History Main / ShipsThatPassintheNight

** Steve/Eddie almost ''immediately'' became one of the most popular pairings in the series during season 4, despite the two never appearing onscreen together.

* ShipsThatPassInTheNight/Web Animation

* Web Animation

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': True to her LauncherOfAThousandShips status, [[http://chlod.livejournal.com/ Chloe gets shipped with Zod]]. And that Website/LiveJournal is featured on the official Smallville account. ''They never met each other''.

** The controversial fanfic ''FanFic/InThisWorldAndTheNext'' has a few examples. Oliver Wood winds up dating Penelope Clearwater after [[RonTheDeathEater Percy turns evil]] [[spoiler:He is kind of a dick to his family until near the end of the series]], though the two are in different houses and are unlikely to have known each other outside of being in the same year. But that pairing is downright normal compared to some of the other ones that [[ShipperOnDeck Harry and Hermione]] [[InvokedTrope create]]. In their zeal to ensure that Remus and Tonks wind up together so that Teddy can be born, Sirius Black ends up having some romantic moments with Charity Burbage. [[CrackPairing Even more ridiculous]] is that Neville somehow falls for Millicent Bulstrode, and the feeling is mutual. If ForWantOfANail were not in full effect, the two would most likely have hated each other's guts, assuming that they had any interactions at all.

** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' has a small but devoted fanbase for Jake Sisko/Tora Ziyal, who never interact on-screen, due to fans liking the idea of [[StarCrossedLovers young lovers fighting to be together despite outside pressure]], and the fact that the guy Ziyal canonically hooks up with is one half of an extremely popular [[SlashFic slash paring]].

** Wanda, Loki, and Dr. Strange are frequently shipped together due to their [[ThemePairing shared affinity for magic]], even though they've otherwise never interacted with each other. The news that Wanda will play a major role in ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'' adds fuel to the [[IdiosyncraticShipNaming ScarletStrange]] ship, even though the events of the actual film [[spoiler:become enemies instead]].

** ShipsThatPassInTheNight/TheOwlHouse
** ShipsThatPassInTheNight/TotalDrama

*** [[spoiler:The release of ''Film/TheMarvels'' has given it something of a boost, as Valkyrie turns out to be the "friend" Carol calls in to look after a group of Skrull refugees, and gives her an affectionate kiss on the cheek as they part ways.]]

* The ''Franchise/MassEffect'' fic ''Fanfic/TheTranslationInBlood'' pairs up [[PlayerCharacter Commander Shepard]]'s mother, Rear Admiral Hannah Shepard, with turian Councilor Sparatus. In the actual trilogy, Hannah Shepard only appears in a couple conversations and then only if Shepard has the Spacer background, while Sparatus can die at the end of ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' and either way is never even known to be on the same planet as Admiral Shepard.

* ''Series/TheMandalorian'' has some viewers who ship Mando with [[spoiler:Luke Skywalker]]. Never mind that they don't meet until the end of Season 2, in a scene that doesn't guarantee that they'll ever see each other again. Other fans ship the Armorer with Paz Vizsla; the two are the [[PairTheSpares only surviving members of the original covert]] besides the protagonist, so they have at least traded lines once or twice, but none of it was remotely romantic.

* Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses:

