Threesome Subtext

aka: Three Yay

Sometimes, Betty and Veronica stop fighting over Archie and simply enjoy him together.

"I think the three of us could be very happy together."

— Shawn, about himself, Cory, and Topanga, Boy Meets World

Subtextual implications in the story, about the possibility of a shared romantic and/or sexual relationship between three characters. This can involve an Official Couple (or as close to an official couple as you can get) and their best friend, the participants in a Love Triangle (or more) being far more friendly than you'd expect, a Power Trio with a close emotional bond, or just any trio of characters that, by the nature of their relationship and/or the plot, spend an awful lot of time around each other.

Like most other Ship Tease tropes, it might be caused by the author fooling around, with the expectation that no one will consider this a serious romantic resolution, or by teasing the fans of that particular kink to stay tuned. It's possible for this to be accidental, though given the generally more complicated dynamics involved it's more likely to be intentional compared to other subtext tropes.

Three-Way Sex and Polyamory are the canonical version of this. Twin Threesome Fantasy is related. Compare One True Threesome, the Shipping Goggles-induced counterpart. For other socially unaccepted romance subtext, see Homoerotic Subtext and Incest Subtext.

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Examples:

Advertising

• A Domino's commercial parodying various movie genres had a rom-com where a woman opens her door to find the Domino's delivery guy and lovingly exclaims, "It's you!" with the deliver guy saying, "It's me." Then her boyfriend emerges from the back and likewise shouts, "It's you!" at delight to the delivery guy.

