History Main / BizarreAlienSexes

* [[https://fanlore.org/wiki/Alpha/Beta/Omega Alpha/Beta/Omega]] is an odd genre of erotica built around a mixture of this trope and FantasticCasteSystem, usually applied either to [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves]] (which is where the trope originated, specifically in the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' fandom) or to the setting's version of ''[[OurHumansAreDifferent humans]]''. In keeping with the AlphaAndBetaWolves trope, alphas are sexually dominant, omegas are sexually submissive, and betas (when they appear) are generally in the middle of the hierarchy. Omegas bear children from alphas (and sometimes from betas) and often [[BondCreatures pair bond]] with alphas too. To make matters more confusing, this trope gets combined with real human sexes, so [[MisterSeahorse omega males can get pregnant]] and alpha females can sometimes impregnate omegas. (Meanwhile, betas tend to have anatomy more typical of real humans.) You'll also commonly see canine sexual traits, like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estrous_cycle heat]] in omegas and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulbus_glandis knotting]] in alpha males. Many an AlternateUniverseFic inserts existing characters into the "Omegaverse" and assigns them roles in the caste system. Creator/LindsayEllis goes into detail about it [[https://youtu.be/zhWWcWtAUoY here]].

* The Goa'uld in ''Series/StargateSG1'' are a two-sex race that doesn't match up with Earth norms. The majority of Goa'uld appear to be biologically male but tend to take on the gender identity of their host, with a very small minority being biologically female "queens" that produce larvae. While queens can reproduce asexually, fertilization by a male passes his genetic memory to the offspring; for this reason, what few queens exist are kept as trophy wives by powerful system lords.

* The ''Literature/{{Wayfarers}}'' series feature several alien races of this type:

* The speculative alien species ''[[http://paperiapina.deviantart.com/gallery/31840163 Triaformica]]'' has three sexes, due to being descended from fungal ancestors. Likewise, only two sexes are needed to reproduce at any one time.

[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin An alien species' sex system is very bizarre in comparison with terrestrial ones]]. Perhaps it has two sexes that are not identifiable as either "male" or "female" in terrestrial terms, or perhaps it has ''three or more'' sexes, [[ExtraParentConception each of whom is indispensable for the species' reproduction process.]]

Supertrope of OneGenderRace. Subtrope of BizarreAlienReproduction. May lead to PronounTrouble. Compare BizarreSexualDimorphism, ExoticEquipment, NonHumanNonBinary, and ExtraParentConception. Contrast NoBiologicalSex. May be used as part of a SpeculativeFictionLGBT story.

* In Creator/PhilFoglio's ''ComicBook/BuckGodotZapGunForHire'''s "The Gallimaufry" storyline, a male alien Pog member named Qvakk states that he loved Oort, another male member of his race/species, and was "gonna take him home, make lots of eggs".
* In ''ComicBook/OdyC'', the backstory includes a {{Gendercide}} that wiped out all male humans, and an attempt to fill the gap that resulted in the creation of a new gender, "sebex", who look like [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Pink Skinned Space Babes]] and get pregnant by sex with women.

* ''Literature/AlienInASmallTown'': The [[SiliconBasedLife silicon-based]] Jan have three sexes: the male Workers, who make up the majority of the population; the female Matriarchs, who grow into essentially [[GeniusLoci sessile living mountains]] and are the leaders of their society, and whose bodies typically contain tunneled passages which are inhabited by other Jan; and the sterile Warriors, who have six arms ending in vicious hooks, huge fanged mouths, and are much much faster and stronger than their Worker counterparts.
* Creator/BruceCoville:
** ''Literature/MyTeacherIsAnAlien'': Hoo-Lan's species needs five different genders just to get an egg, and three more to hatch it.
** ''Literature/RodAllbrightAlienAdventures'': Tar Gibbons insists on gender neutral pronouns because referring to it as male or female is offensive to it. No details are given.
--->'''Gibbons:''' I am neither male nor female. I'm a farfel.\\
'''Rod:''' Is that more like a boy or more like a girl?\\
'''Gibbons:''' Actually, it's more like a ''pippik'' than anything.

