History Main / FanPreferredCouple

** ''FanPreferredCouple/TalesSeries''

The highest aspiration of a Fan-Preferred Couple is to [[AscendedFanon beat the odds]] and evolve into an OfficialCouple. This is about the only way the same couple can end up being ''both'' of these things. However, in some of these cases this can [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor backfire]] on fans if the execution of said romance doesn't live up to expectations, resulting in ShippingBedDeath, which can often lead to a new Fan-Preferred Couple taking it's place.

* For many years the FoeYay between Wrestling/ChrisJericho and Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon made them a Fan-Preferred Couple. As time went on and a great lack of interaction in the last decade, their popularity has been taken over by Stephanie's RealLife relationship with Wrestling/TripleH.

Please note that due to how quickly the romantic landscape and fan preference can change for a work, leading to a fanon ship either becoming canon or falling out of favor with the audience, [[Administrivia/NoRecentExamplesPlease do not add an example until a month after a work/season ends]].

** ''FanPreferredCouple/LeagueOfLegends''

[[folder:Music]]
* ''Music/{{Vocaloid}}'':
** Although everything, including pairings, is purely fanon, the most popular heterosexual ships seem to be Gakupo×Luka, Kaito×Miku, and Len×Rin. Though Kaito×Meiko and Gakupo×Gumi do give them a run for their money.
** Miku×Luka is the most popular homosexual pairing, having had albums full of songs about their love. Yaoi fans, however, tend to gravitate towards Kaito×Gakupo. It probably helps that they're the only two out of the most popular ones who are male and over the physical age of 16.
* In the album ''In the Aeroplane Over the Sea'' by band Neutral Milk Hotel the narrator often alludes to Anne Frank. Fan interpretations include the pairing of Jeff Mangum, the writer and singer of the album, with Anne Frank and the belief that Jeff actually is in love with her. The lyrics, many of them sexual in nature, seem to be the main reason people come to this conclusion.
* The two main characters played by Music/EllieGoulding and Music/CalvinHarris from "Outside" music video are prominently shipped together because their other major collaboration "I Need Your Love" featured the two characters (also played by them) as an adorable couple as well as Goulding and Harris's real life friendship.
* From the famous children's group Music/TheWiggles, Emma and Lachy take this UpToEleven. They hid their relationship for two years, but in those days, even the ''children'' started to see something spark between them. Now they are engaged and married.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* There's a large amount of ''Roleplay/RubyQuest'' fan-art about Stitches×Daisy, who never met in the game and whose only connection was both being met as horrible mutants. It may be a case of PairTheSpares, as they are the only patients of the Metal Glen not dead ([[spoiler: Maddie]]) already in a relationship ([[spoiler: Ruby and Tom, and Tom Nook and Lucy]]), or escaped without a romantic partner ([[spoiler: Jay]]).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* For ''TableTopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', the human fighter [[{{ChivalrousPervert}} Valeros]] and half-orc inquisitor [[{{Beastess}} Imrijka]] have somehow become this, most likely for the "d'awwwwww" factor.
[[/folder]]

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'': As of Season 11, Tucker×Washington has become one of the most popular ''Red vs. Blue'' ships. It helps that the two spend almost all their time together during that story arc and at least some of Tucker's motivation to become a better soldier is to rescue Wash after he's kidnapped at the end of Season 11.

[[caption-width-right:302:[[AtArmsLength Don't worry]], Aang. [[OfficialCouple You still have]] {{canon}}.\\

