One True Threesome / Video Games

• A3 has the OT5 (or OT6, if Guy is included) "Fuyupoly," where Winter Troupe members are shipped together: Tsumugi/Tasuku/Hisoka/Homare/Azuma/Guy. Nocturnality has the relationship of the troupe (minus Guy, since he hasn't joined) lampshaded.
  Homare: In sickness and in health, for better or for worse, we shall share our laughter and our tears as those with an intertwined fate... How beautiful we are!
  Izumi: I can already hear wedding bells in the distance...
• Assassin's Creed has Altair/Malik/Kadar and Altair/Malik/Maria as the most common ones (the latter mainly because it neatly combines the most popular fan pairing and the canon pairing), with some Desmond/Lucy/Shaun/Rebecca and Ezio/Leonardo/(character of your choice) on occasion. And a surprising number of Ezio/Federico/Vieri fics.
• BioWare fandom loves these, considering the prevalence of Threesome Subtext and Pair the Spares.
  • Dragon Age: Hawke (of either gender)/Fenris/Isabela has a sizable shipping fanbase, as does Hawke/Isabela/Merrill. Hawke/Anders/Justice is an interesting situation with three people and only two bodies involved. It's also held up as a Lighter and Softer option for that Sadistic Choice Morrigan throws a female Grey Warden dating Alistair. Play your cards right and Warden/Isabela/Leliana (at her insistence) becomes canon, or it can go a step further by throwing Zevran into the mix.
  • Slightly less common in Mass Effect fandom, but there's shippers for a few, Shepard/Garrus/Tali and Shepard/Garrus/Thane being two of the more notable ones. The former has experienced an uptick in popularity since the third game made Garrus/Tali canon if neither are romanced, and in the Citadel DLC a very drunk Tali imagines a romanced Garrus trying to convince her of the possibility. She actually seems to consider it.
    • Team Milkyway, consisting of Shepard/Kaidan/Ashley. It saw a particular spike in popularity when Kaidan's bisexuality was revealed, since that meant the only thing theoretically preventing it is the fact that there's no way for all three of them to live through the series.
  • Jade Empire is notable in that the OT3 (male PC/Silk Fox/Dawn Star) can actually become canon, although after the game itself makes the implication the PC ends up being the consort of only Silk Fox in the epilogue texts.
  • Before those, it was possible in Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark with male PC/Nathyrra/Aribeth, which could also become canon (with enough points in Persuade).
  • In Knights of the Old Republic fanfic, it's not uncommon to see Female!Exile/Atton/Mical, or M!Exile/Handmaiden/Visas for the second game or F!Revan/Carth/Canderous, or F!Revan/Juhani/Bastila on the first game.
  • In Dragon Age: Inquisition, since the Iron Bull and Dorian get together if neither is romanced, some players just ship them together with a male Inquisitor. ^note Bull is pansexual and can be romanced by Inquisitors of both genders, but Dorian is homosexual so he will only hook up with a male one. There's also a variation that replaces the Inquisitor with Cullen.
• Pick a Castlevania game with Two Guys and a Girl and there are shippers for it. (For example, Juste/Maxim/Lydia.) Most frequently found with the Metroidvania installments of the series, since that trope is most common in the IGA-penned games, but it cropped up as early as Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse with Trevor Belmont and his various companions. Richter/Alucard/Maria is easily the most popular one, though Alucard/Isaac/Hector has a small but loyal following in the Japanese fandom (despite bordering on Ships That Pass in the Night status; though Hector and Isaac are enemies with a very personal history and are implied to have been in Dracula's employ prior to/during the events of CVIII, it's unknown if Alucard ever met either of them).
• Chrono Trigger has Crono/Marle/Lucca, while Chrono Cross has Serge/Kid/Leena.
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 and 3: Eva or Tanya, and the Allied Commander. At the end of either game (especially 3), the Allied cutscene shows them making their mutual plays for him. So, given that the endings are left open-ended, guess what a lot of fans say he should do? (Especially if you're a female Commander. Les Yay for all!)
• Cuphead: With the inclusion of the Legendary Ms. Chalice as a playable character in the "Delicious Last Course" DLC, many fans then began to ship both the two protagonist brothers (Cuphead and Mugman) with her in art, making for a bit of a weird Love Triangle.
• Cyberpunk 2077 has a number of fans who ship Johnny/Male V/Kerry. Male V can romance Kerry, Kerry was canonically in love with Johnny back in their Samurai days (which may have been reciprocated to a degree), and Johnny has a lot of Ship Tease with V, regardless of their gender.