** Wanda, Loki, and Dr. Strange are frequently shipped together due to their [[ThemePairing shared affinity for magic]], even though they've otherwise never interacted with each other. The news that Wanda will be appearing in the upcoming ''Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness'' adds fuel to the [[IdiosyncraticShipNaming ScarletStrange]] ship.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* The fandom of ''VideoGame/AceCombat7SkiesUnknown'' seems to have a liking of pairing up [[PlayerCharacter Trigger]] with Rosa Cossette d’Elise, despite the fact that they’re on opposite sides of the war. The closest they ever interact is in the final mission, if the player chooses to take their time when flying up the [[SpaceElevator Lighthouse]], as Cossette will call out for Trigger.
* In ''VideoGame/DetroitBecomeHuman'' fandom, Gavin/[[spoiler:[=RK900=] (an upgraded Connor)]] became one of the most popular pairings despite the latter character appearing in only one ending and never interacting with Gavin. This may be because of the potential for a lot of tension between the two if they ever meet due to [[spoiler:Gavin's hatred of androids and [=RK900=] being widely interpreted by fans as the EvilIsSexy version of Connor]].
* In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'', Vergil/Lady was a very popular ship despite them barely interacting in ''[[VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening DMC3]]'', being enemies the few times they did, and generally not even being in the same room together save for two occasions.
* ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'':
** [[ProfessionalKiller Daud]] and [[SexyPriest Teague]] [[TheStrategist Martin]], who have never met in-game. Also, [[spoiler:Martin is dead by the end of the game and Daud ''could'' be dead, depending on the player's choices]]. Quite a few people ship them anyway.
** There are a lot such [[CrackPairing couples]] in ''Dishonored'', considering how the only ''hinted'' OfficialCouple was [[BodyguardCrush Corvo/Jessamine]], and since she died five minutes into the game, well. Other examples include [[EldritchAbomination The Outsider]]/[[TheWoobie Emily]], Daud/[[BrokenBird Callista]], and [[MadScientist Sokolov]]/[[RichBitch Lady Boyle]].
* ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
** [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII Bethany]] / [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins Alistair]] is surprisingly popular considering we only see them interact once, and then only if [[spoiler: Bethany becomes a Warden and Alistair remained one.]] Also strange considering [[DieForOurShip what]] the reaction was to Alistair/Leliana being suggested in the ''Darkspawn Chronicles'' DLC.
** Since the launch of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', Alistair/Cullen has become popular among slash shippers, even though we also see them only interact once, and only if [[spoiler:Alistair is in the active party during "Broken Circle" in DAO]].
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** Terra and Celes of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' seem to be the second or third most popular ship in the fandom, and likely the most popular one to not be an OfficialCouple. Fans of the couple often cite their heavy similarities (former Imperials with an implied shared history, MagicKnight abilities, strong claims for protagonist status, the main female characters in the party) and contrasts ([[FireIceDuo fire versus ice]], [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl inexperienced amnesiac versus hardened general]], [[OppositesAttract meek and self-doubting versus brave and prideful]]). It would honestly be a pretty concrete pairing -- if Terra and Celes had more than one or two brief scripted interactions in the entire game and Celes wasn't half of the aforementioned OfficialCouple. Indeed, part of the reason their protagonist status is a topic of debate is that Terra is usually out of commission in the parts that focus on Celes, and vice versa -- meaning times they could have interacted at all are pretty rare, and neither one is there at all in the most pivotal moments for the other.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', Cor/Prompto is a popular ship in Japan, but the only times they interact is when Cor's in the party, which [[GuestStarPartyMember doesn't last for a very long time]] and it's early in the game.
* ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy2015'': [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV Noctis]] x [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII Lightning]] had a small following in the early days of ''XIII'', back when ''XV'' was still called "''Versus XIII''", but it died down as the years went on. The addition of Noctis to the roster here, the introductory cutscene which sees him paired up with Lightning and the Warrior of Light as a travel companion, and finally the battle trailer where Noct and Light teamed up to fight Sephiroth saw the idea flare back to life.
* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
** The ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Blazing Sword]]'' fandom was quite fond of Wil/Florina for a while. They ''do'' speak in the chapter where they're both recruited, and Wil acts friendly to her... but after that, they have no more interactions with each other.
** Most couples in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' are like this. Good luck finding evidence for why Dew got hooked up with [[ActionGirl Ayra]], [[FanPreferredCouple or why]] Lewyn would go for [[GenkiGirl Tailtiu]] outside of the RelationshipValues. Things make more sense in the second half of the game, but that doesn't mean couples like [[MysticalWaif Julia]]/[[BlackKnight Ares]] (or [[MysticalWaif Julia]]/ANYONE besides [[BrotherSisterIncest Seliph]] for that matter) don't happen.
** Merric and Linde are an extremely popular pairing in [[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight the Akaneia games]], despite the fact that, until the remakes, they never interacted with each other. And in said remake, they get exactly ''one'' conversation together. It's often assumed that Merric is the one Linde is said to be in love with in her epilogue in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', even though said epilogue never mentioned anyone specifically.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'':
*** Genny and Saber, who were often shipped in the original game despite having no interactions (granted, virtually nobody had any interactions with each other in that game), due to Genny's ending mentioning she fell in love with a comrade and Saber's ending mentioning him marrying an unnamed woman. The remake ''Shadows of Valentia'' [[ShipSinking sunk]] this somewhat: it revealed Genny is only 15 and Saber is 34, all {{Official Couple}}s from the original got support conversations while Genny and Saber didn't, and other characters now marry unnamed people in their endings, making Genny's and Saber's stand out less, and Genny and Saber's ending explicitly contradict each other in that Genny kept her husband secret while Saber paraded around his wife for everyone to see. However, Genny does mention in an optional conversation that she LikesOlderMen, possibly as a reference to the pairing.
*** Also in said remake, fans who feel bad for Faye's unrequited feelings for Alm often ship her with other characters, most of whom she never speaks to. She's sometimes shipped with Catria, someone who isn't even supposed to be in the same party as Faye, and even if players use the GuideDangIt method to get Faye into Celica's party, she and Catria still never interact.
*** Also in ''Echoes'', people who dislike the canon Clive/Mathilda occasionally ship Mathilda/Sonya (if they don't like Mathilda/Clair). Like Catria and Faye, the two of them aren't even in the same armies, and there's no indication that Mathilda and Sonya even know that the other exists.
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', Lucina/Severa is a fairly popular pairing. Lucina and Severa don't have any RelationshipValues with each other and don't speak to each other outside of DownloadableContent. They do interact more in [[DownloadableContent The Future Past]], with Severa appearing to be Lucina's NumberTwo, but [[spoiler:[[AlternateSelf those aren't the playable versions]], instead being the Lucina and Severa of an even worse BadFuture]].
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'':
*** Despite not having any Support conversations, Dimitri gets paired up with Hilda. The only time they ever interact is in the ''Cindered Shadows'' DLC, and it's dubious of how canon that scenario is.
*** Edelgard and Sylvain get paired up despite not having any interactions with one another save for Edelgard briefly mentioning Sylvain in the aftermath of Chapter 5, in which the protagonists recover the Lance of Ruin from Sylvain's evil brother Miklan. The main reasoning behind this is due to how their lives were affected by Fódlan’s crest system.
*** Petra is one of the few female characters who Sylvain does not have any interactions with. Despite that, there are fans who pair them up together.
*** Marianne and Bernadetta is fairly popular despite not having Support conversations. This stems from how the two girls are very socially awkward around others. Ironically, in a case of WhatCouldHaveBeen, Bernadetta and Marianne were going to have Support conversations, but were scrapped before the game was launched.
*** Yuri and Ashe are a quite popular ship despite the fact they don't have a Support conversation. This is mostly because in the Cindered Shadows DLC, Ashe recognizes Yuri as Lord Rowe's former ward and urges him to return home, while Yuri recognizes Ashe as Lord Lonato's ward.
* Any pairing between the human characters of ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'', since there's little to no indication that they have met or had any significant interaction. But then again, there's little to no indication of ''anything'' concrete about ''Five Nights at Freddy's'' and the fandom is pretty much made up of WildMassGuessing anyway, so the shippers go right ahead.
* Some ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasy'' circles pair up Belial with Gran/Djeeta for either the comedic or sexy value of a DepravedBisexual making advances on a straight-laced protagonist-type. Belial interacted with them only once, and that was in the middle of a battle where he made passes at everyone ''but'' them.
* Franklin/Tracey has become a pretty popular ship in the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' fandom, despite the closest they ever come to meeting in-game is when Franklin breaks into her family's house and overhears her arguing with her brother. They also frequently serve as a BetaCouple in Michael/Trevor fanfic.
* ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'':
** There's the Jak/Ashelin shippers who often pair Keira up with Torn despite the two never interacting with each other.
** We've also got [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3975559/1/Opposites-Attract this surprisingly well-written fic]] that pairs up Jinx/Seem.
* [[McNinja Jago]]/[[WaifFu Kim Wu]] from ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'' has developed a small but vocal fanbase on the [[http://www.ultra-combo.com/forums/index.php?topic=878.0 official forums,]] in spite of the fact the series has little to no romance (save for Maya/Tusk) and that, outside gameplay, the two had no real interaction between each other in ''Killer Instinct 2''.
* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
** Any and all Organization XIII shipping in the fandom. It's not so bad for the members who appear in ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories Chain of Memories]]'', but the members in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' have essentially no interaction and only appear by themselves. The Director's Cut edition adds a few scenes between them, but all they do is [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness growl about The Plan]]. ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 358/2 Days]]'' may help with this, provided you're not trying to ship the Castle Oblivion group and don't mind emotionless hate sex. However, it still doesn't explain the absurd popularity of the Zexion/Demyx ship; never in ''any'' of the games do the two of them ''ever'' interact with one another.
** The only time Zexion and Demyx ever say a thing about each other is in ''Days''. Zexion mentions Demyx is [[LazyBum being completely useless to the Organization]] and gives a mission for you two, later Demyx mentions that Zexion is annoying. That obviously meant they are not friends, but [[ShippingGoggles some shippers thought]] that was [[OppositesAttract just perfect]]. (Also, since the Organization members have numbers, [[StealthPun it may help that]] Demyx is No. IX and Zexion is No. VI.)
** Despite being friends in their source game, Aerith and Tifa have literally no interactions in ''Kingdom Hearts''. It's even vague whether Tifa is a physical person or a figment of Cloud's light. Still, Aerith/Tifa is a moderately popular pairing. Fans who shipped them in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' jumped ship because Aerith being perfectly alive and healthy means the ship can thrive.
* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'':
** King Dedede x [[VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards Fairy Queen]] is a rather popular ship amongst the fandom, despite the two never interacting in canon outside of the Queen giving him a medal in the ending. It helps that both are clumsy royal figures who act as the ruler of their home planets, on top of both [[spoiler:getting possessed by Dark Matter]].
** In the Japanese fandom, [[VideoGame/KirbySqueakSquad Daroach]] and [[VideoGame/KirbyCanvasCurse Drawcia]] are often paired together despite the fact that the two have never interacted with each other in the games. The both of them being Kirby villains from the early [[UsefulNotes/NintendoDS DS]] era may be a reason why.[[note]]Another possible pairing that has leaked its way out of Japan is Drawcia x [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamland2 Dark Matter Blade]], which is also another nevermet ship.[[/note]]
** Due to their common jester-like appearances, [[spoiler:ManipulativeBastard tendencies]], and similarities in general, [[VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand Magolor]] is commonly paired with [[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Marx]] in fan works, but there is little to no evidence that the two have ever met, save for one line that he says on board his ship, stating that he heard about Kirby "from a friend."
** [[VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot Susie]] and Francisca became a popular ship after the former was PromotedToPlayable in ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'', despite having no real canon interactions to speak of, outside of the latter's boss fight in Susie's Guest Star Mode, which isn't exactly a positive one.
* The website ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'' fansite ''[[http://www.freewebs.com/srg-teamvirus/vampiricromance.htm Bleeding Beauty]]'', devoted to the character Umah from ''Blood Omen 2'', makes a case for Umah/Magnus, two characters that never meet in the game (after considering pairing her with ''every other character in the game'').
* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'':
** Most of the ships are based on similarities or [[OppositesAttract blatant differences]], or because they look cute together ([[AsianFoxSpirit Ahri]]/[[CuteMute Sona)]], or [[DarkAndTroubledPast they share something in common about the past]] ([[TheExile Riven]]/[[LadyOfWar Irelia]]).
** Riven/[[MagicalGirl Lux]] and [[DarkActionGirl Katarina]]/[[ColdSniper Ashe]] may [[CrackPairing sound absurd]] (not to mention Ashe is married and Lux is supposed to be Ezreal's love interest) but thanks to fanfics like ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7599936/1/Guiding-Light Guiding Light]]'' and ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7958191/1/Wounded Wounded]]'', they actually work.
** [[LauncherOfAThousandShips Lux gets paired with lots of characters.]] Be it man, [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer woman]], or [[{{Squick}} creature]].
* Tia and Dekar have all of ''one'' interaction together in ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals'', but said interaction is so [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments heartwarming]] (and [[spoiler:comes off of Tia realizing she can't have Maxim]]) that they became a popular fan couple. They do get a lot more interaction in ''VideoGame/LufiaCurseOfTheSinistrals'' [[spoiler:and do hook up after Maxim and Selan's wedding]].
