History Main / ShippingGoggles

!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16960396300.17291400 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.

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[[quoteright:225:[[Webcomic/{{Hiimdaisy}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/p4comic_stack_4629.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:225: [[VideoGame/Persona4 This doesn't go unnoticed.]]]]

[[{{Pun}} Has nothing to do whatsoever with the]] ''Series/DaiSentaiGoggleFive'' (shipping them to each other, however, would be an example). Nor is it necessarily about shipping [[Manga/{{Splatoon}} Goggles]].

A subtrope of EpilepticTrees. Creators aware of their fans' Shipping Goggles can play to it with a ShipTease; this can be interpreted as {{Fanservice}} or just cruelty in suggesting a relationship that isn't going to materialize. Sometimes, [[IKnewIt the shipper turns out to be right]]. [[ShipSinking Other times...]] Examples of character shipping belong on one of the other ShippingTropes pages, like CrackPairing.

A subtrope of EpilepticTrees. Creators aware of their fans' ShippingGoggles can play to it with a ShipTease; this can be interpreted as {{Fanservice}} or just cruelty in suggesting a relationship that isn't going to materialize. Sometimes, [[IKnewIt the shipper turns out to be right]]. [[ShipSinking Other times...]] Examples of character shipping belong on one of the other ShippingTropes pages, like CrackPairing.

-->-- '''Creator/AndrewHussie''', on [[http://www.homestuck.com/?s=6&p=002282 this panel of]] ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''[[note]]Actually, it's four pixels, but we'll let that slide.[[/note]]

[[caption-width-right:225: This doesn't go unnoticed.]]

[[{{Pun}} Has nothing to do whatsoever with the]] ''Series/DaiSentaiGoggleFive'' (shipping them to each other, however, would be an example).

[[caption-width-right:225: [[HoYay/{{Persona 4}} This doesn't go unnoticed.]]]]

-->-- '''Creator/AndrewHussie''', [[http://www.mspaforums.com/showthread.php?33145-AutoChat-V.53&p=4281346&viewfull=1#post4281346 on]] [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=002282 this panel of]] ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''[[note]]Actually, it's four pixels, but we'll let that slide.[[/note]]

TropeCo/ShippingGoggles[[TradeSnark ™]] are available on TropeCo/TropeCo™.

[[caption-width-right:225: [[VideoGame/{{Persona 4}} This doesn't go]] [[HoYay/{{Persona 4}} unnoticed.]]]]

Shipping Goggles is when a viewer interprets the smallest, most ambiguous [[{{Canon}} canonical]] evidence in favor of their {{ship|ping}} of choice, even if said "evidence" is insignificant relative to other evidence, or outright nonexistent. Maybe that glance lasted just a ''little'' too long, or that remark in that conversation could be interpreted as innuendo. The ship in question can range from one that seems entirely plausible but doesn't yet have clear canon evidence, right up to a CrackPairing between characters who are [[FoeYayShipping bitter enemies]], [[CrossoverShip live in different universes]], [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight have never met]], or [[IncompatibleOrientation whose sexuality]] or circumstances makes any relationship between them extremely unlikely. Reasons for putting on Shipping Goggles vary; sometimes it's just wishful thinking, sometimes it's to defend the ship against other competing ships, and sometimes it's JustForFun.

Note that as with everything TropesAreTools, although [[CharacterDerailment this can]] [[TransplantedCharacterFic be bad]] [[PossessionSue in some]] [[DieForOurShip situations]]. Many shippers would admit to doing this to some extent; having your own interpretation of {{Canon}} is part of the fun of {{Shipping}}. However, it can become FanDumb when people try to [[ShipToShipCombat force their ships on others]]. And when such fans are RunningTheAsylum, things can get messy.

A subtrope of EpilepticTrees. Creators aware of their fans' ShippingGoggles can play to it with a ShipTease; this can be interpreted as {{Fanservice}} or just cruelty in suggesting a relationship that isn't going to materialize. Sometimes, [[IKnewIt the shipper turns out to be right]]. [[ShipSinking Other times...]]

Merely being an implausible pairing doesn't automatically mean that Shipping Goggles are in play, as often a ship's supporters will admit that their support for a particular pairing has nothing to do with the source material. Caution should be used not to confuse every case of LGBTFanbase {{Gaydar}} as Shipping Goggles -- if fans believe a character is gay, it is not necessarily because fans want to ship them.

Examples should generally go on one of the other ShippingTropes pages, like CrackPairing -- particularly dubious interpretations may be listed here though.

Often, shipping goggles manifests as fans vehemently denying evidence of a couple, sometimes even to the point of ignoring canon couples. While this usually goes hand-in-hand with goggles in favor of the fan's couple of choice, occasionally it is just simply aimed against a couple in general.

[[{{Pun}} Has nothing to do whatsoever with the]] [[Series/DaiSentaiGoggleFive Goggle Five]] (shipping them to each other, however, is another story).

