History FanPreferredCouple / VideoGames

* In ''{{Skyrim}}'', the Dragonborn and [[FriendlyNeighbourhoodVampire Serana]] from ''Dawnguard'' have been heavily shipped by the fandom, who praise her well developed character and how much depth was given to her burgeoning relationship with the Dragonborn. Many were disappointed that she's not a romance option, as despite the ship-tease, she politely turns down your proposal, stating her [[HolyBurnsEvil dislike of temples]].

* Notorious fandom shipping wars (and various sunken ships) aside, it's a surprise to replay ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' and realize there is ''no canon evidence'' that Saturos and Menardi are a couple.

* Thanks to a probable RelationshipWritingFumble in ''[[CapcomSequelStagnation Super]] Franchise/StreetFighter [[VideoGame/StreetFighterIV IV]]'' [[note]]see the main RWF page for more details[[/note]], [[VideoGame/FinalFight Guy]][=/=][[VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha Rose]] is quickly becoming popular among the fandom. With the somber atmosphere of their [[FightingYourFriend Rival Battle]] and the ShipTease nature of their [[BossBanter remarks]] and cutscenes, [[ShippingGoggles it's hard to see their fight as anything less than a lover's quarrel]]. [[TheyJustDidntCare Keep in mind that Guy]] ''[[OfficialCouple is already engaged/married to Rena]]'' [[note]]Rena being Maki's older sister, introduced in ''Final Fight 2'', which Capcom seems to be regarding as CanonDiscontinuity alongside ''Final Fight 3'' in respect to ''SF''[[/note]], not to mention that Rose [[CelibateHero probably isn't the type to place romance over her ever-continuing struggle against evil]]. In their defense, though, [[TrueCompanions he and Rose]] ''would'' make for an awesome BattleCouple.

* Thanks to a probable RelationshipWritingFumble in ''[[CapcomSequelStagnation Super]] Franchise/StreetFighter [[VideoGame/StreetFighterIV IV]]''[[hottip:*:see the main RWF page for more details]], [[VideoGame/FinalFight Guy]][=/=][[VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha Rose]] is quickly becoming popular among the fandom. With the somber atmosphere of their [[FightingYourFriend Rival Battle]] and the ShipTease nature of their [[BossBanter remarks]] and cutscenes, [[ShippingGoggles it's hard to see their fight as anything less than a lover's quarrel]]. [[TheyJustDidntCare Keep in mind that Guy]] ''[[OfficialCouple is already engaged/married to Rena]]'' [[hottip:*:Rena being Maki's older sister, introduced in ''Final Fight 2'', which Capcom seems to be regarding as CanonDiscontinuity alongside ''Final Fight 3'' in respect to ''SF'']]. In their defense, [[TrueCompanions he and Rose]] ''would'' make an awesome BattleCouple.

*** Serah and Noel from [[VideoGame/{{Final Fantasy X-III2}} the sequel]] got a lot of supporters MONTHS before the game was even out, with some hoping that Snow and Serah had broken up because he wasn't seen in earlier trailers. And then it got even more support after the game was released and contained some very SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments between the two.

** Right when ''VII'' came out, the most popular pairing was actually Cloud/Aeris.[[hottip:*:Aerith was not [[SpellMyNameWithAnS a common spelling]] in the English-speaking fandom at the time.]] The legendary PlayerPunch had ''worked'', and back then the Square forums were inundated with "please bring Aeris back in the remake!" requests, while the fanfic scene was full of steamy writing starring spiky-haired SOLDIER and {{Moe}} flower girl. However, newer players tend to align with Cloud/Tifa if male, or [[HoYayShipping Cloud/Sephiroth]] if [[MostFanficWritersAreGirls female]], and the fanbase in general has turned more and more spiteful towards Aerith. The Compilation torpedoes the ship further; the old guard are happy to ship what they shipped before ''Crisis Core'', but there's fewer every year, and new players who got into ''FFVII'' through the Compilation and the internet scene tend to accept Zack/Aerith as holy writ [[BaseBreaker if they accept Aerith's right to exist at all.]]
*** When it comes to HoYayShipping Cloud and Sephiroth were lets just say very popular (though the majority of the other male characters were far from excluded). On the LesYayShipping side Tifa is very popular in this regard as well especially with Aeris (but Yuffie is not entirely exempt from this), on the FoeYay side there is Scarlet (and to a lesser extent Elena). Tifa/Aeris is generally played for Romance while Tifa/Scarlet is generally played for [[GirlOnGirlIsHot fanservice]] (though keep in mind the former can be willing to do fanservice as well).

