Minion Shipping

Art by thegeckoninja.

Civil Protection Officer: Gerald? Did you just hear something go ba-boom?
Gerald: Just my heart, sir. Just my heart.

— Concerned

Members at or below The Dragon (e.g., Quirky Miniboss Squad) suggested to be in a physical relationship. This can be overtly sexual even if it would seem squicky; they're villains after all.

Being in a romantic relationship can help humanize the characters, as either one will act heroically when the other is in danger - or, alternately, we get to see how evil they really are when one dies or is seriously wounded and the other doesn't. This might prompt the villain equivalent of a Freak Out in the ignored "lover" (at least for a while...) or, if the writers are really trying to showcase how soulless the baddies really are, even the injured party never expected any true intimacy. At that point, there's really no hope for redemption of any black hats you'll be seeing for a while. In the more humanized case, a truly evil Big Bad might torment one just to piss off the other. If one gets killed off, the other will usually devolve into an obsessive nut, but sometimes will reform in memory of the other's death.

Occasionally, both reform, and they just become an inseparable duo among the main character's group of friends. Exactly how "close" they are will often become a running gag.

We won't even get started on how popular this is in fan fiction. Compare Mad Love, Unholy Matrimony, Outlaw Couple and Heterosexual Life-Partners when dealing with same-sex groupings.

May sometimes intersect with Subordinate Excuse. Most likely does not have anything to do with those Minions.

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Examples:

Anime and Manga

• Digimon Adventure 02 has an arc where Mummymon is deeply in love with fellow evil minion Archnemon (despite her poor treatment of him). Mummymon understandably flips out when BelialVamdemon brutally kills Archnemon in cold blood shortly after his resurrection; he fails to avenge her death, and is destroyed in turn in similarly vicious fashion. Even the Chosen Children, who've been harassed by the two for so long, are appalled and saddened by the spectacle.
• Canonically Zoicite and Kunzite in the first season of Sailor Moon; possibly Lead Crow and Aluminum Siren in the last season. Not to mention the Love Dodecahedron in the Black Moon Clan...
• Pokémon: The Series:
  • Team Rocket's Jessie and James have plenty of Ship Tease, but their exact relationship is vague.
  • In the Gaining Groudon and Scuffle of Legends episodes, the leaders of team Aqua/Magma have very caring administrators.
• The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga ends with Jessie and James of Team Rocket engaged and expecting.
• In Pretty Cure Splash Star, the last two members of Dark Fall's Quirky Miniboss Squad were the fitness-obsessive Worthy Opponent Kintolesky, and Shitataare, the flamboyant Femme Fatale with a penchant for a good Noblewoman's Laugh. Forced to work together to defeat the Cures in the final episodes, they start off quite despising of each other, Kintolesky believing her to be more concerned with her looks than her duty, and Shitataare accusing him to be an unrefined oaf. But, as they fight together, the two of them end up developing mutual respect... and finally, they even get to die together as Kintolesky confesses his love for her. Shitataare looking in his eyes as they are disappearing suggests that she held the same feelings as him. Alas, Poor Villain and Tear Jerker indeed... Note, however, that this isn't a case of Redemption Equals Death. Neither of the two were repentant for their evil actions.
• In Sgt. Frog, many of the fans have taken to pairing up Putata and Mekeke of the Shurara Crops. Other pairings involve Gyororo Nuii, or Kagege Gyororo, or Shurara and any other other members.
  • Keep in mind though that the original maker of Putata is on Deviantart, and she pairs Putata and Mekeke. So it can be somewhat canon although it is not revealed in the anime. Not revealing it doesn't make it less true by the way.
• In MÄR, Gido and Ian. Partly subverted in that Gido isn't killed, mutated horribly. Ian then becomes one of the top rank enemies out of anger, and eventually pulls a Heel–Face Turn when Ginta convinces him that he's not the enemy. Ian eventually finds the real enemy and manages to break the curse. They're shown living together later.
• Fullmetal Alchemist's Lust and Gluttony could be considered a platonic version of Minion Shipping. Though their relationship is far more maternal than romantic, it serves the humanizing function of this trope in much the same way as any other ship. When Lust dies in both anime and the manga, Glutony is reduced to a sobbing, inconsolable child. In Brotherhood and the manga, Gluttony even displays the revenge aspect of this trope, going into a frenzy when he discovered he is in proximity to the man who killed Lust (Col. Roy Mustang).
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
  • Squalo and Tizziano, two of Passione's elite squadron from Golden Wind. Tizziano even takes the bullet for Squalo, prompting a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
  • The spin-off JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Crazy Diamond's Demonic Heartbreak shows that two of DIO's minions. Mariah and Kenny G., have gotten together following DIO's death.
• Matt and Mello from Death Note are either an example of this trope, or a platonic version of it, depending on how you interpret their (rather ambiguous) relationship. Matt is very devoted to Mello and will do anything he says, and even though he doesn't always show it overtly, Mello likewise cares for Matt. They both end up making the ultimate sacrifice.
• Thymilph and Adiane from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann were implied to be lovers or at the very least sleeping together. Exactly how serious the relationship was is never specified, but Adiane's last words were asking Thymilph for forgiveness after failing to avenge his death.

