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Changed line(s) 46 (click to see context) from:
* ''Film/EverythingYouAlwaysWantedToKnowAboutSexButWereAfraidToAsk'': The final sequence has this, with the egg being non-sentient, and a goal for the sperm. It also has a brain trying to figure out how to make the man have an erection, and sperm talking to each other about condoms and homosexual encounters]
to:
* ''Film/EverythingYouAlwaysWantedToKnowAboutSexButWereAfraidToAsk'': ''[[Creator/WoodyAllen Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask]]'': The final sequence has this, with the egg being non-sentient, and a goal for the sperm. It also has a brain trying to figure out how to make the man have an erection, and sperm talking to each other about condoms and homosexual encounters]encounters. And one of the sperm - just one - is very obviously black. The other sperm cells look curiously at this out-of-place comrade.
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Changed line(s) 10,11 (click to see context) from:
On the subject of the egg, it is rarely anthropomorphized in the same way, possibly because ova do not move in the same way sperm do, but on the rare cases it is anthropomorphized, it will be a female, just as the sperm are nearly always portrayed as male (although the sperm might be portrayed as female if carries the XX chromosomes to conceive a girl).
to:
On the subject of the egg, it is rarely anthropomorphized in the same way, possibly because ova do not move in the same way sperm do, but on the rare cases it is anthropomorphized, it will be a female, just as the sperm are nearly always portrayed as male (although the sperm might be portrayed as female if carries the XX X chromosomes to conceive a girl).
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Apparently no longer allowed.
Changed line(s) 6,7 (click to see context) from:
There has been a great many arguments that [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment are probably best left off the wiki]] about when a person actually becomes a ''person''. Is it when they're born? Is it when they're still in utero but starting to look like a baby? Or is it even when they're still a zygote? Most people agree that a sperm by itself (and an ovum by itself) is not a person. In fiction, on the other hand...
to:
There has been a great many arguments that [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment are probably best left off the wiki]] wiki about when a person actually becomes a ''person''. Is it when they're born? Is it when they're still in utero but starting to look like a baby? Or is it even when they're still a zygote? Most people agree that a sperm by itself (and an ovum by itself) is not a person. In fiction, on the other hand...
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* Implied in ''Film/OsmosisJones'': One scene inside Frank's brain has a likeness of a sperm cell on a pedestal, which is drawn completely realistic unlike the other cells, but is credited as "OurFounder".
Deleted line(s) 96 (click to see context) :
* ''Film/OsmosisJones'': One scene inside Frank's brain has a likeness of a sperm cell on a pedestal, which is drawn completely realistic unlike the other cells, but is credited as "OurFounder".
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Changed line(s) 42,43 (click to see context) from:
[[/folder]]
to:
* A B. Kliban cartoon titled "My Dad, the Swimming Champ", depicts a giant sperm in a necktie leaning against a fireplace mantel that holds a gigantic trophy.[[/folder]]
Changed line(s) 53,55 (click to see context) from:
-->'''Sperm 1''': I am the strongest, I will get to the egg first.
-->'''Sperm 2''': I am the fastest, I will get to the egg first.
-->'''Slow Sperm Who Hadn't Spoken''': Guys, are you aware we are all actually inside a condom? ''(everyone leaves except him)'' And this is how geniuses are born!
-->'''Sperm 2''': I am the fastest, I will get to the egg first.
-->'''Slow Sperm Who Hadn't Spoken''': Guys, are you aware we are all actually inside a condom? ''(everyone leaves except him)'' And this is how geniuses are born!
to:
-->'''Sperm 1''': I am the strongest, I will get to the egg first.
-->'''Spermfirst.\\
'''Sperm 2''': I am the fastest, I will get to the eggfirst.
-->'''Slowfirst.\\
'''Slow Sperm Who Hadn't Spoken''': Guys, are you aware we are all actually inside a condom? ''(everyone leaves except him)'' And this is how geniuses are born!
-->'''Sperm
'''Sperm 2''': I am the fastest, I will get to the egg
-->'''Slow
'''Slow Sperm Who Hadn't Spoken''': Guys, are you aware we are all actually inside a condom? ''(everyone leaves except him)'' And this is how geniuses are born!
