One True Threesome / Anime & Manga

• In Ah! My Goddess' fandom, OT3s are usually Keiichi and Belldandy finally solidifying their love, and looking to share. Common thirds are Urd (who helped bring the two together), Peorth, and Sayoko (who have Ship Teased with Keii). More common, though, is Bell/Urd/Skuld.
• Attack on Titan has Eren/Mikasa/Armin (the main trio), Bertolt/Reiner/Annie (the Titan trio), and Erwin/Levi/Eren (for those who couldn't decide between Eren/Levi or Erwin/Levi). As of the more recent chapters bringing Annie back out of the crystal, there is Mikasa/Annie/Armin.
• Tomo/Kagura/Osaka from Azumanga Daioh has gained some popularity.
• Bakemonogatari:
  • Koyomi/Senjougahara/Kanbaru is teased a little, and actually makes sense if you think about it. Yes, Senjougahara is in the middle (oddly, she might be the only one against it).
  • As of Episode 14, you can probably add Hanekawa to the mix, this time with Koyomi as the vortex. Per the novels, Senjougahara/Hanekawa/Koyomi is probably the closest thing to an OT3. Hanekawa states that she loves both Senjougahara and Koyomi, Senjougahara is dating Koyomi but has a huge girl-crush on Hanekawa (to the point where Koyomi comments that she actually prefers spending time with her than him), and Koyomi is dating Senjougahara but idolizes Hanekawa as the "perfect girl."
• Ichino Yanagida/Akari Kanzaki/Kris Kristopher from Battle Athletes Victory is one of the earliest entirely yuri bit of OT3 shipping.
• Beastars:
  • Legosi/Haru/Louis. Legosi is the main character and Haru is his Love Interest. As for Loius, he has canonically slept with Haru and it was implied that he might have had deeper feelings for her, and his interactions with Legosi are positively dripping with Ho Yay.
  • Some fans take this even further into a foursome by adding Juno into the mix, as she has been attracted both to Legosi and Louis, and has canonically had sexual relations with the latter.
• Black Lagoon:
  • Rock and Revy are obviously in love, even though they don't want to admit it. Revy and Eda are extremely close friends, and each is one of the few people that the other truly trusts. Eda has also been known to flirt with Rock. Rock/Revy/Eda was inevitable when you consider all this.
  • Rotton/Sawyer/Shenhua, who canonically cohabitate and spend a lot of their time together.
• Bleach: With so many characters and the storytelling style, it's no surprise that there many of these. Among the most popular are Soifon/Yoruichi/Urahara, Rukia/Ichigo/Orihime, Renji/Rukia/Ichigo, Ichigo/Orihime/Ishida, Hitsugaya/Matsumoto/Hinamori and Chad/Ichigo/Orihime. Foe Yay Shipping examples include Ichigo/Orihime/Ulquiorra, Ichigo/Orihime/Grimmjow, and Ishida/Nemu/Mayuri.
• Bokura no Hentai: Tamura/Marika/Ryou, despite the fact Tamura's relationship with Marika is unhealthy at best and Ryousuke has a girlfriend. Both canonically like Marika but Marika only likes Tamura.
• Canaan: Canaan/Maria/Alphard.
• Case Closed:
  • Ran Mouri and Shinichi Kudo are pretty much endgame, but Shinichi has a rather close friendship with Heiji Hattori, whose own Patient Childhood Love Interest Kazuha Touyama is a close friend of Ran. Naturally, a prospect OT4 has been suggested.
  • There is also Sera/Ran/Shinichi, coming from Sera's Les Yay with Ran and how she, Shinichi and Ran have a sort-of shared past.
  • There's also a less popular OT3 Whiskey Trio which consists of Rye (Shuichi Akai), Bourbon (Rei Furuya), and Scotch (Hiromitsu Morofushi).
• A Certain Magical Index/A Certain Scientific Railgun
  • Touma/Mikoto/Kuroko isn't the most popular ship, but it does have its followers, as it resolves the Love Triangle without leaving Kuroko out in the cold.
  • The second Misaki showed up and demonstrated her rivalry with Mikoto, Misaki/Mikoto became a popular ship. Touma/Misaki was a Ships That Pass in the Night, but still reasonably popular, since (like Mikoto) he would be immune to her mind control. The reveal that Misaki is not a villain, and in fact was close friends with Mikoto's first clone increased the popularity of the Misaki/Mikoto ship, and the reveal that Misaki was close friends with Touma before he received brain damage and gained antegrade amnesia of her specifically caused the popularity of Touma/Misaki to skyrocket. Fans promptly decided the best solution was Touma/Mikoto/Misaki.
• Code Geass: There are quite a few examples, but Lelouch/Suzaku/CC, Lelouch/CC/Kallen, Lelouch/Shirley/Kallen, Suzaku/Euphemia/Lelouch, and Suzaku/Euphemia/Nina stand out.
• Cross Ange: Ange/Tusk/Hilda is the most popular (and also most likely to actually be canon). Ange/Hilda/Salia and Ange/Hilda/Salamandinay are also favorites.
• In Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School some fans have gotten behind the idea of shipping Juzo Sakakura, Kyosuke Munakata and Chisa Yukizome in a trio. Munakata and Chisa are already an Official Couple, Sakakura is friends with both of them, Chisa once seemed to view Sakakura as a potential love rival, and her speculation about Sakakura's feelings for Munakata turned out to be surprisingly close to the truth. Alas, it wasn't meant to be this way.
  • Seiko Kimura/ Ruruka Ando/ Sonosuke Izayoi is a surprisingly popular threesome ship.