Anime & Manga

• The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You: While Rentarou does have 20 girlfriends and counting, him + Hakari + Karane are a very blatant version of this. When they tried to decide who would be Rentarou's Sacred First Kiss, they do it by having the three kiss at the same time. Also, every time one of the two girls tries to assert their true love, they will go for each other as much as they do for Rentarou.
• In Angel Densetsu, Ikuno offhandedly and bluntly states that, should Official Couple Kitano and Ryoko get married, she will become Kitano's mistress to make sure they all stay together.
• Bakuman。:
  • Miyoshi + Takagi + Aoki. After a series of Love Triangle-related misunderstandings, the two girls have decided to be friends, with Aoki supporting the idea of Miyoshi and Takagi getting married while she's admitted to them both that she's started to fall for Takagi.
  • The foursome formed by Mashiro, Takagi, Miyoshi and Azuki: Miyoshi often act like a assistant/housewife to both Mashiro and Takagi, and Mashiro sometimes has the same reactions as Takagi towards her. He even once jokingly told her that he liked her right after Takagi did the same. There's enough Ho Yay between Takagi and Mashiro that Azuki herself lampshades it by saying she is bit jealous of how in-synch they are. Finally Mashiro and Azuki made the romantic promise to get married once they realize their dream and Azuki would voice the heroine in the anime adaptation of Mashiro and Takagi's manga, which means that their promise includes Takagi and depends of his actions as much as theirs, the Pen Name Ashirogi is a contraction of their three names. Miyoshi is Azuki's best friend and both her and Takagi refer to Mashiro and Azuki's dream as their dream. Whenever something happens to one of the couples, like the above-mentioned Love Triangle misunderstandings, it evolves into a crisis involving all four of them.
• Beastars has Legosi/Haru/Louis. Legosi and Haru are the primary couple that the series focuses on, and the two of them are in an official, of somewhat complicated, relationship. As for Haru and Louis, the two of them used to have a Friends with Benefits relationship, and it was implied that they might have had deeper feelings for each other at some point. Finally, in a series where a Carnivore's desire to eat meat and sexual desire are often conflated, it's not at all hard to read a lot of homoerotic subtext into the scene in the manga where Louis allows Legosi to eat his left leg to give him a power boost in his fight against Riz.
• Berserk has Griffith +Guts/Casca, although that could be considered completely canon in some ways—Casca and Guts are the Official Couple, Casca was definitely in love with Griffith earlier in the series, and Griffith has been very strongly implied to be attracted to Guts, with slightly less (but still present) subtext with Casca. The feelings are there, it's just that canon never gives them a chance to sort them all out before things go really wrong with Griffith's betrayal.
• Bleach:
  • One of the endings has Kyouraku in a suit, with both Lisa and Nanao next to him.
  • The Chapter 534 cover art shows Masaki with a man on each arm: Isshin and Ryuuken.
• Chihayafuru's emotional core is the relationship between three childhood friends who bonded over karuta: Chihaya, Taichi, and Arata. It's billed as a Love Triangle between Chihaya and the two guys, but the boys have a close (if slightly more complicated) relationship with one another as well, and they tend to all be happiest when all three of them are together. In one atmospheric scene Taichi even says that he understands Arata's feelings towards Chihaya because she belongs to both of them. At another point, Arata says that he isn't interested in any team competitions because the only team for him is the three of them, then blushes and says that probably sounded kinda gross because he was looking at the moon at the time (a reference to a poem brought up earlier in the episode about a lover thinking about the object of their affections while gazing at the moon). Taichi seems a little flustered, too.
• In Citrus, Matsuri has a crush on Yuzu and initially hates Mei (her Love Interest). Later on, Matsuri starts calling both Yuzu and Mei "Onee-chan," and at one point says she "could get used to this."
• In Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School: Despair, Yukizome and Sakakura are both motivated by their friendship with each other and their attraction to Munakata, so naturally the fans took this to its logical (?) conclusion. Promotional materials shows the three having Christmas dinner together, and Yukizome considering buying them matching rings.
  Munakata: Sakakura's accompanied me out often enough with Yukizome as a group of three. Since he likes sweets, he’ll take us out to the popular cafes and such, and since he’s resilient against the cold, he’s taken us out to look at all the lights on display as well. He might have complained about it, but that doesn’t stop him from being casually considerate, so wouldn’t the same apply to a woman he was dating?
• DearS has this in the ending of the manga. Takuya, here's your reward for choosing to Stay with the Aliens.
• In Death Note during the first arc: Misa-Light-L, and in the second arc: Misa-Light-Takada / Light-Takada-Mikami and in the prequel novel Another Note: Raye Penber-Naomi Misora-Ryuuzaki.
• Durarara!!:
  • Aoba + Mairu + Kururi gets a bunch of this. Mairu and Kururi thank Aoba with a kiss for turning in a group of bullies; Aoba has a They Are Not My Girlfriends moment when his Blue Square members refer to them as such, but turns right around and explicitly orders them not to involve the twins in the gang wars because he's taken a particular liking to them. And then there's all the Mairu/Kururi Twincest. Worth noting that they've all kissed at some point.
  • Kida/Mikado/Anri gets this, though to a lesser level. Kida happily hits on Anri, who is Mikado's Love Interest. Mikado and Kida, though, have so many undertones to their friendships, its sometimes gets lampshaded, even by Anri herself. The ending of the first season has a scene of Mikado and Anri rescuing Kida from the Yellow Scarfs, in which Kida holds both their hands.
• In Fullmetal Alchemist, although Ed/Winry is the Official Couple (confirmed via Babies Ever After), a far greater focus is on the relationship between Ed, Winry and Al than any romance. They've been friends since childhood, are constantly concerned and worried about the others' safety and happiness, and it's clear Ed cares for Al just as deeply as he cares for Winry.
• Hayate the Combat Butler:
  • Hayate + Hinagiku + Ayumu. Ayumu jokes about this in the anime, after Hinagiku decided she was ruined for marriage because Ayumu had gotten a little turned on drying off Hinagiku (who had fainted in the bath). The manga is a little tamer about it, but implications are still there. The 'That's it' when Hinagiku admitted she'd fallen in love with Hayate could be read for such.
  • Later on the manga has Hayate + Hinagiku + Athena. This is reinforced by the fact that Hayate made a promise to always love Athena and she is considered his ex-girlfriend by other characters that he tells about her and Hinagiku is later revealed to have quite a history with Athena herself with a friendship that looks an awful lot like classic Yuri Genre setups down to a Meet Cute with Hina opening admiring her beauty (though she's usually on the receiving end now). Hayate shows a lot of affection for Hina and seems to still have feelings for Athena. Hinagiku also seems to be the only one that Athena ever opened up to besides Hayate and they were known by the whole school as an inseparable duo. Given Hayate and Hinagiku's noted similarity to each other it stands to reason that Athena would naturally like them both.
• In Immortal Rain, this occurs with the Machika/Rain/Yuca trio. While each of the characters in the triangle clearly have deeper feelings for one side than the other (Machika > Rain, Rain > Machika, and Yuca > Rain), feelings for the other side of the triangle do also exist in all three characters, and (by the end, after character development) those feelings are not possessive/exclusive. In the end, it's only finally resolved when one of them is forcibly removed from the equation due to plot events.
• Jyu-Oh-Sei:
  • Thor + Karim + Zagi has several hints. Basically, Thor is in love with Karim, who loves him back but also loves Zagi, who is at least sexually attracted to her and also has an unhealthy obsession with Thor. Throw in a line about Karim wanting to have both their children, and there you go.
  • Foursome Subtext with Thor + Karim + Zagi + Tiz; Tiz is in love with Thor but says she's willing to share him with Karim, Thor only loves Tiz like a sister but would sleep with her if it made her happy, and Tiz and Zagi share a touching moment that involves Taking the Bullet and Died in Your Arms Tonight.
• Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl is about a love triangle involving three girls. For a while, near the middle of the manga, it seems like all three of them could live peacefully together... However eventually the poly outcome gets thrown out the window when it's shown that Hazumu will die if she doesn't pick one. Tomari ends up with Hazumu.
• As far as Shino of Kiniro Mosaic is concerned, it would be best if she had both Alice and Karen out of her fetish toward blondes. She even comments that she could have a blonde on each arm. She also likes to daydream about the two together.
• Gets pretty heavy in the second season of Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne. When the three leads are re-united after several months the argument between Lan and Muginami is settled when Madoka pushes them together and forces them to kiss. Later on Muginami returns the favour with Madoka and Lan. After that Lan pushes Madoka and Muginami together... and winds up knocking their foreheads together. Though Madoka does confirm several episodes later that she and Muginami did kiss at some point.
• Love Hina:
