History Main / ShipSinking

Compare NoHuggingNoKissing, where romance as a whole is avoided in canon. A variation on {{Joss|ed}}ing. Another variation, the AnchoredShip, occurs when factors arise that preclude the characters getting into a relationship, but have the potential to be resolved (although the problems are not always resolved, and even if they are, other factors can still sink the ship). If an Anchored Ship is never resolved before a work is finished, the moment of the anchoring will become a Ship Sinking moment. See also DeathOfTheHypotenuse, where the author takes it one step further by killing off one of the characters instead of making them a RomanticRunnerUp. Contrast ShippingTorpedo, when a ship is sunk or attempted to be sunk by the characters, not the writers.

* ''[[Machinima/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers SMG4]]'' himself has shot down the infamous [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros Mario]] x Meggy ([[NoYay who is a fourteen-year-old girl]]) ship a few times:

* ''Machinima/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers'': [=SMG4=] himself has shot down the infamous [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros Mario]] x Meggy ([[NoYay who is a fourteen-year-old girl]]) ship a few times:

This may cause AbandonShipping inside the fandom of the work, but [[FanDisillusionment don't always count on that]]; some ships refuse to sink, with the help of ludicrous amounts of ShippingGoggles or outright FanonDiscontinuity. Pairings can also be revived despite a Ship Sinking moment, in which case the creator could be said to be [[PlayingWithTropes playing with]] the pairing, and as such, would qualify these revival moments as more examples of ShipTease. At its most pronounced, this can be a HumiliationConga for shippers. In any case, it's probably going to take a {{Retcon}} to get those two together. Sorry fans!

->''"Also I think I ruined a solid year's worth of perfectly good shipping with recent revelations. WHOOPSEE DAISEE"''

Ship Sinking is an event that seems to kill any reasonable chance of a romantic relationship occurring between two characters in the canon of the work. Though many producers and writers are aware of {{Shipping}} in their respective fandoms, that doesn't necessarily mean they ''like'' it. It may be because of [[WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings the actions of the fans if they get too rowdy about it]], or they just don't like the pairing involved, have intended the pairing to die for dramatic effect, or have simply decided on an alternative set of partners for those characters. Whatever the reason, the creator loads torpedoes [[{{Pun}} (or missiles)]] to send the ship to Davy Jones' Locker.

* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'':
** In [[http://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/imago-21-1/ Imago 21.1]] Tattletale specifically told Parian that none of the other girls on the Undersiders were gay (killing both Tattletale/Skitter and Skitter/Bitch).
** In [[http://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/07/23/sting-26-3/ Sting 26.3]] Clockblocker rants about "[[TakeThatAudience some dingbats online]]" shipping him with Weaver.

-->'''Luke (after Kevin touches a cardboard cutout of Meggy inappropriately):''' "I'm gonna call [[Series/ToCatchAPredator Chris Hansen]], you're goin' to jail."\\

* Machinima: Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers: [=SMG4=] himself has shot down the infamous [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros Mario]] x Meggy ([[NoYay who is a fourteen-year-old girl]]) ship a few times:

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[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In ''Manga/AirGear'' The Ikki Minami/Kururu Sumeragi ship is hit by Oh!Great and takes on water fast as of Chapter 327, since [[spoiler: after gently thanking Kururu for her hard work, he chooses Ringo Noyamano as his "link turner" and BattleCouple partner.]]
* ''Manga/AkagamiNoShirayukihime'': Kiki/Mitsuhide starts picking up steam when Kiki informs Zen she intends to propose to Mitsuhide, and when Hisame tries to force the two of them to share a room for a night Mitsuhide is too aware of Kiki's presence to fall asleep. The ship then takes not one but ''three'' torpedoes. First [[spoiler:Mitsuhide turns down her proposal, then after promoting from Hisame to reconsider tells Kiki that while he trusts no one more than Kiki and will never feel as comfortable fighting alongside anyone else he has never considered her in a romantic light and has no intention of pursuing a romance with anyone until Zen is married, and probably not even then.]] To top it off [[spoiler:Hisame]] and Kiki get engaged with the aproval and oversight of the heads of their houses.
* The end of ''Anime/AnoHanaTheFlowerWeSawThatDay'' implies [[spoiler:Jintan/Anaru]] and [[spoiler:Yukiatsu/Tsuruko]], but TheMovie outright scuttles the second ([[spoiler:Tsuruko confessed to Yukiatsu but in her words "nothing came of it"]]) and fires a torpedo at the first, showing that [[spoiler:Anaru still has a long way to go before she can confess to Jintan, and Jintan has a long way to go before he can get over his SingleTargetSexuality toward Menma]].
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' has become infamous for sinking ships, usually by killing at least one half of the pairing off. Ships sunk so far, listed in order of Living/Dead: [[spoiler: Levi/Petra, Levi/Erwin, Jean/Marco, Reiner/Bertolt, Annie/Bertolt, Krista/Ymir, Hanji/Moblit, and Connie/Sasha]]. While the two parties of the pairing may not be dead, [[spoiler:Eren tells Mikasa that he's always hated her and sees her as little more than a slave compelled to protect him by her Ackerman heritage]].
* ''Anime/TheBigO'': Season one seems to imply there was a growing attraction [[DatingCatwoman between Roger and Angel.]] But when she finally tries confessing her feelings for him, during season 2, she is crushed that he doesn't reciprocate. Moreso, when she realizes it's because he has feelings for ''R. Dorothy'' instead.
* In ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', the idea of Guts or Casca being with [[SingleTargetSexuality anyone]] else dies in chapters 45-48, and not even getting branded, hunted and Casca going insane can truly [[StarCrossedLovers separate]] Guts from Casca. Farnese and Schierke, both of whom have a crush on Guts, learned this the hard way.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** Any fan with an interest in seeing Momo and Captain Aizen get together had their ship sunk when Aizen almost fatally wounds her in a poignant KickTheDog moment as the first act in his FaceHeelTurn betrayal of the entire Soul Society. He further twists the knife by calling Gin the only one he ever considered his lieutenant (a position that Momo had always hoped to attain), and said he'd only chosen Momo because she was a useful tool.
** Ships of Orihime with Grimmjow and Ulquiorra are officially sunk. Orihime's feelings for Ichigo are still there and have remained there all the time, and Ulquiorra [[AlasPoorVillain has been dead]] for a while already. Grimmjow's return to the story accompanied increased in-universe ShipTease between Orihime and Ichigo.
** Gin x Rangiku shipping was sunk due to certain revelations that were made about Gin [[spoiler:which foreshadowed his death]].
** The final chapter sinks [[spoiler:Ichigo x Rukia]] while making [[spoiler:Ichigo x Orihime and Renji x Rukia]] canon. The ship had ''already'' been sunk [[http://tumblrhalix.tumblr.com/post/65221770745/ichinoue in some past interviews]]; it was further torpedoed [[https://pepperrikka.tumblr.com/post/152761199129/httpstwittercomjumpolicestatus79447710019118 in a TV show]] where one of Kubo's editors referred to [[spoiler: Rukia]] with the word ''aibou'' (implying [[PlatonicLifePartners non-romantic partnership]]) and to [[spoiler:Orihime]] with the word ''heroine'' (used in Japan to refer not just to the female lead, but also to TheHero's LoveInterest), and in the novel ''We Do Knot Always Love You" whose main theme is [[spoiler: Rukia and Renji's [[WeddingsInJapan Japanese-style wedding]].]]
* In ''Manga/BloomIntoYou'', [[spoiler:Sayaka/Touko]] gets sunk in Chapter 38. After the former makes a LoveConfession to the latter in Chapter 37, the recipient of the confession turns the confessor down one chapter later.
* ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'' sunk the two ships that had [[TheCutie Kumi]] [[OrdinaryHighschoolStudent Sugimoto]] as one of the members. First, it was very obvious that [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend she had no chance]] with [[TheHero Tsubasa]] [[spoiler: and it was definitely sealed when he chose [[CuteSportsClubManager Sanae]] instead.]] And in ''World Youth Cup'', [[spoiler: the mildly-popular [[ShipMates fan option]] [[BoisterousBruiser Ishizaki]] got together with [[CoolBigSis Yukari]] instead.]]
* Creator/{{CLAMP}}:
** During the initial run of ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'', they ''very intentionally'' did this after one artist misunderstood and drew [[SchoolgirlLesbians Tomoyo]] being infatuated with Sakura's ''brother'' Toya, making her behavior later get a {{Retcon}} of being because she thought he resembled Sakura, the real object of her affections. The ladies got a good laugh out of this later.
** In ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'', Fay D Flourite/Chii gathered a small but vocal fanbase. While this ship was pretty much doomed from the start in canon, due to Chii already having a canon soulmate in Hideki from ''Manga/{{Chobits}}'', the ship was mostly based on a very misleading episode in the notorious {{Canon Discontinuity}} anime, 'Date With a Magician', in which Fay takes Chii out on a 'date' and Chii appears quite infatuated with him by the end of the episode. Also the two's affectionate behavior at the very beginning of the manga. The ship was officially sunk by CLAMP in the manga, however, when it was revealed that Fay had purposefully created Chii to look just like his deceased mother [[spoiler:for her to protect and watch over his dead twin brother Yuui's body. People often forget that Syaoran's mother was Sakura too, but Sakura/Syaoran had been well known since Cardcaptors, so people don't think it is wrong.]].
** ''Manga/XxxHolic'' sinks practically ''every'' pairing to a certain degree by the end of the story. Watanuki/Himawari and Watanuki/Doumeki (and [[OneTrueThreesome Doumeki/Watanuki/Himawari]]) all get sunk when it's revealed that [[spoiler:Himawari now has a husband, and that Doumeki ''marries Kohane'']]. But Kohane [[spoiler:''also'' was in love with Watanuki]], so that under-the-radar ship got sunk as well in the process. Watanuki now [[spoiler:has a SingleTargetSexuality of sorts for Yuuko]]. Then there's Yuuko herself who [[spoiler:''died'' 3/4 of the way through the series]]. Basically, come the last chapter, ''no one'' gets to be with the person they love the most.
* ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'':
** In episode 18, the three alternate crushes are swiftly dispatched all at once during a tennis match, becoming increasingly miserable as Tomoya's unconscious behavior makes it crystal-clear what the OfficialCouple is. (There's always the VisualNovel, and the special episodes where Tomoya hooks up with Tomoyo or Kyou instead.)
** The Visual Novel is not much less merciless, especially if you consider that more than a good third of the game (''After Story'', the canon sequel to the School Arc) is devoted entirely to Nagisa. Even if you ignore that third, the game still leans towards Nagisa.
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'':
** Lelouch/[[UnluckyChildhoodFriend Shirley]]: Sunk in the first season by [[spoiler:Lelouch's belief that he's [[ItsNotYouItsMe too bloodstained to deserve someone like her]], making her forget about him "for her own good"]]. Sunk for good a year later when [[spoiler:Shirley is murdered by Rolo in full {{Yandere}} mode for [[HeKnowsTooMuch accidentally letting him know that she was aware of Nunnally's existence]].]] Also sunk in the CompilationMovie when [[spoiler: Lelouch still gets killed in the end despite Shirley remaining alive this time. The ''Lelouch Of The Ressurection'' film follows on this when Lelouch is BackFromTheDead (apparently with her helping bring the body), but ultimately chooses C.C. in the end.]]
** Lelouch/[[ActionGirl Kallen]]: Sunk late in the second season after many {{Ship Tease}}s and {{Moment Killer}}s, when [[spoiler:Kallen pours her heart out to Lelouch, and he doesn't respond at all, standing there with a blank look on his face, which leads her to believe that he doesn't care]]. In Kallen's character poem, which came with the DVD, she states that if he had said he loved her, even if it had been a lie, she "would even follow [him] to hell", and acknowledges that this is probably the reason he didn't answer her. Given that he was about to [[spoiler:embark upon the path to world domination, only to have himself assassinated to facilitate world peace]], it makes sense he'd want to distance himself from her.
** Lelouch/[[MysteriousWaif C.C.]]: Sunk (or at least badly damaged) by WordOfGod around the end of the first season, when Creator/{{Yukana}} (C.C.'s ''seiyuu'') said in interviews that the love C.C. feels for Lelouch is purely motherly and not really romantic. They still did a little ShipTease for the fans when [[spoiler:an amnesiac C.C. seems to develop romantic feelings for Lelouch during the second season.]] At the very least, [[spoiler: the CompilationMovie version of the series, which is said to be an AlternateContinuity, ultimately has it set sail in ''Lelouch Of The Ressurection'']].
** The possible Suzaku x Kallen ship, which may never have been meant to set sail from the get go, considering that Kallen truly despises Suzaku and has tried to kill him on many an occasion. But what really sunk the ship was when [[spoiler:Suzaku decided to use Refrain on her, and then decided against it at the last minute, opting to drug her instead]]. Then in the next episode, just to make sure the ship stayed sunk, they had Kallen use [[{{Fanservice}} a 7 hit combo]] to beat the tar out of him.
** The possibility of [[BodyguardCrush Suzaku x Euphemia]] was sunk when [[spoiler:Euphemia died after being shot by Lelouch]] in Episode 23 of Season 1.
* In ''Anime/DarlingInTheFranxx'', the [[spoiler:Hiro/Ichigo]] ship gets torpedoed in Episode 15. [[spoiler:When Ichigo synchronizes with Hiro, she quickly discovers that Hiro solely thinks about Zero Two and has no room in his heart for anyone else. Ichigo realized that she'll never be with Hiro, and reluctantly helps him reunite with Zero Two.]]
* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'':
** {{Fan Preferred Couple}}s Taichi/Sora and Takeru/Hikari were sunk in the DistantFinale (though the former sinking was started earlier in the ChristmasEpisode). Most fans tended to [[FanonDiscontinuity ignore said finale]]...until ''Anime/DigimonAdventureTri'' was released and it continued to pair Yamato/Sora.
** Just for laughs, an episode had Daisuke doing his best to impress Hikari... and V-Mon trying to ship himself with Tailmon. It didn't ended well for them, and at the end of the series, both of them had given up on their crushes and moved on.
* ''Franchise/DragonBall'': Has a few pairings which end mostly for related reasons as Creator/AkiraToriyama has admitted to not caring about romance.
** Goku/Bulma ends in the finale of the [[Manga/DragonBall original series]] as Goku flies off on the Nimbus with Chi-Chi and gets married. Bulma actually lampshades it on Namek, regretting she didn't start a relationship with Goku.
** Kudos to Yamcha/Bulma. It takes a while, they remain a bickering couple throughout the Saiyan invasion and Namek saga of ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. But then Vegeta and stays on Earth... ''and then Trunks is conceived from Bulma'', poor Yamcha. Toriyama said this was for the sake of having a new half-Saiyan.
** Tien Shinhan/Launch sinks not due to events in the show but due Launch being PutOnABus forever by Toriyama and later interview saying they didn't get together. ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' also gives Tien a new LoveInterest.
** Gohan has a small moment where he gently declines his school friend Erasa (who's drooling over him) when she asks for a lift home from Orange Star High School, though Gohan's reasons are justified: he has a flying cloud instead of a car. Further sunk when he ends up with [[{{Tsundere}} Videl.]]
* ''Manga/ElfenLied'': Fan favourite couple Lucy/Kouta seemed to have some floating in the anime, but when the manga arrived to the part of having Kouta [[spoiler: remember that she killed his family]], all hopes came crashing down and he ended up with [[spoiler: TeamMom Yuka -- and this is ''after'' Lucy's death]], [[DieForOurShip much to the rage of some fans]].
* The first anime of ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' had one of these where essentially everyone was screwed. There was a lot of contention between Ed/Winry and Ed/Rose factions, but both ships were sunk with a single torpedo when [[spoiler:Ed was shunted into another reality. OUR reality]].
* ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'' sinks Miaka/Hotohori to rock bottom. [[spoiler:Hotohori gets over Miaka, realising [[LovingAShadow he was in love with the idea of Suzaku no Miko]], gets married to a court princess named Houki; Miaka gets married to Taka Sukunami.]]
* ''Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula'': The Kaga/Kyoko relationship had enough [[ShipTease Ship Teasing]] in ''Zero'' and ''Saga'' to hint at their relationship, and in the final episode of ''Sin'', it looked like they may finally get together (they even kissed!), but then [[spoiler:Kaga retiring from Cyber Formula for good and going to America on an airplane, with Kyoko walking away disheartened]] dashed all hopes of them being together.
* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'':
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'': The sequel novel ''Frozen Teardrop'', written by the show's head author, put coffin nails in a few popular ships:.
*** Wu Fei[=/=]Sally: Sally has a daughter named Kathy, but not with Wu Fei (Kathy is his subordinate in Preventer).
*** Duo/[[spoiler:Hilde]]: Between the show and the novel [[spoiler:they got married, got divorced, had a son, and Hilde [[BusCrash died off-"camera"]] with Duo never remarrying). So it's less "Sunk" as it is "Decommissioned".]]
*** Heero/[[spoiler:almost everybody]]: [[spoiler:He spent the last 30-odd years in cryogenic stasis, meaning he's still a teen while all his friends are middle-aged and have children around his age...except Relena, who had also been placed in stasis around the same time. If that doesn't spell it out clearly enough, Heero and Relena become a couple by the end of the story, and a postscript chapter focuses on their settling down together and planning marriage.]]
*** A ZigzaggingTrope in regards to Trowa[=/=]Quatre: At first Trowa (now Doktor T) was seen spending time with Quatre's little sister Catherine, and there was no word about Quatre. Then Catherine is also seen with [[spoiler: Trowa Phobos, a young man trained by Trowa and Catherine Bloom... and also "Milliardo's" assassin.]], and her brother Quatre is now known as Instructor Q [[spoiler: and Trowa's partner in building new Gundams. Neither of the two are married, and in the meantime, Trowa Phobos and Catherine are seen getting closer...]]
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'': One reason why it's reviled by some fans of the original ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED GundamSEED]]'' was the sinking of the (canon, rings and all) [[LauncherOfAThousandShips Athrun]] / [[{{Tsundere}} Cagalli]] ship. Matters probably weren't helped by the pervading ([[ScapegoatCreator and never proved]]) rumor that it was partially brought about by the storyboarder's [[ExecutiveMeddling personal grudges]]. The consequence? [[DieForOurShip Absolutely * venomous* and misogynistic bashing]] of [[NaiveEverygirl Meyrin Hawke]] and [[{{Stripperiffic}} Meer Campbell]] coming from enraged Athrun/Cagalli fans, [[VocalMinority some of them]] going as far as ''bragging and flaming'' when [[spoiler: poor Meer was tragically killed in front of Athrun]] in the blogs and fansites of some vocal Meer fans who were also more or less known [=BNFs=], and later [[http://community.livejournal.com/asumey/8632.html bitching AsuMey out in the Athrun/Meyrin LJ comm]] and other sites, giving the [=AsuCaga=] fans ''as a whole'' [[http://community.livejournal.com/asucaga/156077.html?thread=2420141#t2420141 a horrible reputation that took years to cleanse.]]
*** ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars Z'' does a better job at sinking the Shinn and Stella pairing partially by having Shinn and Luna's relationship not be so [[StrangledByTheRedString badly fumbled]] so that it lives up to Fukuda's claims that theirs was the ONLY pairing experiencing true love. In Setsuko's route, provided Stella is saved, one of Shinn's first lines when she comes on board is to tell Luna he considers Stella like a sister.
*** The heavily hinted at Dearka/Miriallia ship from ''SEED'' was also sunk in ''Destiny'' in an even more unsatisfying way. One scene where Athrun mentions he met Dearka on the [=PLANTs=], and Miriallia's reaction is 'oh, ''him'' ', and the next scene when she arrives on the Archangel and Murdoch asks her about what happened between them, and she says 'I dumped him'. All off-screen, of course. In a bizarre semi-subversion though, some fans of the ship were actually excited about this, as it meant that the couple ''had'' gotten together at one point. To this day there is a great deal of Fanon that interprets their relationship as one of those [[BelligerentSexualTension bickering on again, off again things.]]
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE'', by pre-releasing the character designs of the three Generational Protagonists ''from the very start'', is a unique case where any and all other possible pairings involving the first two main protagonists (aside from [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Flit/Emily]] and [[HighSchoolSweethearts Asemu/Romary]]) are essentially ''killed off before they even begin'' - or for that matter, before the series ''has even started airing'' in the first place. It's specially vicious in the first case since [[spoiler: Flit's FirstLove Yurin is killed in the first arc, which actually [[WholeEpisodeFlashback took place before the series chronologically started]].]]
* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'': Despite ShipTease comments from cyborg Triela on [[LoveEpiphany how she feels]] for her handler Hilshire, the latter hooking up with prosecutor Roberta Guellfi appears to have killed off even a strictly platonic romance, with them instead reverting to their surrogate father/daughter dynamic. It doesn't help that Triela realizes that a good part of her feelings might be instilled by her training/brainwashing, hence deciding to not pursue him.
* ''VideoGame/HarukanaruTokiNoNakaDe'': The manga, apart from the popular (and author-preferred) Akane[=/=][[{{Samurai}} Yorihisa]] ship, had quite a bit of fans of Akane[=/=][[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Tenma]], Akane[=/=][[ArtificialHuman Yasuaki]], and to a lesser extent Akane[=/=][[BigBad Akuram]][[note]]of course, there are plenty of other guys, but these seem to be among the most popular[[/note]]. The last one was technically doomed by default[[note]]via Akuram being the main villain and not even being a possible choice in the game until its remake version[[/note]], and Akane becoming determined to defeat Akuram proved the ship to be too fragile to survive. Then the story continued going in the Yorihisa direction, firmly established when the incident with [[spoiler:a not-fully-conscious kiss]] occurred. Even after [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy Tenma was implied to have given up]], the dramatic tension went on, since there was still [[HopeSpot a small possibility left]] that the manga might at least go for an open ending... until all alternate ships were sunk (or at least severely damaged) in the finale when [[spoiler:Akane took Yorihisa to "our" world]]. Of course, ''Haruka'' being a franchise derived from a DatingSim, [[CuttingOffTheBranches it was bound to upset somebody...]]
* ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'': As a [[HaremGenre harem manga]] ''with'' a romantic resolution, there was plenty of this:
** [[TheHero Hayate]] [[BattleButler Ayasaki]] x [[FirstLove Athena Tennos]] is torpedoed in chapters 264-265 when Athena recognizes that, although they are both still in love with each other, she isn't the most important person in Hayate's life anymore and persuades him to let them go their separate ways. Chapter 266 made it seem like the ship might get refloated when Athena reveals that she kept the ring Hayate gave her and warns [[{{Ojou}} Nagi Sanzen'in]] that she might not give him back next time, but it gets depth-charged in 552 when Athena tells Ayumu Nishizawa that though she still loves Hayate, she does not see herself reflected in his eyes anymore.
** Hayate x [[IdolSinger Ruka Suirenji]] sinks in chapter 431, when she offers to give up being an idol if it means being with Hayate. When fireworks go off, Hayate simply tells her that he's sure that, as an idol, she will shine as brightly as the fireworks. Ruka sadly recognizes that Hayate cannot return her feelings (as he is both committed to serving as Nagi's butler and doesn't want to Ruka to throw everything away just for him). They both watch the fireworks together and wistfully wish the moment could last forever, before Ruka leaves and teasingly gives him a message that he'll regret not marrying her. His response is, "I already regret it."
** Hayate x [[{{Meido}} Maria]] had plenty of ShipTease at the beginning, but started losing steam towards the middle of the manga when Maria's role was, while not quite DemotedToExtra, considerably reduced. It was truly sunk when Maria, recognizing that Nagi was maturing and no longer needed a ParentalSubstitute, [[ButNowIMustGo resigned from being a maid and set off to pursue her own future, leaving Hayate and Nagi behind.]] [[spoiler: Ancillary material in Volume 51, the manga's final ''tankōbon'', also reveals that author Kenjiro Hata originally planned to reveal Maria to be Hayate's [[LongLostRelative unknown sister]] but never got the opportunity. Whether their familial relationship is still canon is debatable, but it put an extra hole in the ship.]]
** Hayate x [[ActionGirl Hinagiku]] [[SchoolIdol Katsura]] is essentially sunk in chapter 563. While there is no LoveConfession, the entire chapter serves as a reflection on her feelings for Hayate and why they were never reciprocated. It takes the form of HighAltitudeBattle with [[TheDragon Aoi Himegami]] in which the former Sanzen'in butler demands to know why Hinagiku is trying so hard to save a boy who [[ObliviousToLove never even noticed she loved him.]] Hinagiku ultimately recognizes that it was her fault nothing ever came of her feelings for Hayate; she was [[CannotSpitItOut frightened to tell him]] and simply hoped he would one day realize her love for him. Her finally overcoming her [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes fear of heights]] and embracing the joy of flying serves as a metaphor for how her fear caused her to miss out something wonderful. It is entirely finished off in 568, where Hayate and an older Nagi begin a relationship.
** Hayate x [[GirlNextDoor Ayumu Nishizawa]] is sunk in chapters 564-565 when, after Ayumu enters the [[TheWonderland Royal Garden]] to rescue Hayate from being trapped in an illusion, they both experience a vision of Hayate falling in love with her had ''she'' been the one to rescue Hayate the night he was sold to the ''yakuza''. Ayumu realizes that [[HopelessSuitor all her wooing the past year was for naught,]] because she missed the "start;" it was Nagi and not her that rescued Hayate. Ayumu then wakens Hayate from the illusion, [[TearJerker telling him that though her love was not requited, the year she spent loving him was not meaningless.]]
** All the other minor "Hayate x" ships are sunk in 568 when Hayate, after a TimeSkip, hooks up with [[FirstGirlWins Nagi, the girl with whom he developed the strongest emotional bond with and an insane devotion towards.]] This includes Hayate x [[ButtMonkey Izumi Segawa]] and Hayate x [[GayOption Kotetsu]] [[AbhorrentAdmirer Segawa]].
** [[AdorablyPrecociousChild Wataru Tachibana]] x [[{{Miko}} Isumi Saginomiya]] is sunk in Chapter 331 when Wataru, on the verge of confessing to Isumi, his long-time crush, realizes he's fallen out of love with Isumi and in love with [[CuteClumsyGirl Saki Kijima]]. This also sinks the other "Wataru x" ships, including Wataru x [[CoolBigSis Sakuya]] [[TheIdiotFromOsaka Aizawa]], Wataru x [[NunTooHoly Sonia Shaflnarz]], and Wataru x [[ManipulativeBitch Aika]] [[{{Troll}} Kasumi]]. Wataru x Aika is doubly sunk when it's revealed in chapter 389 that Aika does [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage love her fiancé]]. Just for good measure all these ships are depth charged in 568 when it is strongly implied that Wataru and Saki have become a couple.
* ''Anime/HeatGuyJ'': The most famous (in its ''tiny'' {{Fandom}}) yaoi pairing (namely, [[FoeYay Daisuke x Clair]]) seems to have an attempt at this. First of all, [[TheHero Daisuke's]] feelings are towards [[HotScientist Antonia]], and later towards Kyoko. Secondly, Kyoko returns those feelings for Daisuke. Thirdly, Clair has a girlfriend in the manga, although she does not exist in the anime. Fourthly, Clair takes some interest in Kyoko (albeit subtle; he [[AnchoredShip doesn't actually make any moves towards her]]). Fifthly, just for added insurance, Daisuke [[RidingIntoTheSunset goes off on an adventure]] and only says goodbye to Kyoko, who tells him IWillWaitForYou.
* ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'': Any Ship with Seras Victoria other than Seras/Pip. WordOfGod states that that "if Seras wasn't a vampire and Pip wasn't a mercenary, they would be the perfect couple, everybody would be envious of". See also their entry on the OfficialCouple page.
* ''Manga/HoneyAndClover'': Quite a few fans kept hoping that Hagu would give Yuuta a chance, but saw all their hopes vanquished after Hagu starts avoiding Yuuta after his AnguishedDeclarationOfLove.
* Despite the premise of ''Manga/InitialD'' being about ''touge'' (mountain road) racing, romance is also involved between drivers, but are sunk for a myriad of reasons.
** Back in ''First Stage'', Koichiro Iketani doesn't take up on Mako Sato's offer [[spoiler:to sleep with him, as he foolishly believes her affections still lie with Ryousuke Takahashi]]. At the climax of ''Extra Stage 2'', he decides not to confess his true feelings toward Mako so she can pursue her dream to go pro. The ending implies neither of them will ever encounter the other again.
** In ''Fourth Stage'', Kyoko Iwase does her best to form a [[LoveAtFirstSight relationship]] [[BestHerToBedHer with Keisuke Takahashi]]. [[spoiler:While he reciprocates her feelings for him, he doesn't want a RelationshipUpgrade because of his narrow-mindedness at focusing on only one thing at a time - in his case, racing]], thus he explictly ends any chance for her to be with him.
* ''Manga/InuYasha'': Various manga scenes indicate a lack of support for the fan-preferred pairing of Sesshoumaru/Rin. [[MoralityPet Rin]] is excited by the thought that [[DarkActionGirl Kagura]] may be in love with [[NobleDemon Sesshoumaru]] while Inuyasha's group navigates a sensitive situation between [[TheCasanova Miroku]] and Koharu. When Koharu turns up as a teenager around the same age as Kagome (fifteen years old), she reveals that Miroku once proposed to her when she was eleven, asking her to bear his child when she was older. She now wants to honour that promise. Miroku's friends are angry with him and work to resolve the situation in a way that ensures Koharu will have a good future away from Miroku. [[spoiler:At the end of the manga, Rin's wandering days with Sesshoumaru end so that she can live with Kaede's human village and relearn how to live with humans.]]
* ''Manga/KashimashiGirlMeetsGirl'':
** The anime adaptation did this in a rather cruel way. After Hazumu gets her girl, and the final episode had aired, an {{OVA}} came out. [[spoiler:Hazumu and Yasuna had broken up, because the latter wanted to be independent; which makes no sense since that didn't mean she had to break up with Hazumu]]. At the end of the episode, [[spoiler:Hazumu and Tomari gain a RelationShipUpgrade and ''get married'']]. The {{OVA}} seems to be pure fanservice for the shippers, since most strings had been tied and the ending did nothing.
** The manga toyed with a polyamourous ending until it was revealed that Hazumu must choose ''one'' or she'll die. She ends up with [[spoiler:Tomari]].
* ''Manga/KOn'': Fans who had picked up on the chemistry between Yui and Azusa were very disappointed when in the movie, [[spoiler:Azusa gets very upset when she suspects Yui might have feelings for her]]. But honestly, the fact that Azusa's emotional outburst from the manga got rewritten to be aimed at the ''whole group'' [[HideYourLesbians instead of just Yui]] should already have sounded some alarm bells.
* Played with in ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'', shippers of [[FanPreferredCouple Alibaba x Morgiana]] were dissapointed when it seemed [[spoiler:Alibaba started dating Toto while he was in Reim]] but as it turned out [[spoiler: Alibaba was just lying in order to keep from disappointing everyone over the fact he couldn't get a girlfriend and Toto's blushing face was because she was drunk.]] So the only ship sunk was the one that was supposedly doing the sinking.
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* ''Manga/LovelyComplex'': Done quite literally in the first episode with Risa's and Otani's crushes.
* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha''
** The Chrono/Nanoha and [[NotBloodSiblings Chrono/Fate]] ships were simultaneously sunk after the TimeSkip, when they had Chrono and Amy get married with kids.
** The Nanoha/Yuuno ship was sank as well thanks to WordOfGay [[http://imgur.com/sOUak02 saying that Nanoha/Fate ended up together]].
* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' sinks all the most popular ships at the end. Negi tells Asuna who he likes and it's apparently someone surprising and definitely not her. Nodoka and Yue later indicate that they were both rejected, Evangeline is still after Nagi, Chisame is a {{NEET}} and even less popular options like Shiori and Anya seem to be shot down with their failure to even appear. Eventually in the sequel series ''Manga/UQHolder'' it's revealed who he does end up with: [[spoiler:Chisame, despite the ending implying otherwise, in a sort of reverse sinking.]]
* In ''Anime/MaiHime'', while [[CelibateHero Natsuki]] x [[DoggedNiceGuy Takeda]] never had much of a chance, "Natsuki no Prelude" included a scene in which Natsuki sent Takeda a letter saying she did not love him around the time the [=HiME=] fighting forced the school to shut down. The art books imply that [[spoiler:[[WordOfGay she eventually ends up with Shizuru]], which had been hinted at in the series itself, so [[IncompatibleOrientation it was sunk from the start]].]]
* ''Anime/MaiOtome'': Arika/Sergay gets torpedoed when in Episode 22, Sergay admits that he had feelings for Arika, but that he will put them aside to follow Nagi's orders to capture or kill her for Nina's sake, and Arika also acknowledges that she will do what she must. At the end of the series, [[spoiler:Sergay loses his memories and lives on a remote farm with Nina, enabling Nina to establish a new and presumably romantic relationship with him as a mature woman, without Sergay remembering or even encountering Arika]].
* ''Anime/MazingerZ'':
** Sayaka/Boss: Early on Boss was ''very'' infatuated with Sayaka who was totally smitten with Kouji. However, Sayaka's reaction during one of the finalr arcs of the manga suggests ''maybe'' Boss had one chance... but he did not take it. So he (romantically) cared no longer or he valued his friendship with Kouji too for trying anything with Sayaka.
** Kouji/Erika: Erika was a enigmatic, amnesiac girl showed up one day in the [[HomeBase Institute]]. There was a certain chemistry between Koui and her, but it went nowhere since [[spoiler:it was revealed she was [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot an]] [[RobotGirl android]]. And then she got murdered.]]
** [[Anime/GreatMazinger Tetsuya/Misato]]: Misato was Boss' cousin and a secondary character during ''Mazinger Z'' last season. She also showed up in the ''Great Mazinger'' manga penned by Gosaku Ota. Even though he liked Jun, Tetsuya found himself attracted to her, but then she [[spoiler:got brutally murdered by Marquis Janus.]] Tetsuya himself [[spoiler:died shortly after commiting a HeroicSacrifice.]]
** [[Anime/UFORoboGrendizer Kouji/Hikaru]]: In one episode it was told Kouji was infatuated with Hikaru but he never tried anything with her out of respect for his friend Duke. Cue [[spoiler:Duke's sister Maria Grace]] showing up in the next episode (and keep in mind it was Sayaka who was meant to show up instead of her).
** Duke/Rubina: [[ArrangedMarriage Their parents got them engaged when they were kids]], becoming a ChildhoodFriendRomance. Then her father invaded and Duke's planet, killing the whole population and ''accidentally'' turning it into a radioactive wasteland, and they became StarCrossedLovers. Later she met Duke and tried to convince him the only way to stop the war was they getting married. Duke accepted, but [[spoiler:she got murdered shortly after for a scorned suitor.]]
** [[spoiler:Duke/Hikaru]] and [[spoiler:Kouji/Maria]]: Both pairings kind of sunk at the end of the series when [[spoiler:Duke and Maria]] left Earth, forcing themselves to leave their friends behind for the sake of rebuilding their homeworld.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
** [[KilledOffForReal The death]] of [[spoiler: Neji]] in Chapter 614 sunk the possibility of either [[spoiler:[[KissingCousins Neji/Hinata]]]] or the relatively-popular BetaCouple [[spoiler:Neji/Tenten]].
** The very final chapter was a ship sinker of epic proportions, as the major [[LauncherOfAThousandShips ship launchers]] all hooked up with someone else. Only [[spoiler: Gaara]] stayed single, and [[spoiler:Shikamaru/Temari]] had been fairly obvious for a long time.
** One particular ship, [[spoiler:Naruto/Sakura]], was sunk in a spectacular fashion several times over. First when it was revealed in the [[DistantFinale epilogue]] that [[spoiler:they ended up hooking up with Hinata and Sasuke respectively]]. Secondly it was later revealed in a [[Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie canonical movie]] that [[spoiler:Naruto's [[LovingAShadow one-sided shallow crush on Sakura]] was just another facet of his rivalry with Sasuke, [[SingleTargetSexuality the guy that Sakura always loved]]--which was implied back in Chapter 3--and it ultimately never went beyond a LikeBrotherAndSister friendship]]. Thirdly, with the revelation by the anime voice actors of Team 7 that [[spoiler: they knew that Sakura would end up with Sasuke since the first airings of the anime because [[WordOfGod the author told them about it]]]]. The final nails in the coffin came with [[WordOfGod several post-series interviews with the author]], who has repeatedly stated that [[spoiler: Naruto marrying Hinata]] ''had'' been planned since the early stages of the manga, that all hints pointing otherwise were a [[RedHerring deliberate mislead]] to [[TrollingCreator mess with the shippers]], and that [[spoiler:Sakura]] was ''never'' intended to be [[spoiler:Naruto's]] main love interest to begin with, while [[spoiler:Hinata]] ''always'' was.
*** Prior to the above, there was Chapter 469, which featured [[spoiler:Sakura's [[NeverLiveItDown infamous]] [[FalseConfession fake love confession]] to Naruto (which itself was a [[TakeThatAudience verbatim reading]] of the favorite arguments made by the people who shipped them together). She did this in order to [[ReleasingFromThePromise relieve him of the promise]] he made to her of [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy bringing Sasuke back for her]] and suffering greatly for it. Naruto easily sees right through her, having seen first-hand how devoted Sakura was to Sasuke, [[WhatTheHellHero calls her out for lying]], and rejects her outright]] by telling her that he '''hates''' people who lie to themselves. In retrospect, this was the '''''definitive''''' sinking of the pairing and all of the rest only cemented it.
** Another ship, Sasuke/Karin, was sunk ''[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill twice]]'' over: first in the finale, when it's revealed that Sasuke married Sakura, and once again in the PostScriptSeason ''Manga/NarutoGaiden'' in even more spectacular fashion. [[spoiler: Sarada begins to believe that Karin is her mother and not Sakura, and her search for the truth becomes a major plot point, with even a [=DNA=] test seemingly confirming it. In the end, it is made clear once and for all that Sakura is Sarada's mother, she and Sasuke are happily married, and Karin is the midwife who delivered Sarada. Karin herself states that [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy as long as Sasuke is happy she is happy too]] finally putting the ship to rest]]. It's almost as though Kishimoto read the death threats and demands that he change the pairings following the finale, and decided to troll fans one last time.
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'':
** The manga devotes quite a bit of time to shifting Kaworu's status with the rest of the cast. Namely, Shinji makes it vocally clear he can't stand Kaworu, while Rei instantly susses out what he is and tells him to stay far away from her.
** The end of ''End of Evangelion'' sinks [[spoiler:Shinji/Rei. Shinji has the chance to stay with Rei forever in Instrumentality, with no barriers between them, however he chooses leaving and returning to the real world, even though Rei cannot leave the Sea of LCL.]]
** ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'' sinks nearly every single ship involving Shinji, after delivering piles of ShipTease for them. [[spoiler:The "main" Rei is considered to be dead (or at the very least, her soul is unable to leave the Eva-01) by everyone and Shinji refuses to accept [[ReplacementGoldfish Rei Q]] in her place; Asuka would outright kill him if only Misato would let her; and Kaworu dies rather horrifically.]]
* ''Manga/{{Nisekoi}}'' finally got to this point as of Chapters 225-227: [[spoiler:Kosaki reveals to Raku that she was the girl whom he made a ChildhoodMarriagePromise back when they were 5; but she admits that right now he has someone else he loves more than her, thus finally letting him go. Then Raku finally confesses to Chitoge, to which she reciprocates.]]
* ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'':
** Aiko makes it ambiguous as to whether she likes Anrima or not, but they begin dating after ''Ojamajo Doremi Dokka~n!'' However, Aiko mentions in ''Ojamajo Doremi 16'' that they've broken up.
** [[spoiler:Marina and Kimura]] break up in ''Ojamajo Doremi 17'' offscreen. It's not explicitly mentioned, but when you read the context of how it's implied, you can reasonably guess that they drifted apart in pursuit of their dreams, which matter more to them than their relationship.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Creator/EiichiroOda must be a least somewhat aware of fandom's shipping tendencies since he apparently had the foresight to launch a couple of good sized torpedoes at the potential Luffy/Hancock ship, such as [[spoiler:Luffy explicitly rejecting her proposal of marriage]] after the TimeSkip.
** When Luffy hears that Absalom the [[InvisibleJerkass creepy invisible guy]] wishes to marry Nami, Luffy comments that he must be pretty brave to want to marry her. Sanji on the other hand rushes to her [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl rescue]].
** The Zoro/Nami ship's main basis is the so-called "sexual tension" [[BelligerentSexualTension indicated by their fighting]]. It's repeatedly shown however that he's not even attracted to her, that his lack of interest is almost a running gag, dating back to the Alubarna onsen scene when he and the non-human Chopper were the only ones to not bother peeping at Nami and Vivi.
** Inversely there seemed to be a short ship tease moment followed quickly with a sink in one of the series's side stories between Zoro and Robin where Zoro plays Sleeping Beauty and must be awakened by true love's first kiss. One panel after Robin sees Zoro she quickly turns away and calls him unlovable.
** With the chapter 771 the Baby 5/Law ship has officially been sunk with Don Sai accepting her hand in marriage.
** Sanji has this happen to him in two arcs back to back (Dressrosa & Whole Cake Island) though ironically despite being [[CasanovaWannabe rejected]] most other woman Viola and Pudding genuinely cared for him and it's actually Sanji whose doing the walking away.
*** Viola initially was just pretending to be all gooey over Sanji, to fool and then trap him which worked, however Sanji could see her heart wasn't really in it and she was GoodAllAlong, unfortunately despite Sanji and Viola working well together, when Domflamingo attacks the Thousand Sunny and Sanji flies off to save Nami and crew leaving Viola behind.
*** [[spoiler: Sanji's potential relationship with Pudding was hit with a warhead in chapter 850 when it was revealed that she was EvilAllAlong (or more exactly, [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorld Broken And Then]] EvilAllAlong.]] And then [[spoiler: it's re-floated from 862 onwards, with Sanji's SpannerInTheWorks actions leading to Pudding ''actually'' beginning to fall in love with him. Shipping hits it’s peak when Pudding [[KissingDiscretionShot kisses]] Sanji... ''then she removes his memory of it and runs away''. Sanji once again goes away without so much a backwards glance leaving Pudding crying in a alley]].
* ''Anime/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' has minor ShipTease for many different Haruhi pairings, but especially for Haruhi/Hikaru, to the point that many shippers of said pairing began to hope that it may become canon (although it was pretty obvious which pairing Haruhi would end up in), but that ship was sunk when [[spoiler:it's confirmed in the manga that Tamaki and Haruhi would be together, and Hikaru gives up on her.]]
* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'':
** The anime seems to attempt to sink Tracey/Misty every single time they appear onscreen together. Misty outright says Tracey [[HeIsNotMyBoyfriend is not her boyfriend]] twice in the ''Chronicles'' dub.
** In ''Advanced Generation'', Max develops a crush on Vivi, a girl that is the youngest member of a trainer family. When the twerps and that family have a friendly 4-on-4 battle, Max borrows Corphish from Ash so he can take part. Unfortunately, Corphish is not nice, and refuses to obey Max. Vivi ends up hating Max as a result of the beating Corphish ended up giving her Marill.
* In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', [[EnsembleDarkhorse N]]/[[MemeticBadass Hilda]] is a very popular pairing, but in ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', the possibility of N ending up with Hilda's counterpart [[NeutralFemale White]] has been blown to pieces when [[spoiler: N convinced White's Tepig Gigi to side with him and leave her, the action of which caused White to fall off the Nimbasa Ferris Wheel while N [[KickTheDog just looked on coldly.]]]]
* ''Anime/PrincessTutu'': Are you still waiting for Ahiru to end up with the Prince, [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism despite how dark the series has gotten since]] [[ShipTease the end of episode 13]]? You'll change your tune come episode 24 [[spoiler: because he prefers Rue ''and'' Ahiru seems to have chosen Fakir]]. A lot.
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''
** Fans always treated [[spoiler:Madoka/Homura]] as the capital ship above and beyond all others, and were delighted by the mountains of ShipTease ''[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion Rebellion]]'' provided. Until the ending, when [[spoiler:Homura's ProtagonistJourneyToVillain is completed and she imprisons Madoka]], making any likelihood of them getting together extremely slim for the time being (not that it will stop all fans from continuing to ship it). Furthermore, [[WordOfGod Gen Urobuchi]] has stated in an interview that Homura's feelings for Madoka are platonic rather than romantic (in the usual sense). This is somewhat played with, as when he was asked if Homura was in love with Madoka, he answered "Probably". Still we are talking about [[TrollingCreator Urobuchi]] here... So make of that what you will.
--->'''Q''': Is Homura in love with Madoka?\\
'''A''': Probably.\\
\\
'''Q''': Why did you choose to portray a homosexual love?\\
'''A''': I don't think it is that special -- a really strong friendship turns into a lovelike-relationship without the sexual attraction, in their case.
** Sayaka/Kyosuke is sunk [[spoiler:the moment Sayaka makes her contract]], though it takes a few episodes to reveal why. By the end of the anime, Sayaka/Kyoko has sunk as well [[spoiler:when Sayaka chooses to stay dead in the new timeline]].
* In ''Anime/QueensBlade'', though [[InterspeciesRomance Irma and Echidna]] had a canonical TeacherStudentRomance as part of their backstory, in the present, Irma is no longer interested in Echidna. Making it very clear to her that when Echidna chose to up and leave her in the middle of the night, she ended their relationship permanently, leading to OldFlameFizzle when they cross paths again.
* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'':
** Ranma×Nabiki: The story "Nabiki, Ranma's New Fiancée" saw Ranma's engagement transferred to Nabiki by Akane after a temper tantrum on the latter's part. Nabiki promptly spends the rest of the story indulging her {{Jerkass}} side, emotionally tormenting Ranma and selling him off to dozens of people (including, in the manga, a scene designed to showcase that the other members of Ranma's LoveDodecahedron are villains by having Nabiki offer to auction him off to them, only for them to decide that [[StupidEvil they can just kill her and take him]]), in between attempts to offer to let Akane, Ranma or both pay her to get her to switch the engagement back to Akane. When Ranma approaches her and asks her out on a date, Nabiki decides that things have gotten too boring and promptly arranges for Ranma and Akane to make up.
** [[FoeYay Ranma×Ryoga]]: In the "Koi Rod of Love" story arc, Ryoga acquires a [[LovePotion magical fishing rod that will cause anyone he "catches" to fall in love with him]] for cheap, and promptly tries to use it on Akane, only to accidentally catch Ranma. When he realises why Ranma is acting so weird, Ryoga is so disgusted that he promptly bundles the (presumed) sleeping Ranma up and carries "her" deep into the woods, digging a grave and planning on killing Ranma in his/her sleep so that he can then bury the body out here, thus allowing him to woo Akane and, more importantly, getting Ranma to stop flirting with him. While he initially finds himself unable to do it when Ranma tells him that "she" is [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy willing to let him do it]], he promptly resumes trying to kill Ranma when she takes that hesitance for a sign of affection. When Ranma is finally cured, he promptly beats the snot out of Ryoga and is shown deriding him as a disgusting pervert in the finale.
** Ryoga×Ukyo: In [[{{Kimodameshi}} "Oh, Cursed Tunnel of Lost Love! Let My Love Be Forever!"]] Ukyo makes plans to see Ranma and Akane go through a haunted tunnel whose resident spirits exist to break up loving couples, with a reputation that those split up by the tunnel are cursed to never repair their broken relationship. However, to get in, she needs to partner up with Ryoga. Ryoga and Ukyo act much like they themselves do (bickering and squabbling over Ryoga's bungling), and Ranma and Akane jump to the conclusion that they are a couple ([[ShipperOnDeck and seem to approve, amusingly enough]]), as do the ghosts who wind up ignoring Ranma and Akane's BelligerentSexualTension to focus instead on "breaking up" the seemingly-reconciled Ryoga and Ukyo. In the manga, the story ends with Ryoga and Ukyo vehemently blaming each other for things going wrong. Whether it means the curse struck or not, for the entire rest of the series they hardly spoke to each another again. The anime, however, hits a somewhat different note -- while they ''are'' eventually forced apart, they are shown taking turns saving each other from the monsters, getting a BackToBackBadasses moment in the process, and the story doesn't end with them yelling at each other but collapsing and being teased as lovebirds by practically all of Nerima.
** Shampoo×Mousse: It's hard to say that this ship was ever sunk, as Mousse was pretty much always portrayed as a StalkerWithACrush, but the second-last story of the manga has Mousse give up a chance to make Shampoo his devoted slave (which is rather jarring, seeing as how all of his {{Establishing Character Moment}}s are about how amoral and obsessed he is with getting Shampoo's "love", even declaring he would happily participate in a rigged fight if it would get him Shampoo's hand)... with the next panel showing the freed Shampoo glomping onto Ranma and thanking ''him'' for saving her, acting as though Mousse isn't even in the room.
** Nabiki×Kuno: A common FanPreferredCouple, as Kuno is rich and gullible, while Nabiki [[{{Greed}} really likes money]] and enjoys messing with people for her own amusement. The result is a ShipTease {{Filler}} story in both the manga and the anime, both of which end with the idea being made fun of. In the manga, Kuno and Nabiki end up momentarily falling under a UmbrellaOfTogetherness and Nabiki promptly demands that Kuno pay her money for being there with her, and is horrified that she charged such a (relatively) small amount when they are set loose. In the anime, a wandering fortune teller predicts that Kuno will marry Nabiki; while the horrified Kuno tries to reluctantly go along with what he believes is foretold, he finds himself unable to give up his perverse lust and ends up with a beating from all three girls after announcing he's figured out that he will wed Nabiki as his official wife and keep Akane and Ranma-chan as concubines. He then discovers that the prediction was totally wrong, because Sasuke accidentally used the wrong firewood in the mystic flames, and goes berserk, savagely attacking both of them off-screen as the end credits roll for putting him through such an experience.
* ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'': Kazumi Yoshida [[HopelessSuitor never really had a chance]] with Yuji Sakai, as he only had eyes for Shana, but the ship was definitively sunk in volume XVI (episode 4 of ''Shakugan no Shana Final'') when Yuji tells her that he returned her [[LoveConfession love letter]] because he chose Shana.
%%* ''LightNovel/StrawberryPanic'' ended in disappointment for many Tamao x Nagisa and Yaya x Hikari fans to say the least.
* When Tails was revealed to have romantic feelings for Cosmo in ''Anime/Sonic X'', the Tails x Cream ship was sunk. This also started [[Ship to Ship Combat]] between the two ships.
* ''Manga/SweetBlueFlowers'': Yasuko/Kyouko had its share of shippers, despite Yasuko's often cold behavior toward Kyouko. This ship finally sank for good when [[spoiler:Yasuko starts studying in England and apparently begins a relationship with her roommate]]. The last smidgen of hope of Kyouko still winding up with Yasuko (or maybe even another girl) gets blown to smithereens when [[spoiler:Kyouko gets back with her fiance, Kou, and marries him]].
* The [[TeasingCreator creators]] of ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' like to [[ZigZaggedTrope play around]] with this. Episode 4 reveals [[SmittenTeenageGirl Karina's]] crush on [[CluelessChickMagnet Kotetsu]], a CrusadingWidower with a kid. She doesn't find out about his wife and daughter until ep.9, upon which she seems to abandon pining for him. But following a LoveEpiphany in ep.14, she realizes she [[EatingTheEyeCandy can't help her feelings.]] The 25th episode shows Karina apparently deciding that she wants to [[RomancingTheWidow Romance The Widower]] after all (take a look at the picture on the trope's main page), but then...''the series ends.'' Kotetsu's utter [[ObliviousTolove obliviousness]] throughout the story frustrated a lot of fans, to say the least. However, the creators' later comments that "her crush was ''meant'' to be depicted as {{hopeless| suitor}}" did little to deter some shippers.
* ''LightNovel/{{Toradora}}'': Ryuuji/Minori, when he [[LoveEpiphany finally realizes he's in love]] with [[{{Tsundere}} Taiga]], and [[LockedInARoom their friends force]] Taiga and Ryuuji to talk about their feelings.
* ''Manga/WanderingSon'':
** Two ships are sunk in the ''chapter they were first shown''. Two children became infatuated with Takatsuki and Chiba in chapter 97, only for around page thirteen the mangaka stating they'll get married in thirteen years.
** Takatsuki/Chiba itself was sunk when Chiba began dating [[spoiler:Fumiya]].
** Takatsuki/Nitori, and Chiba/Nitori for that matter, were sunk when Nitori began dating Anna, and Takatsuki fervently denies dating Nitori. Anna and Nitori broke up but got back together later on. Takanito really sunk when [[spoiler:Takatsuki, who now realizes she likes Nitori, confesses to her (though she's dating Anna) and Nitori doesn't reply.]] The ending chapter has [[spoiler:Takatsuki tearfully holding Nitori's hand before she goes to college]] and clearly has Nitori/Anna as endgame.
** Both Doi and Seya show attraction to Nitori however when Doi and Nitori become friends it disappears and Seya quickly becomes a happy OfficialCouple with Nitori's sister, Maho, and the attraction he feels towards Nitori eventually dies.
* Fan hype got big when the trailer for ''Anime/WhenMarnieWasThere'' was released showing two cute girls forging an emotional connection. Some fans in particular were excited for the lesbian representation. It seemed to be blatant shipping fodder, with the two girls even exchanging "I love yous" onscreen. [[spoiler:The shipping fervor died immediately when the girls were revealed to be ''closely related,'' a fact unknown to either of them until the end of the movie.]]
* ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'' had about ''nine'' {{One True Pairing}}s (as listed in its [[YMMV/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows YMMV Page]], not counting the PlayedForLaughs CargoShip) as the story was nearing its closure. Come the penultimate chapter, FLAG 267, [[spoiler: all but one of these were subjected to a mass sinking via a "LoveConfession WhamLine"-class [[JustForPun/TheShipYard supercavitating torpedo barrage from the Author himself]].]]
* ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5'':
** When Komachi and Nuts's mutual attraction became undeniable in the middle of episode 26, you could practically hear the maniac screaming from the Coconuts and Karen/Komachi shippers. (Meanwhile the Rin/Nuts shippers just kind of whimpered.)
** The adverts for the sequel, ''[=GoGo=]'', announced Syrup was going to be shipped with Rin. Next thing you know, he forms some kind of bond with ''Urara'', especially in episode 18 (and the very [[ShipTease couple-hinting]] scene near the end. Cue the collective {{Squee}} from the Syrup/Urara fan base.
* Though Yona/Hak is generally the FanPreferredCouple in ''Manga/YonaOfTheDawn'', there was a small but dedicated group in the fandom still shipping Yona/Soowon, due to Soowon's status as a RomanticFalseLead and the forbidden, angsty nature of their relationship. It doesn't help that the anime cuts off at a point where it can seem like the ship had promise of becoming canon, and the marketing around it liked the play up the Soowon/Yona/Hak love-triangle more than it actually factors in the story. However, reading deeper in the manga it becomes very clear that Yona/Hak is the intended OfficialCouple, and it becomes ambiguous if Soowon even ever had anything besides platonic feelings for Yona in first place. The ship sunk completely in chapter 136-7, in which [[spoiler: Yona sells the gift she'd been given by Soowon ''in chapter 1'' and kisses [[SecondLove Hak]], cementing the fact that she has fully moved on from her FirstLove.]]
* In ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'': People ([[FanPreferredCouple in the West, anyway]]) started shipping Judai with Asuka or Johan pretty quickly, thanks to all the ShipTease / HoYay he was getting with them. Not only did he choose his StalkerWithACrush / ForgottenChildhoodFriend Yubel instead, he swore to love [[{{Hermaphrodite}} them]] and only [[AmbiguousGender them]] forever, leaving the odds of Judai/Asuka or Judai/Johan happening practically nonexistent.
* Though usually the writers don't bother to sink shippings, in ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' they seemingly felt like doing so. Pretty unusual case though, subverting the common FirstGirlWins. Mikage Sagiri was the very first female character introduced in the show, crushing on Jack Atlas since the very beginning. [[spoiler: Still she got pretty much dismissed by him in episode 30, and eventually was completely (and pretty harshly) turned down by him in episode 45, in favor of a girl who appeared an entire season later.]]
* ''Franchise/{{Zoids}}'':
** ''Anime/ZoidsChaoticCentury'': The Thomas×Fiona ship was sunk in episode 51, after Van went missing after being defeated by Raven. Irvine told Thomas that Fiona loved Van, and after this point, Thomas stopped flirting with Fiona.
** ''Anime/ZoidsNewCentury'': The Bit×Leena ship was sunk in the ''third episode''. After Harry challenged Bit to a Zoid battle, Bit was horrified when he realised that Leena would go to the winner. After Bit defeated Harry, he told him that he could have her.