-->--'''Creator/AndrewHussie''', [[http://www.mspaforums.com/showthread.php?33145-AutoChat-V.53&p=4281346&viewfull=1#post4281346 on]] [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=002282 this panel of]] ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''[[note]]Actually, it's four pixels, but we'll let that slide.[[/note]]

For the [[InvertedTrope inverse]], where fans deny any romantic or sexual tension no matter how blatant, see AntiShippingGoggles.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Manga/AxisPowersHetalia'' fans ''love'' doing this and in fact, part of the fun of being in the fandom is to put on the Shipping Goggles while reading about real-life history and seeing pairings there, even ones that would be considered [[CrackPairing crack]] or [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight have never been hinted at]] in Hetalia canon.
** Some militant Turkey/Greece fans say that there's definite proof that Turkey and Greece desire each other in the anime episodes where they interact. Even though most, if not all, of their interaction in these episodes revolves around getting ''Japan'''s attention. But according to these fans, Turkey shouting things at Greece like "You don't know how well Japan and I get along!" and asking Japan which one of them he likes more means that he just views Japan as a friend, whereas Turkey glaring at Greece for a while means that he secretly lusts after him (and definitely not that he's mad at Greece for taking up the attentions of the one he greeted cheerfully at the beginning of the episode, or anything like that).
** By far the most prominent example of this in Hetalia fandom is the [[PortmanteauCoupleName PruCan ship]]. The ship went from an obscure CrackPairing to one of the fandom's most popular pairings almost overnight, even though the only canon interaction Prussia and Canada have is a single panel during Prussia's April Fools blog where Prussia accepted a bottle of maple syrup from Canada, which almost certainly was ''not'' meant to be anything other than two characters briefly interacting together considering that Prussia interacted with ''many'' other characters during the same blog to a similar degree. Many [=PruCan=] fans take the crackiness of their ship in stride and ship them for reasons unrelated to canon, but some others are convinced that [=PruCan=] ''is'' canon and leap on the tiniest bits of "evidence" for them, such as claiming that Prussia and Canada both being on the fourth manga volume cover (along with ''seven'' other characters) meant that the manga was going to show them together (which didn't happen) or that one of Prussia's songs was addressed to Canada even though Canada is not mentioned anywhere in the lyrics.
*** Many Canada ships make use of this trope to some extent, because notoriously-invisible-to-others Canada is about the only character you can say "X looked at him = X must care a lot about him to not ignore him" and not have it sound ''completely'' ridiculous. Additionally, many France/Canada shippers say that the webcomic where France recognizes Canada and points him out to other characters indicates that France is the only nation that recognizes and respects Canada all the time, even though there's a manga strip where France is included among the nations who don't notice Canada's presence during a meeting, pretty much borking the "all the time" claim.
** In an odd twist, this is actually used [[DieForOurShip to bash another character]]. In the [[HighSchoolAU Gakuen Hetalia]] PSP game, the more believable way to have the "invisible" Canada appear in the game ''at all'' due to the VisualNovel game mechanics was to have the "lead female", Seychelles, notice his presence once or twice and talking to him. Naturally, rabid fangirls jumped at this to use it as "evidence" that Seychelles as a "total RelationshipSue who whores herself around to all the males and so she must diiiiie for getting in between our ships"... nevermind that she doesn't seem to notice him ''that'' much either, or that she also interacts with females like Liechtenstein or Hungary, or (more importantly) that ''Canada would not be seen in-game if she didn't ever see him''.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Some fans do this, most knowingly, but some not. Most often, it appears under an argument like this: "X/Y's panel is bigger than X/Z's! That means X/Y is canon!"
* Creator/{{CLAMP}} fandom is practically handed a pair of Shipping Goggles during initiation. Not at all helped by how often they [[ShipTease deliberately tease the fans]] [[TeasingCreator for the lulz]], or by the fact that a lot of the canon couples aren't any more physically or verbally affectionate with one another than most of the fanon ships.
* ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'':
** A truly bizarre case of this with Mimi and Matt/Yamato - as they didn't do ''any'' of those things, or even interact at all. They weren't [[RelationshipWritingFumble too friendly]] or [[FoeYay too deliciously antagonistic]] or even [[CrackPairing bizarre enough of a pair to be interesting]]. They didn't ''avoid'' each other - [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters seven kids and seven]] {{Mons}} means one kid just never wound up talking to that one other; it happens. Didn't stop fans from being extremely rabid, to the "pair one with someone else in a fanfic, ''I dare you''" level. No one's sure why. [[note]]One possible explanation is PairTheSpares: in many a series, fans will latch onto the lead male and lead female in a series unless there's overwhelming evidence for another appealing pairing with one of the two, and that happened with Tai(chi) and Sora. The next-most-leading guy and girl are the Matt and Mimi.[[/note]]
** Although Taichi/Yamato shipping is nothing particularly weird, the captions of [[http://digigayfuel.ytmnd.com/ this slideshow]] have certain errors in them. The most blatant would be claiming that Jou and Sora married in the end of the series. In truth, Sora married [[spoiler:Yamato]].
* ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]''. {{Yaoi Fangirl}}s interpret every line, every glance, every '''everything''' in the series as "definitive proof" that the boys are all shagging one another off-camera and [[HetIsEw they despise the girls with the passion of a thousand burning suns]]. Never mind the fact that basically everyone in the series [[ShipperOnDeck tries to force the standard het couples together]] ([[HoYay unless you count Trowa and Quatre too]]), with half the cast specifically trying to get Heero and Relena to admit their feelings.
* ''Manga/KOn'' fandom does this a lot. So does Tsumugi for that matter, particularly to Mio and Ritsu.
* ''LuckyStar'': Hiyori Tamura is a satire of a chronic Shipping Goggles wearer who just ''can't'' stop shipping people in her own universe, even she feels guilty about that.
