Line #1 Main/LauncherOfAThousandShips


1	%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1598840375045596200
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4	[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/{{Frozen}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_elsa_the_snow_queen_228999_top_full.png]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:350: The fandom's not letting go.[[note]]The characters surrounding Elsa are [[IncestYayShipping Anna]] and [[FoeYayShipping Hans]] from Franchise/{{Frozen}}, Flynn Rider from ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'', and [[CrossoverShip Jack Frost and Pitch Black]] from the non-Disney movie ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians''.[[/note]]\
6	[-[[https://www.deviantart.com/mabymin/art/STOP-THE-FANDOM-425850172 Image]] by [[https://www.deviantart.com/mabymin MabyMin]]. Used with permission.-]]]
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8	->''"I'm beginning to think he ''doesn't'' want me to ship him with everypony."''
9	-->-- '''WebAnimation/SilverQuill''' ''[referring to [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Big MacIntosh]]]''
10
11	When {{shipping}}, some fans have OneTruePairing that they cannot bear to break (or several of those), but some have just a Launcher Of A Thousand Ships character. It's the character that goes with ''everything'', or, in this case, everyone. Actually, come to think of it, [[CargoShip everything]].
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13	For example, if someone in the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' fandom says their Launcher is Snape, they will happily read {{Fanfic}}s featuring the Snape/Harry ship as well as fanfics with Snape/Hermione, Snape/Lupin, Snape/Lily, or even [[CrackPairing exotic pairings]] such as Snape[=/=][[Franchise/TheLordOfTheRings Legolas]] or Snape[=/=][[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Megatron]]. Anything goes as long as the Launcher is included.
14
15	There is also a tendency for the entire fandom to consider a character a Launcher Of A Thousand Ships; notably, the ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' fandom almost always refers to Peter Petrelli this way, given that he's paired up with damn near everybody in the show, including Nathan (his brother), Claire (his niece[[note]]not helped by the fact that Milo Ventimiglia, who plays Peter, and Hayden Panettiere, who plays Claire, dated for a while, spurring a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSf2sOPtzOs Terrance/Philip tribute video]][[/note]]) and even [[ScrewYourself his own future self]].
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17	Also known as the "ship launcher", the "fandom bicycle" (everyone gets a ride), the "cargo container" (gets shipped to everyone), or the "little black dress" (looks good on anyone). The last shouldn't be confused with the LittleBlackDress trope, which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
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19	This usually has to do with WishFulfillment: either the character is a lusted-after character and everyone likes to pair them with whoever reminds them of themselves, or the character is relatable and the fans see them as some sort of AudienceSurrogate and they are paired up with different characters that the fans lust after so they can project themselves onto this character. If there are enough of these in one work, it becomes a case of GottaShipEmAll.
20
21	Common traits tend to include lack of a canon love interest (or, if they have one, the show [[WillTheyOrWontThey delays resolving their romance as long as possible]] or [[NoHuggingNoKissing downplays it in general]]), interaction with enough of the cast to form some kind of rapport, or just general popularity meaning that most people have ''some'' crazy idea of where they should go. It also [[GottaShipEmAll tends to snowball easily]]; if there's a lot of competing ships for this character, then suddenly more fringe pairings start to look a lot more reasonable.
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23	The TropeNamer is [[Theatre/DoctorFaustus Christopher Marlowe's version]] of the legend of Myth/{{Faust}}. In reference to [[Literature/TheTrojanCycle Helen of Troy]], Faust asks, "Is this the face that launched a thousand ships/And burnt the topless towers of Illium?" [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant No relation to]] the Music/RachelPlatten single "1,000 Ships". It did lead to the humourous unit of measure [[FantasticMeasurementSystem the milliHelen]], which is sufficient beauty to launch just one ship.
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25	Also see and related to FanPreferredCouple. For the canon-equivalent, see ChickMagnet.
26
27	----
28	!!Example subpages:
29
30	[[index]]
31	* LauncherOfAThousandShips/AnimatedFilms
32	* LauncherOfAThousandShips/AnimeAndManga
33	* LauncherOfAThousandShips/ComicBooks
34	* LauncherOfAThousandShips/{{Film}}
35	* LauncherOfAThousandShips/{{Literature}}
36	* LauncherOfAThousandShips/LiveActionTV
37	* LauncherOfAThousandShips/VideoGames
38	* LauncherOfAThousandShips/WesternAnimation
39	[[/index]]
40
41	[[foldercontrol]]
42
43	!!Other examples:
44
45	[[folder:Music]]
46	* In any band with exactly one female, you can bet that she will get shipped with most or all of her bandmates. Examples include:
47	** Tarja of Music/{{Nightwish\|Band}} (later replaced by Anette).
