Beta in our game is a personality designation, not a rank. Betas can't become alphas, though they can outrank alphas. There are high, mid and low betas. Most ranking betas are high betas, mainly because their personalities may make them desire to lead and be fit to lead in some capacity. The majority of any Pack is made up of betas, just as the majority of any random group of humans is made up of followers rather than leaders. (And the ratio is probably almost exactly the same.)
Alpha/beta/omega tendencies aren't gender-specific, or even gender-weighted. There's a pretty even division among the genders in personality-tendencies, along a bell-curve, with omegas at one end and extreme high-alphas at the other.
There is some conjecture that perhaps lycanthropy favors those with alpha tendencies, but that could just as easily be argued from the point that those who engage in the sort of risky behaviors that led to many of the cases of infection, are alpha humans.
And then there are the realists who point to that bell-curve and the big bump of mid-betas it depicts. Too many alphas and not enough betas do not a Pack make; a pretty good bar brawl, maybe, or a riot—but not a stable Pack.
Omega is again, a personality trait more than a rank, although in our game it does gain an official "rank" recognition. Omegas are the pushovers of the wolf pack, the individual whose personality puts him at the bottom of the assertiveness scale. The tenor and psychology of each individual Pack determines if its Omega is the Pack's "mascot" and a protected and spoiled snuggler.
As for alphas, there's the Lead Pair aka Ulfric and Lupa (the Ulfric is alpha by definition, though the Lupa may be a high-beta). There's the other ranks, from Geri to Beta and on down to Omega, which may be held by either alphas or betas (usually high/mid betas). The only exception, is the Omega who is always the lowest beta. Some preteranthropologists go so far as to give the Omega the same designation as a personality description
Being an alpha doesn’t automatically mean that one will also be a ranker. In fact, most of the real troublemakers in a Pack are alphas at loose ends. Alpha is a personality trait—like introvert/extrovert, or dominant/submissive for example-- not a rank, like CEO or Vice president. An alpha personality can be a bully or blowhard, a charismatic charmer or a cruel cad. James Dean, to Joan of Arc to Jim Jones to John F. Kennedy… all forceful, all alpha humans, but far different personalities.
The only traits all alphas have in common are the need to be acknowledged by others and to get their own way. Alphas tend to be control-freaks and extroverts. It’s almost an impossibility for an alpha to be a wallflower or a loner—unless in being a loner, the alpha feels as though he’s totally in control of everything, or that he/she’s chooses to be a wallflower because no one else is fit to associate with
This is why it’s almost unheard of for any but a high-alpha to be Ulfric. The Pack is not a democracy, but a dictatorship, benign or otherwise, and when it comes down to the bottom line, the Ulfric is King of Everything. Only someone with a forceful personality, supreme self-confidence and perhaps a hunger for absolute power or a crusading nature goes after such a position.
Alpha/beta/omega tendencies aren't gender-specific, or even gender-weighted. There's a pretty even division among the genders in personality-tendencies, along a bell-curve, with omegas at one end and extreme high-alphas at the other.
There is some conjecture that perhaps lycanthropy favors those with alpha tendencies, but that could just as easily be argued from the point that those who engage in the sort of risky behaviors that led to many of the cases of infection, are alpha humans.
And then there are the realists who point to that bell-curve and the big bump of mid-betas it depicts. Too many alphas and not enough betas do not a Pack make; a pretty good bar brawl, maybe, or a riot—but not a stable Pack.
Omega is again, a personality trait more than a rank, although in our game it does gain an official "rank" recognition. Omegas are the pushovers of the wolf pack, the individual whose personality puts him at the bottom of the assertiveness scale. The tenor and psychology of each individual Pack determines if its Omega is the Pack's "mascot" and a protected and spoiled snuggler.
As for alphas, there's the Lead Pair aka Ulfric and Lupa (the Ulfric is alpha by definition, though the Lupa may be a high-beta). There's the other ranks, from Geri to Beta and on down to Omega, which may be held by either alphas or betas (usually high/mid betas). The only exception, is the Omega who is always the lowest beta. Some preteranthropologists go so far as to give the Omega the same designation as a personality description
Being an alpha doesn’t automatically mean that one will also be a ranker. In fact, most of the real troublemakers in a Pack are alphas at loose ends. Alpha is a personality trait—like introvert/extrovert, or dominant/submissive for example-- not a rank, like CEO or Vice president. An alpha personality can be a bully or blowhard, a charismatic charmer or a cruel cad. James Dean, to Joan of Arc to Jim Jones to John F. Kennedy… all forceful, all alpha humans, but far different personalities.
The only traits all alphas have in common are the need to be acknowledged by others and to get their own way. Alphas tend to be control-freaks and extroverts. It’s almost an impossibility for an alpha to be a wallflower or a loner—unless in being a loner, the alpha feels as though he’s totally in control of everything, or that he/she’s chooses to be a wallflower because no one else is fit to associate with
This is why it’s almost unheard of for any but a high-alpha to be Ulfric. The Pack is not a democracy, but a dictatorship, benign or otherwise, and when it comes down to the bottom line, the Ulfric is King of Everything. Only someone with a forceful personality, supreme self-confidence and perhaps a hunger for absolute power or a crusading nature goes after such a position.