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This trope is often used to either teach kids about "the birds and the bees" or as VulgarHumour. Compare AnthropomorphicFood, LivingToys, AnimateInanimateObject and TalkingPoo for other anthropomorphic things, and ICallHimMrHappy for more realistic personification that has to do with male privates. Not TruthInTelevision of course, but for centuries, it was thought to be. Sperm cells were thought to contain "[[OurHomunculiAreDifferent homunculi]]", i.e. tiny humans who developed in the woman's body.
to:
This trope is often used to either teach kids about "the birds and the bees" or as VulgarHumour. Compare AnthropomorphicFood, LivingToys, AnimateInanimateObject AnimateInanimateObject, EggFolk and TalkingPoo for other anthropomorphic things, and ICallHimMrHappy for more realistic personification that has to do with male privates. Not TruthInTelevision of course, but for centuries, it was thought to be. Sperm cells were thought to contain "[[OurHomunculiAreDifferent homunculi]]", i.e. tiny humans who developed in the woman's body.
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Changed line(s) 10,11 (click to see context) from:
On the subject of the egg, it is rarely anthropomorphized in the same way, possibly because ova do not move in the same way sperm do, but on the rare cases it is anthropomorphized, it will be a female, just as the sperm are nearly always portrayed as male (although the sperm might be portrayed as female if would conceive a girl).
to:
On the subject of the egg, it is rarely anthropomorphized in the same way, possibly because ova do not move in the same way sperm do, but on the rare cases it is anthropomorphized, it will be a female, just as the sperm are nearly always portrayed as male (although the sperm might be portrayed as female if would carries the XX chromosomes to conceive a girl).
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Dewicking per TRS decision.
Changed line(s) 46 (click to see context) from:
* ''Film/EverythingYouAlwaysWantedToKnowAboutSexButWereAfraidToAsk'': The final sequence has this, with the egg being non-sentient, and a goal for the sperm. It also has a brain trying to figure out how to make the man have an erection, and sperm talking to each other about condoms and [[BiTheWay homosexual encounters]].
to:
* ''Film/EverythingYouAlwaysWantedToKnowAboutSexButWereAfraidToAsk'': The final sequence has this, with the egg being non-sentient, and a goal for the sperm. It also has a brain trying to figure out how to make the man have an erection, and sperm talking to each other about condoms and [[BiTheWay homosexual encounters]].encounters]
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None
Changed line(s) 20 (click to see context) from:
This trope is often used to either teach kids about "the birds and the bees" or as VulgarHumour. Compare AnthropomorphicFood, LivingToys, AnimateInanimateObject and TalkingPoo for other anthropomorphic things, and ICallHimMrHappy for more realistic personification that has to do with male privates. Not TruthInTelevision of course, but for centuries, it was thought to be. Sperm cells were thought to contain "homunculus", i.e. tiny humans who developed in the woman's body.
to:
This trope is often used to either teach kids about "the birds and the bees" or as VulgarHumour. Compare AnthropomorphicFood, LivingToys, AnimateInanimateObject and TalkingPoo for other anthropomorphic things, and ICallHimMrHappy for more realistic personification that has to do with male privates. Not TruthInTelevision of course, but for centuries, it was thought to be. Sperm cells were thought to contain "homunculus", "[[OurHomunculiAreDifferent homunculi]]", i.e. tiny humans who developed in the woman's body.
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Moving to English translation title
Changed line(s) 31 (click to see context) from:
* ''Manga/CellsAtWorkBlack'', being a series in which all bodily cells are anthropomorphized, obviously utilize this trope upon discussing the nature of sperm cells. Here, they're [[https://twitter.com/hatsuyoshiya/status/1019254023990308866 depicted as]] people wearing sperm-shaped mechanisms around their torsos, complete with flagella.
to:
* ''Manga/CellsAtWorkBlack'', ''Manga/CellsAtWorkCodeBlack'', being a series in which all bodily cells are anthropomorphized, obviously utilize this trope upon discussing the nature of sperm cells. Here, they're [[https://twitter.com/hatsuyoshiya/status/1019254023990308866 depicted as]] people wearing sperm-shaped mechanisms around their torsos, complete with flagella.
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Changed line(s) 10,11 (click to see context) from:
On the subject of the egg, it is rarely anthropomorphized in the same way, possibly because ova do not move in the same way sperm do, but on the rare cases it is anthropomorphized, it will be a female, just as the sperm are nearly always portrayed as male (although the sperm might be portrayed as female if they end up conceiving a girl).
to:
On the subject of the egg, it is rarely anthropomorphized in the same way, possibly because ova do not move in the same way sperm do, but on the rare cases it is anthropomorphized, it will be a female, just as the sperm are nearly always portrayed as male (although the sperm might be portrayed as female if they end up conceiving would conceive a girl).