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', AllLoveIsUnrequited and while the concept of some of the feelings being reciprocated is sometimes teased, those deliberate teases are often [[TrollingCreator meticulously calculated]] for [[MasterOfTheMixedMessage the maximum possible value of ambiguity]]. Too many characters consistently fail to come clean about how they honestly feel, and to get a clue of where they stand one must make sense of a galore of telling omissions, contradictory nudges, ha-ha-only-serious-only-not moments, ShipTease in adaptations of dubious relevance, and Red Herrings. It goes without saying that this state of affairs terribly aggravates the inborn shipper disposition towards seeing "evidence" whenever two characters so much as appear in the same panel. Some- true to form- go off the deep end and see "evidence" in name etymologies, loose parallels to other works of fiction, loose parallels to the author's love life, "?!" dialogue bubbles, volume cover color schemes and "hidden symbolism" in 17-year-old concept art. Many, many, many lengthy essays have been written from all sides about how so-and-so is subtly hinted at secretly being in love with someone, flabbergasting anyone who reads manga more casually. With the last chapter all mysteries are cleared up, and true to form those with Goggles firmly affixed still insist that such-and-such couple is ''really'' canon because of such-and-such.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Shippers often break apart unimportant details in color spreads and the storyline to "prove" that Oda is trying to hint at their OTP. Never mind that WordOfGod is that NoHuggingNoKissing is enforced, and Oda has [[TrollingCreator trolled the shippers before]]. The anti-shippers probably have a right to be annoyed.
** Many Zoro/Robin shippers squee over how during Enies Lobby, it was the key Zoro retrieved that got Robin from her shackles, and hence use this as evidence that they are meant to be... despite how he would've done the same for any of his other friends, the two have barely interacted since then, and Robin has had way more important character development with Luffy and with Franky, which was what was really at the forefront of the story at the time, and hence it's unlikely Oda wanted that bit to be remotely important.
* Lots of ''Manga/SoulEater'' shippers will insist that there is some form of connection with Crona and Kid, to the point where this only seconds the main couple of the series: Soul and Maka. In general, the coupling is so strong, even though in canon both Anime and Manga versions Crona and Kid have virtually no dialogue, and barely speak to each other, often not in the same scene altogether, or on opposite sides of the good guy bad guy spectrum.
* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'':
** In regards to the main popular couple, Ash/Misty, or [=PokéShipping=]. The original official AAML website had a very long hint list that consisted of just about every interaction between the characters in the whole show, no matter how small, as well as some hints invented by the dub (like the US only Misty's Song). It got so bad that Pokéshippers actually split into two designations, with fans wearing full on goggles referred to as "gakishippers", with the other Pokéshippers considering themselves more sophisticated and intelligent for being able to recognize the "true" hints.
** Ash/Gary, or [=PalletShipping=], which is Pokémon's main slash pairing. The hints shippers see ranges from kind of believable, to just plain [[{{Pun}} Farfetch'd]].
** Ash/Serena, or [=AmourShipping=], has gotten it as well, with plenty of edit wars on its [[TheWikiRule Bulbapedia]] page. Some radical shippers add hints like "Serena is worried about Ash/Ash is worried about Serena" that they would even do ''as friends''. Even other [=AmourShippers=] have called them out on this, saying things like this will ruin the ship's reputation. Of course, there's plenty of actual ShipTease.
* The ''Manga/{{InuYasha}}'' fandom struggles with outright militancy from portions of the Sesshoumaru/Rin and Sesshoumaru/Kagome ships which suffer from adherants that will aggressively reinterpret and rewrite the story to suit their preferences. Meanwhile, portions of the Sesshoumaru/Inuyasha ship cause their own kind of mayhem as well.
* While ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' has the obvious HoYay from [[DepravedHomosexual Hisoka]]/everyone, some fans have looked really, really hard for signs of Killua/Gon and Leorio/Kurapika.
* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Despite only ever having one scene total interacting with each other throughout the series, [[http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120415122104/fairytail/images/d/d6/Laxus_and_Lisanna.jpg Laxus x Lisanna]] actually has a surprising number of fans.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* An in universe example occurs in ''{{FanFic/Nosflutteratu}}'' when Rarity assumes that Twilight and Fluttershy having lunch together—followed by Twilight's purchase of a hat for Fluttershy to wear—must mean the two are dating.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'': While pretty much every combination of couples has been shipped following the film, support for Clintasha reached the point it is interpreted as the token romance in the film. They actually spend very little time actually interacting, or doing anything that could imply a romantic relationship; while Natasha's primary motivation is saving Clint's life, she makes it clear in one scene that she doesn't care for love, and their partnership is more along the lines of comrades in arms. What's shown is continually exaggerated to either that Natasha is self-conscious and does secretly harbour a crush on him (which would be out of character for her, though somewhat truer to the character's comics incarnation), or that they are actually dating (which would make her claim about not loving him make no sense).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** The Harry/Hermione shippers are infamous for this -- even after the series ''finished'' they kept on writing essays on the supposed {{Subtext}} between the two and how JKR had ruined the series by not hooking them up. This isn't helped by [[TheFilmOfTheBook the films]] turning Ron into the PluckyComicRelief {{Sidekick}} (well, more so than he initially was in the books) and giving Harry and Hermione plenty of shiptastic scenes, until ''Half Blood Prince'' (due apparently to screenwriter Steve Kloves thinking that Rowling meant for them to get together).
