So official, it's the game's logo.
"Oh fuck it. Who am I to stand between you two? You obviously make an adorable couple. Why should I let my rotten luck with the ladies rain on your parade. That's it, I'm calling it. I'm declaring your ship to be officially canon."
This is when the main characters in any given story are undeniably a couple. (Thus, in heroic stories The Hero and The Chick are the usual couple, though it isn't always them.) The important thing to know about this trope is that the characters are overtly paired off, so even if they never kiss on screen or even flirt with other characters, it's understood by the cast (and hopefully the audience) that the two are an item. Naturally, this does absolutely nothing to offset Shipping.
Sometimes, there's another couple that sometimes serves as a Foil and/or companion to the "official" couple that involves The Hero. This other couple usually involves The Lancer and a minor female. This couple is called the Beta Couple.
Expect: She Is Not My Girlfriend, Just Friends, Everyone Can See It, Like Brother and Sister, and Lampshade Hanging.
If this trope breaks up a Fan-Preferred Couple, expect Ship-to-Ship Combat to ensue.
Side-Story Bonus Art often has the couple getting married. Speaking of which, if this the path that the couple ends up taking, it is very likely to fall under being Happily Married.
See also Love Chart. Contrast Better as Friends for when this devolves into a platonic relationship, and One True Pairing and Fan-Preferred Couple for when fans have a preferred ship that they want to become an official couple. If the plot tortures the official couple, then that's Official Couple Ordeal Syndrome.
A REMINDER: A couple is an official couple only if they acknowledge their feelings and enter into a relationship in Canon. Ship Teasing and Unresolved Sexual Tension do not count, nor does your favorite Fan Fic or Doujinshi. Do not use this page as a proxy for Ship-to-Ship Combat.
Examples
- Anime & Manga
- Comic Books
- Live-Action Films
- Literature
- Live-Action TV
- Video Games
- Visual Novels
- Web Comics
- Western Animation
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Asian Animation
- In Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, the villain Wolffy is married to Wolnie, and the two have shown quite a few times that, no matter how much the latter beats up the former for constantly failing to capture the goats for them to eat, the two genuinely love and care for each other.
Fan Works
- A New Life Era: The Recovery Part 2
has a scene where Amy Jr. and Moe discuss becoming a couple.
- A Crown of Stars: Ching and Bir. They were two officers taking part in the campaign to free Shinji and Asuka's world. Due to working together closely they gradually developed a relationship.
- Evangelion 303: Jessika Ryan and her girlfriend Mandy. Jessika got assigned to a secret project and had to leave, intending to reunite with Mandy later. Unfortunately she died during a trial test. Later Mandy read her Secret Diary and foud out that Jessika had fallen in love with Asuka and thought that she had been unfaithful (even though Jessika had not cheated and she actually shipped Shinji and Asuka together.
- With an Anguished Declaration of Love at the end of Reality Is Fluid, Captain Kanril Eleya and Lieutenant Commander Reshek Gaarra of the Bait and Switch (STO)-verse are together for good after having danced around each other for months. The author confirmed it in an edit note on Memory Gamma wiki. No word yet on how they're working around the fact that them being together violates regulations (she's his direct superior).
- The Second Try: Koichi Yamadera and his wife in this story and the sequel Aki-chan's Life. They were the owners of the market-garden where Shinji and Asuka lived in the post-Impact world. After going back to the past, Shinji and Asuka visited them twice, and eventually they offered selling their old house to the pair of time-travelers.
- Code Prime:
- Though it hasn't been made official yet, the author plans for Lelouch and Kallen to be this, as well as Rai and Shirley.
- As for the official ones, Suzaku and Euphie become this at the end of R1 and the beginning of R2. In addition, there is Ohgi and Villetta, and Ironhide and Chromia.
- In Superman story Superman of 2499: The Great Confrontation, Alan Kent and Katherine de Ka'an were two thirds of a love triangle until Kath chose Alan over his brother Adam.
- Brock and Pike Queen Lucy are engaged to each other in Pokémon Reset Bloodlines, and it's hinted that Brock plans to propose to her soon.
- Galaxy Angel Retold:
- The fic sees Original Character Arnold Williams develop a romantic relationship with Milfeulle Sakuraba while Tact pairs with Ranpha. Like the Galaxy Angel games, the fanfic is a six-installment series split between the two trilogies, with the second trilogy seeing Kazuya pair up with Lily; a seventh installment, listed as a crossover between Galaxy Angel and the 2016 remake of Doom, is added in which Arnold and Milfie have a baby boy at the end (conceived in a related side story) that Arnold names after a fallen friend he met during the events of the seventh main installment.