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'':
** One of the first ships, early in the comic's run, involved Tails and an Australian Freedom Fighter named Barby Koala. Despite that Barby was a minor character and significantly older than Tails, who was canonically [[ComicBookTime 10 or 11]], fans of the ship carried a torch for her for years because she was one of only two love interests Tails ever had in almost 20 years of publication (the other one [[RobotGirl turned out to be a robot]]). In a forum post, [[WordOfGod writer]] Creator/IanFlynn torpedoed the ship with this statement: ''[[WriterRevolt "Okay, let's stop the Barby/Tails wagon right here... There is no Barby/Tails. Barby's affections were entirely one-sided and ]][[{{Squick}} extremely creepy. ]][[WriterRevolt I'll find a way to write that one into the ground to bury and kill it later, but for now, there is no Barby/Tails. And there won't be so long as I'm on the book. Seriously... ugh."]]''
** Another one that Ian killed was Sonic/Fiona ''and'' Tails/Fiona, the former of which hooked up near the end of Ken Penders' run. Some had theorized that Ken had done so due to the fact that Sonic and Fiona were a couple in a fan comic Ian had done before coming to Archie. Ian promptly sunk it by having Fiona reveal that she only fell in love with him because she thought he'd be the same as his EvilTwin, Evil Sonic. Fiona, then, sunk Tails/Fiona by telling him how gullible he was to think he felt that way about her and backhanded him. Interestingly, Sonic's relationship with Fiona would be a point with a small falling out between Sonic and Tails.
** Sonic Universe Issue 58's [[http://static4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131121021034/sonic/images/e/ef/Ship_sunk.jpg off-panel]] takes a jab at Silver/Blaze. Blaze burns Marine's paper, with Marine complaining that she's "sinking her ship".
** According to Ian Flynn, years of dealing with the shipping wars lead to him throwing his hands up in the air and end the Sonic/Sally pairing in the post-Super Genesis Wave universe.
* ''ComicBook/SpiderGirl'':
** There was huge May/Brad shipping. At least until she discovered he hates mutants and people with superpowers. From this time she can't even stand five minutes near him. Tom [=DeFalco=] was playing WillTheyOrWontThey for years, and sunk it in one issue. And it worked!
** Normie's marriage to the RomanticFalseLead killed the then-FanPreferredCouple [[DefectingForLove Normie]] [[SecretKeeper Osborn]] and [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend May]], after years of ShipTease.
* Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy in the comics based on the Franchise/{{DCAU}} - Ivy crashing the Joker and Harley's [[UnholyMatrimony wedding]] leads Harley to dissolve their friendship once and for all. And in ''ComicBook/GothamCitySirens'' #24 the LesYay between Harley and Ivy is acknowledged and weaponized by Harley against Ivy when Ivy tries to "save" Harley from the Joker's influence. Near the end of the issue, Selina turns on Ivy as payback for one of Ivy's attacks in the past.
* ''Franchise/GreenLantern'' storyline ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'' sinks Kyle Rayner/Donna Troy, with both Kyle and Donna taking great pains to explain to [[spoiler:Jade]] how utterly not interested in each other they are. It was case of BitingTheHandHumor since an editorial mandate around the time of ''ComicBook/CountdownToFinalCrisis'' wanted them as a couple, sinking their ships at the time to make it happen.
* ''Franchise/XMen'':
** The ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}/[[ComicBook/JeanGrey Jean]]/ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} LoveTriangle has had this happen to it dozens of times, usually due to Jean picking one over the other, one character killing the other or getting retconned out of existence. Though there's always a ShipperOnDeck like Mr Sinister for Scott/Jean who attempts to bring them together via [[FirstLawofResurrection resurrection]] before continuity or writers rip them apart. Scott had done this way more times, sinking his relationships with Madeleine Pryor and Emma Frost due EvilTwin heel turns or being dead.
** Wolverine/Mariko Yashida's relationship ended tragically not only does Mastermind throw the spanner on the works by using his powers to make Mariko call off the wedding, then Mariko was poisoned by Tsurayaba and to avoid a painful death she asked Wolverine to [[MercyKill end her suffering]] which he did. There were many ManlyTears.
** ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen'' has two of these: Black Panther and Storm, Rogue and Magneto.
*** Storm's relationship with Black Panther ending was especially tragic as fans [[TokenMinorityCouple mostly]] liked it since it's inception. However thanks to massive damage and body count in Wakanda because of the Phoenix Force and the part the X-Men played in the slaughter, Black Panther annuls their marriage and tells Storm she isn't welcome in Wakanda. A fight ensures, and it ends very bitterly with some [[TearJerker tear jerking]] flash backs to happier times.
*** A more bittersweet example is when Magneto proposes to Rogue after they save some civilians from a evil Phoenix Forced-influenced Cyclops, Rogue takes the ring but after spending the night and a rescue mission together Rogue gently turn down Magneto's proposal.
** Subverted with Gambit and Rogue as similar to Magneto, Rogue leaving Gambit in Antarctica after sleeping with him appeared to be end of their relationship as the writers and good chunk of the readers assumed. While it did leave its mark, the relationship eventually recovered and both characters seem perfectly content to forget it ever happened.
** In ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'', the Nightcrawler/Colossus ship was brutally sunk when it was revealed in issue #67 that despite being persecuted for being a blue demonic mutant and otherwise being one of the purest nicest guys on the team, Nightcrawler is suddenly a homophobe with a creepy obsession with Dazzler.
** ''[[ComicBook/MonetStCroix Monet]]'' & ''{{ComicBook/Sabretooth}}'' is a more subtle case. They have an overt ShipTease during ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen2015'' and ''ComicBook/WeaponX2017''. [[EveryoneCanSeeIt Numerous characters]], consisting of Psylocke, Callisto, Emplate, Deathstrike, Domino, Deadpool, and Omega Red, believing they have feelings for each other. The ship not only sinks, but is brutally shot down when Creed's [[HeelFaceBrainwashing inversion]] is [[FaceHeelTurn undone]] the final issue of Weapon X. He's now sided with the Malekith during the ComicBook/WarOfTheRealms and has plans to exact bloody revenge on the X-Men. So needless to say, anything he may or could have had with Monet is over. Sadly, Monet is in the dark on his reversion & was last seen wondering what became of him.
** Back in the mainline Marvel Universe, Creator/JimShooter wrote a romantic sublot for Colossus in the middle of ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984'' for the express purpose of finally putting an end to the Kitty/Colossus relationship, a longstanding point of complaint by Shooter (for good reason -- his concern was not with the relationship itself, but with the fact that Kitty was at the time 14 and Colossus was 19, and so was concerned with reasonable worries about how the relationship would be perceived by MoralGuardians.) The followup issue of ''Uncanny X-Men'' was Claremont taking the plotline and running with it. Despite this, Joss Whedon tried to bring the relationship back during his Astonishing X-Men run. At this point, Kitty was an adult so the age wasn't a problem anymore.
** In ''ComicBook/XMenForever'', Kitty starts to have romantic feelings for Gambit. Gambit turns her down, pointing out that at the time this is going on, she is going through a massive amount of mental and physical trauma concerning her assimilation of Wolverine's claw and powers, and that she is not thinking straight.
** In ''ComicBook/XMenGold'' #29 and #30, it's seem like Colossus and Kitty are finally, finally getting hitched but when Colossus tries [[https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yWBkXW2GiR0/WypWI67c18I/AAAAAAAABeg/UQUekfgBjYomSOcYQYfYHFpbT8ichoX5wCHMYCw/s1600/RCO021.jpg to put the ring on her]]... it [[{{Intangibility}} doesn't]] [[RunawayBride work out]]. Despite genuinely loving Colossus, Kitty can't form a commitment after such a turbulent history, thus making any reunion unlikely any time soon.. [[spoiler: But for Gambit and Rogue, on the other hand, uncertainty and turmoil ironically is the basis for their relationship in the first place, so they decide not let the reception go to waste and get married with Kitty and Colossus' blessing]].
* ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'':
** The ''New Titans'' run plays with Terra II and Damage having feelings for each other, but sinks the ship by the end of the series with Damage feeling too put upon by Terra. Terra II also has feelings for Beast Boy, but he rejects her advances due to her resembling the original girl who betrayed him. Meanwhile, in the same run, any chances of Gar continuing to be paired off with his non-superhero girlfriend Jillian are sunk (and Jillian [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome vanishs forever]]) after Terra II gets into a catfight with her and threatens her life to "stay away".
** Wonder Girl and Superboy were the OfficialCouple throughout most of volume 3, but after Kon died for a time, Adam Beechen and Sean [=McKeever=] both had the intent of a Robin/Wonder Girl pairing... which wound up sunk itself and not lasting long. Kon then returned from the dead, but the Superboy/Wonder Girl ship wound up sunk when they broke up in J.T. Krul's run.
* [[Comicbook/RobinSeries Robin]] (Tim Drake) and Secret from the ''Comicbook/YoungJustice'' comic. Robin/Secret fans kept on sending letters to the editor about how they want them to end up together, despite the fact that Robin was never interested in any of his female team members and it looked like Secret's crush was unrequited. Finally, Peter David addressed the 'pairing' in issue #30, where Secret finds out about Robin's girlfriend Stephanie Brown, stalks her back to her house and attacks her in a jealous rage. After that, Robin kept being oblivious to Secret's feelings for him and she ended up being unstable and went over the dark side in the last few issues -- which resulted in her attacking Stephanie for the second time.
* Marvel has attempted to break up Franchise/SpiderMan and Mary Jane Watson many times even before they got married:
** Originally Mary Jane was introduced as a girl that Aunt May believed would be good for Peter but which Peter refused because he thought she couldn't be cool if old stodgy Aunt May knew her. Later issues had her appear as TheFaceless but context details confirmed that she was incredibly beautiful based on the reactions of other characters. By the time she made her first appearance, and got a design that audiences loved at once, Lee-Romita felt they needed to go in a new direction and tried to make Gwen the LoveInterest but audiences gravitated to Mary Jane who Peter dated for a few issues. So Stan Lee decided to have Peter call her irresponsible and so on, and then had her PutOnABus with a ridiculous hairstyle in later issues and so on. The romance of Peter and Gwen in the meantime was unpopular, and ultimately Creator/GerryConway killed off Gwen and made Peter and MJ a couple.
** Marv Wolfman got tired of the Peter/MJ romance that had been going strong for more than fifty issues at that point and saw fit to break it up. He decided to have Peter propose to her and have Mary Jane reject him, which he believed would make readers unsympathetic to her. Of course readers felt that Peter proposed in a cheap way (leaving a ring in a cracker box) in Issue #182-183, and Wolfman himself provided Mary Jane a compelling FreudianExcuse (revealing that her parents were divorced) in Issue #191-192, after which she was PutOnABus. How did that work out? Well exactly 100 issues later she said yes, and got married to him.
** Roger Stern, a writer who liked Mary Jane as a character but didn't think she and Peter were compatible, reintroduced her as a friend in Issue #242 and set up a backstory for her about a broken home and an abandoned sister which hinted at guilt and regrets, as well as family loss. After he left, his basic outline (Mary Jane had known Peter was Spider-Man, her childhood had given her baggage and that her public persona was a mask) was repurposed by Tom [=Defalco=] in Issue #258-260, and this started a new period where they became best friends and confidants, with Mary Jane now proving to be a {{Foil}} for Peter and Spider-Man in having a double life, and this ultimately made them far more compatible than they would have been without this backstory. And in less than 50 issues they got married.
** After they got married, writers came up with bizarre plans since now sinking the ship meant either divorcing them (which made Spider-Man look bad as a family friendly character and also aged him), widowing Peter (which meant making him a FailureHero on such a level that no one could buy him being a quipster or dating again after losing the love-of-his-life, and also aging him). So they tried byzantine plots like ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'', where Peter 'retired' as Spider-Man so that his clone Ben Reilly could take over as the main character. After Ben's death and Peter's return, they tried [[DroppedABridgeOnHim killing MJ in a plane crash]], then had her return but separate from Peter, but it didn't stick as the two patched up their relationship. Then the infamous ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'' storyline broke them up for well over a decade, albeit the manner in which it was done immortalized the pairing since EIC Quesada admitted that he couldn't find any real in-story way to end the relationship that made sense with the characters and backstory and felt it was a corporate decision to keep Spider-Man a KidAppealCharacter.
** In the Post-OMD era, they tried to sink the ship by simply refusing to let it sail. Much time was spent keeping MJ out of the books, having both her and Peter in different relationships, neither of which were compelling or charismatic enough to replace the earlier one. Instead attempts were made to ShipTease them to bring readers in, only to BaitAndSwitch it with gimmicky storylines. [[ComicBook/DanSlottSpiderMan Dan Slott's run]] had Peter's then girlfriend Carlie Cooper and Mary Jane in the wake of ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'' abandon Peter agreeing that the price was too high to be in a relationship with him. Mary Jane transferred over to the ''Iron Man'' books and has only sparingly interacted with Peter since, with their relationship routinely jumping from friendly (Chip Zdarsky) to tense (Slott) DependingOnTheWriter. After Slott left ''ComicBook/NickSpencersSpiderMan'' brought them back together.
** The major problem with sinking the ship is that Mary Jane is Peter's major love interest in most adaptations and in alternate versions such as the Newspaper Strip, the Ultimate Spider-Man titles and she is also the mother of ''ComicBook/SpiderGirl'', Marvel's longest running title for any female character. So popular are they that writer Dan Slott revived them in the alt reality family title ''ComicBook/RenewYourVows'' which sold incredibly well and started a series. In other words, there are rarely any long gaps without some version of Peter and MJ either married or in a romance in some Spider-Man comic or the other.
* After the second Book of the Anathos Cycle in ''ComicBook/LesLegendaires'', fans started elaborating hypothesis about [[GodOfEvil Anathos]] [[DracoInLeatherPants not being as evil as it seems]] and assuming he might have feelings for his [[TheDragon female Dragon]] Dark Jadina (to be fair, most villains in this series are subject to EvenEvilHasLovedOnes, so it might have been partially justified). The author quickly sank the shipping in the next book by revealing Dark Jadina ''was'' indeed kinda Anathos' DarkMistress... only to have him [[YouHaveFailedMe killing her in cold blood after she failed to defeat Jadina]].
* ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'':
** Every new creative team since Vaughn and Alphona's departure from the series has made sure to sink at least one ship during their run. Creator/JossWhedon sank both Nico/Victor by having Nico willingly step aside to let Victor pursue Lillie [=McGurty=], and put a good-sized hole in Nico/Karolina when Karolina tells Nico that Xavin "gives me something you can't."
** Later, Terry Moore all but obliterated Karolina/Xavin by having Xavin take Karolina's place when she was accused of war crimes.
** Kathryn Immonen apparently tried to sink Nico/Chase [[spoiler:by having Chase get hit by a car after possibly running into Gert]], but then the series was cancelled. Nico/Karolina took another broadside, after the Runaways appeared in ''ComicBook/AvengersAcademy'', [[spoiler:which led to Karolina hooking up with Julie Power.]]
* An issue of ''ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}'' seems to do this to all three of his most prominent romantic relationships: he cheats on Jessica who breaks up with him, finally signs divorce papers for his marriage with Bobbi, and Natasha is thought of as his work wife.
* During the ''ComicBook/{{New 52}}'' reboot, DC tried to do this with Franchise/{{Superman}} and Comicbook/LoisLane. It started off with pairing Lois with Jonathan Carroll or trying to set Clark up with her sister, and then Superman dating Franchise/WonderWoman. The torpedo, however seemed to have been launched when [[spoiler: Lois reveals to the public that Clark is really Superman,]] but then they went and and fired a second torpedo [[spoiler:towards ''Wonder Woman''.]] Finally, DC threw their hands up and retconned the whole Superman/Wonder Woman's ship out during the ''Comicbook/DCRebirth'' course-correcting reboot, at the same time restoring the Clark/Lois' marriage.
* Speaking of Rebirth, ComicBook/{{Batman}} and ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} despite having a years worth of wedding bells were hit with a ShippingTorpedo by Creator/TomKing, as Selina fearing marrying Bruce would negate his role as Batman, leaves him [[RunawayBride at the altar]]. The fan response was “[[CriticalBacklash indisposed]]” to say the least, even the InUniverse justification of RoguesGallery planning the Ship Sinking of Batman-Catwoman didn’t mollify fans in the slightest. By the end of ''City of Bane'', however, the ship rose from its grave.
* Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}/[[Comicbook/LegionOfSuperHeroes Brainiac 5]] ship was temporarily sunk in TheEighties when Kara decides to quit the Legion and return to the 20th century. Although she promises to go back, she's killed in ''Comicbook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' shortly after.
* A fandom favorite in Creator/MarvelComics as of recently were between Robbie Reyes, the ComicBook/AllNewGhostRider, and Kamala Khan, the [[ComicBook/MsMarvel2014 All-New Ms. Marvel]], even though they never met. The ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'' one-shot ''Secret Love'' finally makes this both AscendedFanon and this trope when the two team up [[spoiler:and Kamala proceeds to declare them "Crossover Besties 4 Lyfe!", much to the relief of their canon love interests.]]
* ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'':
** WordOfGod is that Johnny Lightfoot had a crush on Amy. Any chance of this ever becoming requited was decimated when [[spoiler:Johnny was KilledOffForReal.]]
** The "End: Sonic" issue of ''Webcomic/SonicTheComicOnline'' was written by one of the original comic's writers and is at minimum semi-canon. It sunk both Sonic/Amy and Shortfuse/Tekno by revealing that ''Amy and Tekno'' are together and [[HasTwoMommies have a son]] named [[DeadGuyJunior "Johnny"]].
* The [[ComicBook/{{Superboy}} Conner Kent]] and [[ComicBook/WonderGirl Cassie Sandsmark]] pairing was officially sunk in Creator/BrianMichaelBendis run of ''ComicBook/YoungJustice2019'' by revealing that Conner [[spoiler: is a married man and farmer with a wife and son on Gemworld.]]
* In the early days of ''ComicBook/{{WITCH}}'', one of the popular pairings was Cornelia and Caleb, which ended up getting sunk after the Nerissa arc with Caleb opting to stay on Kandrakar. Fans were upset at this, especially with a WhatIf special that proclaimed on no certain terms that the two together would never last. While Cornelia would end up with Taranee's brother later on, the [[WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}} cartoon]] would keep the two together.
* ''ComicBook/DoubleDuck'': The Wham Episode "Reboot" has Kay forced back to being a thief by the criminally incompetent Direction, and Donald arrests her.
* ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'': Light Lass (Ayla Ranzz) and Timber Wolf (Brin Londo) were sunk during ''ComicBook/TheGreatDarknessSaga''. Ayla gets sick of being a Legionnaire so she decides to quit the team. Brin is given the option to go with her, but he chooses not to. Ayla'd eventually rejoin the Legion, but she and Brin would never get back together.
* ''ComicBook/AllNewAllDifferentAvengers'':
** Despite the Ship Tease below, nothing seems to be happening between Cap and Thor. After Cap found out she is Jane Foster, she essentially told him that they won't be able to have any relationship, as she's a cancer patient. And in Cap's own comic, he starts a relationship with Misty Knight.
** In-universe, Kamala furiously attempts to torpedo a Fan Fiction featuring a love triangle involving herself, Spidey and Nova.