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* A banned commercial for Durex condoms has a man meeting with a woman for a date, only to be trampled over by a bunch of anthropomorphic sperm that come racing straight towards the woman, only to be stopped by a wall of latex (presumably the condom being advertised).
to:
* A [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2h_Y-hHTgE banned commercial for Durex condoms condoms]] has a man meeting with a woman for a date, only to be trampled over by a bunch of anthropomorphic sperm that come racing straight towards the woman, only to be stopped by a wall of latex (presumably the condom being advertised).
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[[folder:Advertising]]
* A banned commercial for Durex condoms has a man meeting with a woman for a date, only to be trampled over by a bunch of anthropomorphic sperm that come racing straight towards the woman, only to be stopped by a wall of latex (presumably the condom being advertised).
[[/folder]]
* A banned commercial for Durex condoms has a man meeting with a woman for a date, only to be trampled over by a bunch of anthropomorphic sperm that come racing straight towards the woman, only to be stopped by a wall of latex (presumably the condom being advertised).
[[/folder]]
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Changed line(s) 26 (click to see context) from:
* An episode of ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' has a parody of the D Day landings with sperm as the soldiers of a man [[ADateWithRosiePalms jacking off]] with Kleenex. Their ghosts act as the MonsterOfTheWeek, who destroy stocks of tissue as revenge. The ending revisits the regular sperm, where their attempts to fertilize are again thwarted, this time by a condom.
to:
* An episode of ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' has a parody of the D Day landings with sperm as the soldiers of a man [[ADateWithRosiePalms jacking off]] with Kleenex.Kleenex, which kills the sperm on contact. Their ghosts act as the MonsterOfTheWeek, who destroy stocks of tissue as revenge. The ending revisits the regular sperm, where their attempts to fertilize are again thwarted, this time by a condom.
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* Inverted in ''Literature/{{Middlesex}}'', in which Cal imagines himself and his brother as tiny homunculi inside their eggs, waiting to be fertilized.
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* Episode "Backward" of ''Series/RedDwarf'' is set in a dimension where time and aging works backwards. Lister dreads becoming a sperm.
-->'''Lister:''' And worse than that -- in 25 years I'll be a little sperm, swimming around in somebody's testicles! I mean, pardon me, but that's just not how I saw my future!
-->'''Lister:''' And worse than that -- in 25 years I'll be a little sperm, swimming around in somebody's testicles! I mean, pardon me, but that's just not how I saw my future!
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inaccurate examples, sperm is not anthropomorphised in this case; they just discuss aging in reverse
Deleted line(s) 60 (click to see context) :
* In the Backwards episode of ''Series/RedDwarf'', set in a dimension where time and aging works backwards, Lister dreads becoming a sperm.
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Examples that don't mention the name of the work are useless. Do not add an example unless you know the name of the work. "A cartoon in a German kids TV show" doesn't really narrow it down.
Deleted line(s) 92 (click to see context) :
* A cartoon in a German kids TV show featured a very depressed teenager who thought he was a complete deadbeat. His friend managed to cheer him up by telling him [[DamnedByFaintPraise as a spermium, he won against a competition of millions!]]
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[[/folder]]
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Adding something from the draft. Seems something was missed.
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[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/NSFWComix'' in the early days has two "left-dwellng" sperm characters and their shenanigans to fertilize an egg. One is portrayed as a Soviet, the other a beatnik.
* ''Webcomic/NSFWComix'' in the early days has two "left-dwellng" sperm characters and their shenanigans to fertilize an egg. One is portrayed as a Soviet, the other a beatnik.
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Changed line(s) 86,87 (click to see context) from:
** In one episode, Maggie's conception is depicted with a bunch of clumsy, Homer-headed sperm cells.
** In another episode, Homer and Smithers's sperm samples are seen with their owner's faces. Like in the FlashBack to Maggie's conception, Homer's sperm run into each other.
** In another episode, Homer and Smithers's sperm samples are seen with their owner's faces. Like in the FlashBack to Maggie's conception, Homer's sperm run into each other.
to:
** In one episode, "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E24BrotherCanYouSpareTwoDimes Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?]]", Homer and Smithers' sperm samples are seen with their owner's faces. Smithers' healthy sperm swim in organized swarms. Homer's swim randomly and knock into each other, demonstrating that the nuclear plant has rendered him infertile.
