Super Smash Bros. / Crack Pairing

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Seeing as how Smash is a gigantic crossover of Nintendo's most beloved characters and other gaming icons, this is a given — and, going by the definition of a crackship as a ship between two people who never canonically interact, almost every possible ship in the game would count as this. A good chunk of these pairings are also platonic, parental or simple comradery rather then purely romantic love, especially when a great number of characters aren't even the same species. The following is just a small sample of the more popular ones:

Marth/Roy, since they don't even belong in the same universe. This one is shipped completely seriously to an incredible extent, complete with shitting all over Marth's canon wife Caeda — that is, if the shipper has any knowledge of her existence at all. This is most likely due to Melee being the first game to feature Marth and/or Roy to be released outside of Japan, thus the very first impressions for the characters. It may or may not help in that their respective seiyuu have done some work together at times. For example, Memory of the Wandering Prince ships them together.
Ike/Marth as well, rivaling Marth/Roy in popularity, who, again, come from completely different continents, if not universes. Even with Marth's ironic Launcher of a Thousand Ships status, Marth/Roy and Ike/Marth are particularly notorious for having incredibly large followings and lack of/willful ignorance of research. Not helping is that these two ships have even started gaining a small following in the Fire Emblem fandom itself. Mechanism is a College AU fic that ships them together.
Ness/Lucas, an absurdly popular ship in Brawl which saw a resurgence after Lucas's return as DLC in WiiU/3DS, which just like the Fire Emblem characters above, pairs two characters with no connection to each other whatsoever in canon, coming from completely different games. And also just like the two ships above, despite the fact that it is widely accepted in the Mother fandom that Ness is in love with Paula, this ship has leaked into the Mother fandom as well, except on a much bigger scale. Thankfully, fans of this ship are pleasant enough not to resort to shitting all over Paula like some Marth-shippers do with Caeda. Steak and Eggs is one of the several fics written about them.
Brawl in the Family, while it didn't introduce them, did popularize the pairings of Captain Falcon/Samus and Kirby/Jigglypuff. The former became very popular to the point of Fan-Preferred Couple as both characters are badass Bounty Hunters, and Cap is very widely preferred as a shipping partner for Samus over the most significant canon male character in her life, Adam Malkovich.
Samus/Little Mac, after Mac's character reveals in both Brawl and Wii U/3DS put the two of them together for height comparison purposes. Unsurprisingly, most◊ of◊ the◊ art◊ surrounding the pair focuses on the same theme.
Samus/Solid Snake has had a fair amount of steam since the Brawl days, due to a combination of surface similarities (both stoic Super-Soldier badasses with troubled pasts) and Snake appreciatively calling her "[his] kind of woman" in his Codec for her. An entire fan blog is devoted to cataloguing fanart for them.
Samus/Link due to their similarities. (Strong, beautiful, regularly take on armies, have massive arsenals and notably share both a shadowy evil doppelganger and an Archenemy that just won't die.) Happy Anniversary is a story where the two introverted Smashers fall in love.
Link/Lucina. What makes this have the "Crack" status is that some shippers do it out of the assumption that the Hero of Hyrule has a thing for cross-dressing ladies. By the Sword ships Link with Lucina.
Palutena/Lucina, collectively named "Palucina", thanks to a certain image on the official site◊, their similar anime heroine appeal, and the sheer adorability of their contrasting personalities. Parodied in this video, which depicts Lucina getting "friendzoned" by Palutena (much to the dismay of yuri fans).
Palutena/Samus is also popular, as Samus's more serious personality provides a slight variation on the Palutena/Lucina ship. A doujin shipping the two was even sold on eBay for a time, and somehow threw Pit into the mix. One fanfic that pairs them is The Way She Acts.
Palutena/Link. Palutena, who had sat on the sidelines during Brawl, decides to hop into the fight after watching Pit fight Link. She outright interrupts their match and sends Pit away so she can fight one on one during her reveal trailer. It wouldn't be the first time a goddess thought Link was "interesting". The Warrior and the Goddess in Green ships them together.