  • Keitarou + Naru + Mutsumi seems so obvious it hurts. Besides Kei and Naru being the Official Couple of that series, Mutsumi was a childhood friend who participated in the infamous promise to get into Tokyo U and in the manga states flat out that she loves (not likes) both characters and wants to see their dream succeed, with Mutsumi kissing both of them. It's clear that Keitaro made a Childhood Marriage Promise to both of them (and that they both knew about the "other woman" and were fine with it—although at their age they clearly didn't understand why it was not okay). In chapter 59, Mutsumi flat-out states that she made a promise with Naru, which means that each member of the trio made a promise with both of the other two members. And just to make it weird, Mutsumi made Naru promise to get into Tokyo U because she knew Naru was too young to remember her first promise with Keitaro, a year before that.
  • Su has openly expressed interest in becoming a threesome with Naru and Keitaro. Given her character, it's very hard to tell if she was serious or not.
• Love Live! has this, most notably for Honoka + Kotori + Umi, but the other grade trios have their fair share as well. Just take this scene from Chapter 7 of the mobile game:
  Honoka: Umi-chaaaan!!
  Umi: Hey, Honoka!
  Honoka: Ehehe. Obviously, I'd be nothing without you, Umi-chan.
  Kotori: ... that's an odd way to word it, Honoka-chan.
  Umi: ... oh, my...
  Honoka: The three of us together, always and forever! I hope you'll be with me forever and ever!
  Maki: This is sounding like a wedding...
  Hanayo: Then it'd be a a polygamous one...
  Rin: Hanayo and Maki, you two should be my brides too!
  • Same with both Chika + Riko + You and Mari + Kanan + Dia in Love Live! Sunshine!!.
• Ranka/Alto/Sheryl in Macross Frontier. At the end of the series, Alto says "You are both my wings" (which, considering his all-consuming love of flying, is pretty much him saying "I love you"). For their part, Ranka and Sheryl are clearly at least as into each other as they are into Alto, and at the end of the series they promise "not to lose to each other" in either their singing careers or love (complete with an ambiguous-but-affectionate shared smile).
• Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS shows Nanoha, Fate, and Hayate in bed together, plus Reinforce Zwei up on a pillow. Granted, this was following an enormously exhausting, impromptu rescue mission, after which they simply needed to crash and sleep.
• In the manga version of Magic Knight Rayearth, Hikaru says she wants to marry both Lantis and Eagle. Then she says she loves everyone and her feelings remain ambiguous... but those two are the only ones she mentions wanting to marry, so there's that.
• In Maoyu the Light Novel series decided not to give a set-in-stone romantic conclusion to The Hero, The Demon Queen, and Lady Knight’s ordeal; instead it decided to end with all three of them retiring and traveling to some faraway place, together in full realization that The Demon Queen and Lady Knight both love The Hero.
• While the anime adaptation cut it out, in the original manga version of My Bride is a Mermaid, Lunar's Love Epiphany concerning Nagasumi extended to Sun as well◊ and had her state that her only desire was for the three of them to always be together.
• In Naruto, there's Team 7: Naruto has a crush on Sakura, who is occasionally teased as reciprocating but officially in love with Sasuke, who shares massive Ho Yay with Naruto...who reciprocates that Ho Yay plenty. It says something that the only configuration of the trio that hasn't locked lips onscreen at some point is the Official Couple of Sasuke/Sakura.
• Negima! Magister Negi Magi:
  • When Nodoka is trying to figure out a solution to the Love Triangle she's in, her subconscious suggests a threeway between herself, Negi, and her best friend Yue. "Sai-shou-dou-kin!?" This idea is revisited in a flashback in UQ Holder!, where the two girls in question offer a polymygous relationship with Negi. In the original Negima timeline he turns them down, but in the UQ Holder timeline, he accepts.
  • Going by what we see of various characters' Cosmo Entelechia, Nodoka and Yue would both be happy with Nodoka + Negi + Yue, Chachamaru's ideal world is one where she is with both Negi and Evangeline, while Shiori's greatest wish is to be with both Fate and Negi.
• Yuuya + Inori + Yamato in Nukoduke was, at least before Inori died. Yuuya and Inori are dating, but they almost never go alone together without Yamato with them.
• In Nyaruko: Crawling with Love!, after Cuko warms up to Mahiro, she begins campaigning for a three-way relationship: "I bear Nyarko's child, the boy bears mine." Nyarko opposes this because she's straight and doesn't want to share Mahiro; Mahiro opposes it for obvious reasons (not the least of which is his fear that she could make it happen).
• In Otome Youkai Zakuro, there is a canon Twin Threesome Fantasy with Ganryuu and twins Bonbori and Hozuki.
• Pokémon Adventures: Diamond + Pearl + Platinum is as canon as you can get with a bunch of twelve year olds, with it repeatedly being stated how the three of them together represent the perfect human spirit, them crying when they had to separate for the first time since they had traveled together, and them eventually ending up as parents for two baby Pokemon.
• The end of the Puella Magi Madoka Magica manga The Different Story says Kyouko + Mami + Sayaka "could give rise to infinite possibilities". And then there's the piece of official art◊ with Madoka sandwiched between Homura and "Moemura", looking surprised but excited.
• Happens in Red River (1995), also overlapping with Twin Threesome Fantasy. Kail's servant Kikkuri can't distinguish between the twins Ryuhi and Shala, Yuri's ladies-in-waiting, and they're both in love with him. He then gets both girls pregnant... and ends up marrying them both. At the end of the story, the three and their kids (twin boys mothered by Ryuhi and twin girls mothered by Shala) are seen living happily ever after.
• Rosario + Vampire: Yukari Sendou is a Shipper on Deck for two people she's attracted to, because if they get together, it'll be easier for her to score a threesome.
• Sailor Moon:
  • Usagi fantasizes about Usagi + Tuxedo Kamen + Moonlight Knight, as well as Usagi + Tuxedo Kamen + Motoki.
  • The Outer Senshi Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna get a lot of this, with Haruka and Michiru being an Official Couple and Setsuna moving in with them later on so they can all raise Hotaru together. In the manga, the three of them wear promise rings after moving in together. Hotaru calls them Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama, and Setsuna-mama.
• School Rumble: Eri and Yakumo are both in love with Harima. There has also been quite a bit of Les Yay between the two of them, culminating in a episode where they both end up dancing with each other. Before the original manga suddenly stopped, Harima was also apparently engaged to Eri while living with Yakumo, with all three apparently content with the arrangement.
• Snow White with the Red Hair:
  • Zen and Shirayuki are an official couple and Zen got Obi to admit outright that he has romantic feelings for Shirayuki, right before Zen sent him to be her bodyguard. Obi has repeatedly complimented Zen's eyes, stared wistfully after him the same way he does Shirayuki, commented that Zen's smile should be immortalized by a painter and admitted to liking Zen without further clarifying the statement. Zen has reacted negatively to Obi receiving marriage proposals and the two of them occasionally sleep in the same room with Obi accused of sleeping in Zen's bed. Zen and Shirayuki are shaken when they see Obi meeting with a woman and Obi assures them that he was turning her down.
  • Obi flirts with Kiki and Mitsuhide, and Kiki states that Mitsuhide is the man she plans to ask to marry her. In this case Obi is quite obviously messing with Mitsuhide for amusement at his reactions, and his flirtations with Kiki are used to cause a distraction or change the subject and never last longer than a sentence.
• Soul Eater has some degree of romantic subtext in all of the weapon/meister partnerships; them having compatible souls is sort of a requirement for getting it to work. Most of them are
  • Death the Kid has two partners, Liz, and Patty, and his relationship with either of them seems to complement his relationship with the other. Kid's back story on how the Thompson sisters came to be his weapons looks quite similar to a teenager rejecting an arranged marriage and resolving to Marry for Love, and then embracing both sisters.
  • Such a relationship is strongly implied with Maka, Soul, and Blair in the last chapter, though the latter is questionably human at best.
  • Soul Eater Not! runs on this with the main trio of Tsugumi/Anya/Meme. Then there's the ship tease with Akane, adding a straight option to the mix.
• Carrot/Tira/Chocolat in the Sorcerer Hunters anime. It's strongly implied the sisters would not mind sharing the man they love.
• Star Driver is made of this trope, implying it so freaking hard between the three protagonists (Takuto, Wako, and Sugata) while never actually resolving it.
• Tenchi Muyo!:
  • Ryoko + Tenchi + Ayeka. Ayeka and Ryoko hate each other, but plenty of Foe Romance Subtext occurs. The original OAV continuity maintains that Tenchi will Marry Them All, but these three are the focus in nearly every version of the story.
  • Emperor Azusa and his wives Funaho (an Earthling, Yosho's mother) and Misaki (a Juraian, Ayeka and Sasami's mom). Neither woman sees each other as a rival for him, instead thinking of themselves as sisters married to the same man, and their respective kids are also fine with the arrangement (i.e., Sasami calls Funaho "aunt").
• ×××HOLiC:
  • There's the trio of Doumeki + Watanuki + Himawari, which has plot enforced implications: Watanuki is head-over-heels for Himawari, but Himawari's Doom Magnet status renders her dangerous to be around Watanuki... except when Doumeki's around, because Doumeki is a living Protective Charm. There's also a moment where Doumeki agrees to give Himawari a "date" with Watanuki alone, but insists that they will later "have lunch together, the three of us".
  • Much later in the manga, Doumeki/Kohane/Watanuki. Doumeki loves Kohane. Kohane loves Doumeki. But Kohane loves Watanuki the most, and Doumeki has complicated feelings for Watanuki too. By that point Watanuki clearly has strong feelings for both of them as well, but it's not clear if his feelings are platonic or romantic in nature.
• Yuyushiki runs on this. Sometimes the subtext goes dangerously close to actual-text.