* ''Hop-Friend'', a short story by Terry Carr: Martians (or "Marshies") are mentioned to have three sexes.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov:
** ''Literature/TheGodsThemselves'': The Soft Ones are gaseous aliens with three sexes, "rational", "emotional", and "paternal". Being gaseous, they have sex by literally combining their bodies [[spoiler: thus merging the three Soft Ones into a single member of what they thought was a different species, the Hard Ones]].
** "Literature/GreenPatches": The Saybrook organism doesn't understand sexual dimorphism because they can always reproduce asexually, and [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong impregnate anyone capable of gestation and cellular reproduction]] with their {{Telepathy}}. As far as the Saybrook lifeform is concerned, the ship's lifeforms can be divided into sterile ones and life producers.

* ''Literature/TheLeftHandOfDarkness'', by Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin, takes place on a planet (called "Winter") where people have no permanent sex. They are sexless and asexual most of the time, but from puberty on they turn into a male or a female once a month to reproduce. The same person can be male or female on different occasions, so basically everybody on the planet is both a male and a female and neither.
* "Literature/{{Mirage}}", by Creator/CliffordSimak: The Venerables of Mars have seven sexes, all of which are needed for reproduction.
* There is a story by Creator/StanislawLem about aliens who, among other things, have five sexes.
* ''Literature/{{Wayfarers}}'' by Creator/BeckyChambers: Several alien races feature:
** ''The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet'':
*** The Aeluon have four sexes: male, female, ''shon'' (who switch between male and female) and those who are neither.
*** The Grum are each born female and transition to male as they get older. In a species-wide war, the females fought in the front lines and were all wiped out. As a result, the Grum as a species can no longer breed, and are a DyingRace.
** ''The Galaxy, and the Ground Within'': The Laru are "male, female, neither, or somewhere in between" in adulthood. However the young are genderless, and their sex is unknown, even to themselves. It is traditional to hold a party when the child reveals their gender to the family.
* ''Literature/TheCulture'': In ''Literature/ThePlayerOfGames'', the Azadians have three sexes -- male, female and apex, a hermaphroditic gender.
** Biologically, all three are required for reproduction: the males impregnate the ovum-producing apexes, who in turn implant the fertilized egg in the females for gestation.
** As one might guess from the name, the apexes are culturally dominant and brutally oppressive of the other genders. Males have the lowest social standing and rights, treated as nothing but DumbMuscle and [[MenAreTheExpendableGender military mooks]]. Females hold more status, but are still second-class-citizens with few rights and privileges (and are in fact widely, but incorrectly, believed by the Azadians not to actually contribute DNA to their offspring).
* In ''Literature/ShadowMan'' by Creator/MelissaScott, humans in the future have seen a dramatic rise in intersex conditions (due to drugs necessary for space travel) leading to five recognized sexes: male, mem, herm, fem, female (clearly influenced by an article by Anne Fausto-Sterling [[http://www.fd.unl.pt/docentes_docs/ma/TPB_MA_5937.pdf]]) and nine sexual orientations.
* The Tralfamadorians from ''Literature/SlaughterhouseFive'' have five sexes - and humans have ''seven''. Most of ours exist only in the fourth dimension.
* In a bizarre case overlapping with NoBiologicalSex, there are apparently ''seven'' genders in Literature/TheSpaceTrilogy by Creator/CSLewis, two of which correspond both to the human sexes and to the genders of the [[CelestialParagonsAndArchangels Oyarsu]] watching over Mercury, Venus, and Mars. The rulers of those three planets have ''genders'', but also have NoBiologicalSex... it's [[EldritchAbomination complicated]]. When the Oyarsu of Jupiter and Saturn show up, their genders are neither masculine or feminine, which contributes to their already-formidable case of YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm.

** The ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Data's Day" has a line that Andorian marriage involves four individuals, leaving it ambiguous as to whether it's this trope or an ExoticExtendedMarriage. The Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse went with the idea of Andorians having four distinct biological sexes, consisting of ''chaan'' and ''thaan'' (appear male) and ''shen'' and ''zhen'' (appear female). In an Andorian bondgroup (''shelthreth''), the ''chaan'' and ''thaan'' fertilize the ''shen'', who then transfers the embryo to the ''zhen'' to gestate; the ''zhen'' does not contribute any genetic material. In a further twist, sexual contact between three or fewer partners is referred to as ''tezha'' and considered taboo. This is used to justify the relative dearth of appearances by Andorians; the species suffered tremendous casualties and their overly complex reproductive biology is making it very difficult for them to repopulate.