* As for ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', large swathes of fandom have fallen for [[LadyOfWar Lightning]] and [[SquishyWizard Hope]]. Sometimes they age Hope up; [[{{Shotacon}} sometimes they don't]]. This is also one of the most popular pairings in Japan, gaining the [[PortmanteauCoupleName portmanteau ship name]] "hopurai".
** By contrast another very popular romantic pairing via fandom is [[SixthRanger Fang]] and [[TheHero Lightning]], which is labelled as [[PortmanteauCoupleName "FLight"]]. Aside from being inspired by the minor amount of [[LesYay Les Yay]] between the two in the game and the common understanding of [[GirlonGirlIsHot Girl on Girl is Hot]]. But on a more thoughtful level, the two are clearly set up as each others Foil (see [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII Final Fantasy XIII]] page) within the narrative, yet interestingly when Lightning is down it is Fang who props her up and in return when Fang is down it is Lightning who props her up. Finding hordes of pics, fanfics, and vids of [[PortmanteauCoupleName "FLight"]] when simply just searching for just one of the two characters alone via google, deviantart, youtube, etc etc is inevitable.
*** Serah and Noel from [[FinalFantasyXIII2 the sequel]] got a lot of supporters MONTHS before the game was even out, with some hoping that Snow and Serah had broken up because he wasn't seen in earlier trailers. And then it got even more support after the game was released and contained some very HeartwarmingMoments between the two.
* Thanks to ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' and '''[[MemeticMutation THE]] [[PowerOfTheVoid VOID]]!''', [[FanNickname Voidshipping]] [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV Exdeath]][=/=][[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII Cloud of Darkness]] is ''huge'', despite running on huge dosages of {{crack|Pairing}}. [[ThemePairing It's]] [[LargeHam kinda]] [[NarmCharm easy]] [[BrokenRecord to]] [[CargoShip see]] [[BirdsOfAFeather why]].

* From the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series in general, Ifrit/Shiva is a very popular pairing between {{summon|Magic}}s, most likely due to the "[[PlayingWithFire fire]] and [[AnIcePerson ice]], BeastAndBeauty" thematic they have going on.

*** Serah and Noel from [[FinalFantasyXIII2 the sequel]] got a lot supporters MONTHS before the game was even out, with some hoping that Snow and Serah had broken up because he wasn't seen in earlier trailers. And then it got even more support after the game was released and contained some very HeartwarmingMoments between the two.

* The ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'' canon pairing is Asbel/[[DistressedDamsel Cheria]], but most of the players seems to favor Asbel/[[CuteBruiser Sophie]].

** Same with Ema/Klavier from ''ApolloJustice''.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' is a hard series to tackle, due to the numerous continuities and hundreds of shippings. Shippers tend to have a habit of shipping protagonists with each other, or rivals and protagonists, leading to those being the top shippings. Though [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Hilbert or Hilda/N]] is quite popular for their games, more so then the two protagonists together. Likewise, [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Cynthia/Dawn]] is almost as popular as said protagonist and either her rival or Lucas. Also, [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Silver/Lyra]] has a strong following.

*** Actually, according to polls,[[SilentMajority Cloud/Tifa]] has always been the more popular pairing, Cloud/Aerith shippers were just more [[VocalMinority vocal.]]

