History Main / ThemePairing

You got two similar characters you want to pair together? '''[[TroperTales/ThemePairing Take it to Troper Tales]]'''.

->Said the Toad to the Kangaroo
->I can hop and so can you

->Who can jump a mountain or hop a mile

[=* snicker* =]

!!Examples:

* [[{{Metroid}} Samus]]/[[{{Halo}} Master Chief]] (PoweredArmor-wearing videogame Badasses who [[PrettyCoolGuy kill aleins and don't afraid of anything]] )
** Well, actually, those two DO have a lot in common. Lost their parents at a young age, had special physical alterations that made them more powerful, the list goes on and on. Of course, most people who ship Samus/Master Chief don't know this.
** Done awesomely in MontyOum's ''{{Haloid}}'' [[http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/57998.html Fan Film]], with a twist!
* [[MetalGear Solid Snake]]/[[SuperSmashBros Zero Suit Samus]] (Badasses who sneak around in {{Spy Catsuit}}s.)
** Actually that's canon. Well, [[{{Starboarding}} Snake having a crush on Samus]], that is.
** There's [[FZero Captain Falcon]]/[[{{Metroid}} Samus]] too. (BadAss intergalactic {{Bounty Hunter}}s )
*** With the memetic Brawl Taunts videos on YouTube, Captain Falcon has been portrayed as a HandsomeLech. "Show me yo' [[strike:moves!]] boobs!"
* [[{{Pokemon}} Pikachu]]/[[TenchiMuyo Ryo-Oh-Ki]] (cute but surprisingly powerful mascot-type animals)
* [[{{LiloandStitch}} Stitch]]/[[TenchiMuyo Ryo-Oh-Ki]] http://ikariexe.deviantart.com/art/Unholy-Super-Creature-9267776 (cute, powerful aliens with more than one form)
* HAL 9000/[[{{Portal}} GLaDOS]] or [[{{Terminator}} Skynet]]/[[{{Portal}} GLaDOS]] (there's just something about [[CargoShip pairing murderous artificial intelligences]])
** Hey, XKCD did it.
** This is probably the motivation behind the [[SystemShock SHODAN]]/[[{{Marathon}} Durandal]] Cargo/joke ship that appears every once in awhile, seeing as how they are both AIs with god complexes.
** No, no, you have it all wrong, [[{{Portal}} GLaDOS]]/[[WallE AUTO!]]
*** Please, [[WallE AUTO]] is obviously the unholy child of [=HAL/GLaDOS=]. "Aww look, he's got his father's eye." "...and his mother's casing."
** [[CommandAndConquer CABAL]]/[[SidMeiersAlphaCentauri The Self-Aware Colony]]
** Am I blind, or is there no [[LesYay SHODAN/GLaDOS]] on here? Seriously, it exists.
* [[AmericanDragonJakeLong Jake Long]]/[[TheLifeAndTimesOfJuniperLee Juniper Lee]] (Chinese-American kids who are tasked with keeping the balance between the human and magical worlds. Have first names that start with "J", last names that start with "L", grandparent mentors of the same gender, annoying younger siblings of the opposite gender, and talking dog sidekicks. If that's not ThemePairing I don't know what is.)
* An example within the same continuity: Takeru/Hikari from ''DigimonAdventure'' and ''DigimonAdventure02'' (both the only main characters their age in the first series, both still part of the main {{Nakama}} in the second, both adore and admire their [[BigBrotherComplex overprotective older brothers]], both use angelic Digimon that have a linked attack in Armor form, both rediscovering their crests at the same time, both showing outwardly pleasant exteriors to mask past darkness, and both having divine aspects to their crests.)
* [[CodeGeass Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald/Sayoko Shinozaki]]. LOYALTYSHIPPING!
* [[MahouSenseiNegima Negi Springfield]]/[[PaniPoniDash Rebecca Miyamoto]] ([[ImprobableAge Unbelievably young]] children who teach high schoolers)
* [[FairlyOddParents Norm the Genie]]/[[DannyPhantom Desiree]]-Both [[LiteralGenie like making their wishes dangerous]], both have a certain person they'd like to get back at, both are on ButchHartman's shows, are both genies, both grant wishes, they both have two males and a female as enemies (Timmy, Cosmo, Wanda), (Danny Phantom, Tucker, Sam).