• Rare in Death Note fics, mainly because most conceivable combinations would involve a female somewhere, and the shipping part of the fandom is mostly into Ho Yay, but more common examples can be found in Mello-Near-Halle, Light-L-Misa, Light-Misa-Takada, Light-Mikami-Misa and Light-Mikami-Takada advocates, L-Light-Matsuda, and you'll occasionally see Ryuk-Light-L, and some Misa-Sayu-Matsuda (considering older!Sayu's fangirling of Misa as well as Matsuda's crush on her) while some rare Melloshippers throw Mello-Matt-Near together. There's also Beyond-L-Naomi, Beyond-L-Light, and L-Light-Mikami. Light-Misa-Sayu has been shipped as well, but not seriously.
• D.Gray-Man fans and their Allen/Kanda/Lavi, their Lenalee/Allen/Lavi, their Kanda/Lenalee/Lavi, their Lavi/Allen/Kanda, or their Tyki/Allen/Lavi, or Tyki/Allen/Kanda, or their Lenalee/Allen/Miranda. Heck, there's even a very popular OT4 pairing of Kanda/Lavi/Allen/Lenalee... which is actually kind of supported in the Kuro no Bansankai Drama CD. It pretty much consists of Allen, Kanda, and Lavi being tricked into getting absolutely drunk and answering questions about their true feelings about Lenalee (with them whining about what troubles them about her, and what they like about her), which ends with them summarizing that they all like her. And with the way that they all seemed very amiable and non-possessive about it, a foursome doesn't seem entirely out of the question…
• Digimon boasts several examples, consisting mainly of each season's Power Trio: Tai/Sora/Matt, Mimi/Izzy/Joe, Davis/Ken/Yolei, Davis/Kari/TK, Rika/Takato/Henry, Takuya/Koji/Zoe, Marcus/Yoshino/Thomas, Taiki/Nene/Kiriha... The list goes on.
• The Dinosaur King anime's Power Trio of Max, Rex, and Zoe seem to be a ready-made OT3. It helps that Zoe tried to kiss Max in Episode 58 and kissed Rex in Episode 79.
• Dragon Ball:
  • An OT3 that became a bit more popular is Android 17/Krillin/Android 18.
  • Goten/Trunks/Marron gained followers among those who can't imagine the two men not being in a relationship but can see them with women as well. Marron is sometimes paired up in an OT3 with Pan and Bra as well, though it doesn't seem as common as pairing her with Goten and Trunks.
  • Future Trunks/Goten/Present-timeline Trunks.
  • Gohan/Videl/Future Trunks as well. Interestingly, this started out as an example of Ships That Pass in the Night, since Videl and Future Trunks had never met, and it was a fairly niche triad. But after Future Trunks and Videl met in Dragon Ball Super, they were shown to get along very well, and the threesome spiked in popularity amongst the fandom practically overnight.
  • The DBZ Kink meme has quite a bit of Bulma/Vegeta/Yamcha.
  • The Universe 6 Saiyan trio (Cabba/Caulifla/Kale) has gained some traction due to their interactions within Dragon Ball Super's Tournament of Power Arc.
  • Goku/Vegeta/Bulma (Kakavegebul) pops up occasionally.
• Dr. STONE: Though Senku/Gen is the most popular ship in the fandom, followed by Senku/Tsukasa, Senku/Taiju/Yuzuriha has a small but devoted following.
• Durarara!!:
  • The Power Trio Kida/Anri/Mikado is a big OT3. Especially because of each of them is some sort of "gang" leader, which also kinda makes them enemies, ergo, Foe Yay Shipping.
  • Walker/Erika/Kadota. It helps that Walker and Erika both explicitly ship it, though they seem to disagree on which of them would be the vortex.
  • Erika declares Shizuo/Kadota/Izaya to be her OT3 in a side story.
  • Celty/Shinra/Shizuo seems to have a presence in the fandom as well.
  • Izaya/All Of Humanity/Saika.
  • From the novels, we have Mairu/Aoba/Kururi. Helps that Mairu and Kururi don't view each other as separate people and have expressed no reluctance in dating the same guy.
  • Izaya/Mikado/Shizuo is also surprisingly very popular given the little interaction Mikado and Shizuo have.
• Some Free! fans fight bitterly over whether Haruka should be paired with Makoto or Rin. Others opt for the dolphin sandwich. Still more stack Nagisa and Rei on the pile to make an OT5. As of the second season, Haruka/Rin/Sousuke has been spotted as well. And for the het fans, there's Gou and the Mikoshiba brothers, both of whom canonically have a crush on her.
• Fruits Basket:
  • Akito/Kureno/Shigure would be an amusing OT3, due to their... complicated relationship.
  • Kyo/Yuki/Tohru could also make a case for it, as both the boys are very fond of Tohru, she cares a lot for them both, and the boys have somewhat of a Ho Yay relationship to each other.
  • The true OT3 of Fruits Basket is the Mabudachi Trio — Shigure, Hatori, and Ayame. While this grouping has died down due to a loss of focus in the later volumes, this was one of the strongest threesomes in the fandom and was very obviously helped by Shigure and Ayame playing up the Ho Yay.
  • There's also a slight amount of Les Yay between an OT3 hinted at within the first half or so of the manga between Tohru, Arisa, and Saki. There are several official art pieces of the three, some dialogue within flashback chapters don't exactly dispell it, and they're not at all shy about all sleeping in the same bed.
  • There's a lot of shipping fanfics with Kyo/Yuki/Haru.