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* Readers of ''At Soul's Edge'', one of the numerous adaptations of the original plot of ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'', were apparently suggesting the heroine would make a good match with Edwin, who hadn't even appeared in the story so far. The author disagreed. So Edwin made his appearance - the characters happened upon his hanging, which was executed without interruption.
* ''Manga/{{Evangelion 303}}'': Mari seemed initially interested in Shinji, but as soon as she found out that Shinji and Asuka were together she stopped to see him like "possible boyfriend" and started to see him like "way to get Asuka deliciously angry".
* ''Fanfic/{{HERZ}}'': Shinji/Kurumi sank long before the story started when [[spoiler:Kurumi got Shinji drunk and took advantage of him… and Shinji thought she was Asuka through the whole thing.]] After that night he started to avoid Kurumi, and she knew she had lost.
* ''Fanfic/HigherLearning'': Whatever relationship that Misato and Kaoru had crashed down when [[spoiler:Shinji left NERV temporarily]] and Misato blamed Kaoru for it. Their relationship died definitely when [[spoiler:Kaji reunited with Misato after nearly getting assassinated.]]
* ''Fanfic/TheOneILoveIs'': The last scene of the second-to-last chapter sinks [[spoiler:Shinji/Rei. At the end Shinji chooses Asuka and says a relationship between Rei and him would be bad because he would take everything, giving nothing back, and Rei would never complain or protest. He would be using her to run from reality again, and it would be unfair to her.]]
* ''Fanfic/NobodyDies'' sinks Shinji/Rei in VERY short order when it's made clear that this Rei is...not all there, and was raised by Yui and Gendo, technically making her Shinji's half-sister (a fact never stated in the story).
* Subverted in ''Fanfic/KyonBigDamnHero''. Kyon has accepted he has some feelings beyond friendship for all girls in the SOS Brigade but has refused to take the initiative on any of them (his ArrangedMarriage [[spoiler:and the kisses received from all of the girls from the brigade]] adding extra pressure doesn't help). Yuki comments "It is not ... mutual" when Kyon stayed to comfort her (Yuki had to save Kyon of something that makes her afraid). After Kyon's answer, who believed she was talking about their relationship and even had to give ''himself'' a BetterAsFriends inner monologue, Yuki explains that she really wanted to say is her own actions aren't on par of what she expected Kyon to do.
* Deliberately done in ''Fanfic/UltimateSpiderWoman: Change With The Light'' when Mary Jane Watson and Peter Parker realize their shared origins. They feel a special LikeBrotherAndSister bond, and wonder if they could have gotten together... and then they burst out laughing at the sheer idiocy of the idea.
* In ''Fanfic/WhiteDevilOfTheMoon'', Nanoha/Yuuno is ruled out as an option when it is mentioned that Nanoha and Yuuno have drifted apart over the years because of how busy they were at their respective jobs. Later, [[spoiler:Nanoha/Mamoru]] gets sunk when [[spoiler:Nanoha's date with him goes poorly, and after visiting the moon and rejecting her past life as Princess Serenity, Nanoha and Fate kiss. The WhereAreTheyNow ending also hints at Yuuno/Ami]].
* Meanwhile in ''Fanfic/BloodThatFlows'', the premise pretty much involves Lina not being paired with any one of the ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' cast in order [[AnthropicPrinciple to make Lina marry Shiro and become the biological mother of Nanoha]]. [[PairTheSpares Gourry does get paired with Sylphiel as consolidation.]] Later, fan favorite pairing Filia/Xellos got tossed aside.
* ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/53678/the-elder-scrolls-equestria The Elder Scrolls: Equestria]]''. Depending on your point of view, it might have one of the most heartwarming ship sinks out there. Shae confesses that she loves Caro. The feeling is mutual, and they share an embrace... but the narration makes it clear they do so as friends and nothing more. And given that's their most intimate interaction in the whole story, we can consider that ship dead and buried.
* ''Fanfic/WhatAboutWitchQueen'' has some ShipTease between [[OriginalCharacter Prince Ferdinand]] and Anna. It sinks this ship in scene when TheyDo is most probable - the former is naked in the bathtub, the latter sits next to him, dressed only in bed quilt. Then Anna states that she still misses Kristoff and Ferdinand admits that he's gay.
* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has had [[Creator/NimbusLlewelyn the author]] periodically shoot down hopeful ships, usually in the Author Notes, and doing so early in the second book with Harry and Hermione - Harry was repeatedly noted to be about as attracted to Hermione as he is to mould (mostly because he rarely even notices that she's female), and Hermione herself laughs at the idea. Instead, both of them [[ShipperOnDeck ship]] each other with Carol and Krum/Ron respectively (Harry was an advocate for Ron and Hermione getting together, but mostly just wants her to be happy).
** Harry, meanwhile, acts as the author's ShippingTorpedo for Clark/Lana, pointing out that by Clark's own admittance, Lana has never shown any real romantic interest in him and is happy with her boyfriend, who is good to her (being a JerkWithAHeartOfGold). He also calls out Clark's DoggedNiceGuy behaviour based on WrongGenreSavvy (Clark thinks he's the romantic hero of the LoveTriangle. He isn't), and an ashamed Clark admits that he's right.
* In ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'', Rei's chances to hook up with Shinji or having a three-ways relationship with him and Asuka went away when [[spoiler:an EldritchAbomination possessed her and forced her to rape Asuka.]]
* In ''Fanfic/OneYear'', not only are all pairings between [[VideoGame/{{Persona 4}} Yu and Yukiko]] (and later, [[BetaCouple Kanji and Naoto]]) and people besides each other ruled out by their becoming couples, but a few pairings are sunk apart from that.
** Yu reveals that when Nanako made him accept her ChildhoodMarriagePromise in the ending, he'd been put on the spot, and hoped she'd grow out of it.
** When Chie learns that Kou likes her, she admits that she's flattered, but notes that there's no way the relationship will work out if Kou can't even talk to her.
** Rise's career as an IdolSinger, which preludes anything that even ''suggests'' that the idol is in a relationship, essentially precludes any possibility of them having a relationship.
* Discussed in [[Fanfic/TheInfiniteLoops the Winx Loops]] when Bloom and Diaspro say that they are not going to get together.
* ''Fanfic/{{Embers}}'': Zuko/Mai is no more in this fic, and Aang/Katara is Left Hanging in a precarious position.
* In ''FanFic/ToHellAndBackArrowverse'' the author preemptively sunk all [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]] ships, all Tommy ships, [[ComicBook/GreenArrow Oliver]]/Felicity, and Oliver/Sara, and also confirmed that there would be no combination of Oliver, Barry or Kara getting involved as they all see each other as siblings.
* ''Fanfic/BringMeToLife'' ends Buffy/Spike for good when Buffy admits that, every time she and Spike had sex, she was actually thinking of Angel; she clarifies that she does ''care'' about Spike, but she'll only ever truly love Angel.
* The author of ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'' sinks traditional ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' couple [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]]/[[ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} Querl]] in the first chapter in order to make way for [[CrackShip Kara/Dev]].
* In ''Fanfic/ShinjiAndWarhammer40K'', Shinji/Minase was killed by Minase rejecting him and deep-sixed by Shinji going to Tokyo-3. Nowadays Shinji is being chased by Asuka, Rei, Maya, Mana... and Minase is nothing but a temporary childhood crush.
* ''Fanfic/TheStalkingZukoSeries'', while always intended to be a Zutara fic, also follows TheStationsOfTheCanon, at least until the time comes to sink [[OfficialCouple Kataang and Maiko]].
** In Kataang's case, Katara often only seems to put up with Aang because he's the Avatar, rather than out of love or friendship, and she gets ''very'' cross with him for seemingly abandoning the Gaang just before the FinalBattle, as well as causing problems for Zuko by not killing Ozai. However, late in the fic, Katara is told that her best choice is to marry a respectable person, with the best choices being [[JerkAss Hahn]] (the son of the Chief of the Northern Water Tribe) or Aang (the Avatar). This leads to Katara kissing Aang, but Aang, realizing he isn't ready for the sexual aspect of a relationship, gives up on Katara.
** Around the same time, Zuko, who'd gotten back together with Mai for the sake of honor, learns that Mai had spied on him for Azula. Not long after this comes to light, the two break up.
* ''Fanfic/TheManyDatesOfDannyFenton'' (''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' WesternAnimation, [[{{Series}} TV Series]], and ComicBooks.): Not all of Danny's dates are winners, and a few he has no desire to even be friends with.
** [[WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor Cree Lincoln]] seemed nice, but her beating up children caused Danny to reject her immediately.
** Vicky from ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', being a greedy psychopath who hurts kids for fun, causes Danny to give her the lowest score possible.
** [[WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}} Katie Kaboom]] is madly in love with him, but her monstrous transformations when angry and incredibly clingy interest in him causes Danny to be genuinely afraid of her.
* ''Fanfic/TheRedDragonsSaber'': In this crossover, [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Artoria Pendragon]] gets summoned as [[LightNovel/HighSchoolDxD Issei Hyoudou's]] Servant. After several readers repeatedly asked the author about their eventual relationship, the author clarified that Artoria is still in love with Shirou Emiya and is patiently waiting to be reunited with him, so she will not join Issei's harem and will only serve and protect him.
* ''Fanfic/BlackbirdArrow'': Oliver/Sara dies a brutal, painful death after Oliver finds out that Sara let her mother trade Laurel to the League of Assassins in exchange for Sara's freedom. The two can barely stand to be in each other's presence now, and when they aren't fighting they're ignoring each other as much as possible, due to Oliver's anger and Sara's guilt at her role in events.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2795449/1/Abomi Abomi]]", Terra Prime create a human/Vulcan hybrid using Archer's DNA rather than Trip's. As a result of T'Pol instinctively forming a telepathic bond with her child's father, the mating bond she had been tentatively forming with Trip is broken in favour of the bond with Archer, and even after [[spoiler:the child dies]], Archer and T'Pol find themselves contemplating the possibilities of a new relationship between them.
* Over the course of the ''Fanfic/TwilightStorm'' series, Bella experiences various encounters that prompt her to take a look at who she was when she was with Edward and realise that she actually doesn't like what she became, so utterly consumed by her desire to be with Edward that she would have abandoned basically everything else in her life. As a result, when she finally returns to Forks, even after Edward explains his reasons for breaking up with her, Bella refuses to get back together, although she does confirm that she wants to still be friends with the Cullen family.
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12704351/4/The-Phantom-and-the-Witch The Phantom and the Witch]]'' sees [[WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom Danny Fenton]] forming a relationship with his new neighbour [[Franchise/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch Sabrina Spellman]]; the author notes that Sabrina comes into Danny's life around the time in the original series when Danny's friend Sam Manson was starting to realise her own deeper feelings for Danny, but by the time that 'Danny Phantom' and the ''Hooded Enchantress' (Sabrina's provisional superhero identity) join forces to go after Pariah Dark, Sam is shown accepting their relationship as [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy she knows that Sabrina is interested in Danny for the right reasons]].
* ''Fanfic/LegendOfTheMonkeyGod'': Yamcha (accidentally) spying on Bulma naked then attempting to use his apology to track her down and steal the dragonballs from her and Goku permanently kills any budding interest she had in the bandit.
* ''Fanfic/DanceWithTheDemons'' decisively torpedoes Bruce/Talia. Not only does Batman marry Catwoman but also declares his relationship with Talia is over.
* Creator/TeamFourStar's ''VideoGame/DragonBallXenoverse2'' OC Puddin was confirmed to be [[ExtremeOmnisexual omnisexual]] by the guys...but when the audience started shipping her with their friend Creator/MasakoX's ''Xenoverse'' OC Paata, Creator/{{Lanipator}} quickly and decisively said it wasn't gonna happen.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''Franchise/{{Frozen}}'':
** The sheer brutality of the [[EvilAllAlong main plot twist]] in ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' did this to the [[spoiler:Hans/Anna]] ship, and by extension, every other [[spoiler:Hans]]-related ship. Essentially, [[spoiler:Hans reveals [[ItsAllAboutMe he only ever cared about getting the throne]], and Anna was the easier sister to seduce. He then explains how now that she's dying, all he needs to do is kill Elsa to end the winter and become a VillainWithGoodPublicity.]] Said EvilGloating is done with a smug, satisfied smile. WordOfGod confirms that the character in question is and always was a sociopath.
** Reinforced in ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'', when the protagonists are playing charades and [[spoiler:Anna's attempt to mime "villain" prompts her to identify "Hans" as a clue, with Elsa identifying Hans as "Irredeemable Monster"]].
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'':
** The Twilight Sparkle×Flash Sentry ship sunk in ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsLegendOfEverfree Legend of Everfree]]''. Flash [[DoppelgangerReplacementLoveInterest transfers his affections]] to [[AlternateSelf the human Twilight Sparkle]] who's creeped out by this and gets a different love interest soon after. Sunset Shimmer confronts Flash over how unhealthy this is and convinces him to move on from Princess Twilight, as their living in another dimension and being busy such [[DemotedToExtra she no longer visits]] means a relation is unlikely to work out. Flash has since had ShipTease with Sunset.
** While Spike×Rarity gets tease in [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic the parent series]], WordOfGod has [[https://twitter.com/iGeorgeGarza/status/1132723858258030593 stated]] that Spike being a dog in this world precludes anything romantic with human Rarity.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* For people who haven't read the books, the scene in ''Film/JurassicParkIII'' between Ellie's kid and Alan was a major blow when we discover he is not the father.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'' did this to a certain extent with Luke and Leia (partly because George Lucas had yet to make several crucial writing decisions when he created A New Hope). The [[Film/ANewHope first film]] left the possibility that Leia would end up with either Luke or Han open. In the [[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack second movie]], it became obvious that Leia and Han were the central romance, despite the ever-infamous and literal [[KissingCousins Kissing Siblings]] scene. (In-between the two films, Lucas plotted out a possible second film that also included shipping between Luke and Leia; it was later adapted as the novel ''Splinter of the Mind's Eye''; other spin-off media, such as comics, carried on assuming that Luke and Leia were the {{OTP}}). In the [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi third movie]] Lucas sprung the family relation card on Luke and Leia, revealing them to be secret twins! It's safe to say this sunk Luke/Leia permanently (while adding {{Squick}} elements to the first two films as a result).
** ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' gets a subversion. Han left Leia after [[spoiler:their son, Ben "Kylo Ren"]], went to the Dark Side. Han reunites with her briefly, but by the end of the film [[spoiler:is murdered by Kylo Ren]]. It appears as though Han/Leia is done for good, but the two were still very much in love while separated, so it could be debated whether or not this was an actual ship "sinking".
** Finn/Rey developed a small but devoted fanbase after the release of ''The Force Awakens'', with fans interested in seeing an interracial couple depicted in a franchise as big as ''Star Wars''; the character's final scene together [[spoiler: in which Rey speaks tenderly to an unconscious Finn about seeing him again and kissing him on the forehead]] didn't help. Despite the actors stating more than once that Finn and Rey were only friends, the fans persisted; it wasn't until John Boyega's [[http://variety.com/2016/film/news/star-wars-episode-viii-darker-bigger-john-boyega-1201774027/ Cannes 2016 interview]] that the ship was finally sunk. Boyega clarified once more that Finn and Rey are just friends who did not share romantic interests and ended with a statement that the romance in the next installment would not go in the direction some fans might suspect, prefacing with ''another'' reminder that Rey and Finn are ''only friends''. ''Film/TheLastJedi'' lives up to this, with Finn and Rey being separated for almost all the film and getting ShipTease with Rose and Kylo, respectively.
** Finn/Poe shippers got a crushing blow when, in an interview given after Star Wars Celebration, Boyega confirmed Stormpilot won't become canon either. See above.
** Reylo (Rey/Kylo Ren) in ''Film/TheLastJedi'' when [[spoiler:they can't reach an agreement on what to do after tag-teaming to kill Snoke: Kylo wants them to rule the galaxy together, she wants them to destroy the First Order and join the Resistance together. They briefly engage in a fight before going their separate ways, committing to opposite sides in the war. Rey sparing him and his conflicted gaze on her at the end suggests they still care, but they certainly aren't getting together anytime soon. Later, despite sharing a kiss, the ship sinks for good when Kylo finally dies.]]
* If you liked the weird romance between Stu and Jade in the first ''[[Film/TheHangover Hangover]]'' film, the [[Film/TheHangoverPartII sequel]] will disappoint you.
* ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'' had Janine having feelings for Egon, although by the time of the [[Film/GhostbustersII second film]], she's moved on to be interested in Louis. This is due to the fact that Creator/HaroldRamis [[WordOfGod found the idea of Janine and Egon together to be too "mawkish"]],[[note]]"feebly, sickly, and/or childishly sentimental"[[/note]] and thus sunk the idea of pairing them together in the sequel. Didn't stop them from expressing their feelings in the [[WesternAnimation/ExtremeGhostbusters animated series]]
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse
** Hawkeye/Black Widow was a major ship ever since ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}''. It was completely and utterly sunk in ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', partly due to the developing Widow/Banner relationship, but mostly due to [[spoiler:the reveal that Hawkeye has a wife and two kids, with a third on the way. They remain LikeBrotherAndSister, however, and the rest of Hawkeye's family loves her just as much. The kids refer to Widow as "Auntie Nat," and the third was named after her]]. Heck, any major ships involving Banner, Hawkeye or Black Widow were completely and utterly sunk in the span of about two hours. Examples include Banner/Betty (the latter of whom hasn't appeared in an MCU film since 2008's ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk''), Hawkeye/Mockingbird (Mockingbird was instead relegated to a supporting character in ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', with Lance Hunter replacing Clint as her love interest), and Black Widow/Captain America (who are completely platonic).
** In another twist, ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' sinks Banner/Black Widow with their only on screen moment being a awkward hello and signs they’ve both gotten over each other since Ultron, with no attempt to further their relationship. [[WordOfGod Anthony Russo weighed in saying]], "Look, he disappeared for two years. She's [[ActionGirl pretty self-sufficient]], she didn't wait around for him. There's sort of unspoken truth that there's need to be a spoken resolution". Some fans weren’t fussed about the ship sinking, feeling the Banner/Black Widow relationship felt very forced in retrospect to them on Creator/JossWhedon’s part.
** Despite two movies that featured their relationship as a central plot point, Film/{{Thor}}/Jane Foster was sunk in ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', with the God of Thunder mentioning offhandedly that there was “mutual dumping" between that film and ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld''. The OutOfUniverse explanation for this is that Creator/NataliePortman had no interest in returning as Jane after Creator/PattyJenkins, who was originally attached to direct ''The Dark World'' (whom Portman personally vouched for), departed the project over creative differences. Since Jane was already seen as TheScrappy to a lot of fans, this wasn’t a major cause of upset, and thus Thor moved on with a new {{implied love interest}} in Valkyrie, while Kevin Feige confirmed his other {{ship tease}} ComicBook/LadySif is still out there somewhere.
*** [[spoiler: In another twist Jane is back for ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder'' which reignites potential romance]].
** Poor Peter and Liz in ''Film/SpidermanHomecoming'' [[spoiler: as their potential relationship is sunk when it’s revealed Liz’s father is The Vulture and Peter has to leave Liz at the prom to stop him as Spider-Man. While bittersweet it’s fitting as Peter and Liz also failed to hook up in the comics and really a lot of high school romances don’t work out]]. Spidey has moved on in ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome'' with a new interest in Michelle, much to the disappointment of Spider-Man/Shuri shippers.
*** There's also Aunt May's comment about not liking Tony Stark, which negates their brief {{ship tease}} from ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' and Pepper returns in the ending anyway. In ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome'' May dates Tony's bodyguard, Happy Hogan but it’s left ambiguous and doubtful whether it’s an actual serious relationship between them.
** The Russo Brothers sent another ShippingTorpedo to Cap and Sharon Carter aka Agent 13 in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' [[spoiler: as through TimeTravel Cap returns to his old flame Peggy Carter in the GoldenEnding.]] Since fans were fairy {{Squick}}-ed out at Cap kissing his former’s love niece, there were no real complaints though it makes you wonder why Cap/Sharon needed to be a thing in the first place.
** Endgame also proved to be the final, decisive nail in the coffin for Romanogers fans, due to the ending mentioned for Captain America above as well as Black Widow’s unalterable death on Vormir.
* In ''Film/TheHungerGamesMockingjayPart1'', Katniss confirms out loud that she's in love with [[spoiler:Peeta, thus sinking the Galeniss ship]]. And if that didn't sink it, then the revelation in ''Film/TheHungerGamesMockingjayPart2'' that [[spoiler: Gale may have had a hand in creating bombs that killed several innocent citizens, including ''Katniss's little sister'']] definitely did.