• Borderline Canon in Deadly Premonition, with York/Zach/Emily. Canonically, both York and Zach have feelings for Emily, and she in turn seems to like both of them as well. Although she favors York and ends up with him because they both Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence together, she still, in the twin boys' words, "really likes [Zach]," and tells him as her physical body dies that she "Wanted to be with [him]." Naturally, in the fandom, this is often expanded into a full-on threesome, often with York and Zach shipped together as well. Whether or not it's selfcest depends on whether or not you see York as a Split Personality that gained a life of his own or as a Guardian Angel.
• Devil May Cry:
  • Dante/Trish/Lady, anyone? Both women being teased with Dante in their respective games of focus and doing an Angels Pose with him in the secret ending of DMC4 certainly helped, as did the fact that Trish and Lady's own relationship became significantly less frosty as the series progressed. Compared to the rough start shown in The Animated Series, DMC5 more or less portrays them as Vitriolic Best Buds who are at their happiest when they team up to make Dante's life miserable.
  • Devil May Cry 5 gave rise to Nero/Kyrie/Nico. While Nero and Kyrie are shown to be going steady since their Relationship Upgrade at the end of the fourth game, Nico (Nero's mechanic and partner in the field) is known to both dote on Kyrie and cast her lot in with Nero/Kyrie. Couple that with a few scenes that not only highlight how close Nero and Nico are when they aren't bickering but also suggest Nico might be carrying a torch for Nero as well, and...
• Dragon Quest IV: Maya/Solo/Meena is considered the most popular trio shipping in the game, though some prefer to swap out Solo for his Distaff Counterpart Sofia (for very obvious reasons).
• Fallout 4: The Sole Survivor, Piper and Cait is extremely popular among the fandom. The mix of Piper and Cait can be justified beyond resolving shipping conflicts and Girl on Girl Is Hot, as the two are quite friendly despite their massive personality differences and Cait will even half-jokingly try to talk Piper into a threesome (being a Nice Girl, Piper politely declines Cait's offer).
• Final Fantasy:
  • Final Fantasy IV gave us the archetypal FF example in Cecil/Rosa/Kain. It's always had a small but loyal fandom, but the DS remake and official sequel have since made it skyrocket in popularity.
  • Final Fantasy V gave us Bartz/Lenna/Faris. It helps that Bartz is canonically attracted to both sisters.
  • Final Fantasy VI gave us Terra/Celes/any human male (most commonly Locke). And Locke/Edgar/Terra; the two even swoon over her when they find out she can use magic. And Locke/Celes/Setzer. And, as an artifact from the Star Wars Shout-Out, Biggs/Wedge/Terra.
  • Final Fantasy VII:
    • Cloud/Aerith/Tifa is another quintessential Final Fantasy example, solving one of the most hotly debated Love Triangles in all of video games. It even got a massive boost in popularity when Final Fantasy VII Remake was released and Aerith and Tifa had plenty of Les Yay between them on their own. Substitute Zack for either lady as you wish, or you can also add in Sephiroth, whose rivalry with Cloud is infamously dripping with romantic subtext. Or just go for Cloud/Zack/Sephiroth.
    • Crisis Core added Genesis and Angeal as Sephiroth's best friends, and they're Zack's Arch-Enemy and Big Brother Mentor, respectively. Genesis/Angeal/Sephiroth of course spawned, and any combination of the three with Zack and/or Cloud is also a possibility.
    • Red XIII/Tifa/Yuffie. Yes, it exists.
  • Final Fantasy VIII gives us Squall/Rinoa/Seifer, though it isn't as popular in the West due to Rinoa's vocal Hatedom there.
  • Final Fantasy X:
    • Quite a big slice of the fanbase supports Jecht/Auron/Braska. Three very handsome men, who would've given their lives for each other. And, in fact, they did — Jecht and Braska gave their lives so Auron (and others) could be saved and Auron got so messed up from losing them so he tried to avenge them in mad rage, getting himself killed.
    • Yuna/Rikku/Tidus is quite possible, partly owing to how Relationship Values affects which of the three female party members likes Tidus the most (and thus aids him for his strongest Overdrive). Technically Yuna and Rikku are cousins, but since Rikku's brother, Brother has a crush on Yuna apparently this doesn't really matter.
    • Erm, Yuna/Rikku/Paine, anyone? Again, the fact that Yuna and Rikku are cousins doesn't seem to be much of a deterrent, especially since Rikku herself seems to be rather close to "Yunie" throughout both games, notably during an optional hot springs scene in X-2 where she checks out Yuna and makes an approving comment.