Comic Books

• In Empowered, this is implied between the three main characters, Emp + Thug Boy + Ninjette. Emp and Thug Boy are in a very happy relationship with Ninjette as Emp's best friend. But not only are Thug Boy and Ninjette attracted to each other (he even accidently felt her up when the three of them were sharing a bed after Ninjette underwent a traumatic experience), but it's implied that Ninjette is attracted to Emp, and Emp has described herself as a "three drink bisexual." The possibility is even acknowledged during a conversation between Ninjette and The Caged Demonwolf, though Ninjette refuses to divulge her fantasies. Sometimes it's subtle, sometimes it's incredibly unsubtle.
• Strangers in Paradise has Francine, David, Katchoo, Casey, Freddie and even Tambi all alternate between being friends, enemies, sexual partners and various places in between, and also rotate living with each other as one or more of those options. Eventually they all (well, most) decide for Katchoo, Casey and David to form a sexual relationship in order to produce a child, comfort David in his final days, and because they all do love each other, even though Katchoo only really loves Francine, David only really loves Katchoo, and who Casey really loves is more complicated than even the reader thinks at the time (yes, it is more complicated than what you just read). Once David dies the series settles down into Katchoo-Francine and Casey-Tambi (!?!?!?!?!?), though even then David sticks with both pairs in spirit and via his child with Katchoo… and no, Freddie does not end up with anybody, he ends up alone. Deservedly.
• In Mark Waid's The Kingdom miniseries, the Kingdom Come versions of Clark and Diana have a son with Bruce as the godfather—and the grown-up kid refers to them as his three parents. And an AU featured in Trinity (2008) just had the three of them get married, basically.
• As shown above, Archie Comics has teased this with Archie, Betty, and Veronica a few times over the decades. Archie likes both girls, both girls like him back, and both girls are either close friends or Vitriolic Best Buds Depending on the Writer. It never gets taken seriously though, as each girl wants Archie for herself.
• It didn't take long for readers of X-Men (2019) #1 to notice that, in the diagram of the Summers family's new house on the Moon, Jean Grey, Cyclops and Wolverine have bedrooms which are next to each other and all have mutual connecting doors.

Fan Works

• Hetalia: Axis Powers fanfic Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità: Although Germany and Japan were fighting over Italy for much of the story, there was some subtext for a threesome found in the summary and in the fact Italy said "they" instead of "him" or "her". The subtext eventually evolves into full-blown text after Italy asked both Germany and Japan out and the two fell for each other too.
• In Advice and Trust, Shinji and Asuka are a couple and they're ridiculously devoted to each other… but Rei is very close to them. Extremely close. They spend most of their free time together, she's confessed that she loves them both, they go berserker if someone hurts her… It's not canon—yet (granted that's assuming that Rei's romance with Kaworu doesn't last through the end)—because the author denies it with all his might, but he admitted that the subtext is clear and obvious.
• Between Shinji, Asuka and Rei in Children of an Elder God. In Chapter 23, Rei tries to talk Asuka into sharing Shinji. Asuka says no... but she can't help being tempted.
• Carefully subverted in Dæmorphing. Jake/Marco/Cassie threesome subtext is built up but looks like it could be nothing more given Marco's constant canon flirting and Jake/Cassie being canon - then it actually happens in Destroyer Of Worlds.
• One Word to Change the World: At the present day of the story, it's probably full-on text rather than subtext that Erza, Jellal, and Simon are in a romantic trio in this version.

Films — Animation

• The Road to El Dorado: Both Tulio and Miguel are incredibly attracted to Chel and Chel herself shows about equal attraction to the both of them, and the main drama of the show comes from Tulio and Miguel's relationship problems.
• Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas has some rather heavy subtext between Sinbad + Marina + Proteus. While Proteus + Marina and Sinbad + Marina are both canonical, the two men bear no jealousy towards each other. Proteus blindly trusts Sinbad to save his life, and they spend a lot of time embracing and staring into each other's eyes. Really, the only reason Proteus couldn't follow them to sea was because of his duties.
• A subplot through How to Train Your Dragon 2 features both Snotlout and Fishlegs attempting to romance Ruffnut, who soon finds herself attracted to Eret, one of the villain's henchmen. When Snotlout and Fishlegs rescue Ruffnut in the climax, she looks at both of them with lovestruck expressions and attempts to embrace them in the aftermath of the battle, but by this point they're more concerned with the safety of their dragons.

