Official Couple: Difference between revisions

[[File:Ff8_logo.jpg|link=Final Fantasy VIII|thumb|400px|So official, it's the game's logo.]]

** While not explicitly said to develop a romantic relationship in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS]]'', the [[Toy Ship]] of Erio and Caro does fit in the sense that, as the trope description states, both are overtly paired off and it seems understood by the cast that the two are an item. Not to mention that their brief cameo in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid|Vi Vid]]'' has them apparently sharing a flat together in World #61/Supools, and one of the Sound Stages has Caro actually following Erio into the men's side of a public bath to [[Bathtub Bonding|do some bonding]] -- even suggesting that they take more baths together in the future -- much to Erio's sputtered embarrassment.

** ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED]]'' and ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny]]'' have these in the end: Lunamaria and Shinn (despite the [[Strangled by the Red String|lack of build-up between the two]]), Lacus and Kira, and Murrue and Mu. Athrun and Cagalli ''were'' an [[Official Couple]] in the first series, but things got a lot [[UST|more ambiguous]] in ''Destiny'', and fandom has never been able to agree on the subject since.

** From ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'', the fourth and presumably final ED could best be described as an [[Official Couple]]/BetaCouple montage, {{spoiler|namely Saji Crossroad/Louise Halevy (the series' first couple since S1), Allelujah Haptism/Soma Peries, Lyle Dylandy/Anew Returner, and [[Cargo Ship|Setsuna/Gundam]]. The finale adds Patrick/Kati, wedding ceremony and all.}}.

** ''And'' Elie and Haru -- let's not forget the main characters, shall we?

* ''[[X 1999]]'' has Sorata and Arashi, [[May-December Romance|Yuzuriha and Kusanagi]] and [[Yaoi Guys|Seishirou and Subaru]] -- though "couple" might not be [[Mind Game Ship|the most fitting term for the latter]]. Similarly, Fuuma and Kamui can hardly be called a "couple", but they're far enough out of subtext and into the text and have the [[Word of God]].

** Kamui and [[The Ingenue|Kotori]] also count as an [[Official Couple]], even though {{spoiler|she dies later on}}. In fact, rather than any of the other couples already mentioned, these two appear on the 'the Lovers' tarot card included with the tankoubon version [http://ryen.net/tarot/x/\]

* ''[[Future GPX Cyber Formula]]'' has Hayato and Asuka, along with [[Beta Couple|Beta Couples]] Shinjyo and Miki, Osamu and Clair and Shiba and Rena. The series ends with {{spoiler|Hayato and Asuka's wedding ceremony with most of the cast attending it.}}

* The only [[Official Couple|Official Couples]] in ''[[One Piece]]'' are minor couples who are married and even so, majority of the couples have one spouse either [[Parental Abandonment|missing or dead]]. Some examples are Usopp's parents (mom dead, father a pirate) and Vivi's parents (mom dead, father still alive) and recently Princess Shirahoshi's parents (mom dead, father alive). In {{spoiler|Gold Roger and Rouge}}'s case, they are [[Together in Death]].

** Took on a [[Squick|Squicky]] quality once the Hawkgirl mantle was passed down, as the new one was actually the old one reincarnated into the body of her own niece. Whom Hawkman still tried to pursue a relationship with [[Because Destiny Says So]]. Despite being, at least physically, her uncle by marriage.

* Any of the [[Disney Princess|Disney Princesses]] and their respective princes/heroes.

* Sam and Quorra from ''[[Tron: Legacy]]''. It was actually quite refreshing to see that in spite of all them being an [[Official Couple]], they kept things so subtle that they avoided what could have easily gotten the characters [[Strangled by the Red String]].

* Hal and Royston in ''[[Havemercy]]'' are effectively a couple by about the midpoint of the book, but due to the [[Unequal Pairing|nature]] of their [[Mentor Ship|relationship]], it remains...unconsummated. Interestingly, they're not nearly as reviled by the fandom as most [[Official Couple|official couples]], even though very little of the fanfiction focuses on them - the general consensus seems to be that their romance was handled so perfectly in the book itself that there's nothing much to be added.

* Despite the writers' attempts to the contrary -- "PK Tech Girl", "I Do, I Think", and even "Eat Me", for example -- there was no doubt who the [[Official Couple]] on ''[[Farscape]]'' were. John and Aeryn were awkwardly falling into tight spaces together or each other's arms in the ''first episode''.

* ''[[NCIS]]'' doesn't have [[Official Couple|Official Couples]] so much as it has Official ''former'' Couples, specifically McGee/Abby and Gibbs/Jenny.

* Subverted on ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'', where Ted and Robin would be a textbook example of the [[Official Couple]], if it weren't for [[The Narrator]] telling us since the very first episode that they actually ''don't'' end up together in the end.

* ''[[Gilmore Girls]]'' had several [[Official Couple|Official Couples]]: Lorelai/Luke and Lorelai/Christopher and then Rory/Dean, Rory/Jess and Rory/Logan. By the time the show ended though, Lorelai and Luke decided to split and Rory was single. Naturally, this lead to [[Ship-to-Ship Combat]]. There were also the [[Beta Couple|Beta Couples]] in Sookie/Jackson, Lane/Zach, and Paris/Doyle.

