Huh. Didn't realize this got opened already.
Bumping for discussion.
I don't think you needed to start a thread. The trope is specifically defined as rejected love interests for the main pairing getting paired off with each other. Any two characters getting paired off as a Beta Couple is not this trope and those examples should be deleted.
The Negima one is correct to a point.
The series started out as a harem series with Negi surrounded by 31 girls, she didn't kiss the main character Negi to form a pactio because she is thinks she is just "a side character" with no chance with him so she decides to get out early so she goes after "the one guy who's in the same 'side-character' position as me" to the point of stalking him to get married.
It is basically an invoked/discussed version of the trope and Beta Couple. It needs a rewrite and remove the dead links though.
After War Gundam X seems correct, IIRC a bunch of couples got hooked up including the main couple and side characters at the end of the series, its quite canon. Gotta Ship 'Em All is pure Fanon where everyone gets shipped with someone.
EDIT: Fruits Basket too, 12 pairings were made at the end of the series to pair off almost everyone important to the manga.
edited 23rd Feb '15 9:37:02 PM by Memers
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Well, I guess, but the current misuse might actually work as a separate trope, so I made the thread to see if a trope transplant would be viable, or if nuking the bad examples would suffice. Or if the definitions are actually similar enough for the trope to be expanded to fit the misuse.
Yes, but "a bunch of people — including characters that aren't too important to the plot — getting hooked up together" is not this trope.
This trope, as written, is a sub-trope to Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends where romantic rivals for the main couple gets hooked up together to give them happy ending while, at the same time, removing them from the Official Couple's way.
The Fruits Basket is not a correct example because, IIRC, the only love triangle in the series is between Tohru, Kyo and Kagura, and Kagura isn't paired of with anyone in the end, so it doesn't qualify. I don't know about Gundam, but unless the characters that are paired off in the end were originally a part of a Love Dodecahedron where the tangled relations is settled by these pairing off, it doesn't qualify either.
And, yes, I know that Gotta Ship 'Em All is about fan-shipping, but the way this trope is used, a lot of it sound like occurrences where the trope is played in-universe, where almost every character in the cast is paired of with someone, regardless of their relations to the Alpha Couple. Even the page quote seem to support that definition — but, I repeat, that is not what this trope is supposed to be about.
edited 24th Feb '15 3:08:17 PM by Adept
Then we are missing a super trope about pairing off the characters in a show at the end of a series, that is seriously a thing, some shows are obsessive about it to the point of giving absolutely everyone named in the show a partner.
edited 24th Feb '15 3:15:58 PM by Memers
I agree with that. The question is whether Pair the Spares is the better name for the current trope or that missing supertrope.
Well this thread died. As for name I dont know, Everyone Gets Paired In The Ending?
Chair Man
How is this different from (canonical) Gotta Ship Them All anyway?
MAX POWER KILL JEEEEEEEEWWWWW
I do agree that the trope should be split off. Honestly, I think Pair the Spares works better for what we're splitting off than what we're keeping. Especially since it's only about one spare, and one random other person.
Maybe something like No Romantic Loose Ends, or something like that.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
Essentially, there are 2 tropes currently in use under this name.
The first, as I've repeatedly mentioned, is a canon version of Gotta Ship 'Em All — where (almost) every member of the cast is paired off with someone, regardless of their actual on-screen interaction, or their relation with the central protagonist.
The second, which is what the trope is supposed to be, is a subtrope to Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends where the "losers" of the Love Dodecahedron settles with each other (or maybe with newly introduced characters), so that they can be written off from the Alpha Couple's way while still ending up with someone.
I suppose they are related (writers enforcing a pairing to happen to give the characters a "happy ending"), but they're not actually the same thing.
Actually, I think the current name fits the actual trope better, since "spare" implies that the characters are the "left overs" from the main romance arc. Maybe something like Everyone Must Pair for the other definition?
Villain Protagonist
I agree about spitting them, Pair the Spares and Everyone Must Be Paired or whatever name
So, do we have enough consensus to split this trope? What's the next procedure, if so?
I agree with splitting Pair the Spares and Everyone Must Be Paired.
The next step is a split crowner.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
the split is about as close to unanimous as ever.
Name crowners next?
Calling. Any name suggestions?
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
It gets the idea across anyway.
How sweet it is
I'm good with it.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
The Unknown
Everybody Must Be Paired is good.
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody remembers it, who else will you have ice cream with?
Just to throw another option out.
I kind of like keeping Pair the Spares for 'Everyone Must Be Paired'
and changing the other one to something like Tidying Up The Love Triangle.
Crown Description:
What would be the best way to fix the page?
In a previous thread
, I pointed out a misuse to Pair the Spares:
Originally a subtrope to Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends where the losing contenders for the main characters is paired off with someone else to give them a happy end while simultaneously removing them from intersecting with the main couple. Presently, it seemed to be used as a Canon version of Gotta Ship 'Em All or any time a Romance Arc is given to a non-major character, regardless of on-screen interactions.
The previous thread was locked due to a lack of evidence, so here is the assessment I got from the example list:
Verdict: Correct examples: 9 out of 25 (36%) Canon Gotta Ship 'Em All: 8 (32%) The rest are about the canon shipping of less important characters or just plain wrong.
Basically, not a good result. I mean, deliberately pairing off all your named characters is a viable trope, but I'm not sure if it should be lumped to this one.
edited 2nd Feb '15 11:25:59 PM by Adept