Comic Books

• Done particularly well in Brian Michael Bendis' crime noir graphic novel Goldfish, where Femme Fatale Bacall's henchman Max and Goldfish's cop friend Izzy are lovers. This leads to the climax, in which Goldfish and Bacall's son Billy shoots his mother Bacall, then shoots Max in self-defense. Afterward, Izzy shoots and kills Billy in retaliation.
• In the original Guardians of the Galaxy, Blockade and Mindscan were at least somewhat implied to be a couple.

Films — Animated

• Shenzi (The Dragon to Scar) often gets shipped with Banzai in The Lion King (1994) fanfiction. While there are no scenes of genuine intimacy, they're often close together in the movies. Watch their behaviour closely and there's all sorts of girlfriend/boyfriend subtext there.

Films — Live-Action

• James Bond
  • Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd in Diamonds Are Forever.
    • Bambi and Thumper seemed to be a couple in the movie version.
  • As well as Jaws and Dolly in Moonraker
  • From fangirl opinion, Moon/Zao from Die Another Day- though that's more like Villain on Minion.
• The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor: General Yang and Colonel Choi. More implied than overt. Also ends with an Alas, Poor Villain moment, in that when Yang gets knocked into a set of giant moving gears, Choi rushes to his aid and refuses to leave him even when he screams at her to save herself (complete reversal of Anck Su Namun and Imhotep). Both die together, and not happily.
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show's Riff Raff & Magenta fall under this as well as Brother–Sister Incest.
• In the sort-of-sequel, Shock Treatment, the same actors play Cosmo and Nation McKinley, who are depicted as a married couple (though they still pretend to be siblings), and Rest Home Ricky and Nurse Ansalong are also revealed to be paired off. ^note Actually, quite a few of the characters with much screen time in the film, good or bad, are paired off throughout the film, except for Neely Pritt (the reporter), Bert Shnick, and in the end, Ralph (who, amusingly enough, was seen getting married at the beginning of the first film).
• In the original Total Recall, Richter and Lori are a couple, even though she sleeps with Quaid for at least six weeks to build a cover (8 years' worth of memories including a wedding ceremony). Richter goes insanely homicidal when Lori is killed by Quaid.

Literature

• In the last two Harry Potter books Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy can be considered "shipped" minions of Voldemort, since they are the only couple on the side of evil that actually cares for each other. In fact, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, their (and specially Narcissa's) commitment to and love for their family trumps their loyalty to Voldemort.
• In Stephen King's The Dark Tower novel Wizard And Glass, killer-for-hire Eldred Jonas and brothel-operator Coral Thorin at least enjoy having sex with each other, and probably share a degree of genuine affection.
• A presumably-unintentional case thanks to a cross between Accidental Innuendo and Have a Gay Old Time: in Redwall, "mate" can mean either "friend" or "lover", depending on the context. This results in a lot of double-meanings and a lot of sniggering from teen readers. There are a few intentional cases, though; in The Sable Quean, a female Mook vows to avenge her slain husband.
• In Welkin Weasels, Rosencrass and Guildenswine (named as a Shout-Out to Hamlet but otherwise bearing no resemblance to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) are a married couple.
• Canonically Daala and Tarkin. Unlike many other examples on this page, there's nothing remotely endearing or romantic about it - they're just a couple of sociopaths who happened to find each other adequately attractive and useful.