For yaoi fans, Pit/Link is also pretty common, due their contrasting personalities and demeanors. It also helps Pit canonically finds Link handsome (which is actually a recurring theme with Pit and other sword fighters). Idiots, Crushes, and Nosebleeds is a oneshot where Pit has a crush on Link.
Some comics depict the female Pokémon Trainer as having a one-sided crush on the much older Cloud Strife, if for no other reason than to have her try (and fail) to get her Squirtle to wash out all of Cloud's hairspray and force his hair down.
Rosalina/Pit is gaining popularity, due to both of them being divine beings and Pit's love of pillows. The oneshot Stargazers ships them together.
Female Villager (specifically the pink one)/Ike is one that's also gaining traction due to people finding a big tough man with a girl much smaller than him who could potentially beat him up an adorable couple. Smile and Face the Sun is a Death Fic where Ike mourns the Villager's passing.
Wii Fit Trainer/Little Mac are commonly paired up due to both being health nuts in a sense. Training Mats & Boxing Gloves is one of the fanfics that pairs the two together.
Pit/Samus, for those who like the "older woman 'teaching' young man" dynamic. Yes, an angel and a bounty hunter paired with each other is weird. This may be because of the fact that the original Metroid and the original Kid Icarus shared a Game Engine. ^note Winging It and The Perfect Date pair the two up.
Pit/Mega Man seems to be quite popular, since they both appeared in Captain N: The Game Master and both appear to be quite young. The fic Be my Valentine? has Mega Man confess his love to Pit.
Lucina/Dark Pit is a rather popular ship due to both characters being Moveset Clones^note. The fic Unexpected Surprises'' pairs up Dark Pit and Lucina.
There's some Ship Tease for Lucina and Meta Knight in the Lucina Says videos by Mattyburrito, including her subjecting him to Marshmallow Hell.
Samus/R.O.B is surprisingly popular due the two sharing Last of Their Kind angst. ROB's Wish is a story where ROB wishes he was human so that he could be with Samus.
Link/Peach can be an example of a crack pairing that even Nintendo has joked about (with Zelda being the jealous third wheel). Peach's Tea Party is a ship fic where they talk over tea. An offshoot of this pairing would be their Shoddy Knockoff Mii counterparts, Lonk (from Pennsylvania) and Petch (from Texas).
Though not as common, Mario/Zelda also exists, bringing this full circle. Sparks is a Mario/Zelda where Mario comforts Zelda after Link's death.
A platonic example would be Rosalina/Lucas, with the latter seeing the former as a Parental Substitute. Dry your tears has Rosalina comforting a crying Lucas.
Lucina/Shulk is also fairly popular since both are sword wielders who have plenty of quotes about how the future can be changed (which happens a lot in both their respective games). The Future-Seer and Future Princess pairs the two.
Chances are if you're reading a femslash fic it'll be about Samus/Zelda. Samus is often shipped with the Twilight Princess Zelda due to the two being seen as having similar personalities (stoic and introverted). The Flinch series ships them as a Destructive Romance-type of relationship.
- Samus/Sheik is also fairly common, since both are fast, acrobatic fighters with blonde hair and tight blue Sensual Spandex. It could be seen as an offshoot of Samus/Zelda, since Sheik is Zelda's Sexier Alter Ego. A Sheikah's Greatest Weakness is one lemon fic that pairs up the two.
Ike and Zelda are also a very popular ship. This is partially for the same reasons as Samus and Zelda by both being stoic and introverted characters (at the Twilight Princess incarnation of Zelda, who is the version featured), in addition to the appeal of pairing a commoner and royal. A pairing like this wouldn't work in canon, due to Ike's disinterest for royalty and titles as well as his apparent disinterest in romance. The Flames ships them together.
Lucina/Luigi, thanks to this parody video. The aforementioned Palutena/Lucina parody video is actually a sequel to this one, and even shows Lucina's S-support with Luigi in her support log.
Some people ship Palutena with Rosalina, due to being goddesses in their respective universes who, though powerful, are playful and enjoy having fun. It could also be the fact that they're both incredibly popular waifu characters. Goddess Love is a oneshot where Rosalina confesses to Palutena.