* It's amazing how many options there are for ''XMenEvolution''/''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' [[CrossoverShip Crossover Ships]], just based on how powers and personality work together. Aang and Shadowcat (both [[CaffeineBulletTime very hyper]] and lovable [[TheDitz ditzes]] and air-related powers), Katara and Iceman ([[AnIcePerson water/ice related powers]]), Toph and Avalanche (earth-based powers and both are unbelievably stubborn - if you can get past [[{{Lolicon}} the age difference]], of course), Zuko and Magma (both royalty, [[{{Wangst}} wangsty]] and [[TheWoobie woobie-ish]], and have fire-based powers), Azula and Pyro (again, fire-based powers, as well as being [[PsychoForHire clinically insane]]), and (just for fun, nothing to do with powers) Sokka and Rogue ([[DeadpanSnarker Deadpan Snarkers]], and we know Sokka likes heavy makeup).
* One of the common variations of the prevalent ''{{Firefly}}'' ship of River and Jayne is that both of them are ''very'' dangerous physical combatants. In this case, it actually ''does'' make sense on Jayne's end that he might be attracted to someone who can take care of herself in a fight.
* [[DoctorWho The Doctor]]/[[StarTrekVoyager The Doctor]] (purely on the basis of having the same "[[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep name]]").
** As long as [[CaveStory The Doctor]] isn't involved...
** Adric/Nyssa, for both being [[ConvenientlyAnOrphan Orphaned]] HumanAlien [[TeenGenius Teen Geniuses]]. Also it helps that they were both companions at the same time.
* [[PrincessTutu Lillie/Drosselmeyer]] Both enjoy messing up Ahiru's life for their own sadistic lulz. Sure, it's [[CrackPairing crackish]], but who's to say their love of tradgedy wouldn't extend to their love of each other?
** Alternatively, [[PrincessTutu Drosselmeyer]]/[[UminekoNoNakuKoroNi Featherine Augustus Aurora]]. A [[MadArtist tragedy-loving]] [[RealityWarper author]] and the [[EvilMentor Witch]] [[WitchSpecies of Drama/Spectating]] would be ''beautiful''. (Not to mention their shared love of odd headgear and bright colors.)
* [[DCComics Superboy Prime]]/[[MarvelComics Scarlet Witch]]. The offspring of this unholy union shall have the power to retcon anything he pleases. Woe unto us.
* One of the reactions of the fandom upon finding out that Ixpellia from ''[[StrikerS Sound Stage X]]'' of the ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' franchise was a female, prepubescent, [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld Ancient]] [[WarriorPrince Belkan King]] MysteriousWaif? Why, to pair her up Vivio, who was then [[LesYay the only other female]], [[ToyShip prepubescent]], Ancient Belkan King MysteriousWaif. Indeed, in FanArt, if she's not being paired with [[RescueRomance Subaru]], she's being paired with Vivio. [[spoiler:Shame about the whole ConvenientComa thing shorting out most Shipping related to her]].
** Except as of ''[=ViVid=]'', there's ''another'' Ancient Belkan King MysteriousWaif...who is quite evidently being set up with Vivio for a GenerationXerox of Nanoha and Fate's relationship.
* [[WheresWaldo Waldo]] and CarmenSandiego.
** Damn, I can't find that fic!
*** [[http://www.tailsteak.com/archive.php?num=433 Will a webcomic do?]]
** If Waldo and Carmen Sandiego get married, who will be able to find their wedding?
** Or Carmen and DickTracy, for having the same fashion sense (colored trenchcoats with matching hats). The FoeYay inherent in a detective/criminal pair doesn't hurt either.
* {{Stargate}}/{{Buffy The Vampire Slayer}} pairings. All kinds of pairings, but they fight things that 'claim' to be supernatural, they've fought things claiming to be gods, members of the teams have both died (more than once), and so on. The website 'Twisting the Hellmouth' has scores of these things, most of which have pairings.
* Similar reasoning to the above, [[http://sinisterx18.livejournal.com/589.html#cutid1 this]] fic pairs and crosses over ''{{Torchwood}}'' and ''StargateSG1'' on the reasoning that they are both alien-fighting teams lead by Americans named Jack.