* ''Literature/TalesOfTheJokka'': The Jokka created by [[Creator/MCAHogarth M.C.A. Hogarth]] have three genders, anadi (female), emodo (male), and eperu (neuter). They can also change genders up to twice in their lives, the causes aren't entirely clear.
* In ''Literature/TheTrueMeaningOfSmekday'' by Adam Rex, the Boov aliens who attempt to enslave the human race have 7 sexes that translate in English to: girl, boy, boygirl, girlboy, boyboygirl, and boyboyboyboy.
* "Venus and the Seven Sexes", a 1949 short-story by Creator/WilliamTenn, features a seven sexed species that passes gametes in a chain: sex "D" receives from sex "C" and transmits to sex "E." The sex of the offspring is determined by the sex of the parent which receives/completes the fully fertilized gamete. One sex is tasked with ''coordinating'' the family.
* Bob Shaw's Literature/WarrenPeace duology has the Squelchers, an alien race with no less then six different sexes, each one with its own unique appearance, and with a reproductive cycle where each sex fertilizes the others in turn. The forms look so different that, to the vast majority of the universe, the species only consists of the fourth sex, which resembles an orange-haired, saggy[[note]]kind of like a blown up balloon that's developed a slow leak[[/note]] sasquatch with multiple eyes in a ring around its head (usually covered by its fur), oversized feet that let it wade on water, and two giant red nipple-like gamete sacs positioned one above the other on its torso. The fifth sex, the only other one mentioned, is described as being indistinguishable from a tree, except for the presence of a pair of two dual-pronged ovipositors sprouting from its trunk. Their introduction revolves around a plot in which Squelcher workers are wreaking havoc on the delicate, water-based flowers they need to harvest by constantly having orgasms from what their human superiors presume are super-explicit pornography. [[spoiler:It turns out that the problem is the ''staples'' in the various magazines provided for recreation; they look just like the ovipositors sported by the fifth sex.]]
* In "Assassin & Son" by Thomas M. Disch, the Sepharadians have seven sexes.
--> The blobs were septsexual, a degree of sexual differentiation found only in free-form telepathic races. Joseph did not understand too precisely the entire Sephradian mating process. There were, he knew, two blobs that performed a masculine function and two others that could be called women; the "mother" was hermaphroditic, then there were two neutral sexes who served somehow as catalysts. The "neuters" were not motivated by strictly sexual desires: the function of one was largely vegetative and of the other (which Chilperic represented) digestive.
* ''Literature/LilithsBrood'': The Oankali have a third "ooloi" sex, which uses its {{Biomanipulation}} powers to create a blastocyst from the male and female partners but doesn't contribute its own genes. Ooloi experience a {{Metamorphosis}} akin to a second puberty where they come into their powers, and are a sort of first among equals in their family units.
* According to the ''Literature/DoctorWhoNovelisations'' version of "Creature From the Pit", Tythonians are "tri-sexual", and mate by merging into one creature with ''six'' sexes.

* The Hroshii in ''Literature/TheStarBeast'' by Robert A. Heinlein have six sexes.
* The Spicans in the ''Literature/{{Cluster}}'' series by Piers Anthony have three sexes -- Impact, Sibilant and Undulant -- each of which can play any of the three reproductive roles of Parent, Sire and Catalyst (though procreation always requires one partner of each sex).
* In ''Literature/MarsEvacuees'' by Sophia [=McDougall=], the Morrors have five sexes and very complex reproductive methods in which a child might have anywhere between three and five parents.
* Fairies in ''Literature/PeterPan'' can be one of three colors and which one is determined by their gender. Yellow fairies are female, white fairies are male, and blue fairies are described as "little sillies that don't know what they are." No further details are given on what that actually means so it is unclear if they actually are a third sex, just males or females with an AmbiguousGender, or something else entirely.
* The Jovians in ''Literature/ThreeWorldsToConquer'' by Poul Anderson have a second type of male called a "demimale"; a female needs to mate with both types within a few hours of each other to conceive.

