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Official Couple: Difference between revisions
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Some shows are made to be deliberately enticing to [[Shipping|shippers]], but for the most part relationships in the story are merely heavily suggested. This could be seen as a bit of cowardice to the writers, but a sympathetic view is it allows them to please many potential fans without alienating anyone else. It's what keeps [[The Unwanted Harem]] afloat, assures plenty of fun [[Ho Yay]], and allows for plotline flexibility.
On the other hand, these kinds of shows often have a pair of characters who are a little more overtly paired off, usually two people the other characters admire. (This makes [[The Hero]] and [[The Chick]] the usual suspects, but any combination may prove valid.) They might [[No Hugging, No Kissing|never kiss on screen]] or even flirt with other characters, but it's [[Everyone Can See It|understood by the cast that the two are an item]]. Naturally, this does absolutely nothing to offset [[Shipping]], as there seems an [[Shipping Bed Death|inexplicable inverse relationship]] between the officiality of a couple and the actual fervent fan interest in it.
Extremely common in [[Sitch Sexuality]] plotlines, especially [[Girls Love|yuri]]- and [[Boys Love|yaoi]]-geared works. Also a common staple of ''[[Shojo|shoujo]]'' anime.
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{{examples
== Anime & Manga ==
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* Jo and Meg from ''[[Burst Angel]]'' (two main characters who are also a [[Battle Couple]]).
* Renton and Eureka, and Dominic and Anemone from ''[[Eureka Seven]]'', among others.
* Keiichi and Belldandy in ''[[Ah! My Goddess (Manga)|Ah My Goddess]]''.
* Kaoru and Aoi in ''[[Ai Yori Aoshi (Manga)|Ai Yori Aoshi]]''. Slight subversion in that only ''two'' of the other cast members know it for a fact. [[The Ojou|Mayu's]] just going to have to live with it.
* {{spoiler|Mytho and Rue}} get together in the very last episode of ''[[Princess Tutu]]''. {{spoiler|Ahiru and Fakir}} have also pretty much become official by then, but it ends [[Star
* The love between Guts and Casca in ''[[Berserk]]'' proved to be {{spoiler|one of the catalysts that sent Griffith tumbling ''hard'' into his [[Face Heel Turn]]}}. In the manga's current timeframe, the two things driving Guts are his desire to punish Griffith and his desire to heal Casca's mind. The latter only ''slightly'' less than the former.
* Although there have been some romance in ''[[Naruto]]'', the series has yet to officially confirm any canonical couple (Naruto/Sakura for instance, or Naruto/Hinata) despite the endless list of canonical and non-canonical pairings from fans. {{spoiler|The Asuma/Kurenai relationship is however confirmed in Part II, as we find out Kurenai was pregnant with Asuma's son/daughter.}}
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* Kenshin and Kaoru from ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]''. {{spoiler|Marriage and a child in the epilogue: it doesn't get more official than this.}}
* Ueki Kyousuke and Mori Ai from ''[[The Law of Ueki]]''. While not explicit in the anime it is made clearer in the manga and becomes fully canon by the end of the sequel series, ''[[Oddly Named Sequel|The Law of Ueki Plus]]''.
* Ran and Rui from ''[[Telepathy Shoujo Ran (Anime)|Telepathy Shoujo Ran]]'' are a couple, and even the tinges of [[Romantic Two
* Tamahome and Miaka in [[Fushigi Yuugi]].
* ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' has lots of [[Ship Tease]] among the ([[Ho Yay|mostly male]]) cast and no relationships are outright stated to be romantic or canon, but some pairs have gotten undeniable canon support that far outstrips mere [[Ship Tease]]:
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* ''Sket Dance'': Himeko and Bossun.
** Unique in some respect among Shonen because of how much attention it actually gets in the canon, and how even though Himeko is a [[Tsundere]], the two are rather openly affectionate (in a non-sappy way, promise) for any manga period.
* ''[[X 1999]]'' has Sorata and Arashi, [[May
** 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/\]
* ''[[Mirai Nikki]]'' has Yukiteru and Yuno, a [[The Ship Yard|Loose Cannon Ship]].