* Although [[TouhouProject ZUN]] has stated that he likes the concept of his characters [[LesYay paired up]], [[ShrugOfGod he hasn't bothered to tell us WHICH pairings he likes]]. So, the rampant shipping of the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters Loads And Loads Of]] [[Characters/{{Touhou}} Characters]] (particularly with certain characters *cough[[EvenTheGirlsWantHer Marisa]]cough* being seen as a LauncherOfAThousandShips) goes unchecked by the presence of an OfficialCouple. However, certain ships are frequently seen calling at port: [[CuteWitch Marisa]]/[[MarionetteMaster Alice]], [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire Remilia]]/[[{{Meido}} Sakuya]] (although [[ButtMonkey Meiling]]/Sakuya is almost as, if not just as popular), [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Yuyuko]]/[[HotChickWithASword Youmu]], [[GreenThumb Yuuka]]/[[LittleBitBeastly Wriggle]], [[BottleFairy Yuugi]]/[[{{Tsundere}} Parsee]], and [[HotForTeacher Keine]]/[[WhoWantsToLiveForever Mokou]], to name a few. Of all of these, only Marisa/Alice comes even remotely close to being hinted at in canon, and some of these are of characters who aren't even confirmed to have ''[[ShipsThatPassInTheNight met]]'' in canon.

** While ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Birth by Sleep]]'' is in no way light on ShipTease from all directions, the most popular ship ''by far'' is that of [[AntiHero T]][[KnightInSourArmor e]][[{{Determinator}} r]][[SkilledButNaive r]][[MightyGlacier a]] and [[LadyOfWar A]][[SquishyWizard q]][[HotChickWithASword u]][[ActionGirl a]]. Not a believer? [[spoiler:Go see the [[DownerEnding Last]] [[TearJerker Episode]] for proof.]] It doesn't help that Ven, the other member of the [[TrueCompanions trio]], appears to [[ShipperOnDeck ship them]] and Terra and Aqua [[DesignatedParents seem to act more like]] Ven's ''[[TeamDad pa]][[PapaWolf re]][[TeamMom nt]][[MamaBear s]]'' than his surrogate [[BigBrotherInstinct brother]] and [[CoolBigSis sister]]. Bonus points in that this is perhaps ''the only'' het ship in the fandom that ''even the {{yaoi fangirl}}s are supportive of''.

** Jaina and everyone's favorite orc, Thrall, is another popular ship. Such that [[WordOfGod Chris Metzen]] ''mercilessly'' sank with the recent novel having Thrall become mates with the Maghari Shamanka Aggra [[LastMinuteHookup seemingly out of nowhere]]. Baring ''that'', stated with extreme confidence [[ShipSinking that the Thrall/Jaina pairing will never happen]] during the Q&A at Blizzcon 2010.

** Garrus/Tali is also somewhat popular, and in ''MassEffect3'', [[spoiler:provided you don't romance them both, they hook up.]]

* For a time in the ''[[FireEmblemAkaneia Mystery Of The Emblem]]'' fandom, people greatly preferred Marth with [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Katua/Catria]] instead of his canon girlfriend and eventual wife Sheeda/Shiida/Caeda, whom they preferred to pair with Ogma. In an aversion of DieForOurShip, they get along with Marth/Caeda fans (better then the [[CrackPairing alternatives]] that originated from the FanDumb in ''SuperSmashBros'', which was emphasized in the fanfic "Time Cannot Erase" by CallistoHime).
** Atokad11 has pretty much made it clear that he seems to want Katua and Sheeda to have Marth equally (Note: he also states that every FE Lord follows the principles of paedophilia, incest and polygamy), and has made a series of how the two of them, along with Tana from Sacred Stones and 3 girls from the Tales series, go on a crusade to destroy all the fangirls in the world, along with CallistoHime.