• Fullmetal Alchemist:
  • The niche ship Greed/Ling/Lan Fan, though this is less because Ling/Lan Fan shippers and Greed/Lan Fan shippers can't settle their disputes any other way and more because it actually works. How Ling and Greed share a body and how Greed was rather... impressed when he met Lan Fan also help.
  • Ed/Winry/Al, despite the possible incest squick. This is mostly because when Ed and Winry become an official couple many feel bad for Al or get the sense that he's 'left out'; another reason is because Ed and Al argued over who would marry Winry when they were kids.
  • Ed/Winry/Ling is a go-to ship for fans who don't want to break up the official couple but still enjoy Ed and Ling's Ho Yay moments (as well as fans who are squicked by Ed/Al being incestuous).
  • Hughes is happily married with a daughter, however people love his friendship with Roy enough to make Gracia/Hughes/Roy work. Many Roy/Hughes fans also like Gracia too much to split her up with her husband or kill off, so they just opt for polyamory.
• Fullmetal Alchemist (2003): Alphonse/Edward/Alfons is extremely popular despite Alfons dying before he even meets Al. Rose/Ed/Winry, Ed/Roy/Riza, Roy/Ed/Alfons, Roy/Ed/Al, and Ed/Alfons/Noah aren't unheard of solutions to end the Ship-to-Ship Combat.
• Full Metal Panic!:
  • Kaname/Sousuke/Tessa are a rather popular OT3, as well as Kaname/Sousuke/Nami. And yes, even an OT4 of Gauron/Sousuke/Xia Yu Fan/Xia Yu Lan.
  • There are fans of Kurz/Mao/Sousuke. It probably doesn't help that both Kurz and Mao have flirted with Sousuke on more than one occasion. Or that Mao has been shown to play between the two of them (with both Kurz and Sousuke separately blushing at her "heartfelt" words).
  • Mao has quite a bit of Les Yay with her best friend Tessa; as the resident Lovable Sex Maniac, it's hard to imagine Kurz objecting to a three-way, especially with his adorable captain.
• Gakuen Alice has quite a handful of Natsume/Mikan/Ruka fans.
• The Gentlemen's Alliance has Haine actually consider this option for the Sibling Triangle between her and the twins Shizumasa and Takanari. She ends up marrying Takanari, though.
• Kazuki/Juubei/Toshiki from Get Backers (all guys, by the way—yes, even Kazuki) fit both the "grouped as three anyway" and "ship compromise" aspects.
• Gundam:
  • G Gundam is a kind of silly example. Canon declared Rain and Domon to be the OTP, but the fans much preferred Domon with Allenby. This trope was the result.
  • Gundam Wing:
    • The flagship OT3 is Heero/Duo/Relena, somewhat rare due to Relena's unpopularity among the rabid Yaoi Fangirls.
    • Don't forget Treize/Zechs/Wufei.
    • And Treize/Zechs/Une. Or Heero/Trowa/Quatre. Or my favorite: Heero/Duo/Hilde. Duo/Trowa/Quatre gets little to no love, sadly.
    • Gundam Yuri Fans seem to like Relena/Dorothy/Hilde.
  • Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans has a real-life and in-universe example. Initially, Atra was conflicted whether she should form a romantic relationship with the hero Mikazuki, feeling that he might be better off with Kudelia. But after realizing how Naze Turbine has multiple wives, Atra comes to the realization that she could share Mika with Kudelia. Plus, she may be at least a little attracted to her as well. Had Mikazuki not died in the end, the three would've had a huge chance to go the polyamory way; Atra and Kudelia do stay together and raise Atra and Mikazuki's child Akatsuki, but the fact that Mikazuki is not able to join them is one of several reasons why some fans prefer to pretend the finale and/or Season 2 as a whole never happened.
• Haikyuu!!:
  • Kuroo and Bokuto are shipped with multiple characters (Bokuto with Akaashi or Kuroo himself, Kuroo with Kenma, Tsukishima or Bokuto, not including rare pairings). Fans like to portray them in a poly relationship. A common combination would be Bokuto/Kuroo/Tsukishima + Akaashi sometimes.
  • Daichi/Suga/Asahi has a bit of a following, sometimes Kiyoko is included as well.
  • Hanamaki/Iwaizumi/Matsukawa/Oikawa is often the result of Iwaizumi/Oikawa fans also being fans of Matsukawa/Hanamaki if they're not portraying the four as close friends.
• Being based on a dating game, Hakuouki sees a lot of this. Okita/Chizuru/Heisuke has extensive official artwork of the three together. The most popular threesome is probably Okita/Chizuru/Saitou. Though... anyone up for some Okita/Saitou/Hijikata?
• Haruhi Suzumiya: Kyon/Haruhi/Mikuru, Kyon/Haruhi/Yuki, and Haruhi/Kyon/Itsuki. It helps that Haruhi is canonically bisexual and Itsuki is... something.
• Hayate the Combat Butler:
  • Hayate/Maria/Nagi, or Hayate/Hinagiku/Nagi. Because Hayate needs someone else to keep Nagi in line.
  • Except for Hayate's "Not-a-lolicon" comments, Hayate/Nagi/Isumi could also follow that, given that Nagi and Isumi made a Childhood Marriage Promise.
  • Given some comments and a flashback or two from the Greece Arc, Hinagiku/Hayate/Athena could be shipped if one felt so inclined. This is made easier due to Hinagiku and Athena both liking Hayate, Athena being his ex-girlfriend (with some feelings left on both sides) and Hinagiku having a mutual crush with him that the entire cast can see, and both girls having a close friendship with some Les Yay tones to it. Still not likely to happen in Canon but pretty well set up for any fans who wanted to ship them together.