- What-ifs stories in the series also exist, with all three males flipping romantic partners amongst the remaining five Angels.
- Fanfiction author Khaos Omega deploys a few of this trope in his own variation. The main trilogy (only of Galaxy Angel II, though) pairs Tact with Vanilla, male Original Character lead Jace Davies with Anise Azeat, Kazuya with Natsume ( after the other four Angels, led by an early-returned Lily, set up a scheme that confirms the Jace/Anise pairing), Almo with her canon crush Lester, and, very surprisingly, Tequila as another of Jet Brazie's Rainbow Angels. Tequila later tweaks her name to Takara ahead of a 2304 Series change that reassigns her old spot to the Lily of the same multiverse as Jet's own Anise (the chronology's titular Amethyst Angel). A what-if version also exists, but with a different male original character named Marty Jordan in the role of Arnold Williams ( Khaos Christmas 2677 later confirms the original Marty's official girl is Chitose.)
- In My Huntsman Academia, Izuku's warm and understanding personality begins to win over the hearts of his female friends over the course of the story. Ultimately, it's Yang who asks him out first.
- In Kara of Rokyn, Nas-Er and Hira -the main character's manager and personal trainer, respectively- tie the knot.
- By the end of The Many Dates of Danny Fenton, Danny and Kara become a full couple, with an epilogue showing their future together. Although there are alternate endings where Danny choose a different girl and still ended up happy, the author has expressed plans for a series of shorts starring Danny and Kara as a couple.
- Dungeon Keeper Ami has Cathy and Jered. They serve as a Beta Couple to their boss, Keeper Mercury and her "relationship" with Jadeite.
- Unbreakable Red Silken Thread
- Heather and Cody become this after a few chapters.
- Lindsay and Tyler, mentioned several times in passing though not (yet) shown, are still the same as they were back during Total Drama.
- Jo and Brick.
- Jasmine and Sammy.
- Although they met differently in this story's universe, Noah and Emma are also this.
- The Bolt Chronicles: Bolt and Mittens, the main series characters, undeniably become a romantic couple starting with "The Ship." Foreshadowed in earlier stories, most notably "The Wedding Reception" and "The Funkmeister."
- Junior Officers
- Tweak and Anita.
- Kitsune and Akio.
- Lekona and Blythe.
- As of "Heal", Shellington and Deborah.
- #14 (MHA):
- Aizawa and Yamada are married in this fic, with Shinso as their adopted son.
- Bakugo and Kirishima eventually get together and marry one another near the fic's ending. Ochaco is also heavily implied to have married to Iida, having taken his last name.
- In the Doki Doki Literature Club Loops, after Natsuki shares her views of love to Sayori at Blake and Yang's wedding (Natsuki doesn't feel like love is for her, believing she was only put in the game for Tsundere value, Yuri grabs Natsuki by the chestplate, hoists her up and kisses her. The duo have been together ever since.
- In Touhou Odyssey we have Byleth and Dorothea and Mario and Princess Peach who do get married here.
- Multiple in Arisugawa's Locket:
- Juri and Setsuna Meioh. (married)
- Usagi and Mamoru.
- Ami and Rei.
- Minako and Natsuna.
- Makoto and Haruna.
- Haruka and Michuru.
- Sakura Kinamoto and Tomoyo.
- Nabiki and Ayaka, initally to the point where Nabiki proposes. However, Ayaka returns Nabiki's ring saying she needs time and is later found going out with a boy. Nabiki later starts dating Nina from Code Geass.
- Keiko and Cyberdoll May.
- The Light and the Dark
- In pleased to meet you (hope you guess my name) Katarina and Maria with Maria falling in love with Katarina after the latter thanks Maria for healing Katarina's arm and saying that Maria will be able to help lots of people and everyone will love her no matter what. At the end of chapter 2, Maria confesses to Katarina and Katarina realizes she does like Maria and they end up kissing and the fic ends with them together.
- In Things Inolving Shipgirls That Are No Longer Allowed and More Things Inolving Shipgirls That Are No Longer Allowed we have Yamato and Enterprise who are shown to be dating in Chapter 19 and both end up getting (somehow) pregnant and having two daughters, Yoshino and Hope. As you might expect they are a Badass Family.
- BlazBlue Alternative: Remnant: Chapter 50 has Yang and Pyrrha confess their feelings to each other and become a couple.
