History Main / PairTheSpares

* Vera Chapman's ''The King's Damsel'': Lampshaded. Lynette [[SettleForSibling marries Gaheris but is in love with Gareth]] since they have actually spent time together. Luckily, Gaheris is as uninterested in the marriage as she is.

* Some ''Series/{{Castle}}'' fans view the Espositio/Lanie pairing this way since Castle/Beckett is the OfficialCouple and Detective Ryan is engaged. However, if you watch closely to first and second season episodes, Esposito is flirting with Lanie.

* [[TroubledButCute Satoshi]] and [[SchoolIdol Risa]] in ''Manga/DNAngel''. Its beginning as anime-only hints in the end ([[ShippingGoggles that exchange of looks and smile can't be platonic, really]]), and become a popular ShipMates ever since. The existence of the pairing is acknowledged by the manga ([[ShipTease sort of]]) with them having a lot of screentime together and a truckload of romantic vibes and chemistry (though ''Manga/DNAngel'' as a whole tend to tease [[LoveDodecahedron everyone x everyone]] so whether they end up with each other in the end is [[ScheduleSlip still questionable]]).

* The possibility of Aqualad and Ferris dating [[ShippingGoggles has been hinted at]] in ''Fanfic/LifeOreDeath'', but is at least averted in the first season of the story. Specifically, the early additions of [[OriginalCharacter Ferris]] and Zatanna to the Team have evened out the gender ratio as early as mid-September, with the members gravitating toward canon's Dick-and-Zatanna, Wally-and-Artemis, and Conner-and-M'gann pairings. Kaldur'ahm and Renka are both single, both older than their teammates, both members of minority populations, and they both [[FullContactMagic enhance their melee combat with magic.]] Renka/Ferris has also shown a deep interest in Atlantis, and she and Kaldur have bonded on her visits there. They haven't really thought about dating though, less for TwiceShy reasons than because they both currently prefer a CelibateHero lifestyle.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': Creator/JRRTolkien originally wrote Éowyn as the love-interest for Aragorn, before he revised the story to include Arwen; therefore after he did so, Éowyn becomes rather hastily paired with Faramir, and a chapter is dedicated to their growing relationship. It works because Faramir is similar in personality to Aragorn in many ways, while being much closer to Éowyn's age and from a culture that's a bit less foreign than the Elvish-raised Aragorn. Hence, this relationship is more likely to actually last and work. Also because Éowyn's crush on Aragorn was mostly motivated by the fact that he isn't a creep like Wormtongue and takes her more seriously than the other men in her life (excepting her brother). The way it comes off in the book is less that Éowyn is shunted to the side in favor of Arwen, and more that there are ''plenty'' of guys who will treat her the way she deserves.
* In Creator/JaneAusten's ''Literature/LoveAndFreindship'', Augusta and Graham -- perhaps because they both have some sense.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': From all indications, [[spoiler:Berelain and Galad]].

* In the [[spoiler:wedding]] scene for ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe2'', Silas Ramsbottom (Lucy's boss) and Natalie (Gru's "bad" date) are shown dancing together and actually enjoying each others' company.

* In the final season of ''Series/TheNanny'', Niles ([[ServileSnarker the Snarky Butler]]) and C.C. (the Evil Would-Be {{Love Interest|s}}) end years of antagonism by getting married.

* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', after [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Clark Kent]] and ComicBook/LoisLane finally admit their romantic feelings and UnresolvedSexualTension for one another, and after Zod and Tess start exploring their mutual attraction [[spoiler:which later evolves into DatingCatwoman]], and because a large contingent of [[MissionControl Chloe]] fans had been calling for Chloe/[[ComicBook/GreenArrow Ollie]] since Season 6 (often saying "Chloe deserves to have her own superhero" or "Chloe deserves to have her own billionaire" in comparison to the previous Clana, Lexana, and Lollie relationships) the producers finally acquiesced to the fan campaigns, and put Oliver and Chloe together as FriendsWithBenefits, and then later as a BattleCouple.

* In ''Series/TheXFiles'', Dogget and Reyes, the two agents that replace Mulder and Scully, are romantically involved during their one season onscreen. It would have been interesting to see where that relationship had gone, had the show's ratings not been so low and the show cancelled.
** It was obvious from the onset that Reyes was meant to be Doggett's love interest. Chris Carter said that Doggett was not meant to replace Mulder or be a love interest for Scully. So it seems Reyes, while mostly being brought on to replace Scully on ''The X-Files'', also had the added bonus of placating outraged MSR shippers.