48	*** Tuomas has been paired up with every other man in the band. In all fairness, he DOES make a really [[TroubledButCute lovely and cute]] {{Uke}}.
49	* [[Music/PanicAtTheDisco Brendon Urie]]. He's generally characterized as so sweet and loving and openhearted and completely faily, it's hard ''not'' to pair him with anyone. Especially anyone male. In fairness, [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jXkJHbMbKzs/SaYquX6yqPI/AAAAAAAAzt4/uFSJbsLwLB4/s320/brendon+%20urie009.jpg this]], [[http://img.buzznet.com/assets/imgx/3/2/2/7/3/2/1/orig-3227321.jpg this]], and [[http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b359/gerardslasthope/a_cute_pic_of_brendon_urie--large-m.jpg this]] would just be wasted otherwise.
50	* The disputed rumored bisexuality of [[Music/TheBeatles John Lennon]] has made him the focus (and fan bicycle) of about 99.9% of slashy fanfiction in the [[{{Squick}} squickier]] areas of the Beatles fandom.
51	* [[Music/MyChemicalRomance Gerard Way]]. He's been paired with: all the members of his band (yes, including [[BrotherSisterIncest his brother]] and [[ScrewYourself himself]]), Bert Mccracken of The Used, [[Music/GreenDay Billie Joe Armstrong]], [[Music/PanicAtTheDisco Brendon Urie and Ryan Ross]], [[Music/FallOutBoy Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump]], and even [[Series/DoctorWho the Tenth Doctor]]. The fandom either doesn't know or doesn't care about his marriage with [[Music/MindlessSelfIndulgence Lyn-Z Ballato]].
52	* Music/{{Miley Cyrus}} has been paired with everyone who has shared a photo with her and possibly some who haven't.
53	* Subverted and played straight with [[Music/FallOutBoy Patrick Stump]]. Subverted in the slash end of bandom in that he's paired with Pete Wentz [[OneTruePairing 95% of the time]], played straight in that in het circles, he's paired with nearly every female in the bandom scene with any level of significance (even [[Music/AshleeSimpson the ex]] of the guy he's paired up with the most)
54	** On the other hand, Pete Wentz is arguably ''the'' de facto bandom slash shipping bicycle.
55	* [[Music/{{Vocaloid}} Kaito]]. My God, ''Kaito''. He has been paired with [[FanPreferredCouple Miku]], [[{{Tsundere}} Meiko]], [[HoYay Gakupo]], Gakuko, [[SugarAndIcePersonality Luka]], [[PluckyGirl Gumi]], [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Ia]], [[NoYay Len, Rin]], [[StoicSpectacles Kiyoteru]], [[BrotherSisterIncest Kaiko]], [[TheEeyore Haku]], [[{{Moe}} Aoki]], [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl Lily]], [[CrackPairing Leon]], [[{{Troll}} Neru]]...the list goes on. And on. And on. AND ON.
56	** Len is no slacker, either...he's been paired with Lui, Gakupo, Kaito, Miku, Rin, Gumi, Teto, Ia, Neru, Lenka.
57	* Music/SelenaGomez has been shipped with almost everyone from the Creator/DisneyChannel in the 2000s, the most popular ones being her with Music/DemiLovato, Music/MileyCyrus, Music/NickJonas, and Creator/DavidHenrie. She's also been shipped with a lot of other musicians who have nothing to do with Disney such as Music/TaylorSwift, Music/JustinBieber, Music/{{Zedd}}, and Music/ArianaGrande.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
61	* Wrestling/JeffHardy is '''the''' Launcher of a Thousand Ships of pro wrestling and has been so for years. Male, female, giant, midget, relative, he apparently does (or far more likely, is done by) everyone. He's "extreme" and grown up into quite a manly specimen, but is still remembered and seen by many as a sweet little fresh-faced kid who does gymnastics, and also the fact that he's a raving {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, means he can pretty well go any direction you need him to without him being out of character.
62	* The most prevalent launchers a couple decades later are probably the three former members of Wrestling/TheShield: Wrestling/DeanAmbrose, Wrestling/SethRollins, and Wrestling/RomanReigns. Aside from complementing each other in ways vital to their in-ring success back when they were a team, these three are also different elements of MrFanservice in and of themselves, due to the variance in both their looks and their characters as well as the way they all carry themselves. They've been shipped with each other (especially Seth and Dean), at least half the Divas, and even some of the other male superstars on the WWE roster based on character relativity and past interactions.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Theatre]]
66	* ''Theatre/{{Cats}}'': Mr. Mistoffelees, though usually paired with Rum Tum Tugger, has been placed with every single male and female character in the show.
