History Main / AnchoredShip

* AvatarTheLastAirbender. During the episode Ember Island Players, the final episode before the final, Aang and Katara are forced to assess their relationship. When Aang expresses his desire to “be together” with Katara, she claims to be confused about her feelings and dose not wish to be involved with Aang if she's unsure. This may be one of the most briefly anchored ships out here, because at the end of Sozin's Commit, less then five episodes apart from Ember Island Players, Katara is finally willing to [[RelationshipUpgrade enter the relationship and be with Aang.]]
** Also, Jinko, one of few anchored ships that remain so, is mostly do to Jin's being a one-time character. Zuko and Jin want out on once in book two, and after the [[Adorkable initial awkwardness]], Zuko seems to actually enjoy their date. There is speculation that Zuko truly cared about Jin, going so far as to use firebending to light lanterns so she wouldn't be disappointed, and even returning her kiss. It can be inferred that this is also why he left so abruptly. Jin is never mentioned in the show again.
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* In ''TheDresdenFiles'', Harry and Murphy have been this for the last several books. In the early books they were headed in a romantic direction, but in ''Proven Guilty'' morphed into TheStraightWillAndGrace when Murphy shied away from the idea--she said she could handle something more casual, without totally deep (and thus emotionally dangerous) commitment, but is right when she says Harry "doesn't do casual". Neither one has given up their feelings for the other, and Harry has admitted in his narrative that he wishes there weren't so many things in the way (especially since his other attempted forays into romance have ended quite disastrously). It looks like the ship is going to stay anchored for the foreseeable future, though, because of all the impediments. Harry's half-brother has told him repeatedly they're both complete idiots, so far to no avail.

* Peanut and Grape of ''{{Housepets}}'' are currently idling in Type 3. Peanut has strong feelings for Grape, and she insists that they are more than JustFriends, but also admits that she is not romantically attracted to dogs.

*** WordOfGod also says they get together sometime when they're older.

* '''Type 3''': The problem is resolved, but the ship does not go forward. Bob tells Alice he's in love with her, but Alice does not feel the same, for reasons unrelated to ether's personal situations.

* ''{{Naruto}}'' has a really bad plot-induced case of this, often to the point where you suspect the romantic subplots are PanderingToTheAudience and the author just has no interest in them. The titular character is sort-of-maybe in a situation which might evolve into a relationship with two separate girls, one of which he rejects for intractable reasons basically boiling down to "she wsasn't for real" and the other he just leaves hanging to [[OutOfFocus wander in limbo]] [[FourLinesAllWaiting until he'll decide to notice her again]]- which, given the circumstances of how she ended up confessing to him, is ''not nice''. You can only imagine the resulting ShipToShipCombat.

* Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye from FullmetalAlchemist either fall into Type 2 or Type 4 [[spoiler: after the ending of the series]] (based on your own theories on how Ishval may affect their ability for romance or stuff), to the point that anti-shippers and part of the fandom are convinced that their relationship wasn't romantic to begin with, and other shippers are simply reasoning themselves into not tearing their hair out of frustration.

* Chuck and Sarah in.. Chuck , due to the complexities of the spy life.
[[spoiler:gets resolved midway through season 3]]

* {{Naruto}} is unwilling to tell Sakura how he feels about her until he fulfills his promise to bring Sasuke back. [[spoiler:Sai told Sakura how Naruto feels, and then she told Naruto she loved him and she wanted him to give up on Sasuke. Naruto, however, got quite upset, believing that she is lying about how she feels (it is implied that he believes she still has feelings for Sasuke, in which he's right as the reason Sakura went with the whole BatmanGambit is because she loves Sasuke to the point that she's going to try to save Sasuke from himself, by killing him.), and tells her he hates people who lie to themselves. If this continues as it is, it will end up a Type 2A]].
** After the events of Kakashi Chronicles, Rin declares her love for Kakashi but he just tells her he's scum for trying to abandon her to the enemy. Kakashi heavily implies Rin is dead, noting that he failed to protect her which, if true, makes it type 2A.
** Happens with Hinata, as well. [[spoiler:Even after admitting her feelings and nearly dying in the process]], the whole thing is still in Type 4 territory.
*** Probably because if he's not telling Sakura how he feels until he gets back Sasuke, I doubt he would let himself settle anything with her or anyone else.
** Near the end of the Part 1 of Naruto, Sakura gives Sasuke an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove, which Sasuke responds by thanking her for her affection but abandoning the village regardless. Shippuden reveals that Sakura still has feelings for Sasuke, while he's completely apathetic towards anyone from his past life. This gives them a Type 3.