* HouseOfMouse once featured [[{{Disney/Aladdin}} Jafar]] and [[{{SleepingBeauty}} Malificent]] eating dinner together. Some viewers actually took the time to consider their interesting similarities: both are very powerful magical beings (a genie/sorcerer and a [[TheFairFolk fairy]], respectively), both have bird sidekicks, both use magical staffs...
* Quite a few people ship [[{{TheNightmareBeforeChristmas}} Jack Skellington]] and [[{{CorpseBride}} Victor Van Dort]], probably because they're both lanky, thin, and created by TimBurton.
* [[{{Naruto}} Kisame Hoshigaki]]/[[{{Bleach}} Tia Harribel]]. Both are [[EverythingsEvenWorseWithSharks Shark-based]] members of Evil Organizations. What wouldn't go wrong with this ship?
** You might also substitute Kisame with [[OnePiece Arlong]].
*** Or substitute Harribel [[HoYay instead]].
* [[HaruhiSuzumiya Yuki Nagato]]/[[StarTrekTheNextGeneration Data]].
** Within the same continuity there's also Nagato/Asakura. Or, heck, pair her with any of her fellow {{Artificial Human}}s like Kimidori or [[spoiler:Suou]].
*** On the hetero side, we have Itsuki/Yuki (both have supernatural powers and use them for combat, making them a BattleCouple).
* The ''PowerpuffGirlsDoujinshi'' features [[DextersLab Dexter]]/[[PowerpuffGirls Blossom]]. Makes sense in that both are {{Red Headed Hero}}es, both are leader types, and both are interested in academic pursuits.
* [[DeathNote Ryuk]]/[[CodeGeass C.C.]]. Both are supernatural beings who bestow special powers to their series' protagonists and have an affection for a specific human food. They also have similar interactions with Light/Lelouch.
** Speaking of which, [[HoYay Light/Lelouch]] (or [[SecretIdentity Kira/Zero]]) isn't rare to find.
* [[AzumangaDaioh Sakaki]] and [[OuranHighSchoolHostClub Mori-Senpai]]
** [[OldRetainer They both have a small(er) person that they take care of (For Sakaki it's Chiyo, and for Mori-Senpai it's Hunny)]]
** [[TallDarkandHandsome They are both tall, dark, and considered to be hot]]
** [[TheQuietOne Neither of them talk a lot.]]
** They are both athletically inclined (Sakaki is just all around athletic, Mori-Senpai does martial arts)
** Mori would need someone who would understand his need to help and protect Hunny, and Hunny would be too cute for Sakaki to say no.
** [[ShipperOnDeck Hunny and Chiyo would team up to make sure that they got together.]] (At least according to {{Fanon}})
*** And, Chiyo and Hunny would make excellent Shippers.
** [[{{Nakama}} They both have a (relatively) small group of people that they end up close to]]
** It is shown that Chiyo comes from a wealthy family. It could turn out that she and Hunny make a good business/political match for the families, and if they got together, it would make sense for Sakaki and Mori to get together as well.
* ''BrawlInTheFamily'' gives us [[{{Kirby}} Kirby]]/[[{{Pokemon}} Jigglypuff]], two adorable pink balloon creatures.
** [[OlderThanYouThink It's not the first site to do so]].
* I'm surprised nobody's mentioned [[{{Pokemon}} Lucario]]/[[DigimonTamers Renamon]] yet, as they're BadAss anthro-canine {{Mons}} with ties to the supernatural (Lucario has "Aura" powers, and Renamon's evolutions have a mystical theme).
** Now that Pokemon "Generation V" is coming out, I wouldn't be surprised if Zoroark (or whatever his English name will be) usurps Lucario in this ship. Besides all the stuff Lucario has (with illusion-casting instead of aura for paranormal powers), Zoroark is also specifically a fox based on the {{kitsune}} like Renamon is.
*** And there's already art for Lucario/Zoroark.
* From the DCNation universe: Tara Strong (Green Shield)/ Travis Grey (Green Lantern) continuing and creating a new variant on Arrow and Lantern teamwork. Jesse Quick/Wally West (Speesters), and Changeling/Fauna (animal-based shapeshifters)
* [[BurnNotice Fiona Glenanne]]/[[{{Chuck}} John Casey]]. Casey would ''totally'' be willing to overlook the whole "illegal weapons smuggler" thing if it meant a chance to get his hands on some of those weapons.
