Tentaspy

Tropes and genres
Synonym(s)	Octospy
Related tropes/genres	Spy (Team Fortress 2)
See also	Tentacles, Hentai
Tentaspy by epaqjrja.
Related articles on Fanlore.

Tentaspy is an AU for Team Fortress 2's Spy where he is half human, half tentacle monster. It originated from the formerly popular anonymous messageboard TF2chan in 2008. TF2chan was the hub for all of Team Fortress 2's slash fanac until around 2014. Tentaspy inspired many recursive fanworks and spread far beyond TF2chan, reaching most communities where TF2 slash lives. Fannish drift means many in the TF2 fandom who have heard of Tentaspy do not know where it originated from. As of 2024, Tentaspy is still referenced and worked into plenty of fanworks. Tentaspy (Team Fortress 2) is a wrangled tag on Archive of Our Own.

The idea for Tentaspy came from a Steam Group discussion full of TF2chan regulars who were discussing watching Disney movies in their native languages. When discussing the French Beauty and the Beast, an idea arose to fuse Spy with Ursula and Scout with Ariel. The idea soon shifted to a Spy/Scout AU. Spy/Scout was popular in 2008 before 2014 implied Spy was Scout's father. It soon morphed into Spy being a tentacle monster. While art of Merscout exists, it never got as big. Tentaspy work is rarely also Spy/Scout.

scumsuck: Did Tentaspy originate as a NSFW concept from the getgo?

Lakidaa: For about 10 minutes it wasn't NSFW and was just us ragging about.

Common Tropes

Tentaspy is often worked into original characters. Most fanworks for the character evoke Cthulhu-like horror. Tentaspy may be shipped with other mercenaries, such as Engineer, Sniper and Spy himself. The unrelated Freak Fortress character Christian Pure Spy may be fused with some aspects of Tentaspy. The character may be drawn with Spycrab.

Between both RED and BLU Tentaspy, BLU is far more common. Tentaspy may be far larger than the mercenaries or small enough to fit it a fish bowl.

Example/Notable Fanac

Tentaspy cosplay by Lithe-Fider. Lithe-Fider is a long time fan of tentaspy. She has done several professional photoshoots/con appearances with her cosplay.

Tentaspy/SeaSpy from Freak Fortress by Renwick_artz.

NSFW Sniper/Spy fanart with Tentaspy by sinuswave. Note: Marked as sexually explicit; minimized.

Kate Beaton parody comic by Drexa which features Tentaspy and Sniper.

Fan Art

• Tentaspy for SKUMSUCK as part of our art trade by The_rottingsun, ^{Archived version}, a more Cthulhu-like interpretation of the character.
• Finally finished the first illustration for my TF2AU about pirates! by DrawerDessine, ^{Archived version}, where Tentaspy meets Pirate!Engineer.
• this could've been a decent spy but then my hand slipped and... yeah by wachtelspinat, ^{Archived version}, wachtelspinat is somewhat of a BNF in Team Fortress 2 fandom.
• Be My Guest by arok318, ^{Archived version}, in a collab with Kakashi-kun and NorthernBanshee. RED Spy holding BLU Tentaspy on his back.
• TF2:Tentama x Tentaspy BLU by DarkLitria, ^{Archived version}, rare Tenta-Scout's Ma.
• untitled by uuuuaak, ^{Archived version}, fanart for Tentaspy and Sniper having a rivalry.
• Tenta-SPOI is preparing for Christmas! by plattenbauprinz, ^{Archived version}, Tentaspy with a Holiday Hat.
• untitled by do-you-feel-tres-bon, ^{Archived version}, RED Tentaspy in a fishbowl.
• an art fight attack i did on jellazticious by giddlygoat, ^{Archived version}.

Collections

• https://lithefider.tumblr.com/tagged/tentaspy, ^{Archived version}
• https://schmogg.tumblr.com/tagged/Tentaspy, ^{Archived version}
• Tentaspy by DarkAngel-777, ^{Archived version}, which features 44 deviations on DeviantArt.

Cosplay

• RED Tentaspy cosplay by zenami, ^{Archived version}.

Blogs

• Fuck Yeah Tentaspy, ^{Archived version}, a fuck yeah blog on Tumblr.

Fan Fic

• Dominique by LitheFider, ^{Archived version}, longfic for LitheFider's Tentaspy OC Dominique and Lance the Engineer.
• Sticky Situation by snottymongrel, ^{Archived version}, a Spy/Scout fic. In the fic, they are not related. RED Scout tries to relieve some steam in the 2fort sewers after work but to his surprise, he's not alone...
• Gentle, Dear... by orphan_account, ^{Archived version}, a Tentaspy/reader fic.
• Too many to care for by Lanny-Sama, ^{Archived version}, popular mpreg story. A Tentaspy finally escapes the BLU med-bay after several long months of experiments, one of them still ongoing... This was recced by JustAnotherMadOne on her journal, My Top 10 TF2 Fanfics, ^{Archived version}.
• Entangled Lust: A TentaSpy's Story by Flygon Pirate, ^{Archived version} Damien was never always a terrifying monster, or so he believes. Not remembering his human life, he searches to find himself and what he became. Along with his friend, Jacque the Spy Crab, Damien discovers new talents, his evil side, and eventually love. This was also recced by JustAnotherMadOne.

References/Further Reading

• tentaspy on Know Your Meme