* In ''Literature/{{Tunnels}}'', female [[{{Ultraterrestrials}} Styx]] (which serve as infiltrators in the Styx's host society) usually look like beautiful females of their host species but grow giant insect legs and ovipositors during [[BizarreAlienReproduction the Phase]]. Meanwhile, male Styx are split into a warrior caste, a civilian caste, and Armagi. The first two castes resemble their host species and ''don't'' change during the Phase, though warriors are hatched as larvae from parasitic eggs implanted in members of the host species during the Phase, while civilians are conceived through the host species's normal method of reproduction. If the Phase isn't producing enough warriors to dominate Earth, instead of pupating into their host species's form, warrior larvae will grow into shapeshifting gelatinous StarfishAliens called Armagi.
* In the ''Literature/TerranTradeAuthority'' universe, Proximans have two sexes; Females, and "Potentials", who are ''also'' female(or more accurately, intersex, but their genital sets are "inactive") by default, but have the ability to effectively become male due to certain conditions or the needs of the population. Furthermore, a Potential tends to have a "preferred" option that they usually shift to when mating opportunities come up, but circumstances can change even that

** The ky'iin have males and females as well as ly'iin, a third sex that uses ly/lik/lin pronouns. Ly'iin aren't directly involved in reproduction - instead, their purpose is to serve as teachers. Females lay eggs while males do most of the childrearing, so females are larger and more aggressive, while males have a nest-building impulse.

** In ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' the hostile "Species 8472" is reported to have as many as [[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Species_8472 five distinct sexes]], at least according to Voyager's medical hologram but he admits they don't know anything else about their reproduction.
** The ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS02E022Cogenitor Cogenitor]]" features a race called the Vissians, who as well as having males and females have a third gender called "cogenitors" who are necessary in reproduction but only account for 3% of the population of Vissians. Cogenitors are third class citizens not even given names or an education. They are circulated between couples to assist in reproduction.
** As mentioned under '''Literature''', the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Data's Day" has a line that Andorian marriage involves four individuals. Whether or not this trope applies is left uncertain; it's never explicitly stated if it's a case of this trope or if it's a case of ExoticExtendedMarriage being phrased ambiguously to get past the censors. The Novelverse went with its own interpretation, explicitly making it this trope, but the TV series has never taken a definitive stance.
* The Goa'uld in ''Series/StargateSG1'' are a two-sex race that doesn't match up with Earth norms. The majority of Goa'uld appear to be biologically male but tend to take on the gender identity of their host, with a very small minority being biologically female "queens" that produce larvae. While queens can reproduce asexually, fertilization by a male passes his genetic memory to the offspring; for this reason, what few queens exist are kept as trophy wives by powerful system lords.

* ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'': Europans have five genders in total, male (25%), female (25%), neuter (25%) and two unclassified genders (25% collectively). Because the Europans are incredibly secretive, no-one is exactly certain how their reproduction even works and even the classifications Earthlings have given the known genders could turn out to be wildly wrong.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Tyranids don't have defined genders and, due to the way all of their weapons work, would technically qualify as either female or hermaphrodites (their weapons produce and gestates eggs, then launch the resulting creature at the enemy). Anything larger than a bullet would be created via the Norn Queens aboard the Hive Fleets, to which no one knows how the process is suppose to go. Genestealers are even weirder, as they can impregnate host species with their own genetic material, but the host itself still needs to reproduce naturally to pass on said genes effectively giving the child ''three'' parents.

* ''VideoGame/{{Achron}}'': The Grekim are a race of {{time travel}}ling alien cyborg squid with three sexes (octo, pharo, and sepi) and three "classes" (basic, pod, and ligo). Any two members of different sexes may "progenerate" a member of the third sex of the same class or the next one up (e.g. a pharo and a sepi can produce an octo or an octopod, or an octopod and a pharopod can produce a sepipod or a sepiligo). This is the species' primary method of producing units; although the exact details are unclear, a certain amount of proximity is needed but it does not require physical contact. Ligo cannot "progenerate", but can "split down" into two basic units of the remaining genders (e.g. an octoligo can split down into a pharo and a sepi).

* ''[[Videogame/{{X}} The X-Universe]]'':

* ''VideoGame/{{Subnautica}}'': The PDA mentions that every species on the planet 4546B has a [[OneGenderRace single sex]] which can both fertilize and carry eggs as most of the creatures still need mates to reproduce, however the PDA also states that some of the species are capable of [[TrulySingleParent asexual reproduction]] in case the population gets too low.
* In ''[[VideoGame/StarFlight Starflight 2]]'', the Ng'Kher'Arla is an alien race where the entire species transforms into one of three specific sexes, each with a distinct personality (Arla being friendly, Kher being paranoid, and Ng being hostile and xenophobic), depending on the time of month. On the last day of the month individuals change into a random sex and a species-wide mating orgy ensues.