67	* Theatre/{{Elisabeth}}: Besides the canon ships of Death/Elisabeth and Death/Rudolf, a metric ton of crossover fiction has been written involving Death and other characters, bridging ''Elisabeth'' and other fandoms such as Theatre/TanzDerVampire, Theatre/{{Mozart}}, and even Anime/YuriOnIce. "Everybody dances with Death", indeed. Helps that Death has been portrayed by a succession of attractive actors/actresses around the world, and these actors tend to go on to play similar roles in other shows. It's quite common for Deaths to play Count von Krolock in ''Tanz'', for example.
68	* [[Theatre/{{Hamilton}} Alexander Hamilton]] gets paired by the fandom with literally everyone else from the musical; most notably [[OfficialCouple Eliza]], [[ShipTease Angelica]], Laurens, Burr and Jefferson. Helped by the fact that the [[WordOfGod show creator has confirmed that in his mind, Hamilton is bisexual]]. He's even been paired with [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor]], thanks to an offhand remark made about him in one episode that aired well before ''Hamilton'' was even written.
69	* Eponine from ''Theatre/LesMiserables'' has been paired with Marius, Enjolras, Cosette, Montparnasse, Javert, Valjean, and every member of Les Amis ABC.
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Web Original]]
73	* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' has [[GadgeteerGenius Percy]], [[HalfIdenticalTwin Vex'ahlia, and Vax'ildan]].
74	** Percy has so far been paired with [[FanPreferredCouple Vex]], [[PlatonicLifePartners Keyleth]], [[GuestStarPartyMember Lillith]], Pike, Vax, and [[spoiler: [[FoeYayShipping Raishan]]]]
75	** Vex has been paired with Zahra, [[FanPreferredCouple Percy]], Pike, Grog, and Jarrett
76	** Vax has been paired with [[OfficialCouple Keyleth]], [[CampGay Gilmore]], Percy, Grog, and has had some FoeYayShipping with Lord and Lady Briarwood.
77	** In Campaign 2 it's Jester. Paired with pretty much everybody but especially Fjord, Caleb and Beau.
78	* WebVideo/DontHugMeImScared's Fandom often put Tony through this even before the Kickstarter came out by [[GottaShipEmAll shipping him with any of the three pupppets]] other than [[FanPreferredCouple Sketch]][[HetIsEw book]]. Now with the series finished and a whole bunch of other characters to ship with, it seems that the fandom has already revved up it's engines and shipped him with either [[RoboShip Colin]], [[MatchmakerCrush Shrignold]], or [[FoeRomanceSubtext Red Guy]].
79	* In the webcomic ''Webcomic/TheDreamer'', we have Bea. Officially with Alan in the 18th -- century and with Ben in the 21st -- century, may have had [[NewOldFlame a past]] with Alex, could be paired up with her cousin John, and also with Freddy, just for the hell of it.
80	* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' has Tedd. He has a canon romance with Grace, and more than a little subtext with Elliot (including them dating in at least two alternate universes) which also frees up Ellen. Tedd's had plenty of moments with Susan and Sarah (with a decent amount of shippers for each of them with him), and there has been more than one HoYay bit with [[JerkJock Tony]]. Some stretching on his former anxieties around Justin and a romantic interpretation of his moments with Catalina is all it really takes to put Tedd with almost anyone his age in the cast. Except Nanase. Usually.
81	* Evan from WebVideo/EverymanHYBRID gets this treatment. He's also the show's MrFanservice despite being what would, on network television, be HollywoodHomely. His [[BladeEnthusiast obsession with knives]] probably attracts more fans to him despite his constant teetering on the edge of going AxCrazy. Kicking it up a notch, Evan is quite aware, in-character, that SlashFic gets written about him; he and the rest of the cast find it flattering on some level.
82	* WebOriginal/{{Fandomstuck}}: The Leviathan Fandom. Her interests so far have included Dangan Ronpa, Minecraft, My Little Pony, Chaos, and Bones. It doesn't do very well for her emotional state.
83	* [[VegetarianVampire Conrad Achenleck]] from ''Webcomic/HannaIsNotABoysName'' has strong HoYay with [[DrJerk Doc Worth]], but also gets paired up with werewolf girl Toni, main character Hanna, and vampire hunter Abner who hasn't even appeared in the comic yet.