*** The [[FauxSymbolism "Symbolic Flight"]] theory stated that because Harry and Hermione flew together on Buckbeak's back during the climax of ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' - without Ron - that they were destined to be together. In its heydey, this was a high-profile theory, both widely acclaimed by proponents and derided by naysayers.
*** In response to the Mugglenet interview where Rowling commented on "anvil-sized hints" supporting Ron and Hermione, Harry/Hermione shippers started claiming there were shipping crate/warehouse/other objects larger than an anvil sized hints for Harry and Hermione, yet rarely offer up examples other than ridiculous things like "The Symbolic Flight" or that "Hermione's Patronus is an OTTER".
** Snape/Lily shippers are also prone to this, extrapolating from even less - Lily gets no appearances in the present as a living person, and few in flashbacks, yet they still insist that James, who died for his family, forced Lily into marriage and denied her the right to her beloved Severus, while simultaneously ignoring his vast flaws.
* ''Literature/LittleWomen'': Jo starts viewing Beth and Laurie with Shipping Goggles. This was in Book II, which was demanded by the publishers after a plethora of fan letters arrived asking Louisa May Alcott when [[FanPreferredCouple Jo and Laurie]] would marry. In the scene, she was [[TakeThat mocking]] her own fans for [[MisaimedFandom focusing on romantic attraction rather than Jo's independence]], and then sent them off in different directions, [[TheWoobie maximised their suffering]], and then finally [[{{Jossed}} married Laurie off]] to [[SettleForSibling Jo's OTHER little sister]] Amy, while Jo married her beta-reader Fritz Bhaer and was happy with him. Yes, in 1869, rabid shippers were already frustrating authors enough to earn a FandomNod, no Internet required.
-->'''L. M. Alcott''': Girls write to ask who the Little Women will marry, as if that were the only aim of a woman's life. I won't marry Jo to Laurie to please anyone.
* ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'':
** Some fans who ship Sherlock/Watson can take it to bizarre levels. It's gotten to the stage where the term "I'd be lost without my Boswell" has been so charged with HoYay overtones that you forget that the real Boswell was Dr Johnston's biographer, and it's not just a weird nickname Holmes came up with.
** The fans who will interpret ''literally any time'' Holmes mentions the "woman" who beat him as evidence that he can't take his mind off Irene Adler. Even though Watson explicitly [[ShipSinking noted that Holmes had no romantic inclination towards Adler]] ''in the introduction of the only book she appears in'' - and even makes a pretty good case in that same book for Holmes being [[{{Asexuality}} uninterested in things like sex or romance]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:{{Live-Action TV}}]]
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** Many fans of Buffy/Faith do this. Examples include a devoted website of people who claimed that Faith wanted to sleep with Angel just so Buffy would break up with him - leaving Buffy free for Faith.
** Back when Buffy/Spike was the FanPreferredCouple, they were constantly on the receiving end of this. [[IKnewIt Then they hooked up]] and the entire thing became redundant.
* ''Series/ICarly'': Shippers of the Sam/Freddie pairing are well known for their 'secret Seddie', where they consider any form of interaction, chatting, talking, [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale Sam hitting Freddie]], fighting, both having the colors red and blue OR purple on, mentioning the other or just being in the same room together as blatant evidence that they are going to become a canon couple. [[IKnewIt Which, granted, they did]]... and then they broke up with the opposite couple (Carly & Freddie) getting the LastMinuteHookUp.
* ''Series/LawAndOrder'': Oh, wow, ''Law and Order''. The winner has to be ''[[Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit SVU]]'', which, while supporting numerous popular ships, has never had anyone together, ever.
* ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'': The slashers of Merlin/Arthur are eager to point to every single interaction between them as evidence that the two of them are attracted to each other/in love/sleeping together/destined soulmates. In [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsik2ml_fBs this two-second clip]] (slowed down so you can see it properly), the act of Merlin catching Arthur's head as he falls over becomes Merlin "definitely stroking Arthur's hair."
* ''Series/RobinHood'': An interesting case is Guy and Marian from the BBC series. Naturally there was plenty of ShipTease between them despite the ForegoneConclusion of the OfficialCouple, though some Guy/Marian shippers took their desired pairing to ludicrous extremes, [[FanDumb all of which is based on a misinterpreted scene]]. At the end of the first season Guy and Marian’s wedding is aborted after Marian realizes that Guy has lied to her about the circumstances of the king’s return and her father’s safety. Having already been physically prevented from leaving, she uses her wedding ring as a knuckle-buster to punch him out and facilitate her escape. However, the shippers argue that according to 12th century law, the very act of Marian putting on a wedding ring in front of a clergyman meant that she was legally married to Guy. This is ''not'' true, and entirely the invention of a G/M shipper, and in the following season neither Guy nor Marian act as though they have any marital obligation to one another. The relationship is never consummated, Marian gets engaged to Robin Hood, and the fact that Guy and Marian are ''not'' married is so obvious that no one even bothers to mention it. However, the hardcore shippers watch the rest of the show insisting that Guy and Marian are legally married, discussing all their interactions under the assumption that they are husband and wife, and refering to Marian as "Guy's wife".
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'':
** Even if you are not a slash fan, thanks to the fans it is a little hard to watch it now without seeing some of the accidental gayness of Kirk and Spock's relationship, even if you believe this was not what the writers intended. And even that whole "not what the writers intended" thing takes a battering when Gene Roddenberry himself says that "We certainly believe the affection was sufficient for [a romantic relationship], if that were the particular style of the 23rd century." [[http://fanlore.org/wiki/Shatner:_Where_No_Man#Gene_Roddenberry_on_Shatner.2C_.26_Kirk The full quote]], related to an attempted comparison of Kirk and Spock with UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat and his devoted friend Hephaistion, was something Roddenberry was maneuvered into saying by two of the great Shipping Goggles manufacturers of all time.