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
** Theoretically, shipping almost any party member with anyone ''but'' [[PlayerCharacter Shepard]] will result in this. This effectively means that [[FriendlySniper Garrus]]/[[WrenchWench Tali]] is exactly as possible as [[BloodKnight Grunt]]/[[OnlySaneMan Jacob]], which in turn is as likely as [[MindHive Legion]]/[[OmnidisciplinaryScientist Mordin]] or ''any combination of the above''. This gains a certain hilarity in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' where [[spoiler:if Shepard didn't romance either, Garrus and Tali hook up at the end of the game]].
** Party members, at least, can be chosen to go on missions together -- at the very least, they serve together on a ship with a very small crew. More difficult to justify is the surprisingly popular pairing of Oriana/Kolyat -- relatives of different party members, who never interact with each other, barely interact with the player character, and live on different planets, and seem to be paired up largely due to being the only teenagers in the game.
** While not extremely popular (due to both characters being love interests for Shepard), there is Ashley/Kaidan. It's particularly problematic, because [[spoiler:one of these characters is most definitely dead, thanks to the SadisticChoice]].
** And then there's the ''really'' weird one in the fanfic ''Fanfic/TheTranslationInBlood'', bordering on CrackPairing if it hadn't been carried off so well: Hannah Shepard and Councilor Sparatus. Two characters who are never even on the same planet at the same time, and one only appears over VideoPhone in a cutscene if you have the Spacer background while the other is very plot-important.
* ''VideoGame/NoStraightRoads'': DJ Subatomic Supernova and Neon J never interact within the story itself (though, in the credits they are seen casually hanging out with an arm around each other's shoulders), but are a pretty popular pairing in the fandom, possibly due to their robotic appearance.
* ''VideoGame/{{Onmyoji}}'':
** For all the popularity that the Ōtengu and Yōko ship receives among the fandom, canonically they neither meet nor are mentioned in either's in-game recollections. In fact, due to the game's limited plotline yet large cast, many of the game's popular pairings never meet in canon.
** Susabi/Ichimokuren is ''big'' among the shippers due to their godhood, their dragon motifs, and their tragic backgrounds even though their stories are completely independent of each other. This pair remains shipped even after Susabi gets canonically {{Ship Tease}}d with Miketsu.
* Cassidy/Hanzo (a.k.a. [[IdiosyncraticShipNaming Yeehan]], previously [[PortmanteauCoupleName McHanzo]]) is one of the most popular male/male ships in the ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' fandom, despite the fact that they have little in common and have never met before canonically. Cassidy knows Hanzo's estranged brother, Genji, though, but the fandom latched onto the pairing long before this revelation.
* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'':
** From ''VideoGame/Persona3'', there is an absurdly high amount of fans that ship the male and the female protagonist together. That is impossible since they literally can't exist at the same time. The female MC is also paired a lot with [[VideoGame/Persona4 the next game's]] hero but that also would be impossible, [[spoiler:since ''Persona 3'' ends with the protagonist's HeroicSacrifice]]. Even in [[VideoGame/PersonaQShadowOfTheLabyrinth the one game]] where [[RealityBreakingParadox a time-space paradox]] [[TimeTravel brings together]] the casts of both titles and the ''P3'' group ''isn't'' from a time after the events of their game (unlike the ''[[VideoGame/Persona4Arena Arena]]'' [[VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax duology]]), the male protagonist is used to represent ''Persona 3'' instead of the female one. (Though to be fair, ''Arena''[='s=] establishment of a SharedUniverse for the ''Persona'' games starting with ''P3'' already canonized the ''P3'' hero as male.) It remains to be seen how ''VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth'' will affect the shipping landscape going forward; the game features the casts of ''P3'', ''P4'', and ''[[VideoGame/Persona5 P5]]''--including the female protagonist of ''P3'' alongside her male counterpart, though it's implied she hails from an AlternateUniverse to the main continuity and the male protagonist goes on to theorize that [[AlternateSelf they're one and the same]] (which would obviously [[ScrewYourself complicate]] that particular pairing).
** There are shippers that pair the ''P3'' hero with Akihiko. This pairing is extremely out of place considering the protagonist can date any girl while he and Akihiko are TheFriendsWhoNeverHang.
** From ''VideoGame/Persona4'', there is a surprisingly fair amount of Rise and [[spoiler:Naoto]] material on the internet. Not only does Rise love the protagonist, but since they are the last to join the group they barely talk with other, and one of the few times they do [[ShipperOnDeck Rise just teases]] [[spoiler:Naoto with Kanji]]. This pairing is also commonly used to PairTheSpares in the [[spoiler:gay]] fanworks.
%% * In the Japanese fanbase, this ship is particularly popular due to 'friendly' the two's voice actors tend to be with each other.
** Though more of a joke pairing than a serious one, ''VideoGame/Persona5'' saw the rise of Ann/[[spoiler:Akechi]], who don't have much in the way of direct interaction throughout the game, after [[DummiedOut unused voice files]] depicting a scenario in [[spoiler:Sae]]'s Palace [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyAUgiwd0po began circulating the web.]] In the aforementioned scene, some clever thinking and sleight of hand on the part of [[spoiler:Crow]] leads to the Phantom Thieves securing victory in a rigged poker game, prompting an admiring Panther to ecstatically proclaim "You go, cheating hottie!"--to which [[spoiler:Crow]] replies "I'll gladly accept those words of praise later." Even if [[spoiler:Ann was likely acting (given that the entire group knew about [[SixthRangerTraitor Akechi's true allegiances]]), never mind the fact that [[UncertainDoom Akechi may or may not have died not too long after this event]]]], some fans couldn't resist humoring the idea of these two as a couple.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** Afroshipping, [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Flint]] and [[VideoGame/PokemonColosseum Miror B.]] These two characters have not and will never meet. [[CrackPairing They both have afros, though.]]
** [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Karen]]/[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Sidney]], both Dark-type specialized Elite Four members. Karen/[[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Will]] is also pretty popular, and also Karen/[[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Lance]] and Karen/[[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Grimsley]]. It's pretty much said that [[LauncherOfAThousandShips everyone wants]] [[MsFanservice Karen]].
** Speaking of Elite Four members, there's the rather niche pairing of Lance and Lorelei. Despite being part of the Indigo League E4 in [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue the original games and their remakes]], the two have no interaction whatsoever (compare this to their ''[[Manga/PokemonAdventures Adventures]]'' counterparts), and while Lance goes on to become the Champion during [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver the three-year interim]], Lorelei just vanishes with no official confirmation on her whereabouts.[[note]]''[=FireRed/LeafGreen=]'' implies she may have retired between games to defend her home, the Sevii Islands, from remnants of Team Rocket.[[/note]] Aside of being cool and somewhat arrogant personality-wise, fans of Lance/Lorelei simply think they look good together and like the idea of Lance with another strong Trainer ([[AnIcePerson one whom]], humorously enough, Lance's [[OurDragonsAreDifferent type specialty]] would put him at [[ElementalRockPaperScissors a great disadvantage against]]).
** Cynthia/Steven Stone is mildly popular among the fanbase. They both are/were Champions of their respective regions ([[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Sinnoh]] and [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Hoenn]]), both belong to affluent milieus (Cynthia's a {{Socialite}}, Steven's the son of the CEO of the [[MegaCorp Devon Corporation]]), both have a background/interest in [[AdventurerArchaeologist archaeology]] (she studies ruins and other sites associated with Pokémon mythology, he collects rocks and fossils), their signature Mons are pseudo-legendaries (Garchomp and Metagross), and that's it. [[note]]Steven ''is'' implied to be the previous owner of the [[BigFancyHouse Villa]] in ''Platinum'' (and is outright stated as such in the ''[[Manga/PokemonAdventures Adventures]]'' continuity), as the estate formerly belonged to a rich man from Hoenn who came to Sinnoh in search of rare stones, but he and Cynthia never directly interact in any of the games they both appear in; they have separate cameos in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver HeartGold/SoulSilver]]'' and are participants in the [[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 Pokémon World Tournament]] along with the other Champions up to that point.[[/note]]
** Cynthia finds herself paired up with Diantha, the [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Kalos]] region Champion, for similar reasons, being cultured, graceful, elite-level Trainers with no overarching typing to their teams. (Diantha also has a pseudo-legendary in Goodra, though her signature Pokémon is actually Gardevoir.) Both women appear to share fashion styles, too, with Diantha wearing an all-white outfit to contrast Cynthia's black ensemble. Ironically enough, [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries the anime]] (which exists in its own continuity) would make this pairing seem more plausible many years later: ''[[Anime/PokemonJourneysTheSeries Journeys]]'' shows that Cynthia and Diantha are good friends, with the former even confiding in the latter about [[spoiler:her plans to retire from competitive battling after the conclusion of that year's Masters Eight Tournament]].
** Jasmine/Volkner is also strangely popular. Jasmine is a Steel-type leader from [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Johto]], while Volkner is an Electric-type leader from [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Sinnoh]]. Jasmine makes a cameo in Sunyshore City (where Volkner is Leader), but there's no evidence the two ever meet. [[ThemePairing The only links]] seem to be that Jasmine's Magnemite are part-Electric and that both are Gym Leaders in cities that have lighthouses.
** While the two still don't interact in the game, Volkner making an appearance in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 Black 2/White 2]]'' strengthened the Elesa/Volkner "beautiful Electric Gym Leader" pairing. A step up from him not appearing in [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite the prequel]], however.
** Erika and Sabrina have fans. They are both [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Kanto]] Gym Leaders (or at least Sabrina was until she became a Pokéstar Studios actress by ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'' [[note]]though she's still counted among the Kanto Leaders in the Pokémon World Tournament; then again, so is Giovanni[[/note]]) but don't interact. The ship seems to have sparked due to Erika seeming AmbiguouslyGay to many players (has a female-only Gym, gives out the Rainbow Badge, etc.) and Sabrina being from the same region as her. OppositesAttract also applies to them; Erika's a polite, friendly, and rather outgoing YamatoNadeshiko, while Sabrina's a [[TheStoic stoic]], CreepyGood psychic with [[SugarAndIcePersonality an implied gentleness underneath the surface]].
** Partnering off Sabrina with Johto Gym Leader Morty, which appears to be the most popular of Sabrina's scant het options, is no better, rooted mainly in similar characteristics (PsychicPowers [[note]]presumably in Morty's case, as his title is "The Mystic Seer of the Future"[[/note]] and outwardly imposing but inwardly friendly personalities) and, possibly, a MythologyGag to the Haunter Sabrina befriended in the anime by means of Morty's Gengar.
** A surprisingly well-liked pairing for ''[[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Sun/Moon]]'' is Team Skull Boss Guzma and Kahili of the Elite Four. They've never met, but they ''do'' squat down during battles to survey the action. BlackComedy may also be involved, at least so far as a "justification" for hooking them up: Kahili is a pro golfer, while Guzma [[spoiler:is heavily implied to come from an abusive household, with a particularly violent altercation between Guzma and his dad apparently involving ''golf clubs'']]. Additionally, Guzma's home [[spoiler:at Route 2]] features numerous trophies Guzma earned in his childhood. These are stated to have been awarded for Pokémon battling, but have been mistaken as golf trophies by several fans due to the above and thus taken as a sign that he and Kahili could have crossed paths when they were younger.
** Guzma and the player character's mother in ''Sun & Moon'' occasionally pops up. They don't interact, but many either think they'd go good together or want to see Guzma as Elio/Selene's stepfather.
** Giovanni and Red's mother pops up for the same reason their anime counterparts are shipped--people like the idea of Giovanni secretly being Red's father.
** A surprisingly popular ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'' ship is Grusha/Rika, even though the two of them never interact in the game. A lot of this can be chalked up to fans seeing them as a prime example of a MasculineGirlFeminineBoy pairing (the former is a LongHairedPrettyBoy, the latter is {{Bifauxnen}}, and both were hit with ViewerGenderConfusion as a result).
* ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' fandom has the Space core and Curiosity core, even though the Curiosity core was introduced, and dies, in the first game while the Space core was introduced and [[spoiler:shot into space]] in ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}''.
* In the ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' fandom, there's pairings such as Flora/Clive and Descole/Emmy. They're both fairly popular, although the characters don't really interact all that much. There's also a few with Layton, although he's a LauncherOfAThousandShips.
* This is common in the ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' fanbase, which is already rife with shipping. One example is Sig/Serilly, who have not met in canon and aren't even from the same era (Serilly is from the Compile era while Sig is from the Primp Town era that began with ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoFever'').
* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'':
** Angela Cross and Sasha Phyronix have never met, but there are some people that can put them in a relationship.
** There's also [[https://twitter.com/alaynakgray/status/1440573245418205187 this drawing]] showing Sasha and Rivet as a ship.
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': The fandom is absolutely filled to the brim with these type of ships, to where it's likely easier to list the ones that ''do'' have canonical interactions. That said, there are still some notable ones worth mentioning.