• Hellsing:
  • Integra/Alucard/Seras is thought by some to be an excellent way of avoiding Ship-to-Ship Combat... though only in the TV series.
  • OTOH, in the Manga Seras has Pip Bernadotte... but considering how it went, both of them are in a symbiotic relationship after his Heroic Sacrifice for her, so turns any pairing with Seras (or Pip) in an OT3 automatically.
  • Anderson/Integra/Alucard was a popular one a few years ago.
• Hetalia: Axis Powers:
  • Being about anthropomorphic nations past and present and their relationships, there are very many. The most prominent is Germany/Italy/Japan (the eponymous Axis Powers). Others popular enough to sometimes have a Fan Nickname include Prussia/Austria/Hungary (the "Frying Pangle"; the middle member can be Austria or Hungary), France/Spain/Prussia ("The Bad Company/Touch Trio"), Prussia/Germany/Italy (the German Potato Sandwich) England/America/Japan ("The Outcast Trio"), Greece/Egypt/Turkey, Estonia/Finland/Sweden, Greece/Japan/Turkey, and Belarus/Russia/Lithuania.
  • Pick any three members of the F/A/C/E group (France, America, Canada, England), and it's guaranteed that you'll have a threesome that's gotten its share of fanworks. Some people even just go ahead with making them a foursome.
  • Yuri shippers have Ukraine/Hungary/Liechtenstein, the three girls with the most familiar and friendly interaction between them.
• Hidamari Sketch: Hiro/Sae/Natsume and Miyako/Yuno/Arisawa.
• Being a harem and all, High School D×D does have a popular OT3 in the form of Issei/Rias/Akeno. Issei's nature as a shameless but devoted Harem Seeker (thus earning him the affection of several different women), the Homoerotic Subtext between Rias and Akeno (such as Akeno being Rias's Queen), and Akeno's stated desire to be The Mistress to Rias's Top Wife in their Battle Harem makes this scenario completely feasible. And, as the EX novel reveals, it's canon... with the added wrinkle that Issei goes on to marry all of his female love interests within the Occult Research Club and several more outside of it!
• The Inazuma Eleven fandom has a few threesomes, but the most popular ones would be:
  • From the original series we have The Teikoku Trio made of Fudou/Kidou/Sakuma, which is far more popular than the main Power Trio (which Kidou is ironically part of). Sometimes Genda is added to the mix, making it a OT4. Even Fudou's seyiuu imagines the former three in a OT3.
  • From GO, we have Shindou/Kirino/Kariya, which is very similar to the OT3 mentioned above. The former two are Childhood Friends and Heterosexual Life-Partners, the latter two are Vitriolic Best Buds.
  • Fubuki/Hiroto/Kazemaru is also fairly popular on Pixiv, if only because they're some of the most popular characters. It even has a tag named Fubukiyamaru.
• Infinite Stratos has the mildly popular Ichika/Charlotte/Laura threesome. Notable since there are a few hints that it could be possible in canon; Charlotte and Laura are good friends, and Charlotte has been pushing Laura to get closer to Ichika.
• Inuyasha has spawned several different combinations including Inuyasha/Kagome/Kouga, Inuyasha/Kagome/Sesshomaru, and Inuyasha/Kagome/Kikyo as well as various others (the latter to resolve one of the most bizarre Love Triangles in manga history, given that two of the participants are technically the same person).
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
  • Joseph/Caesar/Suzie Q, seeing as Joseph/Suzie Q is canon and Joseph/Caesar is a reasonably popular ship on its own.
  • Jonathan/Erina/Speedwagon and Jonathan/Speedwagon/Zeppeli both have small followings for similar reasons.
  • Giorno/Trish/Mista has a following. Mista gets shipping hints for both Trish and Giorno in canon, but Giorno and Trish don't.
  • Josuke/Okuyasu/Rohan has become a niche among fans torn between the Foe Yay Shipping appeal of Josuke/Rohan and the Best Friend Couple Josuke/Okuyasu. Josuke has saved both their lives so this may also be a case of Rescue Romance.
  • Johnny/Gyro/Diego. Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other is basically the entire ship.
  • Jonathan/Erina/Dio is popular with people who just wished Everything Went Well The First Time. Often has the trio start off as Friend Versus Lover.
  • Jotaro/Polnareff/Kakyoin. This is a Road Trip Romance that ends in tragedy canonically, though that is often ignored for the ship.
  • Dio/Mariah/Midler since both Mariah and Midler expressed romantic interest in DIO to the point of loyalty. Vento Aureo even reveals that DIO had slept with countless women while in Egypt. It also helps that Mariah/Midler is one of the few popular yuri ships in the fandom. One piece of art that Araki did for a GUCCI promotion has both women simultaneously throwing themselves at him, which might help fuel the fire.
  • Jolyne/Hermes/Foo or Jolyne/Hermes/Anasui or Jolyne/Hermes/Weather Report are all mildly popular. Essentially, Jolyne/Hermes + any other non-related and consenting age character.
  • Interestingly enough, most threesomes in JJBA seem in involve a Jojo + someone who performs a Heroic Sacrifice.
• K: Some fans ship Izumo/Mikoto/Tosuka◊ as an OT3, given the trio's relationship pre-HOMRA.
• Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl: Tomari/Hazumu/Yasuna due to the Threesome Subtext, although the show itself did some Ship Sinking for that one and the manga went for "Choose or die!".