* Depending on which version of Myth/ArthurianLegend you read, Sir Gareth either marries his DamselInDistress Lyonesse or his DamselErrant Lynette (Lyonesse's sister). Either way, his brother Sir Gaheris [[DoubleInLawMarriage marries the other one]].
* [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek mythology]] is a giant clusterfuck (in both senses), and so it wasn't very surprising that the fact that Demeter is a) the fertility goddess and b) the only of the 12 Olympian unmarried and not having vowed for chastity, irritated the Greeks somewhat. So in later development, she usually got paired with Poseidon, who is c) even more of a horndog than Zeus, d) who cares for his official wife Amphitrite who you probably know from crosswords, maximally (and already has "trite" in her name), and e) [[SarcasmMode showed his affections for her by raping her when she mourned for her daughter Persephone.]] [[note]]For ValuesDissonance, the latter got retconned into "somewhat consential"; at least it would [[FridgeBrilliance explain]] why Demeter changed, of all, into a mare when fleeing from Poseidon, when the horse is his avatar.[[/note]] Athena and Hermes also got this trope to a certain degree limited by the aforementioned chastity vow, probably they are happily enjoying a daily chess match or so.
** Literature/TheTrojanCycle's final epic ''Telegony'' (direct sequel to ''Literature/TheOdyssey'') was [[MissingEpisode lost]], but surviving summaries show that the witch-goddess Circe marries [[LoveFatherLoveSon Odysseus' son Telemachus]].

* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing'': Although in the novel the pairing ''was'' actually set up quite nicely and built up pretty well in the background of everything else that was going on, the ''movie'' version makes Faramir and Éowyn seem like a version of this trope. Éowyn loses out on Aragorn and gets his "slightly inferior replacement" of sorts, and the whole implied romance comes and goes in the space of a single reaction shot. The Extended Edition does remedy this a bit with [[https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7qh1h0 a 50-second scene of them comforting each other at the Houses of Healing.]] Creator/MirandaOtto had posted a photo of herself and Creator/DavidWenham in their characters' [[https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwcu7ZcFB0n/ beautiful wedding outfits]] from a DeletedScene that still hasn't been released.

* The Gareth/Gaheris/Lynette/Lionesse pairings are lampshaded in ''The King's Damosel'' by Vera Chapman, in which Lynette [[SettleForSibling marries Gaheris but is in love with Gareth]] (since they've, you know, actually spent time together). Luckily, Gaheris is as uninterested in the marriage as she is ([[AmbiguouslyGay possibly more so]]).

* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings,'' author J.R.R. Tolkien originally wrote Éowyn as the love-interest for Aragorn, before he revised the story to include Arwen; therefore after he did so, Éowyn becomes rather hastily paired with Faramir, and a chapter is dedicated to their growing relationship.
** It works better than most examples of this trope, because Faramir is similar in personality to Aragorn in many ways, while being much closer to Éowyn's age and from a culture that's a bit less foreign than the Elvish-raised Aragorn. Hence, this relationship is more likely to actually last and work. Also because Éowyn's crush on Aragorn was mostly motivated by the fact that he isn't a creep like Wormtongue and takes her more seriously than the other men in her life (excepting her brother). Her own uncle doesn't even consider her for the position of regent while he rides off to Helm's Deep, until her brother's lieutenant Háma speaks up for her. The way it comes off in the book is less that Éowyn is shunted to the side in favor of Arwen, and more that there are ''plenty'' of guys who will treat her the way she deserves so she doesn't need to settle for the [[{{Jerkass}} jerks]] just because Aragorn is taken.

* William Collins' and Charlotte Lucas' marriage in ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'', though it takes place well before the end, has overtones of this- he being rejected by Lizzie Bennet and she being pretty much an OldMaid already, by contemporary standards.
** Also humorously {{Discussed}} at the end by Mr Bennett, after Jane and Lizzie have become engaged in quick succession: "If any young men come for Kitty or Mary, send them in, for I am quite at leisure."

* From ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', from all indications, [[spoiler:Berelain and Galad]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'''s finale [[TheMovie movie]] somewhat randomly had [[ExtravertedNerd Upchuck]] get together with minor character / EnsembleDarkHorse [[{{Goth}} Andrea]]. The "[[WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue Future Alter Egos]]," though not firmly canon, go even farther [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight by pairing]] [[DepravedBisexual Allison]] with [[TheAlcoholic Lindy]]. Sort of a ThemePairing for morally ambiguous characters who showed up in the respective movies?

* ''Webcomic/NaruHinaChronicles'': Invoked. Many female OCs are introduced with the main purpose of serving as a love interest to some of the Konoha 12 boys, such as Kiba, Lee, Sai, and Shino. Though some of them, such as Mina (Kiba's love interest) or Kei (Sai's love interest) have enough personality, background and their own character arcs to avoid being SatelliteLoveInterest.

* In Archie's ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' comic, in the "Mobius 20 Years Later" timeline, the future version of Tails ends up married to the future version of Mina Mongoose, who was Sonic's ex-girlfriend. This caught many fans off-guard since the present versions of the characters barely interacted with each other. Writer Ken Penders admitted to putting the two together because he thought they made for a cute couple and because he didn't want to establish that Tails grew up to be a lonely bachelor after a storyline where Fiona Fox, a girl he liked, broke his heart.

* ''{{Film/Enchanted}}'': Leftovers [[spoiler: Edward and Nancy]] get together after an uncertain amount of time passes. Since the two travel to Andalasia to get married (rather than in the "real" world), where the fairytale nature of the realm can make spontaneous love work it's the sequel ''{{Film/Disenchanted}}'' reveals that by 15 years later they are still literally living happily ever after.[[note]]The ''do'' have to live through a potentially world threatening situation but their relationship is still solid[[/note]] Although in a DeletedScene, [[spoiler: Nancy]] gets some extra character development that foreshadows this quite nicely.

