Line #49 FanPreferredCouple/Literature


1	%%This trope needs a canon couple to overshadow for it to count. The canon/ones with no canon couples to compete with are removed. The ones without mentioning them are hidden/rewritten. If you want to unhide one please add a canon couple or come to this thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=14860997890A40152400&page=1
2	!!Works with their own subpage:
3	[[index]]
4	* ''[[FanPreferredCouple/SherlockHolmes Sherlock Holmes]]''
5	[[/index]]
6
7	!!Other Works
8	* In ''Literature/The39Clues'' book series. Starting in the third book, fan-preferred couple [[spoiler:[[TheSmartGuy Amy]] and Ian]] (spoilered for those who haven't read the third book) seem to be set up as the OfficialCouple, but [[AnchoredShip never really get together]]. Fans reacted by [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5773510/1/Down_With_Kurt throwing books at the wall when the girl showed an interest in another boy]], comparing such boys to the BigBad, and writing FanFiction [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5773510/1/Down_With_Kurt dedicated entirely to torturing or complaining about said boys]].
9	* From Creator/AgathaChristie:
10	** In the ''Literature/MissMarple'' book ''4.50 from Paddington'', Lucy Eylesbarrow had two suitors, Cedric Crackenthorpe and Bryan Eastley. In her [[AllThereInTheManual "Secret Notebooks"]], Christie reveals that Lucy would end up with [[spoiler:the former]], even though many fans find him the more unlikable of the two options. The one that most readers ''really'' want Lucy to marry is actually Inspector Dermot Craddock, whom she interacted with [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight once or twice]]. At least one adaptation run with this, making Inspector Craddock (or, at least, his stand in) PromotedToLoveInterest.
11	** In ''Literature/TheSittafordMystery'', the intelligent heroine Emily Trefusis turns down a proposal from journalist Charles Enderby in order to be with James, the "project" fiance, because she says he "needs" her more than Charles does. Many viewers see Charles as a far better match for her, intellectually and otherwise.
12	%% Needs context: * ''Literature/AgentPendergast'' has Pendergast/Corrie, Pendergast/Diogenes, Pendergast/D'Agosta, Pendergast/Constance...
13	* One of the [[OlderThanSteam oldest]] examples of this is shown in the Portuguese/Spanish (its authorship is disputed) medieval romance ''Literature/AmadisOfGaul''. Except that in this case it's not so much FanPreferredCouple as ''King'' Preferred Couple. To further elaborate: the hero Amadis is inextricably faithful to the princess Oriana. During one of his quests, however, one lady Briolanja falls desperately in love with him, and puts him in jail because he refuses to go to bed with her. Apparently the king of Portugal at the time, D. Afonso, really liked Briolanja and wanted her to have a happy ending, so he himself ordered the book to be changed, and have Amadis get hitched with Briolanja (with Oriana's permission, otherwise he'd die... it's a long story). This is [[RetCon retconned]] in later editions of the book, where the "author"/compiler himself narrates this version of the story, but immediately says afterwards something along the lines of "but this is just the king's whim and not what really happened". And then goes on with the "original" version. It's bizarre.
14	%%* Artemis/Holly in ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' has been the Fan Preferred Couple since the very first book. Even when Holly HATED Artemis.
15	%%** Which takes MayflyDecemberRomance to an extreme because not only is Holly very long-lived, but Artemis began the series as a ''prepubescent child''.
16	%%* Some ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'' readers much prefer Dagny/Hank to Dagny/Galt.
17	* ''Literature/TheBadGuys'': In the books, Mr. Wolf has a crush on Agent Fox and the two develop mutual attraction as the series progresses, but a lot of fans prefer the chemistry between Mr. Wolf and Mr. Snake, especially because of a part in Book 5 depicting a jealous Snake thinking Mr. Wolf likes Agent Fox more than him. This continued into the [[WesternAnimation/TheBadGuys2022 film]] due to Mr. Snake's PlatonicDeclarationOfLove and their climactic hug. While a lot of fans feel that the film versions of Mr. Wolf and Diane (an {{expy}} of Agent Fox) have better chemistry than their book counterparts, Wolf/Snake remains the most popular ship in the fandom.