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** Jessie & James in the ''[[The Electric Tale of Pikachu]]'' manga.
* In ''[[Clannad (Visual Novel)|Clannad]]'' (the [[Kyo Ani]] anime), Nagisa and Tomoya are an official couple ''from the start'': neither of them could imagine not being with the other one, and Tomoya doesn't even seem to notice that several other girls are in love with him. Heck, Tomoya was a part of Nagisa's life even before she met or knew who he was!
* Shiki and Mikiya of ''[[Kara no Kyoukai]]''. Not very surprising, considering it's essentially a romance. Well, there's some stuff in there about the nature of personalities and murder too, but the romance is the important bit. [[Brother
* By ''[[When They Cry]]'''s [[Mind Screw|standards]], a few of the couples from ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Umineko no Naku Koro Ni]]'' look to be set in stone (unless it turns out someone's hiding something... [[Unreliable Narrator|again]]). Among those are: George/Shannon, Jessica/Kanon, Battler/{{spoiler|Beatrice}} (However, these three couples become very messy due to the fact that {{spoiler|all three cousins are in fact in love with the same person}}), and Bernkastel/Lambdadelta.
* In ''[[Durarara]]'', the only couples that are together are [[Yandere|Seiji]] and {{spoiler|[[Stalker With a Crush|Mika]]}}, {{spoiler|[[Stepford Smiler|Kida]] and [[Honey Trap|Saki]]}} and {{spoiler|[[Eyes Always Shut|Walker]] and [[Yaoi Fangirl|Erika]] in the light novels}}. {{spoiler|[[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|Mikado]] and [[Broken Bird|Anri]]}} and {{spoiler|[[Headless Horseman|Celty]] and [[Back Alley Doctor|Shinra]]}} were hinted at it at the end of the anime series if smiling at each other warmly and seducing count.
** Unless they break up at some point due to obvious complications that may arise in such a relationship or unless the light novels are different (though I don't see why it would be), Celty and Shinra are pretty much official.
* ''[[Hellsing]]'' has [[Officer and A Gentleman|Pip Bernadotte]] and Seras Victoria. Though [[Word of God]] states that "if Seras wasn't a vampire and Pip wasn't a mercenary, they would be the perfect couple that everybody would be envious of."
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* Several in ''[[Dragonball]]'': Goku/Chichi, Yamcha/ Bulma first, Vegeta/ Bulma later, Krillin/ Android 18, Gohan/ Videl,etc.
* ''[[Psyren]]'' The two protagonists, Ageha and Sakurako.
* [[The Lancer|Soul]] & [[Badass Bookworm|Maka]] and [[The Chick|Tsubaki]] & [[Large Ham|Black*Star]] in ''[[Soul Eater]]'' are probably leaning towards this, considering that it was stated early on that Tsubaki's the only one who can stand Black*Star enough to be his partner and the two are {{spoiler|raising Angela together - not to mention they share a bedroom}}, whereas Soul and Maka are have their own [[Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other]] moments, despite being [[Vitriolic Best Buds]]. There was also that gender-bending Lust chapter in the Book of Eibon...
** [[Cute Witch|Kim]] and Ox are sort of a [[Canon]] [[Beta Couple]] version of this.
* ''[[Gosick (Light Novel)|Gosick]]'', Kazuya and Victorique. After many moments of [[Ship Tease]], it's finally official in the end.
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* If there are two official couples in the ''[[X Wing Series]]'' comics, it's Tycho Celchu/Winter and [[Interspecies Romance|Nrin/Ibitsam]]. Both romances are fed out bit by bit for pretty much the entire length of the comic's run.
* [[Hourman]] and Liberty Belle in the ''[[Justice Society of America]]''.
* [[Ugly Guy, Hot Wife|Mac and Alix]] in ''[[Les Innommables]]''.
* Sonic and Sally in ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (Comic Book)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]''. Since their status currently is "broken up", however, some consider [[Beta Couple]] Antoine and Bunnie to be the official couple.
* [[Scott Pilgrim]] and Ramona Flowers.
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* In the last season of ''[[Monk]]'' Randy Disher and Sharona became a couple.