* ''{{Film/Enchanted}}'': Leftovers [[spoiler: Edward and Nancy]] get together after an uncertain amount of time passes. Since the two travel to Andalasia to get married (rather than in the "real" world), where the fairytale nature of the realm can make spontaneous love work it's quite probable that they literally live happily ever after. Although in a DeletedScene, [[spoiler: Nancy]] gets some extra character development that foreshadows this quite nicely.

* A December 1993 ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' storyline had Peter in conflict over whether or not he should take new character Mindy, who has a crush on him, to the Christmas dance, thus hurting the feelings of his girlfriend Denise (who's taking a vacation to her grandmother's). In the end, though, Peter's problem is solved when Mindy falls in love with his friend Steve (and then [[BrotherChuck mysteriously vanishes from the strip afterwards]]).

* In ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'', after Mark (the title character) starts dating Amber, his best friend William starts dating Mark's ally/secret crush Atom Eve. It sort of makes sense because they both know Mark's identity, but when Eve realizes how immature William is, they break up after a few issues. [[spoiler:It looks like Mark and Eve will finally get together if the book starts coming out on time...]]

* By the end of ''Film/NightOfTheComet'' everyone in the world is dead except for Sam, her big sister Reggie, the hunky stranger Hector who Reggie has hooked up with, and a pair of cute kids who Hector and Reggie have take under their wing. So we have a newly-formed nuclear family, and one teenage girl who is still upset that her big sister has once again taken the boy she had her eye on, in this case the last man in the world. Reggie tells the kids to wait for the light to change before crossing the street. Sam thinks this is ridiculous [[ScrewTheRulesItsTheApocalypse under the circumstances,]] so she crosses the street - only to be [[spoiler:almost run over by a cute guy we've never seen before. He invites her to take a ride with him and they drive away, and as we do we see from his license plate he has thd initials of the arcade game player whose high score Reggie was trying to beat at the beginning of the movie.]]

* Parodied in ''Literature/StarSmashersOfTheGalaxyRangers''. After TheHero and TheChick get together at the end of the novel, the two remaining male characters suddenly realise they're gay and do the same.

* ''Wild Mountain Thyme'' heavily implies that Rosemary's RomanticFalseLead Adam ended up together with the girl he met on the plane flight to Ireland; when Anthony and Rosemary get together and forget to pick him up at the airport, the girl offers him a ride, and in the EveryoneComesBackFantasyPartyEnding, Adam is shown sitting with her.

* While Squall and Rinoa's romance is at the forefront of the story, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' sees Irvine pursuing Selphie for most of the game. the fact that Selphie is wearing Irvine's hat in the finale implies that they ended up together.

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[[quoteright:300:[[ComicBook/LifeWithArchieTheMarriedLife https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/archiespares.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Well, they have ''this'' much in common...]]

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* ''Manga/{{Rizelmine}}'''s entire LoveDodecahedron gets resolved this way, down to one girl getting paired off with a dog that had molested her in an earlier episode.

* The ''Manga/AngelicLayer'' manga pairs up Tamayo and Oujirou, who had previously shown slight interest in Koutarou and Misaki, respectively. (The anime, on the other hand, ''flips'' the pairings, putting Tamayo with Koutarou and Oujirou with Misaki anyway.)
* Another case appears to have happened in ''Manga/{{xxxHOLiC}}'', when it's revealed that despite the unsubtle ShipTeasing that has occurred between [[HoYay Watanuki and Doumeki]] ''from even before the latter was formally introduced in the series'', Doumeki ends up married to [[spoiler: Kohane]] who ''also'' is in love with Watanuki.
** It is, however, worth noting that Doumeki did seem to have a soft spot for her at least, and it's likely that he chose to marry her because he wanted to leave behind descendants to [[spoiler: watch over Watanuki as he [[IWillWaitForYou waits, unaging, for an untold amount of time for the chance to meet Yuuko again]]]], and she probably agreed with his sentiments.

* ''Manga/MacademiWasshoi'' has one of the weirder versions of this. At the end of the series, we have Takuto's harem still after him, though with Metallis being a huge supporter of Suzuka. Metallis' former sidekick George has been paired up with MachoCamp angel Hapshiel. It's a healthy, if somewhat bizarre, relationship.
* ''Manga/ItazuraNaKiss'' is guilty of this with [[spoiler:Chris and Kinnosuke]]
* The ''Manga/{{Mahoromatic}}'' [[WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue epilogue]] reveals that [[spoiler: Kawahara and Miyuki]] married in the future.

* At the end of ''Anime/TheAnthemOfTheHeart'' [[spoiler: Natsuki and Takumi]] mutually desire to rekindle their relationship, leaving Jun as the RomanticRunnerUp for his affections. At the end, [[spoiler: Daiki confesses his feelings for her, but it's unknown whether anything comes out of it]].
* In the ''Manga/NatsuENoTobira'' manga by Creator/KeikoTakemiya, it's stated at the end that [[spoiler: Jacques and Ledania]] hooked up. The anime, however, shows that [[spoiler: Ledania hasn't replied to Jacques' marriage proposal.]]
* Chapter 84 of ''Manga/{{Horimiya}}'' had a case of pairing the spares of the spares when it starts teasing Yanagi and Sakura. The two of them were originally interested in [[BetaCouple Yuki and Tooru]], who in turn were originally interested in [[OfficialCouple Miyamura and Hori]]. This is ultimately subverted, as while Yanagi ''does'' get legitimate ship tease, it's [[SettleForSibling Yuki's older sister]] in both here and in ''Hori-san and Miyamura-kun'', while Sakura ends up with nobody.