** For people who don't ship Black Sun, Sun Wukong often gets shipped with his CasanovaWannabe team mate Neptune, which initially began based on Neptune's appearance alone. This later gained popularity as a result of his nerdy personality, as well as a desire to solve the [[DieForOurShip perceived threat]] to both the Bumblebee and White Rose ships which arises from the ShipTease between Sun and Blake and Neptune and Weiss.
** Out of STRQ, Qrow and Summer are the most popular couple. It eclipses all of the other pairings including the two (including the official Taiyang×Summer) in terms of fan-art and fan-fics. There's never been any concrete proof that Qrow ever loved Summer romantically, but it's {{fanon}} to believe that Summer is Qrow's [[TheLostLenore Lost Lenore]]. It also ties into a popular theory that Qrow is Ruby's biological dad and that the family did a FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo. [[WordOfGod Doesn't seem to matter that the writers have disproven this theory]], as it continues to be a popular AU.
%%** Among the villains, the most popular ships are Jaded (Emerald and Mercury), Nuts and Volts (Watts and Tyrian) and Spicecream (Cinder and Neo).

The highest aspiration of a Fan-Preferred Couple is to [[AscendedFanon beat the odds]] and evolve into an OfficialCouple. This is about the only way the same couple can end up being ''both'' of these things. However, in some of these cases this can [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor backfire]] on fans if the execution of said romance doesn't live up to expectations, resulting in ShippingBedDeath.

The highest aspiration of a Fan-Preferred Couple is to [[AscendedFanon beat the odds]] and evolve into an OfficialCouple. This is about the only way the same couple can end up being ''both'' of these things.

** Most characters have one "Golden Pairing" that gets the most attention from the fans (usually partner pairings or pairings made of characters teaming up), with some rare exceptions if the character winds up being a LauncherOfAThousandShips.

** Among the villains, the most popular ships are Jaded (Emerald and Mercury), Nuts and Volts (Watts and Tyrian) and Spicecream (Cinder and Neo).

** Sun Wukong gets shipped with his CasanovaWannabe team mate Neptune, which initially began based on Neptune's appearance alone. This later gained popularity as a result of his nerdy personality, as well as a desire to solve the [[DieForOurShip perceived threat]] to both the Bumblebee and White Rose ships which arises from the ShipTease between Sun and Blake and Neptune and Weiss.

->''"I won't marry Jo to Laurie to please anyone."''
-->-- From the journal of '''Creator/LouisaMayAlcott''', author of ''Literature/LittleWomen'', who has had it with the fan letters asking of her to do that

[[caption-width-right:302:[[AtArmsLength Don't worry]], Aang. [[OfficialCouple You still have]] {{canon}}.]]
[-[[caption-width-right:302:Image courtesy of [[http://niban-destikim.deviantart.com/ Niban-Destikim.]]\\
[[http://comments.deviantart.com/4/17326620/2290543868 Used with permission.]]]]-]

%% Image kept on page per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1294720955080420100

!!Example Subpages:

!!Other Examples:

* ''[[SlashFic Slash]]'' itself is wildly more popular than heterosexual pairings, that wrestling boils down to good-looking, half-naked men rolling around while often times covered in sweat does not help, with all the HoYay and FoeYay abound ''outside'' of the actual matches.
* The majority of heterosexual pairings in the fandom are not the male & female wrestlers in regulation pairings, but rather the Male wrestlers with female OriginalCharacters. There are vast numbers of poor quality [[SelfInsertFic Self-Insert Fics]].

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1613928040046068600 under discussion]] in the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13222107430A61495000 Trope Repair Shop]].]]]]]]

A lot of fans are [[{{Shipping}} rooting for this couple to get together]]. A ''lot''. Way more than they are for any conceivable alternative. And it is ''not happening''.

And still yet, in spite of it all, they are ''not happening''. Certainly not now, and probably not ever.

A subreaction of BetterThanCanon. Most often the result of a RelationshipWritingFumble, or a RomanticFalseLead whom the audience [[EmotionalTorque latched onto]], but sometimes happens [[IntendedAudienceReaction by design]] or [[CrackPairing because fandoms just make no sense]]. Often, but not always, involves disregarding a competing OfficialCouple with extreme prejudice. Can eventually lead to an AuthorsSavingThrow or a WriterRevolt.

The highest aspiration of a Fan-Preferred Couple is to beat the odds and evolve into an OfficialCouple. This is about the only way the same couple can end up being ''both'' of these things.