Live Action TV

• Angel:
  • Lindsey had occasional sexual tension with Lilah, including a parting ass grab when he leaves L.A.
  • His relationship with Eve might count depending on how you judge them both going independent from W&H.
  • Marcus and Harmony.
• There is some weird kind of relationship between Lydia and Todd in the fifth season of Breaking Bad. It could almost be cute with the two being a successful but socially awkward businesswoman and a much younger simply boy from the country, who is even more socially awkward, if they were not a Punch-Clock Villain and a Psychopathic Manchild, who kill or have killed any person who becomes even slightly inconvenient. While totally screwed up in their own different ways, they both never show any hints that they could even conceive the idea that murdering innocent witnesses might be in any way reprehensible.
• In volume three of Heroes — having been downgraded from Big Bad to a minion of Arthur Petrelli — Sylar somehow hooks up with Elle, even though he murdered her father and stole his ability in the first episode of the season. He ends up killing her, though.
• Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger had Grifforzer and Lamie. While neither exactly turned good, they had a baby together after the villains were re-sealed in the finale.
• Power Rangers
  • Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers kept some hints of the Grifforzer-Lamie romance with Goldar and Scorpina, although Scorpina mostly vanished after season one.
  • In Power Rangers Wild Force, Jindrax and Toxica are not only two of the very few bad guys who get to walk into the sunset at the end of the series, but they get to do so as an Official Couple.
  • Jarrod and Camille in Power Rangers Jungle Fury, but in this case, Jarrod had been the vessel for the Big Bad. Camille's Heel–Face Turn was (partly) motivated by Jarrod caring more about her than Dai Shi.
• Supernatural had two demons (Casey and the priest) in love (or at least strongly suggested to be engaging in carnal relations) for "Sin City".
• The "thin/fat gay married Anglican space marines" from Doctor Who. Used to highlight the villains' uncaring nature when one of them is offered up to the Headless Monks as a tribute.

Video Games

• Kingdom Hearts:
  • Axel and Larxene in Chain of Memories, though Larxene's flirtations are probably her way of trying to make him squirm. Also, Axel's status as Marluxia's minion isn't exactly what it seems to be...
  • Fans also like to pair Larxene up with her "partner", Marluxia, while Axel is often paired with his close friend Roxas.
  • Axel / Saix shippers were given a surprising amount of fodder, considering their first appearance was the latter hunting down the former. Days revealed they used to be best friends, and were plotting to overthrow Xemnas together until Roxas and Xion appeared. Birth by Sleep showed us what they were like as human kids, and 3D added them to the list of friends pitted against each other by Xehanort possession, making Saix far more sympathetic into the bargain.
  • Xemnas / Saix is also a fairly popular pairing despite the Ship Sinking attempt in Days, due to a certain cutscene towards the end of the second game. More thoroughly sunk when 3D revealed Xemnas was trying to turn the entire Organization into more Xehanort hosts - and Saix / Isa was one of the few successes.
• In Genshin Impact, there is a scene where the background shows two minions (a Fatui soldier and a witch) speaking and having fun in Liyue. You can also see some sort of interaction between them in certain places. It is implied that they're having some sort of date.
• Makoton and Aiton in Patapon. Makoton's entire Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the Patapons was spawned when they killed Aiton in battle.
• Beauty and Dandy in Ghost Trick, although it's debatable whether Beauty is outright rejecting Dandy's affections or they just have some weird D/S thing going on.
• A popular Fanfic pairing in Dissidia Final Fantasy is that of Emperor Palamecia and Ultimecia, due to their interactions in the main storyline.
  • Same goes for Exdeath and the Cloud of Darkness, due to their shared obsession with nothingness.
  • Cloud of Darkness and Kefka bicker like an old married couple. Just saying.
• In Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of a New World we have DecusXAlice. While a bit onesided on Decus' part for most of the game, Alice finally returns his feelings after he dies shielding her from a fatal blow. After announcing that she loves him too, she dies trying to avenge him.
• In Final Fantasy VII, this trope gets toyed with a bit as the Turks (or at least Reno and Rude) like to gossip about which characters have crushes on others (among themselves and the player's party) and Elena and Tseng end up romantically involved to some degree. Elena is quite pissed off at the party when she runs into them on the Northern Continent, believing that they were responsible for attacking Tseng in the Temple of the Ancients.
• At least one in the Metal Gear series - Vamp and Fortune from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The Boss and The Sorrow count as The Boss isn't technically evil, and The Sorrow is already dead at the beginning of the game. Still, you do battle with both of them.
• Quite a few Touhou Project doujins see Remilia Scarlet try to pair up the chief maid Sakuya and the gatekeeper Meiling, or Satori encourage her underlings Rin and Okuu (made worse by her being a mind-reader).