Ike/Palutena. Ike's Classic Mode clear ending has him give a flower to the Goddess of Light, which is hilarious and ironic considering Ike's Chaste Hero status despite being a Chick Magnet, his relationship with gods in general, and how Pit claimed to Palutena that Ike "hasn't aged well" in their Guidance conversation on him. When I Come Home'' is a oneshot where the two are married.
- Both Palutena and Ike are also infamous for their neutral aerial attacks in Ultimate, leading some people to start pairing both again, albeit in a joking way.
As of her reveal trailer, people are already beginning to ship Pit/Bayonetta, partly due to her natural prey being Angels, and partly due to Pit visibly blushing during a close up of him being caught in one of her grabs. Tango in the Moonlight ships them.
Samus/Bayonetta is picking up a bit of a following, as they have similar outfits (in Samus' case, the Zero Suit) and body types, not to mention their weaponized high heels that are beloved by the LGBT Fanbase. Show Me That Smile (It Eats Me Alive) pairs them up.
Thanks to this image◊ Donkey Kong/Bayonetta has a joking ship coming around, mostly because despite it being obvious that he's being attacked, DK's bugged-out eyes look like he's reacting to Bayonetta's 'Wicked Weaves' causing her outfit to disappear!
Robin/Shulk, because both of them are nerdy Badass Bookworms who are also vessel hosts for godlike entities (Grima and Zanza, respectively).
Female Corrin is oftentimes paired with Lucas, due to the latter's resemblance (especially with his gray alternate costume) to Silas (a very popular marriage choice for female Corrin in Fire Emblem Fates).
Peach/Zelda, mainly because they are princess Damsels in Distress. One of the fanfics that ships them together, rocks and hard places, is a one-shot where Peach and Zelda are college roommates.
Marth/Zelda already had fans due to both being beautiful, wise royals who fight to take back their countries from hostile forces, but gained popularity with an event match in Brawl which had him protecting her in place of Link.
It seems even the dev team can get in on the fun. One picture◊ for the upcoming games pair up Fox and Mega Man's Rush together.
Roy/Lucina has a minor fanbase, mostly likely because both are Moveset Clones of Marth. Since said pairing was brought up again independently by the Fire Emblem fanbase after the launch of the new mobile game, it's gained a tiny bit of traction.
Lucas, Roy, and Ryu have been paired in various combinations with each other (which includes putting all three together), though often platonically, due to the three being very anticipated DLC characters who were all released on the same day. Sometimes Mewtwo is added into the mix, making a One True Foursome.
- Similar treatment is provided for Cloud, Corrin and Bayonetta as the final 3 DLC characters. Many a fanfic play with this line-up: the trio are commonly depicted as platonic, with the occasional emphasis on Corrin's pairings with Cloud (as female) or Bayonetta (as male) and the remaining one as a third wheel.
Sonic the Hedgehog and just about any human female character (though the most common appears to be Lucina, with Palutena at a close second thanks to several DeviantArt users), with the interaction ranging from actual romance to merely treating Sonic as a pet. An unusual set of ships to be sure, especially considering the rather...infamous human pairing in Sonic's home franchise.
- Another crack Sonic pairing is a rather obvious one; Sonic/Mario. Also Sonic/Bayonetta, as the two share a publisher.
- Sonic and Pikachu has gotten this treatment mostly due to the Worlds of Light trailer where Sonic ended up slowing down in order to help Pikachu. It seems to mostly be the two as best friends, though.
Mr. Game & Watch/Lucina. Usually as a joke. Plenty of jokes about the two being flat have been made.
- Following this, Mr. Game & Watch/Female!Byleth has also become popular, seemingly cementing a tie between Mr. Game & Watch and Fire Emblem girls.
Thanks to the people at ZeldaUniverse making interactions between the two rather adorable, Lucina/Pit has gotten incredibly popular. It's even funnier when one considers how Pit's a constantly chatting joker while Lucina's stoic (most of the time) and often the last person to get a joke.