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E13AndMaggieMakesThree And Maggie Makes Three]]", Maggie's conception is depicted with a bunch of clumsy, Homer-headed spermcells.
** In another episode,cells. As this was part of a WholeEpisodeFlashback recounted from Homer and Smithers's to his children, it leads to a cut to Homer pantomiming a wriggling sperm samples are seen with their owner's faces. Like in as the FlashBack to Maggie's conception, Homer's sperm run into each other.others chew him out for the [[TooMuchInformation pointless gross detail]].
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E13AndMaggieMakesThree And Maggie Makes Three]]", Maggie's conception is depicted with a bunch of clumsy, Homer-headed sperm
** In another episode,
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Changed line(s) 84 (click to see context) from:
* ''WesternAnimation/OsmosisJones'': One scene inside Frank's brain has a likeness of a sperm cell on a pedestal, which is drawn completely realistic unlike the other cells, but is credited as "OurFounder".
to:
* ''WesternAnimation/OsmosisJones'': ''Film/OsmosisJones'': One scene inside Frank's brain has a likeness of a sperm cell on a pedestal, which is drawn completely realistic unlike the other cells, but is credited as "OurFounder".
Changed line(s) 88 (click to see context) from:
* A cartoon in a German kids TV show featured a very depressed teenager who thought he was a complete deadbeat. His friend managed to cheer him up by telling him [[FridgeLogic as a spermium, he won against a competition of millions!]]
to:
* A cartoon in a German kids TV show featured a very depressed teenager who thought he was a complete deadbeat. His friend managed to cheer him up by telling him [[FridgeLogic [[DamnedByFaintPraise as a spermium, he won against a competition of millions!]]
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Changed line(s) 83,84 (click to see context) from:
* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', pre-conception Stewie feuds with his rival sperm.
* ''WesternAnimation/OsmosisJones'': One scene inside Frank's brain has a likeness of a sperm cell on a pedestal which is credited as "our founder".
* ''WesternAnimation/OsmosisJones'': One scene inside Frank's brain has a likeness of a sperm cell on a pedestal which is credited as "our founder".
to:
* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', pre-conception ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' portrays sperm as {{Space Fighter}}s, piloted by homonculi that look like the children they would conceive, who fight to reach the ovum. Stewie feuds with his rival sperm.
mentions he reached it because of the determination he developed at "testicular boot camp".
* ''WesternAnimation/OsmosisJones'': One scene inside Frank's brain has a likeness of a sperm cell on apedestal pedestal, which is drawn completely realistic unlike the other cells, but is credited as "our founder"."OurFounder".
* ''WesternAnimation/OsmosisJones'': One scene inside Frank's brain has a likeness of a sperm cell on a
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Changed line(s) 26 (click to see context) from:
* An episode of ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' has a parody of the D Day landings with sperm as the soldiers of a man [[ADateWithRosiePalms jacking off]] with Kleenex.
to:
* An episode of ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' has a parody of the D Day landings with sperm as the soldiers of a man [[ADateWithRosiePalms jacking off]] with Kleenex. Their ghosts act as the MonsterOfTheWeek, who destroy stocks of tissue as revenge. The ending revisits the regular sperm, where their attempts to fertilize are again thwarted, this time by a condom.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* ''Manga/CellsAtWorkBlack'', being a series in which all bodily cells are anthropomorphized, obviously utilize this trope upon discussing the nature of sperm cells. Here, they're [[https://twitter.com/hatsuyoshiya/status/1019254023990308866 depicted as]] people wearing sperm-shaped mechanisms around their torsos, complete with flagella.
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None
Changed line(s) 14,15 (click to see context) from:
Conception is usually portrayed as the sperm forcing its way into the egg or just sitting next to the egg, and what happens to the other sperm cells is either they get disappointed, they just disappear, they die, or it's not touched upon.
to:
Conception is usually portrayed as the sperm forcing its way into the egg or just sitting next to the egg, and what happens to the other sperm cells is either they get disappointed, they just disappear, they die, or it's not touched upon.
upon. It's actually much more complex in RealLife, with the egg outright walling itself off from further sperm cells after fertilization, while the cells that didn't make it end up dying; even getting to the egg is a bigger hassle than popularly portrayed, as many cells die along the way due to the high acidity of a woman's... inner sanctum. Of course, don't expect any of this to be touched upon in most instances of this trope, as real-life complexities don't exactly make for a cohesive one-off segment in a narrative.