18	%%* There are a lot of ''Literature/BattleRoyale'' fanfictions dedicated to Shinji and Takako.
19	%%* ''Literature/TheBooksOfEmber'' has Doon and Lina, though they are PlatonicLifePartners [[spoiler:for ''most'' of the series]].
20	* ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'': There is not a lot of shipping in the fandom for the book or its three film adaptations, but what little there is seems to be focused on Carrie/Sue rather than Sue/Tommy. This is mainly due to Sue being TheAtoner for her part in bullying Carrie, to the point of turning in herself and her friends, as well as having Tommy take Carrie to the Prom. This only increased following the release of the [[Film/Carrie2002 2002]] and [[Film/Carrie2013 2013]] film adaptations, which both up the LesYay aspect between the two. As well as the former seeing Sue reviving Carrie and the two heading to Florida together after the prom massacre.
21	* ''Literature/CarryOn'' provides us with an odd {{Zigzagg\|ingTrope}}ed example. ''Carry On'' is a companion book to ''{{Literature/Fangirl}}'', and the story it tells is framed as SlashFic of the (non-existent) ''Simon Snow'' series. The OfficialCouple of ''Carry On'' is Simon/Baz, but in ''Fangirl'' they're framed as the FanPreferredCouple of the ''Simon Snow'' series, where Simon was paired with Agatha. The real-world fandom absolutely '''adores''' Simon/Baz, and doesn't ship either of them with anyone else. It seems that framing your OfficialCouple as a FanPreferredCouple really gets the fans on board the ship.
22	%%* ''Literature/CassonFamilySeries'' has Tom/Rose.
23	* ''Literature/CasteelSeries'': A lot of readers preferred Heaven to be with Troy instead of Logan, even after Troy was revealed to be Heaven's ''uncle''. This is because, aside from incest not exactly being rare in Andrews' works, Troy was the TroubledButCute guy [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys female readers swooned over]] who actually turned out to be more thoughtful and caring towards Heaven than Logan was, making readers wish that he didn't have to be related to Heaven.
24	%%* Apparently, the most preferred partners for both Edmund and Lucy in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' category are probably [[BrotherSisterIncest each other]]. The same for Peter and Susan. Caspian and any of the Pevensies is also extremely popular. Eustace/Jill and Polly/Digory are pretty popular as well, even though they're PlatonicLifePartners.
25	* There's some indications fans of ''Literature/ConfessionsOfADListSupervillain'' prefer Wendy/Cal over Aphrodite/Cal.
26	%%* Most fans of ''Literature/ConfessionsOfGeorgiaNicolson'' ship Georgia and Dave.
27	* Edmond Dantes/Mercedes Herrera in ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo''. They actually were canon for a while (in fact the reason the plot kicks off is that Edmond is about to marry her, prompting his resentful "friend" Fernand to participate in the plot against him), but events occurred to split them apart. Many fans do prefer Edmond/Mercedes to Edmond/Haydee, including the makers of the 2002 film, most likely due to the ValuesDissonance that comes from the Count's adopted daughter falling in love with him and getting it into his head that she doesn't want fatherly love from him.
28	* In ''Literature/DarkestPowers'', Derek and Chloe were the fan preferred couple from the very first book, despite Derek's brother flirting with Chloe and Chloe tentatively reciprocating.
29	%% * Riley and [[spoiler:Beck]] are this in ''Literature/TheDemonTrappers''.
30	* By the end of the light novel continuity of ''Literature/TheDevilIsAPartTimer'', the titular [[MaouTheDemonKing demon lord]] Maou Sadao ends up with [[spoiler:Chiho Sasaki]]. However, at least a good chunk of fans prefer Maou to end up with Emi Yusa, the Hero, due to their [[MonsterSlayerRomance enemies-to-lovers dynamic]], said dynamic fitting in with their respective character arcs of Maou becoming a better person and Emi learning to see the good in him, the massive amounts of ShipTease, a perception that they have better chemistry, and basically adopting and raising a child together. [[spoiler:Chiho]], meanwhile, is widely considered an annoying CreatorsPet who gets undue amount of CharacterShilling, a mere naive schoolgirl who does not share that same connection with Maou, and a static SatelliteLoveInterest who's character begins and ends with "crushing on Maou", result in her "love" coming off as [[LovingAShadow shallow infatuation]] and the pairing being considered [[StrangledByTheRedString forced and boring]] (and creepy considering she's a teen and he's an adult). Needless to say, the light novel ending [[AudienceAlienatingEnding drew a lot of backlash from said fans]].
