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1Most TV shows have about four or five popular [[{{Shipping}} ships]]. Bob and Alice are the [[OfficialCouple golden couple]], Steve and Carol are the BetaCouple. Small but noteworthy contingencies of fans ship Bob and Carol, Bob and Steve, or Alice and Tom, but in general, the fandom is in consensus that Bob/Alice and Steve/Carol are the pairings.
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3WellThisIsNotThatTrope.
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5Occasionally, you'll come across a show where every character is shipped -- by a significantly sized and active fanbase -- with just about every other character. '''That''' is this trope.
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7This situation is most common in stories with an EnsembleCast, particularly television shows. If it is unclear at the beginning which characters will be the OfficialCouple, this can result from WildMassGuessing. If this is the case, even once it does become clear which characters are on their way to being paired off, a significant number of the non-canon ships that emerged maintain a following. It can also result from PairTheSpares when the fandom can't agree on which spares should be paired. Usually, a small handful of these ships will exhibit UnresolvedSexualTension and receive meaningful ShipTease, while the vast majority will simply be ShipsThatPassInTheNight, and the result of viewers wearing ShippingGoggles. In these fandoms, if two characters have been in a scene together, it's a safe bet that people are shipping them. This often results in some pretty vicious ShipToShipCombat.
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9Requires the fandom to collectively adopt an EveryoneIsBi mentality (or gay, in mono-gender casts). A variation on the LauncherOfAThousandShips where almost ''every'' character is the launcher of a thousand ships. May cause, be caused by--or both--HoYay, often FoeRomanceSubtext, and sometimes {{Incest Yay|Shipping}}. This can also lead to OneTrueThreesome and even LoveDodecahedron discussions among the fanbase. Compare DatingDoSiDo, which is the InUniverse version where nearly everyone in the cast ''canonically dates'' everyone at one point.
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11The pure origin of this phrase is clearly ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', the rumour being that a standard discussion about Jessie/James Rocketshipping was ongoing when another fan heated the discussion with a comment on Pokémon shipping between different species. Another fan jokingly replied "Pokémon, gotta ship 'em all," and began the MemeticMutation.
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13Compare the in-universe equivalent EveryoneMustBePaired.
14----
15!!Examples:
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17[[foldercontrol]]
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19[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
20* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'': Pick two characters, ''any'' two characters from the comic, and there'll be at least one fanwork of them as a couple somewhere no matter how implausible that pairing seems. The characters all being anthropomorphic personifications of nations who have pretty much all interacted with each other at ''some'' point in their histories means that virtually every pairing can be justified through a historical lens, especially ones involving [[LauncherOfAThousandShips Launchers of a Thousand Ships]] extraordinaires America and England.
21* ''[[Anime/LoveLive Love Live! School Idol Project]]'': Each of the nine main characters can be considered a LauncherOfAThousandShips, and while some ships like Nozomi/Eli Nico/Maki or Hanayo/Rin are the most popular, one can find fanwork about any combination between µ's' members, some [[OneTrueThreesome threesomes]], or "one of the girl x everyone", with any of them at the center of the harem. There are also pairings involving other characters like Eli and Honoka's little sisters, or the members of [[TheRival A-Rise]].
22** This also holds true for their successors, [[Anime/LoveLiveSunshine Aqours]] and the [[VideoGame/LoveLiveSchoolIdolFestivalAllStars Nijigasaki High School Idol Club]].
23* The ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' series is like this, thanks to most characters seemingly having no interest in (explicit) romantic relationships, yet having [[HoYay/LyricalNanoha a lot]] of [[HoYay Les Yay]] teasing going on between them.
24* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' has this due to tons of characters and a LauncherOfAThousandShips Main Character; there are 20 recurring characters of which at least half can be paired with Midoriya without putting it in CrackShip territory, and that's completely ignoring the ships that can be created without Midoriya such as Bakugo/Ochaco, Ochaco/Tsuyu, Yaoyorozu/Jiro, Hagakure/Ojiro, Aizawa/Toshinori, Todoroki/Yaoyorozu, Iida/Mei and so on. The manga/anime itself enforces NoHuggingNoKissing, which only encourages the rampant shipping, since there are no official relationships to get in the way other than ''[[CrushBlush maybe]]'' Midoriya/Ochaco (and don't bring that up in front of anyone who ships either of them with someone else).
25* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. Just... ''Naruto''. Literally speaking, everyone has been shipped with ''everyone'', and we do mean '''everyone''', in this series.
26* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' has a few large core ships, but even beyond those, the fandom has experienced pretty much any variation between the relevant characters.
27* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' has nearly 27,000 formally named and recognized pairings. [[http://shipping.bulbagarden.net/listaz.html Here's the ever-growing list from all Pokémon media]]
28* [[HoYay/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica For the same reason as Nanoha]], ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' has [[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Yuri_undertones every pairing]] of the main 5 characters covered, with the possible exception of Mami/Sayaka because they never have a private moment together without Madoka. (Though [[OneTrueThreesome Mami/Sayaka/Madoka]] is pretty common.) TheMovie bolstered some previously unpopular ones like Homura/Mami, Homura/Sayaka, and [[CrackPairing Mami/Charlotte]]. Even Hitomi, a minor character, gets dragged into a few pairings. The only [[AmbiguouslyGay unambiguous]] OfficialCouple (not counting [[HappilyMarried Madoka's parents]]) is Hitomi/Kyousuke, and that's probably the ''least'' popular pairing in the fandom.
29* Franchise/SailorMoon is over thirty years old and has dozens (if not hundreds) of fanarts and fanfics dedicated to basically every conceivable pairing or grouping of the characters. The most popular ships tend to be any of the soldiers with any of the others but Mamoru, baddies, side characters, etc. all also get their time to shine. Usagi alone is shipped with functionally the entire extended cast...and yes, that does include her family.
30* ''Franchise/YuGiOh''. There exists more than one website with the sole purpose of listing the names of ships between even obscure side characters or pairings one would never otherwise imagine. Mostly dedicated to the original series, but also for later spin-offs such as ''GX'', or even crossovers between series.
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33[[folder:Comic Books]]
34* ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'': Being canonically the kind of series where everyone has sex with everyone else, it has a similarly open-minded fandom.
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37[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
38* Within the ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' fandom, fanfiction can be found pairing any combination of characters including [[OfficialCouple Anna/Kristoff]], [[IncestYayShipping Anna]]/[[PlatonicWritingRomanticReading Elsa]], [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight Hans/Kristoff who never met]], either [[FoeYayShipping Anna/Hans or Elsa/Hans]], [[LesYay Elsa/Honeymaren]] and even some involving Olaf, Sven, or Marshmallow. The Anna/Elsa/Kristoff, Anna/Elsa/Hans, and Anna/Hans/Kristoff [[OneTrueThreesome threesomes]] are also not unheard of.
39** Additionally, characters are also often shipped with characters [[CrossoverShip from other movies]] both inside and outside the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon, most commonly [[WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}} Rapunzel]] (despite the common {{Fanon}} theory that she's Anna and Elsa's cousin), [[WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}} Eugene]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Brave}} Merida]], and [[WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians Jack Frost]].
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42[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
43* Inevitable in the ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'' fandom, given that there are only four characters portrayed with any degree of sympathy. [[FanPreferredCouple Fan-favorite pairings]] include [[HoYay Maleficent/Aurora]] or [[MinionShipping Maleficent/Diaval]]. Either pairing tends to trigger PairTheSpares, leaving either [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight Diaval/Phillip]] or [[OfficialCouple Aurora/Philip]], depending on whether your fancy is for het or slash pairings.
44* Pick a character in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. Now pick another one. You are guaranteed to find at least one fic that pairs them together, however tangentially. Yes, even very minor characters like Sitwell. This is much more true of male characters than female characters, thanks to SlashFic.
45* The eight leading ladies of ''Film/OceansEight'' are shipped in every conceivable combination, and it's not limited to pairs, either. Debbie/Lou is the fandom's main ship, but seriously -- pick a combo. Any combo. Somewhere, someone ships it.
46* ''Franchise/StarWars'': This mainly occurs with fans of the [[Film/TheForceAwakens sequel]] [[Film/TheLastJedi trilogy.]] Although some pairings (ie, Rey/Kylo and Finn/Poe) are definitely more popular than others, there's support for just about ''every'' combination of characters possible. [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight Yes, even Poe/Hux and Rey/Rose.]] This is undoubtedly the result of the near-constant ShipTease and [[ImpliedLoveInterest ambiguous relationships.]]
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49[[folder:Literature]]
50* In the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series, most of the central characters (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Draco, Neville, Luna, etc.) are shipped with ''a lot'' of other characters, including [[FoeYayShipping all of their mortal enemies]], [[TeacherStudentRomance teachers]], [[IncestYayShipping siblings]], parents of their classmates, and characters who are only mentioned by name a couple of times within the series. For instance, Hermione is sometimes shipped with Theodore Nott, whose name is mentioned less than 12 times throughout all seven books, and Blaise Zabini, who was a minor enough character in the first five books that many readers mistook him for a girl. Additionally, a lot of minor characters, such as Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott, are also shipped together.
