History Main / SpermAsPeople

[[folder:Film -- Animation]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

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 two X chromosomes required to conceive a girl).

* ''Webcomic/BooItsSex": In a section where Tara explains that it is possible to get pregnant on one's period, there is an [[https://www.webtoons.com/en/slice-of-life/boo-its-sex/ep-90/viewer?title_no=1413&episode_no=91 illustration]] of a sperm in a waiting room.

[[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 jacking off with 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.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* ''[[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. And one of the sperm - just one - is very obviously black. The other sperm cells look curiously at this out-of-place comrade.

* In ''Film/TheGreatFight'', one character tells a joke about three guys bragging about their excellent memories. The first guy says he remembers having his diaper changed. The second says he remembers being born. The third says he remembers going to a party with his father, and coming home with his mother.
* In ''Film/GettingStraight'', the students watch a sex ed video that shows animated sperm swimming around an egg. One student yells, "Back, back, you fools! We've been tricked! It's only a wet dream!"

* One issue of Brazilian magazine ''Superinteressante'' had a short story about reproduction with the brain as a war room and the sperm as an army. The author, however, didn't properly research and some ArtisticLicenseBiology is present - the one that fertilizes finds an opening into the egg, when in truth sperm breaches into the egg.

* ''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.

* This is used in several {{Edutainment}} shows about the human body:
** In ''[[WesternAnimation/IlEtaitUneFois Once upon a time... Life]], sperm cells at first look like [[https://media.paperblog.fr/i/77/774064/naissance-L-2.jpeg some kind of swimming machine]], but it's later revealed that they are merely wearing a visor on their face which [[https://cdn1.booknode.com/book_cover/606/mod11/il_etait_une_fois_la_vie_tome_39_adolescence_et_sexualite-606350-264-432.jpg they lose upon entering the egg]].
** French sexual education series ''Le Bonheur de la Vie'' anthropomorphizes [[http://dessins-animes.com/das/713/name/bonheur_vie#http%3A%2F%2Fdessins-animes.com%2Fda%2Fbonheur_vie%2Fimages%2Fbonheur_de_la_vie18.jpg both sperm and egg cells]] -- and gives eggs [[TertiarySexualCharacteristics lipstick and long lashes]].

* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'': In "Beavis and Butthead Do America", Beavis has a flashback of himself as a nose-picking sperm.

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. 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. The possibility of fraternal twins or triplets[[note]]which can only come about when there ''is'' more than one egg cell present[[/note]] isn't often mentioned either, which interestingly enough could be one way of reconciling this biological PlotHole. 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.

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 X chromosomes to conceive a girl).

* ''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.
** Likewise, the spin-off ''Manga/CellsAtWorkLady'' depicts them as young, {{Bishonen}} adventurers outside of their sperm-pods, which parallels the ovum being represented as a royal princess.

-->--'''The holographic doctor''', ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', "Someone to Watch Over Me"

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]

* Episode "Backward" of ''Series/RedDwarf'' is 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.

* 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, 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.

[[folder:Film]]

* The opening/fertilization sequence of ''Film/LookWhosTalking''.

* 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]]

* ''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 mentions he reached it because of the determination he developed at "testicular boot camp".

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".

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. 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.

* The ''Music/{{Koit}}'' song "Egg and Sperm" is about some sperm trying to reach the egg.