[[folder:Literature]]
* In Tamora Pierce's ''[[Literature/TortallUniverse Provost]]'' series, the [[spoiler: Beka/Rosto]] ship favorite is sunk in a big way when she ends up falling (really quickly) for a completely new character, [[spoiler: Farmer]], effectively nulling all the delicious [[ShipTease ship flaunting]] from the first and second books. While the new LoveInterest is perfectly acceptable (even likable), the fandom is still in hysterics.
* Louis and Lestat from ''Literature/TheVampireChronicles.'' After becoming super religious after a death in the family, Anne Rice had all Vampire Chronicles fanfiction removed from Fanfiction.net, had Lestat date the Queen for awhile, then pawned Louis off to a witch with Lestat's blessing. She also did this to Marius, who ended up with neither Armand nor Pandora.
* In Naomi Novik's ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'' series, despite the vocal Laurence/Emily Roland shipping presence on Website/DeviantART, this ship is sunk when [[spoiler: Emily displays clear romantic affections for Demane in ''Crucible of Gold'']]. Not that the ship wasn't creepy to begin with.
** The [[HoYay Laurence/Granby ship]] also takes a broadside in ''Crucible of Gold'', when Iskierka [[spoiler:blithely outs Granby to Laurence by revealing his relationship with Captain Little, to Granby's dismay.]] Laurence, being a 19th century British sea captain, is familiar enough with homosexuality as a concept [[DeliberateValuesDissonance but has a hell of a time reconciling his knowledge of Granby's good character with the new knowledge that the man is an admitted "invert".]] In the end, though, reconcile it he does, [[spoiler:but it becomes clear that Granby and Little are still in a relationship]].
* In ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'''s first three books, Bella comes to love Jacob and even agonizes over whether to choose him or Edward. Although it's pretty obvious she'd end up with the vampire, there is some tension in the third book. At the very least, the huge Jacob fandom hoped for some sort of relationship before the inevitable. Then the ship was totally torpedoed in the fourth book [[spoiler:when Jacob imprints (soul-mate, true-love, only-one-for-him recognition) on Bella's infant daughter. Bella's ''[[{{Squick}} infant]]'' daughter.]]
* In ''Literature/LittleWomen'', Creator/LouisaMayAlcott deliberately sank the Jo/Laurie ship; "I won't marry Jo to Laurie to please anybody," she wrote in her diary. Jo March's marriage to Professor Bhaer in ''Little Women'' is a confirmed Authorial TakeThat to Jo/Laurie shippers. Alcott showed NO mercy to her fans' demands of having Jo marry Laurie -- a LikeBrotherAndSister speech, an IllGirl who chases all thoughts of other love from Jo's mind, Jo marrying her ''other'' best male friend and beta-reader (the aforementioned Bhaer) when she's "back", and a LastMinuteHookUp for Laurie with Jo's ''[[TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry little sister]]'' Amy. According to the Introduction to the Penguin Classics edition of the book, Louisa May Alcott wrote the following to a friend, Alf Whitman:
-->'''Alcott''': "Jo [[CelibateHero should have remained a literary spinster]], but [[MisaimedFandom so many enthusiastic young ladies wrote to me]] [[FanDumb clamorously demanding that she marry Laurie, or somebody]], that I didn't dare refuse and out of perversity went and made a funny match for her. I expect vials of wrath to be poured out upon my head, [[TrollingCreator but rather enjoy the prospect.]]"
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** Creator/JKRowling had to do this ''thrice'' for the Harry/Hermione ship. First, in an interview about the possible pairing, Rowling said she didn't think they were suited for each other. Secondly in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince Half Blood Prince]]'', with Harry/Ginny and Hermione/Ron becoming canon (and then the internet exploded). To drive the nail in the coffin, the last book has Harry giving the "LikeBrotherAndSister" speech to Ron, right after a scene in which Harry and Hermione appear as an evil illusion intended entirely to enrage Ron into attacking Harry. And it uses frequent [[PortmanteauCoupleName Harmonian]] arguments, at that.
** The Pottermore Lupin biography led to much wailing and gnashing of teeth by Sirius/Remus shippers, when it omitted any mention of Remus/Sirius at all from the story of Lupin's life.
** Luna/Neville took a torpedo after ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'' was published. When asked about the seeming rapport that the "two misfits" of the Order had, JKR said that she had no plans to make that a pairing, noting that she thought Luna was far too weird for Neville's comfort levels. WordOfGod post-series sunk it even harder, as Neville and Luna end up with different people. The last movie makes Luna/Neville canon, one of the few major book/movie relationship differences - until even ''that'' got sunk, when Matthew Lewis (who plays Neville) stated that the film's pairing was just a "summer fling", and that both characters did eventually move on to their canon pairings.
** Draco Malfoy and his fellow Slytherin girlfriend, [[AlphaBitch Pansy Parkinson]]. Rowling stated that Draco went on to marry Astoria Greengrass, a Slytherin girl two years his junior who never appeared in the books.
** Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater; according to Rowling, Percy married a woman named Audrey who also was not seen in the books.
** Ron/Lavender Brown was sunk in the books themselves. Initially a popular BetaCouple among shippers of Harry/Hermione even though [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight there was little interaction between them in the books]], in ''Half Blood Prince'' Lavender briefly becomes Ron's girlfriend and rapidly turns into a StalkerWithACrush, becoming wildly jealous over his poorly-hidden feelings for Hermione. This did seem to have the desired effect of [[AbandonShipping putting fans off the ship]].
** Then there's the Harry/Cho ship, whose sinking unfolds for all readers to see. Harry starts crushing on Cho Chang during ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban''. During Order of the Phoenix, they actually go on a date, but their views towards the other's friend, combined with how each of them copes with emotional turmoil (both their own and the other's) cause a fallout that leaves them parting on bad terms, By the end of the same book, that ship was sent to a watery grave, never to resurface.
* ''Literature/GoneWithTheWind'': ... now that you mention it, probably every potential ship involving Scarlett, all very painfully. Proof that beauty doesn't guarantee true OfficialCouple status?
* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'':
** A possible relationship between Minerva Paradizo and Artemis Fowl seems particularly well-sunk, as she is barely mentioned in the two books since her introduction. In order to send the ship straight to the bottom, Colfer said on Twitter that she would not be appearing in book 7, as she was "involved with a skier in the Alpes Maritime at the moment and only has eyes for him."
** Fan-favorite pairing, Artemis Fowl II and Holly Short, is treated rather inconsistently by Colfer. [[spoiler:They kiss]] in book 6 and book 7 is very focused on [[spoiler:Artemis's feelings for Holly, with the book description itself playing up "embarrassing professions of love to a certain feisty [=LEPrecon=] fairy."]] yet Colfer has said, as the final book approaches, that Artemis and Holly will not end up together.
** Trouble/Holly was torpedoed in the eighth book, when it's revealed that they were thrown out of a crunchball match on their third date and promptly broke up. [[spoiler:And then Trouble started dating ''Lili Frond'', and has been for a while, apparently]].
* Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse:
** The authors are split into two major factions: those who approve of Jedi in love, and those who disapprove of Jedi in love. Since any author is allowed to write about any character, an anti-love author can respond to any pairing [[ArmedWithCanon with the power of canon behind them]]. The marriage between Leia and Han is untouchable, but any other Jedi who fall in love will -- without exception -- fall to the dark side, die, suffer the loss of their love interest, go insane, and/or worse. The most maligned is probably [[spoiler:Mara Jade]]'s death in ''Literature/LegacyOfTheForce'', sinking a pairing that had been around for more than a decade and very popular from the get go.
** The ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' novels ''Conquest'' and ''Rebirth'' built a lot of potential romance between Anakin Solo and his childhood friend Tahiri Veila, right down Anakin giving Tahiri her FirstKiss, ''except'' that in the next novel ''Star by Star'' Anakin is killed.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** Harry/Luccio, at the end of ''Turn Coat''.
** Harry/Susan is also looking unlikely after [[spoiler:the former is forced to kill the latter to destroy the Red Court at]] the end of ''Changes''.
* ''[[Literature/CircleOfMagic The Will of the Empress]]'' spent so much effort on sinking ships between Briar and any of the girls, you'd think these ships were out when Tris decided to play with some hurricanes.
* Stephanie Barron did it via a previously unmentioned and unexpected love interest for Lord Harold in ''Jane and the Stillroom Maid.'' Still bitter.
* In ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'', the Percy/Rachel ship is sunk [[spoiler:in the final book, when Rachel realizes that her attraction to Percy was [[LovingAShadow mostly due to her destiny]] in becoming Camp Half-Blood's new Oracle. It works out fine, since Percy and Annabeth have their RelationshipUpgrade not long after.]]
* ''Literature/ThePendragonAdventure'' sets up Bobby/Loor only to knock it down a few books later.
* Though it ''is'' a CrackPairing [[spoiler:[=JayxStick=]]] of ''Literature/WarriorCats'' accumulated quite a fandom. In ''The Fourth Apprentice'', [[spoiler:Jayfeather breaks the stick]]. WordOfGod says that [[spoiler:[=JayxStick=] was a romance and therefore it had to be doomed like many other romances in the series.]]
* Much to the surprise and sadness of the series' fans, ''Literature/{{Inkdeath}}'' brutally took down [[spoiler:''Meggie and Farid'', who had already achieved OfficialCouple status in the previous book. Instead, they paired Meggie up with some inventor guy who hadn't even been mentioned in the previous books and had almost no importance to the plot. Then they made it seem, intentionally or not, as though Meggie picked him instead BecauseDestinySaysSo.]]
* The [[MindlinkMates Lifebonding]] of Dirk and Talia in ''Arrow's Fall'' , third novel of the ''Arrows'' trilogy of the ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' series, officially shot down any hope of Skif and Talia hooking up, setting their LikeBrotherAndSister promise firmly in stone.
* Many fans of the ''Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant'' series watched the buildup of [[ShipTease ship hints]] between Tanith Low and Ghastly Bespoke with growing enthusiasm. Then, in the fifth book, when it was beginning to seem like Ghanith would become canon...[[spoiler: a Remnant possessed Tanith (possibly for good), leading her to run off with Billy Ray Sanguine.]] The shippers were displeased.
* Aragorn/Éowyn got torpedoed in ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Return of the King]]''. Éowyn's LadyOfWar and [[DoggedNiceGuy Dogged Nice Girl]] qualities are no match for Arwen - LoveInterest, WorldsMostBeautifulWoman, and InterspeciesRomance. Unlike most modern ship sinking, this torpedo is vital to the plot: [[spoiler:Aragorn himself says she's LovingAShadow as he's trying to heal her massive injuries, and he's proved right when she doesn't wake up from her subsequent coma when Aragorn calls out for her, but hearing her brother Éomer call out for her is what brings her back since she knows him well and loves her like the kind brother he is, instead of loving ''an image'' of him like in Aragon's case.]] Also, [[spoiler: she ends up [[BetaCouple falling in love with]] Faramir once they get to know and love each other for the persons they actually are.]]
* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': ''Mockingjay'' kills off Katniss/Gale with authority when [[spoiler:President Coin orders a FalseFlagOperation, which Gale had previously suggested, that kills Katniss' kid sister Prim]]. Observant fans will notice that the ship begins to sink as early as the first half of ''Catching Fire'' when Katniss follows up her scene of seemingly choosing Gale by going to bed and wishing Peeta was there to hold her. It takes another serious blow in ''Mockingjay'' when Katniss declares that [[spoiler:if she can't have Peeta she wants to kill Snow and then die herself, rather than move on and be with Gale.]]
* Mommy and Hunter are two points of a LoveTriangle in Literature/TheFireUsTrilogy, but are so incredibly [[{{Squick}} squicked out]] after receiving TheTalk that they can hardly even bear to look at each other for most of the third book. In spite of this, by the end it appears that their freindship, at least, is almost certainly salvageable.
* ''Literature/{{GONE}}'' Caine and Diana had a pretty passionate- and large - fandom, in spite of, or perhaps paritally ''because'' they were are both [[UnholyMatrimony villains in love]], and appeared to be [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes redeeming each other and bringing out the humanity in the other]], especially in ''LIES''...Then Caine spends the next book [[spoiler:lying to Diana for sex, betraying her, threatening to ''rape'' her and then bragging to the entire town about it. Diana then leaves him when she realises she's pregnant, and doesn't want Caine anywhere near her baby.]]
* ''Literature/BridgetJones'': Anyone hoping for Bridget to end up with Daniel Cleaver had their ship sunk at the end of the second book, where Mark Darcy asks her to move abroad with him. Bridget/Mark was then sunk by the ''third'' book where Bridget is Mark's widow after he died five years previously ([[spoiler:and by the end of the book, Bridget is common-law married to another man and has adopted his children]]), causing fans to become furious when the news leaked on the internet before the book's release.
* The ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' Tiffany Aching novels: Despite occasional moments of jealousy towards Roland's fiancée, by ''Literature/IShallWearMidnight'' Tiffany is very fed up with the [[ShipperOnDeck Shippers on Deck]] who think that just because they're both different (she's a witch, he's the duke's heir) that means they're the same. She reconciles with Letitia, and begins a relationship with a castle guard who's smarter than he appears.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'':
** TheReveal of Peter and Claire being related came almost immediately after the Peter/Claire ship was reaching full-steam.
** During the finale of Season 4, Hiro's girlfriend Charlie who was sent back in time is revealed to have grown old, married and had a family. Even Hiro himself admitted that the relationship was wonderful while it lasted, but otherwise done.
* On ''Series/{{Glee}}'', Finchel (Finn/Rachel), once one of the most popular ships in the fandom, was instantly sunk by the sudden death of Cory Monteith, who played Finn Hudson, from a drug overdose. Lea Michele, who played Rachel and was dating Monteith at the time, and producer Ryan Murphy both agreed to also kill Finn off in the show, and the entire cast honored Monteith and Finn's character in a special memorial episode. In the episode, Rachel also laments that she had always planned on marrying Finn and having kids with him, but now she would never get the opportunity to, verifying that Finchel was indeed planned as canon before Monteith's demise.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** The Franchise/{{Buffyverse}} as a whole has a weird relationship with Buffy/Angel in that it keeps pulling out things to get in the way and make it seem more likely that they will never end up together, but still maintains that the two of them have a frankly invincible mutual attraction when in close proximity to each other. First, they have sex and Angel turns evil. Then Buffy kills evil!Angel and sends him to hell, just as he's transformed back into good!Angel. Then he comes back but can't stay with her because he feels like she'd be wasting her life with him, and so leaves town. Then, on ''Angel'', the two come to a very serious (almost physical) confrontation over what to do about Faith when she escapes to LA, seriously hurting any kind of lingering friendship. Angel arrives in Sunnydale with tension between him and Riley. Buffy and Angel make up, only for their to be a [[RomanticFalseLead immediate reaffirmation of the Buffy/Riley relationship]]. Over the next few years they barely interact and are paired off with other love interests. Despite all this, Joss teases the possibility of future Buffy/Angel in the Season 7 finale with a funny cookie metaphor. And in the GrandFinale of the Season Eight comics, [[spoiler:they are both endowed with superpowers by the universe so that they can have crazy, flying sex in order to create a new, "better" universe, which they then abandon to save their friends, but which comes back after them with a vengeance, [[DerailingLoveInterests possesses Angel, and makes him murder Giles right in front of Buffy's eyes]]. Un-possessed Angel was being rehabilitated by Faith, and Buffy couldn't even bring herself to look at him.]] Later on in Season 10 Buffy [[spoiler: enters a serious relationship with Spike]] while Angel is sidelined with IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy and accepts them as friends. [[CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds This might have ''finally'' sunk the ship for good]], but who can really tell with these two.
** ''Buffy'' Season 8 issue #15: Buffy isn't Willow's type. ''Damn!''
*** The comic also showed Buffy [[UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo having feelings for Xander]]. Turns out he's dating Dawn, though.
*** Buffy/Satsu in the season 8 comics (despite the mixed signals), since Buffy [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies doesn't want anyone to get hurt because of her]] and is [[NoBisexuals firmly stated be straight]]. She also starts having feelings for Xander. She eventually decides that the reason why she was interested in either of them was because [[SituationalSexuality there were few options available]], as she hadn't had much social contact with anyone other than her [[TrueCompanions friends/family]] and the [[ActionGirl other slayers]] for a long time.
** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E6BandCandy Band Candy]]", Giles and Joyce have sex while under the influence of candy that causes them to act like teenagers. It kills any and all sexual tension between them, despite the fact that Giles is effectively Buffy's surrogate father.
** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E22GraduationDayPart2 Graduation, Part 2]]", Wesley and Cordelia (who have been infatuated with one another since they met) finally kiss. The kiss is awkward enough to wipe out half a season's worth of chemistry, and when the two of them end up on ''Angel'' together, they hardly ever so much as flirt again and they end up with a LikeBrotherAndSister relationship.
** Willow/Xander sinks after Willow finally chooses Oz (who she previously [[YourCheatingHeart cheated on]] with Xander). Cordelia refuses to forgive Xander for the cheating, so Xander/Cordy is also out. Willow/Oz got sunk when Oz gets PutOnABus and when Willow chose [[SuddenlySexuality Tara]] over him when TheBusCameBack.
** [[DerailingLoveInterests Buffy/Riley]] when she catches him essentially seeing vampire prostitutes in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E10IntoTheWoods Into the Woods]]", followed by him giving her an ultimatum and then literally leaving the show when she didn't agree to it, followed by him [[TheBusCameBack showing up again in]] "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E15AsYouWere As You Were]]" with a ''wife''. Then again, considering who [[TheScrappy Riley]] is, this was seen more as a good thing than not.
* In the fifth season of ''Series/{{Angel}}'', Fred hooking up with Wesley sank any possibility of Spike/Fred ever happening, even though [[ShipTease there was some subtext that supported it]]. But when [[BodySnatcher Illyria]] came on the scene, it suddenly became plausible again.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** The new series is a strange mixture of both ship teasing and sinking, resulting from the change of focus to the relationships between the characters while still being influenced by the NoHuggingNoKissing policy of the original series. After Rose spent two seasons as the Doctor's ImpliedLoveInterest, she was trapped in an AlternateUniverse with no hope of return. The end of season 4 [[spoiler:has them briefly reunited]], but then the Doctor [[spoiler:fobs her off with a half-human clone of himself and leaves her again]], in a spectacular example of confirming ''and'' sinking a ship ''simultaneously''.
** The Eleventh Doctor's first series effectively shoots down the much-teased Doctor/Amy pairing in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E13TheBigBang The Big Bang]]" when Amy and Rory marry, and River hints that she is or will be the Doctor's wife. With the very unexpected revelation that [[spoiler:River Song is the daughter of Amy and Rory]] in series six, the Doctor/Amy ship is very, ''very'' thoroughly sunk as Amy becomes his mother-in-law. (Not that this prevented the Doctor from kissing father-in-law Rory later on...)
** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time]]" sank Martha/Tom Milligan, which had become a popular Ship Mates to Doctor/Rose and was canon in the revived series four, by [[spoiler:showing that [[TokenMinorityCouple Martha had married Mickey]].]]
** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E4ThePowerOfThree The Power of Three]]" utterly sank the Doctor/Alistair ship of the classic series. (Barring rule one: "the Doctor lies".)
** Doctor/Sarah Jane was {{Ship Tease}}d heavily throughout the Fourth Doctor/Sarah Jane years, but shot through both of its hearts when she gets unceremoniously PutOnABus. After the departure of Leela, the producer at the time had wanted Sarah Jane to return as companion and to develop the relationship in a more blatantly romantic direction, but Elisabeth Sladen declined to return and so Romana was created as a (very loose) SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute. It wasn't until Sarah Jane returned in the 2006 episode "School Reunion" that it was finally confirmed on screen that she'd been in love with the Doctor, but the series did not pursue this further.
** Doctor/Master is a bit of a YoYoPlotPoint. At first TheReveal was going to be that they were brothers and so he was the Doctor's FriendlyEnemy. ActorExistenceFailure meant that the reveal never happened, leaving the reason for the Doctor's affection for him ambiguous. Since EvilIsSexy, fans speculated. "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E3TheDeadlyAssassin The Deadly Assassin]]" attempted to sink it hard by re-envisioning the Master as a sexless rotting corpse powered by hatred and willpower, and the new Doctor feels nothing but disgust for him and mentions several times he wants him dead for real. Then, when the Master was brought back in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E6TheKeeperOfTraken The Keeper of Traken]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E7Logopolis Logopolis]]" by a much more gay-friendly regime, the FoeYay is obvious, due in part to him being played in a more {{Camp}} style, partly due to him getting a handsome new body and partly due to Creator/TomBaker clearly playing his part of the relationship like a contemptuous ex-girlfriend. The HoYay is even stronger throughout the Davison era but scales back a little by the [=McCoy=] era due to the Master being played in a more cold, calculating style. Then the new series, [[RunningTheAsylum run by people who openly shipped the pairing back in the day]], goes about as close to stating it as possible, as well as [[{{Jossed}} Jossing]] the idea that they're brothers (and having the Doctor mock people who think this). Then in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E11DarkWater Dark Water]]" [[spoiler:a {{Gender Flip}}ped Master refers to the Doctor as her 'boyfriend' and kissed him.]]
** Doctor/Romana, one of the most popular pairings of the original series, was thoroughly sunk when the new series made the Doctor the LastOfHisKind. Some fans still hold out hope, though. After the saving of Gallifrey in the 50th anniversary special, it's up in the air whether Romana is alive or not and whether the Doctor might meet her again one day. (The hope became greater than ever at the end of Series 9 when it was confirmed that Gallifrey is still very much a going concern in the universe.)
** Doctor/Jack seemed like a legitimate possibility between Jack and the Ninth Doctor -- they flirted a lot, and even snogged at one point. However, while Jack maintains interest, the Doctor loses all of his due to a combination of 1) him regenerating into someone with a personality that does not enjoy adversarial flirting and 2) Jack getting TouchedByVorlons in such a way that time doesn't work normally on him, which the Doctor [[BizarreAlienSenses can sense]] and finds [[FantasticRacism thoroughly disturbing]].
** The Eleventh Doctor and Clara Oswald definitely fancied each other, and their mutual flirting fuelled much of their initial interaction. Both of them seemed to respect each other and their [[MayflyDecemberFriendship incompatible lifespans]] too much to ever go beyond a close bond and some friendly canoodling. The Twelfth Doctor, though he continues to love and admire Clara as a friend he trusts utterly... [[BetterAsFriends just wasn't interested in her romantically]], at least not at first, leading to a very necessary display of {{brutal honesty}} (which actually served as on-screen confirmation that the feelings existed in his predecessor):
--->'''Twelfth Doctor:''' I've made many mistakes. And it's about time I did something about that, starting right now... Clara... I'm not your boyfriend.\\
'''Clara:''' I never thought you were.\\
'''Twelfth Doctor:''' I never said it was ''your'' mistake.
*** WordOfGod was contradictory on whether the ship was ever sunk, with Creator/PeterCapaldi both saying [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3234940/Peter-Capaldi-says-won-t-Doctor-romance-Jenna-Coleman.html the relationship was platonic]], and ''in the same week'' saying [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7i62ERas2s it was romantic]]! Capaldi was also quoted as calling the relationship romantic as early as August 2014 during a world tour to promote his first season. Coleman, for her part, has stated repeatedly that the Doctor and Clara had a loving relationship, being quoted in a cover story for ''Doctor Who Magazine'' as saying "her heart belongs to the Doctor." The trope was ultimately subverted. Clara's boyfriend Danny was [[spoiler: Killed Off For Real]] in the finale of Series 8, and Series 9 made her the Doctor's loving DistaffCounterpart. ''That'' season finale saw the Doctor risking ''the safety of the universe'' when she [[spoiler: was Killed Off For Real]], whereupon they became an AnchoredShip: [[spoiler: She's now Only Mostly Dead, but he has been wiped of memories of her appearance, voice, etc.; he knows they were friends, but not lovers]]. It would take a miracle to get them back together now -- but it could happen, someday.
*** That miracle may have happened in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2017CSTwiceUponATime Twice Upon a Time]]", in which [[spoiler: Bill restores the Doctor's memories of Clara - she appears to him briefly and teasingly says that she finds his forgetting her "insulting"]]. But now that the Doctor has changed genders, it's hard to say whether her interests would include Clara, even if they ''do'' meet again; indeed, any Male Doctor-Female companion ship may well have been sunk by this change.
** The ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'' novels sunk Doctor/Leela by heavily implying that Leela was the half-human Doctor's mother. The AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho ''Fourth Doctor Adventures'' audio dramas, which take place in a separate continuity, ignore this and ramp up the {{UST}} further than what they got on the show, to ImpliedLoveInterest levels. (Thanks to the 2013 mini-episode "The Night of the Doctor", the Big Finish audio dramas are now considered canon.)
** Missy sinks a romantic ship between her and the Doctor in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E2TheWitchsFamiliar The Witch's Familiar]]", while at the same time confirming even further a platonic one.
--->'''Clara:''' Mmm! Must be love.\\
'''Missy:''' Oh, don't be disgusting. We're Time Lords, not animals! Try, nano-brain, to rise above the reproductive frenzy of your noisy little food chain, and contemplate friendship. A friendship older than your civilization, and infinitely more complex.
*** In the above scene, Missy also attempts to sink Clara/Twelve by reminding Clara how transient his relationships with humans are, comparing Clara to a new puppy. Events later in the episode undercut Missy's efforts.
** The Doctor/Donna initially seemed like it might end up romantic, especially with the two of them constantly being mistaken for a couple, leading to a lot of SheIsNotMyGirlfriend moments. It didn't help that Donna first met the Doctor after being abandoned on her wedding day, leaving her conveniently single, or that the Doctor would affectionately refer to her as his best friend. Sadly the ship was ultimately sunk when he was forced to [[spoiler: wipe her memory so she couldn't remember anything about him. It was also explicitly stated that if she ever did, her mind would burn up, making this pretty permanent.]] The next time Ten sees her, she is getting married.
* ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' spent its first two seasons establishing a fairly obvious ship between Captain Archer and T'Pol, only to sink it in Season 3 by having her unexpectedly take up with Trip Tucker. After the finale though, in which Trip is killed and there's a certain amount of ShipTease in Archer and T'Pol's last scene together, everything's up in the air again. This should have sunk Trip/T'Pol except that the [[BrokenBase large amount of hostility]] towards the finale led to the [[Literature/StarTrekEnterpriseRelaunch post-series novels]] effectively declaring the episode CanonDiscontinuity and having Trip and T'Pol live HappilyEverAfter. (Breaking up the Archer/T'Pol pairing, upsetting though it might have been to some fans, was an example of TruthInTelevision, however, as such a relationship in the real-world military would have been forbidden anyway.)
* ''Series/{{House}}'':
** Even though they still tease the pairing, the House/Cameron fans were crushed when "Kids" and "Love Hurts" happened. In the former, Cameron telling House that she would only come back to work if he would go out on a date with her was seen as blackmail, and in the latter their distastrous date consists of small talk, an extremely misguided Cameron and House eventually telling her that she doesn't love him -- only pities him because he's crippled and emotionally damaged.
** The Cameron/Chase ship, after being an OfficialCouple for two years, got sunk in season 6. She effectively declared that she considered Chase ''mentally incompetent.''
** House/Cuddy, after becoming the second OfficialCouple at the very end of season 6, [[DestructiveRomance got sunk as well when the two broke up a season later]], and Cuddy left the hospital on ''very'' bad terms with House. The pairing already got a nice nod to ship sinking quite early on in the show:
* ''Series/KamenRider'':
** In ''Series/KamenRiderDenO'', if Hana being de-aged didn't derail Ryotaro/Hana shippers, revealing that she was his niece surely did.
** ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'':
*** The [[BelligerentSexualTension Shotaro/Akiko]] ship was sunk by making Akiko and [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Ryu]] the OfficialCouple in episode 44, although by then she had [[BettyAndVeronica started getting ship tease with both.]] Fully sunk as of ''Movie War 2011'', where Akiko and Ryu marry.
*** The awkward attraction between [[spoiler: Wakana and Philip]] is both ruined and justified with the revelation that she is his [[spoiler: long-lost, barely remembered sister. It's the reason they seem to feel drawn to each other but romance would be a bit...awkward.]]
** ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'' has all three of the main male characters as potential love interests for Mai, but she finally [[spoiler:becomes the "Woman of the Beginning" along with Kouta and ascends to another planet]], sinking the other two ships. By this time [[spoiler: Kaito has died anyway, and Mitsuzane kidnapped her partly because he believed she loved Kouta instead of him.]]
*** ''Gaim'' also played up Minato as a love interest for Kaito, but this ship is sunk when [[spoiler: she dies to protect Kaito. Although he's kind to her as she's dying, in the next scene he says he still wants Mai.]]
** ''Series/KamenRiderAmazons'' sinks the possibility of Haruka/Mizuki at the end of S1 with the revelation that [[spoiler:they have the same genetic mother and are blood-related siblings - not just adoptive]]. The potential of a romantic angle is then dropped in the second series.
* ''{{Series/Firefly}}'' devotes an entire episode to having [[UnfazedEveryman Wash]] suspect [[AmazonianBeauty Zoe]] of having feelings for [[TheCaptain Mal]], and being repeatedly proven wrong.
* In ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', the end of the third season and beginning of the fourth season seems to sink JD and Elliot forever. There's JD realizing he only wants her because he can't have her, and the final torpedo seems to come in "My Common Enemy" with JD's quote, "That's when I realized that Elliot and I had absolutely no romantic feeling for each other anymore. No matter what the situation. It was a little sad, but maybe it meant we could be friends today". It was stated definitively by WordOfGod that J.D. and Elliot were not supposed to end up back together but both the fans and the actors liked the pairing too much to let it go. The ship is revived at the end of the sixth season and gets back into ShipTease before they finally get together in the eighth season. Rather nicely for the trope, though, is that they expressly comment on the fact they were both too immature to work as a couple and spending several years as JustFriends allowed them to grow up. The ninth season/spinoff shows them married with a baby on the way.
* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'':
** In the first episode, after playing up the Ted/Robin romance, they revealed that Robin would be the [[HonoraryUncle honorary aunt]] of Ted's children, thus killing any future relationship before it begins. This ship was finally sunk in the episode "Symphony of Illumination" (Season 7), where it is revealed that Robin cannot be the mother of Ted's children. [[spoiler:Subverted; the finale reveals that the mother died six years before Ted tells the story to his children. After that, Ted [[MaybeEverAfter considers to move on and relink his relationship with Robin.]]]]
** The much disliked finale sunk both [[spoiler:Barney/Robin and Ted/Mother]]. The former divorce three years after their wedding because she travels a lot for her work and never got back together. And the latter is sunk when it is revealed [[spoiler:the mother was DeadAllAlong]]. The alternate ending subverts this, keeping them together.
** Every major LoveInterest for Ted has had this happen at the end of their arc. Victoria [[spoiler: moved to Germany and then broke up with Ted after he tried to cheat on her with Robin, and later left him again after they tried to get back together when he wouldn't choose between her and Robin]], Stella [[spoiler: left him at the altar for her ex-husband]], Zoey [[spoiler: lied about deleting a recording of Ted and tried to use it against him in court]], and [[spoiler: The Mother was DeadAllAlong]]. Victoria in particular seems to have been brought back in season 8 ''because'' the initial sinking didn't take and she had managed to remain a popular FanPreferredCouple with Ted, which the writers saw as a threat to the canon ships.
* ''Series/RobinHood'':
** Poor Guy/Marian shippers. It was always doomed considering that the show was called ''Robin Hood'', but then Guy went and [[spoiler:killed her]]. If that wasn't enough, [[spoiler:after his HeelFaceTurn]] he eventually admits to Robin that "she was always yours." ''Then'' Robin [[spoiler:dies and is [[TogetherInDeath reunited with Marian]] in Heaven]], at which point she tells him that she's his wife: "now and forever."
** For the very few people shipping Robin/Kate, Robin's [[spoiler:TogetherInDeath with Marian]] sinks that one too. Just prior to the scene, Kate tries for a LastKiss from Robin, but he deliberately turns his face away and she has to settle for a Last Hug.
* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'':
** ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'', in the fourth episode, hints on the eventual Ryuunosuke-Mako pairing, with Ryuunosuke being the first visual victim (of the opposite sex anyway) of Mako's CooldownHug, first eater of her [[LethalChef cooking]], and they slept on the same futon TOGETHER. When Ryuunosuke wants to finally officialize it, Mako sent down a torpedo to the ship ''before it even sailed''. And afterwards, they never get a pair-episode again and Ryuunosuke never bothers to mention it again.
** The popular Masumi/Natsuki ship in ''Series/GoGoSentaiBoukenger'' was sunk when both actors stated in an interview that they considered the characters' relationship akin to a father and daughter. They never became an OfficialCouple, although it was hinted that they might.
** Nanami and Isshu were an OfficialCouple in ''Series/NinpuuSentaiHurricaneger'', but when the show got a reunion movie titled ''10 Years Later'' (and actually made ten years after its initial run), the characters were no longer together and Isshu has become a playboy. In the crossover movie with Hurricaneger's successor ''Series/BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger'', Nanami turned down a date with Isshu, so the ship may have been sunk as early as that.
** ''Series/ZyudenSentaiKyoryuger'' has Amy, Yayoi and Meeko as potential love interests for Daigo; so his LastMinuteHookUp with Amy sank the other two ships. Nossan and Candelira were also shown to be attracted to each other, but the final episode sinks this when she chooses not to stay with him.
** ''Series/ResshaSentaiTokkyuger'' sinks Schwarz/Gritta when [[spoiler:Schwarz sacrifices his life for Gritta's.]]
* The ''Series/BurnNotice'' episode "Where There's Smoke" is devoted to two things. The first is Fiona saving the client from kidnapping/murdering Mexicans while being kidnapped herself and generally being a badass. The second is hammering in the point that Jesse has absolutely no chance of getting between the big {{Tsundere}} love of Fiona and Mike. Maddy even takes Jesse aside and talks to him specifically to makes sure he knows it.
* ''{{Series/Dollhouse}}'': Claire and Topher ia ship at the beginning of Season 2, when Claire enters his room and forces herself onto him. He protests, she works out her emotional issues due to [[spoiler:being a doll and being too afraid to give up the body to whoever had it before]], and then she admits she hates the smell of him.
* ''{{Series/Chuck}}'':
** Sarah and Shaw. [[spoiler: First, it was revealed that Sarah killed Shaw's wife for her "red test" to become a member of the CIA. Then, when Shaw decided to betray the CIA and tried to kill Sarah, Chuck killed Shaw with three bullets to the chest. [[UnexplainedRecovery It didn't take,]] but still...]]
** More drastically, this was done to Morgan and Anna, who were heading toward being an adorable BetaCouple...then she was used very sparingly in the second half of Season 2, then fired altogether in Season 3. In one of the most crushing, aggravating moments in shipping history, Anna returned in a special appearance at the end of Season 3, for ''thirty seconds,'' JUST for Morgan to shoot her down and dump her for good. This episode was hyped as the "return" of Anna.
* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': Sheldon/Penny has never been anything but a 'fandom' ship, and the cast and crew try to sink it through WordOfGod. Actress Creator/KaleyCuoco was asked about the Sheldon/Penny ship, and replied that if they ever did date, she'd end up killing him. Jim Parsons commented that he would be confused if the writers went for Sheldon/Penny and that he didn't see it happening EVER. When [[OfficialCouple Leonard and Penny]] broke up briefly it brought hope to the Sheldon/Penny shippers, but the third season finale and especially when [[RomanticFalseLead Priya]] came along showed that Penny's romantic interest would only be with Leonard. Sheldon then entered into a relationship with [[FullNameBasis Amy Farrah Fowler]], and the same episode they [[RelationshipUpgrade made their relationship official]] had Sheldon try to ask Penny out on a date to make Amy jealous. The resulting conversation has Penny shoot down any concept of romantic feelings between them.
-->'''Penny:''' ''(regarding a story of a guy she liked)'' You are not the guy.\\
'''Sheldon:''' Are you sure? It would explain so much. Your [[DropInCharacter constant presence in my apartment]], your baffling dalliance with Leonard just to be near me, the way you call me 'sweetie' all the time \\
'''Penny:''' I call everyone [[VerbalTic sweetie]].\\
'''Sheldon:''' ...you tramp!\\
'''Penny:''' Look, all I'm saying is strap on a pair and go talk to Amy.\\
'''Sheldon:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint A pair of what? Roller skates?]]\\
'''Penny:''' ''({{Beat}})'' Oh sweetie, you are SO not "the guy."
* A small version of this may have just occurred on the FX show ''Series/{{Justified}}'' between Raylan and his ex-wife Winona in "Hatless": Winona's husband gets into trouble with some bad men over land and Raylan comes to her rescue to ensure she won't be hurt. The potential for BigDamnHeroes is completely averted since Winona doesn't want to leave the house, especially since her husband is MIA. Later, she explains why she chose her new husband over Raylan (even though Raylan is tougher, funnier, and better looking) and still goes back to him at the end of the episode despite his bad decisions that endangered her. If there were any Winona/Raylan shippers, they're probably feeling pretty bad right about now. Happily, the ship has been temporarily refloated as of "Father and Sons", but the two still have loads and loads of problems to deal with in the meantime.
* ''Series/ThirtyRock'': Creator/TinaFey has often [[WordOfGod said in interviews]] that Liz/Jack will never ever happen. Didn't stop them from being [[spoiler: [[AccidentalMarriage accidentally married]]]] for the duration of an episode, though. The ship was fully sunk in the seventh season, when Liz married someone else. A few episodes after that, in "Florida", Jack and Liz actually discuss how stupid it would have been for them to get together.
* ''Series/{{CSI NY}}'':
** Many fans ship Mac/Stella, but it was sunk when Melina Kanakaredes did not return for season 7.
** After this, the pairing of Mac with Stella's replacement Jo became popular with some fans; but was sunk when the show ended with Mac proposing to his girlfriend Christine. According to WordOfGod, it could have gone the other way: one idea considered if the show had continued longer was that the next anniversary episode would show Mac's wedding, ostensibly to Christine but with a BaitAndSwitch reveal that he was marrying Jo instead.
* ''Series/{{Skins}}'':
** Naomi and Cook's bantering developed into an OddFriendship, but some Nookie shippers (mainly those on the EveryoneIsBi horse) saw plenty of UST there, despite the fact that [[spoiler:Naomi's SingleTargetSexuality is firmly pointed in Emily's direction]]. The book tried to sink it with some very impassioned statements from Naomi; the show finally managed it.
-->'''Cook:''' I'm never going to get to bone you, am I?
-->'''Naomi:''' No. I love someone.
** Cook/Effy was sunk when Effy addresses Cook as "a friend".
* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'':
** The producers continue to insist that Elliot and Olivia are PlatonicLifePartners[=/=]LikeBrotherAndSister[=/=]TheNotLoveInterest (which there is ''plenty'' of evidence for within the show), which pisses off the [[PortmanteauCoupleName Bensler]] nuts.
** Olivia has said that she's straight, thus pissing off the Alex/Olivia shippers. Stephanie March, however, has saved the Alex/Olivia ship from sinking. She has said that she has not discounted the possibility of an Alex/Olivia romance in her own mind, and finds it quite possible that they have been quietly in love for years.
** Popular BetaCouple George/Alex (to Elliot/Olivia) got sunk when after ''years'' of debate, George was canonically confirmed to be gay.
* The producers of ''Series/{{Passions}}'' decided to pair Luis with Fancy and then they decided to Sheridan with Luis' lackluster brother Antonio. Needless to say, Sheridan and Luis fans were NOT happy .
* ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'':
** Season 3 hammered some nails into the coffin of Arthur/Morgana, establishing that [[spoiler:they are half-siblings]].
** After the show had hinted at Merlin/Gwen in season one, the ship was sunk in the following season when Gwen falls in love with Arthur and Merlin meets [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth Freya]].
** FanPreferredCouple Merlin/Arthur supporters knew it was never going to happen, but even after Arthur falls in love with Gwen, there's still hope for a unspoken unrequited love story from the side of his servant, right? Enter Merlin, Arthur/Gwen ShipperOnDeck. He ships it more than the couple does. Whenever a threat to the pairing emerges, he becomes rabid fan-girl in the throes of DieForOurShip.
* ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'':
** Stefan/Elena is sunk in "Our Town". Possibly Caroline and Tyler too.
** Caroline and Tyler got a permanent end after she [[spoiler: slept with Klaus]].
** Katherine and Stefan came to a complete halt after she [[spoiler: possessed Elena, nearly tricked him into killing his own brother, and tried to rape him.]]
** Elena and Stefan sank after her repeatedly choosing to be with Damon in seasons 4 and 5.
* ''Series/TrueBlood'':
** Tara and Jason has been sunk ''twice''.
** The season 5 finale does a painful ship sinking; Jason and Jessica (after two seasons of [[UnresolvedSexualTension UST]] gradually progressing into FriendsWithBenefits and StupidSexyFriend whenever they try to be friends) was sunk with Jason, [[BrainwashedAndCrazy apparently brainwashed into a new level of vampire hate by hallucinations of his parents]], telling Jessica "I could never love a vampire". Likewise, Jessica's relationship with Hoyt is also ended with Hoyt running off to Alaska after asking her to glamor him into not remembering the relationship.
** Even more painful was the sinking of [[spoiler:[[OfficialCouple Bill x Sookie]]]]. She tries to stop him from drinking [[spoiler:the blood of Lilith]] by reasoning that their legitimate love should make her meaningful to him. He retorts by chewing her out before drinking the blood anyway.
-->'''[[spoiler:Bill]]''': For all you know, everything I did was an act, calculated to elicit a certain response.
-->'''[[spoiler:Sookie]]''': But you are unique among all the vampires I've ever met. You are capable of love, and sympathy!
-->'''[[spoiler:Bill]]''': I told you the first night that we met. [[IronicEcho Vampires often turn on those they love the most.]]
* ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'''s penultimate episode, "Lou Dates Mary" addressed the [=MaryLou=] ship. They went on a date, kissed... and immediately burst into giggles and both admitted it would never work.
* ''Series/ICarly'': The three main ships on the show were thoroughly ZigZagged:
** The end of ''iOMG'', 10 episodes after Sam revealed she had a crush on Spencer, pretty much sunk what little chance the [[MayDecemberRomance Sam/Spencer]] ship had. Then Spencer reminded Sam of the crush in a later episode.
** Sam/Freddie shared their first kiss, then looked sunk as Carly/Freddie happened in "iSaved Your Life". Then "iOMG" happened, made the Sam/Freddie relationship canon... until they sunk the ship by spending 3 episodes showing how bad they are as a couple. "iPear Store" then sank it even deeper by having Freddie go on a massive rant against Sam and her personality after she spent the entire episode ruining a job he just got.
** Carly/Freddie was torpedoed, split in half, sunk followed by dropping depth charges on the wreck after "iSaved Your Life" ended with the pairing breaking up, never referencing the relationship and then having Sam and Freddie get together in "iOMG". When Sam and Freddie broke up it gave hope to the shippers. "iOwn A Restaurant" saw Freddie ask Carly if it was 'too late for you to love me' which re-floated the wreck, and then the finale "iGoodbye" had Carly initiate a kiss with Freddie.
* ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'':
** The writers sunk the Justin x Juliet ship by turning her into an old lady. Then they [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverKill dropped depth charges]] on it by having Harper pretend to be Juilet and tell him to move on, Alex repeating 'Juilet's never coming back', Justin dating an OCStandIn at the last minute, ''and'' Old Lady Juliet looking on and approving of this. The Icing on the Cake? The plot was used up in 15 minutes, so the second half was nothing but the first half repeated. The episode served no further point than to make fans forget about Juliet. (Then [[BackFromTheDead Juliet returns AND is a young girl again in "Wizards Vs. Everyone"]], with no logical explanation what-so-ever. Huh?)
** The writers had a few torpedos left, so they sunk Justin X Harper too, by having Harper tell Justin that she was in love with his sidekick, Zeke.
* ''Series/LaFemmeNikita'' (the original TV show, not the 2010 remake) ends Season 4 with Nikita saying to Michael [[spoiler:"I don't love you. I never did", and walking away without looking back.]] The next season revealed that that wasn't the truth, but in the end there's no HappilyEverAfter for these two because [[spoiler: Nikita ends up running the restructured Section One and Michael ends up being one of very few to leave Section alive, needing to take care of his son, whose mother suffered a BusCrash, and trusted by Section's new leader to keep its secrets.]] It's an ironic twist on where they started - Nikita was strong-armed into joining and Michael was the consummate agent, and so each wound up where you thought the ''other'' would.
* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'':
** Chloe Sullivan[=/=]ComicBook/LexLuthor used to be fairly popular, until an episode where [[spoiler:after it's revealed that Chloe is a mutant, Lex kidnaps her and has his scientists perform sadistic experiments on her]]. Naturally, the ship became noticeably less popular after that.
** For years, a rather vocal contingent of fans wanted Clark to end up with Chloe. Chloe eventually moved on to other relationships, and many former Clark/Chloe shippers got on board with these new ships. Then the GrandFinale finally showed, in no uncertain terms, that [[ItWasHisSled Clark married Lois]], and Chloe got married to someone else (heavily implied to be Oliver) and had a son, as seen in the final scene DistantFinale.
* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': Sheppard/Weir is sunk when she turns into a replicator, and Teyla/Sheppard when she becomes pregnant with a random off screen guy no-one had ever seen before. [[spoiler:Which hasn't stopped the lead writer of the [[ExpandedUniverse relaunch novels]] from [[ArmedWithCanon marginalizing the father of her child]] and bringing back the Teyla/Sheppard ShipTease.]] The Katie Brown/Rodney [=McKay=] coupling is sunk when Rodney makes it known he's thinking about proposing, but isn't sure to go through with it. This makes her think he wants to break up, and she goes back to Earth.
* ''Series/StargateUniverse'': If Eli being symbolically shown as Chloe's 'brother' in ''[[AdventuresInComaLand Cloverdale]]'' didn't do enough to convince viewers that pairing was sunk, ''Epilogue'' torpedoed it then dropped some depth charges on the wreck just to be sure. The killing blow may have been Eli entering a relationship with Ginn. Most Eli/Chloe fans had long given up any real hope of seeing them together, so when Eli did find someone, they jumped ship.
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'':
** The writers took [[TrollingCreator perverse delight]] in zig-zagging this trope, long after the majority of its fandom had stopped caring about [[ShipToShipCombat Jack/Kate vs Sawyer/Kate]]. If Kate was interested in one of them, it was only a matter of episodes before a plot twist drove them apart and seemingly killed off the ship for good... only for it to be resurrected next season when Kate fled the other one's arms. The rival {{Fan Dumb}}s fell for it every time, going both sides through a cycle of gloating and trolling the supposedly dead/sunk ship, only to retreat and grumble about "endgame" when their own ship was pushed aside. [[spoiler:Jack/Kate ended up as endgame, but Sawyer/Kate fans seemed angrier about Sawyer/Juliet.]]
** Sun and Michael's mutual interest was killed dead after Jin was humanized and Sun fell back in love with him.
** Ben's interest in Juliet was revealed to be '''very''' much one-sided. And creepy.
** Jack/Juliet was firmly sunk after Juliet [[IJustWantMyBelovedToBeHappy realized he was in love with Kate and let him go]].
** Daniel/Charlotte was the rare ship not to get a revival in the sideways timeline. [[spoiler: The two interacted briefly but did not "flash" off each other like so many other pairings, both platonic and romantic. Although neither were seen in the afterlife, so theoretically they could eventually get together.]]
* ''Series/PowerRangersZeo'' contains a Ship Sinking so big that it still can cause arguments in the fandom nearly 25 years after it actually happened: Kimberly, offscreen, sends Tommy a DearJohnLetter.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** Irri and Rakharo, two background Dothraki characters who shared plenty of BelligerentSexualTension despite not really interacting in the books. Promotional material for the second season confirmed that Irri had a thing for him. The season two premiere also had a heartfelt scene that inspired quite a lot of shipping between Daenerys and Rakharo. The second episode [[spoiler:crushed any hopes for both ships by killing off Rakharo, who is still alive in the books.]]
** The sinking of the very popular Dany/Jorah ship was moved to the middle of season two. In the books, Dany becomes aware of his attraction at the beginning of ''A Clash of Kings'' and didn't spurn his affections until the next book. The ship's popularity can be attributed to Iain Glen, who is [[AdaptationalAttractiveness much more handsome]] than Jorah's book description.
** Due several changes that contradicted the books, Jaime/Brienne is slowly sinking in Season 6. Though the two are still in good terms, Jaime is [[BrotherSisterIncest still in love with Cersei]] despite seeing her flaws and is completely oblivious about her affair with Lancel whereas Brienne is shipped with Tormund after their small encounter at Castle Black in "Book of the Stranger". However, Jaime/Brienne is back with a vengeance as of the Season 7 finale, in which [[spoiler: Jaime finally gets sick of Cersei's callousness, ditching her to ride North and help fight the White Walkers]]. In Season 8 [[spoiler: Brienne is the one who convinces everyone to give Jaime a chance, vouching for his honor. Then he makes her lifelong dream of becoming a knight come true by knighting her himself, with both of them gazing intently into each other's eyes the whole time]]. After the Battle of Winterfell, [[spoiler:Jaime and Brienne slept together which may seem to look like a happy ending for them....except that, Jaime has to leave her because of Cersei, leaving Brienne heartbroken. The ship eventually sunk in "The Bells" when Jaime and Cersei died together when the Red Keep collapses on them and the series finale, Brienne becomes a member of the Kingsguard]].
* As a political satire, ''Series/TheThickOfIt'' isn't exactly famous for exploring personal relationships, yet the tensions between Nicola Murray and Malcolm Tucker in Series 3 led to shipping by many fans. In series 4, however, Nicola Murray goes from a minister to Opposition Leader, where she is awful. The ship-sinking happens when Malcolm's irritation with Nicola messing up (yet still ultimately appreciating her work as a minister) is replaced with utter contempt and hatred for her incompetence dooming the entire party, and culminates in him [[spoiler: orchestrating her political downfall.]] It is VERY clear that the love/hate relationship between the two is now just hate.
* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'':