31	* While the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series consists of 41 novels, with countless official couples populating them, one fan-preferred pairing of note would be Sam Vimes/Havelock Vetinari. Although Sam Vimes is married to Sibyl in the novels and Vimes/Sibyl has fans and is respected in its own right, Vimes/Vetinari has had the biggest presence since much earlier days of fandom, likely in part due to Sam Vimes being more-or-less the main character of the City Watch novels, and Vetinari being a very major player in those same novels, not only interacting with Vimes frequently but seeming to gain most of his current ManipulativeBastard-playing-the-most-effective-XanatosSpeedChess personality with every appearance - and often interaction with Vimes - in them.
32	* [[HoYay Fitz/Eight]] is so popular in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'', even the ''authors'' ship it! Both of them are canonically bisexual, and the Doctor has NoSenseOfPersonalSpace and has kissed Fitz more than once just because he was happy to see him. Fitz has on a few occasions admitted to having a crush on the Doctor, and eventually flat out admits he's in love with him. While the BBC didn't really allow anyone to explicitly portray the Doctor as in love with another man, many of the writers slipped in hints whenever possible, and towards the end of the series's run, most of the recurring writers had given up trying to evade the censors because it was obvious the censors themselves didn't care.
33	* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' the majority of the fanbase shipped Harry/Murphy (who are best friends on the edge of RelationshipUpgrade) over the official Harry/Luccio. [[spoiler:It turns out that Luccio was brainwashed into dating Harry, and they break up]]. And since ''Changes'' there's been more official ShipTease for Harry/Murphy.
34	** Weirdly, the fanbase has a large slice of YaoiFangirls (Fanboys?) who ship Harry, the BigGood, with Marcone, the AffablyEvil mob boss. This is strange because Harry's narration has a lot of MaleGaze, and he is AmbiguouslyBi at most. At any rate, this one isn't about to become canon.
35	* Many - possibly even a majority - of fans of the ''Literature/EarthsChildren'' series wished Ayla had stayed with charismatic Ranec from ''The Mammoth Hunters''. Indeed it seemed like Ayla only chose to go back to Jondolar (who was being a petulant ass throughout the book) because Ranec is black. That... or Ayla's a [[BiggerIsBetterInBed size queen]].
36	** There's also those who [[strike: think [[NonIndicativeName Baby]] ate the wrong brother]] ship Ayla/Thonolan, Jondolar's brother, who was dead before Ayla and Jondolar ever met.
37	* A ''good chunk'' of the ''Literature/EmilyOfNewMoon'' fandom favours [[AgeGapRomance Emily/Dean]] over [[TrueLoveIsBoring Emily/Teddy]], as even ''fans'' of Emily/Teddy find him a painfully dull, flat character with all the personality of a paperclip.
38	* In ''Literature/GeorginaKincaid'', Georgina/Seth is often ditched in favor of Georgina/Carter, Georgina/Jerome, and Georgina/Roman.
39	* ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'': Nick/Gatsby, nicknamed "Natsby" by the fandom, is widely preferred over Daisy/Gatsby, Jordan/Nick, or just about any other possible pairing in the book, mainly due to the vast amounts of HoYay to back it up and the fact that it's the only pairing that could conceivably be, you know, functioning and healthy. This continued into the film adaptations, most notably the [[Film/TheGreatGatsby2013 2013 film]]. The pairing also easily dominates fanfiction for the book and has a strong following on sites like Tumblr.
40	* ''Literature/TheGrishaTrilogy'' has a rare case of two involving the same person. Alina/The Darkling and Alina/Nikolai are both more popular than Alina/Mal. This seems to stem from a large number of fans finding Mal, Alina's main love interest, boring at best and borderline abusive at worst. A good number also feel Alina simply has more chemistry with the others.