** [[ToyShip Tails/Cream]] is one of the most popular pairings, mainly because the latter can be easily seen as a DistaffCounterpart to the former; both are the youngest characters of the cast, both feature physical quirks that grant them the power of {{flight}} (with Tails being a HeliCritter who uses his propeller-like tails to ''hover'' above the ground, and Cream possessing EarWings that let her ''glide'' across the level), and both even filled identical roles as {{Kid Sidekick}}s and MissionControl in ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' and ''VideoGame/{{Sonic Rush|Series}}'' respectively. It's also popular as a [[PuppyLove "junior"]] [[ShipMates version of]] the Sonic/Amy ship, owing to Tails and Cream being their respective [[HeterosexualLifePartners BFFs]]. In canon, however, the two [[TheFriendsWhoNeverHang do not interact in any notable or significant manner]].
** Shadow and Amy is astonishingly popular considering how little the two interact. It helps that one of their two interactions in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' is the crux of Shadow's [[spoiler:HeelFaceTurn]] because Amy reminds Shadow of his dead best friend, Maria Robotnik.
** There's quite a few Shadow/Tikal shippers, despite the two never meeting, and the latter's unfortunate handicap of being dead.
** Shadow/Blaze has a sizable amount of shippers, however are only seen together in the ending of ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations''. On the other hand, Shadow and Blaze have met in ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics Sonic Universe]]''.
* Many fans ship Annie and Spyke from ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' despite the fact that they're never shown or mentioned as interacting with anyone but the protagonist (and Moe in Annie's case) in the first game. The Squid Research Lab later released an [[https://splatoonus.tumblr.com/post/183462046683/the-squid-research-lab-has-compiled-this official relationship chart]] for ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' which seemingly gave evidence ''against'' this ship, with Annie's only comment on Spyke being that "He seems dangerous…". Then again, this has never stopped people from shipping before, as this page clearly shows.
* ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'' has Albel and Nel, two soldiers from warring kingdoms. Plenty of opportunities for FoeYayShipping, but they mostly ignore each other in the script. Doesn't stop the shippers from using Albel as the [[GayOption Straight Option]] for Nel.
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** Due to PairTheSpares, Waluigi and Rosalina are often portrayed as a couple. Mario has Peach, Luigi has Daisy, Wario has either Mona or Captain Syrup depending on the fan's preference, so who can Rosalina be shipped with? Waluigi obviously. The UglyGuyHotWife and OppositesAttract tropes also boosted them into popularity.
** Rosalina/Daisy is also a somewhat popular ship, despite their lack of interactions in the games. This is largely due to fans liking the [[OppositesAttract contrast]] between Daisy's energetic, tomboyish personality and Rosalina’s quiet, motherly personality.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' is the first mainline game to feature Pauline, Mario's original girlfriend from ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'', in years. Pauline has been subject to ''a lot'' of DieForOurShip by Mario/Peach fans both, due to being Mario's ex and due to her more provocative design. In ''Odyssey'', Pauline is the mayor of New Donk City and dresses in a red suit instead of a [[LadyInRed red dress]]. Fans didn't miss how well this matched with Peach's bridal outfit or how they're both women in power. Within a few days of the E3 2017 reveal, there was a lot of fan art of them together.
** At least one fic has shipped Bowser and Rosalina because they're both single parents (Bowser towards Bowser Jr. and Rosalina towards the Luma).
* There are lots of fun cracky ships in the ''VideoGame/{{Tales|Series}}'' series.
** [[VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia Yuri]]/[[VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss Luke]] is a good example; people ship them despite the fact that their games take place in ''different universes.''
** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', it's not unheard of to ship Sheena and Yuan, mostly on the basis they have prior interaction from when [[spoiler: Sheena was sent to Sylvarant via the Renegades]] and later Yuan reunites Sheena with the party after she fires the mana canon.
* ''Franchise/{{Tekken}}'': Anna/Bruce. While they have been CoDragons to Kazuya, their relationship has never been explored in the games. Nonetheless, they often get paired off due to their proximity to each other.
* The vast majority of the extensive ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' cast have never interacted or shown evidence of being aware of each other, due to being a ShootEmUp, and even in the ExpandedUniverse most characters rarely stray from their CastHerd. Thus, almost all ''possible'' ships are like this, with basis for a pairing being anything from appearing in adjacent stages to bad jokes (e.g. shipping the bug girl with the plant lady). Gensokyo is at least confined and not a large place, so everyone ought to run into everyone else ''eventually''.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' fandom is filled with these:
** Papyrus/Mettaton is one of the fandom's biggest ships, with a lot of fanart and fanfiction depicting the two as a couple, despite the fact that they never have any on-screen interactions with one another. The main reasons why this ship is popular have to do with the characters' similar personalities, as well as optional flavor text and dialogue that shows that Papyrus is a fan of Mettaton and may have a CelebCrush on him.
** On the topic of Mettaton, the release of first chapter of the AlternateUniverse follow-up game ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' has made it common to see him shipped with that game's resident LargeHam PrettyBoy, Rouxls Kaard. Beyond not having any onscreen interaction, with Rouxls existing in a totally different world than any of the characters from the first game, fan work uses Mettaton's ''Undertale'' version near-exclusively, as [[spoiler:''Deltarune'' confines its version of Mettaton to a small cameo that depicts him as a gloomy shut-in that doesn't have a robotic body]].
* ''VideoGame/WarioWare'':
** [[LesYay Ashley/Penny]] has become a popular pairing for the two, with many fans liking the [[OppositesAttract contrast between them in regards to personality and skillset]] (Ashley being a reserved witch, Penny being a cheerful scientist). This is in spite of the two having only having interacted once in the entire franchise (which was a rather minor one on the Japanese-exclusive ''Smooth Moves'' CharacterBlog), with their relationship being unknown (though it is implied that they’re on good terms at least, given the aforementioned interaction was a positive one).
** Ashley and Young Cricket don't even interact at all in any official media, only being shown on screen together at the very most. That doesn't stop it from being a popular pair anyway, especially on the Japanese side of the fandom. It helps that the two do wear contrasting colored outfits (Ashley wears Red, Cricket wears Blue) and that although different, are similar in some aspects (both are apprentices, both are {{Big Eater}}s, etc), which makes it an appealing and easy ship to latch on to.
** [[ToyShip 9-Volt/Kat]] is one of the most popular pairings in the fandom, in spite of the two not interacting much in the series. While the two do have some interactions in supplementary materials, they're extremely sparse and don't indicate anything deeper than friends who hang out on occasion.
** Orbulon/Mike has grown rapidly in popularity after ''Gold'', despite the fact that neither of them has interacted once in the franchise. On top of Orbulon being an alien and Mike being a robot.
* ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'':
** [[PortmanteauCoupleName Joshyme]] (Joshua/Rhyme) is a ''very'' popular pairing in the fandom, despite having never met at any point in the game, and are indeed ''the only two'' of the five main characters who have never met; everyone else has ''at least'' seen each other at one point or another.
** Even more popular seems to be Minamimoto/Rhyme. Given that [[spoiler:Rhyme is [[DeadSidekick killed]] off before Minamimoto even comes anywhere near the rest of the protagonists]], this is slightly mystifying.
* ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'': Venoct and Kyubi have no interactions but have a lot of shippers because they're both {{Bishonen}} (or at least Kyubi is when he's in human form).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Yomi and Sakaki from ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' are a semi-popular ship, even though the two barely exchange words with each other.
* ''Manga/{{Beastars}}'':
** Jack/Louis is a ship that is surprisingly popular, even though neither character interacts with the other in canon. In fact, it's likely the story ended with Louis being unaware of Jack's very existence.
** Dom/Kai are two characters surprisingly popular as a background ship in fanfics, but in canon, they have minimal interaction outside of their time together as part of the stage crew.
** Ibuki/Oguma. Neither character interacts or even knows about the other, but because both are parental figures to Louis, some people ship them and even make fan content of Louis [[HasTwoMommies being raised by them as a couple]].
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** There are quite a few fanfics for Renji/Tatsuki. In the manga ''or'' anime, have those two ever had even ''one'' conversation with each other?
** Toshiro/Karin, their only interaction being in a couple of anime-only filler episodes
** Ukitake/Nemu seems to be gaining a nice following.
** Ikkaku/Nemu, based on a ''single'' panel in which they smile at each other while Ikkaku is getting medical treatment, as well as Nemu objecting to Mayuri interrogating him.
** Grimmjow/Nelliel, whose sole interaction is Grimmjow kicking and yelling at Nel.
* ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'':
** Eriol and Tomoyo from are a textbook example. They have a handful of conversations, all about other people, and the numerous fans take that as a sign of deep connection and possibly also current affections. Not to mention the fact that in the manga, Eriol/Kaho is indicated as canon and Tomoyo was in love with Sakura. The less popular ships Touya/Tomoyo, Touya/Meiling, and Eriol/Meiling are even better examples, as the two halves only interact on one or two occasions.
** Tomoyo/Meiling also has a following, mainly because it's a way to PairTheSpares (due to their respective crushes, Sakura and Syaoran, being the OfficialCouple) and it allows Tomoyo to move on from her unrequited love for Sakura. Their most major interactions are in the SeriesFinale movie, where they team up to play ShipperOnDeck for Sakura/Syaoran, but up to that point they had hardly spoken to each other.
* ''Manga/CaseClosed'':
** Hakuba/Sera, despite neither of them having made any contact whatsoever and Hakuba making no more than two manga appearances (he is a character from a [[CanonWelding canonically welded]] series ''Manga/MagicKaito'').
** Likewise, Hakuba/Ai Haibara and Kaito/Ai Haibara also have a small but rather solid fanbase, which is weird since Haibara never personally met Hakuba and her interactions with Kaito are usually through Conan's rivalry with him as Shonen Tantei group.
* In ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'', TheHero Touma and the Misaka's TeamNormal Saten get paired in a surprising amount in fanfics, despite the fact that they've only met face-to-face when he borrowed her good luck charm for the Daihasei Borrowing Race. Probably because they're both normal (mostly).
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'':
** There's more than a few Rolo/Euphemia fanfics out there. Euphie [[spoiler:was killed off]] before Rolo was even introduced as a character and almost certainly never met him or even knew of his existence.
** Rolo/Nunnally at least get some cute interaction in official art, but it's unknown whether the two ever met, and Rolo wanting to kill Nunnally kind of puts a damper on the whole shipping thing. Rolo and Nunnally interact in ''[[Manga/CodeGeassNightmareOfNunnally Nightmare of Nunnally]]'', although in that case, [[spoiler:Rolo is a clone of Lelouch conditioned to think that he is Lelouch and Nunnally's brother]], and has a significantly different appearance, personality, and role.
** Kallen and Gino has some implication that the writers tried for it but hit a RelationshipWritingFumble.
* ''Manga/DeathNote'' has Light/Mello, despite the two ''never'' meeting face-to-face in canon. The same is true for [[CanonForeigner Beyond]]/Light.
* ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'':
** Back in the day, Matt and Mimi from ''[[Anime/DigimonAdventure Digimon]]'', who have a ''single'' bit of interaction in the series aside from standing next to each other. The reason they were such a popular ship was that everyone paired all the characters according to "hierarchy": Tai and Sora because they were the male and female leads (and because they had actual [[FanPreferredCouple chemistry]]), TK and Kari because they were the two [[ToyShip youngest]] (they have [[FanPreferredCouple chemistry]] too), and Matt and Mimi because... they were [[PairTheSpares the only boy-girl pair left]]. There were Izzy and Joe, of course, but they were both really nerdy, and weren't TroubledButCute like Matt. (And yes, this meant that Izzy and Joe were often [[SlashFic paired together]] -- even though ''either'' of them would have been a better match for Mimi).
** A lot of ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' fans who like Ruki/Takato will pair Juri (Takato's canon crush) with Lee or Ryo (both of who're frequently paired with Ruki) despite the fact Juri is rarely seen interacting with them, if ever.
** V-mon/Tailmon in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' could also be seen as this. He ''was'' shown to crush on her... for about five minutes, and it was never mentioned before or again.
** The rival shipping Patamon/Tailmon is an interesting case that at first could be passed up as just to get one more matching set for TK and Kari [[ToyShip youngest]] but just like their partners, they're arguably seen closer than with any other partner digimon. And there is famous scene of Angemon holding Angewomon's shoulders, and once Patamon joked about how good they look together to rile Davis up.
* ''Manga/FairyTail'':
** Zeref/Mavis, Zeref being the SealedEvilInACan and Mavis being Fairy Tail's angelic-looking founder. Not only have they never met, but Zeref having no idea Tenroujima was a guild island is as good an indicator as any that he has no idea Mavis exists. No longer the case as of [[spoiler:Chapter 340]]. [[spoiler:And then Chapter 450 made them canon, [[StarCrossedLovers with tragic results]]]].
** Mashima seems to love subverting this trope. Mira/Laxus is a fairly popular crack pairing in the fandom. However, there has been no sign from either side that could make them a viable pairing until [[spoiler:chapter 352]]. Cue shippers going crazy.
** Wendy and Romeo, who haven't interacted at even ''one section'' of canon material, and yet fans seem to think the viable reason to pair them up is that Romeo is finally the same age as Wendy.
** Natsu and Juvia are also being shipped from time to time, due to the whole fire/water dynamics. While they do hang around each other now and then and probably consider each other friends due to being in the same guild, they have had almost no direct interactions throughout the series even though Natsu is the main character, and Juvia is also fairly prominent. In fact, they have so suspiciously few interactions that one would almost think Mashima is keeping them away from each other on purpose to defy any fire/water shipping.
** But the biggest offender by far is Bickslow and Lisanna. The sum total of their interactions throughout the series is the Thunder God Tribe greeting her when she [[spoiler:returns from Edolas]] and when she happens to be watching the Grand Magic Games with said team. Fanon insists they're friends because they both enjoy [[ShipperOnDeck trolling Elfman and Evergreen]] (though [[CannotSpitItOut anyone with eyes does]]), but objectively, the ship is just there to PairTheSpares with Elfman/Evergreen and Laxus/Mirajane and as ShipMates to [[DieForOurShip keep her away from Natsu]].
* Sousuke/Makoto became very popular in the ''Anime/{{Free}}'' fandom (especially among [[LGBTFanbase gay male fans]]) despite hardly ever interacting. They did share some dialogue in the OVA but the ship was popular before that was released, and they would later have a phone conversation in the third season.
* ''Franchise/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** There is a following amongst [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist manga]]/''Brotherhood'' fans dedicated to Greed/Riza, who have appeared in the same CHAPTER maybe all of twice.
** Fans of the [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003 2003 anime]] sometimes ship Alfons and Alphonse (usually with [[OneTrueThreesome Edward]] [[IncestYayShipping involved]]), which is borderline [[ScrewYourself selfcest]] considering that [[spoiler:Alfons is Al's Earth counterpart from the other side of the Gate]]. The two never interact in ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemistTheConquerorOfShamballa'' because [[spoiler:Alfons dies shortly before they can]].
* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'':