* ''[[ShiningForce Shining Force II]]'''s plot is something of a ClicheStorm, complete with a SleepingBeauty princess who needs to be [[IntimateHealing awakened with a kiss]]. Everyone tells [[TheHero Bowie]] that he's the right one to wake Princess Elis, [[StandardHeroReward marry her, and inherit the throne]]. When it comes her turn to talk, [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend Sarah]] bursts into tears, says that you're the best choice, and runs off, only to be [[PairTheSpares comforted]] by another member of the FiveManBand, while [[ButThouMust you get to go up and wake the princess]]. Most fans, of course, much prefer Sarah to Elis, who doesn't get more than two lines in the whole game and exists solely to be the DistressedDamsel.

** While ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Birth by Sleep]]'' is in no way light on ShipTease from all directions, the most popular ship ''by far'' is that of [[AntiHero T]][[KnightInSourArmor e]][[{{Determinator}} r]][[SkilledButNaive r]][[MightyGlacier a]] and [[LadyOfWar A]][[SquishyWizard q]][[HotChickWithASword u]][[ActionGirl a]]. Not a believer? [[spoiler:Go see the [[DownerEnding Last]] [[TearJerker Episode]] for proof.]] It doesn't help that Ven, the other member of the [[TrueCompanions trio]], appears to [[ShipperOnDeck ship them]] and Terra and Aqua [[DesignatedParents seem to act more like]] Ven's ''[[TeamDad pa]][[PapaWolf re]][[TeamMom nt]][[MamaBear s]]'' than his surrogate [[BigBrotherInstinct brother]] and [[CoolBigSis sister]]. Bonus points in that this is perhaps ''the only'' het ship in the fandom that ''even the {{yaoi fangirl}}s [[BeyondTheImpossible are supportive of]]''.

** In Japan, it's less of a FanPreferredCouple and more [[BrokenBase on par with Senel/Shriley in terms of]] ShipToShipCombat. The official crossover spin-offs to the ''Tales'' series constantly flip-flop between supporting Senel/Shirley or Senel/Chloe [[DependingOnTheWriter depending on the development staff.]]

* A great many ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'' fans prefer Senel/Chloe to the heavily implied Senel/Shirley. After all, Senel and Chloe spend most of the game getting to know one another and discovering what they have in common (though, ironically enough, their similarities are used in-game as the chief reason they ''can't'' end up together). Meanwhile, Senel introduces Shirley as his [[LikeBrotherAndSister sister]], was in a relationship with Shirley's ''actual'' sister, and when he spurns Shirley for her dead sister, she turns into a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds who almost floods the world.

* A great many ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'' fans prefer Senel/Chloe to the heavily implied Senel/Shirley. After all, Senel and Chloe spend most of the game getting to know one another and discovering what they have in common (though, ironically enough, their similarities are used in-game as the chief reason they ''can't'' end up together). Meanwhile, Senel introduces Shirley as his [[LikeBrotherAndSister sister]], was in a relationship with Shirley's ''actual'' sister, and when he spurns Shirley for her dead sister, she turns into a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds.

* Almost all ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'' fans prefer Senel/Chloe to the heavily implied Senel/Shirley. After all, Senel and Chloe spend most of the game getting to know one another and discovering what they have in common (though, ironically enough, their similarities are used in-game as the chief reason they ''can't'' end up together). Meanwhile, Senel introduces Shirley as his [[LikeBrotherAndSister sister]], was in a relationship with Shirley's ''actual'' sister, and when he spurns Shirley, she turns into a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds.

* Almost all ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'' fans prefer Senel/Chloe to the heavily implied Senel/Shirley. After all, Senel and Chloe spend most of the game getting to know one another and discovering what they have in common. Meanwhile, Senel introduces Shirley as his [[LikeBrotherAndSister sister]], was in a relationship with Shirley's ''actual'' sister, and when he spurns Shirley, she turns into a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': ''Any'' coupling outside of RED Spy/BLU Scout's mother and possibly Demoman/the opposing Medic's wife is based in {{Fanon}}, but the highly suggestive lines the Heavy has leads to Heavy/Medic being the most popular. {{Valve}} even [[ShipTease shipteases]] these guys with the Beaux and Arrows achievement, which you get when you pin a Medic to a Heavy using an arrow.