• Kill la Kill:
  • Two of the primary ships since Episode 1 have been Ryuko/Mako and Ryuko/Satsuki, so naturally some people starting shipping all three together. The few interactions Satsuki had with Mako has her treated considerably better than the other no-star students or even one-star students, and episode 22 has plenty of fuel. The finale ups the ante and has the three go on a date after everything is over.
  • For the BL crowd, there's putting the 3 male members of the Elite Four together.
  • Another for the GL and incest crowd is Ryuko/Satsuki/Nui.
  • In order to solve the question if Mako and Ryuko's date at the end was romantic or not given that Gamagoori appeared to intend giving one of them (likely Mako) flowers, the solution is just to ship them together. Satsuki would then be shipped with two other members of the Elite Four, likely Sanageyama and Nonon.
• Koi to Uso: Lilina/Yukari/Misaki, or Lilina/Misaki/Yukari maybe given how interested Lilina is in watching Yukari and Misaki kiss...
• Kiss x Sis The main characters. Also, the teacher/Keita/the classmate, or the teacher/her younger sister/Keita.
• In Kuroko's Basketball, because Kuroko is the Launcher of a Thousand Ships, lots of people put him in the middle, most usually, it is Kagami/Kuroko/Aomine, arguably the most popular threesome in the fandom. Though Aomine/Kuroko/Kise and Aomine/Kise/Kagami also exist. If 3 is not enough, one can find Kuroko being shipped with the whole Generation of Miracles and Seirin Team.
• Little Witch Academia (2017):
  • A notable example has Akko/Andrew/Diana to pair Akko up with her two most popular ships and as a solution to the Ship-to-Ship Combat between Diakko and Annko.
  • Another one is the pair up Akko/Amanda/Diana, the leaders of Red, Green and Blue team. Otherwise, pairing the 3 witches in Red, Blue and Green team is another take on this trope.
• Love Hina: Keitarou/Naru/Mutsumi is all but canon (see Threesome Subtext), but Naru/Keitarou/Motoko is also very popular among the OT3 shippers.
• Lupin III: Since the main Caper Crew of Lupin/Jigen/Goemon has three members, naturally there's people who'd ship them with each other. With or without Fujiko, or Zenigata, thrown into the mix as well.
• Lyrical Nanoha:
  • Fate/Nanoha/Hayate, of course, which only got more popular after the second movie gave more focus to the relationship between the three of them.
  • OT7: Hayate, the Wolkenritter, Reinforce and Agito. This may be canon, but as usual, the Yagami Family dynamics aren't shown onscreen.
  • Fate/Nanoha/Yuuno is rare, and usually only proposed to end the eternal Ship-to-Ship Combat between Nanoha/Fate and Nanoha/Yuuno, but it's there.
• Magic Knight Rayearth has Hikaru/Umi/Fuu of the Power Trio variety, and then Hikaru/Lantis/Eagle later on, with a bonus of the latter implied to be canon.
• Fans of the Mazinger trilogy (Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger, UFO Robo Grendizer) consider Kouji/Sayaka/Maria is a solution to the most important Love Triangle in the series (nobody seems considering Kouji/Sayaka/Boss or Tetsuya/Jun/Boss, nevertheless. Poor Boss). It is lampshaded in the Super Robot Wars Yonkoma.
• Dr. Kenzo Tenma, Johan Liebert and Nina Fortner in Monster, despite (or maybe because) of the Twincest angle. Or alternatively, Kenzo with Eva Heinemann and Roberto. Or Kenzo/Roberto/Heinrich Runge.
• My Hero Academia:
  • Due to main character Izuku Midoriya's status as a Launcher of a Thousand Ships, you can take any of Izuku's Love Interests, either canon or preferred, and stick them together with him in order to make it work. The most popular candidates tend to be, Todoroki/Midoriya/Bakugo, Iida/Midoriya/Todoroki, Uraraka/Midoriya/Tsuyu, and Iida/Midoriya/Uraraka. Not all of the UA ones feature Midoriya though, as the Iida/Yaoyorozu/Todoroki "power trio" can attest.
  • For the villains, there's Toga/Dabi/Shigaraki.
  • Then there's pairing the Big 3, Nejire/Mirio/Tamaki together.
  • For the teachers, there's Midnight/Eraser Head/Present Mic.
  • Bakugo/Kirishima/Ashido for those who want to avoid ship wars.
• My-HiME fandom tends to gravitate heavily toward Shizuru/Natsuki/Nao, but there are also a good deal of supporters of the main Power Trio of Natsuki/Mai/Mikoto. Those who are less fixated on the Yuri and Die for Our Ship have been known to upgrade Mai/Mikoto/Yuuichi, hinted at in the Grand Finale, into a full-fledged threesome as well. The My-HiME manga seemed to suggest Natsuki/Mai/Yuichi, with Mikoto and Shizuru both Out of Focus.
• My Love Story!! has Takeo/Yamato/Suna for obvious reasons. Takeo's cute bromance with Suna is prioritized every bit as much as Takeo's cute romance with Yamato.
• Naruto:
  • Sakura/Naruto/Sasuke was around almost since Chapter 1.
  • Ino/Shikamaru/Choji, Kiba/Hinata/Shino, etc. All the teams could be seen as ready made threesomes.
  • There are also people who avoid the pairing wars and ship Sakura/Naruto/Hinata or Ino/Shikamaru/Temari.
  • The most common homosexual options are Naruto/Sasuke/Gaara and Ino/Sakura/Hinata.