** Sousuke/Insane Police Lady. Sure, they've had some (hilarious) interactions, and the Police Lady ''is'' obsessed with him... and Sousuke ''did'' compliment her skill and ability (in his mind). The only problem is that she's only like that with him when he's in his Bonta-kun mascot costume. Which can only say stuff like "Fumo-fumo fuu!!" As for actual interaction between them when he's dressed normally... there's little to none. Except an instance where he asks Kaname if he should "off" the Police Lady.
** [[OneTrueThreesome Foursome pairing of Gauron/Xia Yu Fan/Xia Yu Lan/Sousuke]]. Not so much the [[MemeticMolester Gauron]] paired with any of them part, as much as the Yu Fan and Yu Lan together with Sousuke part. Especially since the ''only'' interaction he's ever had with either of them was with Yu Fan, whom he never actually ''saw'', and whom he said all of two sentences (consisting of, at most, three words) to. Though, as absurd a pairing as this seems ([[ChasteHero Sousuke]] being in a foursome with three people he hates is... [[ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs not very realistic]]), it ''is'' true that both Yu Fan and Yu Lan ''had'' been watching and pondering over Sousuke for a while (since their Sensei [[StalkerWithACrush kept talking about him]], and sent them to find him).
* ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'' fandom has Athena/Ikusa. This ''does'' at least make sense, considering that [[spoiler:Ikusa was the one who released Athena from her GildedCage.]]
* The ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' fandom can be justified in doing this since the characters are countries and the story is based on [[RealLife history]]. Even if the author has not covered a time where the nations interact, fans can call upon their history classes or [[Website/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]] for evidence of their ship for fan works. A list of them can be found [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight/HetaliaAxisPowers here]].
* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' has Keiichi/Satoshi shippers... even though not only do the two never meet (until ''Kira'' came out [[spoiler:and that was a dream sequence]]), but Keiichi is more of a LovableSexManiac and Satoshi was a more serious version of Keiichi to begin with (though chronologically Keiichi is the one who is similar to Satoshi).
* ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'':
** Someoka/Fubuki seemed to have become extremely popular a long, ''long'' time before the two shared any decent amount of screentime, having spent an arc and a half (about 50 episodes) taking turns getting PutOnABus starting shortly after Fubuki's introduction. In the video games -- [[TheAnimeOfTheGame which the show was based on]] -- though they have a lot more interaction.
** Fudou/Fuyuka, ''who never interacted in either version'', yet it remains the most popular hetero shipping for that character.
* ''Manga/{{InuYasha}}'':
** Pairing up Kagome and Sesshomaru is incredibly popular within the fandom even though they show next to no interest in each other in canon and he tried to kill her or otherwise did not care if she lived early on. This is mainly because Kagome is the OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent that many female readers identify with and Sesshomaru is the "bad boy" character that many of these same female readers [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys want to be with]].
** Pairing up Kagome and/or Sango with the Band of Seven's leader Bankotsu, even though he never had any dialogue with either of them; it's more about the chemistry between their personalities.
** There are also Bankotsu/Kikyo ships. They did share one scene together, after all.
** Sango/Inuyasha, which seems to come out of the clear blue. The two very rarely speak directly to each other, unless it's regarding Kagome or Miroku, in the entire course of the series. Granted, there is one episode in the anime where they get drunk in a mist and Sango professes her love for Inuyasha and tries to make out with him, but that was a {{Filler}}-only episode and no such thing ever happens between the two of them in the original manga.
** One scene together in the anime, one in the movie "The Love That Transcends Time", and a scene where he chastises Inuyasha for letting her die (calling her by name, no less!) has caused Sesshomaru to be shipped with Kikyo by some fans.
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' has a number of these, the two most notable being Jotaro/Kakyoin (which, despite being [[FanPreferredCouple among the most popular pairings in the fandom]], is a pairing of two characters who interact very little when they're seen together) and Giorno/Jolyne (despite the two never meeting and the fact that Giorno is [[TangledFamilyTree technically]] Jolyne's [[{{Squick}} great-great-great-uncle]]).
* In ''Anime/{{K}}'', Shiro and Saruhiko. They're both main characters, but they've been in the same room ''twice'', both times in meetings with large groups. But they're both geniuses who would probably appreciate each others' thoughts and tastes more than others, so they have something of a following.
* Early on in ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'', Ishigami/Hayasaka was a popular ship due to them both being {{Ensemble Darkhorse}}s without love interests, despite the fact that they only directly interact three times over the course of the entire series (four if you count Hayasaka's FlashForward dream near the end). It's especially noticeable since Ishigami is a LauncherOfAThousandShips, and every other girl he's been shipped with has had far more interactions with him.
* ''Anime/KillLaKill'' has [[KendoTeamCaptain Uzu Sanageyama]] and [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Mako Mankanshoku]]. They only share one scene together in the entire series so far and don't even talk. Yet there's plenty of art of the two together.
* ''Franchise/LittleWitchAcademia'':
** Hannah/Amanda became a very popular and common pairing and are often ShipMates to the ever so popular Diana/Akko, despite their total lack of onscreen interaction. It's based entirely on a scene in ''VideoGame/LittleWitchAcademiaChamberOfTime'' where [[AttractiveBentGender Hannah mistakes a disguised Amanda for a boy and finds her to be attractive after obtaining a photo of Amanda in the outfit, which she decides to keep, even after finding out through Akko that it's actually Amanda]].
** Some fans ended up shipping [[FoeYayShipping Amanda/Louis Blackwell]] when he debuted in her focus episode due to their brief, but intense rivalry that was resolved when she saved him, even though Louis has no other significant appearance after that episode.
** Despite the two not having any meaningful interactions in the series, Lotte x Amanda has caught on in some portions of the fandom as fans found the pairing of a shy and timid bookworm and a rebellious and boisterous tomboy to be appealing.
** While Sucy and Constanze are briefly shown to play a game together in the epilogue, they don’t have any real interactions in the series outside of the epilogue. Nevertheless, Sucy/Constanze or "[[IdiosyncraticShipNaming Gearshrooms]]" has caught on in some parts of the fandom.
** Despite Andrew and Amanda not interacting much in the series (not even in episode 17, which sees Amanda sneak into Andrew's school), Andrew/Amanda has been gaining steam as a popular het ship amongst fans. Largely due to fans finding the two to look good together or to give Andrew a girlfriend that [[TakeAThirdOption isn't Akko and/or Diana]].
* ''Manga/{{Loveless}}'' fans have the suprisingly popular Kio/Yayoi.
* The Yuuno/Hayate pairing has its small but still surprising share of fans in the ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' fandom, despite, well... have they even talked to each other? [[AllThereInTheManual Even in the supplementary materials]]?
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'':
** Trowa/Relena is a decently popular het alternative for [[OneTruePairing Heero/Relena]] (at least among those who don't want Relena to [[DieForOurShip die in a fire]]); however, the sum total of their interaction throughout ''Wing'' canon is nine lines of dialogue, all related to Heero. Such a ship could be seen as LovingAShadow since Trowa and Heero are remarkably similar [[TheStoic personality-wise]], an idea quite a few 3XR fanfics run with.
** Wufei/Relena. The two '''never''' interact in any form or fashion, not just in the anime or TheMovie but in all the official sidestories and sequels (though they do interact in games like ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars''). Even beyond that, they're polar opposites (he's an ArrogantKungFuGuy, she's an ActualPacifist), and he makes it plain that he doesn't like her on several occasions. So any pairing would require either romance with BelligerentSexualTension of epic proportions, or a serious AssPull.
** Once upon a time, a ''Gundam Wing'' fansite had a CrackPairing {{Fanfic}} contest. One of the entries paired Relena with Rashid, Quatre's BattleButler. Not only do the two of them never interact, but Rashid is old enough to be her father.
* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' has All Might aka Toshinori Yagi and Inko Midoriya (Toshinko) All Might is the mentor and Inko is the mother of the protagonist, Izuku Midoriya. Not much screen time is shared between these two, apart from the scene in which All Might, with help from Izuku, convinces Inko to let Izuku return to U.A., but there is a passionate and lively, yet small, section of the fanbase dedicated to these two.
** Due to Deku being a LauncherOfAThousandShips, he gets shipped a lot with classmates who he hardly interacts with.
** Bakugo and Himiko Toga get quite a bit of fanart shipping the two, possibly due to their personalities fitting a RedOniBlueOni dynamic, their only on-screen interaction however has been the latter throwing a knife at the former.
** Tomura Shigaraki has some interesting pairings with characters he never and/or barely canonically interacted outside of the League of Villains. Two of these characters that come to mind are Natsuo Todoroki (Natshig) and the rabbit hero Miruko (Dustbunny), the latter being quite popular.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
** Kakashi/Iruka is a very popular pairing, even though they haven't interacted that much, ''not even having met at all'' when the pairing became popular. Some people responsible for ''Naruto'' merchandise had seemingly latched onto this FanPreferredCouple and produced an astounding quantity of merchandise with only the two of them (these included, back in 2006, posters, mousepads, and mugs).
** Kakashi/Anko, who have occasionally been in the same room together, but have never spoken.
** Iruka and Anko have fans due to their MasculineGirlFeminineBoy dynamic, but they have never been seen interacting.
** Some fairly well-known ships are between characters who never speak '''at all'''. Sasuke/Hinata (pictured above) is one such example, even though Hinata only talked about Sasuke once in the manga. Of course, a fair portion of that ship's popularity might stem from the fact that it [[PairTheSpares removes the two competing love interests]] for the Naruto/Sakura pairing, and others enjoy the {{irony}} of Sasuke falling in love with the one girl who spent a significant amount of time with him and never developed a passing interest in him. In ''Anime/BorutoNarutoTheMovie'', they have their first canonical interaction: Sasuke asks Hinata if she knows where [[spoiler:her husband]] Naruto is, she says that he's probably at work, and Sasuke leaves. Among their fanbase, this sparked major celebration and shippers made tons of gifs of the scene.
** Naruto with [[LauncherOfAThousandShips nearly every female and male character]].
** [[ToyShip Konohamaru/Hanabi]] seems growing ''too'' well [[PairTheSpares as side pairing]] mostly for the sake of GenerationXerox ([[ShipToShipCombat cough-Naru/Hina-cough]]). ''Boruto'' finally adds fuel to the fire by showing them drinking together and having Hanabi refer to Konohamaru as "Konohamaru-senpai".
** Although Sakura gets shipped with [[LauncherOfAThousandShips pretty much everyone]], the new favorite person seem to be ''Itachi'', of all people. This probably has to do with TheReveal that [[spoiler:he was actually a good guy all along ([[KnightTemplar sort]] [[DracoInLeatherPants of]])]] and the fact that [[spoiler:Sasuke has become an evil bastard ([[NiceJobBreakingItHero ironically... thanks to Itachi]]).]]
** This is the reaction to the canon pairing [[spoiler:Chouji/Karui]]. People are still trying to figure out how this could have happened. There's still no information given on how they even ''met'', let alone got together.
** Naruto/Ino and Kiba/Ino manage to be very popular despite little-to-no interaction between Ino and either boy, fillers aside.
** Kiba and Karui have never even interacted but are often shipped together due to the way their personalities mesh.
** The [[Manga/{{Boruto}} next generation]] has had this occur with Inojin. Two of the most popular pairings are Inojin/Himawari and Inojin/Sarada, but at the time both became popular neither had interacted with him. Inojin/Himawari comes from the fact Himawari's name means "sunflower" while Inojin is presumably associated with flowers, as his clan is. Inojin and Sarada most likely have interacted off-screen as their mothers, Ino and [[spoiler:Sakura]], are best friends, however, they haven't been shown interacting much in canon yet. Inojin and Himawari are later seen interacting in ''Boruto'' where they bond because of their drawings.
** Akamaru and Tonton are two animal characters of opposite genders so they're sometimes shipped together. Never mind that they're [[InterspeciesRomance a dog and a pig]], respectively.
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'':
** Asuka/Kaworu seems to have some popularity, despite the two never interacting in canon. This is probably because of a combination of non-Shinji/Asuka writers CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds, and the comedy value of Asuka's {{Tsundere}} nature struggling against Kaworu's DissonantSerenity.
** Shinji [[LauncherOfAThousandShips is paired with everyone]], but Shinji/Hikari is the best example: she and Shinji barely know each other. Although with her being Asuka's best friend and Toji being one of Shinji's friends, they at least have ''some'' chance of social contact.
** Shinji/Maya isn't anywhere near as popular, but it crops us disproportionately frequently. It ''might'' have to do with the fact that she's essentially a female Shinji in character design (and thus a subtle ScrewYourself factor in the pairing), though it's not known if that was deliberate on part of Gainax.
** Although most likely a deliberate-joke CrackPairing, there's also [[ScrewYourself Rei/Rei]] and Rei/Rei/Rei, despite the fact that Rei I [[spoiler:is killed by Ritsuko's mother before the series]], and that Rei III is introduced after [[spoiler:Rei II dies]]. This ship/[[OneTrueThreesome OT3]] can expand near-infinitely with [[spoiler:the Rei clones in the dummy plugs]] and the Reiquarium. [[spoiler:And the fact that Rei I may well be the soul inside EVA-00.]]
** There's a fic somewhere where, among other pairings, ''Ritsuko and Kensuke'' are paired up.
** There's at least one {{hentai}} doujinshi out there (''EVANGEL FIRST'', if you're curious,) that has the utterly implausible pairing, out of all the people, ''Rei and Aoba''. (Though it was published before ''EOE's'' release, so that explains it somewhat.) HilarityEnsues when one remembers that Rei and Aoba’s original English voice actors are married in real life.
* Inevitable in ''Manga/OnePiece'' due to the huge cast, but X Drake/Smoker crops up quite a bit. The two have never even shared screen time in over 600 episodes, though X Drake's past as a former Marine does hint at a possible shared history (Additionally, it's later revealed that [[spoiler:Drake is actually still a Marine and has been working undercover for years]]). Another one that pops up often is Ace/Nojiko; though while the two never shared any kind of screentime either, they are two of the main protagonists' older siblings (Ace is Luffy's adopted brother and Nojiko is Nami's adopted sister).
* ''Anime/OsomatsuSan'':