51* Similarly, ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'', in large part due to the author's love of [[ShipTease messing with the fans' minds]] and the large cast. And the fact that so many of the mains are sympathetic and charismatic -- take a look at their entry in LauncherOfAThousandShips.
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54[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
55* The end of one episode of ''Series/{{Community}}'' played with this when they acknowledged that, essentially, nothing was truly off limits and there would always be some degree of tension between unrelated characters. It then went around the table, pairing everyone with everyone else. Sometimes to the characters' [[UnresolvedSexualTension interest]], sometimes to their [[HoYay surprised interest]], sometimes to their [[{{Squick}} disgust]] and [[CrackPairing shock]].
56* ''Series/{{CSI}}'' and its spinoffs are full of this. Pick any character and you can probably find fics paring them with every other character if you look hard enough. And a few crossing between franchise members.
57* ''Series/DoctorWho'' and its spinoffs ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' and ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' fuel this:
58** In ''Who'' proper the Doctor is shipped with almost every single one of his companions (most of whom were strictly platonic friends) over the course of the show's 50-odd year existence. Other companions from different eras [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight are shipped together regardless if they've ever actually met]]. [[OneShotCharacter One-Shot Characters]] are all shipped with random companions, the Doctor, and other one-shot characters. The Doctor's daughter/OppositeSexClone Jenny deserves a special mention for being a LauncherOfAThousandShips despite appearing exactly once and having previously met ''none'' of the people she's most commonly shipped with (Jack and Luke - see below - being the most common targets for this).
59** EveryoneIsBi is actually ''canon'' for the ''Torchwood'' cast, so you have ExtremeOmnisexual Jack's canonical infatuation with the Doctor, weird pseudo {{UST}} with Gwen, and relationship to Ianto to play with, on top of literally any combination of his Torchwood team as well as anyone he or his team have ever said so much as "hello" to.
60** Sarah Jane gets shipped with the Doctor and previous companions Jo Grant and Harry Sullivan, as well as several other former companions we never see her interact with on screen, the man she almost married in "The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith", and the older version of her young neighbor Maria. Her son, Luke, is another can of worms because he never had an onscreen love interest.
61* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'': Fics exist for pretty much every pairing imaginable, with Book, who’s part of a celibate order, being pretty much the only exception.
62* Discussed in ''Series/{{Glee}}'', to the point that the characters inadvertently give everyone ''more'' ships. Most likely a case of AscendedFanon because Ryan Murphy lurks around the Internet. Not to mention all the {{Crack Pairing}}s that end up canon (Santana/Brittany, Kurt/Blaine). Helps that Puck and Santana are [[LauncherOfAThousandShips launchers of thousands of ships]].
63-->"look at all the pairings we've had:
64-->"[[PortmanteauCoupleName Puckleberry, Tina Cohen-Chang-Chang, Samcedes, Fincel, Pizes, Partie]]"
65* ''Series/GossipGirl'' had such a large audience who engaged in rampant ShipToShipCombat around the show's LoveDodecahedron that it was only the direct blood relations who weren't shipped at some point. The show ended with canon relationships and sexual encounters between characters who became step-siblings through parental marriage or adoptions.
66* On ''Series/HouseMD'', the only characters who weren't shipped with every other character by at least a handful of fans were Foreman, who was really only shipped with Thirteen, and Taub, who wasn't shipped with anyone. One of the more common non-canon pairings was [[HoYay Cameron and Thirteen]], two characters whose time on the show barely overlapped and who [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight never spoke directly to each other]].
67* On ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, [=McGee=], Kate, Abby, and, to a lesser extent, Jenny, are each shipped with all the others by fans. The Ziva/Kate ship is particularly jarring, considering [[spoiler:Ziva didn't even come on the show until after Kate had died.]] This leaves only Ducky, Palmer, and Vance who aren't commonly shipped with anyone (though you do occasionally see Ducky/Gibbs or Palmer/someone), perhaps because Ducky is about thirty-five years older than almost everyone else, Palmer doesn't have a substantial amount of interaction with anyone other than Ducky, and Vance [[spoiler:was married his first few seasons on the show.]]
68* On ''Series/OnceUponATime'', not only is every character shipped with just about every character they've ever had a scene with, but they are also shipped with characters they've never met, who are currently living in other realms. It doesn't only extend to series regulars either. Recurring characters, such as Mulan and Jefferson, often find themselves wrapped up in a tangled web of shipping as well.