    • Nooj/Gippal/Baralai is the Spear Counterpart, as the trio's past falling out drives a significant portion of X-2's conflict. Paine is sometimes lumped in due to her history with these three, but usually left out due to the popularity of the above YRP trio. The fact that all four eventually reconcile undoubtedly made a lot of shippers happy, disregarding the fact that it's implied Gippal has something going on with Rikku instead.
  • Final Fantasy XIII:
    • The "Neapolitan" pairing ships the dark-haired Fang, the pink-haired Lightning, and Vanille, as one big threesome. Adding Serah into the mix in some manner adds further possibilities, and Serah's inclusion also invites Snow, with who she's an Official Couple. That Serah and Lightning are sisters is not a major concern.
    • There's also shipping Vanille and Lightning with Hope, given his Ship Tease with both of them in spite of his age.
    • The sequel gave us Noel/Serah with various third parties; Hope is the most popular one, but Snow, Lightning, Yeul, and even Caius are also possibilities.
    • The third game added Lumina, who can be tossed in with pretty much any of the above pairings as you like. Lightning/Serah/Lumina allows for incest shipping and Screw Yourself, seeing as Lumina is a spiritual combination of aspects of both sisters, in a way.
  • Dissidia Final Fantasy:
    • Bartz/Squall/Zidane, generally called "589" for short.
    • Exdeath/Cloud of Darkness/VOID, notable in that the first member is an armored tree brought to life by evil spirits, the second is a sexless entity that chooses to take on the form of a nearly naked woman, and the last is an inanimate force of destruction.
  • Final Fantasy XIV has Azem/Emet-Selch/Hythlodaeus. The three had promised to return to the lifestream when their purposes were fulfilled so as to start their next lives together. While it was complicated by Hythlodaeus being sacrificed to Zodiark and existing in limbo on the moon, and Azem reincarnating as the Adventurer/Warrior of Light, once Emet-Selch and Zodiark are slain, the two Ancients make another Reunion Vow with the Warrior, when temporarily called out of the Lifestream to assist with the final boss, hoping for their trio to reunite once more after reincarnating.
• Fire Emblem has several of these, specially after the Elibe games (Binding Blade and Blazing Blade):
  • Princess Julia in Genealogy of the Holy War will rule alongside Seliph as his Number Two when he and his wife take the throne. This is especially apparent if Seliph marries Lana, who has a very strong Pseudo-Romantic Friendship with Julia to the point where it comes up in her final chapter love convo with Seliph.
    • To say nothing of Thracia 776 making both Beowolf/Lachesis and Finn/Lachesis canon, changing Diarmuid and Nanna from brother and sister to half-brother and half-sister. Furthermore, new character Fergus is also Diarmuid's half-brother on his father's side... but it's Fergus, not Diarmuid, who is referred to as a bastard child.
    • On the topic of Finn, both Quan and Ethlyn (who are already married to each other before the game even begins) seem to hold Finn in very high regard. Quan especially.
  • Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade: Lyndis/Eliwood/Hector and Lyndis/Hector/Florina. In the second case, Florina's Supports with Hector are much loved, and she already has... loyalty towards Lyn. It even works in the post game if Hector marries Lyn, since she would join his house and Florina would follow to be her... personal guard.
  • Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones:
    • Innes/Eirika/Ephraim. In his romantic supports with Eirika, Innes seems to be jealous of her extremely close relationship with Ephraim, to the point of actually telling her that he'll first defeat him in a duel before officially asking her out... Therefore, it's not that hard to see this as Innes loving Eirika and being loved back, while also dealing with some conflicted thoughts on Ephraim himself.
    • Ephraim/Eirika/L'Arachel has some followers as well. L'Arachel and Ephraim have an hilarious case of Belligerent Sexual Tension, whereas L'Arachel and Eirika get a sweet Pseudo-Romantic Friendship.
    • And the same for Ephraim/Eirika/Tana... Though in this case, Tana's more jealous of the relationship Ephraim has with her brother, Innes, than the one he has with his own sister. So maybe the real OT3 here is Double In-Law Marriage/Ho/Les Yay/Incest Subtext, creating an OT4. (There isn't really much Incest Subtext between Innes and Tana, despite them being Expies of Klein and Clarine who did have it, but 5 out of 6 is still a pretty good OT4.)
    • Ephraim/Eirika/Lyon has shades of this as well, both before and after Lyon's Start of Darkness.
    • Outside of the royals, there's the members of Gerik's Mercenaries. Both Tethys and Marisa have eyes for their chief, but despite this fact and their wildly contrasting personalities, both women have surprising chemistry, with Tethys going so far as to tease Marisa over their mutual object of affection. It's less of a Love Triangle and more of a Friendly Rivalry with light Homoerotic and Threesome Subtext, so fans saw no need to break up the trio even if the romantic competition between the dancer and the swordswoman was harmless.