41	* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
42	** Draco/Harry fanworks completely outnumber all other pairings on Archive of Our Own. As of December 2020, Draco/Harry fanfiction has over 43,000 stories, compared to the next popular pairing on the same site (Sirius/Remus), with just under half that. Canon pairings Ron/Hermione and Harry/Ginny place third and seventh, at around 13,000 and 10,000, respectively.
43	** Draco/Hermione is the most popular pairing involving Hermione within the fandom and the second most popular involving Draco (after him with Harry). Despite the canon Hermione/Ron still being very popular in the fandom as well and Draco/Hermione being controversial within the fandom, Draco/Hermione outranks Hermione/Ron on almost every site. This is often attributed to Hermione's actress in the films, Creator/EmmaWatson, admitting several times that she had a crush on Draco's actor, Creator/TomFelton, and fangirls wanting to live through Hermione being with the TropeNamer for DracoInLeatherPants.
44	** Neville/Luna is very popular, in large part due to PairTheSpares. Neville and Luna don't have any canon pairings listed in the main story, Neville's partner listed in interviews has almost no interaction with him, and Luna's partner is only revealed in interviews with the author as Rolf Scamander, meaning that pretty much any pairing for them is a FanPreferredCouple by default, and it has the benefit of leaving all the main students wrapped up. This has led to the fandom term "Rolfing", a derisory phrase applied to pairings that only occured through WordOfGod stating a canon character got together with a character that never appeared in the text proper. It does ''not'' help that in [[TheFilmOfTheBook the movies]], they actually ''do'' have romantic feelings for each other (although according to WordOfGod, their relationship would only have been a "summer fling" or something along those lines before they [[BetterAsFriends go back to being friends]]). Ginny/Luna outclasses it in some circles, including on [=AO3=], but hasn't quite caught on in the broader fandom.
45	** Lupin/Sirius vastly overshadows the canon Lupin/Tonks pairing. It is so popular, that many fans actually thought the two characters were canonically together, including the two actors. Back when the series was still running, even sites like Sugarquill that only accepted "canon pairings" (meaning either very heavily hinted-at ones or ones that were canonically together) would often allow Lupin/Sirius, as they were so certain it was a thing. Even when it was rendered impossible, the [[StrangledByTheRedString utter lack of romantic development between Lupin and Tonks]] certainly didn't win a lot of followers.
46	** At the height of the fandom's ship wars during [[https://fanlore.org/wiki/Three-Year_Summer the three-year summer]] and for some time after, this title would go to Harry/Hermione, which rapidly ascended into legend for being perhaps the largest and most aggressive faction in ShipToShipCombat history. This mostly owed to their status as the male and female lead, their [[MoeCouplet generally more amiable interactions]] as opposed to Ron/Hermione's BelligerentSexualTension, and the film adaptations [[ShipTease teasing it]] (especially since their actors did have a sweet chemistry going on). On this wiki it was a major factor in RonTheDeathEater being named. Even mainstream publications were known to remark on it. That said, after it canonically sunk, it tumbled quite a bit in the rankings, currently placing tenth on [=AO3=] and being a very common target of mockery due to its aggressive following and rather "vanilla" setup, but nevertheless retains a dedicated fanbase who still widely prefer it over the canon pairings. Suffice it to say, the fans felt pretty vindicated by the 2014 ''Wonderland'' magazine [[https://www.hypable.com/jk-rowling-ron-hermione-interview/ interview]] between Creator/EmmaWatson and Creator/JKRowling where Rowling admitted that there was an element of WishFulfillment behind her pairing Hermione and Ron together[[note]]She's never said it in so many words, but as it's known that Hermione was based on Rowling herself at a younger age, and Ron on a very close friend of hers from her adolescent years, it's pretty easy to connect the dots[[/note]] and that Harry and Hermione were (in her own words) "in some ways, a better fit."
47	%%* Lots of ''Literature/HIVESeries'' fans are pretty damn obsessed by [[UnholyMatrimony Nero/Raven]]. There also seems to be a bit of [[HoYay Otto/Wing]] floating around too.