* ''Manga/DadTheBeardGorillaAndI'' hints a possibility of romance between [[spoiler:Hino and Yukari]] after Soichi marries [[spoiler:Tsukasa]], although they don't officially hook up. It helps that the "spares" already have plenty of ShipTease moments even before the OfficialCouple does.
* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba,'' this is [[ImpliedTrope implied]] to be the case with [[spoiler: Inosuke and Aoi]], whereas the pairings of [[spoiler:Tanjiro/Kanao and Zenitsu/Nezuko]] are [[OfficialCouple more directly confirmed]]. The epilogue is set in modern day japan featuring what looked like to be the descendants of the main cast and the reincarnations of the dead cast. One of them is [[spoiler: Aoba Hashibira,]] and while he's a splitting image of Inosuke, he does bear [[spoiler: Aoi's name in a similar vein to Kanata Kamado, Tanjiro and Kanao's heavily implied descendant.]] And the previous chapter also had them being [[ShipTease teased]] with Inosuke showing an interest in the girl. [[spoiler:The final volume's extra drawings confirm that he's their descendant.]]
* ''Manga/{{FAKE}}''. In the epilogue, having reached the realization that [[OfficialCouple Dee is never going to choose him over Ryo]], JJ very unexpectedly hooks up with Drake, despite their relationship not having been romantic previously and (perhaps because) Drake conveniently having just been dumped by yet another girlfriend.
* ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'': [[spoiler:Takeda expressed being interested in Miu several times (though he didn't make many direct advances on her), while Freya was shown to be attracted to Ukita. The epilogue confirms that Miu married Kenichi and Ukita went to the same university as Kisara and the two started dating, while Takeda often brings Freya for training with his master, who suggests they're dating. While they bashfully deny being in a relationship, it's strongly implied that, if they're not together now, they eventually will be]].
* Conversed and defied in ''Manga/StoryOfADumbPrefectAndHighSchoolGirlWithInappropriateSkirtLength''. In Chapter 38, Tsukishima and Tasaki (the only main characters without love interests) start hanging out discussing manga, and the conversation gets to talking about the tendency of manga writers to pair the spares...to which they both [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall say in unison]] "[[ShipSinking I absolutely hate it when the leftover characters start dating each other!]]" Just to finish off any lingering doubt, the narration then clarifies that both characters would never consider dating each other ''because'' they are too alike.

* The comic continuation of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' pairs up [[spoiler:Xander and Dawn]] who happen to be the last Scoobies who are single and heterosexual.

* ''Fanfic/VacationFromTheNorm'', while WesternAnimation/KimPossible and Ron Stoppable are very much together [[spoiler: later joined by Shego in a OneTrueThreesome situation]], and Bonnie hooks up with Senor Senor Jr. as per canon, several other unusual pairs emerge including; Joss Possible and Felix Renton, Vivian Porter and Drakken, Yori and Motor Ed and (in volume 2) Betty Director and Will Du.
* ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'' first breaks up the Kara Zor-El x [[ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes Brainiac 5]] traditional canon romance and then it has Kara fall in love with Kryptonian fellow Dev-Em, and Brainy end up with Laurel Kent.
* The possibility of Aqualad and Ferris dating [[ShippingGoggles has been hinted at]] in ''Fanfic/LifeOreDeath'', but is at least averted in the first season of the story. Specifically, the early additions of [[OriginalCharacter Ferris]] and Zatanna to the Team have evened out the gender ratio as early as mid-September, with the members gravitating toward canon's Dick-and-Zatanna, Wally-and-Artemis, and Conner-and-M'gann pairings. Kaldur'ahm and Renka are both single, both older than their teammates, both members of minority populations, and they both [[FullContactMagic enhance their melee combat with magic.]] Renka/Ferris has also shown a deep interest in Atlantis, and she and Kaldur have bonded on her visits there. They haven't really thought about dating though, less for TwiceShy reasons than because they both currently prefer a CelibateHero lifestyle.
* In ''Fanfic/LoveWorthWaitingFor'', this is how matchmaking works in China. At age fifteen, a matchmaker registers your soulmark and looks for the person that matches it. If they can't find that person, you're married off to another un-matched person at age thirty. Mulan narrowly avoided this because she eventually found out her soulmate lives in a completely different country.
* In the ''Fanfic/MaribatAU'', if Adrien isn't getting hit with RonTheDeathEater, then he usually steps aside so that Marinette can date Damian and ends up with another character, usually either Jon or Kagami.

* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'', we already know that Woody would be with Bo Peep, so it left out his sidekick Jessie. But of course, there's the perfectly available Buzz right there, and ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'' expands on their relationship considerably.