84	** ''Also'' paired with HalfHumanHybrid Veser and with EnsembleDarkHorse Ples who, in all fairness, actually is a StraightGay.
85	* Alastor from ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'' seems to be quite popular amongst shippers, despite the character being canonically asexual/aromantic. He's been shipped with Charlie, Angel Dust, Vaggie (despite the latter being a lesbian), Husk, Niffty, Sir Pentious, Mimzy, Rosie, Valentino...not to mention the many, many OriginalCharacters, plus the crossover ships with characters like [[WesternAnimation/GravityFalls Bill Cipher]] and [[WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse Lilith Clawthorne]] (ANOTHER canonically aroace character).
86	* Marzipan is the only female of the ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' cast (not counting the WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad). Do the math.
87	* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' has a lot of pairings between its numerous characters, thanks to its very active shipping community and abundance of ShipTease. There is so much shipping that even [[ShipperOnDeck within canon]], [[BadAssAdorable Nepeta]] maintains a shipping wall where she keeps track of every single possible pairing between her friends. But even with the sheer number of pairings out there, some characters are... disproportionately represented:
88	** John is this, partially due to him being the initial main character. John/[[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness Rose]], John/[[GenkiGirl Jade]] ([[spoiler:Even though it's been revealed that that pairing is BrotherSisterIncest]]), [[HoYay John/Dave]], [[BelligerentSexualTension John/Karkat]], John/[[MagnificentBastard Terezi]], and John/[[TokenEvilTeammate Vriska]] are just a few of his pairings.
89	** Because most Trolls are bisexual and their species has [[BizarreAlienReproduction four different kinds of romance]], by nature they tend to get shipped around more than most of the other characters. Karkat is particularly prevalent; In canon, ship teases include Terezi, Nepeta, Jade, John, Dave, and Meenah. Sollux and Gamzee, being his closest friends, are also popular choices. The popular fandom SongParody "Karkalicious" jokes about this and even has Karkat say "the majority of pairings had better include me!" in one verse.
90	** The fandom doesn't exactly keep Dave to one person either. Aformentioned Dave/John, as well as Dave/Jade and Dave/Rose are ''way'' more popular than their [[ShipMates "compliments"]] Rose/Jade, John/Rose, and John/Jade respectively.[[note]]Going by Archive of our Own stats.[[/note]] He's also been paired up with all of the original twelve trolls and [[spoiler:new kids]] at least once each (some considerably more than others, like Karkat and Terezi), and between that and some of the more crack choices, it got to the point where the comic's author had the BigBad write a [[StylisticSuck terrible]] comic-within-a-comic which depicts Dave as a supposed ladies' man with a decently sized harem.
91	* ''Roleplay/NoPixel'' has Bryce Miller, who has been romantically linked to Pixie Plum, Emma Gaine, Andi Jones, Mercy Moon, Elena Vega, and Erin Cox, with each ship earning its fair share of fans. It's become a running joke that whenever Bryce even ''looks'' at another woman, his player LGX's Website/{{Twitch}} chat will immediately ship them.
92	* In ''Blog/OffThePageAndIntoLife'', Gail/Anyone is fair game. Helps that she's bisexual and a MagneticHero.
93	** She and Henry have been in a SlapSlapKiss relationship since the start.
94	** Sam has had a crush on her since they were kids.
95	** She and Tim are intensely close, and have kissed before.
96	** She and Jackson have dated and still have feelings for each other.
97	** She's obviously pretty ''admiring'' of Megan. (The mun has gone on record saying Gail has a crush on her.)
98	** She briefly flirts with Aaron before finding out he has a girlfriend.
99	** She and Irene got very close, very fast, and have kissed (albeit to prove a point).
100	** She and Terrence occasionally veer into FoeRomanceSubtext with their arguing. Plus they both like Henry, leading to many OneTrueThreesome jokes.
101	* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' fans will ship [[CrackPairing anyone with anything]], but the [[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=111631 Crack Pairings thread]] keeps coming back to Vaarsuvius for [[TheWoobie some]] [[HurtComfortFic reason]].
102	** In fan art (and in fic to a lesser extent) [[LawfulStupid Miko]] [[ActionGirl Miyazaki]] is frequently drawn, written, or requested, despite her status as TheScrappy with a large portion of the fandom and cast -- and again, she's paired with everyone (including [[EldritchAbomination The Snarl]]).