48	* ''Literature/TheHollows'': Despite the fact that Rachel and Trent end up together at the end of the series, most fans ship Rachel with her roommate and best friend, the bisexual vampire Ivy. This is mainly due to these fans feeling that the two have better chemistry and the series having multiple people mistake them for lovers. Most fanfiction for the series is Rachel/Ivy, with it having a little over six times as many fics about it as Rachel/Trent on [=AO3=]. It is also easily more popular than Ivy's canon ship with Nina.
49	* ''Literature/TheIliad'' has Helen/Hector. Helen is/was the queen of [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Sparta]] and subtly derides Paris for letting Hector do all the fighting. Hector is a noble warrior who [[KnightInShiningArmor treats her courteously]], [[HonorBeforeReason even though he has every right not to]]. Since Helen openly wishes that Paris was more like Hector and Andromache is rather flat as a character, you can see where people are coming from.
50	** And of course, on the other side of the war, there's always Achilles/Patroclus. They have been speculated to be lovers ever since ancient time, including by Creator/{{Plato}}.
51	%%* Eddie and Richie from ''Literature/{{It}}'' tend to be paired up, especially since the 2017 film.
52	* Many readers of ''Literature/{{Ivanhoe}}'' have expressed a preference for Wilfred/Rebecca over Wilfred/Rowena. This was intentional. Rebecca is clearly the heroine of the book (more so than Ivanhoe as the hero); the reason they didn't end up together was that the canon couple had been in love for a long time and Rebecca would never marry a Christian. This one is a rare case of the '''author himself''' being one of those who prefers the couple--he flat-out says so in the introduction!! He didn't have it happen though, as he explained, because it would have been an over-cheap and unrealistic morality lesson to have characters rewarded in this life for their good deeds with a successful spur-of-the-moment romance.
53	** And then there are the readers who are okay with Wilfred/Rowena… because they ship Rebecca with [[DracoInLeatherPants Sir Brian]] instead, though a) he kidnaps and attempts to rape her b) she adamantly refuses him many times and he still doesn’t take the hint c) even without all that, they are of different religions as well and, in addition to this, he is a Templar (except in some adaptations) and can’t marry.
54	* You'll be hard-pressed to find any fan of the ''Literature/LandOfOz'' series who didn't ship Dorothy/Ozma at one point. The two get along well, [[PseudoRomanticFriendship have a lot of sweet interactions]], and outside of the classic characters from the first book, Dorothy's known her the longest. [[PlatonicKissing They even kissed a few times]]. Some authors have tried to avert the romantic implications by giving them male love interests, but it never stuck.
55	%% * Most ''Literature/TheLastVampire'' fans seem to ship Sita/Yaksha.
56	* Pre-television example in ''Literature/LittleWomen'' due to it being autobiographical: Jo and Laurie become best friends and understand each other better than anyone else, but when the RelationshipUpgrade moment comes, Jo uses the old "LikeBrotherAndSister" excuse, and at some point, she wants Laurie to marry her little sister Beth. The two end up marrying different people (Jo marries her BigBrotherMentor Fritz, Laurie marries Jo's ''other'' sister Amy [[spoiler:since Beth dies]])... and continue to remain best friends and confidants.
57	** Meanwhile in the continuing sagas of ''Literature/LittleMen'' and especially the latter ''Literature/JosBoys'' where the cast is all grown up - some fans still prefer Nan/Tommy over Tommy/Dora even though the former ship was sunk over and over by the [[WordOfGod author]]. Dan [[spoiler:dying in the epilogue of Jo's Boys]] outraged everyone, especially when some wanted to see [[UptownGirl Dan/Bess]] happen. Other fans also liked the thought of [[HoYay Dan/Nat]] or [[TakeAThirdOption Dan/Nan]].
58	* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': Many readers were taken by surprise by Sam's sudden interest in otherwise barely mentioned Rosie, after a lengthy novel of obsessive devotion to "Master" Frodo. Compare the amount of Rose/Sam fanworks to Frodo/Sam.
59	* Quite a few Janeites wish ''Literature/MansfieldPark'' had ended with [[spoiler:Fanny/Henry Crawford]] and [[spoiler:Edmund/Mary Crawford]] instead of [[spoiler:Fanny/Edmund]], despite the fact that Austen always strives to show that true love arises from similarity of character and that [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome bad boys will not change for a good girl]].