  • Tibarn/Reyson/Naesala is common among the Tellius fandom, as is Lucia/Elincia/Geoffrey.
  • Fire Emblem: Awakening:
    • Some Lissa/Maribelle fans who want to bypass the lack of same-sex endings and the need to have both girls married to not lose out on their future sons Owain and Brady... tend to ship the girls together and add one of the guys they can both marry to the mix as a close friend/lover and a father for both boys. The common candidates seem to be Gaius (who has very cute Supports with both of them and pretty pretty interesting history with Maribelle) and Lon'qu (who fills Bodyguard Crush with Lissa and Belligerent Sexual Tension with Maribelle, yet has a bad case of Cannot Talk to Women that the girls could potentially "defeat" in a joint effort).
    • Girl!Avatar/Chrom/Sumia has been suggested more than once as a solution to the Ship-to-Ship Combat between Chrom/Girl!Avatar and Chrom/Sumia shippers. It helps that, despite what fandom insists, Sumia and Girl!Avatar have a rather sweet friendship in their supports.
    • Since Male!Avatar is shipped with both Sumia and Chrom and the Ship-to-Ship Combat is more nuanced in these corners, Male!Avatar/Chrom/Sumia is quite the fan-favorite too.
    • The support for Gaius/Sumia/Chrom has been growing rather steadily in some fringes. Gaius and Chrom's "Noble Male, Roguish Male" friendship is VERY easy to see as Ho Yay, and both men are among the most popular options for Sumia, so it's rather easy to see the threesome potential between them.
    • Among fans of the Second Generation characters, there seems to be a very loyal following for either Gerome/Lucina/Inigo or Gerome/Lucina/Laurent. Others tend to go for Owain/Cynthia/Morgan (preferably boy!Morgan), who are known in canon as the Justice Cabal group.
  • Fire Emblem Fates:
    • The Fates Beach Brawl DLC features Prince Leo of Nohr relaxing in swimming trunks. His two male subordinates, Niles and Odin, end up gushing over the sight of their handsome lord in quite the state of "undress". Since Niles and Odin are also very good-looking and are shown to be VERY devoted to Leo, it's easy to guess what followed...
    • The aforementioned Odin is Childhood Friends with Laslow and Selena ever since they were Owain, Inigo and Severa, so sometimes they're also shipped together.
    • Prince Takumi and his subordinates, the Lady of War Oboro and the samurai Hinata, are strongly implied to be very close to one another: Oboro has a Bodyguard Crush on Takumi that he can reciprocate, Hinata can potentially develop feelings for Oboro, and Hinata and Takumi have quite the Homoerotic Subtext going on. The supports between Hinata's son Hisame and Takumi's son Kiragi further drive the point on how tightly-knitted the three are. As a consequence, Takumi/Oboro/Hinata has developed kind of a following.
    • The popularity of Ryoma/Xander/the Avatar (especially the female one) has grown in some fringes, especially among fanartists.
  • Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia:
    • The idea of Tobin/Gray/Clair popped out as soon as the game was released in the West. Tobin and Gray have crushes on Clair, but are also very loyal Vitriolic Best Buds who explicitly reject the idea to break their friendship if Clair chooses one boy over the other. Clair and Gray marry if both of them live, but if this happens and Tobin dies, their happy ending changes to one where Gray mourned Tobin so intensely that he fell in drunken depression, Clair was the one who helped him back on his feet, and when they had a firstborn son Gray named him after his dead best friend.
    • Mathilda and Clive are a mix of Battle Couple and Sickeningly Sweethearts, but Clive has two very handsome companions named Lukas and Forsyth who look up to him a lot. Those who can't bring themselves to break up Clive/Mathilda have suggested adding either Forsyth or Lukas to their hook-up.
    • The aforementioned Forsyth and Lukas are also friends with Python, an archer who is very Ambiguously Bi and kinda flirts with the two of them. Plus, Forsyth can be easily interpreted as Ambiguously Bi too due to his endings being deeply tied to Python's own ^note (He only marries if Python dies), and then one can toss in their good friend Lukas, and the OT3 writes itself.
    • Lately, there has been an increase on the support for Boey/Mae/Celica. It's rather understandable: Celica and Mae are best friends with whiffs of Pseudo-Romantic Friendship, Boey and Mae are an Official Couple with Babies Ever After included ^note (and if one of them dies, the other stays single for all of his/her life) and both Mae and Boey have Undying Loyalty to Celica.
