History ShipMates / VideoGames

*** The other members of Kanami's idol group are revealed to have insecurities and idiosyncrasies that the Investigation Team [[PlotParallel can relate to]] given their own struggles in the past. For example, Yosuke understands Tamami's frustrations over being the PluckyComicRelief of the group, while Tomoe's responsibility as [[TeamMom the leader of Kanamin Kitchen]] resonates with Yukiko because of her family duty to the Amagi Inn (and both [[BirdsOfAFeather have a good laugh]] over their ClosetGeek[=/=]{{Otaku}} tendencies). (Tamami also calls Yu dreamy before mouthing him off in classic {{Tsundere}} fashion, but that's unrelated.) Though these are all uncommon to see due to ''DAN'' being a RhythmGame SpinOff for the [[UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita Vita]], the one ship that seems to have any significant traction is Kanji/Nozomi. It doesn't hurt that Nozomi [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys visibly expresses interest in Kanji]] and has a stage persona that's as close to a {{Bifauxnen}} as you can get for an IdolSinger -- reminding many of Kanji's dynamics with Naoto before and after her reveal as a SweetPollyOliver. Coincidentally, a good number of people who support this ship appear to be players who paired Yu with Naoto.

** Especially in recent years with the release of the Compilation, this has become common in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' with [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Cloud/Tifa]] and [[TogetherInDeath Zack/Aerith]]. Cloud/Aerith shippers by contrast will pair Zack with Cissnei and Tifa with Barret (and since the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake remake]], [[spoiler: Zack as well]] as well given the [[spoiler: possibility that his death was undone]]), possibly inspired by her acting as a [[ParentalSubstitute substitute mom]] to Barret's daughter in ''Advent Children''. Fans who like shipping Tifa/Barret as endgame but want Cloud to get a happy ending with a living person will often ship him with Yuffie.

** Especially in recent years with the release of the Compilation, this has become common in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' with [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Cloud/Tifa]] and [[TogetherInDeath Zack/Aerith]]. Cloud/Aerith shippers by contrast will pair Zack with Cissnei and Tifa with Barret(and since the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake remake]], [[spoiler: Zack as well]] as well given the [[spoiler: possibility that his death was undone]]), possibly inspired by her acting as a [[ParentalSubstitute substitute mom]] to Barret's daughter in ''Advent Children''. Fans who like shipping Tifa/Barret as endgame but want Cloud to get a happy ending with a living person will often ship him with Yuffie.

** The most common train amongst the fandom (game-wise at least) is: Sonic/Amy, Knuckles/Rouge, and Silver/Blaze. Shadow/Maria, and Tails/Cream are optional.

* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': [[OfficialCouple Mario and Peach]] with [[BetaCouple Luigi and Daisy]].

** Due to insane amounts of ShipTease and HoYay in a single game, ''VideoGame/Persona4'' makes any pairing looks believable (which is not helped by several party members [[ShipperOnDeck rooting for]] a different pairing within the group). Despite the conflicts, most people agree to PairTheSpares; so, if you ship MC/Yukiko, you probably ship Kanji/Naoto, and some combination of Yosuke, Rise, Chie, and Teddie too. Fans who prefer [[HoYay Chie/Yukiko]] (whether they think "HetIsEw" or not) usually ship MC/Yosuke together and leave Yukiko for Chie, while Kanji and Naoto make a safe BetaCouple or ''maybe'' a safe Beta [[OneTrueThreesome OT3]] if they add Rise or Yosuke to the mix. It works.

*** Pairing Ann with Ryuji makes sense due to their interactions during the game, but it also frees up [[PlayerCharacter Joker]] to be with Makoto. [[VitriolicBestBuds Yusuke/Futaba]] may also be added to the mix by fans who see Joker and Futaba as surrogate siblings.
*** Surprisingly for pairings involving the same person, [[HoYay Joker/Akechi]] and Joker/Kasumi [[spoiler: read: Sumire]] shippers tend to get along well. This is due to much of [[UpdatedReRelease Royal's]] new content focusing on the three of them, making Joker/Akechi/Kasumi a very popular OneTrueThreesome. But even those who ship Joker/Akechi alone, which isn't possible in gameplay, will often romance Kasumi in-game as the "next best thing."

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'':
** Despite the fact that Mipha was canonically in love with Link, Mipha/Revali has gained a notable following alongside the [[FanPreferredCouple more popular]] Zelda/Link.
** For non-straight ships, it's pretty common to see Mipha/Zelda and Link/Revali pairings show up together. On the fanfiction website Archive of Our Own, over a ''third'' of the Mipha/Zelda fics also have the Link/Revali tag.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'': Despite that they're ostensibly ShipsThatPassInTheNight to each other and are canonically in love with Link and Zelda respectively, it's common for Zelink shippers to pair Peatrice and Groose together. This is less to get them out of the way--the game pretty heavily favours Zelda/Link as ImpliedLoveInterest to each other--and more that people like the characters and don't want to leave them heartbroken. Plus, they're commonly considered a genuinely cute couple who'd have fit together wonderfully.

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': [[OfficialCouple Mario and Peach]] with [[BetaCouple Luigi and Daisy]]

* Though the ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'' series doesn't have a major shipping fandom, there is still instances of this. For ''VideoGame/EarthboundBeginnings'', Ninten/Ana is sometimes complemented by Lloyd/Pippi. For ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', there's Ness/Paula and Jeff/Tony, as well as sometimes Jeff/Ness and Poo/Paula. For ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER 3}}'', there's Duster/Kumatora with Lucas/Claus, Lucas/Ness, and occasionally Lucas/Nana (an [=NPC=]). Some fans -- especially those who got into the series around ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' -- support Lucas/Ness, Claus/Ninten, and Kumatora/Paula.

** For non-straight ships, it's pretty common to see Mipha/Zelda and Link/Revali pairings show up together. On the fanfiction website Archive of Our Own, Over a ''third'' of the Mipha/Zelda fics also have the Link/revali tag.

** Fics that pair Max with a female character (Chloe, Victoria, Kate, Rachel, or [[Polyamory some combination thereof]]) usually have Warren get together with Brooke. This has some basis in canon - Brooke implies that she's into Warren, [[ShipperOnDeck Max herself thinks that Warren should be all over Brooke]], and if Max turns down Warren's invitation to go to a movie, Warren will invite Brooke instead.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': Despite the fact that Mipha was canonically in love with Link, Mipha/Revali has gained a notable following alongside the [[FanPreferredCouple more popular]] Zelda/Link.

** Each house in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' has some existing tightly-knit relationships that have to be shuffled around a bit to make room for the main character. For example, Byleth/Edelgard is often accompanied by Hubert/Bernadetta or Hubert/Ferdinand. The already popular Felix/Annette ship is even more popular when Felix needs to be kept away from Dimitri to make room for Dimitri/Byleth.

** Each house in VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses has some existing tightly-knit relationships that have to be shuffled around a bit to make room for the main character. For example, Byleth/Edelgard is often accompanied by Hubert/Bernadetta or Hubert/Ferdinand. The already popular Felix/Annette ship is even more popular when Felix needs to be kept away from Dimitri to make room for Dimitri/Byleth.