*** A specific example is in "Shore Leave", which opens with Kirk having a sore back while sitting in the Captain's chair, and Yeoman Barrows (a crew woman) giving him a massage. For a moment Kirk thinks Spock is behind him doing it, and he offers Spock several words of approval. Only when he sees Spock walk around in front of him while the massage is still going on does he realize that Yeoman Barrows is doing it, and at that moment everything turns a little awkward. The fact that Kirk reacted badly when he discovered Spock ''wasn't'' rubbing his back is often held up as incontrovertible evidence that Kirk and Spock had a thing for each other (and not, for instance, that he might be discomfited by Barrows doing it because ''she'' might have a thing for him).
** "Day of the Dove" has a mind-whammied Chekov going into a fury because he believes the Klingons killed his brother. Sulu's the only person who knows Chekov well enough to know he has no siblings. As far as shippers are concerned, case closed. (George Takei, however, says that he played Sulu as straight.)
* ''Series/{{Community}}'' lampshades this in "Paradigms of Human Memory" with the Jeff/Annie ship. Annie is wearing shipping goggles and sees them as having UST, followed by a "tribute" video, mainly consisting of them looking at each other-- but in ''slow motion''. Jeff thinks this is ridiculous and says one could make a video like that of, say, Pierce and Abed. Cue tribute of Pierce and Abed looking at each other-- ''in slow motion''. At the very end, this is done once again between [[ButtMonkey Chang]] and a ''monkey''.
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'' has a lot of shippers who tend use Shipping Goggles, especially some Swan Queen and Sleeping Warrior shippers. Despite Regina [[spoiler:having a true love in the form of Robin Hood]], and Aurora's true love being Prince Philip, they continue to be ignored. Emma and Regina can't even ''smile'' at each other without shippers jumping on it and insisting it's "proof", despite WordOfGod saying Swan Queen was never going to happen.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' provides a case of how ShippingGoggles might be in play early on, but then the writers catch on to it and start adding more explicit and deliberate HoYay to [[TeasingCreator tease the fans]]. Both the "Wincest" and "Destiel" shippers can have their over-analytical moments, but Destiel has a few infamous arguments, especially since Dean and Cas were rarely even in the same room in early Season 10. In lieu of on-screen interaction, shippers started citing things like room arrangement/lighting, the clothes Dean would wear in various scenes, and background colours as "proof" that Destiel would imminently become canon. [[HoYay/{{Supernatural}} The Ho Yay page]] is filled with incidents such as "Cas walked away from Dean" and "they looked at each other while talking" as somehow supporting the ship.
* This was also even more the case in ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'', where Jack/Ianto was a very popular fan pairing beginning very early on ("Looks good in a suit!") but which evolved into canon later on.
* People who support Sheldon/Penny from ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' despite the fact that 1. WordOfGod says it ain't gonna happen (as has Kayley Cuoco herself) 2. Sheldon basically being simply not interested in romance of any sort 3. All of his crazy quirks making a relationship basically impossible. However, since he's sometimes regarded as the BreakoutCharacter and Leonard is likewise considered an UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist, so this will not stop ever.
* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' fandom, there was a very vocal group of Clark/Chloe shippers who would interpret any detail as a sign that Chloe was Clark's one true love, and sometimes even that she would "become" the Lois Lane we all know and love from the comics... even after the actual ComicBook/LoisLane joined the show in Season 4.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' fans will pick any excuse to ship Arya with Gendry, such as when she looks at him while he's shirtless and working a forge. Most of this is because there is more [[ImpliedLoveInterest tension]] in the [[Literature/ASongofIceandFire original book series]] that gets cut out for the adaptation.
* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'': Practically every frame gets interpreted as a Sherlock/John moment, and some weird things are used to justify/prove it. Shippers swear that John [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday repeatedly insisting that he's not gay]] in the face of people mistaking their relationship is somehow proof that he ''is'': "Me thinks the doctor dost protest too much". This is either ignoring that Sherlock doesn't care when people make that mistake, or using his apathy as some kind of paradoxical proof that Sherlock is also gay: "Notice how he doesn't correct them or anything?" Also, thanks to the creators being [[HideYourLesbians baiting the fans to hell and back]], practically ''everyone'' who meets them tends to [[MistakenForGay mistake them for a couple]]. To shippers, this is somehow also proof: "[[EveryoneCanSeeIt Everyone can see it but them!]]"
* It's impossible to mention this trope without talking about the ''Series/{{Glee}}'' fandom. The very fact that some people think Faberry is "canon" is enough proof of it.
* The ''Series/{{Teen Wolf}}'' fandom is occasionally guilty of this, especially among Sterek fans. One particularly bad example was when the season 3A premier was held up as incontrovertible proof that they'd had a summer fling... because they stood next to each other and made minimal eye contact, Derek put his hand on Stiles' torso to keep him from leaving, and Stiles didn't know Scott was studying for the PSAT.
* Thanks to a FakeOutMakeOut in the penultimate episode of ''Series/TheMightyBoosh'' (which ended up having no lasting impact) and a couple of jokey interviews, some fans have been playing up the subtext to extreme extents and retroactively interpreting nearly every action between Vince and Howard as "proof" that they're in love.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/TwilightSparklesSecretShipficFolder'' allows the player to do this themselves, with a helping dose of RuleOfFunny.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'':