* ''[[Rizzoli and Isles]]'' is called Rizzoli and Isles for a [[Les Yay|reason]]. Such a good couple that you can overlook the crappy writing.
** [[Law and Order|Abbie Carmichael]] and [[NCIS|Kate Todd]] as a [[Bones]]-[[Buffy
* ''[[Mork and Mindy]]''. [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|It's right there in the title!]]
* Piper and Leo in ''[[Charmed (TV)|Charmed]]''.
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* Cory and Topanga in ''[[Boy Meets World]]''.
* Niles and Daphne in ''[[Frasier]]''.
** Niles and Daphne managed to be an official couple throughout eight whole years of [[Unrequited Love]], [[Unresolved Sexual Tension|UST]], and [[Will They or Won't They?]] before even making a move, never mind getting together, ''and'' despite Niles being married to someone else for the better part of that period. They were relegated to [[Beta Couple]] afterwards.
* Eric and Donna in ''[[That 70s Show (TV)|That 70s Show]]''.
** Fez and Jackie suddenly become this in the final season, much to the disgust of both Hyde/Jackie and Kelso/Jackie shippers.
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** Doug and Carol as well.
* [[Happy Days|Joanie Cunningham and Chachi Arcola]]. After their own series (''Joanie Loves Chachi'') tanked, they got married.
* ''[[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.
* Protagonist Tsukasa and Natsumi of ''[[Kamen Rider Decade]]''.
* Lizzie and Gordo in ''[[Lizzie Mcguire]]''.
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** The first set comes from ''[[Super Robot Wars 4]]'' with Irmgult "Irm" Kazahara and Ring Mao, who were later given cameo appearances in ''[[Super Robot Wars Alpha]]''.
** The Alpha series has, starting with the second game, Kusuha Mizuha and Brooklyn "Bullet" Luckfield, Arado Balanga and Seolla Schweizer, and Touma Kanou and Minaki Tomine.
** The ''[[Super Robot Wars Compact 2]]'' trilogy and ''[[Video Game Remake|Impact]]'' has Kyosuke Nanbu and Excellen Browning, whose dynamic is so strong in ''[[Super Robot Wars Original Generation]]'' they have thus far become the [[
** Of course, the ''Original Generation'' games carry all of the above, but also ropes in the forgotten character archetypes from the first Alpha game and pairs them up (Ryoto Hikawa/Rio Mei Long, Tasuku Shinguji/Leona Garstein, Yuuki Jaggar/Ricarla "Carla" Borgnine).
** The ''Masou Kishin'' story also has Masaki Andoh and Wendy. It also features Tytti Noorbuck and Ricardo Silvera ({{spoiler|although the latter coupling's played [[Killed Off for Real|tragically]]}}.
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* ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' and ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'' (the main campaign) suffer from only having one option for each gender of player character (Juhani doesn't really count; that arc was never really developed). Cut content in ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'' ensures that there is only one option for each gender in the main campaign and in Mask of the Betrayer, but technically with restored content plus the fact that the same character is running through both stories gives each gender three options, but the fact that the main campaign options all died in the [[Rocks Fall Everyone Dies]] ending and Neeshka was one of the cut characters forces us to the conclusion that male character/Safiya and female character/Gann were what the writers intended.
** ''[[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 (Video Game)|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
** However, other than the trailers, almost everyone, devs included, stay away from calling the human love interests 'official.' Good thing too, because the [[Interspecies Romance|majority of the fandom]] would rip them apart if they did.
* {{spoiler|Meryl and Johnny}} of ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots]]'' definitely counts. {{spoiler|The wedding at the end}} kind of makes it obvious.
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* Tidus and Yuna from ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'', as well as Wakka and Lulu who receive confirmation in ''[[Final Fantasy X 2]]''.
* Serah and Snow from ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]''.
* Sora and Kairi from ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]''. As "official" as the [[No Hugging, No Kissing]] series will get, at least; we get no real intimate scenes, but the feelings they share for each other are obvious (except to a [[Yaoi Fangirl]].)
** Let's not forget all the Disney Canon couples who appear in the series. Sora and Kairi's relationship is actually compared to quite a few of them.
