Unequal Pairing: Difference between revisions

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== Anime and Manga ==

* The ''[[~~Inuyasha (Manga)|~~Inuyasha]]'' [[Fanon]] pairing of Sesshomaru/Rin.

* The ''[[Inuyasha]]'' [[Fanon]] pairing of Sesshomaru/Rin.

* ''[[~~One Piece (Manga)|~~One Piece]]'' has Nami/Sanji. Nami likes to bend people to her will. Sanji won't say no to a girl. You take it from there. Most of the time it ends up fetishized.

* ''[[One Piece]]'' has Nami/Sanji. Nami likes to bend people to her will. Sanji won't say no to a girl. You take it from there. Most of the time it ends up fetishized.

** Also in fanon, the domineering Smoker and his subordinate/protegee Tashigi. (Though in canon, it's probably more of a father/daughter or teacher/student relationship.)

** And Luffy/[[Christmas Cake|Boa]], but not in the way you'd normally expect looking at their age differences. She's canonically hopelessly in love with him and would do anything he'd ask (on top of believing they're already in a relationship), while he sees her as a friend who {{spoiler|helps him rescue his older brother}}.

* ''[[~~Cardcaptor Sakura (Manga)|~~Cardcaptor Sakura]]'' features several [[Canon]] examples of those, such as Kaho/Touya, Terada/Rika and Clow/Yue.

* ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura]]'' features several [[Canon]] examples of those, such as Kaho/Touya, Terada/Rika and Clow/Yue.

* ''[[Lyrical Nanoha]]'' has Hayate/Vita. They hit this trope more than once, and both ways. In one direction, it's a case of master/knight (within their personal sub-group) ''and'' superior/subordinate officer (within the military they joined). In the other direction, Hayate is 9 years old (25 by the fourth season), while Vita [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|has been around for centuries (but looks young enough to be a first-grader]]).

** Then again, Hayate sees the Wolkenritter as family rather than servants, and Vita seems to be the least inclined of the Wolkenritter to view Hayate as a mistress- note that she doesn't add any [[Japanese Honorifics|honorifics]] to Hayate's name and rarely speaks of her as her mistress.

** At some point during Chrono and Amy's relationship, Chrono was captain of the same ship Amy was serving on, but by the time they get married, Amy has retired from the TSAB.

* Kazuki in ''[[~~Get Backers~~]]'' is most frequently shipped with such characters. Just about everyone in his [[Backstory]] is slavishly devoted to him and acts like he left them at the altar when they reappear in the story proper. Juubei, Toshiki and Saizou were all his subordinates in their gang, Fuuga--which was started mainly as a way to gather protection around him. More specifically, his childhood friend, Juubei's, family has been allied to Kazuki's since time immemorial, and the male heirs of their families are traditionally a lord and his physician. Plus there's Ren, a thirteen-year-old girl who admires twenty-year-old Kazuki as he was a high-ranking member of the VOLTS gang, and just that charismatic when she actually met him face to face. Sakura, Juubei's sister, the [[Team Mom]] who turns Fuuga into a [[Five-Man Band]], is probably the only one who doesn't act madly in love with him--and it was she who noted that no matter what happens, they will always be bound to Kazuki and always be there to protect him. For his part, Kazuki cherishes them all and repeatedly refuses to accept it when the thin line between love and hate turns them against him, or each other.

* Kazuki in ''[[GetBackers]]'' is most frequently shipped with such characters. Just about everyone in his [[Backstory]] is slavishly devoted to him and acts like he left them at the altar when they reappear in the story proper. Juubei, Toshiki and Saizou were all his subordinates in their gang, Fuuga--which was started mainly as a way to gather protection around him. More specifically, his childhood friend, Juubei's, family has been allied to Kazuki's since time immemorial, and the male heirs of their families are traditionally a lord and his physician. Plus there's Ren, a thirteen-year-old girl who admires twenty-year-old Kazuki as he was a high-ranking member of the VOLTS gang, and just that charismatic when she actually met him face to face. Sakura, Juubei's sister, the [[Team Mom]] who turns Fuuga into a [[Five-Man Band]], is probably the only one who doesn't act madly in love with him--and it was she who noted that no matter what happens, they will always be bound to Kazuki and always be there to protect him. For his part, Kazuki cherishes them all and repeatedly refuses to accept it when the thin line between love and hate turns them against him, or each other.