  • Fire Emblem: Three Houses:
    • Edelgard/F!Byleth/Hubert has a dedicated fanbase, due to Edelgard being one of female Byleth's most popular partners and Hubert heavily implied to have had a crush on Edelgard since childhood as well as being a potential romance option for Byleth regardless.
    • Dimitri/Byleth/Claude has popularity amongst fans of a certain Fandom-Specific Plot involving fusing the Verdant Wind and Azure Moon routes, usually ending with Byleth hooking up with both Dimitri and Claude.
    • A popular meme amongst the Japanese fanbase is shipping Ferdinand, Sylvain and Lorenz together, dubbed "Three Nobles". Another popular variation of this ship instead has Constance in substitution for Sylvain, most likely due to Constance being more in line in personality with the other two than Sylvain.
• Friday Night Funkin': Following the game's programmer stating that The Boyfriend and Pico used to date, The Girlfriend/The Boyfriend/Pico immediately sprang up in popularity as a happy compromise between the former Boyfriend/Pico and the current Girlfriend/Boyfriend.
• Genshin Impact has Ei/Yae Miko/Kujou Sara. Ei and Yae have several friendship moments that can easily be seen as Ship Tease, Sara is an extremely devoted servant to Ei, and the few interactions between Yae and Sara feature Yae clearly enjoying toying with Sara.
• Golden Sun: Dark Dawn gives us Matthew, Karis and Sveta. Early on in the game hints of Les Yay are applied by the line "Karis, you are a good person. I like you very much", which she later corrects to claim she means in the True Companions way, while later on Karis is able to bring Sveta out of what seems to be a deep despair... off-screen and explicitly away from all the male party members. The end of the game features Matthew actually merging souls with Sveta to help save the world. Add in that Matthew and Karis have been friends since they were kids, and the fandom found the best way out.
• Kingdom Hearts: Many of the characters are grouped into trios thanks to the game's recurring Trinity motif and associated Sword, Shield, and Staff sigils. Most of these trios are Two Guys and a Girl. The shipping writes itself from there.
  • Sora/Riku/Kairi is the quintessential example. Sora and Kairi are, at the very least, Implied Love Interests (and get what some fans interpret as a Relationship Upgrade in Kingdom Hearts III, complete with exchanging paopu fruits), Riku possibly had some sort of feelings for Kairi in the past, and Sora and Riku are best friends with lots of Ho Yay (including a paopu fruit charm on their combined Keyblade). For many fans, the solution to this Love Triangle is obvious. The games themselves aren't shy about emphasizing how close the trio is either, such as the opening FMV of Kingdom Hearts II featuring a shot of Sora Holding Hands with both Riku and Kairi.
  • Roxas/Axel/Xion. Roxas and Xion are once again heavily ship-teased. Xion's diary entries have her explicitly state that she loves Roxas and Axel. Axel has a Ho Yay-laden friendship with Roxas that rivals Sora and Riku's, and while Axel's feelings on Xion are a bit complicated at first, he quickly realizes that he genuinely cares about her and considers her very important to him. By the end, his diary entries shows that he feels about Xion the same way he feels about Roxas and doesn't want to let either disappear, revealing all he did wasn't to help the organization but to try saving them both.
  • Ventus/Terra/Aqua. While the Ship Tease between any of the three is much lighter than the previous trios, Birth by Sleep does heavily emphasize the three are deep friends who will always fight for each other.
  • Further, Roxas, Ventus, and Vanitas, are all alter egos of Sora in various ways, while Naminé and Xion are alter egos of Kairi, and Aqua is an Expy of her. They can thus be mixed into pretty much any of the above pairings. Roxas/Axel/Naminé? Until Xion was introduced to the series, this was Roxas and Axel's default threesome. Ventus/Vanitas/Aqua? Of course it exists. Sora/Roxas/Ventus or Kairi/Xion/Naminé? It's a case of Screw Yourself, but it's out there. Adding Riku back into the mix, even before KHIII implicated Riku and Naminé as being more than just friends by endgame, just adds further possibilities.
  • Tidus/Waka/Selphie exists in the purely Kingdom Hearts universe, and they're so minor that only one of them has a speaking part in five games.
  • Marluxia/Larxene/Axel: A threesome enjoyed because only one is likely to be left standing by the end of it given the treacherous natures of all three characters.
  • There's a small following of Xemnas/Saïx/Kingdom Hearts. Make of that what you will.
  • Kingdom Hearts χ has Skuld/Ephemer/Player Character, for people who can't choose between Skuld and Ephemer's friendship and the Player's close bond with both of them.