** Ichimatsu/Nyaa is a rather popular pairing in the fandom, who are put together based on [[ThemePairing cat theme]] alone. She also gets paired up with Choromatsu and Osomatsu a fair bit: the former since he goes to her concerts, the latter because he crashed a handshake event Choromatsu went to (and did a faux-declaration of love while he was at it). Nyaa hasn't talked to any of the brothers personally in the first two seasons, and the one time she sees them after work is when [[spoiler:she prays for them at their funeral in season 2]]. She even goes as far as to lampshade it:
-->"I know I haven't hung out with you guys that much, but [[spoiler:I hope you find peace in the next world]]."
** Interestingly, the Season 3 episode "Just Don't" not only has her interact with the sextuplets directly, but has her fall for the aforementioned Osomatsu.
* The ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' fans who keep up with the anime rather than the manga see Kyoya/Kaoru as this since their time together in the anime is limited to one scene of about 2 lines each. The pairing has developed a niche in the fandom due in part to continuing interactions in the manga.
* Most ships in the ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Pokémon]]'' anime fandom are nevermets, have something to do with filler characters, or with characters who have had little interaction with each other. [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Shipping:List_of_anime_shippings Here]] is a long list of the anime's ships, including "never-mets." Most of them, the characters only interacted during one episode; James saves Cilan once, James/Cilan is born; Max talks to Misty, Max/Misty is born; and so on:
** Dawn and Paul are ''extremely'' popular, despite how the two rarely speak and when they do, it's the farthest thing from romantic (he once even ''forgot she existed'').
** Misty/Gary was popular in the old days. It still occasionally pops up as a {{ship mate|s}} if you ship Ash with a female companion besides Misty.
** [[LauncherOfAThousandShips Of course]], Ash has been shipped with plenty of girls that he met at only one time. A handful of them, such as [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Anabel]], actually ''do'' like him, [[ObliviousToLove but Ash never catches on]].
** Ash's mother and Giovanni never met yet there is a fairly popular pairing revolving around them. This has less to do with their chemistry (though many do like them as AngelDevilShipping) and more to do with people liking the idea of the BigBad being [[LukeIAmYourFather Ash's father]]. It's given [[FandomNod a nod]] in ''Theatre/PokemonLive'', where it turns out that Delia and Giovanni used to date when they were younger; according to the play's writer, he even left in some subtext that Giovanni is Ash's biological father.
** Jessie's MissingMom Miyamoto from ''Radio/PokemonTheBirthOfMewtwo'' gets shipped with Giovanni. This is less because they go together and more to explain the whereabouts of Jessie's [[DisappearedDad never discussed father]] and why Giovanni keeps such an incompetent person like Jessie around, as well as a being a possible interpretation of a line in VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver stating that "Giovanni's kid has red hair." Miyamoto was an elite member of Team Rocket and was friends with Giovanni's mother, but the two didn't interact in the radio drama.
** During the climactic battle at the end of ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesXY X/Y]]'', Steven Stone joins the assembled group of protagonists and their allies across the Kalos region. This includes fellow Champion Diantha, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaHZn88EP04 who Steven personally teams up with later on.]] While most focused on [[RuleOfCool the inherent cool factor]] of two Champions [[BackToBackBadasses working together]] to help save the world, something that had never been seen up to that point in the show, others began to view their brief scenes through a romantic lens, interpreting them as a BattleCouple in the making. Their introduction didn't help matters; while entirely professional and respectful, Steven and Diantha do appear to lightly gush over having the opportunity to fight side by side.
** And now Max/Bonnie is gaining speed because they are both the younger siblings of another main character, and both Max and Clemont are really nerdy, which suggests Bonnie may be such in the future.
* From the ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'' manga, [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Wally]]/[[OriginalGeneration Yellow]] is really popular, despite the pair having never been in the same REGION at the time.
* There's a small but growing group of ''Anime/PrincessTutu'' fans who think that [[ScaryShinyGlasses Autor]]/[[TheMatchmaker Pique]] and [[OneSceneWonder Femio]]/[[GenkiGirl Lilie]] are viable pairings. Partially due to CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds (with Autor and Pique's crushes on Rue and Fakir respectively), and partially just for the sheer crack that would develop (Femio's self-obsession and Lilie's sadism).
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': Mami/Kyoko used to be this. While observant viewers might catch the signs that Mami and Kyoko knew each other before the start of the series, they only show up on screen together for two episodes and have very little dialogue between them. But then the third [[RadioDrama Drama CD]] was released... [[AllThereInTheManual it turns out they were]] [[HoYay very close]], [[CynicismCatalyst before a personal tragedy]] [[TookALevelInJerkass altered Kyoko's personality]] [[WeUsedToBeFriends and caused her to part ways with Mami]].
* ''Manga/Reborn2004'': Hibari/Chrome is a popular pairing for Chrome due to the Future version of Hibari saving Chrome's life, despite the fact that his present version barely interacted with her and there's the problem of Chrome being the vessel of [[TheRival Mukuro.]]
* Fans of ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' have an odd fondness for Juri/Wakaba--the two pretty much never spoke onscreen, and by all appearances never have. It seems to be born out of a mix of the belief that Juri deserves a break after dealing with her last girlfriend, and from one scene in the movie where [[ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext Juri drives a car that is clearly a transformed Wakaba]].
* ''Anime/RurouniKenshin'': Misao/Soujirou. They barely know each other of each other's existence (they crossed paths at Shingetsu village, and Soujirou probably collected intelligence on her as part of seeing what they could use against Aoshi), but fans who feel that Aoshi's too old for Misao and that her GenkiGirl personality would be perfect for [[IronWoobie Soujirou]] ship them.
* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' has its fair share:
** One of the most popular ones is Hotaru/Shingo due to their similar ages. They’re never actually seen together (unless you count ''VideoGame/SailorMoonAnotherStory''), though as Chibiusa's close friends, it is plausible that they have met off-screen. Sometimes it is done [[ShipMates to allow Shingo's crush Ami to be with someone else]].
** There is Black Lady/Mistress 9, a technical case as they are the brainwashed, evil, grown-up versions of best friends Chibiusa and Hotaru, respectively, who are already a very popular pairing. The problem with the former pairing is that those transformations are ''one season away'' from each other, and Chibiusa turns into and back from Black Lady many episodes before she and the audience actually meet Hotaru.
** Depending on the continuity, shipping any of the Inner Senshi with the Shitennou as ShipMates with the OfficialCouple of Usagi/Mamoru becomes this. The closest it gets to canon is ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'', which implements [[WhatCouldHaveBeen scrapped plans for the manga]] that the Inner Senshi and Shitennou were all couples in their past lives in the Silver Millennium but goes no further [[spoiler:because the Shitennou are still killed off]]. Otherwise, there's little canon basis outside of Minako/Kunzite (she had feelings for him in her past life in the manga, they tend to be paired in musicals, and ''VideoGame/SailorMoonAnotherStory'' makes a point of Minako finding two villages that worship her past romance with Kunzite), to the point that Makoto debuts ''after'' Nephrite is killed off in the first anime.
* ''Manga/ShamanKing'':
** Despite that Ren and Pirika barely talk to each other in either the anime or manga ''and'' the DistantFinale of the manga has Ren marrying Iron Maiden Jeanne (which is also an example of this trope), they seem to be incredibly popular as a couple, with the [[BrokenBase half of the fandom]] that doesn't [[TheScrappy dislike Pirika]] supporting the pairing. The reason for this is most likely the comedic potential stemming from how Pirika's brother Horohoro and Ren fight almost constantly.
** Horohoro/Tamao is also a fairly popular pairing, even though (in the manga at least) they've barely talked to each other. Again, Tamao is considered TheScrappy to one part of the fandom, but not in the part that supports this pairing (or Tamao/Yoh, which has a lot more of a basis in-canon).
* Rima and Utau from ''Manga/ShugoChara''. No, really. There is a whole fanbase of them together out there.
* Sylphiel/Valgaav from ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' is mildly popular, usually as a result of PairTheSpares.
* ''Manga/SoulEater'' has Crona/Death the Kid. Although they only interact twice in the anime and once in the manga, it's a rather popular pairing in the fandom. And then the end of the manga provides some kind of fanfic fodder by clarifying that [[spoiler:in a strictly technical sense they are rather similar, having both been raised for the specific purpose of replacing/counteracting the Mad God Asura. However, Kid and Crona never actually acknowledge this similarity (Death does so only to remark that he's as bad as Medusa), and Crona ends up trapped on the moon.]] So, the ship is actually no closer than before.
* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'': [[ShrinkingViolet Ivan]] ([[{{Shapeshifter}} Origami]] [[McNinja Cyclone]]) and [[GenkiGirl Pao Lin]] ([[ShockAndAwe Dragon]] [[WaifFu Kid]]), based on them being the youngest heroes for their respective genders and both of them having names that end in "Lin". However, the manga adaptations of the anime show that Ivan and Pao-Lin are indeed friends and do spend time with each other. Also, the official guide book "Hero Gossips" contains interviews with all the characters and there Ivan claims that Pao-Lin is the hero he's most friendly with.
* In the ''Anime/WeissKreuz'' fandom, the only trend as popular as pairing the four HitmanWithAHeart leads off with one another is the practice of FoeYayShipping them with their opposite numbers in Schwarz, the team of PsychoRangers who turn out to be the ultimate villains of the first anime series, despite the fact that for the most part Weiss and Schwarz have very little direct interaction over the course of the series. The oddest case is that of Omi and Nagi, paired off with one another by virtue of being their teams' respective teen hackers (and [[ShipTease helped along]] by an [[http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/lady_ganesh/13064089/12094/12094_320.jpg infamous piece of official artwork]]). The two characters exchange no dialogue and interact a total of once in the original 24-episode series when Nagi telekinetically slams Omi into a pillar. The sequel series, however, shows that they've begun working together offscreen in the interval between the two storylines and Nagi is now acting as Omi's bodyguard, a writing decision that seems designed to capitalize on the popularity of a relationship that ''didn't exist'' in the story up to that point.
* ''Manga/YonaOfTheDawn'': The characters of Lili and Tae-woo are shipped surprisingly often on Pixiv, despite that the characters have never met in canon. It may be due to their relation and similarities to the series' OfficialCouple of Yona and Hak; Lili being Yona's closest female friend and often being used to draw contrast to Yona's CharacterDevelopment, and Tae-woo being Hak's friend/little-brother figure, as well as the successor to his position as general of the Wind Tribe. It may also come down to the characters appearing to be (though not confirmed to be) the same age, and having similar blue-clothed/dark-haired aesthetics.
* ''Franchise/YuGiOh'':
** Silentshipping. Kaiba and Shizuka are shipped because of one scene in which Kaiba agreed to get medical treatment for Bakura because Shizuka openly begged him to do so. (Never mind that Jonouchi, who openly hates Kaiba, would ''never'' approve of his little sister dating the guy.)
** Ryuzaki and Shizuka, who have never met and probably don't know the other even exists. The pairing was likely spawned PURELY out of the fact that Jounouchi would flip a shit, causing angst or comedy, depending on the writer.
** Anzu/Kaiba is a surprisingly popular pairing for two characters whose direct interactions can be counted on one hand. They're in the same general vicinity multiple times and he does save her life during the DeathTrap duel between Yugi and Jounouchi at the dock, but they rarely have an actual conversation. The most that they get is Anzu delivering a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to him at Duelist Kingdom for guilting Yugi into throwing their duel with the threat of suicide, but even that is based on dub differences (in the dub, he has one line in response; in the original, he doesn't answer at all).
** Ishizu's second-most-popular pairing after Kaiba is probably pairing her up with Mai. They've never interacted onscreen, and Mai likely doesn't even know Ishizu's name. It seems to arise from a mix of Ishizu lacking good options and the two having enough in common (skilled female duelists of similar age with tragic pasts) while still having contrasting personalities.
** Yugi ('''not''' Pharaoh Atem) and Dark Magician Girl is a rare but still present ship. Almost every pairing plot for this goes as follows: Yugi DidNotGetTheGirl (Anzu) for varying reasons, Dark Magician Girl tries to ease her young master's broken heart, and things proceed from there. The most recurring "varying reason" is Atem being around for Anzu to bag since it fixes the snags caused by the canon continuity's ShipTease, though getting Dark Magician Girl[[note]] a Duel Monster who lives in another dimension[[/note]] a physical presence (nevermind Atem himself[[note]] a spirit who needs Yugi's body to interact with anything [[spoiler:and passed on to the afterlife in the conclusion]][[/note]]) usually requires a blatant AssPull.
* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' has most of Sherry's pairings, mostly because her obvious paramours are Yusei and Aki, who are very frequently always paired with each other. Sherry/Crow, Sherry/Bruno, and Sherry/Hat Guy are some of the most common alternatives.
* Thanks to the preponderance of HoYay and Yuma having a canon female love interest already, Anna of ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'' ends up with a good number by default, thanks to most of her episodes being dedicated to unresolved ShipTease with him. Anna/Fuya (they teamed up against Mizael for about five minutes) and Anna/Rio (no interaction whatsoever) pop up with some frequency.
* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'':
** Kurama/Yukina -- they only exchange lines once in the anime.
** A far more popular example is Kurama/Botan. While they interact a bit more than the above pairing, it's never much (at least not in the manga). This may be an example of ShipMates since every other member of the main group has a romantic interest (Yusuke/Keiko, Kuwabara/Yukina, Hiei/Mukuro) except these two.
** There's also Touya/Yukina, which had a decent-sized fanlisting and fanfic representation in the early 2000s. This seems to stem from them both having ice powers. At least with Kurama and Yukina or Botan, you can probably find a screencap of the two in the same crowd scene.
* ''Anime/YuriOnIce'':
** Mila/Sara is the favorite ship involving women of the fandom. They have only interacted once, very shortly in episode 9, but fans absolutely love them together. However, they are implied to have met before, since Sara is ranked 4th and Mila 3rd in women's singles figure skating.
** Phichit/Chris is fairly popular even though the two have barely interacted in the show outside of group settings. It makes more sense why people ship them when you consider they're [[PairTheSpares the best friends of]] OfficialCouple Yuri/Victor.
** Minako and Lilia don't interact at all, but there are quite a few fans who ship them together since they're both retired prima ballerinas.
[[/folder]]