* In the [[spoiler:wedding]] scene for ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe2'', Silas Ramsbottom (Lucy's boss) and Natalie (Gru's "bad" date) are shown dancing together and actually enjoying each others' company.

* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013''. One would assume that, since Anna and Kristoff are falling in love that Hans would suddenly become Elsa's love interest, especially since he earns her trust while she's in the dungeon. [[spoiler:However, it turns out he's trying to seize the throne of Arendelle from its heirs and is sent back to his country a criminal]]. [[FoeYayShipping This doesn't stop fanfiction from pairing the two]].

* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings,'' author J.R.R. Tolkien originally wrote Éowyn as the love-interest for Aragorn, before he revised the story to include Arwen; therefore after he did so, Éowyn becomes rather hastily paired with Faramir, and a chapter is dedicated to their growing relationship.
** It works better than most examples of this trope, because Faramir is similar in personality to Aragorn in many ways, while being much closer to Éowyn's age and from a culture that's a bit less foreign than the Elvish-raised Aragorn. Hence, this relationship is more likely to actually last and work. Also because Éowyn's crush on Aragorn was mostly motivated by the fact that he isn't a creep like Wormtongue and takes her more seriously than the other men in her life (excepting her brother). Her own uncle doesn't even consider her for the position of regent while he rides off to Helm's Deep, until her brother's lieutenant Háma speaks up for her. The way it comes off in the book is less that Éowyn is shunted to the side in favor of Arwen, and more that there are ''plenty'' of guys who will treat her the way she deserves so she doesn't need to settle for the [[{{Jerkass}} jerks]] just because Aragorn is taken.
* Author J.K. Rowling of ''Literature/HarryPotter'' fame said in an interview that although she left open the possibility of a relationship between many characters such as [[spoiler: Neville and Luna (the last pair of TheTeam)]], she didn't explicitly state one in the wrap-up because it "felt too neat." That was also the main reason both of them ended up marrying [[spoiler: a background character (Neville and Hannah Abbott) and a character that ''never appeared in any of the books'' (Luna and Rolf Scamander)]].

* In Creator/AgathaChristie's Literature/HerculePoirot novel ''Literature/AppointmentWithDeath'', Jefferson Cope gets paired up with [[spoiler: Carol Boynton]] in the epilogue after spending the entire book pining after the married Nadine. This probably isn't all that unlikely, but it comes out of nowhere nevertheless.
* Generally subverted in Creator/PGWodehouse's books (Literature/BlandingsCastle, Literature/JeevesAndWooster, etc), in which a typical plot might go as follows: A loves B, and C loves D. But just before the book starts, A and B break up over something, and A, seeking to show he's not heartbroken (though he is) proposes to D, who is temporarily convinced that C is a complete bastard. Then everything gets disentangled. Subverted in that the eventual pairings are set up quite early on in the book. This [[StrictlyFormula formula]] is then livened up by wonderfully eccentric characters, hilarious plot twists, and fabulously funny writing.
* ''Literature/TheFionavarTapestry'' series of books begins with five protagonists transported from Canada to the magical world of Fionavar: over the course of the trilogy, two die and one decides to stay in Fionavar after hooking up with a local woman. The remaining two decide to return to Canada, and on the last page, they decide to go on a date, with no particular buildup to this in the preceding 700+ pages.
* Nicely averted in Jennifer Crusie's ''Bet Me''. Despite the main couple and many of the side characters hooking up, [[spoiler: Liza]] remains with temporary boyfriends by the end of the book.
* From ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', from all indications, [[spoiler:Berelain and Galad]].
* The Gareth/Gaheris/Lynette/Lionesse pairings are lampshaded in ''The King's Damosel'' by Vera Chapman, in which Lynette [[SettleForSibling marries Gaheris but is in love with Gareth]] (since they've, you know, actually spent time together). Luckily, Gaheris is as uninterested in the marriage as she is ([[AmbiguouslyGay possibly more so]]).

* Conspicuously averted in Literature/TheQuestOfTheUnaligned. [[spoiler: Not only does the story end with the AlphaCouple (Alaric and Laeshana) formally getting engaged, WordOfGod reveals that Gratelle later got engaged to a ruahk noble somewhere in the south and Nahruahn is too young to get married for another few years.]]
* Swedish writer Creator/SimonaAhrnstedt does this in her debut novel ''Literature/{{Overenskommelser}}'', when [[spoiler: Lily and Alexandre]] suddenly hook up.

* Lampshaded at the end of ''The Enemy'' by Desmond Bagley, where the first-person protagonist mentions how the Hero Gets the Girl and his offsider gets the second-best girl. While the latter is true, the protagonist has less than a year to live thanks to an infection he caught, so the hero at least DidNotGetTheGirl.
* Played with via time travel in the short story "Needle in a Timestack" by Robert Silverberg. In the initial timeline, the protagonist Nick Mikkelson is married to Janine Mikkelson nee Carter, and Janine's ex Tommy Hambleton is trying to use time travel to negate Janine having broken up with him as he considered her TheOneThatGotAway. When one of Tommy's efforts succeeds, Nick goes back to a time before Tommy and Janine met and impersonates his past self to break up with his then-girlfriend Yvonne and set her up with Tommy. Upon returning to the future, Nick finds Tommy and Yvonne happily married, and they set him up with their other single friend Janine Carter.
* An unusual example: the Grace Harlowe series follows the eponymous heroine and a rotating cast of friends (all female, although some of them have male counterparts and some of these couples eventually marry) through high school, college, and World War I, after which Grace (whose husband is conveniently missing in the Amazon) and some of the young women join up with the young men from the previously separate Pony Rider Boys series in a new series, Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders. On the last page of the final book, everyone who was not already in a couple is paired up. In the final two cases the paired characters had evinced absolutely no previous interest in each other, to the point that when the first of the two unattached women announces her engagement, her friends think she is marrying the other single man, and are relieved when the final spares announce that they are also engaged.