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Another weird point is that the semen they're supposed to live in is often not visible, possibly so that the living sperm can be seen clearly.
to:
Another weird point is that the semen they're supposed to live in is often not visible, possibly so that the living sperm can be seen clearly.
clearly, not to mention the fact that physical depictions of semen are more often than not considered NotSafeForWork.
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* Comparable setting, the OrphanedPunchline suffices: "Run for your life, it's a blowjob!"
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* A cartoon in a German kids TV show featured a very depressed teenager who thought he was a complete deadbeat. His friend managed to cheer him up by telling him [[FridgeLogic as a spermium, he won against a competition of millions!]]
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Created from YKTTW
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[[quoteright:350:[[WebAnimation/DarkMatter2525 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sperm_darkmatter2525.jpg]]]]
->''"Here we see how Fortress Ovum is besieged by countless little warriors."''
-->--'''The holographic doctor''', ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', "Someone to Watch Over Me"
There has been a great many arguments that [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment are probably best left off the wiki]] about when a person actually becomes a ''person''. Is it when they're born? Is it when they're still in utero but starting to look like a baby? Or is it even when they're still a zygote? Most people agree that a sperm by itself (and an ovum by itself) is not a person. In fiction, on the other hand...
This trope is, essentially, when sperm cells are anthropomorphized. Quite often, the sperm will have attributes like facial features or personality similar to either the man they're "living" in or the man's child they will end up conceiving. They will treat conception like a big event, often a race, with the egg as the "prize".
On the subject of the egg, it is rarely anthropomorphized in the same way, possibly because ova do not move in the same way sperm do, but on the rare cases it is anthropomorphized, it will be a female, just as the sperm are nearly always portrayed as male (although the sperm might be portrayed as female if they end up conceiving a girl).
Another weird point is that the semen they're supposed to live in is often not visible, possibly so that the living sperm can be seen clearly.
Conception is usually portrayed as the sperm forcing its way into the egg or just sitting next to the egg, and what happens to the other sperm cells is either they get disappointed, they just disappear, they die, or it's not touched upon.
A variation is when a person tells another person about "when you were a sperm" or mentions "when I was a sperm" or talks about "having been the fastest sperm".
This trope is often used to either teach kids about "the birds and the bees" or as VulgarHumour. Compare AnthropomorphicFood, LivingToys, AnimateInanimateObject and TalkingPoo for other anthropomorphic things, and ICallHimMrHappy for more realistic personification that has to do with male privates. Not TruthInTelevision of course, but for centuries, it was thought to be. Sperm cells were thought to contain "homunculus", i.e. tiny humans who developed in the woman's body.
----
!!Examples
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* An episode of ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' has a parody of the D Day landings with sperm as the soldiers of a man [[ADateWithRosiePalms jacking off]] with Kleenex.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Clothes]]
* Several baby onesies have writing about being sperm, with messages ranging from "Daddy's little squirt" to "I won my first race" to ''"I was nearly swallowed"''.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* One ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' comic has some sperm pretending to have different occupations so that the egg will "let them in". Another has a sperm with an outboard motor.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/BrideOfFrankenstein'' has homunculi (tiny people thought to come from sperm in the past) living in a jar.
* ''Film/EverythingYouAlwaysWantedToKnowAboutSexButWereAfraidToAsk'': The final sequence has this, with the egg being non-sentient, and a goal for the sperm. It also has a brain trying to figure out how to make the man have an erection, and sperm talking to each other about condoms and [[BiTheWay homosexual encounters]].
* The opening/fertilization sequence of ''Film/LookWhosTalking''.
* Played with in ''Film/TheMatingHabitsOfTheEarthboundHuman'', where humans in white outfits are used as ''{{symbolism}}'' for sperm. They then reach the end of the track and are confused at not finding an egg, get caught in a plastic tarp, and get gunned down to symbolize non-vaginal sex, condoms, and spermicide respectively.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Jokes]]
* One joke involves a conversation between sperm.
-->'''Sperm 1''': I am the strongest, I will get to the egg first.
-->'''Sperm 2''': I am the fastest, I will get to the egg first.
-->'''Slow Sperm Who Hadn't Spoken''': Guys, are you aware we are all actually inside a condom? ''(everyone leaves except him)'' And this is how geniuses are born!