[[folder:Read before adding an example]]

When left alone, this page very quickly decays into its natural state of equilibrium: Everyone listing huge [[WallOfText Walls of Text]] about their favorite [[{{Shipping}} ships]]. We don't want that. Here are some guidelines for what examples you put on this page and how.

# ''No listing pairings that are less popular than rival pairings. Yes, this means it's not a Fan-Preferred Couple if the OfficialCouple is more fan-preferred than it.''
# ''No listing two different pairings with the same character in them, unless you have a very good explanation of how they can both be the most popular at the same time (for instance, [[AbandonShipping one was popular for a while but fell out of favor]], or one is most popular among fans of {{Het}} while the other is about equally popular among fans of SlashFic).''
# ''Give us specifics. Saying "some fans think it should happen" gives us zero information. Wiki/TheOtherWiki [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style_(words_to_watch)#Unsupported_attributions has a lot to say about that.]]''
# ''Keep it short and to the point. Lapsing into speculation of what in {{canon}} set this reaction off is all right, but don't give us a plot summary.''
[[/folder]]

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'':
** For most of the history, Grif×Simmons has been ''the'' main ship, which is helped by the large amount of HoYay and creators implying it's canon.
** On the Yuri side, Agents Connecticut and South Dakota, who never had a single meaningful interaction onscreen.
** As of Season 11, Tucker×Washington has become one of the most popular ''Red vs. Blue'' ships.

** Weiss and Ruby, which the fandom has given a nickname ("White Rose"), were shipped together ever since their prequel trailers first came out. The fact that the characters would go on to have personalities [[OutdatedByCanon far different]] than what was first assumed (Ruby was thought to be TheStoic and a Weiss {{Tsundere}}) did nothing to slow this, with White Rose continuing to be one of the most popular pairings in the entire show.
** Blake and Yang, which the fandom has given a nickname ("Bumblebee"). Like White Rose, this originates from the prequel trailers. Within the show itself, Blake and Yang have the most HoYay of any same-sex pairing, and the ship's fans delight in every emotional scene between them. Bumblebee is another of the most popular ships in the entire series, though that is [[ShiptoShipCombat far from a universal opinion]]. By later volumes, it has arguably been upgraded to a {{Canon}} ship, given the increasingly explicit ShipTease between the two.

* ''Machinima/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers'' has [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]] and [[VideoGame/{{Splatoon}} Meggy the Inkling]], which seems to be the most beloved pairing of the series thanks to their [[OddFriendship strange]] yet [[VitriolicBestBuds endearing]] friendship, and Meggy being one of the few characters that [[{{Jerkass}} Mario]]'s almost always friendly to. Half of the fanbase hopes for the pairing to become official, [[BrokenBase however the other half]] thinks otherwise [[NoYay considering her age]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* It would probably be easier to name the ''WebVideo/DontHugMeImScared'' fanfics and fanart that ''don't'' ship the Notebook and Tony the Talking Clock. The two of them have never interacted, and they've never been onscreen at the same time for more than a few seconds.
* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' has its fair share of ships, but the most popular by far is Percy×Vex'ahlia, which outstretches even its own [[ShipMates Ship Mate]] [[spoiler: turned OfficialCouple]] Keyleth×Vax by a wide margin. This is likely thanks to the sheer amount of long drawn-out ShipTease that's been in place since the Briarwoods arc.

-->-- From the journal of '''Creator/LouisaMayAlcott''', author of ''Literature/LittleWomen'', who has had it with the fan letters asking of her to do that.