* In ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'', Galinda's attempt to pair off her StalkerWithACrush Boq with Nessa, Elphaba's unbalanced sister, proves one of the most disastrous on fictional record.

* In ''Theatre/AnythingGoes'', broke heiress Hope and stick broker Billy met and knew they were a perfect match before the play opens, but Hope is pushed into an engagement to a hapless and awkward English lord named Evelyn by her gold digger mother and Billy is propositioned by his longtime friend, a sassy nightclub evangelist named Reno. In the end, Evelyn is [[AssPull revealed to have gypsy ancestry]] and be hiding a spontaneous wild side. He marries Reno, Billy marries Hope, and Billy's boss marries Hope's mother.
* In Oscar Wilde's ''Theatre/TheImportanceOfBeingEarnest'', all the crazy hijinks due to all the "Bunburying" get sorted out and the young people are satisfied by the end. So of course, the PRIEST and the NANNY embrace passionately too. (He's an Anglican priest, though--not Catholic--so he's allowed to marry. And they ''had'' been flirting all through act II, though without much success.)
* In Kander and Ebb's Musical, ''Theatre/{{Curtains}}'', after Bobby finds his love, Georgia, is back with her ex-husband, he starts a romance with Bambi, the last single female role.

* Subverted in Sheridan's ''Theatre/TheRivals'', in which all the major characters but two are already paired by the end as part of the story. This leads another character to suggest that spares Sir Lucius O'Trigger and Mrs. Malaprop pair up, but Sir Lucius responds with disdain.

* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** Daisy being paired with Luigi in spin-offs is an example of this as well, as Daisy was originally a damsel for Mario to save in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand''. But of course, Mario and Princess Peach are the closest thing the series has to an OfficialCouple, so it was only natural for Luigi and Daisy to be paired up instead.
** Several spinoffs ship Yoshi and Birdo together simply because they're similar-looking creatures of opposite genders, and there aren't many others to ship Yoshi with.
* While Squall and Rinoa's romance is at the forefront of the story, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' sees Irvine pursuing Selphie for most of the game. the fact that Selphie is wearing Irvine's hat in the finale implies that they ended up together.

* ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
** If you don't romance Fenris or Isabela in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', they end up in a fling together.
** Iron Bull and Dorian pair up in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' if neither is romanced. Blackwall and Josephine have a mutual attraction, but Blackwall knows his position is well beneath Josephine's. Sera and Dagna will also hook up post-game, as confirmed in the ''Trespasser'' DLC.

* In ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'', there are eight main characters who arrive at the lodge. Four of them are already coupled and two seem headed that way. Samantha and Josh are the only two not to be paired. But given the flirting between them, it seems natural to pair them as a couple. [[spoiler: If Sam survives the night she even indicates she felt she made a connection with Josh during her police interview. But the ship clearly sinks due to Josh's actions]]. Because of the Butterfly effect and its changing of canon, fans can always wonder WhatIf.
** A non-romantic variation occurs with [[spoiler: Jessica and Matt]], two characters who are the most likely to die first due to how hard it is to keep them alive. If they manage to survive, they wind up meeting each other in the mines as a plot-convenient way to tie up loose ends, since they don't interact with the other characters who presumed they are dead.
* In ''VideoGame/BlackCloset'', two of your Student Council minions, Althea and Vonne, will wind up together if you aren't romancing either of them. They're together at graduation, but there's no word on how long the relationship lasts.

* The ''Franchise/DanganRonpa'' franchise doesn't have an awful lot of romance and relies a lot on ShipTease. Doesn't stop it from dividing up most of its characters into pairs based on relationships, making this a partial example.

* The goal in the "Serious Business" story arc in the ''Webcomic/{{Insecticomics}}'' is to pair the spares. ''All'' of them, even the ones who weren't unpaired to begin with, and in as many combinations as possible.
* In-story example, from ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': As the Heterodyne Boys have been ShroudedInMyth since Bill married Lucrezia shortly before their disappearance, his brother Barry was given the stock character of “The High Priestess” for a love interest in most present-day dramatizations of their adventures.