An actual joke paring: Captain Falcon/Sandbag
Robin/Cia, despite the second character not being a Smasher (she is from Hyrule Warriors), somehow managed to become a pairing in the HTK fanfic. It was centered around S-Support jokes ("Did you do it with S-support?") and managed to explode from there, even gaining a small cult of fans dedicated to the oddly paired couple.
Dark Pit/Lucas, as seen in The Hot Topic Krew fanfiction, it originally started off as a non-existent excerpt in the tumblr blog SuperSmashBrothersFanfiction. The author decided to take those excerpts to the next level thus, this pairing bloomed.
Chrom/Fishsticks. Starting off in the HTK fanfiction, it managed to boom up into endless inside jokes among the Smash tumblr community due to how absurd it is.
The fanfic Luigi's Other Experiment is full of these. Nana/Yoshi, Bowser/Mario/Peach, Mewtwo/Zelda, Ness/Samus/Young Link/Peach, Kirby/Jigglypuff, Roy/Peach, Fox/Samus, Marth/Samus, Captain Falcon/Samus, implied Samus/Mewtwo, Roy/Peach, Yoshi/Mario, Pikachu/Pichu, Young Link/Link, and Donkey Kong/himself, among others.
- And this is a sequel to another story which focuses on... wait for it... Link/Random Table. No, really. Link/Random Table. And in this one, Luigi and Ganondorf are punished for what they do when Luigi uses the experiment on Ganondorf, creating Ganondorf/Luigi.
Corrin/Charizard: The former can transform into a dragon of some sort that wouldn't look out of place as a Pokémon. There's also the joke that Corrin is a dragon but Charizard isn't (as its classed as a Fire/Flying type instead, unless it is Mega Charizard X).
Daisy/Ridley, simply because both had been requested by fans for a while^note, and both got added in the same game, and announced on the same day. Not to mention all the Star Wars jokes made regarding their inclusion due to them both being in actress Daisy Ridley's name.
Reflecting the Samus/Pikachu pairing, some fans have begun pairing Ridley and Pichu, likely due to the former being the largest playable character while the latter is one of the smallest. The sheer contrast in design between the two characters also plays a part.
Somewhat similar to the above mentioned Samus/Pikachu pairing is the growing Dark Pit/Pichu Moe Couplet. Both are generally seen as unwanted clones, and it helps that their designs and personalities completely contrast with each other.
Ridley/King K. Rool, albeit usually more of a platonic/best friends sort of way. They're two of the most highly requested newcomers to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, are large and reptilian in appearance, and have committed various evil deeds without so much as a smirch on their consciences. There is also a general camaraderie between the two fandoms that developed during the SSB4 era.
Plenty of artwork depicting Waluigi and Ashley together exist due to both characters being popular picks for fighters with ties to Wario but were instead passed over to be assist trophies instead.
Another "best friends/Platonic Life-Partners" situation which came up is Lucina/Richter, as this fan comic◊ points out. Both are members of divine bloodlines (Marth's family line and the Belmont clan, respectively) and have inherited their sides' resident Ancestral Weapon (the Falchion and Vampire Killer) to boot. Richter even goes so far as to impart to Lucina his win pose and his rather meme-worthy "monster" monologue for her to use against Grima while he approvingly nods from the side.
Since the official character poster decided to place Isabelle next to Cloud, people decided that they look adorable together because Isabelle's Genki Girl combined with Cloud's Angsty Hero archetype makes a good Manic Pixie Dream Girl situation. She's also been paired with Snake and the Belmonts for similar effects; often these characters end up training Isabelle how to properly fight but have to rein in some of their more violent tendencies for adorably comedic effect.
- Snake and Isabelle being good friends is especially popular, since Snake canonically likes dogs and raised sled dogs after retiring, and Isabelle is a dog.
The November 1st Smash Direct showed off Incineroar and its Lariat move where it makes opponents run the ropes, with the unfortunate recipient being Lucas. While a few pieces of fanart depict Lucas being wary of Incineroar, others also depict them having a relationship similar to Calvin and Hobbes.