Webcomics

• This technically not canon page from Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures.
• Stephanos and Yonatan from Fake News Rumble. Lampshaded by Stephen with a certain child-like glee.
• Hansel and Gretel of Fey Winds, if the way they drape themselves over each other is any indication.
• Nale and Sabine from The Order of the Stick qualify, if only for their initial appearance when they were "working for" Xykon. After that, they are more of a Villainous Duo (or she could be considered The Dragon to his leader).
  • A smidgen of Ho Yay is noticeable between Gannji and Enor, as well. Gannji admits he needs Enor to protect him and is willing to die and gamble on a very, very slim chance of resurrection to protect Enor, while some strips before the slavemaster had warned that protecting another gladiator was likely to lead to "strong homosexual overtones that will not be fully explored". Not to mention the "Lizardfolk Victory String" is red.
• Girl Genius is chock full of this. Minions abound, and whenever their masters are busy with A-plot nonsense, there's always some kind of Ship Tease from the Foglios. Most prominent are Zeetha and The Unstoppable Higgs, who are an Official Couple. Also in the mix is Moloch von Zinzer, who has a crush on Sanaa Wilhelm, but has won the adoration of Fraulein Snaug and, also, Violetta. The confirmation of a relationship between Sleipnir O'Hara and Theo DuMedd may count as well. Bangladesh Dupree and Vole are another example, since the former is attracted to the latter's Ax-Crazy nature.
• The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob!: The two married Pirates of Ipecac (the three-eyed lobster aliens) would count once they became minions of Fructose Riboflavin.

Western Animation

• Hammerhead and Silver Sable of The Spectacular Spider-Man used to be this, but had a breakup and don't get along with each other. The one time we saw any affection onscreen, Hammerhead was lying about wanting to make up and just using her as part of his scheme to become the Big Man.
• In The Tick animation, there's a running joke where Buttery Pat and the Bee Twins, the henchmen of The Breadmaster and El Seed, have... a thing... going on, and will be waving and generally flirting in the background while the two villains are ranting to each other. Although, given that he is made of butter and they are humanoid bees, we should probably be glad they don't get any more camera time.
• Transformers loves this trope:
  • Snowcat and Demolishor of Transformers: Energon had this habit of clinging to each other and were rarely seen by themselves. They even got prison cells together.
  • Ransack and Crumplezone in Transformers: Cybertron had a similar very-close-buddy dynamic. There's also Thunderblast, who doesn't so much ship herself as hit on anyone with power and strength.
  • Beast Wars Waspinator and Terrorsaur seem to get shipped a lot lately, although that's mostly Wayward's fault.
  • Canon for Strika and Obsidian in Beast Machines
  • And also canon for Strika and Lugnut in Transformers: Animated. While they're never seen together, Strika's bio says that Lugnut is her consort.
  • Also in Animated, human supervillains Nanosec and Slo-Mo fall hard for each other when the latter forms a Legion of Doom.
  • In Transformers: Prime, Breakdown develops an interest in Airachnid after getting into a fight with her, although fans much prefer to pair him up with his partner, Knock Out.
    • Not that it matters any more, now that Airachnid has brutally murdered Breakdown.
• Not quite minions, as Destro is The Dragon and the Baroness is part of the Council of Evil, but the aforementioned G.I. Joe villains are known for being romantically involved — a surprisingly human show of emotion, given that everything else about them was pure evil.
• In The Legend of Korra, Bolin speculates that Ghazan and Ming-Hua have a sort-of thing going on.
  Bolin: [to Ghazan] You were raised by an older sister. Your mustache grew in when you were ten... and I'm sensing - just sensing - an unspoken attraction between you two.
  [Ming-Hua and Ghazan glance at each other before Ming-Hua looks away in an almost Tsundere fashion.)
  Ghazan: [Impressed] Two out of three. Not bad.
  • Varrick and Zhu Li, who become an Official Couple in Book 4.

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