  • Obito/Rin/Kakashi was mildly popular after the team's history was given focus in Kakashi Gaiden. Later revelations such as Tobi's true identity as Obito and the Moon's Eye Plan largely stemming from Obito seeing Rin die at Kakashi's hands (long story there, but it was actually Rin impaling herself on Kakashi's Lightning Cutter) only seem to have bolstered the threesome's standing among the fandom. It's also strongly implied that the three of them together would've been Obito's "perfect world" in the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
  • Naruto/Hinata/Sakura/Sasuke has always occured in order to do away with ship wars, however it received a boost in popularity post-series. Fans of Naruto/Sakura, Naruto/Sasuke, Sakura/Hinata, and (rarely) Sasuke/Hinata combine their ships with the Official Couples Naruto/Hinata and Sasuke/Sakura to make everyone happy.
  • Orochimaru/Tsunade/Jiraiya is popular for the same reason other team triads are.
  • Boruto has Mitsuki/Boruto/Sarada of the new Team 7, with the boys having a Ho Yay-laden friendship and there being Ship Tease between Boruto and Sarada. Sumire/Boruto/Sarada also exists to avoid Ship-to-Ship Combat.
• Negima! Magister Negi Magi:
  • The mildly popular Negi/Nodoka/Yue threesome. Notable in that Nodoka originated the idea herself. In UQ Holder!, as Yue and Nodoka go to confess to Negi (again) after graduation, Yue mentions that she discussed the idea with Nodoka and was perfectly okay with it. Sadly he turns them both down. Then it was revealed in the other timeline (the one that UQ Holder takes place in, not the one that Negima's ending takes place in) shows that they became his permanent Pactio partners instead. Given the fact that forming a permanent Pactio is heavily implied to involve sexual intercourse...
  • There's occasionally support for bringing Negi into the hugely popular Konoka/Setsuna couple.
  • Konoka/Setsuna/Asuna has popped up on occasion.
  • The finale of Negima's sequel UQ Holder! shows that Negi had a kid with each of Asuna, Konoka, Setsuna, Chisame, Nodoka, and Yue, bringing all these ships together.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion:
  • Fanfiction writers occasionally resolve the Asuka and Rei Love Triangle with Shinji this way. Some fans began calling it the "Israfel Special" after reading a certain fic.
  • Asuka/Shinji/Kaworu and Rei/Shinji/Kaworu are also popular.
  • There's even one fic in particular that has an OT4 of Asuka/Rei/Shinji/Kaworu.
• Many fan works of Osomatsu-san ship any of the brothers together in various groups. There are eve those who go the OT6 route and ship all six together.
• Ouran High School Host Club:
  • There are a few fanfics with an OT7(!!) featuring all 7 main characters. More common than the OT7 is an OT5, excluding Mori and Hunny. The rationale is usually paedophilia-related Squick that leads to not wanting to ship Hunny with anybody... and Mori would never involve himself in anything without Hunny.
  • Haruhi/Hitachiin Twins is a quite fairly popular OT3 ship.
  • Twins/anybody is are fairly popular OT3 ships. It's not uncommon to find Kyouya or Tamaki in the third slot.
  • Kyouya/Tamaki/Haruhi, and at least based on the show, this one is perhaps the closest to being supported. Interestingly, Kyouya's English voice actor apparently ships it... kind of. He sees it more as an "I Want My Beloved to Be Happy" scenario on Kyouya's part, being in love with both Tamaki and Haruhi, but wanting them to be together instead of with him because he thinks it just works better that way.
• Alice/Oz/Gilbert in PandoraHearts. Alternatively Oz/Elliot/Leo.
• Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt: Brief/Panty/Stocking. There are a few fanarts where Panty and Stocking sensually tease or even flirt with Brief.
• Peacemaker Kurogane:
  • Tetsu/Saya/Suzu is set up as a Puppy Love example.
  • Nagakura/Harada/Todo appears quite often as well. They're refereed to as the Three Jokers and are usually seen together.
• Peach Girl has had several of these pop up, the most common being Kairi/Momo/Toji. Kairi/Ryo/Sae is less common, but not as obscure as you'd think.
• Despite the incestuous squick, a small part of the Penguindrum fandom is starting to get behind the idea of Shouma/Kanba/Himari. Two or three more throw Ringo in as well.
• In Pokémon Adventures, any region's Power Trio (or quartet in RGBY's case) will inevitably be OT3'd but special mention goes to the DPPt crew (Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum) who are basically a canon OT3, being inseparable for most of their adventure and discovering just how hard it is to be separated in a powerful Tearjerker. Their story ends with all three of them basically being parents for two baby Pokémon.
• Pokémon: The Series:
  • Thanks to its infamous shipping community, the list of pairings that exist include, but are not limited to, Ash/Misty/Brock, Ash/Gary/Misty, Ash/Pikachu/Misty, Ash/May/Misty, Ash/May/Brock, Ash/May/Drew, Ash/May/Dawn, Ash/Dawn/Brock, Ash/Misty/May/Dawn, Ash/Iris/Cilan, Ash/Misty/Iris, Ash/Serena/Clemont, Ash/Misty/Serena, Ash/Misty/Serena/May, Ash/Lillie/Mallow, Ash/Mallow/Lana, Ash/Misty/Lana, Ash/Lana/Lillie/Mallow, Ash/Chloe/Goh, Ash/Chloe/Dawn, Ash/Chloe/Serena, Ash/Serena/May… a long story short is that Ash is paired with so many characters that it isn't hard to see the ships combine into various combinations of various sizes.