Young Link and the Inkling Girl has gotten this treatment thanks to both of them being child characters that both became playable in Ultimate after the former was Put on a Bus and the latter was merely a Mii costume in the game beforehand. There's also a picture on the official website of the Inkling smiling while Young Link is taking a swig of milk.
Sonic/Inkling Girl has a growing following, mostly because of their similarities, such as oozing with Totally Radical, a similar taste in music, their Super Drowning Skills^note, and being vaguely in the same age group ^note.
Pit and Zelda started out as this. It became less crack when the new Guidance Conversations in Ultimate implied that Pit may have a crush on the princess.
- That turns out to be a Woolseyism, curiously enough. Pit's crush is completely absent in the Japanese version. Apparently someone at Nintendo's Treehouse is up to something.
- Likewise, Viridi has shown a major interest in Link, Marth and, as of Ultimate, Roy. In particular, she comments on Link's "dreamy Clawshot" in Wii U (even more pronounced in the Japanese original, where she squees to the point it confuses Pit).
After the latter was revealed as a DLC character in Ultimate, several people took to the idea of Bayonetta being Joker's mom (either adopted or biological), thanks to the similarities in both appearance and personality between them.
- This in turn has some overlap with another fan idea: as Sakurai explicitly mentions them as being two other fighters capable of surviving the initial attack from Galeem, Bayonetta and Palutena are jokingly referred to as Kirby's mothers. Thus, this would make him, Joker (as per the above meme) and to a lesser extent Pit (based on his loyalty to Palutena) brothers. Some also throw Dark Pit into the family, due to the assumption that he's Pit's literal Evil Twin. Pit, Dark Pit and Joker usually form a Freudian Trio.
Incineroar/Isabelle is starting to gain prominence, at least platonically, with proponents depicting a relationship between them not unlike Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot. Having a Huge Guy, Tiny Girl dynamic certainly helps, too.
Wolf/Isabelle has been discussed even before Isabelle was officially added to the roster. Mostly because the two of them are the only anthropomorphic canines in the game (minus Duck Hunt Dog). Fans of the ship like to portray Isabelle as Wolf's (almost literal) Morality Pet.
Joker and the default-colored Inkling Girl is another pairing that has taken off with Joker's reveal, due to the latter's resemblance to Futaba Sakura - one of Joker's teammates and potential love interests in his home game. Alternatively, Inkling Girl can be shipped with Futaba herself.
Joker and Lucina has been discussed, since the former's status as The Casanova, but also because both are well-intentioned rebels who wear masks to shield their identity.
Joker with practically every playable humanoid woman, due to the mechanics of his game. Pictures of him having harem troubles with them have been made as a reference to how trying to get a harem in his main game is a sure fire way to him getting beaten up.
People jokingly started pairing the Piranha Plant with Viridi, due to the fact that she seems to be obsessed with that species.
Piranha Plant/Ivysaur has become quite popular, as Piranha Plant is... well, a plant and Ivysaur is a Planimal with a flower on its back.
As they're first two DLC characters in Ultimate, a number of people have taken to drawing pictures of Joker befriending and hanging out with the Piranha Plant.
Kirby and Haru has been treated as if they were friends due to them being portrayed as Cute Memetic Psychopaths within their home games.
The Hero (usually Three (Erdrick) specifically) and Banjo are often seen together, because they were revealed on the same day and are praised from different sides of the fandom. They're often portrayed as Bash Brothers, as seen with this video.
Due to the Friendly Fandoms status between Donkey Kong Country and Banjo-Kazooie, there is some shipping between the characters, especially Donkey Kong/Banjo, Diddy Kong/Kazooie, King K. Rool/Banjo, or even all of them.
Falco/Kazooie is another popular ship, owing to them being the two bird characters on the roster, as well as being loudmouthed, arrogant teammates to the main heroes.
Banjo/Isabelle is getting increasingly popular, since both are Funny Animals who have a lot in common. However, most fanwork depicts Isabelle chasing after Banjo for more superficial reasons.