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/ItsNotTheStork'' anthropomorphizes the sperm, the egg, ''and'' the zygote.
* In ''Literature/MummyLaidAnEgg'', the kids draw faces and speech bubbles on the sperm, which they call "seeds".
* ''Literature/WhereWillyWent'' is about a sperm named Willy and his rival Butch. The strange thing is, Edna Browne, the girl Willy conceives, is bad at math and good at swimming, like Willy was.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In the Backwards episode of ''Series/RedDwarf'', set in a dimension where time and aging works backwards, Lister dreads becoming a sperm.
* In ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', the episode "Someone to Watch Over Me", has the Doctor try to teach Seven of Nine how to date. Seven, due to being raised by a hive mind of emotionless cyborgs known as the Borg, doesn't see the point of romance and thinks it's all about procreation. When the Doctor goes through the mating habits of various alien species, he starts [[TheTalk explaining how procreation works]], describing the ovum as a "fortress" and the sperm as "little warriors". Seven of Nine interrupts, saying that she already knows how that works.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Music]]
* The ''Music/{{Koit}}'' song "Egg and Sperm" is about some sperm trying to reach the egg.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarryMagnaCumLaude'', dialogue trees are represented as sperm cells with faces controlled by the player.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Spermination}}'', you play as a sperm racing other sperms and collecting armor, rocket launchers, and even the resulting baby.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Original]]
* [[https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-shit-my-kid-says-tweets/ This]] ''Website/BoredPanda'' list of funny things said by kids and one was a boy who said that he wasn't in an old picture because he was still swimming in his daddy's balls.
* ''WebAnimation/DarkMatter2525'':
** A minor character is Holy-Ghost Money-Shot, the magical sperm of Yahweh, who wears a wizard's hat and apparently impregnated the Virgin Mary.
** "Lord of the Nuva Rings" is a ShoutOut to ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', in which all the characters are sperm looking for the uterus but then find a uvula instead.
* In the ''WebAnimation/WeeblAndBob'' music video "Babies", sperms with Weebl's face are briefly seen swimming towards an egg cell.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'': In "Beavis and Butthead Do America", Beavis has a flashback of himself as a nose-picking sperm.
* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', pre-conception Stewie feuds with his rival sperm.
* ''WesternAnimation/OsmosisJones'': One scene inside Frank's brain has a likeness of a sperm cell on a pedestal which is credited as "our founder".
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** In one episode, Maggie's conception is depicted with a bunch of clumsy, Homer-headed sperm cells.
** In another episode, Homer and Smithers's sperm samples are seen with their owner's faces. Like in the FlashBack to Maggie's conception, Homer's sperm run into each other.
[[/folder]]
----
->''"Here we see how Fortress Ovum is besieged by countless little warriors."''
-->--'''The holographic doctor''', ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', "Someone to Watch Over Me"
There has been a great many arguments that [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment are probably best left off the wiki]] about when a person actually becomes a ''person''. Is it when they're born? Is it when they're still in utero but starting to look like a baby? Or is it even when they're still a zygote? Most people agree that a sperm by itself (and an ovum by itself) is not a person. In fiction, on the other hand...
This trope is, essentially, when sperm cells are anthropomorphized. Quite often, the sperm will have attributes like facial features or personality similar to either the man they're "living" in or the man's child they will end up conceiving. They will treat conception like a big event, often a race, with the egg as the "prize".
On the subject of the egg, it is rarely anthropomorphized in the same way, possibly because ova do not move in the same way sperm do, but on the rare cases it is anthropomorphized, it will be a female, just as the sperm are nearly always portrayed as male (although the sperm might be portrayed as female if they end up conceiving a girl).
Another weird point is that the semen they're supposed to live in is often not visible, possibly so that the living sperm can be seen clearly.
Conception is usually portrayed as the sperm forcing its way into the egg or just sitting next to the egg, and what happens to the other sperm cells is either they get disappointed, they just disappear, they die, or it's not touched upon.
A variation is when a person tells another person about "when you were a sperm" or mentions "when I was a sperm" or talks about "having been the fastest sperm".
This trope is often used to either teach kids about "the birds and the bees" or as VulgarHumour. Compare AnthropomorphicFood, LivingToys, AnimateInanimateObject and TalkingPoo for other anthropomorphic things, and ICallHimMrHappy for more realistic personification that has to do with male privates. Not TruthInTelevision of course, but for centuries, it was thought to be. Sperm cells were thought to contain "homunculus", i.e. tiny humans who developed in the woman's body.