* ''[[Kamen Rider Ryuki]]'' has Ren and his fiancee Eri as an established couple; and also Kitaoka and Reiko as a [[Will They or Won't They?]] of this trope. In the movie, Shinji meets Miho and they are an implied [[Official Couple]] themselves.

*** The first half of ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' was a memorable exception to this openness, as Diadora becomes bonded to main character Sigurd as soon as she joins the party. This is the type of [[Official Couple]] that is rare in ''Fire Emblem'' games.

* Though they never appear to formally "hook up" in any of the games, the majority of fans of ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' who care at all about shipping generally regard Link and Zelda as the [[Official Couple]]. To be fair, this is corroborated a good bit by [[Zelda Manga|the manga]], [[The Legend of Zelda (animation)|the animated series]], and [[The Legend of Zelda (comics)|the comic books]], though none of these are confirmed as canon.

** ''[[Jade Empire]]'' has male Spirit Monk/Dawn Star, with Silk Fox appearing as a [[Clingy Jealous Girl|Clingy Jealous Girlfriend]] if the player does not actively encourage her.

* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' does its best to avert this. However, the trailers always feature a male Shepard and pick a single woman to market as his love interest, for the most part. A traditional human choice is picked for both games: Ashley in the first (with the other option being a blue--albeit very [[Green-Skinned Space Babe|human-looking]]--alien) and Miranda in the second (opposed to the bald-and-crazy Jack or [[The Faceless]] alien Tali).

*** Of course, [[Fridge Logic|one might wonder why the game has any]] [[Relationship Values]] at all if they were going to make an [[Official Couple]] anyway...

** ''[[Tales of Eternia]]'' was very [[Official Couple]]-y: with [[Victorious Childhood Friend|Reid/Farah]] and [[Beta Couple|Keele/Meredy]] both being official by the end and Max already married, Chat is left as the only member of the party ''not'' in an [[Official Couple]] when the credits roll.

** ''[[Tales of Legendia]]''... well, it's complicated. {{spoiler|Both Shirley and Chloe are in love with Senel who, despite [[Ship Tease]], doesn't seem to like any of the two particularly, instead claiming to not be over Stella, his dead girlfriend. In the end of the first half of the game, he seemingly hooked up with Shirley... but then Character Quests kick in, and he's still in the single men zone}}. So, you could say that {{spoiler|Senel and Stella were an [[Official Couple]], but after she was [[Killed Off for Real]] so was the Official Coupling, but Senel just can't seem to get that through his head.}}

* The third ''[[Professor Layton]]'' game gives us the background of Layton's only known canonical relationship -- his college sweetheart, Claire. It's heavily implied that he was going to propose to her {{spoiler|the day she was killed in a time machine explosion}}.

* ''[[Persona 3]]'' and ''[[Persona 4]]'' don't really have an "official" couple for the [[Hello, Insert Name Here|main character]], despite both protagonists being [[Chick Magnet|Chick Magnets]] (''Persona 3'''s protagonist can't even max out his [[Level Up At Intimacy 5|Social Links]] with most of the female characters without forming a relationship, while Persona 4's protagonist can stay faithful to one girl or even be a [[Chaste Hero]]). They only have girls who are implied to have fallen for them even if their Social Link isn't maxed out ([[Tsundere|Yukari]] and [[Idol Singer|Rise]], respectively). However, there is Junpei and {{spoiler|[[Dating Catwoman|Chidori]]}}, who are so official that even though {{spoiler|she dies}}, the [[Distaff Counterpart|Female Protagonist]] can [[Platonic Life Partners|only be friends with Junpei]].

** Actually, yes. According to a side-story where all of the girls meet up in a cafe to discuss how things went, Arcueid's path is the story of ''[[Tsukihime]]''. On the other hand, though, her path is not the story of Shiki Tohno, the main character. That honor belongs to either Akiha, Hisui, or Kohaku. Still no word which one of them is part of the [[Official Couple]] though.

** Except until recent developments where Kazuo goes off the deep end and Miharu gives him up. The author has a way of messing with official couples--remember when everyone thought Maya and Fuuko were SO going to be a couple?

* Tex and Church are the [[Official Couple]] in [[Red vs. Blue]]. Although they have a ''very'' tempestuous relationship and usually act more like enemies than a couple, neither ever denies it.

** Bonnie and Senor Senior, Jr. are not only an [[Official Couple]], but also the [[Beta Couple]], which must rankle Bonnie as the [[Alpha Bitch]].

* Speaking of ''[[Batman Beyond]]'', it has the new Batman, Terry McGinnis, and his mostly-steady girlfriend Dana Tan. {{spoiler|The JLU episode "[[Fully-Absorbed Finale|Epilogue]]" confirms their [[Official Couple]] status by strongly implying that Terry was about to propose to Dana.}}

** In ''Cartman Finds Love'' Cartman and Kyle become an [[Official Couple]]...well, that's what Cartman says, anyway. Kyle himself wasn't aware of their "relationship" until halfway through the episode.