** Joy and Fabian seemed to be doomed to be the titanic. No matter how much Joy tried, Fabian kept rejecting her advances as he loved Nina. Then Joy went kind of crazy to get his attention and temporarily became the most hated person in the house. In season three, when Nina was finally out of the way, she still got rejected and Fabian didn't even attempt to sugar coat it. So, basically, if you shipped Joy and Fabian, there was really no chance to set sail. Which is alright, with the addition of Joy and Jerome's pairing, which is wildly popular and has managed to stay afloat.
** The ultimate fate of the after-mentioned Fabian/Nina ship due to a major case of RealLifeWritesThePlot two episodes within Season 3.
* ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars'':
** Emily tells Alison that she is done with her after [[spoiler:her latest lie results in an innocent man being framed for her kidnapping. The Emily/Alison fandom would later take a torpedo to the hull during Season 6, when both characters were set up with two new love interests. The pair never discussed their feelings for each other (despite the showrunners assuring fans on social media that they would). The writers also never even bothered to continue exploring the pair's romantic history, and their storyline was basically dropped completely. Needless to say, shippers were enraged, due to the ship being constantly hyped-up over the previous two seasons]].
** Erza and Aria break up after [[spoiler:it is revealed that he was using her and her friends to write a book on Alison, who he had previously dated.]]
** Emily dumps [[spoiler:Paige]] for telling the police that [[spoiler:Alison]] was alive, thereby endangering her to A.
** [[spoiler: Caleb and Spencer was hit hard with this after he kissed Hanna behind her back. When she found out, she spiraled out of control to the point where she nearly had a one-night stand.]]
* ''Series/{{Graceland}}'' did this to Mike and Paige in the second season. After she learned that he covered up the death of one girl during an investigation into a human trafficking ring, [[spoiler: she ratted him to one of the bad guys. This led to said bad guy possibly killing him in the season finale.]]
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'':
** The creators stated at San Diego Comic-Con 2013 that Emma/Regina (Swan Queen) would never happen. The Swan Queen ship later took a torpedo to the hull when [[spoiler:Robin Hood was revealed to be Regina's soulmate (not that it deters any of the shippers)]]. Further sinking occurred later when Emma/[[spoiler:Hook ]] had their RelationshipUpgrade.
** Regina/Robin is in jeopardy, as Emma's [[spoiler:time travel trip brought Maid Marian back with her and it turns out Regina was one who previously killed her.]]
** Emma/Graham ("Gremma") was completely torpedoed with [[spoiler:Graham's death at the hands of Regina]]. WordOfGod has also dictated that [[spoiler:once a fairy tale character dies in Storybrooke, they're gone forever]], destroying any future chances of Gremma.
** Emma/August ("Wooden Swan") was thoroughly sunk when [[spoiler:the Blue Fairy turned August back into a very young Pinocchio]].
** Mulan/Aurora ("Sleeping Warrior") was sunk when [[spoiler:Mulan was to confess her feelings for Aurora to the princess, only for Aurora to announce that she was happily pregnant with Philip's child. Heartbroken, Mulan joined Robin Hood's Merry Men.]] Not surprising, however, since Philip broke Aurora's sleeping curse with "true love's kiss".
** Henry/Peter Pan was completely obliterated when it's revealed that [[spoiler:Pan is Rumple's father, Colin, and therefore Henry's great-grandfather.]]
** Emma and Neal following [[spoiler:his death]]. Not long after, Emma and Hook/Killian became an OfficialCouple.
** Baelfire/Wendy, once his identity was revealed (Emma's ex/Henry's father, Neal) and she was shown to still physically be the same age as when Peter Pan kidnapped her.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'':
** Several longer-term relationships of the main gang have been sunk. Phoebe/David was temporarily sunk early on, when he went to Minsk and permanently sunk at the end of the series when she picked Mike over him. The hated Ross/Emily ended with their messy divorce.
** Richard/Monica was sunk very thoroughly bit by bit: Started in the Season 2 finale when they split up over wanting/not wanting children but as they still loved each other there was some wriggle room. Sunk a bit more in Season 3 when she got over him, dated several other guys including her SecondLove who she considered marrying. Further sunk in Season 5 when [[{{FanPreferredCouple}} Monica and Chandler]] fell for each other and Monica flat out said she felt nothing for Richard and loved Chandler more than anyone else ever before. Sent to the bottom of the ocean in Season 6 when Richard returned and asked Monica to marry him, (devastating Chandler), only for Monica to turn around and stage her own proposal to Chandler.
** This also extends to relationships between the main cast: Joey/Rachel decided they were BetterAsFriends and the purely ShipTease Joey/Phoebe ended when she married Mike.
* ''Series/{{Revenge}}'' ended any chance of Daniel/Emily happening when Daniel shot Emily after learning she had faked her pregnancy to get him to marry her instead of breaking off the engagement for Sara. They stayed married for a while, until reports of the fake pregnancy leaked and Daniel was able to press for divorce without worrying that Emily might try to name him as the shooter. [[spoiler:Then the writers got out a giant inflatable life-raft for them, in his dying moments Emily tells Daniel it wasn't always a lie, not with him, and he responds that he knows.]]
* ''Series/TheGoodWife'' tried to sink the FanPreferredCouple of Will/Alicia several times through the years, but finally managed it with [[spoiler: Will's sudden death in a courtroom shooting about two-thirds of the way through Season 5]].
* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'':
** Ward/Skye gets what is quite possibly the most spectacular ship sinking ever. [[spoiler:After Ward is revealed to be a HYDRA agent, Skye calls him disgusting, a "lying backstabbing traitor", a Nazi, and a SerialKiller. When Ward insists his feelings for her are genuine, she says she thinks she's going to throw up.]] ''Damn.'' About half a season later, when he helps rescue her from Whitehall, [[spoiler:she responds by shooting him three times in the chest and leaving him to die. While he survived, even he got the hint after that]].
** Pretty much any Ward ship was nuked from orbit but special mention goes to Ward/Simmons for Ward becoming awful enough to merit Simmons facing him down and promising to personally end his life if she ever sees him again. This from the woman who spent her post-mission time ensuring that he didn't bleed to death, or develop lasting injury from combat ops. [[spoiler: She attempted to make good on her promise by attempting to kill him with a splinter bomb.]]
** Fitz/Ward along with Simmons, Skye, and May but especially because of the lasting impact [[spoiler: dropping Fitz and Simmons into the ocean in a supply crate had on Fitz' health. Causing lasting brain trauma and a severe panic attack once Fitz sees him again]]
** [[spoiler:With Coulson {{Killed Off For Real}} at the end of Season 5]], both Coulson/May and Coulson/Daisy are officially sunk.
* ''Series/HartOfDixie'':
** Zoe and George spent most of the series apart, even though he stopped his wedding for her. First, she rejected him so that he could find himself, only to hook up with Wade. Then, he was with Tansy, only to have her wreck that relationship with an ill-timed [[LoveEpiphany love confession]]. He got lost, then he lost [[GreenEyedMonster Tansy]], only to see Zoe hook up with Wade again. After five months apart, they met up only to have him blame her for everything wrong in his life. Since then, he has dated Lavon's cousin Lynly, and reunited with Tansy, only to be led back to Lemon (more on that below). Meanwhile, she moved on with both Joel and Wade.
** Lavon and Annabeth were the perfect couple, until [[CommitmentIssues he couldn't commit to her]]. After they broke up, and she hated him for a while, everyone wondered why he couldn't be with her. Turns out, he is still in love with Lemon.
** Wade and Vivian broke up by her leaving him for her ex.
** Zoe and Joel had lost-distance issues leading to their break-up.
* Starting in Season 4 of ''Series/TheWalkingDead'', there was a heated rivalry between Bethyl (Beth/Daryl) and Caryl (Carol/Daryl) shippers. The former was promptly torpedoed in [[spoiler: the Season 5 midseason finale, which featured Beth's death.]]
** In fact, if you see some ShipTease between ''any'' of these characters but they don't outright hook up while they're on screen, just be prepared for automatic Ship Sinking. The AnyoneCanDie nature of the show makes it unlikely for any ship tease to ever last too long.
** Caryl was further sunk in Season 6, where Carol and minor character Tobin share a kiss. Carol is later seen getting dressed after leaving Tobin's bed. To make matters worse, the two had spoken a grand total of once before hooking up, leading to an unfavourable case of StrangledByTheRedString.
* The 25-year Ginnungagap toward the end of the fifth season of ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' put paid to the Gabrielle/Joxer 'ship, which the producers never supported beyond Joxer's unrequited love and the characters' permanent friendship. However, the actual purpose was to (as Lucy Lawless put it) "eighty-six the baby" (Eve), thus getting the series out of the corner it had painted itself into by writing Lawless's real pregnancy into the series.
* ''Series/StrangerThings'' Season 3 is cruel enough to sink five major pairings, though there is enough implications that least 2/5 of the pairings can be restored.
** [[spoiler: Steve and Robin get a bittersweet one as despite her chemistry with Steve, Robin [[SorryImGay reveals]] she’s a closet lesbian for another girl who was ironically was attracted to Steve during high school, but Robin keeps her feeling hidden because [[ValuesDissonance it’s still 80s]]. Kudos to Steve he takes the hit well despite receiving similar heartbreak from Nancy the previous seasons and he accepts her sexual orientation easily, and to be fair Robin’s last scene implies she still cares greatly for him]].
** [[spoiler: Jonathan and Nancy pseudo-break up when the former moves out of Hawkins with his mother, brother and Eleven. Though it’s made clear during their farewell Jonathan and Nancy still adore each other, Nancy even suggesting he could live in her house but Jonathan reminds her that he won’t be going far and she can always call him which implies a long distance relationship]].
** [[spoiler: Similarly Mike and Eleven break up when she leaves with Byers, though arguably most of season concerned their relationship falling apart (thanks in no small part to Hopper being a OverprotectiveDad for Eleven). To be fair the claims that Mike is a bad influence on Eleven are somewhat valid, and much of Eleven’s CharacterDevelopment is her becoming emotionally independent without Mike which is why Eleven “dumping his ass” is treated as a empowering moment for her. However the last episode shows she still cares greatly for Mike]].
** [[spoiler: Billy and Karen (though they had a mutual attraction in Season 2) get sunk early in Season 3, as Karen stays loyal to her ineffectual husband Ted while Billy gets possessed by an EldrichAbomination. It’s also explained Billy’s [[LikesOlderWomen attraction]] to Karen stems from his MissingMom, ''also he dies''.]]
** [[spoiler: But by far the most heartbreaking is between Hopper and Joyce as they spent the last two seasons with {{UST}} from their high school sweethearts days and were in the verge an actual RelationshipUpgrade... but then Hopper fell victim to Joyce’s CartwrightCurse and seemly died during the FinalBattle leaving Joyce to look after Eleven. Of course the [[NeverFoundTheBody ambiguous nature]] of Hopper’s death and the creators being tight-lipped implies a potential reunion isn’t completely impossible]].
* ''Series/DarkMatter'': One and Two end in a spectacular fashion: [[spoiler: he was killed off by the real Jace Corso.]]
* ''Series/{{Killjoys}}: Not only did Dutch and D'avin break up after he was brainwashed into nearly killing her and Johnny, but [[spoiler: she seems to have moved on with the monk Alvis]].
* ''Series/{{Victoria}}'': The [[DoomedByCanon Doomed by History]] ship between Queen Victoria and Lord Melbourne is finally sunk when, [[spoiler: out of duty and the realization that spending her life with the much older, previously married and non-royal Melbourne was never going to be possible, Victoria proposes to Prince Albert and becomes engaged to him]]. This didn't stop some fans from begging the show's writer to ''change history'' and allow Victoria to marry Lord M instead of Albert.
* ''Series/GeneralHospital'''s legendary SuperCouple Luke and Laura of all people were subjected to this. Starting in 1995 when the couple first became estranged when she couldn't deal with his involvement with the mob anymore, then kicking into high gear in 1998 when they were forced to deal with the fact that he'd raped her 19 years earlier, the writers threw one problem after another at them until they finally divorced in 2001, a few months before they would have celebrated their 20th anniversary. Despite the unanimous belief that they still care very much about each other, all attempts at reconciliation have failed. To the point that when he was leaving the show, Anthony Geary, Luke's portrayer, outright described them as being "toxic to each other by now", in response to hopes that Genie Francis (who played Laura) would return to the show so that the two could go RidingIntoTheSunset--when he briefly returned a year later, it was to escort SecondLove ''Tracy'' out of town so that ''they'' could run around the world together--with Laura's blessing!
** Happened to [[SuperCouple Super Couples]] Sonny and Brenda and Brenda and Jax as well, with Brenda's constant flip-flopping between the two men ultimately making both pairings fizzle out.
* ''Series/{{Community}}'':
** In "[[Recap/CommunityS1E15RomanticExpressionism Romantic Expressionism]]," the group admits that since they're not an actual family, any one of them could have sex with any one of the others without it being creepy. There's a lot of ShipTease as everyone makes eyes at everyone else... except for [[RacistGrandpa Pierce]].
--->'''Pierce:''' Let me get this straight--I don't have a chance with ''any'' of you?
** Britta/Jeff get a few of these. The first is in "[[Recap/CommunityS2E01Anthropology101 Anthropology 101]]," when their attempts to ridiculously one-up another almost lead to them getting married before they admit that they're being crazy. In "[[Recap/CommunityS2E21ParadigmsOfHumanMemory Paradigms of Human Memory]]," Abed [[spoiler:reveals that they've been secretly having sex the entire year. They break it off once the others find out, since the secrecy was the only thing keeping it fun]]. In "[[Recap/CommunityS5E12BasicStory Basic Story]]" and "[[Recap/CommunityS5E13BasicSandwich Basic Sandwich]]," they randomly decide to get married when it looks like the school is going to be shut down, but break off the engagement once the school is saved when they realize they were being stupid.
--->'''Annie:''' You two are ''ridiculous'' together.
** Annie/Abed get a few. All their moments of ShipTease are when [[LovesMyAlterEgo Abed is pretending to be someone else]]; for bonus points, he often explicitly points out that what she's attracted to is Jeff's archetype. In "[[Recap/CommunityS2E24ForAFewPaintballsMore For A Few Paintballs More]]" Abed is playing [[Franchise/StarWars Han Solo]] and the two share a deeply passionate kiss, but Abed drops the act without a blink when they "die." In "[[Recap/CommunityS5E13BasicSandwich Basic Sandwich]]," Abed assures Annie that the Britta/Jeff engagement is going to collapse shortly once they realize they're being idiots, and it looks like Annie is leaning in for a kiss... only for Abed to bluntly remind her that he has a girlfriend. She hotly insists she wasn't doing anything.
* Annie/Jeff, Despite the fact that they both share feelings for each other, they never come to anything and eventually Jeff ends up giving up Annie, so that she can pursue her dreams.
* ''Series/Daredevil2015'':
** Matt Murdock / Claire Temple ("Clairedevil") is a case of this. There's strong chemistry between Charlie Cox and Rosario Dawson, but it's sunk by Matt himself as they mutually realize that Claire could not be in a relationship with someone who basically is on a suicide mission every night. This one was also inevitable by the fact that Claire in the comics is Luke Cage's love interest, and sure enough, by the end of season 1 of ''Series/LukeCage2016'', Claire has hooked up with him.
** [[OfficialCouple Matt Murdock / Karen Page]] ("Karedevil") combines this with WillTheyOrWontThey. Charlie Cox and Deborah Ann Woll also have strong chemistry. They begin dating partway through season 2, only for the ship to be sunk a few episodes later as the strain of Frank Castle's trial gets to them, on top of Karen finding a wounded Elektra in Matt's bed and mistakenly thinking he's cheating on her. However, the ship is re-righted in the season 2 finale, when Matt privately meets with Karen to tell her that he's Daredevil, with every indication being given that they'll reconcile. Only for the ''Series/TheDefenders2017'' to seemingly sink it again. Karen seems to want a retired Matt to stay retired and possibly live out his life with her. But by the season finale, [[TenMinuteRetirement Matt has taken up the suit again]], and makes it clear to Karen that this is who he is and he will never change, and the finale also made clear that Matt still has feelings for Elektra, despite having to defeat her and The Hand. He then sacrifices himself to defeat The Hand once and for all. The ending makes it clear he is still alive, with further reconciliation on-board for ''Daredevil'' season 3.]]
* ''Series/ThePunisher2017'':
** The show's showrunners and producers have made clear that even though many people may ship Karen with Frank, [[https://www.blackgirlnerds.com/felicia-henderson-interview-part-2/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter it's not happening in the show]].
-->'''Interviewer:''' I don’t know if you go on Tumblr very much, but people ship the daylights out of Karen and Frank and many were left heartbroken after (their almost) kiss in the elevator. If you look up Punisher on Tumblr, it’s basically just gifs of Karen and Frank in the elevator.
-->'''Felicia D. Henderson:''' I don’t spend much time on Tumblr, but I absolutely am aware how people are shipping them and it’s so funny because the first time that I heard some sort of fan storytelling about the two of them I thought, "I didn’t even realize that people thought they were about to kiss because it wasn’t what we were doing!" And I think it is just a testament to how strong the chemistry is between them, which is wonderful. It was strong on ''Daredevil'', and it’s even stronger once she then came onto ''The Punisher''.\\
But it wasn’t written like “And then they almost kissed.” Like, that’s not in the script. That moment was not built in, it doesn’t really exist. But they have such great chemistry, you can’t really put them in the same tiny place like, oh, an elevator, and that chemistry not explode all over that little space. So that’s what happened, but it’s really a relationship of two people who make a leap at that moment to trust each other even more, to believe in each other even more, to do whatever they have to even more.
** Frank Castle introduces himself to David Lieberman's wife Sarah as part of a ploy to scare David. Over the course of his partnership with David, he acts as a middleman between David and his family[[note]]since David has faked his own death[[/note]], and Sarah starts getting more attracted to Frank to the point that she drunkenly kisses Frank. Frank rejects the kiss because he still considers himself married to Maria's memory, and he doesn't want to intrude on David's marriage.
* After a season of {{Ship Tease}} followed by a season of separation in ''Series/PennyDreadful'', Ethan and Vanessa finally reunite in the very last episode of the entire series. Most viewers had the expectation that this would finally result in a much teased [[{{FurAgainstFang}} showdown between Ethan and Dracula]], ending in an Ethan/Vanessa {{Relationship Upgrade}}, due to show mythology around Ethan as [[{{WolfMan}} the Wolf of God]] and [[{{TheChampion}} Vanessa's protector against evil]]. Instead, their ship was brutally torpedoed [[spoiler:when Vanessa was {{Killed Off For Real}}, by Ethan's own hand, no less]].
* In ''Series/{{Westworld}}'', a lot of viewers ship Dolores and William due to the strong chemistry between the two actors and the latter's kind nature to the former. Many viewers prefer to pair Dolores to William rather than her scripted boyfriend, Teddy, [[TheyKilledKennyAgain who always dies]]. Then, the season 1 finale torpedoes the ship after it is revealed that [[spoiler: William is the younger version of The Man in Black, a guest who had been terrorizing Dolores since the start of the show. [[BigBadSlippage The truth on William's slow corruption]] to what he has become in the present makes all the sweet scenes between him and Dolores HarsherInHindsight. Even Dolores herself is shaken with the truth. But at least, she gives the guy a huge beating for all the crap she experienced]].
* ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' sinks ships incredibly often.
** The first season finale sinks Sara/Leonard and Mick/Leonard by killing off Leonard.
** The third season sinks Nate/Amaya, as well as any possibility of Mick/Amaya, and Amaya/Zari by having [[spoiler: Amaya leave at the end of the season and return to her own time so that her daughter and grandchildren will still exist.]] Rip/Sara is also sunk by having Sara get together with Ava and killing Rip off.
** The beginning of the fourth season looks set to sink Nate/Wally and Zari/Wally as Wally will be leaving the show and not returning to the Arrowverse as a regular.
* ''Series/WithoutATrace''. Both of Samantha Spade's relationships get this--with Martin Fitzgerald because he's fed up with her not wanting to tell anyone about them and of her keeping him at arms length, not to mention suspecting (likely correctly) that she isn't over her ex-lover Jack Malone, and with Jack himself when she decides to try to make things work with her son's father.
* Enforced in ''Series/PowerRangersBeastMorphers''. Ranger candidates Ravi and Roxy were dating when they were chosen to be the Blue and Yellow Beast Rangers. However, one of the rules of being Rangers is that "Rangers can't date Rangers". Though they both hate this rule, Ravi decides to obey this rule and breaks up with Roxy.
* ''Series/SchittsCreek'' did this with Stevie/David in Season 2. Stevie had assumed David was gay, but they unexpectedly hook up in Season 1 and David comes out as pansexual. They try to be FriendsWithBenefits, but it fails and Stevie gets her heartbroken when she realizes David does not share her feelings. This leads to two moments:
** David returns to the motel after he thought he'd be gone permanently, and Stevie coldly tells him she's over him. They agree to remain friends.
** They later go to a bar together and decided to give their romance another try given the lack of options in the town, but they only manage an epically AwkwardKiss and thereafter are just friends.
* ''Series/TheMagicians2016'' has ended a few ships over the years:
** Kady and Penny ended after he got cancer during his time in the Poison Room in the Library and he died. Even worse, a version of him from a different timeline came on, and he turned out to be in love with [[spoiler: Julia.]]
** [[spoiler: As of the season four finale, Quentin's death destroyed any chance of him being with Alice, Julia or Eliot.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Toys]]
* There was some undeniable shipping in ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'''s early years, such as Macku/Hewkii, Jaller/Hahli, Matau/Nokama and Roodaka/Sidorak (from the latter's perspective, at least), not to mention all the {{fan preferred couple}}s. These were declared non-canon when the creators ruled [[NoHuggingNoKissing that the characters are incapable of feeling romantic love]], seeing as they're artificial. Most of these relationships, no matter how blatant, were written off as close friendships (with some scenes outright ripped from canon), and the would-have-been marriage between Roodaka and Sidorak was revealed to be strictly political, with both viewing the other as a tool to gain power (and Sidorak also got killed). Kiina and Mata Nui were the only official "couple", but that ship sank when the latter transferred his soul into a mask. This was mostly ExecutiveMeddling: according to Franchise/{{LEGO}}, kids find romance icky, and given the subject matter (toys), the story writer agreed.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'' [[spoiler:Lucy/Desmond]] was sunk when it was revealed that [[spoiler:Lucy]] did not survive being stabbed at the end of ''Videogame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood''. Fans of the ship held out hope that [[HesJustHiding She's Just Hiding]]. Then ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' [[spoiler: killed Desmond]], and ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'' showed us that [[spoiler:he was definitely KilledOffForReal]]. And if that was not enough, the icing of the cake was the reveal in the [=DLC=] of ''Revelations'' which showed that [[spoiler: [[TheMole Lucy]] [[DoubleAgent was a Templar]]]].
* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'', there's plenty of interaction and fondness and loyalty between Imoen and the main character...and then, boom! Half-siblings. (Didn't stop some people, and was even referenced in-game.)
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' sinks FanPreferredCouple Batman/Catwoman, much to the displeasure of fans. The Dark Knight informs Selina that they can never see each other again. [[spoiler: This is because he plans on FakingTheDead after his SecretIdentity is revealed.]] In a brief PetTheDog moment for fans, the two do share a kiss before departing.
* Prior to the release of ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'', Booker/Elizabeth was a popular pairing. Anyone who continued to ship them in-game would have been in for a nasty surprise [[spoiler:the ending reveals Elizabeth is Booker's daughter.]]
* ''Franchise/BlazBlue'':
** Hazama/Makoto was sunk in ''Decision'' when he tried to kill her. The scrap was smelted in ''Slight Hope'' [[spoiler:when Makoto's continued interference [[SpannerInTheWorks slagged Hazama's plans]] and [[BerserkButton drove him to murderous rage]]]].
** Hazama/Trinity was sunk in ''Phase Shift 4'' [[spoiler:when Terumi manipulated her into lifting Mind Eater, and then he proceeded to kill Nine and Trinity before tossing them into the nearest cauldron]].
** While there are people who think Ragna/Nu is cute, [[spoiler:''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueChronoPhantasma Chronophantasma Extend]]'' arcade suggests that losing to Lambda has driven Nu completely off the deep end, changing her goals from [[FusionDance "merge with Ragna"]] to [[OmnicidalManiac "everybody dies"]]. How this pans out in the next game is yet to be seen.]]
** Speaking of Ragna, all three of his popular canon ships died in ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueCentralFiction Central Fiction]]''.
*** Ragna/Noel died because [[spoiler: Noel merged with Izanami and the Orgin, therefore becoming Saya/Ragna's sister]].
*** Ragna/Rachel died because [[spoiler: Ragna erased himself and took Rachel's memories of him. However, there is slight hope. Rachel vows to find hhim(despite not remembering him) by the end of the game]].
*** Ragna/Celica died because [[spoiler: Celica chooses not to confess to Ragna, as she was almost out of life force and didn't want to burden him. In the ending, however, Ragna's Blood Scythe is planted [[TogetherInDeath beside the cross marking her grave]].]]
* At the ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'' presentation by Creator/{{Capcom}}'s 9/23 Tokyo Game Show 2018 event, game director Hideaki Itsuno had to clarify that [[https://twitter.com/SomethingHank/status/1043867507948433408 Dante and Lady canonically aren't dating]], partly due to Itsuno sort of [[https://youtu.be/Z7UqUhdkST0?t=18m28s introducing]] Dante's English voice actor Creator/ReubenLangdon's wife, [[https://www.reddit.com/r/DevilMayCry/comments/9iz5zu/can_someone_please_translate_18202030/ who was also present]] and was cosplaying as Lady. The shipping of Dante and Lady by fans had been present since ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry 3'' when it was first released back in ''2005''.
* In ''VideoGame/Disgaea4APromiseUnforgotten'' near the beginning we get a nice [[ShipTease comment]] courtesy from your friendly neighborhood Werewolf Fenrich, that implies something may or may not happen between main character Valvatorez and ActionGirl Fuka. [[spoiler:It turns out nothing happens between the two and [[ShipperOnDeck Fuka ends up shipping]] Valvatorez and Artina. And even if you do get Fuka's epilogue, she ends up sinking her own ship by choosing not to pursue Valvatorez, knowing that she would have to deal with [[LoveTriangle Artina and Fenrich]] and break the "friendship rule" if she did.]]
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' gives you a chance at playfully flirting with one of your companions, Aveline. [[spoiler: This of course is during the beginning of the mission where you have to play match maker with the guy she's actually interested in.]]
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' ends with Cloud having a PreClimaxClimax with Tifa under the Highwind, but with both of them excited to 'meet [Aerith]' in death; the original cut of ''Anime/AdventChildren'' is set after Cloud has broken up with Tifa, and ends with him returning to be with her and the rest of his family, but also maintaining his solitary lifestyle, seeing Aerith's face for the first time in the church and driving accompanied only by the presence of her ghost in the credits. At some point, later ''Compilation'' entries decided the OfficialCouple was [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Cloud/Tifa]] and [[TogetherInDeath Zack/Aerith]], with ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' showing Aerith as a much more serious love interest for Zack rather than the playboy and formative crush he had been for her in media up until that point, and the recut ''Advent Children Complete'' having Cloud place Zack's sword in Aerith's church to cement their eternal union, and removing Aerith from the credits, suggesting she's instead moved on to being with Zack. However, Aerith's relationship with Zack was also stated by Creator/KazushigeNojima to be more of a "juvenile love", closer to a very strong friendship in nature, and all entries indicate her feelings towards Cloud were genuine - [[https://astoryofalove.tumblr.com/post/147049539207/zerith-was-canon-it-isnt-canon-anymore while this post was made with an obvious bias toward Cloud and Aerith, it explains the details]]. Creator/TetsuyaNomura has also repeatedly refused to comment on whether Tifa or Aerith is Cloud's official love interest, saying he has no idea if Cloud ever made his choice and that it's not something he feels WordOfGod should have the final word on, instead saying "[[FanficFuel it's fun to talk about it with your friends]]". Ultimately, the ''VII'' franchise is full of contradictory EraSpecificPersonality and BroadStrokes continuity, which caused some consternation from ''Advent Children Complete'' and ''Crisis Core'' fans when ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' [[RevisitingTheRoots reverted]] to a flirtatious relationship between Cloud and Aerith (as well as including the expected caring moments between him and Tifa). Does there have to be only ''one'' true love interest for Cloud, when every indication is that he has genuine feelings for both girls? Perhaps the final word on the subject should be Cloud's own words in ''Advent Children'', in which, when asked what (girl) he cherishes most, he responds, "[[AllLovingHero There's not a thing I don't cherish!]]"
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' fired [[LikeBrotherAndSister both]] [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy tubes]] to ensure that players understood that [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Quis]][[LovingAShadow tis]] was not going to interfere with the OfficialCouple.
** Prior to the game's release, some ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' shippers had taken to Snow/Lightning which was {{Jossed}} hard by canon since Snow's engaged to Lightning's sister and Lightning really hates Snow.
* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
** An odd (and cruel) example is in the first series. [[StarCrossedLovers Nyna/Camus]] doesn't work out because [[spoiler:he dies]]. But then in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'' (and its remake ''Shadows of Valentia''), he's [[spoiler:revealed to have survived and is]] now with a WhiteMagicianGirl named Tatiana. This would leave [[BodyguardCrush Hardin/Nyna]] and they're married at the end of the first game. Sadly, even that is sunk in the third game when it is revealed [[spoiler:Nyna had been faking romantic love for Hardin [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask for the sake of their kingdoms]] and he soon falls victim to LoveMakesYouEvil and BrainwashedAndCrazy. And when Camus (under the alias Sirius) saves Nyna from Medeus' hypnosis, he makes his intentions clear that he will go back to Valentia and live with Tatiana instead. Hence, ''two'' ships for Nyna are sunk, and her ending implies that she never gets over Camus...]]
** While the sources are somewhat unproven, in the prototype of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', Seliph/Julia was a hard-lined OfficialCouple, but in the release, it was given a "490 -5t" love growth, making it practically impossible... [[GoodBadBugs unless you've got some mad skills and LOTS of patience]].
** A minor but otherwise important one happens in regards to Eliwood's wife in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade''. While he can marry either [[AnIcePerson Ninian]], [[BrokenBird Fiora]], or [[HotBlooded Lyn]] in the prequel, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'', a Support conversation Roy has with Marcus in the former implies that his mother probably ''isn't'' Lyn. The reason? Marcus mentions that Eliwood gave his wife her favorite flower "from the snowy highlands," and the only snow area on the continent is the country of Ilia. This makes it far more likely that Roy's mother is either Fiora (a Pegasus Knight; they're all from Ilia) or Ninian ([[spoiler:an ice dragon]] who was born and raised in Ilia), compared to Lyn, who is a native of the Sacae Plains. [[spoiler:Even then, [[ImpliedLoveInterest the game leans Ninian as the closest to Eliwood's canon wife]], and the novelization of ''The Blazing Blade'' (whose canonicity can go either way) puts them together.]]
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' sank Ike/Elincia pretty hard. Not only did they lack the chemistry and ShipTease of the previous game, but Ike's ending has him taking off either alone or with Soren or Ranulf, while Elincia's only ending is with [[BodyguardCrush Geoffrey]]. Granted, lack of paired endings doesn't mean other ships are Forever Sunk, but in this case it all but seals this pairing's lack of presence.
** Ike/Soren took a hit thanks to the CanonWelding ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''... [[spoiler:Priam is in some fashion a descendant of Ike.]]
** ''Awakening'' also has Chrom/Cordelia, which has the sad, sad honour of being sunk by ''the game mechanics themselves.'' Cordelia is all but stated to have an unrequited crush on Chrom, but not only can she not marry him[[note]]Chrom can only marry the Female Avatar, Sumia, Sully, Maribelle or Olivia, and will marry the Maiden if none of the others are available.[[/note]] ''they can't even support!''. And it got worse in the Summer Scramble DLC, where the developers [[ThrowTheDogABone finally gave Cordelia a conversation with Chrom]], which is filled with awkward moments... [[spoiler:and ends with ''Cordelia sinking the ship herself!'']]
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', Owain, Inigo, and Severa from ''Awakening'' show up under pseudonyms, sinking several ships in the process.
*** All three of them can freely marry any appropriate member of the ''Fates'' cast, sinking every ''Awakening'' ship involving the trio except Severa/Owain and Severa/Inigo.
*** As far as their parents are concerned, none of the three react to Robin (in his amiibo battle) or Frederick (in the "Before Awakening" DLC) in a manner indicating that they are the fathers. In addition, Inigo a.k.a. Laslow makes no indication that Lucina is his sister or Chrom is his father. The ships sunk in this manner are Chrom/Olivia, Frederick/Olivia, Frederick/Lissa, Frederick/Cordelia, Robin/Olivia, Robin/Lissa, and Robin/Cordelia.
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'', [[TheDrunkenSailor Saber]] and [[WhiteMagicianGirl Genny]] are kind of a FanPreferredCouple despite the [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight lack of in-game interactions]], on the basis that they were the only two characters who got unnamed lovers in their endings. The ''Gaiden'' remake ''Shadows of Valentia'' gave them no unique interactions (which is much more glaring when every OfficialCouple now has supports or death quote interactions), revealed that Genny's only 15 whereas Saber is 34, and added endings where ''several other characters'' find love with someone unknown. While Genny ''does'' mention that [[LikesOlderMen she'd like to find an older man to fall in love with]], and there's nothing ''explicitly'' saying that she wouldn't consider Saber as a prospect lover, it's just highly unlikely since their endings remain the same even when the other is dead.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' contains a lot of ShipTease for Dimitri and Edelgard early on (with Claude playing ShipperOnDeck to mess with them), but it takes a hit when Dimitri reveals Edelgard's mother was his father's second wife, making them step-siblings. But it's utterly ''torpedoed'' just before the TimeSkip when [[spoiler: Edelgard is revealed as the Flame Emperor, and from that point Dimitri's feelings for her can be summed up as ''blind, murderous'' '''LOATHING''']].
* While Goemon/Omitsu are the ''de facto'' OfficialCouple of ''VideoGame/GanbareGoemon'', there's an instance of Goemon/Yae [[ShipTease teasing]] that's almost directly followed by sinking in ''Kuru Nara Koi! Ayashige Ikka no Kuroi Kage''. Partway through the game, an injured Goemon is too weak to take the medicine brought to him by his friends, resulting in an impending MedicineKiss scenario. A flustered Yae states that "Goemon's life is an irreplaceable thing!" ... So she has an obliging Ebisumaru perform the task instead - NoYay, indeed! (Just to rub it in, the conversation following that scene has Goemon and Yae make it very clear that Omitsu is the one he's truly concerned about.)
* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'':
** Many a Mudshipper (Isaac/Mia) weeps at the revelation that [[VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn Matthew]] is the product of Valeshipping ([[ChildhoodFriendRomance Isaac/Jenna]]).
** Mud and Flame (Garet/Jenna) were '''far''' from the only casualties of the sequel. Whole ''squadrons'' were scrapped to make way for GenerationXerox.
** Imilshipping (Mia/Alex) also took a hit after ''Dark Dawn'' clarified their relationship -They're cousins. In the first two games, their exact relationship wasn't known, only that they were from the same clan and Alex was [[APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil once a pupil of Mia's father]], making them a frequent target of ChildhoodFriendRomance.
* ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'':
** Many people were surprised to find out Ky Kiske [[spoiler:is unofficially married to a Gear and fathered a son]]. Ky/Jam supporters got an ouch there and for some reason, Ky/Dizzy fics are starting to pop up more often.
** Weep for Dizzy/Testament. Because at least Sol/Ky fans got a consolation prize thrown at them, what with [[spoiler:Ky's son Sin having Sol as [[TheMentor his mentor]].]] But Testament? Nooooooo...
* ''VideoGame/Injustice2'' is not kind to ships. Catwoman gets together with Batman in her arcade ending, [[spoiler: only to dump him after getting bored with the mundane lifestyle.]] Harley/Ivy also gets sunk, as the latter betrays the former for the Society [[spoiler: and later even almost kills her by sending her into shock.]]
* ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'':
** The rather popular [[IdolSinger Athena]]/[[DoggedNiceGuy Kensou]] may have been sunk in ''KOF XIII''. If you fight as the [[AmazonBrigade Women's Team]] and find the Psycho Soldiers in the Story Mode, Athena straightforwardly rejects the idea of dating Kensou [[TrueCompanions and says he's her "companion"]] when asked about it by [[ShipperOnDeck Mai]], and later [[AbortedDeclarationofLove cuts off Kensou]] when he attempts to declare his feelings in public. She stops him from confessing ''again'' in their pre-fight talks. At this rate Athena seems to be gearing towards {{Celibate Hero}}ine, since as an IdolSinger she ''can't'' exactly date anyone or [[ContractualPurity her career will be damaged by "scandals"]] (She uses this to avert going out with Benimaru, too.)
** Athena's unrequited love for [[TheHero Kyo Kusanagi]] seems to have been sunk, even when it was mostly exclusive to materials on the periphery of canon. Their KOF XIII pre-fight talks sound ''devoid'' of ShipTease, and the one with NESTS!Kyo alludes to Kyo's ''girlfriend'' Yuki, whom Athena is in good terms with. The semi-canon ''KOF:KYO'' manga/game and ''2000'' CD drama also shoot it down: in the first Athena's initial interest in Kyo switches to them interacting in more friendly terms after she learns of Yuki and befriends her (and in the game, having Kyo flirt with Athena may make the player ''lose favor'' with her), and in the second [[spoiler:Athena finds a missing Kyo and begs him to come back home... but while Kyo listens to her, he refuses to come back home since [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies he doesn't want his friends and family to be targeted by NESTS]], and shows her a talisman that Yuki gave him as they speak.]]
* In the trailer for ''The Passing'', an expansion campaign for ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'', Francis ([=L4D1=] Survivor) and Rochelle ([=L4D2=]) see each other; Rochelle randomly says that she hates stairs. Francis, who has a meme of hating everything, says [[ShipTease with genuine interest]] "Oh my god... you hate stuff too?". Rochelle says she hates various things, with Francis happily agreeing with her. Then she crosses the line and says "I hate your vest!", to which "I don't think this is gonna work out." This is subverted in-game, where they actually have a mutual attraction to each other. Likewise, Nick and Ellis were extremely popular to ship together, but the ship sunk hard once it was revealed that Ellis was madly in love with Zoey.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel III'' was not kind on the [[spoiler: [[TheHero Rean]][=/=][[CoolBigSis Claire]] ]] shipping especially since the game actually gave her more ship worthy moments, even giving [[spoiler: Rean]] a kiss on his cheek. But when [[spoiler: Claire]] decided to [[spoiler:side with her boss the BigBad and help sacrifice Altina, a little girl who was also Rean's student to make her into a sword to destroy the corrupted divine beast of the goddess of the world which will then spread the curse all over Zemuria, the ship sank really hard. Hammered more after her and the rest of the Ironbloods boss fight where Rean and the rest of his students get past them while Rean's friends hold them back and Claire tries to reach her hand towards Rean but Rean doesn't even bother looking back at her.]]
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', WordOfGod confirming the split timeline sinks every single Link pairing. At the end of ''Ocarina of Time'' Zelda sends Link back in time to when he was a child. This creates two timelines, the "Adult Timeline" where Link defeats Ganon and where most of the game took place, and the "Child Timeline", the timeline only briefly seen during the ending where Link is a child again (certainly he ends up with ''someone'', as the Link of ''Twilight Princess'' is his descendant, but no indication is given as to whether it's ''any'' of the characters from ''Ocarina of Time''). In the "Adult Timeline", Link ceases to exist and it eventually leads into ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' while the "Child Timeline" eventually leads into ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess''. While technically Link can still be paired in the "Child Timeline", the versions of the characters you meet during the game are the "Adult Timeline" versions. Not only do none of the shipping options happen, none of Link's friends ever see him again after the ending. Furthermore, in ''Wind Waker'', Tetra is supposed to be a direct descendant of ''OOT'' Zelda, which implies that in the ''Wind Waker'' timeline, ''OOT'' Zelda did eventually marry someone who wasn't Link. And [[TheBadGuyWins what]] [[BadFuture leads to]] ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' naturally makes any romantic relationship involving ''OOT'' Link impossible there as well. Of course, the Link from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' is supposed to be a descendant of The Hero of Time from the "Child Timeline". And the ''TP'' Link happens to have a lot in common with EnsembleDarkhorse [[FarmBoy Farm Girl]] Malon. He is a Rancher who owns a horse with the same name as hers and can play a song that was passed down to Malon from her mother.
** ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'' heavily implies that Link and Zelda's incarnations always end up being romantically involved and that it never ends well for anyone else who falls for them. Cia and Lana learned this the hard way. Even though it's non-canon to the rest of the series, other women who have either implied or confirmed feelings for Link were sunk in-game (Saria, Ruto, Marin, Midna and Mipha to name a few), which suggests that might actually be the case anyway.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'':
** A missile was sent at Jacob/Shepard and Thane/Shepard. [[spoiler:Jacob [[YourCheatingHeart cheats on her]], and Thane is killed by [[SmugSnake Kai Leng]]]].
*** As far as Thane's romance goes, [[spoiler: if Shepard hasn't gotten involved with anybody else, Thane, as a spirit, shows up at the end of the Citadel DLC and it's implied that he's waiting for her on the other side. There's still hope for them if Shepard's patient and devoted]].
** What's that? You liked [[EnsembleDarkhorse Kal'Reegar]] and [[{{Adorkable}} Tali's]] interactions in the previous game and wanted to see more of them? [[spoiler:Too bad, he gets [[DroppedABridgeOnHim killed off-screen]]]].
** Joker/Shepard is torpedoed, too, [[spoiler:what with him getting together with EDI]], although he does admit he'd totally date her in another universe.
** James/Shepard doesn't happen either. (Honestly, [=FemShep's=] options in the game are pretty limited if she's heterosexual.) James/Shepard shippers are thrown a bone in the final DLC, ''Citadel'', but he only agrees to a drunken one night stand after repeatedly insisting that he's not interested in her for numerous reasons. By the end of it, Shepard is basically sexually harassing the guy.
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' and ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' have the option of the player doing this to ''themselves'', romancing someone then getting them killed in certain spoileriffic scenes.
* The clumsy (but perfectly in-character) romantic subplot involving Naomi Hunter in ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 4|GunsOfThePatriots}}'' was arguably added to distract from the fact that Snake and Otacon had been [[HoYay living together for nine years]] and had [[HasTwoMommies recently adopted a daughter together]]. It failed to work -- shipping carried on as normal, but [[DieForOurShip now everyone just hates Naomi]]. [[spoiler:It's the two men who end up "together" at the end]], anyway. (Plus Otacon is required by [[TheWoobie divine law]] [[DieForOurShip to kill]] [[CartwrightCurse one woman]] [[RunningGag a game.]])
* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'': After ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'', many fans had shipped Samus with Adam Malkovich. With ''[[VideoGame/MetroidOtherM Other M]]'', the writers fired a Super Missile at said ship with this single line: "Because I was so young when I lost both of my parents, there's no question that I saw Adam as a father figure."
* In ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'', Bishop/[=FemalePC=] was sunk a grand total of ''three times''. First, when he [[spoiler:betrays her]]; second, when [[spoiler:the infamous KillEmAll ending happens]]; and third, when [[spoiler:[[DeaderThanDead his soul is eaten]]]] in ''Mask of the Betrayer''. Seeing as they ''are'' a FanPreferredCouple, mods exist to change this.
* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}''
** The comics revealed that [[AcePilot Lena "Tracer" Oxton]] [[BadassGay has a non-combatant girlfriend named Emily]]. This sunk pretty much all the ships with her and any playable characters, especially with her ArchEnemy [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Amélie "Widowmaker" Lacroix.]]
** Soldier: 76 (Jack Morrison) was revealed in a short story that he has an ex-boyfriend who he still thinks about, killing any ships he had, particularly with his former second in command Ana.
* ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'': Azran Legacies effectively sunk every popular ship that has been introduced in the prequel series. [[spoiler:Descole is Layton's older brother, and Bronev is Layton and Descole's ''father''. And Claire? That ship was confirmed and burned at the same time! And boy... did it burn.]]
* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil''
** Despite having good chemistry and plenty of ShipTease Billy/Rebecca doesn't happen at the end of [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil0 RE0]]. Billy being an escaped convict flees into the wild, while Rebecca goes to the Spencer Mansion (she still keeps his dog tags however). Billy [[PutOnAbus is never seen or heard from again]] and Rebecca never talks about him.
** Leon/Ada seem likes this at the end of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' with Leon escaping with Claire and Sherry while Ada is left behind, ''but'' [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil4 RE4]] and [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil6 RE6]] bring them together again... then have the pair [[RelationshipRevolvingDoor separate them again]] likely because Ada is a morally ambiguous spy who doesn't do commitment. A good amount of fans got sick of Ada [[DatingCatwoman playing]] with Leon's heart [[AllTakeAndNoGive like a fiddle]] and [[FanPreferredCouple believe]] he should forget Ada and find a girl who truly reciprocates his affections e.g Claire, Ashely, Manuela, Angela or Helena.
** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica'' attempts to set up Claire/Steve [[spoiler: until he gets injected t-Veronica virus, turns into a HumanoidAbomination, tells Claire he loves her and then dies]]. Ship sunk.
** In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations'', [[FemmeFataleSpy Jessica Sherawat]] repeatedly hits on [[{{Hunk}} Chris Redfield]], but she may as well flirt with [[CelibateHero a brick wall]] for all the good it does.
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'', being one of the most infamous when it comes to shipping, tends to actively avoid any official relationships, likely due to a combination of how divided the fanbase is on the subject and that rather infamous debacle with Elise. That said, a number of them ''have'' been actively sunk.
** WordOfGod says that Amy will keep chasing Sonic, and Sonic will keep running from Amy, but they'll never get together with each other or anyone else. Bits of dialogue like "Eggman said he'd trade us Amy for the emerald... hmm, I'll have to think about that one" and "That's Amy's card. I totally forgot about her", don't help either. This applies to basically ''every'' series and/or subseries as of the Modern series, though Sonic and Amy do have (concealed) feelings for each other in the ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' continuity. Considering "Sonamy" is one of the most contentious pairings of the entire franchise (alongside Sonally and maybe Sonelise), this wasn't a surprising move.
** ''VideoGame/SonicRivals 2'' could be seen as this to Shadow x Rouge fans, considering the two clash in that game, as opposed to the ShipTease in the first one. Other games to feature this are non-canon however, such as the ''Mario and Sonic'' games, and the main games where they work together show them doing so fairly well; they're ''Team'' Dark, after all. The ship was later than properly sunk by [[WordOfSaintPaul Ian Flynn]], who on his podcast, stated that according to Sega, they don't see each other as lovers or even really as friends.
** ''VideoGame/SonicChronicles'' is (well, ''[[CanonDiscontinuity was]]'') this for Knuckles x Tikal fans too, as it states that Knuckles is a descendant of Tikal's father.
** Silver/Blaze was pretty popular around the time ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' was released, until it was revealed that Blaze locked herself away in an AlternateDimension. This is further emphasized with the revelation that Blaze and Silver don't even live in the same timeline[[note]]the details are infamously messy, but to keep it simple; Silver is from a range of BadFuture types, while Blaze is from another dimension entirely[[/note]], making any interaction limited at best. They are often seen with each other whenever on screen, but this is likely due to audience recognition than any real feelings for each other.
** Then there is the ever infamous [[FoeYay Sonadow]], a shipping of, well, Sonic and Shadow. If the Twitter Takeover from on the cusp of ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' is any indication, however, [[https://twitter.com/sonic_hedgehog/status/926534883421196288 BOTH recipients are aware of the pairing]]. [[https://twitter.com/sonic_hedgehog/status/926552296158199808 And they both hate it]].
* ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'':
** ''Soul Edge'' sank the Seong Mi-na/Hwang pairing, during her ending for that game, when she runs away from home and leaves a note for her father saying [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt4UT19xkoc "marrying Hwang wasn't for her."]] By the following game, ''Soulcalibur'', her father was trying to wed her to another of his students named Kim, which angered Mi-na, causing her to run away from home again. From ''SCII'' onward, her father took the hint and let it drop. ''SCII'' through ''SCIV'' also sink the possibility of [[ShipToShipCombat rival naval vessel]] Mi-na/Yun-seong, as Mi-na [[CoolBigSis interacts with him in a sisterly manner]] and an official relationship chart in the fourth game (and ''Broken Destiny'') strictly defines their relationship as platonic.
** ''Soulcalibur V'' continued the trend with other characters:
*** The Kilik/Xianghua shippers were [[ShipTease teased]] when the latter's replacement and daughter Leixia appeared wearing Kilik's Dvapara-Yuga necklace. However, it sunk HARD when it was revealed Xianghua married the Ming General Yan Wujin. [[spoiler:Guess who Xiba's parents are, though.]]
*** Tira's story profile appears to have sunk the Nightmare/Tira pairing. [[spoiler:The story itself seems to lend (more) credence to [[CargoShip Tira/Soul Edge]], though.]]
*** Hilde is now an ActionMom? And she's travelling with Siegfried as a mercenary now? Yes! [[FanPreferredCouple Hilde/Siegfried]] BattleCouple finally confirmed! Oh, yes! Ye--wait... WordOfGod... is that children aren't his.
* Falco Lombardi and Katt Monroe from ''VideoGame/StarFox'' are not only a ship sinking, but an IncompatibleOrientation. There was not much of an associated fandom HumiliationConga in the West, because the {{canon}}ical manga this appeared in was [[NoExportForYou Japan-only]] (packaged with ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures''), and only started to surface in the West in recent years through {{Scanlation}}, long after [[HoYayShipping Falox]] had already become the dominant Falco [[{{Shipping}} ship]] in Japan and the Western fandom had long since already [[BrokenBase broken]] over Krystal (introduced in the aforementioned ''Adventures'').
* Playfully done in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'', with the "Unwanted Suitors" event. Zelda and Samus fight off a long approaching stream of invisible Luigis and Captain Falcons, and since Samus/Falcon was the most popular het pairing in the fandom before ''Brawl'' came along...
* In ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime'', [[spoiler:Penelope undergoes a FaceHeelTurn]] and it's made very clear that she and Bentley are ''done''.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld'' intentionally creates and sinks a ship as a distraction. [[spoiler: the "Love Letter" Raine gives Regal was actually a note asking him to keep an eye on Emil's personality changes]].
* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'':
** Much rage erupted among fans who ship [[HoYay Heavy/Medic]] when the WAR update gave the Demoman the Medic-specific domination quote: "DOMINATED! And I've been shagging your wife!" It is possible, though that Demo was [[TheAlcoholic drunk as hell when he said this]].
** One of the Soldier's domination quotes over the Sniper is: "I'll send condolences to your [[InterspeciesRomance kangaroo wife]]." Given that this is, well, [[TheDitz the Soldier]], fans are much less inclined to take this as evidence that the Sniper is not secretly snogging the Spy senseless.
** Said [[FoeYayShipping Sniper/Spy]] fans are also apt to pretend that Scout's Mom [[DieForOurShip doesn't exist]].
** The Demoman/Soldier pairing came courtesy of Valve ''pre-sunk'' as the ExcusePlot for the WAR update was that the Administrator was out to destroy their friendship.
** "Meet The Pyro" reveals that the ''entire team'' [[TheDreaded is terrified of Pyro]], which makes the most of the Pyro-related pairings now rather unlikely. Pyro does still have a canon friend through the Engineer, if the ''True Meaning'' comic is any indication.
** Miss Pauling had been subject to ShipTease with the Scout for some time, [[WordOfGay only for Jay Pinkerton to reveal her to be a lesbian on]] [[https://twitter.com/jaypinkerton/status/612113790750961664/ Twitter]].
*** [[ArmedWithCanon However, Jay's confirmation hasn't been officially endorsed (or even agreed upon) by the other Valve writers,]] who range from saying Miss Pauling is openly asexual to agreeing with the original ship tease with Scout, the comics and the ''Expiration Date'' short film edging towards the latter.
** Also, Scout/Spy is a popular one for reasons unknown, tended to be the feature in a lot of softer, angst-related stories. Never mind the fact they quite literally hate each other, [[spoiler:oh, and the ''The Naked and the Dead'' comic has revealed that Scout ''is the Spy's son'']]. So yeah, that one sunk fairly quickly.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' fandom, due to ZUN's ShrugOfGod and the lack of any {{Official Couple}}s, usually doesn't have to worry about this. ''Usually''. Aya/Momiji shippers got a nasty kick in the pants when ''Double Spoiler'' revealed that there's actually a bit of bad blood between the two. This has not stopped the fan art from rolling in the slightest, though, some deciding to simply take their shipping in a [[SlapSlapKiss bit of a different direction]].
* Some ''VideoGame/WarCraft'' fans interpreted an interlude in ''Arthas: Rise of the Lich King'' as sinking the [[FanPreferredCouple Thrall/Jaina]] ship. The official sink is pairing Thrall with a Mag'har shamanka in ''The Shattering''. In the ''Tides of War'' novel Jaina and Thrall's friendship falls apart and Jaina starts a relationship with Kalecgos. As of ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' patch 4.2 [[spoiler:Aggra and Thrall are now life mates (married, for you non-orcs) and Aggra is pregnant]]. The complete and final nail in the coffin came with ''Mists of Pandaria'', wherein [[spoiler:the destruction of Theramore Isle]] has caused Jaina to become fervently racist against the Horde, orcs in particular, [[spoiler:encouraging Varian to rally his guardsmen and slaughter the present Horde leaders, her "friend" Thrall among them during their choosing of a new Warchief after the turmoil following Garrosh's defeat]]. Just so the ship sank even further, when Jaina is included in ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm'', even at her pre-Mists of Pandaria phase, one of her 'annoyed' quotes reflect that she finds the concept of shipping her and Thrall ridiculous and she preferred blue over green, referring to her romance with Arthas (who prominently wore blue when he's human) and Kalegcos, and the last two people pursuing romance with her ends up as world-destroying OmnicidalManiac (the aforementioned Arthas, and also Kael'thas), so she settles that her OTP is with studying. Being a game in a more 'lighthearted' setting, this is [[PlayedForLaughs done more for laughs]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'' has a curious in-universe example: [[spoiler:Sharla encourages [[WhiteMage Melia]] to keep fighting for [[TheHero Shulk's]] affection despite that his ChildhoodFriendRomance girlfriend [[TheChick Fiora]] is BackFromTheDead. [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy Melia eventually gives up on him, though]]]].
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'': In the main game, it's unclear what relationship Mythra had with the hero Addam, her previous driver. The prequel DLC immediately makes it clear that there was no romance whatsoever; Addam acts like a put-upon father trying to deal with his bratty teenage daughter. Addam even has a wife, though she never appears on screen.
* At the end of ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'', the obviously romantic subtext between Shion and KOS-MOS is abruptly shoved aside when Shion ends up with Allen, the series' resident ButtMonkey. In a case of ThrowTheDogABone, KOS-MOS and Shion can't be together, but will be in another {{Reincarnation}}. So hey, he gets to be with her since she can't be with her soul-mate.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'':
** ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'' slowly sinks [[FanPreferredCouple Phoenix x Maya]] through the story by Maya declaring that [[LikeBrotherAndSister she thinks of herself as big sister for]] [[AffectionateNickname Nick]] (twice), and then introducing ''actual'' LoveInterest for him (Iris) with Maya giving them [[ShipperOnDeck full support]]. Not that it stopped any shippers.
** In ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'', during the middle way part of the last case, it turns out that Apollo and Trucy [[spoiler:are brother and sister, [[BrotherSisterIncest forever ruining that pair]]]].
** In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'' Edgeworth declares that he has no intention of ever getting married swiftly sinking all of the ships involving him. Of course, it hardly stopped anyone from shipping him with [[FanPreferredCouple his long time friend Phoenix]].
* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' sunk one popular couple -- Ange x Amakusa -- in the [=EP6=] tea party by revealing that [[spoiler:Amakusa was just getting close to Ange to use her as bait to lure out Kasumi. Once he's killed Kasumi, he shoots Ange]]. And he doesn't even do it out of any particular strong emotion, which could still be worked off of for shipping purposes, but simply because [[spoiler:[[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness she had outlived her usefulness]]]]. [=EP8=] sinks it even further: [[spoiler:in the end of the "Trick" ending, Ange ''shoots'' him. In the ''head''.]]
* ''VisualNovel/ZeroEscape'': Whatever little shipping ''VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward'' had between [[spoiler:Sigma and Phi is torpedoed by the [[WordOfGod developer Q&A]],]] and then shredded to bits by ''VisualNovel/ZeroTimeDilemma'', [[spoiler:in which Sigma and Diana get together and it's revealed Phi is their daughter.]] Fans' shipping attempts survived the former, [[AbandonShipping but not the latter]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'':
** "Arkos" (Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos) was nuked in "End of the Beginning" when [[spoiler:Cinder murdered Pyrrha and disintegrated her body, just after making it canon]]. It should be noted that this did little to actually stop shippers, and Arkos remains one of the most popular ships, especially in regards to ships that involve Jaune or Pyrrha.
** "Tauradonna" (Blake + Adam Taurus) wasn't so much sunk as it was blasted more than the ''Bismarck'' by the events of "Heroes and Monsters". [[spoiler:Adam goes full {{Yandere}} on Blake and vows to destroy everything she loves. He follows up the threat by stabbing Blake through the gut, ''[[MoralEventHorizon lopping off Yang's right arm, and trying to decapitate Blake]].'' A later comment from the creators also revealed that Adam and Blake's past relationship was abusive to Blake.]] [[{{Website/Reddit}} /r/RWBY]], a nexus point for the show's shipping community, officially renamed the pairing [[spoiler: "Animal Abuse"]] as a result. Whatever was left after that was firmly sunk in "Seeing Red" [[spoiler:with Adam's death.]]
** Both Rosewick (Ruby x Roman) and Gelato (Roman x Neo) hit icebergs in "Heroes And Monsters" when Roman [[spoiler:was eaten alive by a Griffon]].
** While not nearly intensely as the above examples, Sailor's Delight (Ruby x Scarlet) was sunk when Scarlet was confirmed as gay by the manga. However due to the small nature of the ship and the much more popular ships for Ruby, the fan-base was mostly fine with it in this case.
** Fair Game (Qrow x Clover) was hit pretty bad when Ironwood called for the arrest of all the heroes. [[spoiler:Then died violently with Clover.]]
* ''WebAnimation/HazbinHotel'': Any and all ships involving Alastor were sunk when [[WordOfSaintPaul Faustisse confirmed that Alastor is aromantic asexual]]. However, Faustisse also informed the fans that they can still ship him with anyone they want in fanon.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/BoyMeetsBoy'':
** The first half heavily implies at a future romance between Cyanide and Skids. Then the author took a closer look at them, [[CreatorBacklash decided that they actually weren't compatible]], and hooked Cyanide up with the female Ronnie. To clear away any doubt, Skids says outright that Cyanide isn't his type, is revealed to have a long-time crush on Harley (which is ultimately futile, as Harley is happily with Mikhael), and is [[LastMinuteHookup paired up with Tybalt at the end]]. Many fans did not take this well, as [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in [[http://boymeetsboy.keenspot.com/d/20031002.html this comic]].
** Fuhr did this again in later comics, with the added gut punch that a canon couple ([[spoiler:Fox and Collin]]), formerly seen as unshakeable [[spoiler: due to their best-friends-as-well-as-lovers status]], were split up in the gap between ''Webcomic/FriendlyHostility'' and ''Webcomic/OtherPeoplesBusiness'' - with one of them marrying someone else in the time between. This time, however, she [[WordOfGod told readers]] that they were free to label the later comic as an AlternateUniverse and pretend everyone in ''Webcomic/FriendlyHostility'' got a happy ending - Cy and Skids, on the other hand, were lampooned ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy''-style: in the creator's mind, they would never be together. A small mercy for F.H. 'shippers, but a mercy nonetheless.
* ''Webcomic/CheckPlease'': Tater/Kent quickly developed a large following despite the two never interacting, since it solved any [[ShipToShipCombat tension between Jack/Bitty and Jack/Kent shippers]] and gave the fandom's OneTruePairing Jack/Bitty a rare [[ShipMates Ship Mate]] that also gave Kent a happy ending. By the time they finally interact, Tater makes it painfully clear that he dislikes if not outright hates Kent. Shippers who saw that as BelligerentSexualTension quickly faced a different problem when the chapter notes showed that Tater's only feeling for Kent is disdain, to the point he and Bitty bond over their mutual dislike for Kent. It didn't stopped the ship, but it did made almost all works of them go into FanonDiscontinuity.
* In ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'' Twenty-Fifth Bam spends a great time chasing after Rachel, who left for the eponymous tower. He finally finds her and since she can't go on without him, he tries to take her along with him. This had a reasonable amount of ship tease. [[spoiler: Then she pushes him into an abyss, it is revealed that she has been psychotically obsessed with getting away from the world she and Bam had lived and is shown to be scared of Bam himself, who is getting stronger by the minute. We discover how she has been leading him on all along and how both were used as pawns in Headon's and Yu Han Sung's plan. Shipping between the two stopped immediately after that.]]
* ''Webcomic/GeneralProtectionFault'' sunk any chance of Nick/Trudy not only by having Nick get together with Ki, but by having him permanently reject her after learning of her plans in Surreptitious Machinations ("I can't love someone I can't trust.") Todd gets this twice, with a grown-up Sidney in the BadFuture (who stays behind to let him go back in time, getting captured and executed), and [[spoiler:an amnesiac Mischief]], ([[spoiler:who regains her memories while forgetting her feelings for him]], much to his dismay).
* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'':
** Author Tom Siddell is well aware of the flimsy premises a lot of shippers use, and jokingly sinks Zimmy/Jack in a comment [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=471 at the end of their first meeting]] ("[=ZimmyXJack=]? More like shutXup"). [[TeasingCreator Tom being Tom]], years later he revealed that [[spoiler:Jack actually ''does'' [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=929 have a crush on her]], even after being freed of his astral parasite.]]
** The brutally blunt ending of Alistair and Kat's relationship. Ali leaves, and the narrator states "And [Kat] never saw him again."
** Chapter 34 has the bastard [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=928 do it again]] with [[spoiler:Jack x Annie]].
** Chapter 45 deals a major blow to [[spoiler:Annie x Kat]], with the latter in a relationship with someone else and the former very much in support of it. While ''also'' delivering piles of ShipTease for them. Oh Tom...
* ''Webcomic/EerieCuties'' sank both fandom ships regarding Layla, whom the readership hoped was in denial about not being a lesbian, or at least bi, because they wanted her to hook up [[FoeYay with Tiffany]] [[FanPreferredCouple or Brooke.]]
** In the former case, the comic's editor plainly said the following:
-->'''Creator/TCampbell''': "Her friendship with Tiff [[JustFriends was always meant to be just that:]] [[http://www.pixietrixcomix.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=492131#p492131 friendship]], the thrill of two largely isolated people finding each other."
** Which was later confirmed in the comic itself when Layla tried setting Tiffany up [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/i_need_a_date on a date with Dio.]] While in its SpinOff series, ''Webcomic/MagickChicks'', Tiffany found herself coming to terms with the possibility of being attracted to [[spoiler: [[http://www.magickchicks.com/strips-mc/omigawd Faith]]]].
** Those who shipped Layla with Brooke didn't care that Layla's [[spoiler: persona [[SplitPersonalityTakeover was being overwritten by Queen Quintessa]]]]'s. But once she regained control, any hope of it happening died when [[WhatTheHellHero she called Brooke]] [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/less_tied_up out]] for going along with [[spoiler: Quintessa]]'s intentions.
* ''Webcomic/HeroesOfThantopolis'' The author preemptively sinks ships right off the bat by making Cyrus and the other ghosts [[{{Asexuality}} Asexual]]
** [[http://heroesofthantopolis.com/post/101318226175 Here's the page for proof]]
* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'':
** Two of the (at the time) most popular pairings were destroyed by revealing that ''both'' of the pairings [[spoiler:involve ectobiological siblings]]. In the words of the author: "Also I think I ruined a solid year's worth of perfectly good shipping with [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/index.php?s=6&p=003765 recent revelations]]. WHOOPSEE DAISEE"
** And another ship or two ([[spoiler:John/Dave and John/Karkat]]) have been sunk by John's admission to Karkat: [[spoiler:EB: i am not a homosexual.]]
** Any hopes that [[spoiler: Eridan and Feferi]] would get together were cruelly crushed on the 01/22/11 update.
** In a less dramatic fashion, Nepeta/Karkat was simultaneously [[spoiler:''confirmed'' as canon and then sunk when it was brought up as being [[AllLoveIsUnrequited a one-way crush of Nepeta's]]]].
** Apparently, Hussie has done enough of this that he feels a need to [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=005319 parody it]] in a pesterlog between Jade and John.
** Hussie's proven himself such a master of the art of ship sinking that he manages to ''confirm'' a ship being canon via its sinking, in the case of [[spoiler: [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=007192 Jade/Davesprite]].]]
** Kanaya's hatred of Gamzee was speculated by some to be a Blackrom (in-spite of the IncompatibleOrientation). When asked Kanaya confirms her hatred is not romantically linked, and in an [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=007298 interactive]] Gamzee tells Rose "[he wouldn't] even give that dayglow chainsaw bitch - [his] time of day in any quadrant."
* In ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'', the ToyShip of Nigel and Coney was first sunk when he and Catherine Aura went back in time at the end of the [[MillenniumBug [=Y2K=]]] storyline, raised when they returned to deal with Rudy's webcomic, and sunk again when the two of them [[PutOnABus left for the human world to maintain the balance]]. While Nigel still harbors feelings for Coney, his mother does not allow him to contact her and hopes he will forget about her.
* ''Webcomic/{{Monsterkind}}'': The plot put a heavy focus on Kip and Wallace and their relation to each other, while also focusing on Kip's really close friendship with Roy and Molly, as a result, Kip/Wallace and Kip/Roy had huge followings, with the former believed to be the comic's OfficialCouple. Later chapters however, introduce Pascal, who turns out to be Kip's actual LoveInterest (he is an OldFlame of his who moves to the town and both show interest in rekindling the relationship), the same chapter also implied Roy has a crush on Molly and Chapter 4 started heavily teasing Wallace/Ben with [[spoiler:their AlmostKiss in the stairs]]. To further sink Wallace/Kip, it's been made clear their relationship is meant as purely platonic.
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
** [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0594.html Lampshaded]] (like so many tropes) after Therkla (a potential alternative love interest for Elan) [[spoiler:was killed by Kubota]]:
-->'''Elan:''' You were her captain... now you're going down with her ship.
** Played straight (HumiliationConga flavor) in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0250.html this strip]] and its successor, where the Roy/Miko ship is brutally and decisively sunk, followed by a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech. (The facial expressions are priceless, followed by Belkar's PassThePopcorn in the next strip.)
--->'''Miko:''' Perhaps in the future, if you approached the prospect of a romantic relationship from this more mature perspective, I would not be so dismissive of the possibility.\\
'''Roy:''' Oh. Oh, no. [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech I wouldn't touch your skinny uptight ass with a standard-issue 10-ft pole, you overbearing self-righteous bitch.]]
** Some shipped Lien and Hinjo together because of their interactions. In a print-only subplot, Elan tries to set them both up only to be shot down. Not only were neither interested in each other, Hinjo objected on the basis that superiors should not be fraternizing with their employees, whilst Lien states she already has a boyfriend and looks at working class men over nobles like Hinjo.
* ''Webcomic/OutThere'': Martha, echoing a large part of the audience, thought that Sherry and Miriam [[http://outthere.keenspot.com/d/20110913.html had been sleeping together in their younger years]]; Sherry [[http://outthere.keenspot.com/d/20110914.html shoots the idea down flat]], apparently genuinely surprised Martha thought so—although Martha herself [[http://outthere.keenspot.com/d/20110916.html still isn't convinced]].
* ''Webcomic/OwMySanity'' is a young webcomic. The David/Collette ship was a young ship. [[http://owmysanity.comicgenesis.com/d/20100826.html It died young]].
* In ''Webcomic/PennyAndAggie'', Sara broke up with Daphne for reasons including, though not limited to, wanting to get with Lucy, her RealityShow costar. However, Lucy eventually made it clear she wanted to be JustFriends.
* ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'':
** The surprisingly popular Marigold/Hannelore pairing was [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1492 deliberately sunk]], in a strip that's even titled "Suck it, Shippers." In his comments, the creator candidly admits it probably won't work.
** Poor Marigold. She gets Angus (shot down [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1631 here]]) and later Tai (similarly destroyed [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1791 here]]), neither of which work out too well.
** Marten/Faye one, officially sunk with just [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1737 one question]]:
---> '''Faye''': [[ItMakesSenseInContext What's your favorite Toto song?]]
* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' introduced 19-year-old [[GadgeteerGenius Lieutenant Ventura]] at the beginning of the previous arc. She started to get along a bit too well with commander Andreyasn until his girlfriend showed up to sink that ship in a very clear and precise manner. At the end of the arc, she pretty much singlehandedly promoted a RedShirt to {{Mauve|Shirt}} when he saved her life, and the subsequent affection she showed him because of it. That ship was sunk early next arc when said MauveShirt assured his fellow crewmates he doesn't like little girls.
** An older one is Tagon and Elf, with the latter constantly seeking to flirt with an utterly oblivious former that ignored and/or misinterpreted her attempts in various ways. This one was sunk by Tagon himself, who partnered Kevyn and Elf during a project and (perhaps knowingly) lead them to get together and eventually marry.
* Readers have lost track of all the times that the ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive'' Davan/[=PeeJee=] has been sunk, refloated and then resunk. WordOfGod says the person [=PeeJee's=] is based on has only one request regarding the comic: The Davan/[=PeeJee=] ship NEVER sails. In the immortal words of that famed philosopher James Storm: Sorry bout your damn luck, shippers.
* ''Webcomic/TwoGuysAndGuy'' [[http://www.twogag.com/archives/3361 sunk the Guy/Wayne ship without doing anything with the characters or the story.]]
--> '''Rickard Jonasson (as a homeless man)''': Hello, friend, I'm Rickard, [[WordOfGod the creator]] of ''TWOGAG''. I thought I'd drop in to share the news; twogag's got a ''patreon's page''. Just link down in the description and show your support for this comic. There's some nifty rewards for donators so be sure to take a gander at those. And remember a little can go a long way!\\
'''Fellow Homeless Guy''': Okay, how about if Wayne finds Guy's diary, right. And it turns out she's been in love with him this '''''WHOLE ENTIRE TIME!?'''''\\
'''Rickard Jonasson''': Get out of here, Ivan.
* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': As all main characters tend to be shipped with at least one other one, this inevitably happened when [[spoiler:Tuuri]] died.
* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Elliot getting together with Ashley sinks both Elliot/Susan and Elliot/Diane.
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* Eva of ''Webcomic/WastelandersAnonymous'' was shaping up to be a ManicPixieDreamGirl to Benjamin, but the climax of the main plot introduced a twist like a giant iceberg! It was deadly to this ship. The little hope which remained was lost in the denouement as Benjamin's feelings were clarified. (But a surprising new ship turned up too.)
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''Website/GaiaOnline'':
** Gee Boi Turbo item has the boss of the Dark Elves going to a [[NoFourthWall Gaia-centric anime convention]] and finding... compromising... fanart of himself with Devin.
--->'''Kuro:''' Seriously, guys... ''this isn't canon.''
** How they sunk the Meredith X Ivan Ship.
--->'''Lex:''' Ivan! Hey Ivan! Why was your [[MirrorWorld opposite self]] married to Meredith? Don't ''you'' like her?\\
'''Ivan:''' Well, yeah, I love her very much.\\
'''Lex:''' Then why--\\
'''Ivan:''' ''Because she's my cousin.''\\
''[awkward silence]''
* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'':
** In [[http://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/imago-21-1/ Imago 21.1]] Tattletale specifically told Parian that none of the other girls on the Undersiders were gay (killing both Tattletale/Skitter and Skitter/Bitch).
** In [[http://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/07/23/sting-26-3/ Sting 26.3]] Clockblocker rants about "[[TakeThatAudience some dingbats online]]" shipping him with Weaver.
* The finale of Natalie and Niya Impichishmay's spinoff from ''WebOriginal/SingleGirlOneHundredBabyChallenge'' featured this with [[spoiler: Natalie and Caleb]] breaking up.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]][=/=]WebVideo/MarzGurl was sunk for good when Lewis's girlfriend, Iron Liz, became a part of his show. Though most fans seem to like Liz, so this isn't the [[DieForOurShip problem]] it would be in other fandoms. After Liz left the show, Linkara started dating, and is currently married to, Viga, sinking any chance for a [=MarzGurl=]-shipping resurrection.
* Because of the DoubleStandard with WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick chasing WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows being seen as cute but Todd chasing [[Creator/AllisonPregler Obscuras Lupa]] being seen as creepy, Lindsay had to announce on facebook that she and Todd decided at the very beginning the characters were never going to get together. For bonus points, she also had the Chick go through SanitySlippage to sink it even further.
* Pretty much everyone who watched Team Starkid's original production ''Starship'' hopped on the Taz/Up (Tup) ship from the second song of the musical. However, since then the Team has at least attempted to sink the ship by pointing out their age difference, something usually ignored in fanfictions/fanvids/fan-anything. Lauren Lopez (paraphrased) remarked "She's like...sixteen...and he's like... eighty." Most fans regard this as an adorable exaggeration and the ship is still sailing strong, despite a few holes.
* Episode 38 of ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' does this for Vaxmore, the pairing of Vax'ildan with fan favorite [=NPC=] Shaun Gilmore, with the former breaking off their flirtatious relationship after realizing he's in love with fellow party member Keyleth. Unfortunately, Vax's continued flirtation after this point (going so far as to ''kiss'' Gilmore, insist that he loves him "as a friend," and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking start calling him by his first name]]) drew no end of criticism from the fanbase and required a second WordOfGod ship sinking via Reddit [=AMA=].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''.
** Mike and Bryan had no love for the Katara/Zuko ([[PortmanteauCoupleName Zutara]]) pairing. They confirmed in the [[WordOfGod commentaries for the third season DVD box set]] that the {{Official Couple}}s (Katara/Aang and Mai/Zuko) were always the plan from the beginning, noting that "[the Zutarians] are probably mad right now." In the "Sozin's Comet" novelization interview, according to Mike, Zutara was never intended and any moments between them were from the fans applying ShippingGoggles, while Bryan said, "Come on, kids! 'Zutara' never would have lasted! It was just [[LoveRedeems dark]] and [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys intriguing]]."
** Toph/Sokka ("Tokka"), a popular BetaCouple to Aang/Katara, was sunk in the second half of Season 3 with Sokka being paired with Suki. To add insult to injury, it was made clear around the same time that Toph had developed a one-sided crush on Sokka.
** Sokka and Yue got shot down early on, given how the latter [[spoiler:died and turned into the moon]].
** ''ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheSearch'' all but sunk the popular Ty Lee/Azula (Tyzula) ship. It {{jossed}} many [[FandomSpecificPlot fanworks]] by showing that Ty Lee is not on pleasant terms with Azula post-series. However, Azula's voice actress, Grey [=DeLisle=], maintains that Azula has a crush on her former friend.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'':
** WordOfGod officially obliterated Bolin/Asami (or [[PortmanteauCoupleName "Bosami"]]).
--->'''Michael [=DiMartino=]''': One thing you can always expect from Avatar is a little romance... and Bolin is really trying to find his way in life and love, which leads him into an awkward relationship with Eska. Asami will always be a friend. I don’t think there’s romance in the cards for them.
** Mako/Korra ("Makorra"), were made an OfficialCouple in the Book 1 finale. However, in the the Book 2 finale it was unexpectedly sunk when [[spoiler:Mako and Korra agreed that they weren't right for one another, and broke up "for real this time".]] However, Makorra began taking on water as early as the first few episodes of Book 2, when Korra and Mako struggled with fighting, Korra's Avatar duties, and the gradual souring of their romance.
** Also in Book 2, Bolin/Eska ("Boleska") was sunk twice: first when [[spoiler:Bolin got fed up with Eska's abuse and fled on the night of their wedding]], and a second time in the finale, when [[spoiler:they realize that their reconciliation was a thing that happened in the spur of the moment and that their relationship wouldn't work despite their feelings for each other.]]
** Book Three has [[spoiler:Makorra and Masami]] both tanked, with both girls joking and laughing about the entire awkward situation (Mako thoroughly embarrassed and subsequently very awkward around both of them), the entire fiasco seemingly bringing the two closer together. Both ships are outright ''destroyed'' in the GrandFinale, with the final scene of the series being [[spoiler:Korra and Asami, hand-in-hand and gazing into each others' eyes, going on a spirit world vacation together]], which is enthusiastically confirmed by WordOfGod to be them starting a relationship.
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'':
** ''Three seasons'' were spent alternately teasing and sinking [[IdiotHero Finn]]/Bubblegum, with Finn sporting an enormous PrecociousCrush on her but Bubblegum not showing any romantic interest in him, despite them getting progressively closer over the seasons. "Too Young" is the pinnacle, with most of the episode depicting them having adorable bonding moments, only to swerve into a sinking ending. The ship was sliced in two with the "Incendium"/"Hot to the Touch" two-parter and Finn's new crush on [[CuteAndPsycho Flame Princess]], then sinks to the bottom of the ocean when Finn states in "Burning Low" that he doesn't have feelings for Bubblegum anymore and wants to move on to his new relationship with Flame Princess. It's refloated again and again, most especially in "Too Old" and "Breezy", but only to confirm Finn's feelings haven't magically gone away and that Bubblegum still has no interest in him.
** Finn/Marceline was often proposed as an [[BettyAndVeronica alternative]] to Finn/Bubblegum. Cue the episode "Go With Me", which shows they do not have ''any'' romantic feelings for the other. Shippers of Finn/Marceline, though, ignore this and continue shipping them.
** The canon Finn/Flame Princess ship was sunk in "Earth and Water" when she breaks up with him for breaking her trust, and in "The Red Throne" FP once again rejected Finn and reiterating that she's no longer interested in him. It didn't help Finn's case that [[NiceJobBreakingItHero he caused all sorts of trouble trying to get back into FP's good graces, which basically involved acting very, very immature]] and [[spoiler:Cinnamon Bun]], of all people, ended up saving the day and declaring his (platonic according to WordOfGod) love for Flame Princess. At least, [[AmicableExes Finn and FP are back on good terms]] in "Bun Bun", though, and there were hints at the ship being refloated in several episodes thereafter, but it ultimately never came to be. Finn/Flame Princess (or Flinn) remains the most popular ship in the fanbase, and many were disappointed when they had zero interactions in the series finale.
** Finn/Huntress Wizard was sunk in all of one episode, "Flute Spell", due to Huntress Wizard's fear of becoming soft, a fear Finn completely understands. An onscreen kiss, though, sent shippers into a tizzy. Following this, though, they eventually became FriendsWithBenefits in "The Wild Hunt", which was only reinforced by later episodes and the Season 11 comic.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' apparently dashed all hope of ComicBook/TheMightyThor and Dr. Jane Foster becoming a couple after ComicBook/TheVision attacked Jane and ComicBook/TheWasp while searching Avengers Mansion for ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's shield. Jane and Wasp barely survived, but Wasp subsequently advised Jane that continuing to date a superhero might prove too dangerous for her.
* Many ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' viewers suspect that Ben/[[SatelliteLoveInterest Julie]] and [[StrangledByTheRedString Gwen/Kevin]] were designed to drown the oddly popular [[KissingCousins Ben/Gwen]] pairing from [[WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}} the original series]].
** Ben/Julie itself was sunk during ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse Omniverse]]'', mainly thanks to the hate the latter had been receiving. Though even some people who dislike the pairing would agree that the breakup was written rather sloppily, however.[[note]]To explain, the breakup happened because Ben accidentally insulted Julie over the phone (he was playing a video game and trash-talking the antagonist) and then [[PoorCommunicationKills neither spoke to each other for a long time to keep what should've been a minor conflict from being resolved.]][[/note]]
* [[WordOfGod The head writer]] of ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' confirmed in an interview that there was no romantic affection between Odd and Aelita, and that their relationship was purely platonic, like the cousins that they pretend to be.
* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' sunk Numbah 1/Numbah 5 when the finale [[spoiler:has the latter end up with Numbuh 2]], not to mention all the ship tease that occurred between Numbah 1 and Numbah 362 towards the end of the series.
* Glenn Eichler of ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' has admitted in interviews post-show that he never intended from the beginning for a Daria/Trent relationship to actually be possible. Some fans took the creation of Tom Sloane as an example of ship sinking, but the sinking had already been in action before Tom's conception. Coincidentally, the episode in which Tom was introduced, "Jane's Addition" was also the one that sunk the Daria/Trent ship. The conversation the two have near the end about Trent's failure to provide the music for their school project, is basically stating the reason why the two can't be together ("not good with deadlines" indeed).
* Franchise/{{DCAU}}:
** In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', Batman/Wonder Woman was sunk before the series had even started, with ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' showing that Bruce stayed a bitter, lonely man into retirement age.
--->'''Bruce:''' When I was young, women used to throw themselves at my feet all the time.\\
'''Terry:''' What did you do?\\
'''Bruce:''' Step over them.\\
'''Terry:''' Smooth.\\
'''Bruce:''' I thought so.
** ''Batman Beyond'' also sunk the Dick Grayson/Barbra Gordon ship. She ended up married to some guy who had never even been mentioned before this series. ''After she dated Bruce''. [[spoiler:The ''Batman Beyond 2.0'' comic even saw her pregnant with Bruce's child whilst in a relationship with Dick]].
* The creator of ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', Jim Jinkins, sunk the show's main ship when discussing his ideas for a revival in a 2016 interview. He said Doug and Patti won’t become a couple, saying most of people don’t end up with their first love. Although, Jinkins defended this by saying that not [[RealityEnsues all couples end with a first crush]] and said a [[ReplacementGoldfish new female friend could be Doug’s new love]]. Regardless, fans continue shipping Doug/Patti and pretend Jim never committed shipping blasphemy.
* Callum originally had a crush on Claudia in ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'' season 1, but by the middle of season 2, Callum's trust in Claudia was shattered after she and her brother Soren attempted to directly oppose the main group's trek into Xadia, even addressing her very coldly when using "her magic." In the tie-in book, Callum's Spellbook, a letter can be found that Callum wrote to Claudia before his adventure, but he presently is happy he never had the guts to give her that letter, as he no longer feels the same way. If that weren't bad enough for the Callum/Claudia ship, season 3 launched even more torpedoes at it by [[spoiler: not only showing that his feelings have moved on to his [[SecondLove traveling friend Rayla,]] but Rayla [[RelationshipUpgrade reciprocates those feelings]] and they become an OfficalCouple by the middle of season 3. Meanwhile, Claudia starts walking down a [[SlidingDownTheSlipperySlope dark and twisted path]] by staying loyal to her clearly evil father.]] There may be a few more intended seasons yet, but for this ship to even have a chance to resurface, Claudia would have to go through a long process of forgiveness, turn against what she has stood for throughout all of seasons 2 and 3, and then remind Callum of why he liked her in the first place, but even then [[ShipToShipCombat it would still have to compete with]] [[FanPreferredCouple the unquestionably most popular ship in the series,]] [[spoiler: which should I remind you, is already canon.]]
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS2E10PutYourHeadOnMyShoulers Put Your Head on My Shoulders]]" torpedoed Fry / Amy.
* The creator of ''WesternAnimation/FinalSpace'', Olan Rogers, said in an [[https://www.reddit.com/r/FinalSpace/comments/ctn7om/comment/exm5977?context=3/ AMA]] that he doesn’t see Little Cato and Ash getting together.
--->'''Olan [=Rogers=]''': I don't think Little Cato and Ash will get together, I see them growing into really good friends. :) -Olan
* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'':
** "Into the Bunker" sunk the Wendy/Dipper ship canon-wise, though it was made pretty clear up to that point that [[PrecociousCrush it was never going to work out anyway.]]
** On a minor note, [[WordofGod Alex Hirsch himself]] torpedoed the Candy/Dipper ship when asked by a fan, [[BrutalHonesty claiming it was "grasping at straws."]]. This was given more elaboration in "Roadside Attraction", where Candy actually does develop a crush on Dipper, but he has zero romantic feelings for her and she gets over it by the end of the episode, after an ill-fated date.
* On ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutron'', Sheen/Libby was made official near the end of the series, but in the spin-off ''WesternAnimation/PlanetSheen'' they gave him a new love interest, [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Blue Skinned Space Babe]] Aseefa. He never even mentions Libby. Of course, according to the fans, the spin-off [[FanonDiscontinuity never happened]].
* ''WesternAnimation/KaBlam'': Mark Marek (creator of the Henry and June shorts) confirmed that episode 29 (a supposedly series final that had Henry and June reveal their romantic feelings for each other) didn't exist, and he confirmed that Henry and June didn't have romantic feelings for each other and that their relationship was completely platonic.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': There were very few Stumpy/Quack Quack shippers in the first place, but the fifteenth episode of the series had Stumpy explicitly state that he would never get in a relationship with Quack Quack and they will always be HeterosexualLifePartners.
* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'':
** The episode "Emotion Sickness" could've been interpreted as a mockery of both Kim/Ron shippers and Drakken/Shego shippers -- until Kim and Ron actually ''do'' get together in ''[[WesternAnimation/KimPossibleMovieSoTheDrama So the Drama]]''. WordOfGod states that the two getting together was part of the show as far back as the initial pitch, and that the series finale is also a confirmation that Drakken/Shego also end up together eventually.
** Season four's "Stop Team Go" features Shego being turned good by a MirrorMoralityMachine and immediately becoming best friends with Kim. It's like a gift to [=KiGo=] shippers for their support and promotion of the show, and even has the ShipTease-baiting line of Shego saying "You know, Kimmie, I couldn't tell you this when I was evil, but--" Right then, she's flipped back, flies away crowing with her partner in crime, the machine is smashed to pieces and Kim and Ron pretty much say "Shame, but maybe it's for the best". It's as if the WordOfGod was saying "Well, wasn't that fun? But no. No, it's just not going to happen".
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** A lot of [=ApplePie=] shippers were worried that the episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E9PinkieApplePie Pinkie Apple Pie]]" was going to sink their ship before it aired by establishing that Pinkie Pie and Applejack were cousins (distant cousins, but cousins nonetheless). In the end, the episode established that [[spoiler:they ''might'' be related but it's impossible to know, with the records ruined beyond readability]]. The Pinkie/Big Macintosh ship is also affected by this. Some still argue that "third cousins twice removed by a fifth cousin", even if it is true, is distant enough to not matter.
** Big Mac gets a RelationshipUpgrade with Sugar Belle in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E8HardToSayAnything Hard To Say Anything]]", instantly sinking every other ship that involved either one of them. Considering that Big Mac is one of the few notable recurring stallions in the series, this ended up sinking an extraordinary number of ships.
** Maud Pie gains a boyfriend in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS8E3TheMaudCouple The Maud Couple]]", sinking any ships involving her.
** Even though there was never any indication of anything beyond "friends who like the same book series" between [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E14StrangerThanFanFiction Quibble Pants]] and Rainbow Dash, that didn't stop a few fans from shipping them. Until [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS9E6CommonGround Common Ground]] had Quibble request Dash's help bonding with the daughter of his girlfriend. Dash (who has never shown any romantic interest in anyone) enthusiastically approved of the pairing.
* Charles E. Bastien, the director of ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol'', confirmed to a fan on Twitter that Chase does NOT have a crush on Skye or vice versa, and that they are only good friends, ultimately breaking the fanon that has been going on between the two since "Pups Save the Sea Turtles." He has also denied any romance going on between Marshall and Everest, too.
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'':
** The flashback scene where Doofenshmirtz takes Linda on a date (which ended badly) was intended to sink the idea that Doof is Phineas' father (a theory that came about because Phineas and Doof's heads are identically-shaped).
** "Minor Monogram" sinks Vannesa/Johnny.
** "Act Your Age" sinks Vanessa/Monty, Ferb/Gretchen, Phineas/Adyson and Ferb/Isabella.
* We'll never know for certain what the writers for ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' thought about the fans clamoring for a relationship between Professor Utonium and Miss Keane. What ''is'' certain is that they were determined not to let romance take over the show. Utonium and Keane did hit it off, but proceeded to spend nearly the entire episode doing nothing at all but exchange baby talk. Worse, they did it over the PPG emergency line, meaning that the girls couldn't respond to crises (which quickly made the city an extremely unpleasant place to live). They finally broke it off because Keane owns a cat, and Utonium, thanks to a harrowing encounter with one in the past, can't tolerate the presence of one.
* In ''WesternAnimation/PuppyDogPals'' , Bingo and Rolly's owner Bob was frequently shipped with Chloe's mom due to their chemistry and willingness to help each other out. This ship was sunk when later episodes show that Chloe also has a father.
* In a Reddit AMA, Creator/CraigBartlett was asked if [[LittleMissSnarker Mindy]] and [[KidDetective Mitchell]] from ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' like each other. [[https://drive.google.com/file/d/15fPrUnLWmRq92dSWpptQc3i9NoXTQFLB/view?usp=sharing Bartlett]] said that they would just be friends instead, which effectively killed the Mitchell/Mindy [[ToyShip ship]]....or did it? This is one of the weirder examples. Despite Bartlett's answer, Mindy and Mitchell still have a '''ton''' of ship-tease in season 2 (which the aforementioned AMA was made to promote). Either Bartlett misinterpreted the Redditor's question, or he is a TrollingCreator.
* The ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' episode "Steak Me Amadeus" sunk the Mordecai/Margaret ship after four seasons of WillTheyOrWontThey.
** Likewise, the episode "Dumped At the Altar" sunk the Mordecai/C.J. ship that has been struggling to stay afloat since "Merry Christmas Mordecai".
** In the [[SeriesFinale final episode of the series]], Mordecai ends up with neither Margaret nor CJ. [[TakeAThirdOption Instead, he falls in love with and marries a fellow modern artist named "Stef" (who is a bat woman) during the last few minutes of the series finale.]] Fans were not amused by this eleventh-hour character sinking their OTP, whatever it may have been.
* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': The slim hopes of [[PortmanteauCoupleName Marazz]] shippers did not survive season 4. The ship had generally assumed that Razz was physically younger, or at least more rational, a thousand years ago while Mara was alive; the fourth season episode "Hero", which focuses heavily on the two of them, confirmed that Razz is in fact unstuck in time, and whenever she interacted with Mara, she was exactly the same old lady with seeming dementia that Adora deals with; Mara's relationship with her is more along the lines of the affection one might have for a beloved grandparent who's not quite all there any more, rather than anything romantic.
* While it might not sink the ship completely, ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'''s Spider-Man and Black Cat are now unlikely to ever have a relationship. Let's just say alone time with the girl whose father [[spoiler: killed your uncle, the closest thing you had to a real father]] would be ''awwwwwkward''.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsResistance'': Torra spent all of her screentime being bubbly and friendly with Kaz, even when he challenges her to a race that could end up with one of them seriously injured. Later, he stumbles into her room while looking for someplace to hide, and she assumes he had romantic intentions. She politely but firmly turns him down. For bonus points, his utter confusion makes it clear that the lack of attraction is mutual.
-->'''Torra:''' Oh, Kaz... I think you've mistaken my kindness for something else.\\
'''Kaz:''' Uh, what?
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'':
** Pretty much every ship involving Garnet suffered a major blow after "Jail Break", which revealed that [[spoiler:Garnet is the fusion of two gems named Ruby and Sapphire, whose relationship is romantic]]. "Love Letters" torpedoed any remains that might've been still floating when it's made explicit that [[spoiler:Ruby and Sapphire are monogamous, or as Steven puts it, Garnet is a walking, talking relationship metaphor.]]
** In "Say Uncle", WesternAnimation/UncleGrandpa ''[[LiteralMetaphor literally]]'' sinks Lars and Sadie's ship with a [[VisualPun "head cannon"]]. This episode is however [[CanonDiscontinuity non-canon]] and lampshaded as so; the series ends with them getting together... then the SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'' episode "Little Graduation" sunk the Lars/Sadie ship for good by revealing they mutually broke up at some point and that Sadie has a new partner named Shep.
** A subversion. "The Return" and "Jail Break" initially sunk the popular Lapis Lazuli/Peridot ship with the two not even interacting directly, Peridot not seeing Lapis as anything more than a prisoner, and [[spoiler:Lapis fusing with Jasper in order to trap both of them at the bottom of the ocean]]. However, the pairing gained a second wind in the wake of [[spoiler:Peridot's HeelFaceTurn and Lapis being freed from Malachite. It helped that the two became roommates afterward, and warmed up to each other, becoming rather close.]]
*** WordOfGod sunk Peridot/Lapis, as well as any ship involving the former, by confirming that Peridot is aro-ace (no interest in personal romantic or sexual relationships).
* Played with in-universe in the season 3 premiere of ''WesternAnimation/{{Superjail}}'': After the relationship between Lord Stingray and the Mistress falls through, Jared and Charise conspire to have the Warden and Mistress sleep together so that Superjail can be restored to glory (and that they themselves might have a chance at being together if their bosses are). The potential is sunk when the Warden proves to have no clue what to do, and Alice winds up sleeping with the Mistress instead. The Mistress then decides she doesn't need a lover, and relinquishes Superjail back to Warden, further undoing the assistants' hopes and plan. The fans that had shipped Warden and Mistress together wound up distraught, while a few others had decided to latch on to shipping Mistress/Alice instead.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'':
** The finale may as well have been titled "Sorry, Shippers". What's worse is the fact that the episode was also [[spoiler:Terra's BackFromTheDead moment, making BB/Terra]] the ship so nice they sank it ''twice''.
** [[FanPreferredCouple Beast Boy/Raven]] was sunk after the heavy amount of RelationshipWritingFumble, when they declared that all the Titans are [[LikeBrotherAndSister like siblings]] (except for [[OfficialCouple Robin and Starfire]]). Unfortunately for them, this was counteracted by the actual comics, where those very same characters ''did'' hook up right around the same time, [[ContrivedCoincidence apparently by coincidence]]. ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' also depicts BB/Raven as an OfficialCouple, this being one of the few things that haters of the otherwise-divisive series feel it does right.
** Cyborg/Bumblebee had a RelationshipWritingFumble of its own but WordOfGod is their bickering isn't meant to seem [[SlapSlapKiss romantic]], it was meant to drive people ''away'' from shipping them.
** The popular idea of Robin/Raven was dismantled in ''Trouble In Tokyo'' when Starfire and Robin became the OfficialCouple. Raven doesn't even seem phased by it. It's unlikely Robin and Raven were meant to be anything but good friends.
** Another FanPreferredCouple was [[DatingCatwoman Cyborg/Jinx]], briefly teased in season 3. This ship was sunk in season 5, when Jinx instead fell for Kid Flash, whose kindness towards her caused her HeelFaceTurn. ''Teen Titans Go'' does push this ship, however.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'':
** Resinks the BB/Terra ship with one episode that's devoted entirely to BB getting hot and bothered by Raven's legs, and Raven in the end when she switches back to her leg obscuring costume intentionally gives him fanservice with a flirty grin. The series frequently has ShipTease between Beast Boy and Raven however Terra is more in-line with her comic version, and thus is a villain who doesn't like BB.
** Frequently Starfire shows no romantic interest in Robin while he is utterly obsessed with her.
* While Blackarachnia/Optimus was fairly obvious in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', "Predacons Rising" killed off any hope of [[spoiler: Sentinel/Blackarachnia. He isn't just disgusted by her, he actively wants to murder her.]]
* ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}} [=ThunderCats (2011)=]]]'': Although Cheetara and Lion-O had a lot of ShipTease moments, that ship was thoroughly sunk in Episodes 12 and 13 when [[spoiler: it's revealed that Tygra had a crush on Cheetara since childhood and Cheetara returned his feelings but put her duty to Lion-O above her feelings for him, topped off by Cheetara and Tygra [[TheBigDamnKiss sharing their first kiss]] in front of a shocked Lion-O!]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'':
** The ''Total Drama Action'' special might have done this for Trent/Gwen shippers. Not only do the two have no one-to-one interaction at all in the special (significant enough in itself) but Gwen admitted she finds Duncan attractive while Trent has already begun dating different girls. However, after Gwen hooks up with Duncan, she and Trent become AmicableExes.
** ''World Tour'' dropped a thermonuclear warhead on the the Courtney/Duncan ship before doing a ColonyDrop on the ashes.
** WordOfGod from Creator/{{Teletoon}} stated that the only reason Duncan/Courtney, Gwen/Trent and even Owen/Izzy were split up is because they wanted to teach kids that your first love isn't always the one you'll have for the rest of your life (which probably explains why of the six couples established in ''Island'' only Bridgette/Geoff and Lindsay/Tyler survived the duration of the series).
** Relatively popular pairings in the fandom like Heather/Harold and Heather/DJ (both had some ShipTease in previous seasons) were sunk when Heather hooked up with Alejandro by ''All-Stars''. And before, Sierra/Chris, after Chris angrily eliminates her for blowing up the jumbo jet. Come next episode, he deserts her, prompting her to tell her mother to make sure that her museum is destroyed by the time she got home.
** In ''All-Stars'' the Gwen/Duncan ship was officially torpedoed when Gwen broke up with Duncan because their relationship was no longer thrilling, and he still showed signs of being interested in Courtney. Then the season just proceeds to beat the ashes of the already sunken Courtney/Duncan ship by showing that the former has completely moved on at this point, having come to utterly despise the latter's guts and instead pursuing a relationship with newcomer Scott. Said relationship also ends up sunk a few episodes later after Scott discovered Courtney planned to backstab him with a conveiently placed chart, prompting them to break up.
** In ''Pahkitew Island'' Dave loves Sky. Unfortunately in the finale, Sky is already spoken for, resulting with Dave's FaceHeelTurn.
** ''The Ridonculous Race'' has officially obliterated the idea of Noah playing for the other team, and the Noah/Owen fan ship, since Noah's interested in Emma.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' even after a rather rough first encounter with each other in the episode ''Metal Attraction'', Airachnid and Breakdown were shipped following a line from Breakdown that even though he felt she was domineering and her extra arms were weird, he found himself intrigued by her. Come the Season 2 episode ''Crossfire'' however, [[spoiler: she kills him. Because he was willing to kill her under orders.]] Ship sunk indeed.
* On ''WesternAnimation/TuffPuppy'', the episode "'Til Doom Do Us Part" is dedicated entirely to sinking the Dudley/Kitty ship.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', any hopes of progression for [[spoiler:Brock/Molotov]] may have also been sunk after "Operation: P.R.O.M." Not only does [[spoiler:Molotov claim she's in love with Monstroso, she crosses the MoralEventHorizon once again by threatening to have all of the people Brock cares about murdered by her Black Hearts if Brock doesn't let her go. Oh, and she fell off of a cliff in a limo and may be dead]]... And promptly floated back to the surface again [[LateArrivalSpoiler in Seasons 5]] when [[spoiler:it is revealed in the opening minutes of the first episode that they NeverFoundTheBody after that car explosion, Monstroso and Molotov are still alive, only for Monstroso to be taken by The Investors, and Molotov was a DoubleReverseQuadrupleAgent.]]
* At the end of season 8 of ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'', [[spoiler: Allura/Lance is confirmed canon, but she has to die soon afterward, with the implication that he never fully gets over her. Meanwhile, Shiro's ex-boyfriend Adam is confirmed dead and he ends up marrying [[LastMinuteHookup Curtis]], sinking other ships involving him.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'':
** Even canon ships aren't safe. The second season is kicked off with Miss Martian suddenly kissing Lagoon Boy, even though she was dating Superboy at the end of first season. Granted, a lot can change in [[TimeSkip five years]], but the show didn't address their breakup until the next episode.
** Robin and Zatanna seemed to have something going on in the first season, but by season two they were just close friends. WordOfGod confirmed they dated and broke up sometime during the five year TimeSkip.
** [[spoiler:Wally dying]] in the second season finale puts a pretty big dent in the Wally/Artemis ship, or any ships involving Wally.
[[/folder]]