* Mario and Princess Peach from ''[[Super Mario Bros (Video Game)|Super Mario Bros]].'' and all of its sequels and spinoffs. For all the times he's had to go to "another castle" to go after her, you'd figure the poor guy would get ''[[Smooch of Victory|some]]'' [[Smooch of Victory|sort of reward]].
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*** Food for thought - when [[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Zelos]] lists all the Tales series' official couples in ''Viva Tales Of'', he puts Senel with Shirley. That's the closest we got to official word by Namdai about the subject.
* ''[[Assassin's Creed Revelations (Video Game)|Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]'' has Shaun Hastings mention that {{spoiler|Lucy Stillman said that she "liked" Desmond Miles}}, not that that does anything now that {{spoiler|killed her under Juno's possession}}.
* ''[[Jak and Daxter]]'' gives us three: [[Anti
* Chaz Ashley and Rika in the 4th installment of the ''[[Phantasy Star]]'' series. [[Word of God]] via the prelims for a canceled sequel support this.
* Fox and Krystal in the ''[[Star Fox (Video Game)|Star Fox]]'' games. Ever since her introduction, it's been made clear that one of Krystal's roles (outside of [[Ms. Fanservice|the more obvious]]) is that of Fox's [[Love Interest]]. ''Command'' left things in doubt when they split up briefly (some endings featured them getting back together, some featured them splitting apart), but it seems that game is [[Canon Dis Continuity|being ignored]] and her profile in ''[[Super Smash Bros Brawl]]'' the later year, whilst acknowledging their "relationship problems" from ''Command'' still cites them as being romantically involved at current time.
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* As soon as it was announced that ''[[Golden Sun Dark Dawn (Video Game)|Golden Sun Dark Dawn]]'' would feature the children of the characters from the first two games, the [[Internet Backdraft|fallout]] was easily predictable as ''[[Golden Sun (Video Game)|Golden Sun]]'' is a fandom rife with [[Ship to Ship Combat]]. Sure enough, the [[Ship Mates|Isaac/Mia and Garet/Jenna]] shippers were disappointed, as Isaac/Jenna was made canon.
** In the second game, Sheba makes a comment to Jenna along the lines of "Aren't you and Isaac, like... an item?"
** However, the [[Ship Mates|corresponding]] Garet/Mia, while not technically ''[[Ship Sinking|sunk]]'', would require some serious violations of [[
* 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}}.
* ''[[Lunar Silver Star Story]]'' has Alex and Luna, Nash and Mia, and Jessica and Kyle. ''Lunar 2'' has Hiro and Lucia, as well as Ronfar and Mauri.
* In ''[[Silent Hill Homecoming]]'', Alex and Elle are heavily implied to be around that area or moving toward it, if not already there.
* ''Breath of Fire II'' strongly implies that the Ryu and Nina from the original ''Breath of Fire'' married.
* ''[[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]].
** The Manga adaptation of Persona 4 looks to be pushing {{spoiler|The Protagonist and Rise}} into this direction. There's been additional [[Ship Tease]] between the two [[Adaptation Expansion|that wasn't even in the game.]]
* ''[[King's Quest]]'' : Graham and Valanice are [[Happily Married]], as are Alexander and Cassima. Rosella and Edgar wisely agreed to a proper courtship canonically, but the [[Fan Sequel]] opens on their wedding day.
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* Jake and Rose in ''[[American Dragon Jake Long (Animation)|American Dragon Jake Long]]''.
* Danny and Sam in ''[[Danny Phantom]]''. Really not much of a challenge, as the only other major available female characters are the proverbial [[Dating Catwoman|Catwoman]] and a second example of a [[Romantic False Lead]]. Like most examples, at times, it's almost as if she's only there so that the writers can drop anything-but-subtle hints at the prospect of them "pairing up" [[Last Minute Hookup|in the last two seconds of the series]].
* Robin (a.ka. Nightwing) and Batgirl in ''[[Batman:
* Superman and [[Lois Lane]], of course, in ''[[Superman:
* ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' [[Green Lantern (Comic Book)|Green Lantern]] (John Stewart) and [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Hawkgirl]], going through a whole era of being [[Star
** And then there's the other official [[Beta Couple]] pairs of [[Huntress]]/[[The Question]], [[Green Arrow]]/[[Black Canary]] (this one arguably done better than in the comics, at that), and [[Supergirl]]/ {{spoiler|Brainiac 5}}.