Films — Live-Action

• Joked about in the Marx Brothers movie Animal Crackers, when Captain Spaulding (Groucho) proposes marriage to both Mrs. Rittenhouse and Mrs. Whitehead, a pair of Grande Dame high society widows.
  Mrs. Whitehead: But that's bigamy!
  Captain Spaulding: Yes, and it's big o' me, too! It's big of all of us! Let's be big for a change! I'm sick of these conventional marriages! One woman and one man was good enough for your grandmother, but who wants to marry your grandmother? Nobody, not even your grandfather. Think, think of the honeymoon, strictly private. I wouldn't let another woman in on this. Well, maybe one or two but no men. I may not go myself.
• Bandits: Kate refuses to choose between Joe and Terry and in the end it's made pretty clear that they're in some kind of three way relationship as she is standing with both of them at Harvey's wedding and she kisses each of them passionately in turn. It's also fairly easy to miss, but if you look closely Kate is clearly pregnant, raising the question, who's the daddy?

• Design for Living: Tom + George + Gilda. They all three sure do like each other a lot. Gilda dates them both. Tom comments on how he "loved you both". Gilda is pretty clearly going to be having sex with both of them, as indicated by the Call-Back to the "gentleman's agreement" line. And they are all three clasping hands as the film ends.
• Ferris Bueller's Day Off: Ferris Bueller is terrified of the idea of being separated from his girlfriend Sloane… and his best friend Cameron, who he is very dedicated to. As for Cameron and Sloane, there's some chemistry between them.
• Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The initial tension between Debbie's current boyfriend Mike and ex-boyfriend Dave fades as the movie progresses, with the final shot being of the three of them all grinning and embracing.
• This shows up in The Last Temptation of Christ, of all things. Following Mary Magdalene's death, Jesus is depicted as moving in with the sisters of Lazarus and having many children with them. This turns out to be a temptful delusion by Satan.
• Rebel Without a Cause: Sort of the whole idea of Jim + Plato + Judy—they're a weird blend of a threesome and a family unit.
• Johnny + Lisa + Denny from The Room (2003)
  Denny: I just like to watch you guys.

• Singin' in the Rain has this picture◊ of Don, Kathy, and Cosmo laughing on the couch at the end of "Good Morning".

• Some people see a lot of this in TRON. Specifically, in the principle Love Triangle between the three main human characters (and their program counterparts, by proxy) and even homoerotic overtones between Flynn, Tron and Ram during the "Power Pool" scene.
• The whole point of Y tu mamá también, when you remove the asides by the narrator, circumcision jokes, and everything else that is even vaguely political.

Literature

• A minor one Played for Laughs in Dracula. During Lucy's funeral, her fianceé Arthur says that, while he and Lucy never got to marry in a church, he feels that, because he donated his blood to her in an emergency transfusion, they were married in a spiritual sense. Thing is, Arthur, unbeknownst to him, was not the only donor. Lucy's other suitors, Jack Seward and Quincy Morris, also donated blood, and so did van Helsing. Helsing has a hard time not cracking up at the irony of it.
• Since Troy Denning started writing the Star Wars Expanded Universe, he's put a lot of this between Jaina + Zekk + Jag. When Zekk and Jaina are part of a hive mind, Zekk finds Jag attractive. Then in Invincible, after one fight, Jaina invites both of them to bed with her at the same time.
• In Isabel Allende's Eva Luna, Intrepid Reporter Rolf's first romantic/sexual experiences were with his two cute cousins. The two sisters are very close and have the same taste in boys, so they see nothing wrong with sharing the lover as long as the three agree; then, they pretty much hug-attack Rolf as he works up the nerve to decide which one he likes the best, and one thing leads to another.
• The Once and Future King: Arthur + Lancelot + Guinevere. Canonically, it's a Love Triangle, but the text makes it explicit that all three of the individuals involved love each other in some fashion.
• Fittingly, the Legendborn series, which is YA based on the Arthurian mythos, has a central Love Triangle that hints at a trio possibility. The three characters who represent the descendants of Arthur, Lancelot, and Merlin all canonically are or have been attracted to each other. It would be unusual for a YA series to end in canon polyamory, but while the books focus more on the attractions between the girl and the two boys, the author does keep putting in reminders of the special bond between the boys as well.
• Surprisingly, The Hundred and One Dalmatians had a lot of this. So Pongo and Missis are a Happily Married couple, very loving, very stable—and then they have a large amount of puppies that Missis cannot possibly feed all on her own. So the Dearlys bring Perdita, a new dog, into the family as a milk-nurse and have her nurse half the puppies, and this goes on for a few days. Missis initially feels jealous of Perdita, but Pongo reassures Missis that she doesn't have to be, and eventually all three dogs are eventually raising the puppies together and getting along really well. And then, when the puppies are stolen, Pongo and Missis go out to find them, leaving Perdita with the Dearlys to comfort them. The two often talk about Perdita while they're journeying and wonder if she misses them. Note that the novel barely mentions sex in any way, so the only reason this isn't canon is because at the end, Perdita finds this dog she had puppies with before and hooks up with him. The whole subtext of this was avoided in 101 Dalmatians through the magic of Composite Characters.
• The Revenge of the Sith novelization does everything but outright state that Padmé + Anakin + Obi-Wan is canon. Anakin and Padmé are explicitly married while Anakin and Obi-Wan have stupendous Ho Yay, the narration stating that they're "closer than brothers, closer than lovers," and Palpatine stating that Anakin isn't choosing between the Jedi and the Sith, but choosing which one of them he loves more. And Obi-Wan and Padmé themselves get a brief scene that shows them to be very friendly, despite Obi-Wan's dislike of politicians and Padmé's distrust of anyone who isn't Anakin.
• Sword at Sunset's Artos + Bedwyr + Guenhumara are happy as a close trio but screw up their one-on-one relationships: Artos and Guenhumara's marriage is irreparably flawed, Bedwyr and Guenhumara are unhappy in their betrayal of Artos, and Artos and Bedwyr are jealous of Guenhumara but also love each other more than they can acceptably express.
• In the Hurog duology, there's lots of Ho Yay between Ward and Oreg. (Among other things, they share a magical bond). Ward is fascinated by a noblewoman, but after a while he can't stand her jokes about his allegedly stupid-looking eyes anymore, and catches up with Oreg (they're all traveling somewhere at the time), and tells him that the lady apparently doesn't like his eyelashes… to which Oreg responds by fluttering his own eyelashes and saying, "I'm sure she will like mine, they're prettier", and goes to keep her company. The lady, Tisala, becomes Ward's official love interest later on.
• Both out and in-universe in Grasshopper Jungle. Bisexual protagonist Austin spends a good portion of the book thinking about a threesome between him, his girlfriend Shann and his best friend Robby, and tries to include as much of this to their conversations as possible. In one particular instance of the book, Robby feels awkward after Shann kisses him, because he knows exactly what Austin is thinking.
• The third Cat Pack book, Carlotta's Kittens and the Club of Mysteries, has a paragraph near the end where Polo fantasizes about himself, his brother Marco, and their mutual crush Carlotta raising her kittens together.
• While out with Howlsong in Tailchaser's Song, Tailchaser comes across two females that are described as "wonderfully close friends" of Howlsong's.
• Prince Peter + Nadya + Ivan in Hope: A Fairytale. Nadya becomes very close to Ivan and Peter but, despite plenty of interactions that can be seen as romantic with both, she never weighs one against the other and gives them both kisses (on the cheek) at the end. Meanwhile, Peter and Ivan have been friends since childhood, since Ivan is the only person Peter allowed himself to be close to during the curse of heartlessness.
• It's implied in Patience and Sarah that Sarah's sister-in-law Martha would like a triad or affair with her. She's in love with her husband Edward but he's very conservative and reserved about sex. Martha is jealous about Patience's affectionate relationship with Sarah. Patience declines the advances because she's moved on from her implied crush on Martha.
• Wicked: Both of Elphaba's parents were in love with Turtleheart.
• The Fell of Dark: During the rave, when an upset August uses his powers on the crowd, he involves both Gunnar and Jude in the bliss feeling, making out with both at the same time, while they hold each other's hands. While both are interested in August, the two do have a lot of unresolved things with each other. It turns into just text by the time they have a sort-of-threesome. The ending implies that the three will always be entangled together in that way.
• Tarma and Kethry, of the Vows and Honor books, are oath-sisters and exceedingly close Heterosexual Life-Partners with a Pseudo-Romantic Friendship. Kethry vows to have children in Tarma's stead in order to repopulate her clan; she offers to do so with the contributions of friends and one-night stands, but she wants to have someone she can love, and Tarma supports her in that. But they have to find someone who's also fine with Tarma and Kethry being as close as they are and with having children who're also considered to be Tarma's, which all makes things more complicated. In Oathbreakers they find such a person, archivist Jadrek, who ends the book saying he's come to love Tarma as well. Tarma, delighted, kisses him.
• Discussed but defied in She, where Horace Holly falls hard for Ayesha, who has eyes only for his adopted son, Leo Vincey. He is well aware that two men can't love the same woman and be happy. Still, when given the option to walk into the fires of resurrection with Ayesha and Leo and be a third wheel forever, he goes — he is simply that entranced. The sequel suggests that all of them ended up Together in Death.