** A few lines between a woman who will do anything to win a case offering emotional support after the trial, and a woman who is so incredibly co-dependent that she needs someone to guide her in being able to do ANYTHING at that point, led to the huge following of Franziska/Adrian.
** Despite deliberate HoYay between Phoenix and Edgeworth, neither character shows romantic feelings for the other at any point. There's a certain level of respect and trust, but they're shown to not socialize and often go months without talking to each other. Many of these moments [[http://askaceattorney.tumblr.com/post/62170745858/ can also be argued as]] [[http://askaceattorney.tumblr.com/post/73263280625/ scenes being taken widely out of context.]] (Of course, the same could be said of many hetero ships in ''AA'', as seen directly below.)
** The same can be said for Phoenix X Maya and Edgeworth X Franziska, as in both pairings, the characters involved [[LikeBrotherAndSister act like brother and sister]] (Franziska even refers to Edgeworth as her brother) and have no romantic feelings for each other, but some fans ship them together anyway. Parodied by Maya's cousin Pearl, who ships Phoenix and Maya, treats anything that Phoenix does for Maya as a great symbol of his love for her (despite that he would do the same for most people he knows) and gets mad at any girl (or at Phoenix himself) that gets any attention from Phoenix.
* ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' has gotten this with Ness and Paula, to the point when they were a former example on OfficialCouple on this wiki. They have some actual ShipTease, sure, but otherwise their interactions are platonic and they're [[ImpliedLoveInterest Implied Love Interests]] at most. It doesn't help that their predecessors, Ninten and Ana, [[OfficialCouple were more blatantly stated to be a couple]].
** Same with ''VideoGame/MOTHER3'' with Lucas and Kumatora. Their canon relationship is more LikeBrotherAndSister, with the only hints of something more being the MasculineGirlFeminineBoy trope and that time when Kumatora [[ReluctantFanserviceGirl reluctantly disguises as a waitress in Club Titiboo]] and yells at Lucas, [[SheCleansUpNicely "Don't change your expression!"]]. Of course, a lot of fans interpret this relationship as romantic, and they're a popular ship.
* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
** Shippers are notorious for seeing romance in ''everything'' any character does, but this is especially so in the case of [[CastFullOfPrettyBoys Organization XIII]], ignoring the whole "no hearts" thing that forms ''the entire basis of the Organization's motivation''. Even Roxas clearly has no idea about romance in his interactions with Axel in ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 358/2 Days]]'', and Axel's obsessive [[HoYay and questionable]] behavior toward him later actually drives him and Roxas apart rather than give them any shot at being together.
** Sora/Riku shippers are similar. Some have even claimed that the inside artwork of an audio CD released only in Japan featuring Sora and Riku standing on a heart meant they loved each other, completely ignoring that the heart is Kingdom Hearts' symbol and shows up everywhere (and that the game uses the heart to represent one's emotions and soul than romantic love). They also keep on bringing up the reunion scene where Sora expressed more emotion at seeing Riku than Kairi, as if this ''one'' scene alone somehow outweighs all of the less-than-subtle ShipTease Sora and Kairi have received. Not to mention that Riku's clearly interested in ''Kairi''.
** A mild example of this cropped up with ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Birth by Sleep]]'', where Terra/Aqua shippers insist that the scene where Terra, Aqua, and Ven reunite in Radiant Garden is proof that Ven regards Terra and Aqua as his parents and [[ShipperOnDeck ships them together]]. Never mind that when Ven says "Parents" he is notably irritable over being seen as just a little kid, and ignore how Terra and Aqua, when confronted with the notion of them as Ven's parents, they casually laugh it off. Furthermore, this is only in the Japanese version; in the English dub they're simply referred to as "grown ups".
* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': To the point where there is a large section of the fanbase that [[PeripheryDemographic doesn't even play the game]], preferring to spend all their energy on pairing the characters together in every way possible. Although most of pairing supporters don't actually bother to use examples from official material, hence the lack of ShipToShipCombat, the trope still applies in full force for the [[FanDumb more fanatical contingencies]] of the [[FoeYay Sniper/Spy]] fanbase, who do insist that things such as the Sniper-Spy dual update and "Meet the Spy" are "evidence" of its being canon.
* Similarly, most ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' shippers don't bother trying to use in-game evidence, but this trope appears occasionally despite the series' NoHuggingNoKissing status. Probably the most frequent example is how Marisa and Reimu are depicted to have accumulated massive harems because they [[DefeatMeansFriendship befriend people]] at an astounding rate.
* In ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soulcalibur IV]]'', newcomer [[LadyOfWar Hilde]] meets up with [[TheHero series' lead]] [[TheAtoner Siegfried]] in her ending after vanquishing [[BigBad Nightmare]]. He sees it [[ForgivenessRequiresDeath fitting to die for his transgressions in the past]] (such as being [[BrainwashedAndCrazy the former host]] to [[EnemyWithout Nightmare]][=/=][[EvilWeapon Soul]] [[TheCorruption Edge]]) and requests for her to kill him, but Hilde simply walks up to him and [[{{Forgiveness}} absolves him of his sins]]. She also proceeds to give Siegfried this semi-flirty smile at her ending's close. Cue the fandom being given its [[FanPreferredCouple favorite new pairing]].
* An ''in-universe'' example happens in ''VideoGame/NamcoXCapcom'' where Reiji points out plenty of times that Saya is the one who killed his father. Yet the other girls in the party ([[VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}} Hsien-Ko/Lei-Lei, Felicia]], [[Franchise/StreetFighter Sakura]], and [[Franchise/WonderMomo Momo]]) insist that they were into some sort of relationship.
* Many players of ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' interpreted the relationship between the main characters Booker and Elizabeth as being that of a love story, even though that, beyond having some RelationshipWritingFumble (probably due to the many changes the story went through during development), there weren't any explicit romantic moments between the two (although they do become close).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''TheDreamer'': Bea and Alex.
* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''. The fandom is pretty nuts about shipping, and as there are very few actual canon relationships a bit of extrapolation is necessary for really every ship possible. It absolutely does ''not'' help that the author himself has posted fanart of Bro/Mom and [[CrackShip Col. Sassacre/Lil' Cal]].