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!!Examples
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* An episode of ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' has a parody of the D Day landings with sperm as the soldiers of a man [[ADateWithRosiePalms jacking off]] with Kleenex.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Clothes]]
* Several baby onesies have writing about being sperm, with messages ranging from "Daddy's little squirt" to "I won my first race" to ''"I was nearly swallowed"''.
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[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* One ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' comic has some sperm pretending to have different occupations so that the egg will "let them in". Another has a sperm with an outboard motor.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/BrideOfFrankenstein'' has homunculi (tiny people thought to come from sperm in the past) living in a jar.
* ''Film/EverythingYouAlwaysWantedToKnowAboutSexButWereAfraidToAsk'': The final sequence has this, with the egg being non-sentient, and a goal for the sperm. It also has a brain trying to figure out how to make the man have an erection, and sperm talking to each other about condoms and [[BiTheWay homosexual encounters]].
* The opening/fertilization sequence of ''Film/LookWhosTalking''.
* Played with in ''Film/TheMatingHabitsOfTheEarthboundHuman'', where humans in white outfits are used as ''{{symbolism}}'' for sperm. They then reach the end of the track and are confused at not finding an egg, get caught in a plastic tarp, and get gunned down to symbolize non-vaginal sex, condoms, and spermicide respectively.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Jokes]]
* One joke involves a conversation between sperm.
-->'''Sperm 1''': I am the strongest, I will get to the egg first.
-->'''Sperm 2''': I am the fastest, I will get to the egg first.
-->'''Slow Sperm Who Hadn't Spoken''': Guys, are you aware we are all actually inside a condom? ''(everyone leaves except him)'' And this is how geniuses are born!
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/ItsNotTheStork'' anthropomorphizes the sperm, the egg, ''and'' the zygote.
* In ''Literature/MummyLaidAnEgg'', the kids draw faces and speech bubbles on the sperm, which they call "seeds".
* ''Literature/WhereWillyWent'' is about a sperm named Willy and his rival Butch. The strange thing is, Edna Browne, the girl Willy conceives, is bad at math and good at swimming, like Willy was.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In the Backwards episode of ''Series/RedDwarf'', set in a dimension where time and aging works backwards, Lister dreads becoming a sperm.
* In ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', the episode "Someone to Watch Over Me", has the Doctor try to teach Seven of Nine how to date. Seven, due to being raised by a hive mind of emotionless cyborgs known as the Borg, doesn't see the point of romance and thinks it's all about procreation. When the Doctor goes through the mating habits of various alien species, he starts [[TheTalk explaining how procreation works]], describing the ovum as a "fortress" and the sperm as "little warriors". Seven of Nine interrupts, saying that she already knows how that works.
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[[folder:Music]]
* The ''Music/{{Koit}}'' song "Egg and Sperm" is about some sperm trying to reach the egg.
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarryMagnaCumLaude'', dialogue trees are represented as sperm cells with faces controlled by the player.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Spermination}}'', you play as a sperm racing other sperms and collecting armor, rocket launchers, and even the resulting baby.
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[[folder:Web Original]]
* [[https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-shit-my-kid-says-tweets/ This]] ''Website/BoredPanda'' list of funny things said by kids and one was a boy who said that he wasn't in an old picture because he was still swimming in his daddy's balls.
* ''WebAnimation/DarkMatter2525'':
** A minor character is Holy-Ghost Money-Shot, the magical sperm of Yahweh, who wears a wizard's hat and apparently impregnated the Virgin Mary.
** "Lord of the Nuva Rings" is a ShoutOut to ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', in which all the characters are sperm looking for the uterus but then find a uvula instead.
* In the ''WebAnimation/WeeblAndBob'' music video "Babies", sperms with Weebl's face are briefly seen swimming towards an egg cell.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'': In "Beavis and Butthead Do America", Beavis has a flashback of himself as a nose-picking sperm.
* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', pre-conception Stewie feuds with his rival sperm.
* ''WesternAnimation/OsmosisJones'': One scene inside Frank's brain has a likeness of a sperm cell on a pedestal which is credited as "our founder".
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** In one episode, Maggie's conception is depicted with a bunch of clumsy, Homer-headed sperm cells.
** In another episode, Homer and Smithers's sperm samples are seen with their owner's faces. Like in the FlashBack to Maggie's conception, Homer's sperm run into each other.
[[/folder]]
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