* In ''Webcomic/ModestMedusa'', [[OurHydrasAreDifferent hydras]] appear to be an [[OneGenderRace all-female]] species of SnakePeople. As juveniles they are [[CuteMonsterGirl adorable little]] [[OurGorgonsAreDifferent gorgon]] girls with four snakes for hair, who slowly transform into [[TheGreatSerpent giant snakes]] as they get older. Their snake hair each have individual personalities and can move independent of the juvenile hydra, apparently representing different parts of the hydra's mind, with the little girl representing the consciousness. In almost every case, the snakes are female, but one in a million are born with "boy hair", i.e. male snakes and a female central body. The eponymous Modest is one of these, and during a JourneyToTheCentreOfTheMind she meets her snakes' minds, which look like male versions of her.

[[folder:Web Original]]

* The speculative alien species ''[[http://paperiapina.deviantart.com/gallery/31840163 Triaformica]]'' has three sexes, due to being descended from fungal ancestors. Likewise, only two sexes are needed to reproduce at any one time.
* Most aliens in the ''Humans are Space Orcs'' blog are referred to with nonbinary pronouns. No word on whether these are biological sexes or gender identities, however.
* ''Website/{{Serina}}'' has the Polymorph Bird, a species with males coming in four different varieties: the large, aggressive Keepers, the smaller, monogamous Ardors, the deceptive, female-mimicking Tramps and the homosexual Bachelors. It's stated that without the other morphs none of them would be able to reproduce: the Tramps require Keepers to trick, for example, otherwise their entire mating strategy would be rendered useless. Even the male-to-male bonding Bachelors play an important role: they steal and adopt the eggs of other heterosexual pairs, which in turn lay replacements, thus actually increasing the fecundity of a population whenever they're around.

** [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-1330 SCP-1330]] is a [[AlternateUniverse multi-universal]] garbage dump. One object found is a set of discarded copies of a poorly-written erotic novel whose characters are of five different genders.

->'''Commander Crumb''': Wow, what a woman.\\
'''Mark Bramble''': Technically, their species have nine genders, so I'm not sure if Gorgana's actually a woman, per se.\\
'''Crumb''': Do not ruin this for me, Bramble.

* Yivo from the WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} movie ''[[Recap/FuturamaM2TheBeastWithABillionBacks The Beast With A Billion Backs]]'' is a planet-sized tentacled entity. According to Fry, the creature prefers to be called "shklee" or "shkler", as opposed to "he" or "her". It also has what Leela calls "gentacles" (a portmanteau of "genitals" and "tentacles").
* [[https://www.reddit.com/r/gravityfalls/comments/315yoy/im_bill_cipher_i_know_lots_of_things_ask_me/cpyp3xv According to]] his CharacterBlog, ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' antagonist [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Bill Cipher]]'s [[DreamLand home dimension]] has 14 billion different genders. He claims that he has not decided on his own orientation simply because of how much paperwork it would entail.
* ''WesternAnimation/HomeAdventuresWithTipAndOh'': In one episode, Oh explains that Boov have 7 genders: [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs boy, girl, boygirl, girlboy, boyboy, boyboygirl and boyboyboyboy]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', it's revealed in the finale that [[spoiler:Titans]] are a single sex species possessing male and female traits who reproduce via [[spoiler:a TrulySingleParent both laying and fertilising an egg]].

* Fungi have over [[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/scientists-discover-why-fungi-have-36000-sexes-1119181.html 36,000 sexes,]] (technically called mating types - think sex-lite) but only two are needed at any one time to reproduce.