*** He doesn't "drop" Kikyou. She DIES.

* At the end of ''GundamSeedDestiny'', Athrun and Cagalli's relationship, which appeared to be moving toward OfficialCouple status at the start of Destiny, is at a standstill. Cagalli is busy governing Orb, while Athrun, when questioned on the matter, answers only with an enigmatic "Everybody wants the same thing." Some fans believe this hints toward Athrun/Meyrin...'''[[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement and that is all]] [[DieForOurShip that will be said on that]]'''. Type 3, unless you consider Cagalli and Athrun's respective responsibilities to be problems which keep them apart, which makes this a Type 4.

* Perhaps the earliest appearance of this trope is in TheAenead. Aeneas and Queen Dido are in love with each other, but he has to fulfill his destiny and create the Roman Republic, whereas Dido is still grieving her dead husband and is dealing with a severe emotional deficit. Dido overcomes her issues, but Aeneas does not. In the context of the origin myth, this is the source of the Punic conflicts that Rome and Carthage engaged in, and serves to eulogize the Carthaginians as being {{Worthy Opponent}}s.

* SEVEN times, according to them in that episode. meaning they got married and divorced like it was a game of musical chairs.

* At the end of the first ''Film/{{Spider-Man}}'' film and for most of the second film, Peter loves Mary Jane, but is unable to get closer to her for fear that if his identity were to be compromised, she would be targeted by his enemies. Toward the end of the second film, she finds out his identity and says she is willing to take that risk with him at the very end, making this a type 1 outcome.

** This is clearly a Type 2. Athrun and Cagalli start the season as a couple with problems and then Cagalli betrays Athrun. Its finally resolved when Cagalli stops wearing the engagement ring and gives Meyrin her blessing.

** In the TV series, Keii/Bell originally began as one of these, then a Type 1 resolution occured in Episode 19... and '''again''' in Episode 24. The second season, sadly, went back to the later manga's format, [[SeriesContinuityError making it look like Keii and Bell never pulled in anchor in the first place]].

* ''[[AhMyGoddess Oh My Goddess!]]''' [[NiceGuy Keiichi]]/[[MagicalGirlfriend Belldandy]] is an interesting case. Between the {{manga}}'s "Lord of Terror" and "Mystery Child" arcs, both Keii and Bell had their reasons for not pushing their relationship beyond its [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming sweet, innocent, and gentle]] early stages, even though both seemed to want to. [[JumpingTheShark Unfortunately, later in the series]], the two were {{Flanderized}} to exaggerate Keiichi's CannotSpitItOut tendencies, and Belldandy's naïvete, throwing away what could have been an interesting case of UnresolvedSexualTension. The TV series initially did away with this, giving Keii and Bell's relationship a sense of progress... And for some unknown reason, [[SeriesContinuityError the second season went back to the late manga's M.O.]]

Compare CannotSpitItOut, in which one of the people in the relationship merely cannot work up the nerve to confess to the other; in many {{Anchored Ship}}s, the other partner is aware to some degree of how the person with the problems feels. See TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest for some of the reasons why this happens. ShipSinking is the permanent variation of this, and typically the result of Type 2 or Type 3.

* The reason why Max and Fran don't get together at first on The Nanny is that he has loads of emotional baggage (including a dead wife)

* In ''SluggyFreelance'', Torg is in love with Zoe, but Oasis loves him and is willing to [[MurderTheHypotenuse kill any potential romantic rivals]], preventing him from getting closer to Zoe until he finds a way of dealing with Oasis. [[spoiler:Oasis attacks Zoe, causing her to figure out both that Torg loves her and that she loves Torg, only to be killed mere seconds later by Oasis, oddly enough for reasons that had nothing to with hypotenuse remova, making this a Type 3.]]

*** WordOfGod also says they get together some time when they're older.

* {{Battlestar Galactica}} Lee Adama and Kara Thrace fit type 1 of this trope fairly well with elements of type 2 as well. As Kara was once engaged to Lee's dead brother and she and Lee nearly had a drunken hookup while Zak was still alive and subsequently felt that hooking up later was disrespectful to his memory. They did hook up briefly but personal issues (like the fact that they were both currently married to other people and Kara didn't believe in divorce) prevented it from sticking.

** It's implied after "Threads" that they went ahead anyway, rules be damned, and are simply keeping it low-profile. Deleted scenes from ''StargateAtlantis'' really hammer it home.

* On ''PhineasAndFerb,'' Isabella CannotSpitItOut that she [[ToyShip has a crush on Phineas]]. He seems oblivious, despite how obvious it is. WordOfGod says they're destined to date one day, even if it never happens on the show.