* It is telling that pairing a 22 year old Noblewoman with the 69 year old [[Battle Butler]] that more or less [[Parental Abandonment|raised her after her dad died a decade ago]] is among the '''''least''''' [[No Yay|creepy]] 'ships in ''[[Hellsing]]'' fandom.

** Although at least some of those fics are de-aged-back-to-his-hottie-youth Walter.

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** There's also Melissa Mao and Kurz Weber; the less dramatic inequality in their ranks is made more significant by the fact that Mao is Sousuke and Kurz's team leader - a fact which Kurz mostly ignores and which isn't really addressed {{spoiler|since Kurz is killed in action not long after the two of them begin their relationship.}}

*** Mao tries to enforce this, but {{spoiler|once Kurtz is discovered to be alive, Mithril is all but dissolved and there is no need for rank anyway.}}

* In ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'', there's the pairing of Gokudera and Tsuna. Tsuna is the current boss of the Vongola Family, and Gokudera is his [[Stalker ~~With~~ a Crush|incredibly loyal]] underling and [[Subordinate Excuse|wannabe right-hand man]]. [[Yaoi Fangirl|Fangirls]] ''love'' the dynamic of their position and status difference. And despite Gokudera being the one who is most self conscious about the difference in position, he's ''always'' the [[Seme|aggressive one that tops]].

* In ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'', there's the pairing of Gokudera and Tsuna. Tsuna is the current boss of the Vongola Family, and Gokudera is his [[Stalker with a Crush|incredibly loyal]] underling and [[Subordinate Excuse|wannabe right-hand man]]. [[Yaoi Fangirl|Fangirls]] ''love'' the dynamic of their position and status difference. And despite Gokudera being the one who is most self conscious about the difference in position, he's ''always'' the [[Seme|aggressive one that tops]].

* A common issue for the [[Kissing Cousins|Neji/Hinata]] pairing in ''[[Naruto]]'', as Hinata is heir to the Hyuga clan while Neji is a branch house member whose duty is to protect and serve the main family. In some fan fics, the common application for the trope is ''inverted'', with Neji becoming head of the clan and Hinata being demoted to the branch family.

* A [[Running Gag]] in the ''[[Pokémon (~~Anime~~)|Pokémon]]'' fandom is that no matter who he's shipped with (with the ''possible'' exception of May), Ash Ketchum will always, ''always'' be on the bottom.

* A [[Running Gag]] in the ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' fandom is that no matter who he's shipped with (with the ''possible'' exception of May), Ash Ketchum will always, ''always'' be on the bottom.

* ''[[~~Death Note (Manga)|~~Death Note]]'' has the 'ship of Light/Mikami, "God" and his servant.

* ''[[Death Note]]'' has the 'ship of Light/Mikami, "God" and his servant.

** And, of course, the ''canon'' ships of Light/Misa and Light/Takada. [[A God Am I|God]] and his two devoted slave girls (the fact that he isn't doing it because he likes them is beside the point).

** [[Sexual Karma|Interestingly enough when Light gets shipped]] in [[Fanon]] [[Sexual Karma|it's frequently unequal the]] ''[[Sexual Karma|other way]]''. This trope almost always comes into play when shipping him with L-[[Seme|an older man]] who controls the world's police and has the authority to have him sentenced to death if he says no. Also with the canon Light/Misa ship-especially early on when she essentially forces him to be her boyfriend under implied threat of death.

* The pairing of twin brothers Agon and Unsui from ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'' has this subtext as one of the reasons fangirls [[Fetish Fuel|LIKE]] them as a couple.

** To explain, Agon enjoys nothing more then exerting power and superiority over others and in general, is quite sadistic. Unsui, the kinder but weaker twin, wants his brother to live to his full potential and be the best. This is [[Flanderized]] in the anime, where Agon is made even more violent and Unsui flat out states he only exists to serve his brother. Needless to say, it doesn't take much effort to imagine their relationship as another extension of Agon's sadism.