** The Rose/Kanaya ship in particular was treated by shippers as something obviously and indisputably canonical even before its confirmation.
** Parodied in [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=006273 this]] flash, where Karkat, after reading a letter filled with InnocentInnuendo, imagines this between Rose/Kanaya and Dave/Terezi.
** John/Karkat is one of the most popular ships in the fandom, and one of the most divisive. In canon, Karkat has displayed a crush on John, but seemingly got over it, whereas John has had overwhelming evidence that he's completely straight [[note]]Briefly, there's his direct statement that he wasn't a homosexual, his pretty blatant ShipTease with Vriska and Rose, and later Roxy and Terezi, and his alternate universe counterpart having married and fathered a child[[/note]]. Talking about it openly in a strongly positive or strongly negative manner is good FlameBait.
** Karkat/Nepeta shippers went crazy when the two where simply shown STANDING together in the [S]Roxy: Sleepwalk flash. Also when Karkat only specifically requested to see Nepeta (fifty fucking Nepetas, to embark on a journey though black despair known only as Nepeta Quest) during his rant about not getting to see more of his dead friends, [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=006887 here]].
* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt''. Shippers of Annie/Kat can and will interpret every glance and gesture as evidence to them being a couple, or will be in the future. It doesn't hurt that [[TeasingCreator Tom]] does sprinkle deliberate ShipTease here and there, so it's difficult to know whether or not the latest thing to overanalyse has some truth behind it.
* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod''. Pretty much any interaction between Baam and another female character at all, ever, will be seen as evidence of a ship. Of particular note is Baam/Yihwa, whose interaction consists mostly of her expressing distrust for him and him saying he ''has no interest in her at all''. Things changed since, as Yihwa eventually starts showing genuine romantic interest in Baam.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is known for its devoted shippers, but elements of "Zutarian" (Zuko/Katara) fans are downright infamous - or, in pro-Zutara communities, encouraged - for their use of Shipping Goggles, to often unbelievable levels. Including but not limited to: claiming Zutara is proved by Oma and Shu wearing blue and red robes respectively in the storytelling scene of "The Cave of Two Lovers" (ignoring that they're wearing blue and ''orange''); scenes in a season three trailer that show Katara backing away from Aang's attempt to kiss her and another right after where she hugs Zuko, despite that they're wearing different outfits in different settings at different times of day with different '''animation'''; the colors of the red and blue dragons that each try to tempt Zuko during a fever dream (they're supposed to be his uncle and his sister); and taking the creepy, sarcastic line where Zuko tells Katara he'll save her from the pirates in "The Waterbending Scroll" ''completely seriously.''
** There was a pro-Zutara documentary series on Youtube whose videos were over three hours long combined; the documentary analyzed every single scene from the series featuring either character, plus every scene featuring either character's canon love interest. These scenes were then broken down to "prove" that Zutara was ''objectively'' correct, and seemed to imply that shipping Zutara was the show's main purpose. Some of the claims in the documentaries are quite astounding; for instance, there is a brief (lasts less than half a second) scene in which Zuko leans back and rests a hand on Katara's back in order to prevent her from slipping from the back of the giant shrew-creature that they're riding. The only reason she's there in the first place is because Zuko tied her up and threw her over the animal's back, but apparently this tiny act of "concern" was tantamount to true love and that the animators wouldn't have bothered putting it in ''unless it meant something''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'': The fandom has a tendency to indulge in this trope, almost always with any possible combination of the FiveManBand. Raven/Beast Boy, being the most popular FanPreferredCouple, receive this even greater than the others; it helps that they ''are'' lovers in [[ComicBook/TeenTitans the comics]].
* The ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' fandom has the incredibly popular [[FoeYay Kim/Shego]] ship, which was born entirely out of this trope.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'':
** Rowdyruff Boys/PPG, for which the InternetBackdraft reached such astronomical heights that Creator/CraigMcCracken himself regretted ever introducing the RRB. The bizarre thing was that unlike the other examples on this page, there was NOTHING to cling to. The Boys were repulsive, violent, and stupid, they hated cute girls, they spend nearly the entire episode mindlessly fighting, and when the girls showed them affection, it made them ''explode''. Ultimately, Him brought them back and they had a few episodes...where they kept on doing pretty much the same things they did in their debut before eventually just kinda fading out.
** Professor Utonium/Miss Keane. On the face of it, this was never all that plausible: He was a shy intellectual who had trouble understanding women, she was a dedicated public servant with a bossy streak, and neither had much of a social life. But since the show didn't have much in the way of admirable adult role models, it was probably inevitable that the fandom would demand they give a shot at a relationship. Which they eventually did. Said "relationship" consisted of several weeks of gooey baby talk over the PPG hotline, during which the PPG's home became a total mess and they couldn't respond to any emergencies, and it ended when Utonium learned that Keane had a cat. Seriously.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** Pairings within the [[FanNickname mane six]] alone are enough to stir fan discussion for days. Any episode that focuses on the relationship between a particular pair ("Fall Weather Friends" for Applejack/Rainbow Dash, "Look Before You Sleep" for Applejack/Rarity, "Griffon the Brush Off" for Rainbow Dash/Pinkie Pie, "Green Isn't Your Color" for Rarity/Fluttershy, "Hurricane Fluttershy" for Rainbow Dash/Fluttershy, et cetera) is used as evidence of romance for that pair, as is pretty much every interaction they have otherwise, despite the show almost exclusively focusing on [[TitleDrop friendship]], not romance.
** One of the most bizarre and amazing examples on this page is Bon Bon and Lyra, two {{Recurring Extra}}s often placed next to each other due to their complementing colours, who somehow became one of '''the''' [[OneTruePairing most popular pairings]] in the fandom. Even the show's staff themselves acknowledged this phenomenon, placing them together in [[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=256161614401283 the official Comic Con poster]] and giving them {{Funny Background Event}}s in "Secrets of My Excess" and "Putting Your Hoof Down".
** Nonromantic relationships are prevalent as well - a purplish-grey unicorn filly appearing the background was designated as Derpy Hooves' daughter solely on account of their similar colors. Note that quite a few families do not have a color theme.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' fandom has this in spades concerning Stan and Kyle. The show makes it pretty clear that they are HeterosexualLifePartners and only consider one another as close as brothers, but the close friendship has led to a lot of romantic shipping. In later seasons, episodes like "Guitar Queer-O" plays like a breakup/makeup movie, and lines like Stan's drunken "But Kyle, I love you" only serve to reinforce the Shipping Goggles.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}}'': "I'm gonna ring that bell." "And I'm gonna ring yours. *wink*" Talk about a ''very'' bad case of AccidentalInnuendo!
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'':
