History FanPreferredCouple / Literature

** [[spoiler:Eric Northman]] became the latest canon relationship. [[spoiler:(They'd had sex before too.)]]
** That relationship eventually falls apart as well. By the epilogue, [[spoiler: Sookie is happily married to Sam.]]

* You'll be hard-pressed to find any fan of the ''Literature/LandOfOz'' series who didn't ship Dorothy/Ozma at one point. The two get along well, [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship have a lot of sweet interactions]], and outside of the classic characters from the first book, Dorothy's known her the longest. [[PlatonicKissing They even kissed a few times]]. Some authors have tried to avert the romantic implications by giving them male love interests, but it never stuck.

** Speaking of which, while fans were at least supportive with Tonks being with Lupin at the end of HBP (feeling that Lupin truly does deserve be with Tonks), some also felt she was a much better match for Bill Weasley more than Fleur Delacour, and that her marrying into the Weasley clan would have made a lot more sense than Fleur, (who, despite her genuinely positive traits, never won a lot of fans over).

* ''Literature/CarryOn'' provides us with an odd {{Zigzagg|ingTrope}}ed example. ''Carry On'' is a companion book to ''{{Literature/Fangirl}}'', and the story it tells is framed as SlashFic of the (non-existent) ''Simon Snow'' series. The OfficialCouple of ''Carry On'' is Simon/Baz, but in ''Fangirl'' they're framed as the FanPreferredCouple of the ''Simon Snow'' series. The real-world fandom absolutely '''adores''' Simon/Baz, and doesn't ship either of them with anyone else. It seems that framing your OfficialCouple as a FanPreferredCouple really gets the fans on board the ship.

* Lots of ''Literature/HIVESeries'' fans are pretty damn obsessed by [[UnholyMatrimony Nero/Raven]]. There also seems to be a bit of [[HoYay Otto/Wing]] floating around too.

* Eddie and Richie from ''Literature/{{It}}'' tend to be paired up, especially since the 2017 film.

** Enjolras/Grantaire also have a huge fanbase.

* Helen (the Queen of Eddis) and the Magus of Sounis are this for some ''Literature/TheQueensThief'' fans. Some are still happily shipping Helen/Sophos [[spoiler:''encouraged by'' the latter's mysterious disappearance]].

** [[DeadpanSnarker Jayfeather]]/[[TheWoobie Briarlight]]. The fact that both of them are disabled yet determined to help their Clan, along with how she moved in with him after the accident that paralyzed her, quickly caused them to become one of the most popular pairings in the fandom. The fact that ShipTease is thrown their way like water on a fire doesn't help (or does, depending on your point of view).
** After they broke up, fans pretty much rallied and demanded that the Erins put [[spoiler:[[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Brambleclaw]] and [[RebelliousPrincess Squirrelflight]]]] back together. [[spoiler:It didn't happen in the books at first, but WordOfGod says that yes, they ''did'' eventually reconcile their relationship (later confirmed InUniverse in ''Bramblestar's Storm''). So this is a weird mix of FanPreferredCouple and OfficialCouple.]]

* In the ''Literature/GoodOmens'' fandom, [[HoYay Crowley/Aziraphale]] easily makes up at least 90% of all fanfics. In canon, they're literally-{{Asexual}} [[HeterosexualLifePartners Life Partners]].

* Claudia's sister Janine and Kristy's older brother Charlie are this for many ''Literature/TheBabySittersClub'' fans.

* An odd example with Creator/MaryRenault's ''The Charioteer''. Laurie and [[spoiler: Ralph]] end up together, so they're actually canon. However, this was not intended as an unmitigated happy ending -- almost none of Renault's endings are. Many fans, particularly the straight female fanbase though also some in the gay male fanbase, think that [[spoiler: Ralph]] was supposed to be the right guy for Laurie all along, when in fact Renault wrote in a letter that at the end [[spoiler: Ralph]] was "being taken on out of pity" by Laurie.

* ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'': Marcia/Silas, in spite of the fact that Silas is married and has seven kids.

* ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'': Septimus/Jenna and Marcia/Silas, in spite of the fact that Septimus and Jenna are [[NotBloodSiblings siblings]] and that Silas is married and has seven kids.
* [[MentorShip Skulduggery and Valkyrie]] from ''Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant'' is popular but also rather polarizing due to Valkyrie being underage and some other... [[DemBones obvious limitations]].
** As of ''The Dying of the Light'' [[spoiler: Valkryie outright states she ''loves him'', causing Valduggery shippers everywhere to go completely nuts. However, it’s not overly clear if she meant it in a romantic way or platonic way. Either way, she’s eighteen at the time, so it removes the issue of her being underaged]].
* Despite her having two canon lovers, the majority of the fandom of ''Literature/TheSookieStackhouseMysteries'' are rooting for Sookie to end up with either her boss, Sam the shape-shifter, or Bill's "boss", Eric Northman.

* ''Literature/TheMazeRunner'': While Thomas is paired with Brenda in canon, most fans ship Thomas and Newt (Newtmas), mainly due to the HoYay between them and Newt being a fan favorite. This carried over to the films where the chemistry between Creator/DylanOBrien and Creator/ThomasBrodieSangster is seen as one of the highlights. Thomas/Newt has over 3000 fics on [=AO3=], while Thomas/Brenda only has 105. those who don't ship them usually pair Thomas with either Teresa (Thomesa) or Minho (Thominho).

* ''Literature/TheMazeRunner'': While Thomas is paired with Brenda in canon, most fans ship Thomas and Newt (Newtmas), mainly due to the HoYay between them and Newt being a fan favorite. This carried over to the films where the chemistry between Creator/DylanOBrien and Creator/ThomasBrodieSangster is seen as one of the highlights. Thomas/Newt pairing has over 3000 fics on [=AO3=], while Thomas/Brenda only has 105. those who don't ship them usually pair Thomas with either Teresa (Thomesa) or Minho (Thominho).

* ''Literature/AgentPendergast'' has Pendergast/Corrie, Pendergast/Diogenes, Pendergast/D'Agosta, Pendergast/Constance...
* Alice and the Mad Hatter in ''Literature/AliceInWonderland''. The original book is for children, but some [[Series/{{Alice|2009}} adaptations]] and [[Film/AliceInWonderland2010 sequels]] gave their relationship romantic traits. Naturally, Alice/Hatter is now the most desired ship.
** And at Disneyland, two of the costumed actors who play them are actually in a relationship, and therefore the Disney incarnations have a pretty big following on sites like Deviantart as well.

* Artemis/Holly in ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' has been the Fan Preferred Couple since the very first book. Even when Holly HATED Artemis.
** Which takes MayflyDecemberRomance to an extreme because not only is Holly very long-lived, but Artemis began the series as a ''prepubescent child''.
* Some ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'' readers much prefer Dagny/Hank to Dagny/Galt.

* There are a lot of ''Literature/BattleRoyale'' fanfictions dedicated to Shinji and Takako.
* ''Literature/TheBooksOfEmber'' has Doon and Lina, though they are PlatonicLifePartners [[spoiler:for ''most'' of the series]].

* ''Literature/CassonFamilySeries'' has Tom/Rose.

* Apparently, the most preferred partners for both Edmund and Lucy in the ''Literature/ChroniclesOfNarnia'' category are probably [[BrotherSisterIncest each other]]. The same for Peter and Susan. Caspian and any of the Pevensies is also extremely popular. Eustace/Jill and Polly/Digory are pretty popular as well, even though they're PlatonicLifePartners.

* Most fans of ''Literature/ConfessionsOfGeorgiaNicolson'' ship Georgia and Dave.

* Riley and [[spoiler:Beck]] are this in ''Literature/TheDemonTrappers''.

* Most ''Literature/TheLastVampire'' fans seem to ship Sita/Yaksha.

* ''Literature/TheMazeRunner'': While Thomas is paired with Brenda in canon, most fans ship Thomas and Newt (Newtmas), mainly due to the Ho Yay between them and Newt being a fan favorite. This carried over to the films where the chemistry between Creator/DylanOBrien and Creator/ThomasBrodieSangster is seen as one of the highlights. Thomas/Newt pairing has over 3000 fics on [=AO3=], while Thomas/Brenda only has 105. those who don't ship them usually pair Thomas with either Teresa (Thomesa) or Minho (Thominho).

