History Main / BetaCouple

** A role also played by MauveShirt couple Kazumi and Daigo, who are happily married (and expecting) already, despite having only met ''after'' Haley and Elan got together.

* Erika and Largo in ''{{Megatokyo}}'' are a classic case of a BetaCouple used to provide a light, humorous contrast to the much more dark and dramatic main couple: Piro and Kimiko.
** [[LighterAndSofter Light and humorous?]] [[BrokenBird Erika?]] '''[[FlatWhat What.]]'''

* Roy and Celia in ''{{The Order of the Stick}}'', who manage to play the calm, laid-back beta couple to Haley and Elan's angst-ridden alpha despite [[spoiler:the fact that Roy spends a large proportion of the most recent plot-arc ''dead''!]]

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* In ''UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'' [[GoKartingWithBowser Lambdadelta/Bernkastel]] serves as this to [[MindGameShip Beatrice/Battler]] for some. Interestingly enough, so can [[CannotSpitItOut Jessica/Kanon]] and [[ThePowerOfLove George/Shannon]]

** And whoever the heck the ''new'' Beta Couple in ''Bubble Bobble Plus'' (WiiWare) are. They're still magenta and orange and both female.

** Some argue they ascended to OfficialCouple after Sonic and Sally broke up at issue #130. Possibilities for a beta couple after that include Knuckles and Julie-Su, and Tails and Fiona before Fiona's FaceHeelTurn. However, Sonic and Sally have begun warming back up to each other in recent issues, which may restore the original order at some later point.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* Taniguchi and Yanagimoto in [[{{FanFic/ptitle0028gzjm}} Kyon: Big Damn Hero]] have officially stated that Taniguchi is trying to paint themselves as the BetaCouple to Kyon and whichever girl he's being shipped with. There's Haruhi, Mikuru, Yuki, Kanae, Tsuruya so far...

* ''{{iCarly}}'': Gibby/Tasha.

Usually, they serve as a barometer for how well or poorly the main (or alpha) couple is doing and offer possible solutions to any problems. Hit a PoorCommunicationKills? The Beta Couple had that, but worked it out. Caught cheating? Losing "the spark" for your LoveInterest? The Beta Couple had that, and here's how they got through it. In addition to all of that, if there is [[{{UST}} sexual tension]] that the OfficialCouple is [[SlectiveObliviousness oblivious about]], the Beta Couple is all the more aware of it and will try to help them embrace it.

Usually, they serve as a barometer for how well or poorly the main (or alpha) couple is doing and offer possible solutions to any problems. Hit a PoorCommunicationKills? The Beta Couple had that, but worked it out. Caught cheating? Losing "the spark" for your LoveInterest? The Beta Couple had that, and here's how they got through it. In addition to all of that, if there is [[{{UST}} sexual tension]] that the OfficialCouple is na? about, the Beta Couple is all the more aware of it.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

* Miroku and Sango from ''InuYasha'', Though they have only a SLIGHTLY easier time of it than the Alpha Couple.

** Through you have to admit that it is everything but easier for them, to the point where you could consider Tomoe and Kurokawa the BetaCouple in {{The Tyrant Falls in Love}}

* Tsuyoshi and Aya, classmates of alpha couple Sana and Akito in ''{{Kodomo no Omocha}}''.

* Naomi and Emily are supposed to be the Beta Couple to Effy and Freddie ([[TriangRelations and Cook]]) in series 3 of ''{{Skins}}''; however, [[PortmanteauCoupleName Naomily]] was handled so well (and the triangle so badly; it's been referred to as [[FanNickname the Triangle Of Doom]]) that Naomi and Emily are officially the most popular couple in the show's history, and looking likely to be elevated to Alpha status for series 4.

* Lots of couples in {{Eureka Seven}}. Namely Holland x Talho, Ray x Charles, Sakuya x Norb.

* Miroku and Sango from ''InuYasha'', Though they have only a SLIGHTLY easier time of it than the alpha couple.

* Akane and Subaru provide some much-needed sweet romance in the midst of [[LoveMartyr Hatsumi]] and [[ManipulativeBastard Ryoki]]'s twisted relationship in ''HotGimmick''.

** [[TheWoobie Doc]] [[HollywoodNerd Sweets]] and [[CloudCuckooLander Dai]][[GeniusDitz sy.]]

** Valentine and Silvia in ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona''

** And also to an extent in the anime: [[spoiler: the scene where both Akane and Mai use their [=CHILDS=] makes it clear they are very similar. Akane is then defeated by someone she thought was a friend, resulting in Kazuya's demise. Same thing happens to Mai]]

* Miroku and Sango from ''InuYasha''.
** Though they have only a SLIGHTLY easier time of it than the alpha couple

* Yuki and Sojiroh to a varying extent in the manga and j-Drama of ''HanaYoriDango''.

* Ogata Matake (Oga-chan) and Tanaka Eita in ''Shakugan no Shana'' and 'Shakugan no Shana Second''. Also serving as a Beta Couple to the [[LoveTriangle Love Triangle]] of Yoshida, Shana, and Yuji. ((Although adding Ike in sort of makes it a [[LoveDodecahedron Love Dodecahedron]].

*NeonGenesisEvangelion - Toji Suzuhara and Hikari Horaki. Though the school-characters are usually on the periphery of the story while the main cast is fighting giant aliens, Toji and Hikari develop a relationship (of sorts) in episodes 17 to 18. Despite the fact that Hikari is the strict class president and Toji is the class jock, they both make the first steps towards a relationship fairly maturely...in stark contrast to how "primary couple" Shinji and Asuka are barely able to communicate at all. Hikari even discusses with Asuka that she's attracted to Toji, though in the same conversation Asuka balks at the suggestion that she even likes Shinji. Meanwhile, Toji refers to Asuka and Shinji's bickering as "another fight with the newlyweds", causing them both to blush with embarrassment.
*TsubasaReservoirChronicle has somewhat of an inversion. The main protagonists Sakura and Syaoran were actually the ones with the more simplified relationship as opposed to the [[HoYay ambiguously canon]] BetaCouple Fai And Kurogane, possibly attributed to the fact that Sakura and Syaoran were carry-overs from the already canon version of themselves in CardCaptorSakura, so there was no question that they'd get together. Whereas Fai and Kurogane were entirely new characters who got their CharacterDevelopment over the course of Tsubasa. Even so, they still frequently acted as parental figures to Sakura and Syaoran, as well as parallels/foils to them in various official artwork and in-story plots and jokes, such as their Outo Country names: Big Dog (Kurogane), Little Dog (Syaoran), Big Cat (Fai) and Little Cat (Sakura).

* In UminekoNoNakuKoroNi [[GoKartingWithBowser Lambdadelta/Bernkastel]] serves as this to [[MindGameShip Beatrice/Battler]] for some. Interestingly enough so can [[CannotSpitItOut Jessica/Kanon]] and [[ThePowerOfLove George/Shannon]]
* ''FutureGPXCyberFormula'' has Miki/Shinjyo, Clair/Osamu, and [[CanonImmigrant Shiba/Rena]] if you're going to take them to account.

* MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha series' non LesYay couples, Chrono/Amy and Erio/Caro. Note that Erio and Caro fall for each other very fast. One reason is because they are still kids.

* FutureGPXCyberFormula has Miki/Shinjyo, Clarie/Osamu, and [[CanonImmigrant Shiba/Rika]] if you're going to take them to account.

* Faramir and Eowyn in ''{{The Lord of the Rings}}''. More present in the book than TheFilmOfTheBook. [[spoiler:Aragorn even makes them Prince and Princess of Ithilien, a province of Gondor.]]