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', TheHero Touma and the Misaka's TeamNormal Saten get paired in a surprising amount in fanfics, despite the fact that they've only met face-to-face when he borrowed her good luck charm for the Daihasei Borrowing Race. Probably because they're both normal (mostly).

!!Examples:

** The Robb Stark/Daenerys ship, since Robb can substitute Jon in most fields, though without the obvious baggage that the R+L=J theory brings.

** In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'''s shipping fandom, one of the more popular pairings is Glorfindel/Erestor. Most fans outside of the shipping fandom don't even know who Erestor ''is'', as he appears in two scenes in the entire series and has dialogue in only one of them, most of which is simply utilitarian musing on what to do with the Ring. While it's pretty likely that him and Glorfindel know each other, the only line Glorfindel ever has with Erestor is one line where he shoots down Erestor's suggestion.

** Túrin and Tuor at Pools of Ivrin.

** Fans of the [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist 2003 anime]] sometimes ship Alfons and Alphonse (usually with [[OneTrueThreesome Edward]] [[IncestYayShipping involved]]), which is borderline [[ScrewYourself selfcest]] considering that [[spoiler:Alfons is Al's Earth counterpart from the other side of the Gate]]. The two never interact in ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemistTheConquerorOfShamballa'' because [[spoiler:Alfons dies shortly before they can]].

** Riven/[[MagicalGirl Lux]] and [[DarkActionGirl Katarina]]/[[ColdSniper Ashe]] may [[CrackPairing sound absurd]] (not to mention Ashe is married and Lux is supposed to be Ezreal's love interest) but thanks to [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7599936/1/Guiding-Light some]][[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7958191/1/Wounded fanfics]] they actually work.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': The fandom is absolutely filled to the brim with these type of ships, to where it's likely easier to list the ones that ''aren't'' this. That said, there are still some notable ones worth mentioning.