* ''Literature/TheVillainsSeries'' has no real romance (aside from Eli and Angie in the backstory, and his sexual relationship with Serena in the first book), but the vast majority of the fandom has taken the [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou mutual]] [[WorthyOpponent obsession]] between Eli and his [[FoeYay nemesis]], Victor, and run with it. The fact that they are hopelessly fixated on each other and understand each other like nobody else certainly helps.

** According to WordOfGod, Redtail and Brindleface are Sandstorm's parents. Many fans prefer to write Redtail as {{transgender}} and make Sandstorm [[MisterSeahorse his daughter]] [[HomosexualReproduction with Runningwind]].

* ''Literature/TheIliad'' has Helen/Hector. Helen is/was the queen of [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Sparta]] and subtly derides Paris for letting Hector do all the fighting. Hector is a CrazyAwesome warrior who [[KnightInShiningArmor treats her courteously]], [[HonorBeforeReason even though he has every right not to]]. Since Helen openly wishes that Paris was more like Hector and Andromache is rather flat as a character, you can see where people are coming from.

* While the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series has 41 novels, with countless official couples populating it, one fan-preferred pairing of note would be Sam Vimes/Havelock Vetinari. While Sam Vimes is married to Sibyl in the novels and Vimes/Sibyl has fans and is respected in its own right, Vimes/Vetinari has had the biggest presence since much earlier days of fandom, likely in part due to Sam Vimes being more-or-less the main character of the City Watch novels, and Vetinari being a very major player in those same novels, not only interacting with Vimes frequently but seeming to gain most of his current ManipulativeBastard-playing-the-most-effective-XanatosSpeedChess personality with every appearance - and often interaction with Vimes - in them.

* Given that the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series comprises 41 novels, and most of its LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters appear across multiple books, it's hard to single out a single pairing as the most popular. But one that is noteworthy is Mal/Polly -- which has managed to make it into the top three pairings on Archive of our Own despite the two characters only appearing in [[Literature/MonstrousRegiment a single book]].

* Quite a few Janeites wish ''Literature/MansfieldPark'' had ended with [[spoiler:Fanny/Henry Crawford]] and [[spoiler:Edmund/Mary Crawford]] instead of [[spoiler:Fanny/Edmund]], despite the fact that Austen always strives to show that true love arises from similarity of character and that [[RealityEnsues bad boys will not change for a good girl]].

* ''Literature/TheCampHalfBloodSeries'':
** ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'': Even though Word of God states that Annabeth and Luke were in a relationship before his death, most fans still prefer Luke/Thalia. [[spoiler:[[ShipTease And there's also that little scene in Demigod Diaries when she kisses him...]]]]
** ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'': Despite Reyna having unrequited feelings for Jason, most fans prefer to pair her up with his sister Thalia. This is in spite of how little they interacted together, Thalia being a Hunter of Artemis, which means she can't have any romantic relationships, and that they first meet when Thalia, along with the rest of the Hunters, technically kidnap her. However, due to the two's surprising chemistry, and the fact that they hit it off really well in a short amount of time, the ship took off, even overtaking Thalia's other popular ship with Luke on Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn. This even gets referenced in ''Literature/TheTrialsOfApollo'', where Apollo wonders if they are dating due to how close they are.

* ''Literature/TheRavenCycle'': Both Adam/Ronan and Blue/Gansey were preferred ships even before becoming the OfficialCouple, leaving Noah as the fifth wheel. With the introduction of Henry and his (romantic or not) interest in and bond with both Blue and Gansey, Blue/Gansey/Henry also became a fan favorite trio.
** With the sequel trilogy, Jordan/Declan is also a popular ship.

* ''Literature/TheRavenCycle'': Both Adam/Ronan and Blue/Gansey were preferred ships before becoming OfficialCouple, leaving Noah as the fifth wheel. With the introduction of Henry and his (romantic or not) interest in and bond with both Blue and Gansey, Blue/Gansey/Henry also became a fan favorite trio.

* Both Adam/Ronan and Blue/Gansey were preferred ships before becoming OfficialCouple, leaving Noah as the fifth wheel. With the introduction of Henry and his (romantic or not) interest in and bond with both Blue and Gansey, Blue/Gansey/Henry also became a fan favorite trio.