  • A particular example features in the fic Northern Lights and Ocean Dreams; set when Ash is in his later teens and re-taking the Kanto gym challenge, he has been dating Dawn for several months before he ends up staying in Cerulean City for a few days after Misty confesses her feelings for him. Subsequent events force Ash to realise that he has feelings for Dawn and Misty, putting him in increasingly difficult situations, including Zoey accusing him of cheating on Dawn with Misty, until Dawn's offer to give up Ash for Misty prompts Misty to suggest that all three of them come together.
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Take your pick: Mami/Madoka/Homura, Mami/Kyouko/Sayaka, Sayaka/Madoka/Homura, or any combination of the five of them. The end of The Different Story outright teases Mami/Kyouko/Sayaka (at the very least they would make a nice Ship Mate to Madoka/Homura). Then there are a handful of fans who decide to solve all shipping issues by pairing the whole quintet together, thus creating an ot5.
• Every possible threesome has been tried by the fandom of Ranma ½, but the most common ones are Ranma/Ryōga/Akane and Ranma/Akane/Ukyō. Ranma being a Gender Bender increases the possibilities.
• Reborn! (2004):
  • There's a rather lot of Gokudera/Tsuna/Yamamoto and a lot of Hibari/Tsuna/Mukuro, too.
  • Also noteworthy: Mukuro/Dino/Hibari, Byakuran/Mukuro/Tsuna, Hibari/Squalo/Yamamoto, Yamamoto/Dino/Hibari, Yamamoto/Gokudera/Hibari.
• Sailor Moon:
  • Considering that two of the three are canonically lesbians and the three of them raise little Hotaru together, Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna are often shipped as a threesome.
  • With Rei pursuing Mamoru in the first anime, alongside the leader/lancer Les Yay between her and Usagi, the three of them are also shipped together.
  • Any Power Trio of Sailor Senshi. Or all of the Senshi together (plus, typically, Mamoru as well).
• There is a healthy fandom for Mugen/Fuu/Jin of Samurai Champloo.
• School Rumble: Eri/Harima/Yakumo,◊ anyone? Shippers in favor are known as the Kids Meal Faction.
• Sgt. Frog: Keroro/Tamama/Mois comes up most often.
• Snow White with the Red Hair: The most popular ship in the fandom is to mix Obi in with the main Official Couple of Zen and Shirayuki. This is helped by the fact that Obi has an admitted Bodyguard Crush on Shirayuki and is constantly flirting with Zen and saying things which could be taken as him admitting to having a crush on Zen too. Theres also the fact that Zen and Shirayuki have said Obi is theirs and unlike their other friends are upset at the thought of Obi getting a date, and Obi insisting on talking about Zen with allusions to him giving Zen his leash which Zen reciprocates and the other ways in which Zen treats Obi very differently from his other retainers.
• Sonic X: Many fans had paired up Cream and Tails together by the time Tails was given a canonical love interest in the third season. Cream/Tails/Cosmo isn't uncommon as a result.
• Soul Eater:
  • The fandom has seen a suspicious rise in Noah/Kid/Gopher... and of course, Soul/Maka/Chrona (or Maka/Soul/Chrona) is amazingly popular, though not to the point of Liz/Kid/Patti. Also, although there isn't as much fanfiction and fan work done on them, Spirit/Stein/Marie is a rather popular little bit of crack in the fandom.
  • The spin-off manga Soul Eater Not! takes it into overdrive with Anya/Tsumugi/Meme. Two meisters competing over who gets to be Tsumugi's partner and ultimately agreeing to work in a team of three.
• Star Driver has Takuto/Wako/Sugata, with the added bonus of being more or less canon by the end of the series.
• Tenchi Muyo!:
  • Fans who reject the Word of God about the large harem are sometimes more willing to accept Tenchi/Ryoko/Aeka as a simple OT3. Probably because Ryoko and Aeka get way more screen time and more focus on their feelings for Tenchi than any of the others, and not to mention polygamy is a perfectly valid option in Jurai. (Emperor Azusa has two wives, Aeka and Sasami's mom Misaki and Yosho's mom Funaho.)
  • Similarly, in Tenchi Muyo! GXP, most fans ship Seina, Amane, and Kiriko, as the latter two are the ones that spend the most time with him and are shown to have the strongest emotional attachment to him out of his nine-wife harem. Other popular parings are Seina/Amane/Ryoko, Amane/Ryoko/Kiriko, and Seina/Ryoko/Erma (this last one is difficult seeing as it's later revealed that Erma is actually Ryoko in disguise).
• In the Rikkai-centered The Prince of Tennis circles, there's Yanagi/Yukimura/Sanada, a popular dōjinshi threesome.
• Invoked In-Universe in To Love Ru by Lala at the end of first series. After Rito confesses to Lala that he loves both her and Haruna, Lala becomes overjoyed and encourages Rito to get together with Haruna. Lala's real desire is for both Haruna and herself to marry Rito, which will be possible if Rito marries Lala and becomes king of Deviluke, making polygamy possible for him.
• It's not hard to imagine a Ryuuji/Taiga/Kushieda relationship in Toradora!, since both male/female pairs in the trio have unambiguous mutual attractions, and Taiga/Kushieda are about as close to schoolgirl lesbians as you can get without it actually being canonical.
• The fandom of Vampire Knight is mostly divided between Kaname fans, who ship Kaname and Yuuki, and Zero fans, who ship Zero and Yuuki. Then there are the ones who say this whole problem could be conceivably solved with a large enough bed…
• Wagnaria!!: Kyoko/Yachiyo/Jun makes for much less angsty fics.