** ''FanPreferredCouple/PowerRangers''

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* Quite a few reviewers in ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11886910/1/Gankona-Unnachgiebig-Unità Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità]]'' prefer Itapan over Gerita. [[spoiler:There are plenty who also like [[OneTrueThreesome Geritapan]].]]
* In ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'' story "To Build A Home", reviewers preferred [[GenderFlip Stephanie]] with Klaus rather than her canon love interest Jeremy. The fact that they dated in the past (despite her not remembering it) factors in.
* Similarly, in ''Fanfic/TheJillGilbertSaga'', reviewers preferred [[GenderFlip Jill]] with Stefan over Tyler, whom she has long been in love with. It only recently became canon.
* In ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'':
** Fans have vocally called for Harry Potter×Carol Danvers, on the grounds of the ''considerable'' [[ShipTease chemistry]] the two share despite their mutual insistence that they are JustFriends, over [[Creator/NimbusLlewelyn the author's original plan]] of Harry×Ginny. While the author has been enigmatic about the former (though his attitude has shifted from "never gonna happen" to, "All right, the PortmanteauCoupleName is cute"), the latter has been confirmed to have been removed, as part of a raft of grand scale changes to the future of the story. Eventually, [[spoiler: Harry and Carol get together in chapter 46 of the sequel]].
** The story also manifests an example of this trope, with a strong Bucky×Natasha dynamic woven in, despite the fact that the fic as a whole is heavily based on the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'', with not even a tiny bit of Bruce×Natasha chemistry (despite it being MCU canon).
** Relatively early on, [[Creator/NimbusLlewelyn the author]] created a poll out of curiosity to see who fans would prefer Harry to be with. ComicBook/JeanGrey won by a clear margin, with ComicBook/EmmaFrost and Hermione Granger not far behind, tied in second place. Based on WordOfGod, Harry's not going to be paired with any of them -- Jean Grey [[spoiler: is his cousin and CoolBigSis, though a letter written by a version of Harry from the future notes that she's 'disconcertingly attractive']] and pretty definitely shipped with [[ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} Scott Summers]], Emma Frost and Harry are stated not to get on at all and the narration has on more than one occasion noted that Harry very rarely notices that Hermione is female and is 'about as attracted to her as he is to mould'.
** A more recently released poll confirmed that Harry×Carol is the most popular possible choice, but also showed that Harry×[[ComicBook/WonderWoman Diana]] was a very close second.
* Despite being a killer, burned dream-demon, many readers of ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8475832/1/Tainted-Dreams Tainted Dreams]]'' would rather see Helyse being with Freddy Krueger than with Jonathan. [=AnaShadowWolf=] (the author) went so far as make a poll during the fic to know with whom the readers wanted to see Helyse with. Freddy won. By a large margin.
* In ''Fanfic/SuzumiyaHaruhiNoSeitenkan'', the [[GenderFlip gender-swapped]] [[RuleSixtyThree version]] of ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', will pair the canon's Kyon with his DistaffCounterpart, Kyonko. While the ship passes under the radar of fans of the regular series, it stands out that at least half the fan fics of the genderswap features Kyonko with Kyon.
* A ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' and ''Anime/{{Naruto}}'' {{crossover}} called ''Angels and Ninjas'' has many reviewers wanting a Naruto×Stocking pairing rather than Naruto×Panty and Sasuke×Stocking [[labelnote:note]]the premade pairings [[/labelnote]] due to the fact that Naruto and Stocking obviously have better chemistry, spend a considerable amount of time together, get along better than Naruto does with Panty and Stocking does with Sasuke and that's not even mentioning the fact they share a bed.
* Happens InUniverse in the ''Series/SouthOfNowhere'' story ''Romance on the Set''. Spencer was originally cast as the main character Mandy's love interest, but fans of the show preferred Mandy with the PerkyGoth Rachel instead.
* ''Fanfic/WeissReacts'': Fans wanted Ruby and Weiss to get together in Volume 1, knowing that the author was also a fan of the couple, which [[spoiler: they end up doing, upgrading it to the OfficialCouple]].