60	* ''Literature/TheMazeRunner'': While Thomas is paired with Brenda in canon, most fans ship Thomas and Newt (Newtmas), mainly due to the HoYay between them and Newt being a fan favorite. This carried over to the films where the chemistry between Creator/DylanOBrien and Creator/ThomasBrodieSangster is seen as one of the highlights. Thomas/Newt has over 3000 fics on [=AO3=], while Thomas/Brenda only has 105. Those who don't ship them usually pair Thomas with either Teresa (Thomesa) or Minho (Thominho).
61	* ''Literature/LesMiserables'': A large number of fans think that Marius chose wrong in picking sheltered [[TheIngenue ingenue]] Cosette over street-smart StalkerWithACrush Éponine. Never mind that he didn't know the latter loved him until [[spoiler:right before she dies]] in the book, and ''never'' in the [[Theatre/LesMiserables stage show]].
62	%%** Enjolras/Grantaire also have a huge fanbase.
63	* ''Literature/TheMoomins'': While Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden, who get the most canon support for their relationship, are by no means an unpopular pairing, it is eclipsed by Moomintroll/Snufkin due to the huge amounts of HoYay they receive. If stories that go for the OneTrueThreesome (itself a very popular choice) are excluded, Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn has over a dozen times more stories for the latter pairing than the former.
64	* Literature/NancyDrew and [[Literature/TheHardyBoys Frank Hardy]]. Judging from Fanfiction.net and multiple fan boards, these two are the most popular pairing between the two series, even though the official canon couples are Nancy/Ned Nickerson, and Frank/Callie Shaw. Within ''book'' canon, Frank and Nancy rarely interact. They are in the same 'verse, but don't live anywhere near each other and only occasionally join forces to solve mysteries, with only light ShipTease and nothing beyond that. It's rare to see a fanfic that pairs Nancy with anyone '''but''' Frank and Ned, and Ned definitely runs a distant second place.
65	* ''Literature/ThePendragonAdventure'': Mark/Courtney and Bobby/Loor were both by far more popular than the canon ending pairing of Bobby/Courtney due to many fans believing having Bobby and Courtney together at the end undid a lot of both characters' character development. It didn't help that [[spoiler:the latter pairing only came together as the result of a contradictory ResetButton ending.]]
66	%%* Helen (the Queen of Eddis) and the Magus of Sounis are this for some ''Literature/TheQueensThief'' fans. Some are still happily shipping Helen/Sophos [[spoiler:''encouraged by'' the latter's mysterious disappearance]].
67	* ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'': Septimus/Jenna in spite of the fact that Septimus and Jenna are adopted siblings, Jenna herself is given an apparent canon love interest in the form of Septimus's best friend Beetle. Marcia/Silas as well, in spite of the fact that Silas is married and has seven kids.
68	* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
69	** Jon/Daenerys is a popular ship and has been speculated for nearly 25 years during which ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' has been published. While Jon/Daenerys becomes canon in latter seasons of its show counterpart Series/GameofThrones, by that point the show had diverged radically from the books. As of the latest book, ''A Dance With Dragons'', Jon and Daenerys have yet to meet.
70	* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
71	** ''Literature/ThrawnTreason'': Eli Vanto is given an ImpliedLoveInterest in the form of Vah'nya, but not many fans actually ship him with her. Instead, most fans ship Eli with Thrawn, due to their VillainousFriendship and the HoYay between them.
72	** ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' had many phases throughout the 90s of writers doing their best to bury Mara Jade, Luke's closest female companion in ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'', in favor of introducing new paramours for Luke: Callista Ming, Jem Ysanna, Akanna Pell, and so on. None of them managed to land with the fandom, which stuck with Luke/Mara fervently enough that it became the OfficialCouple.
73	* Despite (because of?) the lengths gone to establish Ashe as Rhapsody's soul mate, many ''Literature/SymphonyOfAges'' fans prefer to pair her with Achmed.
74	* ''Literature/TortallUniverse'':
75	** [[spoiler:Beka and Rosto]] in ''Literature/BekaCooper'', as she ends up marrying [[spoiler:Farmer, who didn't appear in the first two books]].
76	*** And then ''Literature/TheNumairChronicles'' threw fuel on the fire by revealing that [[spoiler:at least two of Beka's descendants were named "Rosto".]]