Live-Action TV

• Boy Meets World:
  • Happens between Cory + Shawn + Topanga:
  Shawn: I think the three of us could be very happy together.
  • Revisited in the sequel when Shawn shows up for the Christmas episode. He greets Topanga as "Mrs Cory" and she greets him as "Mr. Cory".
  • Also there is a good deal of this between Farkle + Riley + Maya. At their first dance he dances with both of them simultaneously and in another episode after competing with each other over him they essentially both go out with him.
• In one Frasier episode, a case of misinterpretation leads Roz to believe that Niles and Daphne are asking her to have a threesome with them. The ensuing conversation is hilarious, and the fact that Roz doesn't seem too averse to the idea cause Niles and Daphne to mercilessly tease her after the miscommunication is cleared up.
• Doctor Who:
  • Rory + Amy + Eleven have a lot. Amy has on occasion called them "her boys," and they don't disagree. Amy is in love with Rory but obsessed with the Doctor and wants to fit them both into her love life somehow. The Doctor consciously represses his attraction to Amy (cf. "Amy's Choice"), but quickly grows to really like Rory with heaps and heaps of Ho Yay.^note In "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship", the Doctor kisses Rory full on the mouth. Later, in "The Power of Three", Rory kisses the Doctor on the cheek, and the Doctor makes a cute little happy noise. Rory is completely Amy-sexual, though.
  • The Doctor + Rose + Jack. The Doctor and Rose have Unresolved Sexual Tension out the wazoo and Jack is canonically in love with both of them, managing to kiss them both before they kiss each other. Their short time spent on the TARDIS together plays up the subtext for all its worth, especially the end of "The Doctor Dances" and all of "Boom Town".
  • Blink and you'll miss it but there's the possibility for Ten + Martha + Shakespeare in "The Shakespeare Code", as the good Bard openly flirts with both of them.
  • It's just one episode, but Eleven + Amy + Vincent is pretty strongly hinted, since Vincent has strong chemistry with both the Doctor and Amy, to the point of the three lying in the grass stargazing, all holding hands. What with the Doctor's ginger fetish and Vincent asking Amy to marry him, things might have ended very differently had there been no Rory.
  • It's implied that River Song has had a threesome with the Doctor and… the Doctor. It was her birthday.
• Glee: In the episode "Prom Queen" Rachel and Mercedes both ask Sam to the prom together. They go as a group of three (and are later joined by Jesse).
• In Legends of Tomorrow the episode "Slay Anything" has Nora ask Ray to prom. He takes her on his arm and immediately turns to Nate and offers his own. They then walk into prom, Nate and Nora on Ray's arm.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
  • In the second season, Angelus + Spike + Drusilla is all but canon. Both the guys lust after her but also have massive Foe Romance Subtext with each other. There is an infamous line in later seasons where Spike claims to have not been intimate with Angelus except for "that one time" (implications confirmed by Joss Whedon himself) which probably happened when Spike was still with Dru. And, of course, when Angelus first shows up (after being de-souled) he kisses Spike passionately on the forehead, prompting Drusilla to gleefully squeal "We're a family again!" Was that even supposed to be subtext?
  • Before Spike came along, Angel + Darla + Drusilla traveled together for quite a while…
  Drusilla: I'm full and warm, yet all alone.
  Angelus: That's not true, precious. You've got us.
  Drusilla: Not in the least. You won't even hurt me just a little bit.
  Darla: All you have to do is ask.
  • Buffy was involved with both Angel and Spike, and the two guys always had massive Foe Romance Subtext. The Season 8 comic book has Buffy's sexual fantasy, a threesome between her, Angel and Spike. While she wears a nurse uniform, and they're chained to her.
  • There's Buffy + Angel + Faith, with Faith having close bonds and chemistry with both Buffy and Angel.
• The joyful Abby + Becker + Connor reunion hug in the Primeval series 4 opener is bookended near the end of the series 5 finale: Our heroes walking off into the sunset: Matt/Emily in their own tight little pair, followed by our trio: Abby with an arm around Becker's waist, and holding hands with Connor. Becker also has an arm around Abby, and at the last second, he reaches over to put it around Connor, too. Awwww. Made all the more amusing by the fact that Becker once refused to answer a direct question about his orientation.
• Happens a lot in How I Met Your Mother, in almost every permutation of the the five main characters, but most often and explicitly Ted + Marshall + Lily, where Ted is treated like an extra spouse in many, many gags. Marshall and Lily even once say "If we get married, we have to marry Ted!", when Lily gets pregnant, Ted keeps referring to it as "our" baby, and a montage in one episodes features Ted as the third factor in various famous couples (eg. Lady + the Tramp + the Bowl Of Spaghetti).
• In Degrassi, Holly J starts dating a boy named Declan. Unfortunately, Declan's sister, Fiona, is very… possessive of him, and constantly tries to sabotage their relationship. One especially blatant attempt at this ends with Fiona kissing Declan. Voluntarily. This wouldn't count as an example of the trope, except for the part in the next season where Fiona goes through character development, realizes she is a lesbian, and kisses Holly J. Again, voluntarily. And Holly implies she is still in love with Declan, who, before their breakup, told both girls they had to make up because he wanted to spend the summer with both of them. Ahh, soap operas.
• Leverage features this somewhat with Hardison + Eliot + Parker. It's not like they weren't already teased like crazy, but in the series Grand Finale, they died holding hands. Faked, of course, since Nate is a lying bastard of a narrator. However, when Nate and Sophie leave at the end of the episode, Parker, Hardison and Eliot go on by themselves. It's implied at least twice that the relationship between the three of them is meant to be permanent. When Sophie asks Eliot about his future he states that he wanted to open his own restaurant but now he's going to get stuck making sure Hardison's doesn't go out of business. In the finale when Sophie asks him to protect them, he says 'until my dying day'.
• Eureka: Allison and Nathan used to be married, Jack and Allison have had UST since the very first episode and were married in an alternate universe, and Jack and Nathan have epic Foe Romance Subtext. Nathan's death seems to have merely spawned a host of resurrection fics, rather than stop the shipping. Nathan spent twelve hours in-canon analyzing Allison and Jack's relationship, tormenting Jack with his and Allison's romantic past, walking around without a shirt on, and implying the size of the… shoes that Jack must fill. In turn, Jack had quite a few jealous and Stupid Sexy Flanders moments, but slipped in there, "Still. It's really great seeing you again", implying that they're not all 'Foe' on the 'Yay'.
• The Vampire Diaries plays up Damon + Elena + Stefan in promo pictures, which frequently portray the situation as less "I'm dating a vampire, and have a certain amount of sexual tension with his brother, which makes things a bit awkward" and more "Yeah, I'm totally doing them both, probably at the same time." This?◊ Not happening.
• Merlin: Merlin + Arthur + Gwen are destined to rule Camelot together. Merlin and Arthur are the Fan-Preferred Couple; Arthur and Gwen are the Official Couple; Merlin and Gwen were Ship Teased and are Birds of a Feather Platonic Life-Partners with Big Brother Instinct toward each other. A dream sequence showed Arthur crowning Guinevere Queen of Camelot whilst Merlin watches with a look of abject adoration on his face (most of their scenes together involve them staring at each other lovingly), and oh look, Gwen and Arthur have gone on a private outing to celebrate their anniversary. Wait, is that…? Yes, they brought Merlin along on their anniversary date. Clearly, he's also married to them both.
• Scrubs: JD + Turk + Carla, what with Turk and Carla being the Official Couple, JD and Turk's outrageous Ho Yay, and JD and Carla's closeness (and Accidental Kiss that one time). It's almost adressed in the show itself by Carla: when Turk is about to ask JD to be his best man at their wedding, JD somehow gets the idea they're about to suggest a threesome. His Inner Monologue doesn't sound too averse to the idea.
  JD's Inner Monologue: Oh my god, would I have a threesome with Turk and Carla? Well, it's certainly flattering and I don't think they'd tell anyone…
  • There's also a lot of subtext for Turk + JD + Carla + Elliot, with each possible pairing expressing a lot of attraction and affection (examples: Turk having sexual fantasies about Elliot, and Carla imagining being happily married to Elliot).
• Lost Girl features a Love Triangle between Bo, Lauren, and Dyson that veers toward this. Given Bo's status as an Ethical Slut, they're not unaware of it. Especially after Dyson and Lauren become close. One time, Lauren points out Bo to Dyson so they can Eat the Eye Candy together. One time, Applied Phlebotinum allows Bo to have sex with Lauren while watching Lauren have sex with Dyson in the mirror. (Makes Just as Much Sense in Context.) Bo is ridiculously thrilled.
  Bo: We've never done this before, huh? Just the three of us. Like a threesome. Not that I've thought about it that way or anything.
• Psych: Shawn and Gus are incredibly close friends and Shawn is definitely Ambiguously Bi. When Shawn and Juliet start dating, Gus takes it quite hard, almost like he lost his boyfriend, but eventually the three figure out how to balance their relationships. The subtext hits hard in the series finale when Shawn proposes to Juliet with Gus standing next to him and actively delivering portions of the proposal. Shawn even says "Will you marry us?" since Gus is such an important part of their lives.
• In the final episode of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, the Gentleman adds to his creepiness by making such a suggestion to Lady Pole and Arabella.
  The Gentleman: My ladies, this is the very picture of beauty: to see my two rarest and finest flowers entwined so happily. You know, it is said, that in the lands on the far side of Hell, they dance a dance of three partners.
• In the second-season premiere of Quantico, Alex, Ryan, and Shelby have dinner together, and when Alex goes to fetch them more drinks, Ryan asks Shelby for permission to propose to Alex. Later, after Alex is forced to leave the dinner early, she kisses both Ryan and Shelby goodbye.
• Being an adaptation of the classic example (and source of the page image!), it's not surprising that Riverdale has the subtext for Betty + Archie + Veronica right from the beginning. In the pilot alone, the three attend a dance together, Betty and Veronica kiss, Archie and Veronica kiss, and Betty proclaims her love for Archie. Whew.
• Gossip Girl (2021): The first episode introduces the idea that Audrey and Aki—a confirmed couple—are both attracted to Max, to the point where Aki gives Audrey his permission to think of Max when they're having sex. Episode 7 confirms that the trio did engage in a threesome multiple times.
• Ted Lasso: By season three, Keely has dated and broken up with both Jamie and Roy, but remains friends with (and has at least some lingering feelings for) both. The two boys in question have a rather acrimonious rivalry, but during the course of season three manage to become surprisingly good friends. So when the Love Triangle heats back up in late season three, they seem to all care so much for one another that it starts to feel more like a throuple, complete with Roy and Keely joining together to cheer up Jamie, holding hands on his childhood bed while looking at his posters of them both on his wall. In the end, Keely rejects choosing either of them, and is instead shown in a montage chatting happily with them both, leaving the possibility very much open.