* The [[SiliconBasedLife silicon-based]] Jan in ''Literature/AlienInASmallTown'' have three sexes: the male Workers, who make up the majority of the population; the female Matriarchs, who grow into essentially [[GeniusLoci sessile living mountains]] and are the leaders of their society, and whose bodies typically contain tunneled passages which are inhabited by other Jan; and the sterile Warriors, who have six arms ending in vicious hooks, huge fanged mouths, and are much much faster and stronger than their Worker counterparts.
* The ''stsho'' of the ''Literature/ChanurNovels'' have three sexes which form mating trios. None of the sexes is quite male or quite female, since a ''stsho'' who fulfils the young-bearing role in one mating trio can fulfill a non-young-bearing role in a different trio. Further, if a ''stsho'' is subjected to enough psychological stress it might undergo ''phasing'', [[GenderBender changing both sex]] and personality. In addition to the three reproductive sexes, the ''stsho'' have five genders: one for each reproductive sex, a fourth for ''stsho'' who are undergoing phasing, and a fifth for ''stsho'' who are too old to reproduce.
* Literature/AllTomorrows has the Temptors. Females are gigantic, immobile, and resemble... er... a penis with immense eyes and beaks. Males are small, vaguely birdlike humanoids who care for the female.

** Tar Gibbons from the ''Literature/RodAllbrightAlienAdventures'' series insists on gender neutral pronouns because referring to it as male or female is offensive to it. No details are given.
-->'''Gibbons:''' I am neither male nor female. I'm a farfel.\\

** The ''Literature/MyTeacherIsAnAlien'' series by the same author has Hoo-Lan, whose species needs five different genders just to get an egg, and three more to hatch it.

* In the short story ''Hop-Friend'' by Terry Carr, Martians (or "Marshies") are mentioned to have three sexes.
* ''Literature/InCryptid'': Laidly worms have four sexes/genders: the humanoid males and females, and the dragonlike drakes and jennys. Unfortunately, [[LastOfHerKind only one is left, a female]].

** The Puppeteers from the same series ''claim'' to have three sexes for PR reasons. The ugly truth is that the "mother" is actually a different species that is parasitized by the Puppeteers in [[ChestBurster a manner not unlike the larvae of a tarantula hawk]]. The two actual sexes are fairly sedate, and don't really differ much outside of which gamete they insert into the host.
** Kzin reproduction is close to standard in that they have what we'd recognize as males and females, but the females are non-sapient and basically animals. Male kzinti were enormously confused at meeting other species, such as humans, where both sexes are sapient. It's actually implied that this was not always the case -- kzin legends refer to their females having been sapient, once, but they tried to rebel against the Fanged God and lost their souls as punishment. The reality is that [[spoiler:after the pre-industrial kzinti destroyed and took the technology of an alien race that landed on their planet, the male kzinti genetically engineered their females to be the way they are now, while at the same time making themselves as strong and vicious as possible to fit with their bronze age ideals of gender roles]]. A few kzinti populations around Known Space that have been isolated from the homeworld for ''very'' long times still have sapient females.

* Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin's ''Literature/TheLeftHandOfDarkness'' takes place on a planet (called "Winter") where people have no permanent sex. They are sexless and asexual most of the time, but from puberty on they turn into a male or a female once a month to reproduce. The same person can be male or female on different occasions, so basically everybody on the planet is both a male and a female and neither.

* In the ''Literature/{{Wayfarers}}'' series by Creator/BeckyChambers, several alien races feature:
** ''[[Literature/{{Wayfarers}} The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet]]'' introduces the Aeluon, who have four sexes: male, female, ''shon'' (who switch between male and female) and those who are neither.
** The same book also features the Grum, who as a species were each born female and transitioned to male as they got older. In a species-wide war, the females fought in the front lines and were all wiped out. As a result, the Grum as a species can no longer breed, becoming a DyingRace.
** The Laru, featured in ''[[Literature/{{Wayfarers}} The Galaxy, and the Ground Within]]'', are "male, female, neither, or somewhere in between" in adulthood. However the young are genderless, and their sex is unknown, even to themselves. It is traditional to hold a party when the child reveals their gender to the family.

* Some species of worms have three sexes: males, females, and hermaphrodites. While hermaphrodites are able to ferilize themselves, this produces genetically-identical offspring, so the worms switch between asexual and sexual reproduction to ensure genetic diversity, as well as found new populations without the need for a mate.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/SavingMe'', where [[GeneralFailure Commander Crumb]] becomes instantly and [[InterspeciesRomance hopelessly in love]] with Gorgana, an alien inspector from the [[FictionalUnitedNations Intergalatic Alliance]]. At some point, Mark actually has to mention that his superior may not even be attracted to his concept of a woman.

