History Main / AlternateSelfShipping

** Alternately, there's Marinette × [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/MiraculousLadybugS03E24Ladybug Sentibug]] in fics where the latter survives.

** From ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', there is [[http://dragonkink.livejournal.com/721.html?thread=633809#t633809 Future Bulma×Bulma]] as well as [[http://mirai-masenko.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=24#/di6ge5 Future Trunks×Trunks]]. Both pairings are technically possible in-universe, thanks to Bulma being a genius and inventing a time-machine.

** There's also Thundershipping, which pairs [[Anime/YuGiOhGX anime Manjoume]] with [[Manga/YuGiOhGX manga Manjoume]]. Judai×[[SuperpoweredEvilSide Haou]] and Johan×Possesed Johan are also fairly common.
* Youko Kurama×Shuuichi Kurama is seen occasionally in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' fanfic, but they're not usually portrayed as the same person.

* Courtesy of his visit to the post-apocalyptic future, Dean Winchester of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' gets shipped with his alternate selves in fics, both in the form of Dean×[[FutureMeScaresMe future Dean]] and Dean×future Dean×[[BrokenAngel future Castiel]].

* Music/{{Vocaloid}} fanfiction and fanart tends to use this trope, mainly because the fandom likes creating {{Opposite Sex Clone}}s of the official characters. A favorite pairing is Len×Rin, an official pair of HalfIdenticalTwins, which tends to overlap this with BrotherSisterIncest. And even ''they'' have their own fanmade gender-swapped clones, who actually ''don't'' look like just a second pair of the originals.

* ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIV'' (unsurprisingly) has a prodigious amount of [[spoiler:Fou-lu×Ryu]] fanart and fanfic--to the point that this pairing has earned not one but ''two'' {{Fan Nickname}}s: [[spoiler:[=FouRyu=] and Yorae Dragon Masturbation Fanwork]]. This is only encouraged by the fact that the two are a LiteralSplitPersonality and that there is a manga adaptation ongoing in the same manga magazine running ''Vassalord''. By the same company that was responsible for ''Manga/PeacemakerKurogane''. If this isn't brain-breaking enough, [[spoiler:consider that Fou-lu is strongly implied to have a romantic interest with a woman who cared for him and ultimately was murdered in an attempt to literally nuke him, leading to the FanNickname of [=FouMami=] for the ''second'' most common pairing in the ''[=BoF=] IV'' fandom. There is a decently large chunk of the Japanese fandom in particular who writes both [=FouMami=] ''and'' [=FouRyu=]. Particularly involving ''comfort selfcest'']].

** ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' has [[spoiler:Zero×Omega, with Omega having Zero's original body.]]
** ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' has Vent and Aile, who are basically opposite-gendered versions of the same person. They have been shipped together.

** ''VideoGame/Persona4'' fandom: Shadows in ''Persona'' act as a character's EnemyWithout. Shadow-on-human action? There's a pretty huge chunk of YaoiFangirls who will slash Yosuke with himself, or Kanji with his ArmouredClosetGay, or Teddie with his nihilism, or even the MC with his shadow, though he never had one. This all applies to the girls too (such as [[ActionGirl Chie]] and Dominatrix Bananahead), but it's just more prominent among YaoiFangirls. Naoto×Shadow Naoto is one of the more popular Human×Shadow pairings.

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'': The clones Asch and Luke. There are plenty of fanfics pairing them together. And then there's [[spoiler:Sync×Ion×Florian]]... fandom has affectionately dubbed this particular brand of Screw Yourself "Replicacest".

** The alternate identities of [[spoiler:Calisto Yew×Shih-na]] are shipped together.

* Flippy×Flippy is surprisingly popular within the ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' fandom.

** The series has an in-universe Rule63 version known as "Fionna and Cake", which also happens to be in-universe fanfiction. One of the most common ships is [[TheHero Finn]] [[AdamAndEvePlot with]] his counterpart [[ActionGirl Fionna]] (though just as many people tend to depict Fionna as Finn's long-lost twin sister). Bubblegum×Gumball and Marceline×Marshall Lee are also common pairings.

** Somehow, there are Danny Fenton×Danny Phantom pairing fan-works, even though they're the same person... at least when Danny hasn't used the Fenton Ghost Catcher to separate his human and ghost halves, that is. Some of said fanfics involve said invention, and others take place in [[AlternateUniverseFic an alternate universe]] where they're completely different people. This ship is even common enough to have not one, but ''three'' [[IdiosyncraticShipNaming names]]: Pitch Pearl is the standard name, Red Pearl is for when Phantom is [[BrainwashedAndCrazy under Freakshow's control]], and Heroic Amusement is for when the fanwork is based heavily on the episode "Identity Crisis" (which itself is likely the main reason for this ship, due to it containing an instance of Danny being temporarily split into two people).

* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' already has split identity romance problems with Marinette/Ladybug and Adrien/Cat Noir, but some fans will split up the identities entirely to make them attracted to themselves.

** The introduction of the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'' franchise, which provides human versions of every character and is semicanonically linked to the main universe, has led to self-shipping. The most common candidates for this approach seem to be Rainbow Dash (who can tolerate her own ego) and Fluttershy (combining a touch of xenophilia with being her most easily trusted potential partner). The most common almost-candidates being Trixie (who usually can't get along enough with herself but is very likely to try anything which promises "more Trixie") and Twilight (who due to the shows' different audiences was arugably written with a mild fascination for humans or being human, but is more attracted to [[TwinThreesomeFantasy any existing Twilight x Sunset relationship]] than herself directly).

* There are ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' fans who [[https://southparkfanon.fandom.com/wiki/CartCart ship Eric Cartman with himself]]. This does have canon evidence, not just because Cartman is a {{narcissist}}, but because "Tweek x Craig" has sufficient ShipTease with his imaginary friend Cupid Cartman, who resembles a cherub version of himself, and ends with Cartman masturbating to the thought of Cupid Cartman having sex with him.

** This pairing later got a bit of an offshoot once [[spoiler:[[SuperpoweredEvilSide Pink Steven]]]] became a thing. Oftentimes Steven gets flanderized into [[TroubledButCute an emotional crybaby]] and [[spoiler:Pink Steven]] gets flanderized into a JerkJock or FetishizedAbuser so that they can fit into a more traditional [[UsefulNotes/BoysLoveNotes "Uke and Seme"]] style pairing.

* "VideoGame/InStarsAndTime": [[spoiler: Loop is revealed to be the version of Siffrin from VideoGame/STARTAGAINSTARTAGAINSTARTAGAIN:aprologue which completely reframes almost all of their dialogue including the bits where they compare themselves to "an old bonded couple" as part of the teasing and annoying banter and to throw him off from figuring it out. Also if you win and pin them down so they can't fight anymore and then tell them that you think their help is why you were able to succeed where they failed they blush. If self-shipping romantically is going to be not squicky anywhere here's a good spot because they have canonically became different individuals and while still similar in some ways they've also already developed both mental and physical differences. Also since both are canonically asexual and Loop doesn't even have a mouth Screw Yourself and the associated Squick is implausible for several reasons. This hasn't stopped the fanfic writers but still.]

* "VideoGame/InStarsAndTime": [[spoiler: Loop is revealed to be the version of Siffrin from VideoGame/STARTAGAINSTARTAGAINSTARTAGAIN:aprologue which completely reframes almost all of their dialogue. This includes the bits where they compare themselves to "an old bonded couple" as part of the teasing and annoying banter and to throw him off from figuring it out. Also if you win and pin them down so they can't fight anymore and then tell them you aren't going to kill them and that you think their help is why you were able to succeed where they failed they blush. It's clearly intended to be embarassed and flattered blushing not romantic but they are pinned down and blushing]]

** Its predecessor ''VideoGame/Persona3'''s most popular yaoi pairing is Minato×Ryoji. [[spoiler:Take note that Ryoji is supposed to be a part of Minato]]. This also applies for Ryoji×Female Protagonist shippers.
** Pairing both the male and female ''VideoGame/Persona3'' protagonists, who are alternate versions of each other. It's even teased in ''VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth'', where their first interaction looks like LoveAtFirstSight along with their sense of familiarity with each other, which causes both Junpei and Teddie to believe they are soulmates.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'': While it's not so common, many fans enjoy pairing Mike with his [[SplitPersonality alternate personalities]] (or just pairing off the alters with each other). Perhaps the most strange of them all is shipping Mike with his [[EvilIsSexy evil alter, Mal]].

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' we have the clones [[CloningBlues Asch and Luke]]. There are plenty of fanfics pairing them together. And then there's [[spoiler:Sync×Ion×Florian]]... Fandom has affectionately dubbed this particular brand of Screw Yourself "Replicacest".

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'' lends itself to this, due to its support mechanic allowing any two characters to be paired up, and some characters having multiple versions of themselves that can appear together, allowing for different versions of the same character to be paired together. This has led to several characters being shipped with other versions of themselves, especially characters that come in both genders like Robin, Corrin, Byleth, and Shez.

** Doppio is often shipped with his [[spoiler: alternate personality Diavolo.]]

%% * Lavi and Deak from ''Manga/DGrayMan''. Also, [[spoiler: Allen and the Fourteenth Noah]].
* The fandom of ''Manga/ToLoveRu'' loves the idea of an ''actual'' OppositeSexClone ''conveniently'' given a place in the male protagonist's {{Harem|Genre}}, due to his [[spoiler:AttractiveBentGender as a result of a TransformationRay]], though such a clone doesn't exist in canon.

* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'': Emu and [[spoiler: Parado]] is a popular pairing, with [[spoiler: Parado]] being [[HoYay very possessive of and obsessed]] with Emu and tends to get all NoSenseOfPersonalSpace with him. [[spoiler: In episode 29, it’s revealed that Parado is Emu's Bugster, the true identity of his SplitPersonality M, and they are SharingABody, making it this trope since even though their personalities are different, from a certain point of view, Emu is essentially screwing himself.]]

* ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' has some fans who ship [[spoiler: Ringabel and Alternis Dim]] together. [[MeaningfulName As the latter's name indicates]], [[spoiler: they are alternate dimension versions of the same person, with the caveat that Ringabel's amnesia led him to forget his true identity for much of the game.]]
* ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIV'' (unsurprisingly) has a prodigious amount of [[spoiler:Fou-lu×Ryu]] fanart and fanfic--to the point that this pairing has earned not one but ''two'' {{Fan Nickname}}s: [[spoiler:[=FouRyu=] and Yorae Dragon Masturbation Fanwork]]. This is only encouraged by the fact that the two are a LiteralSplitPersonality and that there is a manga adaptation ongoing in the same manga magazine running ''Vassalord''. By the same company that was responsible for ''Manga/PeacemakerKurogane''. If this isn't brain-breaking enough, [[spoiler: consider that Fou-lu is strongly implied to have a romantic interest with a woman who cared for him and ultimately was murdered in an attempt to literally nuke him, leading to the FanNickname of [=FouMami=] for the ''second'' most common pairing in the ''[=BoF=] IV'' fandom. There is a decently large chunk of the Japanese fandom in particular who writes both [=FouMami=] ''and'' [=FouRyu=]. Particularly involving ''comfort selfcest''.]]

* ''VideoGame/DeadlyPremonition'' has a not-insignificant following for York and Zach--the main character and his imaginary friend, [[spoiler: who is technically his split personality]]. Although they technically share a body, [[spoiler: it seems to be possible for them to meet and exist in separate bodies in the otherworld that appears in their dreams]].

* ''VideoGame/DragonballFighterz'' has some fans who've taken to shipping [[Characters/DragonBallAndroid21 Android 21]]'s humanoid and Majin forms together, using the former to represent [[spoiler: her original nature as a kindly researcher]], and the latter [[spoiler: the monsterous persona she developed as a result of her HorrorHunger]].

** Linkcest is exceedingly common on the slash side of the fandom. The classic and child Links are almost always ignored in selfcest works, with a focus being on the ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'', ''[[VideoGame/HyruleWarriors Hyrule Warriors]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'' incarnations. They're technically assumed to be related (only ''Twilight Princess'' and ''Ocarina of Time'''s Links are actually confirmed to be) but at the same time are reincarnations of each other.

* ''VideoGame/{{OMORI}}'' has inspired a lot of this, due to {{The Reveal}} of the existence of [[spoiler: Sunny and Faraway Town]] and that [[spoiler:Omori is the [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Anthropomorphic Personification]] of Sunny's depression]].

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'': Shipping the Classic and Modern versions of characters (mostly Sonic) isn't too uncommon.

* Pyra and Mythra from ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' are sometimes shipped together, particularly since [[spoiler: they get split into separate bodies at the end of the game, making it possible.]]

** The twist ending of ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' allows for this, as it reveals that [[spoiler: the characters are in fact actors in a popular TV show and were brainwashed into forgetting their past lives and given different personalities than the ones they had before the game]]. Thus, it's common to ship the characters' [[FanNickname "pregame"]] and "ingame" selves, the most common victim of this being Shuichi, with his "pregame" self often interpreted as a sadomasochistic {{Yandere}} in contrast to his shy and gentle ingame personality.

* ''All'' of the ships in WebVideo/ThomasSanders' web series ''WebVideo/SandersSides'' are basically this, since the characters are different aspects of Thomas' personality played by Thomas. Quite a few people in the fandom ship ''all'' of the [[spoiler: original]] Sides together, the ship name being LAMP/CALM, from each first alphabet of the Sides' names.