* [[EvilCounterpart Metal]] [[SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]] and the officially nameless robotic Sally duplicate from SatAM. Both are robot doubles of characters that are already love interests so it seems fairly reasonable. A shame they exist in [[AlternateContinuity separate continuities]].
* Thane and Samara from ''MassEffect'' for a variety of reasons. Deeply spiritual, same Paragon-ish alignment... but mostly due to the fact [[spoiler: they both were pretty lousy parents.]]
* Disney/PeterPan and [[PrincessTutu Ahiru]]. Both are [[FieryRedhead fiery]] {{Red Headed Hero}}es, he's a {{Trickster}} and she's a GenkiGirl, and they both have [[RedOniBlueOni blue onis]] (Jane and Fakir) to whom they're constantly shipped with. And if you consider the [[WMG/PrincessTutu wild mass guess that Ahiru is a character in a story Fakir wrote]] as canon, then you have another thing she has in common with Peter: they are both unable to grow up physically.
** Plus, the similarity to [[{{Thumbelina}} Cornelius and Thumbelina]] is ''undeniable''.
* [[KingdomHearts Marluxia]] and [[GoldenSun Menardi]]. Both villains, both wield a SinisterScythe, both are associated with [[RealMenWearPink pink]], though in [[CherryBlossoms Marluxia's]] case it's [[HairColors his]] [[RoseHairedGirl hair]] and for Menardi it's [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation her]] [[FacialMarkings skin]].
* {{Deadpool}}/[[{{Batman}} Harley Quinn]]. Red-and-black themed psychos with obsessive, stalkerish relationships and one love interest of each gender. Deadpool likes crazy chicks, Harley likes homocidal psychopaths with skin conditions. Deadpool has Siryn and Cable in his history, Harley has Poison Ivy and Joker. Plus, they look AWESOME together.
* [[{{Gundam00}} FUCKING RIBBONS]] and [[{{Gaiking}} FUCKING PROIST]]. Both can be described as "a MagnificentBastard BigBad of a HumongousMecha series that previously (a) played minion to an earlier villain who seemed to be far more important, an (b) hid an important aspect of their identity": Ribbons was TheDragon to Alejandro Corner, and was secretly an Innovade; Proist was part of the QuirkyMinibossSquad and was pretending to be a robot. The fact that Proist picked up Ribbons' MemeticMutation-induced FanNickname of "[[MagnificentBastard FUCKING]] [[strike:[[SmugSnake RIBBONS]]]] [[SmugSnake PROIST]]" ought to tell you that comparisons between the two are extremely common, and with comparisons comes {{Shipping}}.
* This is where the {{Discworld}} fans got Carcer/Teatime, though as often as not the fic just has them as HeterosexualLifePartners.
* TeamFortress2 has Helmet Party, pairing up Soldier and Engineer for no other reason than they both wear helmets. Sniper/Spy seems to get a lot of attention because they are the skinny tall guys on the team and therefore most attractive to the YaoiFangirl. And Scout/Anyone because why not.
* [[SuzumiyaHaruhi Kyon]] and [[SayonaraZetsubouSensei Nami Hito]]. The IJustWantToBeNormal / IJustWantToBeSpecial relationship is too good to pass up.
* [[BlazBlue Jin Kisaragi]]/[[UminekoNoNakuKoroNi Frederica Bernkastel]]. Similarities of both being [[TheStoic The Stoic]], Type-A [[{{Tsundere}} Tsundere]], potential [[{{Yandere}} Yandere]] and [[AxCrazy Sadistic]] in certain situations or to certain persons, having a [[PsychoticSmirk Psychotic Smirk]] at certain moments, having their respective [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou Rivals]], also being [[RedOniBlueOni Blue Oni]] to their Rival's [[RedOniBlueOni Red Oni]], being frequently paired/coupled in terms of [[HoYay Same Gender Pairing]] to their respective Rivals. Oh, their love would be so bound by the [[RedStringOfFate Red String of Fate]]!
* [[StarTrek2009 Pavel Chekov]] and [[ScottPilgrimvsTheWorld Knives Chau]]. They have [[SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl opposite]] personalities and are both [[RunningGag 17 years old]]. Plus, Knives deserves someone ''better'' than Scott.
----

