournal.com/205432.html I've Heard Nothing If It Wasn't the Wind],'' an [[Alternate Universe]] ''[[CSI: NY]]'' fanfic that treats the trope as horror and features {{spoiler|Danny as Mister Seahorse and Mac as the father, sort of (via a vengeful and very nasty demon)}}.

* There is an ''[[Andromeda]]'' [http://www.squidge.org/mufa-mpreg/viewstory.php?sid=4 fic] (NSFW) where {{spoiler|Tyr finds himself a highly evolved lover who cannot have children due to her body rejecting the sperm. So, her eggs are implanted into Tyr (no operation - a subconscious desire come true). Her nanobots even rebuild him so he gives birth the natural way.}}

* There's a ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' fanfic that fits the trope, with a [[Crack Fic|crackfic-ish]] [[Knocked Up|inspiration]]. Read it [httphttps://queenzuluweb.archive.org/web/20190928023814/https://zulu.livejournal.com/311285.html here].

* [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5442234/1/ This] ''[[Doctor Who]]'' fanfiction has the Doctor {{spoiler|revealing that he became female during his last regeneration and getting pregnant with Jack's baby. Twice. And the second time, Jack isn't there.}} It's explained fairly well, though. The title is "57 Academics Just Punched the Air". A cookie if you know where that's from.

* An [[Doorstopper|extremely long]] ''[[American Idol]]'' fanfic titled ''Cambios'' narrates the entire life chronicles of David Cook and David Archuleta's kids, beginning with their daughter Reyna who was conceived accidentally during their time at AI (meaning Archie was 16, people!), with very little explanation (something about some guys being able to get pregnant). The two go on to have four more children, and Archie looks 'exactly the same' a decade later. It ends with Reyna auditioning for American Idol, and the judges proceed to tell her that she looks like both Archie and Cook, and her singing voice is a mixture of the two.

** ... there's ''[[American Idol]]'' fanfiction? [[Flat What|What.]]

* Very common in the ''[[Glee]]'' fandom with Kurt/Blaine shippers. Finn supossedly utters the line 'don't get my baby brother pregnant' a lot.

* Numerous ''[[Sherlock]]'' fanfics. Usually Sherlock/John By far the weirdest one is this [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6920912/1/Waking_Up_To_Us one].

=== FanfictionFan Works based on Music ===

* There's a [[Dragon Force (video gameband)|Dragon Force]] fanfic where Sam Totman gets "womb implant" surgery while drunk in Paris. And it will never stop being funny. Ever.

=== FanfictionFan Works based on [[Video Games]] ===

* The ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' fanfic ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2991810/1/Repercussions_Of_Femininity 'Repercussions of Femininity']'' has one of these once it hits Atlantica. It's literally [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Mr Seahorse]].

* ''[http://www.tf2chan.net/fanfic/res/6000.html Surrogate]''{{Dead link}} is a ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' fanfic dedicated to deconstructing [[M Preg{{PAGENAME}}]]. It didn't [[It Got Worse|end well]].

* Used to be [[Fanon|a fairly common speculation]] about draenei among the ''[[WoW]]'' fanbase (due, for what it's worth, both to their [[Bizarre Alien Biology|extra-Azerothian origin]] and to [[Bizarre Sexual Dimorphism|the males of the race]] being [[Huge Guy, Tiny Girl|so much bigger than the females]]). While this is now pretty much [[Jossed]] by [[The Reveal|Garona's canonical origin]], the more-or-less tame—and evocatively titled—fanfic ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5774839/1/Hippocampi Hippocampi]'' is nonetheless worth a chuckle.

* [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4507792/1/Stages This] ''[[Mega Man Battle Network]]'' fanfiction applies this to Megaman, but does a surprisingly well job in explaining it.

** There are also other [http://shadowshinobi.insanejournal.com/tag/robot+mpreg Megaman fanfics]{{Dead link}} that involves Robot Masters getting pregnant for unknown reasons. These fanfics were made by Shadowshinobi.

* [http://magicrat.deviantart.com/gallery Magicrat of Deviantart] has written several of these, mostly for ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' and ''[[Team Fortress 2]]''. The ''Team Fortress 2'' ones make it plausible (at least in the ''Team Fortress 2'' verse) by explaining it as an implant and an attempt to remove women from the process.

=== FanfictionFan Works based on [[Web Comics]] ===

* Toby "Radiation" Fox, one of the composers for ''[[Homestuck]]'', wrote "[https://web.archive.org/web/20131027072019/http://super-villain.org/whywouldyoudothis/thebabyisyou.html I'm Having A Baby And The Baby Is You]", a deliberately [[So Bad It's Good]] "[[Rock Opera]]" about [[Crack Fic|Dave giving birth to John]] (a thirteen-year-old John is also [[Timey-Wimey Ball|there at the time and has to help deliver the baby]]). This was written to [[Troll Fic|protest a new forum rule]] saying that [[Censorship Bureau|no depictions in fanfic or fanart of the child characters may show sex or imply sex has happened]], including (specifically) pregnancy. While it's completely stupid, the mods clamp down pretty hard on any discussion on it at all.