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'': Melvika (Mel/Sevika) is surprisingly popular in AlternateUniverse fics despite the two characters having never met in canon. This might have something to do with them being the most prominent women of color in the series. They're often portrayed as having a steady, low-key relationship in contrast to the more dramatic main couple (usually Caitlyn/Vi or Jayce/Viktor).
* ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
** ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
*** [[ToyShip Toph/the Duke]] and Toph/Teo are popular ShipMates for the [[OfficialCouple canon pairings]]. The former's sole interaction is Duke letting Toph use his helmet as a barf bag during "The Day of Black Sun", and a hug in the finale (during the finale commentary, the creators coyly [[TrollingCreator point out the hug]]). There's hardly any at all for the latter.
*** Ursa, meet Hakoda, Hakoda, meet Ursa, I think you'll get along great. Oh yeah, we ship Ursoda. ThemePairing: opposite-gender single parents of two major characters each. Pulled off exceptionally well [[Fanfic/GuideMeHome here]]. Although both have been given different canonical love interests in the post-series comics.
*** Azula and Toph are starting to gain a small fanbase. The two only talk once, in "The Day of the Black Sun", when Azula proves she can get past Toph's LivingLieDetector ability. After being asked "Who is Lin's father?" one too many times, one of the writers decided that [[http://i.imgur.com/EaMQTMY.jpg it's Azula.]] That caused a boost in fans.
*** Some [[FanPreferredCouple Zutarians]] like to ship off [[DeadpanSnarker Mai]] with Jet, despite the fact that they never meet, are on opposite sides of the war(Mai's a Fire Nation noble, while Jet is a [[HeWhoFightsMonsters particularly extreme]] anti-Fire Nation resistance leader), [[spoiler:and Jet dies under Lake Laogai]].
*** Jet/Azula. Despite the fact that they have never met and would almost certainly try to kill each other on sight if they did. [[BelligerentSexualTension Or maybe because of that]].
*** [[http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs23/f/2008/002/0/d/Crack_ship_JunSpark_by_AlisaChristopher.png June/Combustion Man]] anyone?
*** The Zutara (Zuko/Katara) ship started out this way. Yes, they ran into each other half a dozen times in the first season, but with the exception of one scene where Zuko tried to barter Katara's necklace for Aang, he never even spoke to her. The second season was even worse. It wasn't until the season finale that Zuko and Katara had any real interaction with each other, but the Zutara ship was already running strong by then. Helped by the fact that, while WordOfGod was incredulous about the pairing, [[WordOfSaintPaul some people who have worked on the show]] are on record for thinking it could have worked out.
*** June/Piandao is another one that's appeared.
*** Haru/Ty Lee were paired in the Super Deformed Shorts, despite never meeting.
*** A few works feature Mai being married off to Ozai. Mai is friends with Ozai's daughter and the girlfriend of his son, but the two don't interact.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'':
*** There's a surprising amount of [[ToyShip Jinora/Skoochy]] fic. One is Tenzin's CuteBookworm airbender daughter and the other's a street rat who trades information for money, and naturally they've never met; it's just that, for two seasons, he was the only canon boy her age. This pairing has largely died down since the introduction of [[TheArtfulDodger Kai]] since he's ''also'' a sneaky street rat her age, and [[LoveInterest they actually get together]].
*** Bolin and Lin was a semi-popular ship after Book One, in a PairTheSpares kind of way, despite the age difference. They are in a lot of crowd scenes together, but their only interaction with each other was the time Lin busts Bolin and Mako out of jail. However, in that scene, Lin zips up Bolin's fly for him, which caused all manner of reactions from the internet. This died down once Bolin got a LoveInterest in Lin's niece Opal. Bolin and Lin also get more interaction in the fourth season, so they don't count even for those who still ship them.
*** Lin and Kya are kind of an odd example. They are in very few scenes together and never speak directly to each other on screen, but they have to know each other pretty well because, despite Kya being several years older than Lin, they were probably raised together thanks to their parents' friendship, in addition to Lin once being in a serious relationship with Kya's younger brother.
*** There even appear to be those who quietly ship Lin with the acupuncturist from season three, even though he doesn't play a particularly big role. Seems those needles just lend themselves to the imagination.
*** Kya and Izumi have their fans. Izumi only appears in two scenes and speaks in one of those and never interacts with Kya, but due to their parents being close friends, it's likely that they've met. Kya is gay and single but Izumi is presumably married to a man given that she has two kids.
*** Kya’s brother Bumi also gets shipped with Izumi. Once again, they never interacted in the show and while they’ve presumably met, she’s probably married to someone else.
* ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'', During the first season of the 2015 reboot of the show, some fans latched onto pairing Danger Mouse with his accident-prone fellow agent Danger Moth despite the fact the characters barely spent less than a few seconds together in some episodes. An even better example would come from the fans who opted to 'ship Danger Moth in a lesbian relationship with Professor Squawkencluck, despite the fact neither character ever interacted at all.
* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'':
** Some of the fanbase ships Delpad (Della Duck/Launchpad [=McQuack=]), despite the fact that as far as we know, they've never even met. Reasons range from [[ThemePairing both of them being daring-to-the-point-of-reckless pilots]] to both of them having a close relationship with the Duck/[=McDuck=] family. [[spoiler:When they finally meet, Della's immediate reaction is to angrily yell that he's not taking her job before running out of the room, to Launchpad's brief confusion... followed by him yelling out a cheerfully oblivious "Nice to meet you!" back at her.]]
** A somewhat notable ship in the fanbase is Louna (Louie/Lena) due to both of them being the sarcastic troublemakers of their respective groups. In canon, however, the two rarely interact, and out of all the children, Lena is the only one who Louie never spent time alone with.
** Donald Duck/Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera is another ship that appears pretty frequently in the fandom, despite the two of them never having even said so much as a word to each other during the show's run.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003''
** Robin/Raven used to be this way. Of all the Titans, they interacted the least, yet people liked pairing them up because they liked the aesthetics of it: both were the most serious Titans, both were named after birds so writers could do a contrived "birds of a feather" metaphor, etc. It wasn't until the Trigon StoryArc where Raven started confiding in Robin more and scenes like Robin rescuing a [[MindRape mindraped]] and [[ClothingDamage clothing-torn]] Raven that shippers finally had decent canon stuff to write off of.
** Blackfire and Red X. Never met, but the pairing serves as an EvilCounterpart to the official couple of Robin and Starfire.
** Even more extreme is Slarella -- Slade and Arella. One is an enemy of the Titans living in their dimension, and the other is the mother of a Titan living in an alternate dimension.
** Although they've only met about three or four times throughout the entire series, and all times in a relatively dispassionate skirmish, Raven x Jinx happens to be one of the most popular femslash couples of them all, second only to Raven x Starfire.
** Jericho and Raven are a popular pairing despite never interacting. This is because they had a romance in the source comics.
** Jericho is also commonly shipped with Kole despite them not interacting, again due to their relationship in the comics.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
** [[DeadpanSnarker Craig]]/[[NervousWreck Tweek]] is the most popular pairing after Stan/Kyle and [[FoeYayShipping Cartman/Kyle]]. In the first eighteen seasons, there was only one episode where they directly interacted with dialogue -- "Tweek Vs. Craig", where the other boys trick them into fighting each other. They occasionally appeared in the background within the same friend group in later episodes but never interacted directly in these instances. Eventually, Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone became aware of this pairing and gave Tweek and Craig their own OhCrapThereAreFanficsOfUs episode, "[[Recap/SouthParkS19E6TweekXCraig Tweek x Craig]]", which [[spoiler:ends with them giving into peer pressure and feigning a relationship]]. However, by the episode "[[Recap/SouthParkS21E2PutItDown Put It Down]]." they seem to have started [[spoiler:to have actually [[OfficialCouple officially dating]], with Craig using pet names in private conversation]]. This was further confirmed by WordOfGod on Twitter.
** There's more than a few shippers for Stan and Ike, despite the interaction between the two being nothing more than Ike being the little brother of Stan's best friend. A similar following for Cartman and Ike also exists.
** Kenny/Butters, or Bunny, is surprisingly popular; while they do both appear among the main characters [[TheFriendsWhoNeverHang they don't actually interact]] -- Butters is almost always played against Cartman, while Kenny usually appears with Stan and Kyle in newer episodes, [[DemotedToExtra if at all]]. The two did receive screentime together during "Going Native," -- when the episode was announced, fan reactions prompted voice actress April Stewart to ask fans on Twitter what "Bunny" was.
** Shelly/Kevin [=McCormick=] has been fairly popular since the show's earliest seasons. This is chiefly based on the fact they appear to be the same age, have braces, and are older siblings of two of the main boys. Shelly is generally OutOfFocus while Kevin is a LivingProp whose spoken lines can be counted on one hand; consequently, they've never interacted and have only shared one scene together.
** Kenny/Bebe is a surprisingly popular straight pairing (for either character), but in the show, the two rarely interact. This is probably because Kenny is a LovableSexManiac while Bebe has a [[NeverLiveItDown fandom reputation]] of being a slut. The biggest interactions they have had is that Bebe has been responsible for [[TheyKilledKennyAgain two of Kenny's deaths]].
** Kevin Stoley and Red were seen together in background scenes extremely frequently in the show's early seasons, and seem to trade one line of dialogue ("Let's trade sandwiches") leading to the implication among fans they were friends, or perhaps more -- but they never interacted in dialogue otherwise, and Red was mentioned dating other boys. During the show's twentieth season, in "Skank Hunt", they are seen breaking up among the show's other canon heterosexual couples, revealing that they did, in fact, have a relationship.
** Some consider Heidi and Cartman's relationship, first developed in Season 20, as an example of this trope. While the two characters have a long list of small, incidental interactions in previous episodes, none of them contributed to the narrative, leading many fans to ignore these as coincidental or only retroactively significant. These smaller interactions, however, also lead to fans shipping them for over ten years before they became linked officially.
* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama''
** Especially in the early years, the fandom had a subset that seemed dedicated to crack pairings (including {{Fandom VIP}}s Creator/WinterRae and Creator/TheKoboldNecromancer, though the latter's [[Fanfic/TotalDramaComebackSeries most famous work]] mostly uses canon couples). [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Izzy]]/[[HomeschooledKids Ezekiel]], [[InsufferableGenius Noah]]/[[GenkiGirl Katie]], [[GentleGiant DJ]]/[[JerkJock Eva]], [[LovableJock Tyler]]/[[PerkyGoth Gwen]], [[ChivalrousPervert Cody]]/[[GranolaGirl Bridgette]], Cody/[[GenkiGirl Sadie]] and DJ/[[LoonyFan Sierra]] all became fairly popular despite having little or no canon basis.
** [[FanNickname Billy the Intern/Emily The Flight Attendant]] from the fourth aftermath of ''Action''.
** [[ChickMagnet Trent]] and [[WellExcuseMePrincess Courtney]] are a popular fanon couple, even though Trent may be the contestant Courtney has talked to ''least'' on the whole show. Originally it was just ShipMates for Duncan/Gwen, but it's developed a small following of its own.
** With the introduction of [[CastHerd new casts]] in later seasons and [[WesternAnimation/TotalDramaPresentsTheRidonculousRace the spin-off]], pairing characters from different "generations" is also fairly popular.
* Out of the three main fan pairings during the early years of the ''Franchise/Ben10'' fandom, Gwen/Kevin was this in comparison to [[KissingCousins Ben/Gwen]] and [[FoeYayShipping Ben/Kevin]]. The latter two groups had mountains of character interactions to serve as evidence for their plausibility, while the former had the duo barely interact... which is why the entire fanbase called foul when Gwen and Kevin [[StrangledByTheRedString awkwardly]] became the first OfficialCouple in the franchise, in the early episodes of ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce''. This was seen as [[RomanticPlotTumor so forced]], it had the effect of stopping approximately no one from shipping [[PortmanteauCoupleName Bwen or Bwevin]]. At least until the couple's dynamic solidified as the franchise went on, and even then, support for this ship was arugably helped the most by ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' giving Ben a plethora of more options.
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' has Ferb and Gretchen (the Fireside Girl who wears glasses). Despite Ferb's PrecociousCrush on Vanessa and their lack of onscreen interaction, it's a very popular ship. It seems to have started just because she was the first girl his age (other than Isabella) to get a name, though it makes sense in a PairTheSmartOnes sort of way.
* Just try to tell some of the ''WesternAnimation/WolverineAndTheXMen2009'' fans that [[DitzyGenius Forge]] and [[UglyCute Toad]] have never so much as been in the same room together. That doesn't stop them from being rather plausible if they ever did meet, or the fact that their ship is hands-down ''the'' cutest one in the fandom.
* You can count on one hand the number of times that Prowl and Jazz, in any version of ''Franchise/TransformersGenerationOne'', interacted in any significant way -- and according to FFN, they're the biggest pairing in the whole franchise. It's at the point where, if one of them exists in a universe and the other doesn't, people will write fics that [[CanonImmigrant add a functionally-identical counterpart of the other one to that universe]] to facilitate maintaining the ship. It seems to arise from a mixture of 90s fandom drama, the idea that Jazz's personality (party animal) and Prowl's (TheSpock) might have some interesting interactions, and from the fact that they're both white cars from the same year. It's even seen as something of an "easy" ship, as it lacks the messier implications of, say, [[FetishizedAbuser Megatron and Starscream]], [[{{Twincest}} Sunstreaker and Sideswipe,]] or any of Prowl's actual canon pairings. For a decent period, the pairing had one of the most fervent listings on the HoYay page for ''Transformers''... despite having literally no actual examples.
** A franchise-wide one would be [[FoeYayShipping Optimus Prime/Starscream]], which has some amount of fans for the extreme OppositesAttract element of TheHero and TheDragon...never mind that for over twenty years and counting of multiple continuities, they still have yet to have any kind of relationship beyond the standard "Autobot and Decepticon trying to kill each other in a fight" enmity.
* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'':
** Prowl and Blackarachnia only met once [[spoiler:and all she did was poison him so she could manipulate Optimus]]. But his FriendToAllLivingThings and her self-loathing for her technorganic BodyHorror had a strange appeal for fans.
** Blurr/Longarm [[spoiler: (a.k.a. Shockwave)]] is a very popular ship, despite the only interaction they ever had was when [[spoiler:the former ''was crushed into a cube'' by the latter.]]
** Bumblebee/Blitzwing has also garnered a following, though they only had one significant scene and it was PlayedForLaughs (Bumblebee tricks Blitzwing into triple-changing to a tank so that he falls into ice while flying).
* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' has Knock Out and Arcee. The two of them barely spoken and have little interaction with each other, and the little they have is hostile. Yet this seems to be the fan favorite pairing if fanfiction has anything to say about it.
* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'':
** Zim/Gaz have had just a few scenes together, and [[FanPreferredCouple it's the second most popular ship in the entire fandom and the most popular het pairing]], mostly because they're both kind of evil. That’s until it’s revealed that [[{{Squick}} Zim is older than any human alive and Gaz is just about eleven.]]
** [[HeroAntagonist Dib]]/[[OCStandIn Gretchen]] is an odd example. They only interact in about two episodes, and in one of them, Gretchen doesn't even speak. However, that silent appearance makes it very clear that she has a crush on him. It comes nowhere near [[FoeYayShipping Zim/Dib]] or [[DatingCatwoman Dib/Tak]] in popularity, but the ship has its supporters for being the most "normal" and [[NoHuggingNoKissing only real canon]] couple on the show.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' fandom has Chester and Trixie, and Chester and Veronica. Remy and Trixie never interact but are a popular BetaCouple to Timmy/Tootie
* A fair number of ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' fans support [[OppositeSexClone Dani]]/[[BrattyHalfPint Youngblood]], even though they never meet, as they're the only two recurring "kid" characters.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' has a few examples--some fans ship [[HomeschooledKids Ted]] with [[TheWoobie Stacy]], for example, because they're both generally kind people. [[HairTriggerTemper Mr. DeMartino]] and [[HippieTeacher Ms. Defoe]], the most notable teachers to still be single at the end of the series, are also sometimes paired together.
** A semi-official example: the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue implies that [[TheAlcoholic Lindy]] and [[DepravedBisexual Alison]] get together and raise a group of foster kids on a farm. Both are one-off characters and there's no indication that they ever met. WordOfGod says that the epilogue need not be considered canon, though.
** The finale also somewhat randomly had [[ExtravertedNerd Upchuck]] hook up with EnsembleDarkhorse [[{{Goth}} Andrea]].
* A small number of ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' fans pair [[StalkerWithACrush Brainy]]/[[ParodySue Lila]] as a {{Ship Mate|s}} for [[OfficialCouple Helga/Arnold]]. It's PairTheSpares to be sure, but when you consider that Lila liked [[CreepyChild Arnie]], who's possibly even ''weirder'' than Brainy, it actually makes a bit of sense.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hilda}}'' fans like to ship Johanna (Hilda's mother) with Kaisa (the librarian); so far, in two seasons and a movie, these two characters have never had any on-screen interaction.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** Due to the ImprobablyFemaleCast, female/male pairings that don't involve Big Macintosh are very prone to this. It says a lot that even after the show's nine-season run, Soarin'/Applejack remained one of the more plausible ones... and all he did was buy a pie from her back in season one. Meanwhile, ones like Twilight Sparkle/[[AllThereInTheScript Doctor Hooves]] and Pinkie Pie/[[FanNickname Pokey Pierce]] are not uncommon.
** Speaking of which, Big Macintosh [[TheQuietOne hasn't spoken to many ponies]] apart from his sisters, but that doesn't stop anyone. [[TwiceShy Big Macintosh/Fluttershy]] is easily one of the most popular het pairings (behind [[PrecociousCrush Rarity/Spike]] and [[OfficialCouple Cadence/Shining Armor]]) despite them only interacting in one episode... which aired three years ''after'' the ship became popular.
** [[LargeHam The Grrrrreat and powerful Trixie]] demands you ship her with everypony despite having no meaningful interactions with anypony but Twilight, Starlight Glimmer, and Maud! The Great and Powerful Trixie especially demands to be shipped with [[PairTheSpares Luna and Zecora]], two individuals she has never met in the show's entire nine-season run, simply on the basis that all three [[StrangeSyntaxSpeaker speak in a distinctive and unusual manner!]]
** [[AllThereInTheScript Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon]] are only seen in the background standing next to each other, but [[http://chzbronies.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-brony-because-absolutley-all-of-the-fanbase-loves-shipping.jpg it gives the fans ideas]]… to the point that the two are [[OneTruePairing easily the most widely-accepted pairing in the whole show]]. The show has [[FandomNod acknowledged this]] by placing them next to each other on the official posters and purposefully giving them ShipTease-filled {{Funny Background Event}}s in the second season onward, until the ninth season had them just straight up [[AscendedFanon propose marriage to each other in the background]].
** That isn't the only example of shipping background characters, as another popular and widely accepted ship in the community is [[AllThereInTheScript DJ Pon-3 (a.k.a. Vinyl Scratch)]] and [[AllThereInTheScript Octavia Melody]]. It started with fans juxtaposing the two [[{{Foil}} for]] [[StraightManAndWiseGuy humorous]] [[VitriolicBestBuds effect]], since they represent conflicting musical aesthetics. However, the sheer volume of such fan works was enough to [[ShippingGoggles get the gears turning]] for the community's shippers, to the point that a large chunk of fan art, fiction, comics, etc. involving the two is now shipping-based. DJ Pon-3 also has a growing Shipdom with [[FanNickname Neon Lights/EmCee W1SH]], who in popular fanon is seen as another musician who has a friendly rivalry with her. It took until [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E9SliceOfLife the 100th episode]], [[AscendedMeme which was explicitly made]] [[FandomNod as a love letter to the fans]], that she and Octavia appeared in the same scene, revealed to be roommates. Meanwhile, DJ Pon-3 only appears in the same episode as Neon Lights in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E26ACanterlotWeddingPart2 the Season 2 finale]].
** When the fandom decided that the Creator/DavidTennant-looking stallion with an hourglass cutie mark was named [[Series/DoctorWho Doctor Whooves]] (which became AscendedFanon) and made a living of travelling through time and space, the most popular pony to appoint as his companion was [[TheDitz Derpy]] [[TheKlutz Hooves]], thanks to the obvious HilarityEnsues potential; the widespread shipping was the next logical step, despite the two having no discernible relationship in the show. This got a FandomNod when the two were shown [[ShipTease spending the pony equivalent of Valentine's Day together]].
** Invoked in "Hearts and Hooves Day", in which the Cutie Mark Crusaders try and pair up Big Macintosh (of course) and their teacher Cheerilee, two ponies who before this episode never even stood next to each other. It goes about as well as expected, though the episode also reveals that the two were classmates when they were younger.
** For quite some time, Scootaloo and Rumble have been a popular ship, despite Rumble spending most of the series as a background pony with few speaking roles. It wasn't until late season 7 in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E22MarksAndRecreation Marks and Recreation]]" that those two directly interacted with one another in any context, and [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDWIssue81 issue 81 of the IDW comic]] is the only official work to give them any one-on-one time.
* In ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'' fandom, Pietro/X-23 and Kurt/X-23 are very popular ships. Her and Kurt's closest interaction being off-screen and involving her knocking him out, and her and Pietro's closest interaction only happening in people's imaginations. Kitty and Pietro is slightly more believable but even more jarring as the two have interacted, and by 'interacted' we mean Pietro insults her, she glares at him, and once threatens him.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' fans tend to ship Hustler Kid and Butch, who hardly interact in the series.
* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'': "Wonder Beetle" (Wonder Girl/Blue Beetle) is a surprisingly popular ship, seeing as the two characters have yet to exchange any dialogue on the show. The tie-in comics though have the Scarab note that seeing Wonder Girl causes [[MySensorsIndicateYouWantToTapThat "bio-chemical changes"]] to him.
* CJ/Thomas from ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow''. They've never met, and Thomas didn't debut until after her first appearance in "Yes Dude Yes".
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'':
** Ms. Keane and oneshot character Mr. Green from "Substitute Creature." Quite a few fans ship these two together, even though they've never interacted onscreen. Part of the popularity of this pairing may come from the fact that they're both very nice teachers.
** Also Mr. Green and HIM. In fact, any of the characters from the show with Mr. Green since he was only in one episode and the only characters he interacts with are the girls and their classmates.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'':
** Lapis/Peridot used to be seen as this before the third season, as until then, the closest they got to interacting was just being in the same scene. This is largely due to them being the only known Homeworld Gems until Jasper showed up at the end of the first season. And even when they do begin interacting, Lapis showcases every negative emotion short of murderous intent towards Peridot. However, by the end of the season, the two are happily cohabitating.
** Fans who prefer Peridot with someone else tend to ship Lapis with Pearl; you'd be hard-pressed to find a point where the two have directly interacted, and they're implied to be not fond of each other. The noticeable parallels between the two and their similar builds seem to have driven this one. Their voice actors once [[https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/070/024/c28.jpg jokingly reenacted]] a piece of Pearlapis fanart.
** Pairing {{fusion|Dance}}s with each other is not only this trope in the usual way, but in some cases, like Opal/Sugilite, it is ''physically impossible'' for the two to exist at the same time (both share Amethyst as one of their components).
** Blue Pearl, Yellow Pearl, and Pearl never interacted -- heck, Blue Pearl doesn't even speak until "Steven's Dream" -- but fans instantly began shipping combinations of them together.
** Greg/Jasper (termed "Grasper") is a somewhat common ship, despite the fact that they've never interacted. It seems to mostly stem from a mix of PairTheSpares and Greg's well-established love of women with Jasper's build.
** Jasper and Pearl has a following despite the extremely minimal interaction between them in Season 1. Many fans enjoy the contrast in their characters and their size difference.
** Kiki Pizza and Ronaldo Fryman. Some of the few scenes where they are together, (dancing next to each other during Steven's song with the Gems, their family restaurants being next door to each other, Ronaldo including Kiki and titling her as a Pizza Heiress in his documentary) along with some comments about Kiki from Ronaldo's blog on Tumblr, provide "proof" for fans of this ship. This ship got a FandomNod in one episode, where the two pretend to be dating as part of a plan to stop their dads from fighting.
** Holly Blue Agate/Andy [=DeMayo=] has fanart for it, despite the fact that the two have never even been on the same planet. This one seems to come from their shared traditionalist mindset and tendency towards jerkishness.
** It didn't take long for fans of the film to start shipping Spinel with Pink Pearl. The color palette, personality contrast, and shared trauma and background all provided some pretty heavy incentives. Though the two have ''probably'' met, they've never shared a scene, and Pink Pearl herself had only had [[OCStandIn one line in the entire first series]] at the time when Spinel was introduced. While shippers had hoped for a scene between the two, ''[[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture Future]]'' featured both characters, but neither one was in the same episode.
* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'': Crane and Viper has a shipdom that actually caught the attention of Crane's TV voice actor, who now supports it.
* Talia/Mephisto is quite a popular ship among the ''WesternAnimation/LoliRock'' fandom, even though they barely interact outside of fight scenes. If anything, Mephisto appears to be more romantically interested in Auriana than Talia, calling her "cute and talented" at one point.
* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': Numbuh 86 and Numbuh 60 is a rather popular ship, despite the fact that they never really had any onscreen interaction. (The closest was Operation: T.R.A.I.N.I.N.G., when Arctic Base got a distress signal from Moonbase. And even that turned out to be just Father disguised as Numbuh 86.)
* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'':
** Tom and Janna started out as this, being a case of PairTheSpares for Star/Marco, bolestered by Janna being an occultist and Tom an actual demon, so. Eventually subverted, as by Season 4, the two interact far more frequently (both with each other and as part of the wider friend group).
** A straighter example would be Tom and Jackie, who are also shipped as a PairTheSpares couple, even though the closest the two have come to interacting in canon is Jackie staring at Tom as he walks past her in his debut episode.
* Riyo Chuchi and Commander Fox ("Foxiyo") is a somewhat uncommon ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' pairing between two minor characters that has a small, yet fiercely dedicated fanbase, and most likely exists because it offers a different perspective of the war and clone life than more popular pairings involving Clone Troopers on deployment, such as Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex, or Obi-Wan Kenobi and Marshal Commander Cody. Not only is there is no indication in canon that either character is or has ever been aware at any point that the other exists, Fox has almost nonexistent canon characterization and his face is never even shown, and what little he does have makes him highly unsympathetic. Fanfiction authors see this as an opportunity to recharacterize Fox, creating a personality for him out of whole cloth that not only makes him sympathetic, but attractive to someone like Riyo.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse''
** Clyde/Lynn has a bit of a following for it, even though the two hardly interact and their connection is mainly through Lincoln, who is Clyde’s best friend and Lynn’s brother.
** There are also people who ship Lincoln with Luna’s crush, Sam, even though it has yet to be established if Sam even knows Lincoln.
** The "Luaggie" pairing, consisting of Luan and Maggie, the EmoTeen from "Funny Business". They exchange no lines and Maggie has [[OneShotCharacter yet to appear again]], yet the fanbase loves to ship them.
* The Chase/Kimiko pairing (or [[PortmanteauCoupleName Chamiko)]] is surprisingly popular in the ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' fandom, despite them barely interacting with each other (Chase barely interacts with any other monk beside Omi), as well as being [[FoeYayShipping on opposite sides]]. They do interact more in the [[WesternAnimation/XiaolinChronicles sequel]], however, but their interactions are more hostile than romantic ( [[BelligerentSexualTension or not?]]).
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'': Stormer and Riot are paired together in more than a few works, despite having no significant interactions. In canon, Stormer also dislikes Riot. OppositesAttract and PairTheSpares are the reason behind the ship.
* ''WesternAnimation/MiloMurphysLaw'':
** Fans of Milo/Melissa tend to ship Milo's crush [[ThePerfectionist Amanda]] with [[PairTheSpares Zack]], the remainder of [[ThreeAmigos the main trio]]. Ironically, Amanda and Zack don't interact much at all until [[LoveEpiphany Amanda starts crushing on Milo back]] and starts joining the trio on their activities as a result.
** There are also people that ship Bradley with [[ThePollyanna Lydia]] due to OppositesAttract and CastingGag[[note]]Bradley is voiced by Vincent Martella, and Lydia is voiced by Alyson Stoner. These are the voice actors of Phineas and Isabella (respectively), the OfficialCouple of ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', the show the creators of ''Milo Murphy's Law'' previously worked on[[/note]]. The two never share a single line of dialogue.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'':
** Camila (Luz's mom) has yet to even set foot on the Boiling Isles, but fans are incredibly fond of shipping her with Eda (Luz's mentor). This became less popular once Raine Whispers, Eda's canon love interest, was introduced, but fans just got around this by [[OneTrueThreesome shipping all three of them]].
** Amity's twin siblings Emira and Edric are regularly shipped with Viney and Jerbo, respectively, who are Hexside students Luz meets when she starts attending the school. Emira/Viney in particular is one of the most popular pairings in the fandom, the two often appearing as a background couple even outside shipping fics. This is despite the siblings never interacting with them at all, with Viney and Jerbo both being rarely-appearing supporting characters with few lines of dialogue.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGhostAndMollyMcGee'': Some fans have begun to ship Andrea Davenport with Robyn, despite the two of them never interacting and Robyn being little more than a minor background character who has yet to speak.
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