* Similar character tropes (BadassBookworm, GenkiGirl[=/=]{{Keet}}, etc...).

** Adric/Nyssa, for both being HumanAlien [[TeenGenius Teen Geniuses]]. Also it helps that they were both companions at the same time.

* [[StarTrek2009 Pavel Chekov]] and [[ScottPilgrimvsTheWorld Knives Chau]]. They have [[SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl slightly opposite]] personalities and are both [[RunningGag 17 years old]].

* [[StarTrek2009 Pavel Chekov]] and [[ScottPilgrimvsTheWorld Knives Chau]]. They have [[SavvyGuy/EnergeticGirl slightly opposite]] personalities and are both [[RunningGag 17 years old]].

* [[StarTrek2009 Pavel Chekov]] and [[ScottPilgrimvsTheWorld Knives Chau]]. They have [[SavvyGuy/EnergeticGirl slightly opposite]] personalities and are [[RunningGag 17 years old]].

* [[StarTrek2009 Pavel Chekov]] and [[ScottPilgrimvsTheWorld Knives Chau]]. They're both [[RunningGag 17 years old]]!

* [[StarTrek2009 Pavel Chekov]] and [[ScottPilgrimvsTheWorld Knives Chau]]. They're both [[Adorkable adorkable]] and [[RunningGag 17 years old]]!

* [[StarTrek2009 Pavel Chekov]] and [[ScottPilgrimvsTheWorld Knives Chau]]. They're [[Woobies]] and [[RunningGag 17 years old]]!

* [[StarTrek2009 Pavel Chekov]] and [[ScottPilgrimvsTheWorld Knives Chau]]. They're both [[RunningGag 17 years old]]!

* [[BlazBlue Jin Kisaragi]]/[[UminekoNoNakuKoroNi Frederica Bernkastel]]. Similarities of both being [[TheStoic The Stoic]], Type-A [[{{Tsundere}} Tsundere]], potential [[{{Yandere}} Yandere]] and [[AxCrazy Sadistic]] in certain situations or to certain persons, having a [[PsychoticSmirk Psychotic Smirk]] at certain moments, having their respective [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou Rivals]], also being [[RedOniBlueOni Blue Oni]] to their Rival's [[RedOniBlueOni Red Oni]], being frequently paired/coupled in terms of [[HoYay Same Gender Pairing]] to their respective Rivals. Oh, their love would be so bound by the [[RedStringOfFate Red String of Fate]] to the maximum.

* [[BlazBlue Jin Kisaragi]]/[[UminekoNoNakuKoroNi Frederica Bernkastel]]. Similarities of both being [[TheStoic The Stoic]], Type-A [[{{Tsundere}} Tsundere]], potential [[{{Yandere}} Yandere]] and [[AxCrazy Sadistic]] in certain situations or to certain persons, having a [[PsychoticSmirk Psychotic Smirk]] at certain moments, having their respective [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou Rivals]], also being [[RedOniBlueOni Blue Oni]] to their Rival's [[RedOniBlueOni Red Oni]], being frequently paired/coupled in terms of [[HoYay Same Gender Pairing]] to their respective Rivals. Oh, their love would be so bound with the [[RedStringOfFate Red String of Fate]].