* Fairies in ''Literature/PeterPan'' can be one of three colors and which one is determined by their gender. Yellow fairies are female, white fairies are male, and blue fairies are described as "little sillies that don't know what they are." No further details are given on what that actually means so it is unclear if they actually are a third sex, or are just males or females with an AmbiguousGender, or something else entirely.

* In ''Webcomic/ModestMedusa'', [[OurHydrasAreDifferent hydras]] appear to be an [[OneGenderRace all-female]] species of SnakePeople. As juveniles they are [[CuteMonsterGirl cute little]] [[OurGorgonsAreDifferent gorgon]] girls with four snakes for hair, who slowly transform into [[TheGreatSerpent giant snakes]] as they get older. Their snake hair each have individual personalities and can move independent of the juvenile hydra, apparently representing different parts of the hydra's mind, with the little girl representing the consciousness. In almost every case, the snakes are female, but one in a million are born with "boy hair", i.e. male snakes. The eponymous Modest is one of these, and during a JourneyToTheCentreOfTheMind she meets her snakes' minds, which look like male versions of her.

* In ''Webcomic/ModestMedusa'', [[OurHydrasAreDifferent hydras]] appear to be an [[OneGenderRace all-female]] species of SnakePeople. As juveniles they are [[CuteMonsterGirl cute little]] [[OurGorgonsAreDifferent gorgon]] girls with four snakes for hair, who slowly transform into [[TheGreatSerpent giant snakes]] as they get older. Their snake hair each have individual personalities and can move independent of the juvenile hydra, apparently representing different parts of the hydra's mind, with the little girl representing the consciousness. In almost every case, the snakes are female, but one in a million are born with "boy hair", i.e. male snakes. The eponymous Modest is one of these, and during a JourneyToTheCentreOfTheMind she meets her snakes, who look like male versions of her.

* In ''Webcomic/ModestMedusa'', [[OurHydrasAreDifferenf hydras]] appear to be an [[OneGenderRace all-female]] species. As juveniles they are [[CuteMonsterGirl cute little]] [[OurGorgonsAreDifferent gorgon]] girls with four snakes for hair, who slowly transform into [[OurNagasAreDifferent giant snakes]] as they get older. Their snake hair each have individual personalities and can move independent of the juvenile hydra, apparently representing different parts of the hydra's mind, with the little girl representing the consciousness. In almost every case, the snakes are female, but one in a million are born with "boy hair", i.e. male snakes. The eponymous Modest is one of these, and during a JourneyToTheCentreOfTheMind she meets her snakes, who look like male versions of her.

* Civilized space in ''WebOriginal/OrionsArm'' recognizes six Transhuman genders, approximately defined as male, female, hermaphrodite, female pseudohermaphrodite, male pseudohermaphrodite, and genderless. Things pretty much go out the window when you bring actual aliens into the picture.

* All Tomorrows has the Temptors. Females are gigantic, immobile, and resemble... er... a penis with immense eyes and beaks. Males are small, vaguely birdlike humanoids who care for the female.

* In ''Shadow Man'' by Creator/MelissaScott, humans in the future have seen a dramatic rise in intersex conditions (due to drugs necessary for space travel) leading to five recognized sexes: male, mem, herm, fem, female (clearly influenced by an article by Anne Fausto-Sterling [[http://www.fd.unl.pt/docentes_docs/ma/TPB_MA_5937.pdf]]) and nine sexual orientations.

* In ''Mars Evacuees'' by Sophia [=McDougall=], the Morrors have five sexes and very complex reproductive methods in which a child might have anywhere between three and five parents.
* The Jovians in ''Three Worlds to Conquer'' by Poul Anderson have a second type of male called a "demimale"; a female needs to mate with both types within a few hours of each other to conceive.
* The trilaterally symmetrical crab aliens in ''Their Majesties' Bucketeers'' by L. Neil Smith have a third sex called a surmale.

* ''VideoGame/{{Subnautica}}'': The PDA mentions that every species on the planet 4546B has a [[OneGenderRace single sex]] which can both fertilize and carry eggs as most of the creatures still need mates to reproduce, however the PDA also states that some of the species are capable of [[TrulySingleParent asexual reproduction]] in case the population gets to low.

