History Main / ShipMates

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': You'll often find fans of Sonic/Amy getting along with [[LesYay ship Sally/Nicole shippers]] or supporting the Sonic/Sally ship as long as it treats Archie Sonic as a separate character from Game (and/or post-reboot) Sonic.

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': Fans of Sonic/Amy either [[LesYay ship Sally with Nicole]] or treat Archie Sonic as a separate character and keep him with Sally while pairing Game (and/or post-reboot comic) Sonic with Amy.

* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'''s most common ShipMates seem to be [[HoYay Phoenix]]/[[ChildhoodFriendRomance Edgeworth]], Franziska/[[HoYay Adrian]], [[ButtMonkey Gumshoe]]/[[CuteClumsyGirl Maggey]], and probably a dash of [[TheCharmer Klavier]]/[[HotBlooded Apollo]].

* The fandom for Shane Acker's ''WesternAnimation/{{Nine}}'' has always had quite a bit of ''fun'' with shipping since its period of going strong rather than squabbling for the most part, but the shipping bases for two of the three [[FanPreferredCouple Fan-Preferred Couples]] of [[OfficialCouple 9/7]], [[HoYay 9/5]], and [[MentorShip 2/5]] coexist especially nicely.

* [[ShipToShipCombat When they aren't arguing with each other about it]], the ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' shipping community tends to go with a more civil direction: Pair the other girl with Harry Osborn. Either [[ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson MJ]] and Peter get to live happily while Harry and Gwen go out, or Peter gets to go with Gwen while MJ and Harry hook up. Especially common in the many Ultimate style AU fics that have been popping up for the last decade, and helped by the fact that both girls did at one point in the mythos date Harry, and that MJ [[ShipperOnDeck was very supportive of Gwen/Peter]] before she hooked up with him. It makes a well received alternative to the constant mud slinging.

* ''Franchise/XMen'': Cyclops/Jean and Wolverine/Storm have something of a non-aggression pact due to sharing a [[ShipToShipCombat mutual enemy]] in Wolverine/Jean.

** Spinning from Batman, the different generations of Robins and Batgirls give way to this. The {{Official Couple}}s [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick]][[ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey Babs]] and [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim]][[ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2009}} Steph]] tend to go well together, though some shippers [[NotBloodSiblings prefer]] Tim[[ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2000}} Cass]], with the latter case having the other [[PairTheSpares girl paired with]] [[ComicBook/RedHoodAndTheOutlaws Jason]] or [[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison Damian]], or if they're fans of [[HoYay Cass/Steph]], Tim will be paired with either Jason or ComicBook/{{Superboy}}. Typically, because there's so many options and it's rare to find a Robin or Batgirl fan who doesn't hold affection for all the characters in spite of picking favourites, it's very easy to find combos to work with.

* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'''s most common ShipMates seem to be [[HoYay Phoenix]]/[[ChildhoodFriendRomance Edgeworth]], [[WhipItGood Franziska]]/[[HoYay Adrian]], [[ButtMonkey Gumshoe]]/[[CuteClumsyGirl Maggey]], and probably a dash of [[TheCharmer Klavier]]/[[HotBlooded Apollo]].

** People who ''don't'' pair Lavender with Ron usually pair her with Seamus because they went to the Yule Ball together two books before she dated Ron. Lavender and Seamus's respective best friends (Parvati and Dean) [[CoupledCouples are often paired together too]], partly because Dean thinks the Patil twins are the prettiest girls in their year. When Ron/Lavender became more popular, though, so did [[BestFriendsInLaw pairing Dean and Seamus with the Patil twins]] (either boy with either twin), with more fans opting for the latter after [[spoiler:Lavender's death]].

*** A popular BetaCouple for Remus/Sirius and James/Lily fics is Marlene [=McKinnon=]/Dorcas Meadows, mainly because there is next to nothing known about them beyond their names, meaning they can easily be headcanoned as lesbians.

** Marauder fics set during their high school or pre-war days very commonly pair Sirius and Remus with each other and James with Lily. Peter gets to be alone and unloved because nobody likes him anyway. The other popular pairing from that time frame is Snape/Lily, which often features James/Sirius or James/Remus to [[PairTheSpares get him out of the way]]... or sometimes the shippers just go with RonTheDeathEater. And probably pair Sirius/Remus too.
** It's also fairly common to give Lily some sort of female friend -- either an OC or an OCStandIn (Marlene [=McKinnon=] and Mary [=MacDonald=] are particularly common) -- and pair her with one of the other Marauders (usually Sirius).