Theater

• A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder: Cibella and Phoebe are rivals for Monty's affections during the play, but at the finale they both conspire to get him out of prison and the play ends with both on them in his arms.
• Company: Although Bobby's relationship with his married friends seems entirely platonic, Side By Side By Side/What Would We Do Without You?, where Bobby sings about how he doesn't need anything other than the married couples who are his friends and the couples join in, talking about what a perfect friend he is and how his presence helps them through their marital difficulties, could be seen as this.
  Bobby: One is lonely and two is boring
  Think what you can keep ignoring
  Side… by side… by side…
• Hair: Claude + Berger + Sheila, leading to a three-way embrace.
  Jeanie: Sheila's hung up on Berger, Berger is hung up everywhere. Claude is hung up on a cross over Sheila and Berger.
• The Merchant of Venice has a lot of subtext for Portia + Bassanio + Antonio. Usually in performance the implication is that Antonio is getting left out in the cold, but the odd production has run with these implications in staging the ending.

Video Games

• Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey has a humorous scene where Firis barges in on Sophie doing maintenance on Plachta's body, but it sounds like something else is going on - and the Homoerotic Subtext between Sophie and Plachta barely qualifies as "sub" anything. Then Firis asks if she can learn to do maintenance on Plachta, who says that it's a little embarrassing, but she doesn't mind if it's Firis. Later, in one ending, Firis joins Sophie and Plachta on their journey to bring happiness to everyone.
• Skies of Arcadia has so much of this between Vyse + Aika + Fina in-universe that Ship-to-Ship Combat among the three of them in fandom is nearly nonexistent. One of their boss fight opponents remarks on it!
• Disgaea: Hour of Darkness has Laharl + Flonne + Etna. Each one has incredible chemistry with the other two, and it's so obvious it hurts. Lampshaded when Laharl pretends to be Mao's father in Disgaea 3, and Etna and Flonne have some trouble over just who's supposed to be the mother.
  Almaz: Mao has two mommies?
• The Ar tonelico series lets you double date (and later triple date) the Reyvateil heroines in your party. While you still can settle with only one girl in the end, almost no one in the game's going to call the protagonists out for diving into multiple girls' minds at once. The subject is even more awkward since "diving" is given the same intimacy level as sex.
• Kingdom Hearts:
  • Sora + Riku + Kairi. Sora/Kairi are Implied Love Interests and the first game strongly implied that Riku also had a crush on Kairi (jury's out on whether he still feels this way about her, and if she has ever felt that way about him at all), while Sora/Riku spend a lot of Kingdom Hearts II and Dream Drop Distance being pretty darn Ho Yaytastic to each other. When it comes to the dynamics of the three of them together, Kairi comments to Riku in KHII that Sora is completely hopeless without them and holds Sora and Riku's hands between her own in order to let Sora see that what looks like Ansem, Seeker of Darkness is, in fact, actually Riku. The opening FMV of KHII briefly shows a scene of the three of them lying on a beach together, holding hands.
  • The shadow of this dynamic exists in Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days with Roxas, Axel, and Xion. The Ho Yay between Roxas and Axel is bad (good) enough, but Roxas and Xion are borderline obsessed with one another and Axel quickly becomes defensive and protective over Xion as well. Xion outright states that she loves Roxas and Axel in one of her secret reports, and in the manga the three of them even contemplate running away and living together. Unfortunately this gets somewhat subverted in the end, as Axel's (indecisive) loyalty to the organization and reluctance to share information with either Roxas or Xion for the sake of preserving the friendship between the three of them ends up turning the entire relationship toxic and ultimately results in Roxas's defection and Xion's death.
• Fire Emblem:
  • Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, possibly. Seliph and Princess Julia will rule Belhalla together... along with whoever you paired Seliph with (with the exception of Tine or Patty unless you pair Tailtiu or Brigid, respectively, with a common dude). The most obvious example would be Seliph + Lana + Julia; Lana and Julia are quite close and in her lover convo with Seliph in the final chapter, Lana tells him she loves him but feels terrible about Julia, implying she both ships Seliph/Julia and has special feelings for the girl herself.
  • Eirika + Ephraim + Lyon is practically canon, or at least it would have been had it not been for, well, you know...
  • Making Shipping a central gameplay mechanic (at least since Genealogy) means the series is rife with this, particularly among groups of three where all involved parties are on good terms with one another. For example, Gerik/Tethys/Marisa in The Sacred Stones: Gerik can marry either woman if he has an A Support with them, but Tethys and Marisa, despite being romantic rivals for their chief's affections, consider themselves to be friends all the same.
  • New Mystery of the Emblem: Marth + Caeda + Your Avatar. In the third base conversation between Caeda and your Avatar, she hopes that s/he will "stay her friend forever" and then goes on to say that they can "spend time together" to which s/he replies "Truly..."
    "Say, [name]. Stay my friend forever. Someday, when this war is over and peace returns... Wouldn't it be nice to spend our time... like this, the three of us...?"
• Played for Laughs in Mass Effect 3 with the Citadel DLC, where Tali drunkenly mentions the possibility of a threesome with a female Shepard romancing Garrus. This probably has more to do with her attraction to the latter, but considering how flustered she gets when she talks about the possibility of linking suits with Shepard in the second game, it's hard to say.
• Dragon Age II has Hawke + Merrill + Isabela if Hawke sleeps with Isabela and later romances Merrill. Despite having several hints of Unresolved Sexual Tension towards Hawke herself, Isabela nonetheless wants them both to be happy and threatens a world of hurt on Hawke if they should break Merrill's heart. Her sister-like bond with Merrill has her Corrupt the Cutie, teaching her how to do body shots and giving her advice to spice up things in the bedroom.
• In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim you can marry and have your spouse (who can be of any race or gender) move into your own home, which is likely to have a housecarl (sort of a live-in security officer/armed servant) living there too. It's quite possible to be greeted happily by both of them when you return home… and there's a good chance they'll do that while sitting in your bedroom and eating together. It's also possible to catch your housecarl watching the two of you sleep, or watching just you or your spouse.
• In Neverwinter Nights, the Hordes of the Underdark expansion allows you to take two companions at once. You can choose to take the drow Nathyrra an the half-elf Aribeth. Romance sidequests are in the game so you can charm either of them, but at one point you meet the Knower of Names and can ask her the name of your one true love, who may be the other lady. This eventually results in a conversation where of the two of them talk to you about your conflicting feelings for them, and you have a Persuade check to convince them to "share" you. The two agree it's better than being rejected over the other. The sequence was Dummied Out, but a quick poke into the editor to change a single byte of code enables it again. If you choose not to reform Aribeth and have her remain a Blackguard she even goes for a Depraved Bisexual angle and makes a come-on to Nathyrra during the Persuade check conversation.
• Deadly Premonition: York + Zach + Emily. Both York and Zach have feelings for Emily, and she in turn seems to like both of them as well. Although she favors York and ends up with him because they both Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence together, she still, in the twin boys' words, "really likes [Zach]," and tells him as her physical body dies that she "Wanted to be with [him]". Whether or not it's selfcest depends on whether or not you see York as a Split Personality that gained a life of his own or as a Guardian Angel.
• In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild you can imply that Link likes both Mipha and Zelda, who both like him back. It doesn't go anywhere as Mipha has been dead a century.
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has it between Link, Zelda and Midna. Unlike in most games, there isn't much of an emotional connection between Link and Zelda, but in the game's finale they both stand united out of their mutual strong feelings toward Midna.
• In Final Fantasy XIV, Azem, Hythlodaeus, and Emet-Selch were and still are deeply devoted adventuring companions and life partners. Hythlodaeus and Emet-Selch’s happy ending, after thousands of years of suffering, is to be together in the afterlife and watch over Azem’s current reincarnation, the Warrior of Light, while waiting for the day the three of them could be together once more and even after that.

Visual Novels

• Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair: Hajime + Chiaki + Nagito. Chiaki is Hajime’s Implied Love Interest, with the “implied” part only being because neither of them ever outright say they have a crush. Nagito similarly shows interest in Hajime, and comes very close to admitting it should you complete his Free Times Events. While Nagito isn’t very popular among the group, Chiaki is shown to be one of the few people who cares about him, a sentiment Hajime shares until after the first trial, where Nagito orchestrating the first murder considerably sours his view of him, but it’s still hinted that he still cares for him deep down, and they eventually reconcile after Nagito wakes up from his coma. And while he didn’t fully know it, Nagito sacrificed his life in hopes that Chiaki would be the one to win the killing game. Unsurprisingly, a lot of promotional material showcases Hajime/Chiaki, Hajime/Nagito, or all three together. This isn’t even getting into both Chiaki and Nagito’s interactions with Izuru.
• Kanon: You might have the ability to choose to date either Mai or Sayuri, but Yuuichi + Mai + Sayuri is possible. Although she and Yuuichi get the most focus, it's made very, very clear that every relationship in that triangle is full of love and care, the three of them spend a lot of time time all together, and one of the most romantic moments comes when Yuuichi promises Mai that they'll all live together and imagines an extended sequences of the three being ridiculously domestic and cute together.
• Katawa Shoujo: All of the heroines come in pairs of friends, so there's plenty of potential for this.
  • Hanako and Lilly's routes have the most, as the two are extremely close Heterosexual Life-Partners and both of their routes feature the other to a great extent. Befriending the other is required to get either of them, and their routes in Act 1 don't diverge until the very end. It's repeatedly made obvious how much closer than normal friends they are, with Hanako saying that she loves Lilly in her route. To cap it all off, at one point in Lilly's route during one of their pyjama party/tea party get-togethers, Akira mentions that plenty of guys would be very pleased to see Lilly in such skimpy clothing, and goes on to add that he even gets to see cute Hanako in her nightie as well. Hisao deflects, but Hanako haltingly says that if it's Hisao, she doesn't mind. She doesn't seem to realise what she's implying, but everyone else sure does, and quickly change the subject.
  • Early in Emi's route, Misha teases Hisao about having lunch with both Emi and Rin, and mentions that the three of them are cute together.
  • Shizune's route features Misha very heavily, and Misha canonically is in love with Shizune, though it isn't requited. It focuses more on the friendship between the three of them than on Hisao and Shizune's relationship specifically.
• Tsukihime has support for both Shiki + Arcueid + Ciel and Shiki + Hisui + Kohaku. First in Ciel Good End where Arcueid and Ciel effectively and begrudgingly "share" Shiki, and there is much teased at, but unconfirmed attraction between them. Second is the main theme of Kagetsu Tohya's sidestory Flower of Thanatos in which Shiki together with humble serving Hisui and Kohaku live in the isolated Tohno Mansion, where Shiki can practically do with both maids whatever he wants, and Kohaku is very enthusiastic when they both serve him at the same time (including sexual desires, or periodic rapes) although it's not so simple as it seems and Shiki begins to have regrets.