• The King of Fighters: Yuri/Mai/King, the founding members of the Women Fighters Team, was popularized by Saigado Comics' aptly titled Yuri & Friends doujinshi series.
• The Legend of Zelda:
  • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has Malon/Zelda/Link. In addition, depending on whether or not Sheik is added as a separate person (depends on whether or not someone considers them an independent persona of Zelda, rather than just Zelda in disguise), add them into the mix.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask has Cremia/Romani/Link.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Oracle Games has an interesting twist. Din unashamedly flirts with Link, Zelda shows up and is implied to already have feelings for Link, but Nayru barely interacts with Link over the course of the entire game and has her own pursuer, Ralph. So the mish-mash of pairings includes Link/Din/Nayru, Link/Nayru/Ralph, Link/Din/Zelda, Link/Din/Nayru/Zelda, Link/Din/Nayru/Ralph, and of course, Link/Din/Nayru/Zelda/Ralph.
  • The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker has Link/(Tetra/Zelda)/Medli.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has given us Midna/Zelda/Link, or Midzelink, and Ilia/Link/Zelda.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword gives us Link/Zelda/Groose (after Groose's heaping portion of Character Development). Sometimes seen is Link/Zelda/Impa.
  • Through selecting certain dialogue options in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it is possible for Link to imply he has feelings for both Princess Zelda and Princess Mipha—who both have feelings for him.
• Life Is Strange and its prequel have Rachel Amber/Chloe Price/Max Caulfield, aka Amberpricefield. Chloe is stated to have been in love with Rachel, her relationship with Max can become romantic, and Chloe frequently comments that Max and Rachel would get along if they met. Sadly, Rachel and Max don't get the chance to interact in canon, as Rachel is dead by the time Max returns to Arcadia Bay.
• Metal Gear:
  • The Big Boss/Ocelot/EVA ship has quite a few followers, and Big Boss also proves to be the main motivating factors behind both EVA and Ocelot's actions in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
  • Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain also provides Venom Snake/Ocelot/Kaz, a ship that's been gaining popularity — the borderline romance between Ocelot and Kaz, with the two being united in their more genuine affection for Big Boss, makes it a pretty popular ship, as well as being a compromise between two already popular Big Boss ships.
• Since Overwatch has a lot of ambiguity, a lot of popular ships and OT3s are pretty random and have very little basis. Despite this (or perhaps because of this), the OT3s are plentiful:
  • Pharah/Mercy/Genji is one of the more common ones since it combines one of the biggest ships in the fandom (Pharah/Mercy) and the two characters with more Ship Tease than all of the other characters combined (Genji/Mercy).
  • Mercy/Genji/Zenyatta has a small but strong fanbase, as it combines Genji's most popular ships outside of Cassidy.
  • Jack/Gabriel/Ana is popular in some circles, probably because the characters were actually close to each other in canon, unlike most of these examples.
  • Pharah/Mercy/Zarya is popular since it pairs the two most muscular women in the game with the very feminine Mercy.
  • Hanzo/McCree/Genji combines McCree's most popular ships together and is very popular among those who aren't immediately squicked away by Hanzo/Genji.
  • Junkrat/D.Va/Lucio is relatively popular, probably because Junkrat and Lucio are the only characters that are actually close to D.Va's age.
  • After the Reflections comic revealed that Tracer is in a relationship with a woman named Emily some fans have decided to resolve the inevitable Ship-to-Ship Combat with fans of Tracer/Widowmaker by shipping the three together (Tracer/Emily/Widowmaker).
• Persona:
  • Persona 3:
    • Main character/Aigis/Elizabeth, as the only known multi-Persona-users within the time frame of that game, and given that Aigis arguably becomes Elizabeth's only other significant social contact from Earth aside from their mutual romantic interest (as shown by The Answer in FES, the events of the Arena titles, and even Dancing in Moonlight). Mitsuru/Akihiko/Shinjiro is also popular given their shared history.
    • The introduction of a female protagonist option in Persona 3 Portable resulted in Shinjiro/FeMC/Akihiko, given Shinjiro and Akihiko's very close friendship and the fact that both of them are possible love interests for the protagonist at different points in the game. This is sometimes expanded to include Mitsuru as well.
    • Though rare, there have been a few instances of the protagonist of either gender being paired off with both Yukari and Aigis, on the basis of their canonical feelings for the main character and the fact that, following The Answer, Yukari and Aigis lived together as roommates for their senior year at Gekkoukan. The only real changes between the male and female routes are that Aigis experiences some Gayngst if her Social Link is pursued by Minako and Yukari is no longer a prospective love interest (though she does strike up a close relationship with the FeMC regardless, similar to the bond developed between Yukari and Mitsuru).