* ''WebOriginal/{{Serina}}'' has the Polymorph Bird, a species with males coming in four different varieties: the large, aggressive Keepers, the smaller, monogamous Ardors, the deceptive, female-mimicking Tramps and the homosexual Bachelors. It's stated that without the other morphs none of them would be able to reproduce: the Tramps require Keepers to trick, for example, otherwise their entire mating strategy would be rendered useless. Even the male-to-male bonding Bachelors play an important role: they steal and adopt the eggs of other heterosexual pairs, which in turn lay replacements, thus actually increasing the fecundity of a population whenever they're around.

* Yivo from the WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} movie ''Film/TheBeastWithABillionBacks'' is a planet-sized tentacled entity. According to Fry, the creature prefers to be called "shklee" or "shkler", as opposed to "he" or "her". It also has what Leela calls "gentacles" (a portmanteau of "genitals" and "tentacles").
* [[https://www.reddit.com/r/gravityfalls/comments/315yoy/im_bill_cipher_i_know_lots_of_things_ask_me/cpyp3xv According to]] his CharacterBlog, ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls''' [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Bill Cipher]]'s [[DreamLand home dimension]] has 14 billion different genders. He claims that he has not decided on his own orientation simply because of how much paperwork it would entail.

* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': The Ad Astra Per Aspera canon has the Taronyu, an alien species with six sexes; each can reproduce with any of the other five.

* Yivo from the WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} movie ''The Beast With A Billion Backs'' is a planet-sized tentacled entity. According to Fry, the creature prefers to be called "shklee" or "shkler", as opposed to "he" or "her".

* ''TabletopGame/WorldTreeRPG'': The insectoid Herethroy have three sexes: females, males and co-lovers. The female and male contribute genetic material to the offspring, while the co-lover carries and lays the egg. There are also the rare "both-females", who are capable of playing either the female or the co-lover role in reproduction, although not at the same time. Herethroy marry in triads, but because of uneven gender ratios some genders (co-lovers and males) are allowed or expected to belong to more than one triad at once.

* The RealTimeStrategy ''VideoGame/{{Achron}}'' has the Grekim, a race of [[TimeTravel Time Travelling]] alien cyborg squid with three sexes (octo, pharo, and sepi) and three "classes" (basic, pod, and ligo). Any two members of different sexes may "progenerate" a member of the third sex of the same class or the next one up (e.g. a pharo and a sepi can produce an octo or an octopod, or an octopod and a pharopod can produce a sepipod or a sepiligo). This is the species' primary method of producing units; although the exact details are unclear, a certain amount of proximity is needed but it does not require physical contact. Ligo cannot "progenerate", but can "split down" into two basic units of the remaining genders (e.g. an octoligo can split down into a pharo and a sepi).

** ''[[Literature/{{Wayfarers}} The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet]]'' introduces the Aeluon, who have four sexes: male, female, ''shon'' (who switch between male and female) and those who are neither. Later books describe their family structure: after mating, females lay eggs and the resulting offspring are brought up in creches staffed by males and ''shon''. It is considered good luck to have a ''shon'' for a parent.
** The same book also features the Grum, who as a species were all born female and transitioned to male as they get older. In a species-wide war, the females fought in the front lines and were all wiped out. As a result, the Grum as a species can no longer breed, becoming a DyingRace.
** Among the Quelin, a species of giant arthropods, males incubate the young in pouches on each side of their abdomen.
** The Laru, introduced in ''[[Literature/{{Wayfarers}} The Galaxy, and the Ground Within]]'', are male, female or non-binary in adulthood, females having a pouch to bear young. However the young are genderless until puberty, and their sex is unknown, even to themselves. It is traditional to hold a party when the child reveals their gender to the family.

* In ''[[Literature/{{Wayfarers}} The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet]]'', the aeluon have four sexes: male, female, shon (who switch between male and female) and those who are neither.

** Similarly, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruff#Behaviour ruff sandpiper]] has three different male genders: "ordinary" territorial males, "satellite" males that visit mating leks but do not establish territories, and cryptic males ("faeders") that resemble females and rely on the [[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/close-encounters-of-the-sneaky-kind-85147028/ "sneaky bastard"]] mating strategy. The stark differences in appearance and behavior between these genders appear to be inherited. (Female ruffs appear more attracted to leks with a variety of males present, which explains why the different genders can coexist over the long term, but [[GuyOnGuyIsHot we can only speculate]] as to their motives.)