Webcomics

• Skins: Jordan + Vinnie + Rabbit. The three of them are shown to be very close. This strip shows that emotionally, if not sexually, their relationship is like a three-way marriage.
• In Drowtales, since both bisexuality and polyamory are the norm in drow culture:
  • Snadhya'rune + Mel'arnach + Zhor is canon, but Snadhya and Zhor are not romantic toward each other, they both know about the other side of the triangle and are happy for Mel. Even more so after chapter 44, where Snadhya pays for Zhor to be restored to his original dark elf body—suggested to be a prohibitively expensive procedure—as a "gift" to Mel, though knowing Snadhya there may be a nefarious purpose behind this.
  • It's suggested Quain and Ash are involved in a similar relationship, with Ash'waren having multiple other partners.
  • Fourth-Wall Observer Kiel ships herself with Nau ("Remember that I bid on you first when you're a tall handsome prince.") his sister Chrys ("Just so you know, in my great generosity I'm letting you have first dibs on her, but afterwards it's open contest!) and Naal ("Oh and add a princess to the lot just for fun's sake!"). Naal doesn't seem to mind, but Nau objects to Kiel describing him as "manly and tiny" and Chrys hasn't expressed an opinion either way.
  • And Faen apparently ships Ariel x Sarnel and says they would "make cute babies", even though she has (very obvious) romantic feelings towards Ariel. Ariel for her part doesn't seem all that interested in Sarnel, but it's hinted she might return Faen's feelings and is in fact shown to later, while Sarnel doesn't seem to have an opinion on the matter all and actually stormed out in protest when he realized that his sister was trying to set him up with Ariel.
• Girl Genius: Agatha/Gil/Tarvek, outright suggested by Moloch, Zeetha, Lucrezia, the Castle, Agatha's Animated Actor in a side story, the trio themselves while high on what they call "pheromones" given off by a mutant opium poppy, and Gil and Tarvek themselves, perfectly sober and in canon. In an apparent parody of Ship-to-Ship Combat, the Gil supporter proposes this compromise and one of the two love interests is making jokes about it. The In-Universe betting pool gives One to Five Odds on it. In the last panel of this page, Tarvek's expression and dialog point to some genuine feelings towards Gil, though whether this is friendship or something deeper is still open for interpretation. Probably best exemplified in the aforementioned side story.
  Phil: Who thought having two boyfriends was a good idea?! *Cue Agatha, Zeetha, and Katja breaking into Cheshire Grins
• In Schlock Mercenary, uplifted ape M'Conger explains to Nick that eating breakfast termites out of a girl's hair is romantic ("Hey, don't look at me like it's my fault. The uplift congress left that bit in."). Then Nick finds a termite in Kathryn's hair.
  M'Conger: Don't look at me, Nick. You groomed her, you get to eat the bug. If I eat it then things start to get a little kinky.
• Homestuck:
  • Trickster Mode makes Jake and Jane insanely plan to get married and have a ZILLION BABIES... with each other and with the "co-bride," Roxy. With Roxy coming along on the Trickster ride despite her attempts to escape, this OT3 then goes after Dirk, who rebuffs their advances. Otherwise it would the creepiest OT4 ever.
  • Karkat suggests this as a solution to the Love Triangle involving himself, Terezi and Dave (who insists he's not actually dating her), and suggests to Dave that they form a three-way relationship based on troll concepts that Dave responds predictably to. When Karkat tries to diagram it out it quickly degenerates into Dave grabbing the pen and making him draw penises with it.
  • Dave clearly had feelings for Jade in the early part of the story, and was heavily implied to be dating Karkat in the post-retcon timeline. He ends up living with both of them in the epilogue.
  • A more subtle example is John, Vriska and Terezi. Early on, Vriska and Terezi were Vitriolic Best Buds, John and Vriska became friends and Vriska developed feelings for John before she died. Later down the line, John resurrects Vriska and the two bond like they used to, while Vriska's bond with Terezi deepens even further, Terezi becoming Vriska's Moirail (and the alternate dead timeline version of her implicitly becomes girlfriends with an alternate Terezi before being destroyed). But going further, Terezi and John begin developing caliginous feelings for each other. By the end, Vriska mysteriously disappears after defeating the Big Bad, Terezi goes to look for her and John implicitly contacts Terezi frequently for updates on the search.
• This Sluggy Freelance strip has the possibility raised by Torg's shoulder devil regarding his Cannot Spit It Out crush on Zoë and the promise he made to Ax-Crazy Yandere Oasis.
  Torg's Evil Side: Take them both! Take them both to Disneyland and buy them concession stand drinks! Save the cups to sample their DNA later and create a harem of beautiful Zoë-Oasis hybrid loveslave clones!
• In El Goonish Shive:
  • Some Sarah/Grace/Tedd subtext starts cropping up when Sarah becomes Tedd's lab assistant. Tedd has a (brief) Imagine Spot of all three of them in sexy outfits, Tedd gave Sarah clone forms of himself with the explicit understanding that she could do whatever she wanted with them, and Sarah is the only person other than Grace who has shown to be able to call him "Teddy" and get away with it. Plus, after Grace learns of Elliot and Sarah's amicable breakup, she feels the need to reassure herself by clinging to Tedd... and Sarah.
  Sarah: Why am I being clung?!
  • While not canon, Dan threw the shippers an apatosaurus-sized bone at the end of a string of sketchbooks. (While the previous few had been by request, that one was not.)

Web Original

• In DC Nation, Kory broke Babs's brain by saying she'd not be averse to inviting Barbara to bed if Dick gave permission. Nationverse also had a possible future where Gar Logan (Changeling), Fauna, and Raven had a long-standing "arrangement" and Green Shield's experience in a Lotus-Eater Machine caused her to hallucinate that Dr. Midnite, Green Arrow I, and Black Canary were in a happy three-way marriage.

Western Animation

• Much of Amphibia is driven by the close (if rather codependent) relationship between the protagonist Anne and her friends Sasha and Marcy, who all end up Trapped in Another World and seek to reunite. Anne is shown to be extremely physically affectionate with both, Sasha is ultimately shown to be highly insecure about the other two no longer needing her and tearfully vows to herself to become someone worthy of them after finally realizing the harm she has helped cause, and Marcy semi-wittingly kicked off the whole adventure due to not wanting to move away from the others, and in her defictionalized journal gushes extensively about them (including Sasha's eye color) and refers to them as her "loves". At the end of the series, Marcy and Sasha come to visit Anne ten years after the former moved away, with Anne musing on how things can come back to you after you let them go, and show creator Matt Braly has stated that the crew deliberately left their relationship open to interpretation.
• In Angela Anaconda, Johnny Abatti's uncle Nicky is always seen in the company of two unnamed women, heavily implied to be his long-term girlfriends.
• Jem:
  • Rio is dating both Jem and her manager Jerrica. Jem and Jerrica are the same person, but neither Rio nor most people know this.
  • Despite Word of God saying they're just True Companions, The Stingers have a fair share of this. Riot sometimes walks with Minx and Rapture on each arm and the three are very close friends.
• Miraculous Ladybug:
  • The villains Hawkmoth and Mayura are obsessed with getting his comatose wife resurrected. It seems at first like a case of I Want My Beloved to Be Happy, but Word of God confirms that Mayura has her own reasons for wanting Emilie back...even if she is jealous of her at times. This is borne out by later scenes, in which Mayura deceives Hawkmoth so she can take bigger risks in getting Emilie back.
  • In the episode "Heart Hunter", Kagami and Adrien talk about how pretty Marinette is while she's third-wheeling with them. On top of that, Emotionless Girl Kagami smiles more in this episode than her entire time on the show until now put together - more at Marinette's Friendship Moments than anything else, though Adrien is a close second. Even though she is in love with Adrien and knows Mari is her rival, she genuinely doesn't want her to go. She looks especially happy when being princess-carried by Ladybug. At the very least, you get the feeling that Kagami wouldn't mind a three-way relationship. Marinette herself hints at the idea after the ice cream seller (whose wares are rumored to portend eternal love for couples who share them) suggests flavor combinations for each pair among the trio, and Marinette asks if there is a blend suitable for all three of them.
• The Spectacular Spider-Man: Harry Osborn makes a rather... interesting comment about himself, his girlfriend Gwen, his best friend Peter and Peter's date Liz.
  Harry: Then it's settled! This Saturday, we're a foursome!
• The season 3 finale of Star vs. the Forces of Evil has this between Star, her best friend Marco (who are clearly in love with each other) and her boyfriend Tom (who also considers Marco his best friend). First there's Meteora referring to Marco as Star's "other boyfriend" when taunting Star with Marco's unconscious body after knocking out Tom. And in the second to last scene of the episode, Star is hugging Marco after he's revived and Tom says he's going to make it awkward before pulling them into an oddly romantic-looking group hug, which neither oppose to. Tom and Marco also share plenty of Ho Yay through the episode, with Tom carrying his unconscious body around and defending him with an Heroic Sacrifice even when Marco reveals to have kissed Star, which Tom is oddly OK with.
• A Young Justice (2010) supplementary comic implies this between Nightwing, Zatanna, and Batgirl. It helps that they're both Nightwing's Amicable Exes.

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