69** Ast the end of season three, Elsa had only been in one scene. It was about thirty seconds long, there were no other characters present, and she didn't have any dialogue. By the time season four started, she was being shipped with Regina, Ruby, Mulan, Hook, and Emma.
70** [[OfficialCouple Rumpelstiltskin and Belle]] mostly avoid this. Belle is occasionally shipped with Ruby or Jefferson, and Rumple with [[LauncherOfAThousandShips Emma]] or Regina. Although most Emma/Rumple shippers disappeared after season 2.
71* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': Due to the fact that the crew is trapped on the other side of the galaxy with decades between them and home, the various members of the crew of the USS ''Voyager'' get shipped with everybody else on the ship (pun unavoidable). This includes Naomi Wildman, who by rights probably ''[[NoYay shouldn't]]'' be shipped.
72* ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'': Every character is shipped with ''at least'' three people, and it doesn't help that most characters have gotten stuck in love triangles at some point on the show.
73* ''Series/{{Yellowjackets}}'': The plane crash survivors are shipped in almost every which way, particularly the titular team, due to the younger cast having chemistry with everyone. The most common combinations are Jackie/Shauna, Taissa/Van, Lottie/Laura Lee, Misty/Natalie, and Akilah/Mari, but there are also fans for Natalie/Lottie, Taissa/Shauna, Natalie/Jackie, and Natalie/Travis. Outside of the plane survivors, there are fans who ship the characters with their present-day love interests, like Jeff/Shauna and Taissa/Simone, but for the most part, the shipping is mainly focused on the younger cast.
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76[[folder:Video Games]]
77* The fandom of ''VideoGame/CorpseParty'' can get pretty rampant with pairings involving the 9 main characters (from class 2-9), as the fans almost always try not to leave anybody alone except [[TheScrappy Yuka]]; for example, if there's [=SeikoxNaomi=], there must also be [=AyumixYoshiki=], [=YuixTsukasa=], [=MayuxMorishige=], Satoshi with somebody of other school (or with an OC if needed) and Yuka either is usually left alone (a ton of people won't ever pair her with her brother Satoshi, but some do) or shipped with Satsuki, a close friend of hers.
78* ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars''. An ensemble cast of 50 main characters, each of whom has unique relationships with at least five other of those characters covering every relationship flavour you could ask for, absolutely chock-loaded with ShipTease HoYay in every possible direction without any chance of any ship ever becoming canon or being sunk? It's almost impossible to find monoshippers here - even the most diehard fans of a particular pairing will admit to some other ships with their faves being great, if only because there are just ''so many''.
79* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' has a faction of proud multishippers, some of whom wish the games had allowed threesome marriages or every character to support with every character.
80* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' had this back in its heyday, with characters who were popular ships were so simply because they talked to each other once in the story. This wasn't necessary for the shipping, either.
81* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'': There are 156 possible pairings between the original members of Organization 13, and each and everyone has a group of fans dedicated to it. They are ''just'' sketched out enough to create interesting relationship dynamics, but lack detail so you can plausibly pair anyone with anyone.
82* In ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'', nearly every hero is shipped with at least one other hero, [[CrackPairing many of which are done regardless of whether the characters actually would reasonably have interacted in the story]].
83* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' has an especially large cast for a FallingBlocks game series, with a number of pairings (such as Amitie x Sig and Schezo x Witch, to name only a small number) getting significant ShipTease in canon, so it's no wonder that it attracts shippers. In fact, it has enough of a shipping fanbase that most of the theoretical couples that are possible with the series have probably received fanart and fanfiction somewhere or other, including ones like Sig x Serilly that consist of characters who [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight rarely, if ever, interact in canon]].
84* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': While there are fan favorite ships and Valve teases a more-than-friends camaraderie among various classes both in-game and in supplemental materials, technically there's only one 100% official pairing (RED Spy/BLU Scout's mother). With 9 classes on each side (and classes can be interpreted as archetypes rather than individual characters), as well as a large supporting cast, the CombinatorialExplosion potential is huge.
85* ''Franchise/TouhouProject''. With one or two exceptions, the extremely large cast is entirely female, and just about everyone has been shipped with someone else. And while none are canon, the fandom has accepted most of them as Fanon, so there's at least one pairing per shipping trope (BodyguardCrush, OneTrueThreesome...).