=== FanfictionFan Works based on [[Web Original]]s ===

=== FanfictionFan Works based on [[Western Animation]] ===

* There's male pregnancy as horror fanfic. There is a [[Teen Titans (animation)|''Teen Titans'' animated series]] fic where Robin was used (quite unwillingly) for a Mad Science experiment...and impregnated with several hundred sea monster embryos. ''Monsters in the Closet'' - it can be found [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3063575/1/Monsters_in_the_Closet here] in all its debatably wonderful, [[Nightmare Fuel]] glory.

* ''[[The Crack|The Mind of a Hero]]''. The circumstances behind it, while [[Weird Science]], are far from happy. It involves an odd device to bring Danny's inner shadow forth... and his first words: "Why my mother?!"

** The same writer has also done [[M Preg{{PAGENAME}}]] for ''[[Ben 10]]'', ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', ''[[Invader Zim]]'', ''[[Xiaolin Showdown]]'', and ''[[Transformers Animated]]''.

** [https://web.archive.org/web/20081230220027/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19941123/REVIEWS/411230303/1023%2F19941123%2FREVIEWS%2F411230303%2F1023 Some even consider it his best performance].

* This is pretty much how Akihiko and Fuuka justify both {{spoiler|the existence of Ryoji}} and [https://web.archive.org/web/20100822095426/http://www.drunkduck.com/Persona_3_FTW/index.php?p=641344 the MC's weird cravings] in [[Persona 3 FTW]]: he was pregnant the whole time.

* In the ''[[The Fairly Odd ParentsOddParents]]'' TV movie ''Fairly OddBaby'', Wanda explains that in the Fairy World, male fairies carry the offspring in response to Timmy's inquiry about Cosmo being pregnant with his and Wanda's baby, Poof. [[Fridge Logic|Why female fairies even exist in the first place, if this is the case, is never revealed]].

** Turns out this ''is'' apparently based on [[ButThe ItTasteless But ReallyTrue Happened!Story|real science]]! See for instance [http://www.snopes.com/pregnant/malepreg.asp here] (the Snopes article debunking the hoax) and [http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2005-07/male-pregnancy-dangerous-proposition here] (the ''Popular Science'' article ''"Male Pregnancy: A Dangerous Proposition"''.

** In the mid-eighties, following up on some work he had done on the topic, popular-science writer Dick Teresi wangled $500,000 from the publisher of [[Omni]] Magazine to work with prominent fertility researcher [[wikipedia:Cecil Jacobson|Cecil Jacobson]] on the first human male pregnancy (and secure a multi-million dollar book deal in the process). Unfortunately, he had second thoughts when he realized (a) how dangerous an [http://en.[wikipedia.org/Male_pregnancy:Male pregnancy|ectopic pregnancy]] would be; and (b) that Cecil Jacobson had been arrested for [[Moral Event Horizon|artificially impregnating dozens of women with his own sperm]].

* Female-to-Male [[Transsexualism|trans peopletransgender]] people can get pregnant in various ways:

** [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] News reported in March 2008 about Thomas Beatie, a transgendered female-to-male resident of Bend, Oregon who never had genital reconstructive surgery (since it is not necessary in order to legally change one's sex in that state). Since his wife could not get pregnant and his own biologically-female reproductive system was still functional, he offered to carry the child himself. Using artificial insemination, Beatie has given birth to a girl and a boy as of this edit (June 17, 2009) and is planning to have a third child.

* Also the condition of [[wikipedia:Fetus in fetu|Fetus in Fetu]], in which a baby develops a second (at least partial) twin inside itself. The result is that the outer human can [https://web.archive.org/web/20130319040647/http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2346476 appear pregnant].

* Science fiction Author [[Larry Niven]] actually suggested this as the only safe way Superman and Lois Lane could have a baby in ''[http://www.rawbw.com/~svw/superman.html Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex]''. Superman would have to carry.

** They do, however still give birth through {{spoiler|their demi-penis, an enlarged genital structure that resembles a penis.}} There's a reason the infant mortality rate is so high.

* There is a condition known as couvade syndrome (aka sympathetic pregnancy), in which men with pregnant spouses will experience symptoms of pregnancy themselves, such as morning sickness or weight gain. It was originally assumed to be an old wives tale, although recent research has found that men actually do experience hormonal changes during pregnancy, possibly as the result of phermonespheromones given off by the mother or some sort of physiological trigger.

[[Category:PregnancyArtistic TropesLicense Biology]]

[[Category:ArtisticOlder LicenseThan BiologyDirt]]

[[Category:FanficPregnancy Tropes]]