** In Volume 2, [[ChickMagnet Jaune]] and [[ObliviousToLove Winter]] are favoured by fans to get together in place of the aforementioned Weiss, [[DoggedNiceGuy Pyrrha]] or [[{{Troll}} Minako]].
* ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'' has a large and vocal fan contingent that actually quite likes the idea of Asuka and Shinji giving Rei the [[UnusualEuphemism "Israfel Special"]]. ''Fanfic/DoingItRightThisTime'' and ''Fanfic/NeonMetathesisEvangelion'' were both written as a result of wanting to see said pairing come to fruition. (The author of ''Advice & Trust'' took this really rather well, by the way, and has in fact commented favourably on both.)
* Some readers of ''Fanfic/KitsuneNoKenFistOfTheFox'' were in favor of Naruto and Ino hooking up, due to Ino displaying the traditional {{Tsundere}} behavior in response to Naruto's [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass put-on stupidity]], but many more were in favor of the more expected Naruto×Hinata pairing. Although in-story Ino is presented as TheMatchmaker and ShipperOnDeck for Naruto and Hinata, the author ''twice'' saw it necessary to conductu a poll to determine which of the two pairings should win out; both times, Hinata won out over Ino. [[spoiler:The DistantFinale has Naruto and Hinata being married, while Ino is married to Sai; however, the ShipTease continues with Ino's daughter being hinted to like Naruto's son]].
* Despite initially being presented as a BitchInSheepsClothing, Lelouch's wife Abigail in ''Fanfic/DauntlessAlloraGale'' received enough CharacterDevelopment that fans started wanting her and Lelouch to be the OfficialCouple rather than Lelouch×C.C. [[WordOfGod Aurora Gale found this hilarious]].
* Out of the many ships on ''Blog/ThePredespairKids'', one of the most beloved is between Peko and OriginalCharacter Rina Kirishima, Class 79's Ultimate Taxidermist. The latter started off as a [[ShrinkingViolet shy, insecure]] girl who hated being weak, and who asked Peko to give her sword fighting lessons. Over the course of the story, both of them undergo quite a bit of CharacterDevelopment, with Rina becoming much more confident in herself and Peko growing out of her own shell. It's also very clear that Rina has a crush on Peko, and EveryoneCanSeeIt aside from [[ObliviousToLove Peko herself.]]
* In ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' story ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'', most of readers would rather see Kara Zor-El hooking up again with her traditional LoveInterest [[ComicBook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}} Brainiac 5]] than with Dev-Em, a character who made few appearances prior to the ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' and is rather unpopular among Legion of Super-Heroes fans.
* ''Fanfic/ToHellAndBackArrowverse'': In the earlier chapters, a number of readers suggested the possibility of Oliver×Kara or Tommy×Kara, despite Oliver already being slated to be either with Laurel or Nyssa, while Kara remained single. The author permanently sunk former by reiterating that none of the three leads (Oliver, Barry, and Kara) would be paired with each other, and sunk the latter by informing readers that, like Kara, Tommy wasn't getting paired with ''anyone'' for plot reasons.
* Well, "fan" is a relative term, but anyone who's read ''Fanfic/SupperSmashBrosMishonhFromGod'' will point out the [[LesYay blatant subtext]] between Sara and her best friend Lauren, to the point that most people seem to prefer pairing them together rather than pairing Lauren with Ike and Sara with one of her numerous boyfriends. The author's [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday repeated denial that she's a lesbian]] hasn't stopped anyone.
* ''Fanfic/TheDracoTrilogy'''s main pairings on paper are Harry/Hermione and Draco/Ginny, but readers quickly latched onto the idea of Harry/Draco instead (due to them developing into something resembling HeterosexualLifePartners), to the point of getting some ShipTease in the story itself. Considering just how significant the story was in forming common {{Fanon}}, it ended up being a major cause for Harry/Draco becoming a FanPreferredCouple in the overall fanbase as well.
* Despite the author repeatedly stating it's not canon, Shadow and Sandy from ''Webcomic/{{AGENCY}}'' is a very popular couple among the fans, to the point where even the author herself ships it.
[[/folder]]

** ''FanPreferredCouple/{{Arrowverse}}''