* Thanks to the episode "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E28ChangeYourMind Change Your Mind]]", in which [[spoiler: Steven's human and gem halves are temporarily separated]], there are a variety of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' and especially ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'' fanfics which ship Steven's human side and gem side. Many comments along the lines of "well, you're supposed to love yourself..." are made. [[spoiler:When such fics bother to acknowledge the fact that, in canon, his human half is all but stated to slowly die without his gem, they generally HandWave it by stating that he's fine if they're in physical contact with each other; since Steven is a fairly cuddly person anyway, that doesn't even get in the way of G-rated fluff, wherein he constantly hugs and holds hands with himself, both affectionately [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and to stay alive]].]]
** This pairing later got a bit of an offshoot once [[spoiler: [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Pink Steven]]]] became a thing. Oftentimes Steven gets flanderized into [[TroubledButCute an emotional crybaby]] and [[spoiler: Pink Steven]] gets flanderized into a JerkJock or FetishizedAbuser so that they can fit into a more traditional [[UsefulNotes/BoysLoveNotes "Uke and Seme"]] style pairing.

* ''LightNovel/DirtyPair:'' There exists some fanarts pairing the original Lovely Angels with their ''Anime/DirtyPairFlash'' counterparts. Sometimes adding the Adam Warren versions for variety.

** ''VideoGame/Persona4'' fandom: Shadows in ''Persona'' act as a character's EnemyWithout. Shadow-on-human action? There's a pretty huge chunk of YaoiFangirls who will slash Yosuke with himself, or Kanji with his ArmouredClosetGay, or Teddie with his nihilism, or even the MC with his shadow, though he never had one. This all applies to the girls too (such as [[ActionGirl Chie]] and [[WhipItGood Dominatrix Bananahead]]), but it's just more prominent among YaoiFangirls. Naoto×Shadow Naoto is one of the more popular Human×Shadow pairings.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Although never even hinted at in-series, the use of [[TheNthDoctor "regeneration"]] in ''Series/DoctorWho'' and the propensity for the Doctor to meet his past selves has all the inevitable implications. There is even an entire live journal community [[http://community.livejournal.com/timeslipping dedicated to exactly this.]] There are so many works devoted to relations between the tenth Doctor and the copy regenerated from his preserved hand that they have their own trope name: Tencest.

* [[spoiler:There has been a rise of Petercest fics since the release of Film/SpiderManNoWayHome, between the older variants especially.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Onmyoji}}'':

** Dark Link and regular Link (of any game/universe) are paired together very often.
** Linkcest is exceedingly common on the slash side of the fandom. The classic and child Links are almost always ignored in selfcest works, with a focus being on the ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild''. They're technically assumed to be related (only ''Twilight Princess'' and ''Ocarina of Time'''s Links are actually confirmed to be) but at the same time are reincarnations of each other.

* ''VideoGame/DragonBallFighterZ'' has some fans who've taken to shipping [[Characters/DragonBallAndroid21 Android 21]]'s humanoid and Majin forms together, using the former to represent [[spoiler: her original nature as a kindly researcher]], and the latter [[spoiler: the monsterous persona she developed as a result of her HorrorHunger]].

* There are a non-insignificant number of fanfiction pairing ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} with her alternate self ComicBook/PowerGirl.

-->--'''WebVideo/SarahZ''' on shipping [[WesternAnimation/TheLorax the Once-ler and his "Greed-ler" self]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLorax'': The most popular ship in the fandom is shipping the Once-ler with his post-FaceHeelTurn self, "the Greed-ler," who is distinguished by wearing the bright green outfit seen in his VillainSong. Also doubles as a form of AngelDevilShipping. During the height of the film's fandom, there existed a vast array of AlternateUniverse incarnations of the Once-ler who were also often shipped together.

* Discussed extensively in WebVideo/SarahZ's video about the history of [[WesternAnimation/TheLorax the Once-ler fandom]], which famously had people shipping the Once-ler with AU versions of himself. Sarah explains that this came about because, while the Once-ler was a seriously popular character on Tumblr at the time and people wanted to ship him, there was no one from the source material to ship him ''with''; Ted and Audrey are children and, as she puts it, "people weren't ''quite'' freaky enough to ship him with the Lorax yet." This, combined with the fact that the movie has the Once-ler change from a starry-eyed innocent to a greedy CorruptCorporateExecutive ''so'' quickly, it felt like two different characters, made the fandom split the character into two; the original, sweet Once-ler, and the evil version they nicknamed "the Greed-ler." Sarah then goes on to describe how this led to the creation of ''thousands'' of alternate Once-lers in the fandom, most of which bore practically no resemblance to the original character. In her analysis, Sarah suggests that part of the appeal may have been that the Once-ler was a sort of [[GatewaySeries Gateway Character]] for sympathetic, tragic, and oddly appealing villains. Most of the fans were young teens, and he appeared in a children's movie, plus he was presented as likable from the outset and was redeemed at the end, so you didn't have to feel bad or "justify" liking him. The ship then came from people wanting to explore shipping dynamics like FoeRomanceSubtext, DatingCatwoman, MindGameShip and AngelDevilShipping, but, because they were quite young, weren't familiar with media that actually contained those elements. So they did it with the Once-ler, because it was safe and familiar.