  • On the other hand, the Persona 4 fandom seems to have a small but livid sect that ships Naoto/Kanji/Rise, with Naoto/Kanji already a Fan-Preferred Couple and Naoto/Rise being fairly common in yuri circles (despite their lack of interaction and Rise herself shipping Naoto with Kanji). Putting all three together simply reconciles any "relationship issues."
  • Persona 5:
    • There's a subset of the fandom that ships Joker with both Ann and Ryuji, which is helped by the three of them being the founding members of the Phantom Thieves and forming a strong Power Trio during the beginning of the game.
    • The release of Royal resulted in Akechi/Joker/Kasumi gaining a following, as both Akechi and Kasumi have an admiration towards Joker and the latter two's Phantom Thief outfits being designed to contrast Joker's. Further adding fuel to the fire is a comment from P5R Official Complete Guide comparing the relationship between the three to a love triangle.
• Even though it hasn't had an active fandom in years, Phantasy Star IV has (in depressingly small amounts) Chaz/Rika/Rune.
• Pokémon:
  • In Pokémon Black and White, N is a popular match for either player character so some fans take it further, having both PCs exist and shipping them and N all together. Cheren/Hilda/Bianca and Cheren/Hilbert/Bianca are also popular ships between the protagonist and their two childhood friends.
  • In HeartGold and SoulSilver, Ethan/Silver/Lyra is pretty popular.
  • The pairing of Brendan/May/Wally — the protagonist and their two rivals — from Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire isn't unheard of. Pairings of May and Flannery with most any male are also fairly common.
  • In Pokémon Sun and Moon, the protagonist, Hau, and Lillie are all shipped together, given Hau's canonical crush on Lillie and the considerable Ship Tease between Lillie and the protagonist. Some people also ship Guzma, Kukui and Burnet together, as the former two are a popular pair while the latter two are canonically Happily Married.
  • The leaders of Pokémon GO's three teams, Candela, Blanche and Spark, make an incredibly popular threesome.
• Since Portal 2, pairings have ranged from ChellxWheatleyxGLaDOS to Cores being interchangeable pairings, to ChellxAnythingxAnything. No, seriously. And it doesn't stay in the realms of Portal either, since Half-Life takes place in the same universe... Thus, seeing ChellxGordonxAlyx is pretty common.
• Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask has Angela/Randall/Henry. Angela/Randall is canon, Angela and Henry are married for over a decade, and Henry shows astounding devotion towards Randall even after his death. On the less plausible side, there is Layton/Claire/Dimitri from Unwound Future
• Samurai Warriors:
  • Yukimura/Mitsunari/Kanetsugu in 2, to the point that KOEI even released an image song featuring the three.
  • Yukimura/Kunoichi/Kai was introduced in SW3. Yukimura/Kunoichi/Ina as well. Hell, pretty much every woman Yukimura meets falls for him and every guy admires him. It's a shame there won't be any canon relationships (threesome or otherwise) due to Yukimura's historical status as a Chaste Hero.
  • Muneshige/Ginchiyo/Yoshihiro and Hideyoshi/Nene/Oichi (this being Hideyoshi's ideal outcome). Given the series' numerous characters there are a lot of these.
• Silent Hill:
  • Silent Hill 2 fandom has its share of Maria/James/Pyramid Head, and it is even more disturbing than one might think.
  • In a similar vein, Eileen/Henry/Walter from Silent Hill 4.
• Skies of Arcadia: Vyse/Aika/Fina, with the added bonus that the game seems to lean towards this being canon. Both Aika and Fina seem to be aware that the other likes Vyse, but neither seem to mind.
• In the Sonic the Hedgehog fandom, threesomes are very common (if you don't get involved with Ship-to-Ship Combat). Sonic/Amy/Shadow, Shadow/Rouge/Knuckles, Sonic/Knuckles/Rouge, the list could go on and on.
• This has been done a lot in the Star Fox fandom, and since most of the regular characters are male, most combinations are gay. Fox/Falco/Peppy has been done, as have Wolf/Leon/Panther and James/Peppy/Wolf.
• One fairly obvious OT3 in Suikoden V is Frey/Lymsleia/Lyon, due to the blatant subtext heaped on the former two and the text about Lyon's feelings for Frey. This is sometimes expanded to include Miakis as well, since she and Lymsleia have their own helping of Les Yay.