* Given the amount of [[Fan Service]], many readers of ''[[Dance in ~~The~~ Vampire Bund]]'' find it more comfortable to think of [[Undead Child|Mina Tepes]] as an [[Legal Jailbait|unusually short and flatchested]] noblewoman who is old enough for a veteran armsman such as Wolfgang Regendorf to have served his entire adult life. While this is [[Older Than He Looks|true as far as it goes]], it makes her relationship with Regendorf's [[Mrs. Robinson|teenage son]] Akira only ''somewhat'' less creepy.

* Given the amount of [[Fan Service]], many readers of ''[[Dance in the Vampire Bund]]'' find it more comfortable to think of [[Undead Child|Mina Tepes]] as an [[Legal Jailbait|unusually short and flatchested]] noblewoman who is old enough for a veteran armsman such as Wolfgang Regendorf to have served his entire adult life. While this is [[Older Than He Looks|true as far as it goes]], it makes her relationship with Regendorf's [[Mrs. Robinson|teenage son]] Akira only ''somewhat'' less creepy.

* Pick an ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' pairing, ANY pairing where one member used to raise/oversee/rule over the other. It doesn't matter if they've actually received canonical hints or not; there WILL be shippers for it. Sometimes they'll set their fanworks in a time period where the characters' statuses are more equal, but many other times they won't.

** One ''canon'' example is the [[Official Couple]] of Finland and Sweden. Their relationship became equal at [[Anachronic Order|some point]], but it started off with Sweden running off with Finland and insisting that Finland was now his wife, while Finland was still too afraid of [[Face of a Thug|Sweden]] to stand up to him.

* ''[[Tenshi Ni Narumon]]'': Raphael and Mikael are teacher and student respectively {{spoiler|although at the end of the series Mikael kinda ended being promoted to a teacher himself - but he still uses a highly respectful "sama" when talking to Raphael}}.

* ''[[Tenshi ni Narumon]]'': Raphael and Mikael are teacher and student respectively {{spoiler|although at the end of the series Mikael kinda ended being promoted to a teacher himself - but he still uses a highly respectful "sama" when talking to Raphael}}.

* In ''[[Legend of the Galactic Heroes]]'', both [[The Emperor|Kaiser]] [[Young Conqueror|Reinhard von Lohengram]] and [[Reasonable Authority Figure|Admiral]] [[Brilliant but Lazy|Yang Wen-li]] marry their female assistants.

* Taki and Klaus from ''[[Hyakujitsu no Bara]]''. Taki is a Division Commander, and Klaus his knight. In military situations, Taki is clearly in command. It's a different scenario otherwise...

* Pairings in ''[[Sekaiichi Hatsukoi (Manga)|Sekaiichi Hatsukoi]]'' revolve around a worker in the manga industry and someone with more authority.

* Quite a few ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh]]'' fans ship [[Noble Demon|Kaiba]] and [[Butt Monkey|Jonouchi]] [[Foe Yay|together]]. This has a few problems. The first if that Kaiba's a teen genius who's [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money|incredibly wealthy and has a lot of influence]], while Jonouchi barely makes enough to get by, so socially, Kaiba far outranks him. Kaiba's also much smarter, stronger, and a better duelist than Jonouchi. Adding it all up, it basically means that Jonouchi would be Kaiba's bitch, whether he likes it or not - several fanfics actually have it that Jonouchi lives in Kaiba's mansion, which further adds to the unfairness of the ship as it makes Kaiba his landlord as well. A lot of fans fetishize this, giving them a VERY unequal Master-Servant style relationship.

* Quite a few ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' fans ship [[Noble Demon|Kaiba]] and [[Butt Monkey|Jonouchi]] [[Foe Yay|together]]. This has a few problems. The first if that Kaiba's a teen genius who's [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money|incredibly wealthy and has a lot of influence]], while Jonouchi barely makes enough to get by, so socially, Kaiba far outranks him. Kaiba's also much smarter, stronger, and a better duelist than Jonouchi. Adding it all up, it basically means that Jonouchi would be Kaiba's bitch, whether he likes it or not - several fanfics actually have it that Jonouchi lives in Kaiba's mansion, which further adds to the unfairness of the ship as it makes Kaiba his landlord as well. A lot of fans fetishize this, giving them a VERY unequal Master-Servant style relationship.