* A rather complicated one: Franchise/{{Batman}}/Comicbook/{{Catwoman}}, Franchise/{{Superman}}/Comicbook/LoisLane and Franchise/WonderWoman/ComicBook/SteveTrevor often seem to go together. This doesn't really have a logical progression of thinking from an outsider's point of view, seeing as Batman/Franchise/WonderWoman and Superman/Wonder Woman are probably the two most popular nonslash pairings involving Bats and Supes after the aforementioned {{Official Couple}}s, so someone unfamiliar with comics might expect that Supes/Lois would clear the way for Bats/Wondy and vice versa. However, a JLA fan would probably be aware of the tendency for one group of fans to ship pairings between members of the Justice League and ignore the supporting casts of the individual members, and the tendency of another group of fans to ship JLA members with outsiders and keep all JLA relationships distant and/or platonic. Batman/Catwoman, Superman/Lois and Diana/Steve shippers would both fall into the latter category.
** Spinning from Batman, the different generations of Robins and Batgirls give way to this. The {{Official Couple}}s [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick]][[ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey Babs]] and [[Comicbook/RobinSeries Tim]][[ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2009}} Steph]] tend to go well together, though some shippers [[NotBloodSiblings prefer]] Tim[[ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2000}} Cass]], with the latter case having the other [[PairTheSpares girl paired with]] [[ComicBook/RedHoodAndTheOutlaws Jason]] or [[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman Damian]], or if they're fans of [[HoYay Cass/Steph]], Tim will be paired with either Jason or ComicBook/{{Superboy}}. Typically, because there's so many options and it's rare to find a Robin or Batgirl fan who doesn't hold affection for all the characters in spite of picking favourites, it's very easy to find combos to work with.

* Bo/Woody and Buzz/Jessie shippers in the ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' fandom.

** People who ''don't'' pair Lavender with Ron usually pair her with Seamus because they went to the Yule Ball together two books before she dated Ron. Lavender and Seamus's respective best friends (Parvati and Dean) [[CoupledCouples are often paired together too]], partly because Dean thinks the Patil twins are the prettiest girls in their year.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'' fandom, shippers of both Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione call themselves OBHWF -- One Big Happy Weasley Family. Considering that these pairings ended up being canon, this may be by design. In fact, fanfic writers trying to ship these characters differently often have to make someone DieForOurShip just to make the dynamic work.
** Neville and Luna are usually added to the OBHWF to have all the kids who went to the ministry at the end of the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix fifth book]] paired up with each other. WordOfGod has it that they were just friends and [[ShipSinking reveals who they ended up with]] but some argue there is nothing in the books that outright eliminates the possibility of them ending up together. The movies included a nod to Neville/Luna, though [[WordOfSaintPaul Neville's actor also stated]] that they broke up afterward.
** Until the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows seventh book]], some of the more hardcore OBHWF fans would extend the Big Happy Family by pairing off Bill with Fleur, Charlie with Tonks, the twins with their Quidditch teammates, and Percy with Penelope Clearwater. Bill ''did'' marry Fleur in the books, and [[WordOfGod Jo has said]] George ended up with Angelina (one of the female players on the Gryffindor Quidditch team), but the rest didn't happen.

** The Harry/Hermione shippers usually ship Ron with Luna, though Ron/Lavender was also popular before ''Half-Blood Prince'', and Ginny with Neville or Draco Malfoy. Unlike those who ship Ron/Hermione and Ginny/Harry, there isn't really a name for a collection of ships, especially since the number of ships one Harry/Hermione fan can have is quite vast and it's rare to find a group that likes the exact same ships.

** When ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies Dual Destinies]]'' was released, two popular Ship Mates emerged: [[MayDecemberRomance Athena Cykes/Simon Blackquill]] and [[RescueRomance Apollo Justice/Juniper Woods]]. On one hand, this combination has [[ButtMonkey Apollo]] potentially hooking up with a NiceGirl [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan who sincerely adores him for his kindness]], which is seen as a ThrowTheDogABone situation; on the other, it also cashes on [[spoiler: Simon and Athena's shared DarkAndTroubledPast, Simon being willing to [[IWillProtectHer protect Athena]] ''even with his life'' and Athena being ''determined'' to save him from fatally TakingTheHeat for her.]]

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Sansa/Sandor shippers tend to also ship Arya/Gendry, as well as Jaime/Brienne. This has less to do with "taking out the competition" (as [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters the characters in these ships]] tend to have few on-page interactions with others outside of these pairings, and there aren't many ([[RuleThirtyFour mainstream]]) rivaling "ships" between them) and more to do with the [[BeastAndBeauty similar]] [[UptownGirl appeal]] [[MayDecemberRomance these ships]] [[BelligerentSexualTension share]].

Also known as sideshipping.

* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3'': Fans of [[FoeYayShipping Shuichi/Kokichi]] tend to pair Kaede Akamatsu, Shuichi's canon ImpliedLoveInterest, with other girls, most commonly [[GadgeteerGenius Miu Iruma]].

[[folder:Web Comics]]

!!Examples

** After ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' paired up Bruce and Natasha, Bruce/Betty (which was the OfficialCouple in ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk'' and the comics) rose in popularity among fans who shipped Natasha with someone else (most notably Clint, Steve, and Bucky).