* Speaking of ''[[Batman Beyond (Animation)|Batman Beyond]]'', it has the new Batman, Terry McGinnis, and his mostly-steady girlfriend Dana Tan. {{spoiler|The JLU episode "[[Fully
* Chiro and Jinmay in ''[[Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go]]!'' were pretty well set-up from Jinmay's introduction, which is amazing for something [[Toon Disney]] used to run.
** Nova and SPRX-77 as well; and ''they'' had a [[Slap Slap Kiss]] vibe through the show's entire run, which makes it even more astonishing it ended up on [[Toon Disney]].
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** ''[[Beast Machines (Animation)|Beast Machines]]'': Rattrap and Botanica.
* In the [[Last Minute Hookup|final episode]], Willy, the male lead of ''[[My Dad the Rock Star (Animation)|My Dad the Rock Star]]'', and his female friend Alyssa start dating.
* ''[[An American Tail]]'': Tony Toponi and Bridget (heck, the second film cameo'd them as a married couple with a child). At least until [[What Happened to The Mouse?|she mysteriously vanishes]] for the [[Direct to Video]] sequels.
* ''[[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (Animation)|Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers]]'': It's [[Happily Married|Zach/Eliza]], Shane/Niko, and Doc/Maya. This fandom is '''highly''' unusual as it won't cross those lines for the main four. The only time it might is in flashbacks, or "missing scenes" for a couple episodes.
* In ''[[The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron (Animation)|The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron]]'', Jimmy and Cindy. Sheen and Libby filled the [[Beta Couple]] slot.
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* Henry and June form ''[[Ka Blam]]'' start out being friends, but with June having a crush on Henry (and usually shows this by [[Love Hurts|being a total brat towards him]]). The so-called "series finale" ended with her kissing him, and in season four (at least until after [[Ship Tease|"A Nut in Every Bite!"]]), the duo have stopped fighting and became closer than ever before (cue "awwwwww"s).
* Cuddles and Giggles in ''[[Happy Tree Friends]]''. An odd example, as she has been shown flirting with (or even ''dating'') other characters even after the couple was established. Then again, this is Happy Tree Friends, where characters frequently die horribly only to be fine in the next episode...
* On ''[[Phineas and Ferb (Animation)|Phineas and Ferb]]'', Candace and [[Single Woman Seeks Good Man|Jeremy]] get together in "Summer Belongs to You" [[Word of God]] has also more-or-less confirmed that [[The Chick|Isabella]]/[[Oblivious to Love|Phineas]] and [[Precocious Crush|Ferb]]/[[Mad
* The main official couple of ''[[The Simpsons (Animation)|The Simpsons]]'' is of course [[Happily Married]] Homer and Marge.
* [[Happily Married]] Hank and Peggy in ''[[King of the Hill]]''.
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* Helga and Arnold in ''[[Hey Arnold (Animation)|Hey Arnold]]''.
** This is a weird one. Helga we know loves Arnold from the beginning, but her personality is such that she can't express it by any way other than being horrible to him. She kisses him on an impulse in [[The Movie]], and a brief flash-forward to the future in one of the specials shows them to be married or at least engaged. The [[What Could Have Been|infamously-unproduced]] second movie would reportedly have clinched it lock, stock, and barrel.
* [[The Mighty Thor]] and Jane Foster in ''[[The Avengers:
* [[Superboy]] and M'gann in ''[[Young Justice (Animation)|Young Justice]]'', as of episode 11. {{spoiler|Though they've broken up during the five year time-skip and now M'gann and La'gaan are a couple.}} Also Wally and Artemis, as of episode 26. {{spoiler|And played straight, they have been together for five years during the time-skip.}}
* Stan Marsh and Wendy Testaburger in ''[[South Park]]''.
** 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.
* Despite being [[No Hugging, No Kissing]] for the most part, ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' does manage to include the wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Cadence.
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Love Interests]]
[[Category:Official Couple]]
[[Category:Trope]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]
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