* Toward the end of ''Webcomic/{{Fans}}'' Book 5 (the strip's original GrandFinale, before it was [[{{Revival}} revived]]), Tim ends up married to Julia. In a conversation between Guthrie and Meighan, it is more or less revealed that Meighan had hired Julia (an old friend of hers from college) for the express purpose of setting her up with Tim.
* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Elliot has a [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2004-08-09 lucid dream]] in which he [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2004-08-11 considers]] pairing Susan and Justin after finishing pairing the other main characters.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Erstwhile}}'''s take on "Sweetheart Roland," Roland's DisposableFiancee gets a MaybeEverAfter with the shepherd who was in love with the protagonist.
* Played with in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', where in the second book, the only two main characters without a romantic arc are Belkar and Vaarsuvius. A drunken Belkar tries to pair the spares by kissing V (bear in mind that these characters ''hate'' each other, and V's gender and orientation are ambiguous). V does not take it well.

* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': After the Kim and Ron hookup in TheMovie, they started pairing spares. [[AlphaBitch Bonnie]] got matched with [[CampStraight Señor Senior Junior]] in a late Season 4 episode, and in the Graduation GrandFinale episode they paired Felix (and his cool wheelchair) with Zita Flores (who hadn't been seen for about 70 episodes), Drakken and Shego were implied during that finale and WordOfGod confirmed them as hooking up. A stand-alone episode involving nerdy Cousin Larry also had an implication that he was going to get involved with a friend of his. This basically left only [[SassyBlackWoman Monique]] and [[MissionControl Wade]] as unattached, and probably only because of their age difference.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryInc'', Velma and Shaggy are secretly a couple for the first half of season one.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' uses this to resolve [[spoiler: the season six episode "Rebirth", in which a robot Fry and robot Leela are created as ReplacementGoldfish for the real Fry and Leela]].
* Bebe developed a crush on Skeeter at some point during ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}''. This may have been requited.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'''s finale [[TheMovie movie]] somewhat randomly had [[ExtravertedNerd Upchuck]] get together with minor character / EnsembleDarkHorse [[{{Goth}} Andrea]]. The "[[WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue Future Alter Egos]]," though not firmly canon, go even farther [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight by pairing]] [[DepravedBisexual Allison]] with [[TheAlcoholic Lindy]]. Sort of a ThemePairing for morally ambiguous characters who showed up in the respective movies?

* An early script for ''Film/YouveGotMail'' has Kathleen (Meg Ryan) and Joe (Tom Hanks) trading partners by the end of the film. This was dropped by the time filming was done.
* Many screwball comedies, from ''Film/ThePhiladelphiaStory'' (the reporter and his female assistant are told they should get together, when they've shown absolutely no interest in each other throughout the movie) to ''Film/ThePalmBeachStory'' (the couple considering a divorce decide to get back together, but tell their paramours ''they both have identical twins'', leading to a triple marriage at the end).
** Oddly enough in the musical version the assistant has a crush on him for the entirety of the play.
** Shown absolutely no interest in each other? It's pretty clear that Mike and Liz are in a relationship in ''Film/ThePhiladelphiaStory''.
--->'''Tracey:''' I don't mean to criticise, you probably have other interests outside your work.\\
'''Mike:''' None. ''(looks at Liz, scrambles to recompose)'' I mean--us--\\
'''Tracey:''' How sweet.
* Done for laughs at the end of ''Film/{{Baseketball}}''. Coop ends up with his love interest Jenna, and Squeak embraces the possible transsexual he has been sharing looks with. Remer, on the other hand, looks despondent until he meets gazes with Yvette, a character he has had no interaction with throughout the movie. They immediately begin making out.
* In ''{{Film/Enchanted}}'', leftovers [[spoiler: Edward and Nancy]] get together after an uncertain amount of time passes. Since the two travel to Andalasia to get married (rather than in the "real" world), where the fairytale nature of the realm can make spontaneous love work it's quite probable that they literally live happily ever after.
** Although in a DeletedScene, [[spoiler: Nancy]] gets some extra character development that foreshadows this quite nicely.
* ''Film/{{Gorgeous}}'' has a rather hilarious example. Protagonist Ah Bu (Shu Qi) traveled all the way from Taiwan to Hong Kong to seek her true love, Albert, only to find out Albert is gay. She ends up with CN Chan (Jackie Chan), oblivious that her crush and SecretAdmirer, Long Yi, had tailed her all the way from Taiwan, but eventually it turns out Long Yi had no problems having relationship with ''men'', so leftovers Albert and Long Yi gets paired into a gay couple.
* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing'': Although in the novel the pairing ''was'' actually set up quite nicely and built up pretty well in the background of everything else that was going on, the ''movie'' version makes Faramir and Éowyn seem like a version of this trope. Éowyn loses out on Aragorn and gets his "slightly inferior replacement" of sorts, and the whole implied romance comes and goes in the space of a single reaction shot. The Extended Edition does remedy this a bit with [[https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7qh1h0 a 50-second scene of them comforting each other at the Houses of Healing.]] Creator/MirandaOtto had posted a photo of herself and Creator/DavidWenham in their characters' [[https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwcu7ZcFB0n/ beautiful wedding outfits]] from a DeletedScene that still hasn't been released.
* ''Film/SavingSilverman'' parodies this; the protagonist marries his childhood sweetheart, and the evil [[DisposableFiance Disposable Fiancée]] is paired off with his best friend, but then Jack Black's character (who has mentioned he might be gay) marries R. Lee Ermey's character.
* Subverted in ''Film/AKnightsTale'' (slightly in the movie and expanded in a deleted scene). Will and Jocelyn get together, Chaucer has his wife, and Roland and Christiana hook up. Kate and Wat are left standing there rather awkwardly and Wat holds his hand out. Instead of her hand, she gives him a pastry and walks off. [[BigEater Wat is fine with this.]]