** This trope is the sole reason this troper started to ship Nana/Dedede (even if it's closer to starboarding). It was because they use hammers as main weapons. Granted, that means Popo could potentially make it an OT3. Add in [[SonicTheHedgehog Amy Rose]] ([[StalkerWithACrush against her own will]]), and we have an [=OT4=].

** ThisTroper shamefully shipped Matt/Sora because of their similar crest themes ([[PowerOfFriendship friendship]]/[[PowerOfLove Love]]). A year later it became canon!

* This troper once claimed that [[Disney/{{Disney/Aladdin}} Jafar]] and [[TheEmperorsNewGroove Yzma]] should be paired up because they're both [[EvilChancellor evil advisors]] and tend to decorate with a [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent snake motif]].
** Well, then, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mwWtI8KcDA&feature=channel_page this video is for you]]. Especially if you're also a {{Pokemon}} fan.

* This troper has seen [[FairlyOddParents Timmy]]/[[PowerpuffGirls Blossom]]. The reason? To quote the shippers, 'They both wear pink'.
** Oh {{SarcasmMode that's just lovely, pairing people up simply based off color configurations}}. While we're at, why don't we pair up Naruto Uzumaki and Velma Dinkley? They both wear orange, so it's sure to work out! Oh wait, THAT'S RETARDED!
** I've seen Timmy/Bubbles, but [[ActorAllusion that]] [[HeyItsThatVoice would be]] [[TaraStrong a case of]] ScrewYourself.

** This troper, who came up with that pairing has a new, similar one. [[{{Nextwave}} Aaron Stack]]/[[IchibanUshiroNoDaiMaou Korone]]

* This troper and about five other girls on deviantart (seriously, this ship is definitely a canoe) ship Harley Quinn x Scarecrow. We have no idea why, other than the fact that Crane stops ranting to greet her in Harley's Holiday and [[ThemePairing they were both psychiatrists who ended up being Bat Rogues.]]

* This troper ships [[SchoolhouseRock Interplanet Janet/Little Twelvetoes]] based mainly on the fact that both of them are from space.

* [[BlazBlue Jin Kisaragi]]/[[UminekoNoNakuKoroNi Frederica Bernkastel]]. Similarities of both being [[TheStoic The Stoic]], Full Type-A [[{{Tsundere}} Tsundere]], potential [[{{Yandere}} Yandere]] and [[AxCrazy Sadistic]] in certain situations or to certain persons, having a [[PsychoticSmirk Psychotic Smirk]] at certain moments, having their respective [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou Rivals]], also being [[RedOniBlueOni Blue Oni]] to their Rival's [[RedOniBlueOni Red Oni]], being frequently paired/coupled in terms of [[HoYay Same Gender Pairing]] to their respective Rivals. Oh, their love would be so bound with the [[RedStringOfFate Red String of Fate]].

* [[BlazBlue Jin Kisaragi]]/[[UminekoNoNakuKoroNi Frederica Bernkastel]]. Similarities of both being [[TheStoic The Stoic]], Full Type-A [[{{Tsundere}} Tsundere]], potential [[{{Yandere}} Yandere]] and [[AxCrazy Sadistic]] in certain situations or to certain persons, having a [[PsychoticSmirk PsychoticSmirk]] at certain moments, having their respective [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou Rivals]], also being [[RedOniBlueOni Blue Oni]] to their Rival's [[RedOniBlueOni Red Oni]], being frequently paired/coupled in terms of [[HoYay Same Gender Pairing]] to their respective Rivals. Oh, their love would be so bound with the [[RedStringOfFate Red String of Fate]].

* [[SuzumiyaHaruhi Kyon]] and [[SayonaraZetsubouSensei Nami Hito]]. The IJustWantToBeNormal/IJustWantToBeSpecial relationship is too good to pass up.

** Except as of ''[=ViVid=]'', there's ''another'' Ancient Belkan King MysteriousWaif...who is quite evidently being set up with Vivio for a GenerationXerox of Nanoha and Fate's relationship. SoYeah.