Line #9 AbandonShipping/AvatarTheLastAirbender


1	The ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' franchise has had a lot of AbandonShipping scenarios over the years. The series shows just how easily it can happen to an already established OfficialCouple:
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4	!!''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''
5	* While the canonical Mai/Zuko was already far from the most popular Zuko ship, in part thanks to the popular Zutara (Zuko/Katara) ship -- as well as the Zukka (Zuko/Sokka) ship that emerged in the wake of the franchise's 2010s NewbieBoom -- and because the character herself is somewhat divisive, it still had a big fanbase. However, some that were fond of it began to ditch it following the ''[[ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderSmokeAndShadow Smoke And Shadow]]'' graphic novel. Continuing on from the series and previous comics, the duo's relationship remained incredibly unstable, with the two [[PoorCommunicationKills failing to communicate]], having [[TheMasochismTango endless fights]], and [[RelationshipRevolvingDoor constantly breaking up]], turning them into a truly [[DestructiveRomance toxic relationship]]. Mai even delivers a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech at one point, telling Zuko how miserable he makes her feel, something that some fans saw as Mai being a {{hypocrite}} who contributed just as much, if not more, to the failure of their relationship. While it still has fans, it lost a lot of them due to the comics.
6	* Some Ty Lee/Azula shippers jumped ship when ''ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheSearch'' showed that Ty Lee wants nothing to do with Azula, implying she was never Azula's friend in the first place (or that whatever friendship they had has burned). ''ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderSmokeAndShadow'' doubled down on this, with Ty Lee still terrified that Azula is on the loose. This wasn't helped when series head writer Aaron Ehasz revealed that one of his ideas for a potential fourth season ([[FlipFlopOfGod whether one was truly considered depends on who you ask]]) would have followed the comics in this regard, with the only person who would willingly interact with Azula being Zuko.
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8	!!''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''
9	* The series might have set a record for turnaround time for a ship being created, then abandoned, and this was PreemptiveShipping before the first episode even aired no less. A promotional [[http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/61387742.html poster]] for the show distributed at San Diego [=ComicCon=] 2011 featured Korra with an Earthbender boy and a Firebender boy. Naturally, some fans started shipping the two boys right away. Later, during the panel for the show, it was revealed that the boys (Bolin and Mako) are brothers, and everyone not into IncestYayShipping jumped ship.
10	* When all that was known about Meelo was his name and nothing else, people thought he might be Korra's LoveInterest. Needless to say, when he turned out to be a toddler, that thought died out completely.
11	* Tenzin and Korra. They were the first two named characters and were paired up almost immediately in a MentorShip... until it was found out that Tenzin was a married man in his fifties with three kids and a pregnant wife.
12	* Tenzin/Pema was shipped by nearly everyone until Lin's past relationship with Tenzin was revealed, which turned it into a polarizing OfficialCouple. This wasn't helped by Pema revealing that she actively pursued a relationship with Tenzin ''before'' he broke up with Lin, and played a role in breaking them up by confessing her love to him when their relationship was reaching a low point. As one fan said:
13	---> They did it. They actually did it. Bryke killed the show's one [[OneTruePairing otp]].
14	* Amon/Tarrlok gained a small MindGameShip[=/=]FoeYayShipping following after [[spoiler:Amon de-bends Tarrlok]] in a fairly HoYay-tastic scene, only to fall into this trope once it's revealed [[spoiler:they're brothers]], meaning that anyone who didn't like [[spoiler:incest]] jumped ship, and resulting in a few HilariousInHindsight pieces of fanwork before that particular revelation.
15	* In Season 2, many shipped Bolin with Korra's cousin Eska due to promotional material. Then it turned out the relationship was abuse being played for laughs on Eska's side, leading many to jump ship, though others still held firm.
16	* In an instance of a later franchise installment retroactively doing this for a previous installment is Tokka (Toph/Sokka). When Toph's daughter Lin was revealed, with no father mentioned, a lot of people wanted it to be Sokka; however, when it came out that Lin used to date Tenzin ([[KissingCousins Sokka's nephew]]), most fans abandoned the idea. However, when it turned out that Toph had ''another'' daughter with a ''different'' unknown father, (Toph does revealed that Lin's father is a random guy she once dated named Kanto) the idea picked up again, though others rejected the implication that Sokka would become a DisappearedDad (since he's known to have lived into Korra's lifetime). It doesn't help that Suyin ''does'' bear some semblance to Sokka, though either her or Lin seem to know anything about their fathers.
17	** Similarly, some Sukka (Sokka and his canon girlfriend Suki) fans jumped ship because [[WhateverHappenedToTheMouse Suki was the only Gaang member not referenced]] in the series. A decent number of fans stood firm because the series never ''proved'' Sokka and Suki broke up, believing that she could just have been not mentioned rather than them breaking up for any number of reasons.
18	* The fanbase has a rather... belligerent relationship with the Makorra ship. When the show was prepping for its debut and the key details of the cast were revealed, they were the most popular ship by far. Zutara shippers from the original series, in particular, picked up the ship as a SpiritualSuccessor to the one they favoured. This lasted until about midway into Book 1 and beyond, even with the LoveTriangle with these two and Asami Sato... but then when Mako started becoming dishonest about the fact that he'd cheated on Asami and tried to deflect blame, a number of fans slowly lost their taste for him (and ironically Asami, who was disliked instinctively by many, became ''more'' popular), which was not helped by the ''extremely'' vague break-up kiss they had in the season finale before Mako [[LastMinuteHookUp hooked up with Korra]]. Then Book 2 had pretty much all of the remaining fans turn off from Mako being with ''either'' girl; his relationship with Korra clearly wasn't working out, and so they break up and he ends up getting back together with Asami, until an amnesic Korra shows up in the aftermath of getting shipwrecked... and he gets back together with her, despite several of their friends being present and visibly urging him to tell her the truth, breaking Asami's heart once again and permanently killing the Masami ship in the process. The Book 2 finale [[ShipSinking killed the ship for good]] when Korra got her memory back and breaks up with him once more, deciding they are BetterAsFriends. While there remains some who do wish the pairing had worked out by the end, the airing of Books 3 and 4 saw the majority of the fanbase turn towards [[LesYay Korrasami]] ([[MemeticMutation which ended up being dubbed as the NEW Zutara or Zutara 2.0]]) while most didn't want Mako with ''anyone'' anymore. As it turns out, this was deliberate -- [[WordOfGod Word of Bryke]] has it that Makorra was only endgame for Book 1 and when they got renewed, they knew the couple was going to break up in Book 2, and [[spoiler:Korrasami would be the canon endgame ship for both female characters.]]
19	* Bolin/Korra was one of the Top 3 ships in the fandom during Book 1, but dwindled astonishingly by Book 4. This is due to Bolin receiving other love interests, Korra not showing romantic interest in Bolin, and the fact that Bolin's crush on Korra was never even referenced after Book 1.
20	* An interesting example is Jinora/Skoochy. He's a very minor character who appeared in season one: a homeless, orphaned [[TheArtfulDodger Artful Dodger]] who was paired with Jinora [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight simply because he happened to be]] [[ToyShip of similar age]]. The ship was popular until season three, when we meet Kai, [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute a homeless, orphaned Artful Dodger Jinora's age]] whom ''she actually starts dating.'' Needless to say Skoochy no longer served a purpose.

Context AbandonShipping / AvatarTheLastAirbender