** The episode "What Was Missing" caused an ''explosion'' in the number of people who ship Bubblegum and Marceline, interpreting their interactions as a former couple who had a nasty break-up, an opinion that only got stronger after "Sky Witch". After years of ShrugOfGod from the staff on the matter, shippers were finally vindicated when Marceline's voice actress Olivia Olsen confirmed they did use to date (but at the same time she also dismissed any possibility of it actually happening or even being acknowledged in the show itself).
** For the first three seasons, [[PrecociousCrush Finn/Bubblegum]] and [[MayflyDecemberRomance Finn/Marceline]] shippers frequently bent over backwards to try and justify their chosen favourite pairing, despite the former having no signs of it being reciprocated and the latter having an entire episode devoted to [[ShipSinking sinking]] it. However, after the rise in popularity of Bubblegum/Marceline, then Finn's canonical relationship with Flame Princess, the two groups drastically reduced in both their size and their frequency of Goggle usage.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'', up until until the montage in "Kaboom And Kabust", the only people who shipped King Julien and Rico were those who had no other pairing, mostly because they had never even talked before. After that though, those Shippers slammed on their goggles and made a big deal of it even though the only thing Rico was attracted to in that montage was blowing things up.
* ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'':
** The fans who insist that Ulrich's and Odd's relationship is more LikeAnOldMarriedCouple than a best friend relationship, even though Odd is a KidAnova and Ulrich has obvious feelings for Yumi.
** Odd trying to flirt with Aelita in the prequel and calling her "Princess" has been seen as a proof the two loved each other. Never mind that Odd flirts with ''every'' girl he met (Yumi is the only known exception) and has no problem with Jeremy dating Aelita.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' has multiple cases where fans will see ''any'' interaction between Ben and Kevin as a proof they are in love, including scenes where they are arguing, despising or trying to kill each other. One of the worst cases is in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'', with one of Ben's clones being teamed up with Kevin and suddenly trying to talk in a suspiciously flirtatious way with him; despite being played for laughs, and Kevin creeped out by the situation, fans still take this scene seriously and classify it as a ShipTease.
* Terry/Max shippers in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' fandom sometimes claim that the two are pining for each other or in denial about their romantic feelings, ignoring the time the two were ''on a date'' (as part of a case) and Terry even noticed how good-looking Max was, only for Max to completely ignore his notice and nothing else coming of it. When Terry gives Max a chaste peck on the cheek in [[ComicBook/BatmanBeyond the comic]], shippers cried ShipTease, ignoring how neither character treated it as at all romantic.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Superjail}}'':
** This happens with some fans that ship Warden and Mistress, going as far as to declare it canon (or that it should be) and that it's the primary FanPreferredCouple. Even though Mistress is shown to barely tolerate Warden at best, and outright loathed the idea of having slept with him. The primary reasoning for shipping them is that they're both wardens, look similar, and [[FoeYay are arch-enemies]] (although the Warden himself points out that they barely get to see each other). An ImagineSpot by Jared with the two married provided fuel, although the idea of the pairing [[ShipSinking was sunk in the same episode]], which crushed some fans' hopes while others still insisted that they'd have to be together.
** Fans of Warden/Jared were fueled by a scene in "Dream Machine" in which Jared imagines himself as a tall, strong man and the Warden as his diminutive and put-upon assistant. The two proceed to make out. This has lead to shippers debating over whether Jared has a repressed crush on the Warden or if it's some part of a power fantasy, although the Warden himself seemed disgusted by the entire idea (making it a one-sided pairing at best).
** The Twins provide the shipping goggles simply by existing and being together in most of their scenes. While their dynamic is more clearly that of brothers in the later seasons, some lines and jokes involving the two seem to play with their flamboyant attitude and closeness and have sparked debates over whether there's actual {{Twincest}} implied, or if the crew was simply baiting with the jokes or didn't think much of them. "The Budding of the Warbuxx" (in which one became spontaneously impregnated and the other acted like a worried father) added to the fuel, although [[OffingTheOffspring its disturbing ending sort of overruled any romantic implications]].
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}}'': "I'm Gonna ring that bell. And I'm gonna ring yours. *wink*" Talk about a ''very'' bad case of AccidentalInnuendo!

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is known for its devoted shippers, but elements of "Zutarian" (Zuko/Katara) fans are downright infamous - or, in pro-Zutara communities, encouraged - for their use of Shipping Goggles, to often unbelievable levels. Including but not limited to: claiming Zutara is proved by Oma and Shu wearing blue and red robes respectively in the storytelling scene of "The Cave of Two Lovers" (ignoring that they're wearing blue and ''orange''); scenes in a season three trailer that show Katara backing away from Aang's attempt to kiss her and another right after where she hugs Zuko, despite that they're wearing different outfits in different settings at different times of day; the colors of the red and blue dragons that each try to tempt Zuko during a fever dream (they're supposed to be his uncle and his sister); and taking the creepy, sarcastic line where Zuko tells Katara he'll save her from the pirates in "The Waterbending Scroll" ''completely seriously.''