103	* [[WebVideo/PressHeartToContinue Dodger.]] Her vlogs never mention her love life, probably because if they did her entire fanbase would start a war among itself. That doesn't stop people from shipping her with every other [[Creator/{{Polaris}} TGS]] member in the LA area...and one in Chicago.
104	* Hannelore "Hanners" Elliot Chatham from ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'' gets paired with... oh, you know the drill (a lot of her cast members new and old gets this treatment, too. Hanners isn't the main character).
105	* In ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' fandom, it's [[{{Jerkass}} Chu]][[DeadpanSnarker rch]] and [[ButtMonkey Grif]] ([[FoeYayShipping Church/Grif]] is fairly popular), and to a lesser extent, [[TheDitz Caboose]].
106	* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Everyone from Team RWBY (plus [[AudienceSurrogate Jaune]]) has been paired with every conceivable character, including each other. In fact, polygamy fics where all of RWBY is dating each other (which, yes, generally includes [[SiblingIncest half-siblings Ruby and Yang]]) aren't exactly uncommon. Generally, Ruby and Jaune tend to get this treatment the most, despite the fact (or maybe ''because'' of the fact) that Ruby is a ChasteHero and Jaune started out as a CasanovaWannabe only to end up with a LostLenore.
107	** Blake Belladonna is a close third in this category, though her getting this label admittedly makes more sense than Ruby and Jaune. Of the characters she's most frequently paired with, four of them (Yang, Sun, Ilia, and Adam) are canonically smitten with her.
108	** As of Volume 7, Qrow Branwen began to join the fun, with his most popular pairings including Clover, Ironwood, Ozpin, Winter, Robyn, Summer and Taiyang.
109	* PlayedForLaughs with Dr. Bright of the ''Website/SCPFoundation''. Needless to say, if an SCP exists, chances are someone’s made a joke about Bright wanting to have sex with it. Unless said SCP is [[SiblingIncest SCP-590 or SCP-321]]. [[StalkerWithoutACrush SCP-1471]], [[OmnicidalManiac SCP-682]], and [[InnocentFanserviceGirl SCP-166]] are often his most common victims, but other examples exist. Such as [[https://youtu.be/6W271uwQ94c SCP-294]].
110	* Rosa Fiametta of ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'' falls into the 'fandom bicycle' category, as in recent times, pairings bandied about have included: Bounce, Ilario and Frankie Fiametta ({{Twincest}}, yay!), Alexia Morgan, Princess Cerberus (a joke character), Adam Tenser, Blood Boy and Bobby Jacks. This isn't even counting the several ''canonical'' relationships she's had.
111	** Naturally, the most requested character on the (relatively new) [=SOTF=] KinkMeme is Rosa. It's reached the point where there's now a ''rule'' about requesting Rosa, because she had a truckload of requests compared to other characters.
112	* As far as shipping is concerned, ''Website/ChannelAwesome'' has [[{{Keet}} Benzaie]], [[TheCasanova Spoony]], the Nostalgia Chick, [[StoicSpectacles Linkara]], and [[NerdsAreSexy the Nostalgia Critic]].
113	** In KinkMeme news, while everyone's had a lot of action, probably the ultimate fandom mattress is now the [[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic Critic]]. A fair assumption, seeing as how apart from his usual pairings, as of writing he's had a gangbang on his desk, been shipped with an [[WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}} animated gargoyle]], been the recipent of tentacle-lovin' and got kissed by the Music/LadyGaga from the Bad Romance video. Yes, really.
114	*** His actor, Doug Walker, is doing pretty well for himself too. Mostly because he's flirted with nearly everyone on the site for funsies.
115	** It doesn't help matters that Spoony/Chick, Spoony/Googles, Spoony/Benzaie, Spoony/Critic, Spoony/Joe and Spoony/Sage are ''all'' canon.
116	*** Add to that Spoony/The Other Guy, Spoony/Paw, Spoony/Snob, Spoony/Ed Glaser, Spoony/The Last Angry Geek, Spoony/Matt Briner, and both Spoony/Pushing Up Roses and Spoony/Bargo were hinted at. And if crossovers count, Doctor Insano got it on with Doctor Holocaust and Captain Awesome.
117	* LetsPlay/KimRichards from the LetsPlay/{{Yogscast}}. The majority of Yogs are male, and since Hannah was (until 2015) in the OfficialCouple with Lewis and Zoey is a lesbian, Kim has been shipped with basically everyone. Fans were also overjoyed when she hinted she didn't mind being shipped [[LesYay with Hannah]].
118	[[/folder]]

Context Main / LauncherOfAThousandShips