* Parodied, then played straight with a little justification in ''Film/MeanGirls''. The remainder of the trio (one a gay guy, the other [[AmbiguouslyGay probably not a lesbian]]) have an AlmostKiss at the final dance, before being [[LikeBrotherAndSister mutually disgusted]] and breaking apart. Then another minor character, who's actually shown an interest in the girl previously, finally gets his chance.
* Happens in ''Film/OldSchool'' with Frank the Tank and Heidi (Luke Wilson's swinger girlfriend from the beginning of the film). Granted, Frank and Heidi would probably be a pretty good couple.

* In ''Film/ShesTheMan'', the main characters' mean exes wind up together.
* Also implied with Uncas and Alice in the film version of ''Film/LastOfTheMohicans.''
* Basically the plot of the 1997 Meg Ryan/Matthew Broderick vehicle ''Film/AddictedToLove''.
* In the final ''Film/HarryPotter'' film, [[TheUnChosenOne Neville]] throws in a line about wanting to find [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Luna]] and finally tell her that he's "mad about her." Though definitely a FanPreferredPairing, [[PromotedToLoveInterest they never hook up in the books]]. (The filmmakers say that they only have a summer fling, [[FanonDiscontinuity but who cares what they think]]?)
* In ''Film/IGiveItAYear'', each of the AlphaCouple has a rival love interest. The rivals date for a while, but the trope is subverted in the end, as the AlphaCouple finish up leaving each other for the rival suitors.
* Order-inverted in ''Film/WhenHarryMetSally''. The title characters (JustFriends at the time) unintentionally cause the BetaCouple to form, from a cross-pairing in a DoubleDate. This leaves ''themselves'' as the "spares" (and after much drama, as the AlphaCouple at the end).
* [[spoiler:Cinderella and the Baker]] are hinted in the third act of ''Film/IntoTheWoods''.
* In ''Film/ComingToAmerica'', after [[spoiler:Akeem marries Lisa]], Imani, Akeem's arranged wife, seems to end up with Semmi, Akeem's friend. Meanwhile, Lisa's ex Darryl appears to end up with Lisa's sister Patrice, who has had the hots for him for a long time.
* In the Disney Channel Original Movie ''Film/StepsisterFromPlanetWeird'', Megan's parents are divorced, and her mother is dating a weird new neighbor named Cosmo Cola. In fact, Cosmo and his daughter Ariel are StarfishAliens, who escaped from their planet's tyrannical emperor. Ariel's mother was killed during the escape, but she can't bring herself to accept that. So, when Megan's mother and Ariel's father start dating, both girls are determined to drive them apart. Megan also wants her parents to get back together. They invite their parents to dinner, and Ariel invites Serena Soo, a strange woman who believes in {{Reincarnation}}, thinking that she is a better match for her father. Fast-forward to the end of the film, and the girls have given up their attempt, Cosmo marries Megan's mother, the girls exchange boyfriends (sort of, Ariel ends up hooking up with Megan's high school crush, but Megan starts liking Ariel's ex-boyfriend Fanul, the Emperor's son), and Megan's dad starts dating Serena.
* SubvertedTrope at the end of ''Film/IncestTheMusical''. Mark--the female lead's DisposableFiance--goes over and sits down next to Jenny--the male lead's AbhorrentAdmirer--and puts his arm around her… and she {{Defie|dTrope}}s the trope by telling him to get lost.

* In ''Film/ACinderellaStory,'' the closing narration reveals that Carter, the protagonist's [[PlatonicLifePartners best friend]], winds up with Astrid, the snarky school announcer, with whom he had never really interacted before this.
* ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina''. Jack attempts this by telling Margo that Eddie has a crush on her. It's mostly a ploy to keep both of them out of the way while he and Wang are StormingTheCastle, but Eddie gives Margo a look that implies Jack isn't wrong. Near the end of the movie, Margo suggestively asks Eddie to come over to her place later and help her choose the title of her planned book.
* The end of ''Film/{{Gunless}}'' indicates that Corporal Kent and Miss Alice the {{Schoolmarm}} are about to become an item.
* The film ''Film/TheBaxter'' skewers this trope. It tells the story of a hapless man who is cursed to be the spare in ''every'' one of his relationships. If he makes it as far as the altar, an old flame of his bride ''inevitably'' shows up at the last minute, accompanied by swelling romantic music, and convinces her that ''he'' is the one she really loves.
* The ending of ''Film/TwentySevenDresses'' has Jane's best friend Casey meet one of Kevin's co-workers at Kevin and Jane's wedding, with the implication that they're going to hook up.
* ''Film/ThePrincessDiaries2RoyalEngagement'': The garden party makes it quite clear that not only are Mia and Nicholas the OfficialCouple of the film, Mia's fiance Andrew is quite taken with Lady Elyssa, Nicholas' date. Mia ends the film dating Nicholas, and the final scene implies that Andrew and Elyssa did indeed get together.