* In ''[[Gundam Seed]]'' and ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'' we have Athrun and Cagalli, which was canon between the two series. He's an [[Ace Pilot]] and she's the [[Rebellious Princess|daughter of the ruler of an island nation]] who takes up her father's position after his [[Heroic Sacrifice]] in the first series. [[Word of God|This was actually the reason cited by the show's head writer as to why the relationship wouldn't work out.]] People who support the ship [[Fridge Logic|point out one often-forgotten fact]]: Athrun is ''also'' the son of a national leader, but he didn't take his father's place because said nation isn't a monarchy.

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* Though less drastic as other examples here, power dynamics are possibly ''the'' reason there's as much slash fic for ''[[Eastern Promises]]'' as there is.

* ''The American President'' makes one of these its main plot, exploring it from several different angles. As you might guess, one participant is the President, and the other is an ordinary woman of no special fame or fortune.

* A sizeable chunk of the fandom for [[Tim Burton]]'s ''[[Alice in Wonderland (~~Film~~)|Alice in Wonderland]]'' ships the Mad Hatter with the White Queen, rather than Alice. Bear in mind that these two characters ''never actually speak to each other onscreen'' in the movie. They point out that the two have known each other for a long time (he had been her court hatter), they're the only ones who survived the Horunvendush Day attack, and they are staunch allies even if they're not shown talking. They're also the same species, which helps.

* A sizeable chunk of the fandom for [[Tim Burton]]'s ''[[Alice in Wonderland (film)|Alice in Wonderland]]'' ships the Mad Hatter with the White Queen, rather than Alice. Bear in mind that these two characters ''never actually speak to each other onscreen'' in the movie. They point out that the two have known each other for a long time (he had been her court hatter), they're the only ones who survived the Horunvendush Day attack, and they are staunch allies even if they're not shown talking. They're also the same species, which helps.

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* A non-fanon example occurs in David Edding's ''[[Belgariad]]''. After {{spoiler|Durnik's death}}, Polgara announces that she loves him. However, while Aldur helps him return, he informs Polgara that the fact that she's a sorceress and Durnik's not would doom their relationship. She agrees to "become his equal" as the price for his return, and for several weeks believes that she's lost her powers -- but as it turned out, she didn't. Instead, Durnik had been given power to match hers.

** It is also set up and then ''thoroughly'' averted with Garion and Ce'Nedra. King Garion is the ruler of Riva and Overlord of the West, as well as being an immortal sorcerer and the designated custodian of a cosmically powerful artifact ''that can smack down the gods''. Princess Ce'Nedra is, outside of a couple extra centuries' of life expectancy via the Dryad side of her family, entirely mortal. Given that under Alorn law, the queen's role is limited to bearing the heirs and being royal chatelaine, this could easily have been one of the most lopsided power dynamics ever seen in a relationship. Fortunately, Garion takes one look at the situation, realizes that keeping Ce'Nedra in that unequal a situation would either crush her spirit or drive her to regicide, and hurriedly writes a 'The queen shall hold powers making her co-ruler to the king and regent of the realm in his absence' into the marriage contract, and then puts it into law.

*** This set up was, itself, already an aversion of the trope: Ce'Nedra was an Imperial Princess and Garion was, as far as they both knew, a simple [[Farm Boy~~|farm boy~~]]. The reveal that he's royalty and that they're betrothed puts them on slightly more of an equal footing.

*** This set up was, itself, already an aversion of the trope: Ce'Nedra was an Imperial Princess and Garion was, as far as they both knew, a simple [[Farm Boy]]. The reveal that he's royalty and that they're betrothed puts them on slightly more of an equal footing.