** WordOfGod says that Amy will keep chasing Sonic, and Sonic will keep running from Amy, but they'll never get together with each other or anyone else. Bits of dialogue like "Eggman said he'd trade us Amy for the emerald... hmm, I'll have to think about that one" and "That's Amy's card. I totally forgot about her", don't help either. This applies to basically ''every'' series and/or subseries as of the Modern series, though Sonic and Amy do have (concealed) feelings for each other in the ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' continuity. Considering "Sonamy" is one of the most contentious pairings of the entire franchise (alongside Sonally and maybe Sonelise]], this wasn't a surprising move.

** After they got married, writers came up with bizarre plans since now sinking the ship meant either divorcing them (which made Spider-Man look bad as a family friendly character and also aged him), widowing Peter (which meant making him a FailureHero on such a level that no one could buy him being a quipster or dating again after losing the love-of-his-life, and also aging him). So they tried byzantine plots like ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'', then they tried [[DroppedABridgeOnHim killing MJ in a plane crash]], then had her return but separate from Peter, but it didn't stick. Then the infamous ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'' storyline broke them up for well over a decade, albeit the manner in which it was done immortalized the pairing since EIC Quesada admitted that he couldn't find any real in-story way to end the relationship that made sense with the characters and backstory and felt it was a corporate decision to keep Spider-Man a KidAppealCharacter.