• Early in the fandom, and with anime-only/anime-first fans, Saori/Nitori/Takatsuki was a popular Wandering Son ship. Saori canonically liked Nitori, Nitori and Takatsuki were True Companions (plus Nitorin liked Takatsuki for a while), and Saori had a significant amount of chemistry with Takatsuki. As the manga went on Nitori got a girlfriend who fans (mostly) adored and the popularity waned. The decline in popularity was not helped by Nitori spending almost no time with her old friends once high school happened, while instead Takatsuki and Saori become best friends again.
• Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun: Iruma/Asmodeus/Clara. While the ship is not as popular as Iruma/Asmodeus, it still has a devoted following due to their chemistry and how close they are to each other, even calling each other soulmates. Asmodeus and Clara have a belligerent yet loving relationship, always bickering and teasing each other, but supporting and confiding on each other nonetheless. Both of them are also utterly devoted to Iruma individually: Asmodeus has a collection of pictures and newspaper clips of Iruma's greatest moments, constantly talks about how awesome "Iruma-sama" is and has made it his life's mission to be by his side through all adversities; meanwhile, Clara tried to seduce Iruma to keep him by her side when she thought Ameri was monopolizing his time, constantly competes with Asmodeus for the position of "Iruma-chi"'s BFF, and wouldn't mind marrying Iruma one day. Iruma, on his part, considers them both his dearest friends, to the point that once they're finally reunited after the Harvest Festival ends, he physically can't let go of their arms during the after-party. The three share many tender moments together, such as Clara singing Asmodeus and Iruma to sleep while they lay their heads on her lap, or Asmodeus willingly getting himself disqualified from the Harvest Festival to protect Iruma and Clara from Orobas.
• Xxx HO Li C: Himawari/Watanuki/Doumeki, a Power Trio enforced In-Universe because while Watanuki adores Himawari, Himawari brings bad luck to anyone around her and Doumeki is pretty much the only person who can negate that "ability".
• X1999:
  • Fuuma/Kamui/Kotori, what with Kamui constantly reiterating that Fuuma and Kotori are/were his most important people and Subaru and Sorata outright stating Kamui loved them both equally, the three characters' obvious devotion to each-other (on Fuuma's part at least before his supernaturally induced Face–Heel Turn and Fuuma and Kotori's obvious romantic/sexual feelings for Kamui. There's the small issue of Fuuma and Kotori being full-blood siblings… not that this has ever stops anybody. (And some try to bypass it via making Kamui the vortex and not going beyond that)
  • There's a small following for Kamui/Sorata/Arashi, what with Sorata being genuinely devoted to Arashi but also getting kinda flirty with Kamui early on...
• Yona of the Dawn has a rather tragic example with Yona, Hak and Soowon. The three of them grew up together as Childhood Friends, with Yona canonically crushing on Soowon, while Hak crushed on Yona. However, there is quite a lot of subtext suggesting Yona possibly also had some feelings for Hak without noticing, and just as much subtext suggesting that the feelings between Hak and Soowon also stretched past platonic. However, after Yona turned 16, Soowon performs a coup and murders her father, also making attempts at her and Hak's lives when they found out and effectively shattered their lifelong companionship. As such, the fandom has nicknamed them "the tragic ot3".
• Yu-Gi-Oh!:
  • Yugi/Yami Yugi is one of the most popular ships bar none, but Anzu is variably in love with or loved by either of them Depending on the Writer. The solution is obvious.
  • The strange love triangle of Yubel/Judai/Johan, which gained popularity in the second half of Season 3 of GX.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds: Jack/Yusei/Crow is the most popular example. In addition, Yusei/Aki are the traditional main guy/main girl ship, and the introduction of Sherry allows for this trope, thanks to the hints of a Love Triangle with Aki for Yusei.
  • Kaito/Yuma/Ryoga from Zexal.
  • Any three set combination of the Yu boys and Bracelet girls with Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS has Yusaku/Takeru/Ryoken. Yusaku/Ai/Ryoken has also seen some action since the events of the final season.
• Yuusha De Aru:
  • Togo is in love with Yuna but it's also implied she loved Sonoko in the past too. Fans are split between Togo and Yuna's relationship in Yuki Yuna is a Hero and Togo (or "Washio" as she was called) and Sonoko's in Washio Sumi Is a Hero, so many just ship them all together. Sometimes Karin is added in.
  • Togo/Yuki/Karin caught on during Season 1 because both girls are implied to like Yuna.
• Yuri!!! on Ice, with its loads of Female Gaze and Ho Yay, has at least two:
  • The most popular is Yuuri/Victor/Yurio. Yuuri is all but stated to be bisexual, Victor is clearly crushing on him and they hook up midway through the series and Yurio is clearly clingy to Victor ( plus he's strongly implied to be an orphan raised by his grandpa), so the fans who neither bash Yurio for being a Bratty Half-Pint nor ship him with his Forgotten Childhood Friend Otabek... have happily taken to either have him as Yuuri and Victor's sort-of "adoptive son" or shipping him with the other two.
  • As of Episode 6, some fans have taken up shipping Victor/Yuri/Christophe, as some people believe that the latter's first sentence to Yuri was a proposal for a threesome.
  Christophe: "Yuri, why didn't you invite me?"
• YuruYuri: Yui/Kyouko/Ayano.
• Yuyushiki: Yuzuki/Yui/Yukari. It's an event horizon between canon and fanon.

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