• Super Mario RPG has a bit where you get to pick up all of Peach's gear. You get a kiss either way. Pick up it all, and you'll get the only heterosexual option. Bowser and Booster, on the other hand... You can also get Mario/Bowser and Booster/Peach or Mario/Booster and Bowser/Peach. Finally, the only one relevant here, you can get Mario/Bowser/Booster, and Peach... presumably she's a Yaoi Fangirl.
• Tales series:
  • The Tales of Graces fandom has the Asbel/Sophie/Richard 'ship as well as the OT4 of Asbel/Sophie/Richard/Lambda.
  • Tales of Symphonia has an OT4 with Sheena/Lloyd/Colette/Zelos. Combining any two of those four will result in a highly popular pairing, so squishing them all together just averts any Ship-to-Ship Combat. The OT4 became especially popular when The Anime of the Game aired. In the game, whoever has the highest Relationship Values with Lloyd shows up at his house in the epilogue. In the anime, guess who it is? Colette, Sheena, and Zelos.
  • Tales of Vesperia:
    • Flynn, Yuri and Estelle is not as common as the other Tales OT3s, but at least the name Fluristelle rolls off the tongue nicely.
    • There's also the Rita/Estella/Yuri pairing. (Yuri as in the character, not the genre.) This is because of Yuri and Estelle being all but a Official Couple, the amount of Les Yay between Rita and Estelle which is lampshaded by Yuri himself ("Come ON, Ristelle!"), and a tiny amount of Ship Tease between Yuri and Rita. (Mainly Yuri making flirty remarks to Rita to annoy her.)
  • Tales of Legendia has Norma/Chloe/Senel, Chloe/Senel/Shirley, and Shirley/Senel/Stella.
• Tokyo Xanadu has Kou/Asuka/Shiori with Rion sometimes joining in. It doesn't hurt that the game itself seems to hint at the former: Kou's relationships with Asuka and Shiori drive the plot at several points (with plenty of Ship Tease moments to go around); Asuka and Shiori also become close as the story progresses (as evidenced by Asuka giving Shiori a Declaration of Protection similar to the one Kou gives Shiori and the two eventually being on a First-Name Basis); and one of the possible endings in eX+'s After Story has Kou spending time with both girls simultaneously during the autumn festival, complete with the other party members making note of it exactly how you'd expect and the girls talking among themselves about something they need to discuss with Kou together in the future.
• Touhou Project:
  • While Marisa seems to get paired up with just about everyone, her pairings with Alice and Patchouli are the only ones that appear to have made their way into OT3 territory.
  • The Scarlet Mansion Cast Herd are paired together in all sorts of combinations, but Remilia/Sakuya/Flandre is the only OT3 with any staying power, especially when considering the popularity of this Fan Vid.
  • The Moriya trio (Kanako/Sanae/Suwako) has its followers as an OT3, as does the Tengu trio (Aya/Momiji/Hatate).
  • The most popular ship involving the Three Mischievous Fairies is with each other. Same thing with the Prismriver sisters.
• Twisted Wonderland has Jade/Azul/Floyd (helped by the twins' gleeful interest in Azul's less than savoury deeds, them being his Only Friends since middle school, and the three of them being the only named characters from their dormitory), although whether the twins are attracted to each other or just Azul varies.
• Undertale: Given Mad Mew Mew's connection to Undyne and Alphys - having been the former training dummy for the former, and implied to have taken her current body from the latter - it's popular to insert her as the third wheel in Undyne and Alphys' relationship, despite her Character Development being based around accepting their relationship and moving on in her current state.
• Wild ARMs:
  • Anyone who didn't see this in Wild ARMs 5 with Dean/Avril/Rebecca needs to have their eyes checked.
  • Not so unavoidable, but for the original, both Jane/Rudy/Cecilia and Rudy/Jack/Cecilia are fairly workable and turn up in fic.
  • The main Wild ARMs 3 cast, Virginia, Jet, and Gallows, all had too much charisma together (and too much time spent alone... in the wilderness...) to not have SOMETHING going on. (Clive would be in there too, but he's too loyal to his wife.)
• Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Rex/Pyra/Mythra. Rex gets plenty of Ship Tease with both of them, and they're kinda-sorta the same person anyway. At least until the ending. Likewise, pairing Rex/Pyra/Mythra/Nia together is very popular in the fandom, as Nia has significant Ship Tease moments with all three and even confesses her love to Rex during Chapter 7. The title screen after completing New Game Plus alternates between all four of them joining hands and Nia tackling Rex out of the way to have Pyra and Mythra for herself. Ultimately, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 canonizes it; the four of them would go on to enter a polygamous relationship with all three women bearing his children.

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