!!Examples

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* The sheer brutality of the [[EvilAllAlong main plot twist]] in ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen}}'' did this to the [[spoiler:Hans/Anna]] ship, and by extension, every other [[spoiler:Hans]] related ship. Essentially, [[spoiler:Hans reveals [[ItsAllAboutMe he only ever cared about getting the throne]], and Anna was the easier sister to seduce. He then explains how now that she's dying, all he needs to do is kill Elsa to end the winter and become a VillainWithGoodPublicity.]] Said EvilGloating is done with a smug, satisfied smile. WordOfGod confirms that the character in question is and always was a sociopath.
** Reinforced in ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'', when the protagonists are playing charades and [[spoiler:Anna's attempt to mime 'villain' prompts her to identify 'Hans' as a clue, with Elsa identifying Hans as 'Irredeemable Monster']].

[[folder:Multiple Media]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

-->'''Kuro:''' Seriously, guys... ''this isn't canon.''

-->'''Lex:''' Ivan! Hey Ivan! Why was your [[MirrorWorld opposite self]] married to Meredith? Don't ''you'' like her?\\

''(awkward silence)''
* [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]][=/=]WebVideo/MarzGurl was sunk for good when Lewis's girlfriend, Iron Liz, became a part of his show. Though most fans seem to like Liz, so this isn't the [[DieForOurShip problem]] it would be in other fandoms.
** After Liz left the show, Linkara started dating, and is currently married to, Viga, sinking any chance for a [=MarzGurl=]-shipping resurrection.
* Because of the DoubleStandard with WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick chasing WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows being seen as cute but Todd chasing [[Creator/AllisonPregler Obscuras Lupa]] being seen as creepy, Lindsay had to announce on facebook that she and Todd decided at the very beginning the characters were never going to get together. For bonus points, she also had the Chick go through SanitySlippage to sink it even further.
* Pretty much everyone who watched Team Starkid's original production ''Starship'' hopped on the Taz/Up (Tup) ship from the second song of the musical. However, since then the Team has at least attempted to sink the ship by pointing out their age difference, something usually ignored in fanfictions/fanvids/fan-anything. Lauren Lopez (paraphrased) remarked "She's like...sixteen...and he's like...eighty." Most fans regard this as an adorable exaggeration and the ship is still sailing strong, despite a few holes.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'':
** "Arkos" (Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos) was nuked in "End of the Beginning" when [[spoiler:Cinder murdered Pyrrha and disintegrated her body, just after making it canon]]. It should be noted that this did little to actually stop shippers, and Arkos remains one of the most popular ships, especially in regards to ships that involve Jaune or Pyrrha.
** "Tauradonna" (Blake + Adam Taurus) wasn't so much sunk as it was blasted more than the ''Bismarck'' by the events of "Heroes and Monsters". [[spoiler:Adam goes full {{Yandere}} on Blake and vows to destroy everything she loves. He follows up the threat by stabbing Blake through the gut, ''[[MoralEventHorizon lopping off Yang's right arm, and trying to decapitate Blake]].'' A later comment from the creators also revealed that Adam and Blake's past relationship was abusive to Blake.]] [[{{Website/Reddit}} /r/RWBY]], a nexus point for the show's shipping community, officially renamed the pairing [[spoiler: "Animal Abuse"]] as a result. Whatever was left after that was firmly sunk in "Seeing Red" [[spoiler:with Adam's death.]]
** Both Rosewick (Ruby x Roman) and Gelato (Roman x Neo) hit icebergs in "Heroes And Monsters" when Roman [[spoiler:was eaten alive by a Griffon]].
** While not nearly intensely as the above examples, Sailor's Delight (Ruby x Scarlet) was sunk when Scarlet was confirmed as gay by the manga. However due to the small nature of the ship and the much more popular ships for Ruby, the fan-base was mostly fine with it in this case.
** Fair Game (Qrow x Clover) was hit pretty bad when Ironwood called for the arrest of all the heroes. [[spoiler:Then died violently with Clover.]]
* Episode 38 of ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' does this for Vaxmore, the pairing of Vax'ildan with fan favorite [=NPC=] Shaun Gilmore, with the former breaking off their flirtatious relationship after realizing he's in love with fellow party member Keyleth. Unfortunately, Vax's continued flirtation after this point (going so far as to ''kiss'' Gilmore, insist that he loves him "as a friend," and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking start calling him by his first name]]) drew no end of criticism from the fanbase and required a second WordOfGod ship sinking via Reddit [=AMA=].

* Creator/TeamFourStar's ''VideoGame/DragonBallXenoverse2'' OC Puddin was confirmed to be [[ExtremeOmnisexual omnisexual]] by the guys...but when the audience started shipping her with their friend Creator/MasakoX's ''Xenoverse'' OC Paata, Creator/{{Lanipator}} quickly and decisively said it wasn't gonna happen.
* ''WebAnimation/HazbinHotel'': Any and all ships involving Alastor were sunk when [[WordOfSaintPaul Faustisse confirmed that Alastor is aromantic asexual]]. However, Faustisse also informed the fans that they can still ship him with anyone they want in fanon.

** The Buffyverse as a whole has a weird relationship with Buffy/Angel in that it keeps pulling out things to get in the way and make it seem more likely that they will never end up together, but still maintains that the two of them have a frankly invincible mutual attraction when in close proximity to each other. First, they have sex and Angel turns evil. Then Buffy kills evil!Angel and sends him to hell, just as he's transformed back into good!Angel. Then he comes back but can't stay with her because he feels like she'd be wasting her life with him, and so leaves town. Then, on ''Angel'', the two come to a very serious (almost physical) confrontation over what to do about Faith when she escapes to LA, seriously hurting any kind of lingering friendship. Angel arrives in Sunnydale with tension between him and Riley. Buffy and Angel make up, only for their to be a [[RomanticFalseLead immediate reaffirmation of the Buffy/Riley relationship]]. Over the next few years they barely interact and are paired off with other love interests. Despite all this, Joss teases the possibility of future Buffy/Angel in the Season 7 finale with a funny cookie metaphor. And in the GrandFinale of the Season Eight comics, [[spoiler:they are both endowed with superpowers by the universe so that they can have crazy, flying sex in order to create a new, "better" universe, which they then abandon to save their friends, but which comes back after them with a vengeance, [[DerailingLoveInterests possesses Angel, and makes him murder Giles right in front of Buffy's eyes]]. Un-possessed Angel was being rehabilitated by Faith, and Buffy couldn't even bring herself to look at him.]] Later on in Season 10 Buffy [[spoiler: enters a serious relationship with Spike]] while Angel is sidelined with IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy and accepts them as friends. [[CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds This might have ''finally'' sunk the ship for good]], but who can really tell with these two.

** In the episode "Band Candy" Giles and Joyce have sex while under the influence of candy that causes them to act like teenagers. It kills any and all sexual tension between them, despite the fact that Giles is effectively Buffy's surrogate father.
** In "Graduation, Pt. 2", Wesley and Cordelia (who have been infatuated with one another since they met) finally kiss. The kiss is awkward enough to wipe out half a season's worth of chemistry, and when the two of them end up on ''Angel'' together, they hardly ever so much as flirt again and they end up with a LikeBrotherAndSister relationship.

** [[DerailingLoveInterests Buffy/Riley]] when she catches him essentially seeing vampire prostitutes in Season 5, followed by him giving her an ultimatum and then literally leaving the show when she didn't agree to it, followed by him [[TheBusCameBack showing up again in Season 6]] with a ''wife''. Then again, considering who [[TheScrappy Riley]] is, this was seen more as a good thing than not.

** The Eleventh Doctor's first series effectively shoots down the much-teased Doctor/Amy pairing in the series finale when Amy and Rory marry, and River hints that she is or will be the Doctor's wife. With the very unexpected revelation that [[spoiler:River Song is the daughter of Amy and Rory]] in series six, the Doctor/Amy ship is very, ''very'' thoroughly sunk as Amy becomes his mother-in-law. (Not that this prevented the Doctor from kissing father-in-law Rory later on...)
** "The End of Time, Part 2" sank Martha/Tom Milligan, which had become a popular Ship Mates to Doctor/Rose and was canon in the revived series four, by [[spoiler:showing that [[TokenMinorityCouple Martha had married Mickey]].]]
** "The Power Of Three" utterly sank the Doctor/Alistair ship of the classic series. (Barring rule one: "the Doctor lies".)

** Doctor/Master is a bit of a YoYoPlotPoint. At first TheReveal was going to be that they were brothers and so he was the Doctor's FriendlyEnemy. ActorExistenceFailure meant that the reveal never happened, leaving the reason for the Doctor's affection for him ambiguous. Since EvilIsSexy, fans speculated. "The Deadly Assassin" attempted to sink it hard by re-envisioning the Master as a sexless rotting corpse powered by hatred and willpower, and the new Doctor feels nothing but disgust for him and mentions several times he wants him dead for real. Then, when the Master was brought back in "The Keeper of Traken" and "Logopolis" by a much more gay-friendly regime, the FoeYay is obvious, due in part to him being played in a more {{Camp}} style, partly due to him getting a handsome new body and partly due to Tom Baker clearly playing his part of the relationship like a contemptuous ex-girlfriend. The HoYay is even stronger throughout the Davison era but scales back a little by the [=McCoy=] era due to the Master being played in a more cold, calculating style. Then the new series, [[RunningTheAsylum run by people who openly shipped the pairing back in the day]], goes about as close to stating it as possible, as well as [[{{Jossed}} Jossing]] the idea that they're brothers (and having the Doctor mock people who think this). Then in "Dark Water" [[spoiler:a {{Gender Flip}}ped Master refers to the Doctor as her 'boyfriend' and kissed him.]]

*** WordOfGod was contradictory on whether the ship was ever sunk, with Peter Capaldi both saying [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3234940/Peter-Capaldi-says-won-t-Doctor-romance-Jenna-Coleman.html the relationship was platonic]], and ''in the same week'' saying [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7i62ERas2s it was romantic]]! Capaldi was also quoted as calling the relationship romantic as early as August 2014 during a world tour to promote his first season. Coleman, for her part, has stated repeatedly that the Doctor and Clara had a loving relationship, being quoted in a cover story for ''Doctor Who Magazine'' as saying "her heart belongs to the Doctor." The trope was ultimately subverted. Clara's boyfriend Danny was [[spoiler: Killed Off For Real]] in the finale of Series 8, and Series 9 made her the Doctor's loving DistaffCounterpart. ''That'' season finale saw the Doctor risking ''the safety of the universe'' when she [[spoiler: was Killed Off For Real]], whereupon they became an AnchoredShip: [[spoiler: She's now Only Mostly Dead, but he has been wiped of memories of her appearance, voice, etc.; he knows they were friends, but not lovers]]. It would take a miracle to get them back together now -- but it could happen, someday.
*** That miracle may have happened in the 2017 Christmas Special, in which [[spoiler: Bill restores the Doctor's memories of Clara - she appears to him briefly and teasingly says that she finds his forgetting her "insulting"]]. But now that the Doctor has changed genders, it's hard to say whether her interests would include Clara, even if they ''do'' meet again; indeed, any Male Doctor-Female companion ship may well have been sunk by this change.

** Missy sinks a romantic ship between her and the Doctor in series 9, while at the same time confirming even further a platonic one.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" torpedoed Fry / Amy.

** Mike and Bryan absolutely HATED the Katara/Zuko ([[PortmanteauCoupleName Zutara]]) pairing. They confirm in the commentaries [[WordOfGod for the third season DVD box set that it was all about the]] [[OfficialCouple Kataang and Maiko]] from the beginning, noting that "[the Zutarians] are probably mad right now." In the "Sozin's Comet" novelization interview, according to Mike, Zutara was never intended while Bryan said, "Come on, kids! 'Zutara' never would have lasted! It was just [[LoveRedeems dark]] and [[OddFriendship intriguing]]."
** Toph/Sokka ("Tokka"), a popular BetaCouple to Aang/Katara, was sunk in the second half of season three with Sokka being paired with Suki. To add insult to injury, it was made clear around the same time that Toph had developed a one-sided crush on Sokka.
** Sokka and Yue, given how the latter [[spoiler:died and turned into the moon]].
** ''ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheSearch'' all but sunk the popular Ty Lee/Azula (Tyzula) ship. It {{jossed}} many [[FandomSpecificPlot fanworks]] by showing that Ty Lee is not on pleasant terms with Azula post-series. Though the voice of Azula, Grey [=DeLisle=], maintains that Azula has a crush on her former-friend.

** Reylo (Rey/Kylo Ren) in ''Film/TheLastJedi'' when [[spoiler:they can't reach an agreement on what to do after tag-teaming to kill Snoke: Kylo wants them to rule the galaxy together, she wants them to destroy the First Order and join the Resistance together. They briefly engage in a fight before going their separate ways, committing to opposite sides in the war. Rey sparing him and his conflicted gaze on her at the end suggests they still care, but they certainly aren't getting together anytime soon. Later, despite sharing a kiss, it is confirmed as a kiss of just gratitude and the ship sinks for good when Kylo finally dies.]]

%% Image kep on page per Image Pickin' threads:

*** [[ArmedWithCanon However, Jay's confirmation hasn't been officially endorsed (or even agreed upon) by the other Valve writers,]] who range from saying Miss Pauling is openly asexal to agreeing with the original ship tease with Scout, the comics and the ''Expiration Date'' short film edging towards the latter.

** ''VideoGame/SonicRivals 2'' could be seen as this to Shadow x Rouge fans, considering the two clash in that game, as opposed to the ShipTease in the first one. Other games to feature this are non-canon however, such as the ''Mario and Sonic'' games, and the main games where they work together show them doing so fairly well; they're ''Team'' Dark, after all. The ship was than properly sunk by [[WordOfSaintPaul Ian Flynn]], who in his podcast, stated that according to Sega, they don't see each other as lovers or even really as friends.

** ''VideoGame/SonicRivals 2'' could be seen as this to Shadow x Rouge fans, considering the two clash in that game, as opposed to the ShipTease in the first one. Other games to feature this are non-canon however, such as the ''Mario and Sonic'' games, and the main games where they work together show them doing so fairly well; they're ''Team'' Dark, after all.

** Pretty much every ship involving Garnet suffered a major blow after "Jail Break", which revealed that [[spoiler:Garnet is the fusion of two gems named Ruby and Sapphire, whose relationship is confirmed as romantic via WordOfGay]]. "Love Letters" torpedoed any remains that might've been still floating when it's made explicit that [[spoiler:Ruby and Sapphire are monogamous, or as Steven puts it, Garnet is a walking, talking relationship metaphor.]]
** In "Say Uncle", WesternAnimation/UncleGrandpa ''[[LiteralMetaphor literally]]'' sinks Lars and Sadie's ship with a [[VisualPun "head cannon"]]. This episode is however [[CanonDiscontinuity non-canon]] and lampshaded as so (though it could still be a stealth {{Foreshadowing}}).
*** As it turns out, it may as well have been all along: the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'' episode "Little Graduation" sunk the Lars/Sadie ship for good by revealing that Sadie has a new partner named Shep.

*** WordOfGod sunk Peridot/Lapis, as well as any ship involving the former, by confirming that Peridot is aro/ace.

** [[FanPreferredCouple Beast Boy/Raven]] was sunk after the heavy amount of RelationshipWritingFumble, when they declared that all the Titans are [[LikeBrotherAndSister like siblings]] (except for [[OfficialCouple Robin and Starfire]]). Unfortunately for them, this was counteracted by the actual comics, where those very same characters ''did'' hook up right around the same time, [[ContrivedCoincidence apparently by coincidence]]. ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' also depicts BB/Raven as an OfficialCouple, this being one of the few things the otherwise-divisive series does right.

** Another FanPreferredCouple was [[DatingCatwoman Cyborg/Jinx]], briefly teased in season 3. This ship was sunk in season 5, when Jinx instead fell for Kid Flash, whose kindness towards her caused her HeelFaceTurn.

''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'':

* The creator of ''WesternAnimation/{{Final Space}}'', Olan Rogers, said in an [[https://www.reddit.com/r/FinalSpace/comments/ctn7om/comment/exm5977?context=3/ AMA]] that he doesn’t see Little Cato and Ash getting together.

** Reylo (Rey/Kylo Ren) in ''Film/TheLastJedi'' when [[spoiler:they can't reach an agreement on what to do after tag-teaming to kill Snoke: Kylo wants them to rule the galaxy together, she wants them to destroy the First Order and join the Resistance together. They briefly engage in a fight before going their separate ways, committing to opposite sides in the war. Rey sparing him and his conflicted gaze on her at the end suggests they still care, but they certainly aren't getting together anytime soon.]]