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88[[folder:Visual Novels]]
89* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': '''EVERYONE''' has been shipped with everyone else, and each pairing has a loyal following. It doesn't matter if [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight they've never met]], [[FoeYayShipping they're bitter rivals]], [[HoYay they're the same gender]], they're closely related, [[GhostShipping one of them isn't alive]] (or [[CargoShip one of them isn't alive]]), [[MayDecemberRomance there's a huge age gap between them]], [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend they've explicitly denied being in a relationship]], [[HeterosexualLifePartners they're clearly just]] [[PlatonicLifePartners best friends]], or [[CrackPairing it doesn't make sense in some other way]], someone has shipped them.
90* In the ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' fandom, the sheer amount of ships is ridiculous, with characters who have never even met being shipped together. Things got even crazier in the ''Ultimate Talent Development Plan'' side mode of ''[[VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony V3]]'' which allowed nearly every single character in the series to meet for the first time, giving rise to even more ships as well as evidence to ships that had formerly seemed like {{Crack Pairing}}s.
91* ''VisualNovel/MonsterProm'' has a fairly large cast, with 10 main characters (Four playable and Six dateable), aside from a considerable amount of support characters [[spoiler:some of which turn out to be SecretCharacter]] and there's not really any limitation of shipping since EveryoneIsBi, and in fact, many couples are teased.
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94[[folder:Web Animation]]
95* ''Franchise/{{Hellaverse}}'': Every character with a substantial role has been shipped with every other character from at least [[WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel their own]] [[WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss series]] and frequently with some from other one thrown in as well, whether individually or together. It even extends to minor characters and ones who have yet to debut.
96* The ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' fandom is wide and voracious where ships are concerned. While some characters get this more than others -- there's probably no characters [[LauncherOfAThousandShips Ruby, Jaune, and Blake]] haven't been paired with, while Ren and Nora being paired with anyone other than each other is rare -- the sheer number of ships that accrue stacks upon stacks of fan content is mind-boggling, with characters that have had next-to-no screen time (much less any speaking roles) constantly being shipped with major ones. If you can think of a character combination, they probably have an [[IdiosyncraticShipNaming Idiosyncratic Ship Name]]: [[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JpinKp5XW6htsPAri0kRMGKrxQwi458YU6HY734wuwE/edit#gid=0 here's a spreadsheet]], though some are there just because fans think the ship name is funny. The saving grace is that, apart from a few very divisive pairings, the fandom never really devolved into shipping wars... [[SeriousBusiness Until they did]].
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99[[folder:Webcomics]]
100* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': Every main character is frequently shipped with every other main character, and the fandom is bullish on the idea of a full-cast polyamorous puppy pile.
101* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' has more than 80 ships with their own wiki page. Out of five characters you can get around 75 ships (with the other four and themselves, with everyone's GenderFlip version and with everyone's Dark version).
102* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' has a ''huge'' number of ships, due both to the canon LoveDodecahedron and tons of characters, almost all of whom have a large number of associated elements and hobbies that make it easy to find commonalities between them. For a good example, take the Shipping Olympics, a popular fandom challenge where people sign up for their favourite ship and then compete with other ships by creating themed fanart. Most fandoms get less than ten teams to represent the main ships. One year, the ''Homestuck'' Shipping Olympics had ''well over 50 teams'', including an 'other' team who were allowed to write about any ship not already covered by a team. To make things worse (or better, depending on your opinions), this series' version of Trolls canonically have four different kinds of romance, and people commonly like to apply those to their ships, often with very strong opinions about why they ship pairings in one quadrant but not another.
103* Canon example: In order to prove that all of the characters in ''Webcomic/{{Sonichu}}'' are straight, the author paired up each male character with a female character, barring villains and a few other characters that were paired later. Except for the two central characters Sonichu and Rosechu, who were already romantically paired, all of these pairings happened seemingly simultaneously. There is exactly the same number of male characters as there are female characters (again, except for villains), though it's unclear if this was intentional or not.
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106[[folder:Western Animation]]
107* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'''s fandom has shipped almost every possible combination of characters, up to and including everyone with everyone else simultaneously.
108* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': A heaping helping of LesYay means that pretty much every possible combination of primary characters has been explored in multiple fanfics and fanart. And [[TheOneGuy Spike]]? Yeah, he's also been paired with pretty much every major character. The secondary characters don't fare any better, and even ''background'' characters aren't immune.
109* Thanks to the copious amounts of ShipTease, LesYay, and HomoeroticSubtext, the main Gem cast of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' have been shipped every which way with each other. If you can think of two characters, chances are there's a sizable chunk of content for their ship.
110* The ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' series has a rotating cast of ''dozens'' of teenagers, all of whom have quite a bit of ShipTease and HoYay with each other. As such, the fandom has paired all of them together at least once.
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