77	* ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'':
78	** Many fans think that Bella would have been better off with Jacob than Edward. A lot of reviewers of the film adaptation of ''New Moon'' agreed with them, saying that Bella had more chemistry and believable development with Jacob than she did with Edward.
79	** Jacob/Leah is also preferred over Jacob/Nessie.
80	** Subsequently, people prefer shipping Nessie with [[EnsembleDarkhorse Seth]], because he's closer to her age, is [[NiceGuy a very likable guy]], and a relationship with him would lack the ''enormous'' unfortunate implications and {{Squick}} Jacob/Nessie has.
81	** Bella and Alice also have a large following due to their RelationshipWritingFumble. It also avoids pairing Bella with someone who shows manipulative and controlling behavior towards her, which both Edward and Jacob have displayed.
82	* Even though the canon pairing is Gregor/Luxa, many ''Literature/TheUnderlandChronicles'' fans seem to prefer Gregor/Howard for some reason.
83	* ''Literature/TheVampireChronicles'': Louis is the preferred partner for Lestat across the fandom despite Louis getting much, ''much'' less screen time than in the first few books and Lestat falling for other people left and right, such as Rowan Mayfair in the last book. This is probably why AR makes a point of having Lestat call Louis "most beloved" in later books and sulk over missing him.
84	* ''Literature/TheVampireDiaries'': Damon and Elena have always been a fan-favorite, despite her staying with Stefan throughout the books. This continued into the TV show, where the producers pretty much switched the endgame to Damon/Elena instead of Stefan/Elena due to the popularity of the relationship and [[spoiler: how the flash-forward in the series finale reveals that they stayed together until they died.]]
85	* ''Literature/WarcraftTheLastGuardian'' has Garona and Khadgar; so much so that when Garona was first announced to have a son with magical potential, many fans assumed the father would be Khadgar.
86	* ''Literature/WarriorCats'':
87	** [[BloodKnight Lionblaze]] was commonly paired with Icecloud and Hazetail in fanworks, the former because she barely got any screen-time, and the latter because it ''was'' hinted that he had a crush on her. His RelationshipUpgrade with Cinderheart did nothing to stop the fans.
88	** According to WordOfGod, Redtail and Brindleface are Sandstorm's parents. Many fans prefer to write Redtail as UsefulNotes/{{transgender}} and make Sandstorm [[MisterSeahorse his daughter]] [[HomosexualReproduction with Runningwind]].
89	** Mothwing/Leafpool is vastly more popular than the canon Crowfeather/Leafpool, mainly since the latter was StrangledByTheRedString. The former ship's sudden surge in popularity in recent years has made this even more prominent.
90	%%** [[DeadpanSnarker Jayfeather]]/[[TheWoobie Briarlight]]. The fact that both of them are disabled yet determined to help their Clan, along with how she moved in with him after the accident that paralyzed her, quickly caused them to become one of the most popular pairings in the fandom. The fact that ShipTease is thrown their way like water on a fire doesn't help (or does, depending on your point of view).
91	%%** After they broke up, fans pretty much rallied and demanded that the Erins put [[spoiler:[[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Brambleclaw]] and [[RebelliousPrincess Squirrelflight]]]] back together. [[spoiler:It didn't happen in the books at first, but WordOfGod says that yes, they ''did'' eventually reconcile their relationship (later confirmed InUniverse in ''Bramblestar's Storm''). So this is a weird mix of FanPreferredCouple and OfficialCouple.]]
92	* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' has Moiraine canonically paired with Thom. However, while that ship still has its fans and was generally her most popular when the books first released, in more recent years most fans have taken to shipping her with her best friend Siuan due to feeling that they have better chemistry and the fact that the two were "[[SituationalSexuality pillow friends]]" while they were younger. It certainly doesn't hurt that the [[Series/TheWheelOfTime2021 2021 series]] made them an OfficialCouple.
93	* ''Literature/TheWomanInWhite'' has Walter and Marian. His close, equal friendship with her and how tough and brilliant she is despite her ugliness make the couple much more interesting than his romance with the beautiful but boring and helpless DamselInDistress Laura.

Context FanPreferredCouple / Literature