Some like to ship Joker/Kazooie and Banjo/Morgana in a platonic way◊, mostly because it would be fun to see how the sidekick switch would affect their life. Joker is often depicted as a Workaholic with Morgana reminding him to take care of himself (often unnecessarily). With Kazooie on his back, he could do whatever he wants. Banjo, on the other hand, would appreciate Morgana telling him to go to sleep.
With Terry Bogard being revealed as the 4th fighter, a lot of people have noticed a great resemblance between him, Ness and the male Pokémon Trainer. This has led to Terry being depicted as kind of an elder brother-like figure for Red and Ness.
Corrin/Byleth took off long before Byleth was officially announced, since both are Fire Emblem protagonists, and thus bound to cause some controversy. Male Corrin/Male Byleth seems to be the most popular variation.
Joker/Byleth has taken off a bit given how Three Houses has often been compared to the modern Persona games. Not only that, but both are also accompanied at all times by mysterious beings who are voiced by Cassandra Lee Morris in English. By far their biggest striking point together is that the Romance Sidequest aspects of their respective games are a major point of discussion for fans, especially considering that Byleth can notably pursue romantic relationships with many of their students while one of Joker's potential girlfriends is his homeroom teacher.
- On a similar, but more cynical note, people tend to ship Joker with all the female students and staff of Garreg Mach Monastry mostly for the fallout similar to his home game where all the female Confidants find out about him sleeping around with each other. But whereas the girls in Persona 5 who are practically normal citizens (aside from fellow Phantom Thieves Ann, Makoto, Futaba, Haru and Sumire) the girls in Three Houses can wield swords, axes, bows and other weapons, so it’s not hard to picture the consequences Joker receives for his adultery.
Another platonic pairing that popped up a lot around the time of the release Ultimate is Samus and Shantae, after it was revealed Shantae's spirit battle was a puppet fighter of Samus. Normally, it is Shantae looking up to Samus as something of an older sister or finding her cool.
Cloud/Shulk has cropped up due to them both being blonde-haired RPG protagonists with iconic two-handed swords. Interestingly enough, due to Xenoblade Chronicle's lineage, Shulk could be considered a "descendent" of Cloud at least conceptually.
Cloud/Zelda cropped up thanks to an image in game where Cloud is holding Zelda like Aerith after she gets stabbed by Sephiroth.
Waluigi/Mai because both did not get same treatment as fans wanted to. Waluigi appears as an assist trophy, while Mai didn't make appearance at all, to maintain All-Ages rating in Japan.
Sephiroth has been paired with Pichu of all characters because the panoramic art has them right next to each other, and the sheer hilarity of someone as dark and malevolent as Sephiroth being paired with a Ridiculously Cute Critter like Pichu.
Sephiroth/Ridley is another (platonic) pairing that became popular due to them both being some of the darkest villains in the Smash roster, how they were responsible for killing the loved ones of existing fighters (Samus's parents for Ridley, Cloud's close friend Aerith for Sephiroth), and that they seemingly exist nowadays just to torment their respective arch-enemies while refusing to stay dead.
Ever since her reveal, there's been plenty of fanart of Mythra getting into arguments with Kazooie. Both of them are female DLC fighters that are one half of a pair and the more confrontational of them. Naturally, both Pyra and Banjo don't like this.
There's been fan art pairing Sora with Duck Hunt as a substitute for Donald and Goofy.
As yet another platonic pairing, Sora and Pit are often seen as easily getting along due to both of them being spiky-haired, optimistic goofballs. And while he's an Assist Character instead of a main fighter, Rex is also added in to make them a Power Trio of brown haired "good boys".
Sora is also paired with Pyra & Mythra in a lot of fanart mostly because of his similarities with Rex and because they're a redhead and a blonde who are the same entity, thus making them perfect stand-ins for Kairi and Naminé.
Sora is also often paired with Bayonetta because they both were the last DLC characters of their respective Smash entries, they both were considered impossible picks for different reasons ^note and because of the sheer contrast of a character from a violent and erotic M-rated series with a character from an E-rated game made by Disney.

Crack Pairing / Super Smash Bros.

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