- Prehistoric Earth:
- Drew and Cynthia (although they ultimately break up on good terms at the end)
- Jack and Colette
- Leon and Yolanda
- Alice and Will (according to Word of God)
Films — Animation
- Any of the Disney Princesses and their respective princes/heroes.
- In Anastasia, the titular character and Dimitri, whose Belligerent Sexual Tension ends in an elopement.
- Garrett and Kayley in Quest for Camelot.
- In the Toy Story movies, there's Woody/Bo Peep before she was Put on a Bus by Toy Story 3 (only to come back in Toy Story 4), as well as Mr./Mrs. Potato Head and, predictably, Barbie/Ken. And, by the end of Toy Story 3, Buzz and Jessie.
- Derek and Odette in The Swan Princess
- Corpse Bride: Victor and Victoria.
- The Madagascar movies have Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo. While the original movie made no mention of any attraction between the two, the second movie established that Melman had fallen for Gloria long before they left New York, and their couple-ness was cemented by the end of the movie. In the third, they are still a couple, but not much is made of it, aside from a few pet names and their duo tightrope act in the circus. It also has, in the third movie, Alex and Gia.
- In Wreck-It Ralph, Fix-It Felix Junior and Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun end up together at the end.
- Hiccup and Astrid become one in the Race to the Edge episode "Blindsided" and are still going strong in How to Train Your Dragon 2. Their relationship continues to stay strong with them getting married in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
- Manolo and Maria in The Book of Life.
- Alpha and Omega has two: Humphrey and Kate, and Lilly and Garth
Web Animation
- RWBY: After several volumes of Will They or Won't They? shenanigans, Nora and Ren finally solidified their relationship with a Big Damn Kiss in Volume 7, Chapter 6.
- Tex and Church are the official couple in Red vs. Blue. Although they have a very tempestuous relationship and usually act more like enemies than a couple, neither ever denies it.
- Koden and Amber, the only two sane characters from DSBT InsaniT.
Web Original
- Legion of Nothing has a few of these. The current Heroes League has Nick and his girlfriend Haley. Earlier you had Nick's grandfather Joe Van Der Sloot and his wife Romy.
- That Guy with the Glasses:
- While mostly having a reputation for slash, the TGWTG fangirl fandom adored former real-life pairings Linkara/Iron Liz and Spoony/Scarlett. There's also a "that's so adorable!" Squee over Doug getting engaged to his girlfriend.
- While both couples have since broken up, for a time there was JesuOtaku / Nash and The Nostalgia Chick/Todd in the Shadows. The latter one's layered: Lindsay and Todd were dating in real life, but in-character The Nostalgia Chick pursues Todd in the Shadows, who brushed her off and pined for / stalked Allison Pregler aka Lupa, who is in a relationship with Phelous as well.
- Regarding Chick, Lindsay and Doug confirmed in the FernGully: The Last Rainforest commentary that all of her Ship Tease with The Nostalgia Critic was intentional and that the characters had an ambiguous-on-details-but-very-real thing going on.
- Doug gave his approval for Critic and Snob to be labelled "Internet Reviewer Boyfriends".
- Hyper Fangirl and Devil Boner (lovingly named Hyper-Boner) are Ax-Crazy Sickeningly Sweethearts that bond over who kidnapped Critic best.
- Cecil and Carlos end up as one in Welcome to Night Vale.
- Critical Role
- Within the party, Vax'ildan and Keyleth's relationship finally became official in Episode 65 after many complications and hardships from both.
- Likewise, Percival de Rolo and Vex'ahlia had a lot of Ship Tease between them until Episode 69 where Vex confessed during his resurrection ritual, Episode 72 when Percy boldly kissed her, and Episode 78 when they spent what they believed to be their last night together.
- After 60 episodes worth of hints and speculation from fans and party members alike, Matt Mercer confirmed that fan favorites Lady Kima and Allura Vysoren were together, having rekindled an old relationship from their adventuring days.
- Kashaw and Zahra develop from Like Brother and Sister to this, which is made apparent in the last two episodes when the latter reveals to be pregnant with their child.
- At the very end of the campaign, Scanlan and Pike finally get together. A bit surprising considering earlier character development had suggested these two would stay Just Friends.
- The Adventure Zone: Balance has a few. Hurley and Sloane were confirmed to be girlfriends through Word of God, Taako and Kravitz get together, and the show ends with Carey and Killian's wedding. Magnus and Julia are also a couple, but because Julia is deceased, it takes them a while to reunite.