** Also employed in canon in ''The Elenium'', when twentysomething Queen Ehlana marries her middle-aged former [[Bodyguard Crush|bodyguard]] and [[Wife Husbandry|surrogate parental figure]] Sparhawk. This trope concerns Sparhawk a good deal, but he eventually goes along with it. Perhaps the age gap and the authority gap (between sovereign and knight) cancel each other out.

* [[Wheel of Time|Aes Sedai from the Green Ajah]] are notorious for having relationships with their Warders. Even weirder, Aes Sedai can actually mind control their Warders, though it is considered a bit unethical.

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** Actually, given the way 40K's universe is set up, Cain's reputation, and their jobs duties play out, this would actually subvert itself. Cain is the HERO OF THE IMPERIUM, and hooking up with an Inquisitor would not only bolster his image, but Amberly's as well, and given that Commisars and Inquistors tend to clamp down on the same thing (insubordination to the Imperium) and fight the same enemies, it would work. Also, considering that Cain is technically outside the Imperial Guard command structure, and Amberly has the ability to integrate herself into it at any time if it benefits her current assignment, most of the conflicts just seem to die on the vine. Hell, he almost got into a relationship with Regina Kasteen, which would make it unequal on her end, and it can be safely assumed this wouldn't be a major problem. Hell, even Kasteen/Broklaw, another possible ship, would work fairly well, given the above.

** For that matter, Grifen and Magot. Grifen is Magot's squad leader but they're still a couple.

* [[~~Honor Harrington (Literature)|~~Honor Harrington]]/[[The Brigadier|Hamish Alexander]]. Forty years her senior and consistently outranking her, Ham always was a [[Mentor Ship|mentor and authority figure]] for Honor, even before they hit it off. Somewhat subverted by the fact that they were acutely aware of the consequences (Hamish was, [[Tenchi Solution|and still is]], [[Happily Married]], after all!), and [[Wangst|almost worked themselves into nervous breakdowns]] (and Honor was taken prisoner and [[Not Quite Dead|presumed dead]] for several years) trying to pretend that nothing happened at all, and overall [[Earn Your Happy Ending|Earned Their Happy Ending]].

* [[Honor Harrington]]/[[The Brigadier|Hamish Alexander]]. Forty years her senior and consistently outranking her, Ham always was a [[Mentor Ship|mentor and authority figure]] for Honor, even before they hit it off. Somewhat subverted by the fact that they were acutely aware of the consequences (Hamish was, [[Tenchi Solution|and still is]], [[Happily Married]], after all!), and [[Wangst|almost worked themselves into nervous breakdowns]] (and Honor was taken prisoner and [[Not Quite Dead|presumed dead]] for several years) trying to pretend that nothing happened at all, and overall [[Earn Your Happy Ending|Earned Their Happy Ending]].

** Also, Hamish and Honor did not actually start dating until after Honor's promotion to fleet admiral, which put the final nail in their former mentor/protege relationship and made them professional equals. At present, Hamish is again her nominal superior as First Space Lord, but if the Judge Advocate General of the RMN (who was ''actually consulted'') says that their current relationship doesn't violate regs, then it doesn't. Lastly, being 40 years older than someone is less of a gap in a society where the average life expectancy is 250-300 years.

* In [[CJ Cherryh]]'s ''[[The Paladin (~~Literature~~)|The Paladin]]'', [[Master Swordsman]] Shoka and his peasant-girl student Taizu end up in a relationship, despite the teacher/student power imbalance, their social class imbalance, and the fact that Shoka is just under 40 and Taizu is about sixteen when they meet (although more like 18 when the relationship begins). Things are, in the end, more equal than they sound, because she's far from the passively obedient type.

* In [[C. J. Cherryh]]'s ''[[The Paladin (novel)|The Paladin]]'', [[Master Swordsman]] Shoka and his peasant-girl student Taizu end up in a relationship, despite the teacher/student power imbalance, their social class imbalance, and the fact that Shoka is just under 40 and Taizu is about sixteen when they meet (although more like 18 when the relationship begins). Things are, in the end, more equal than they sound, because she's far from the passively obedient type.

** Also from Cherryh, in the ''Morgaine'' series Vanye feared it was literally a sin for him to fall in love with Morgaine, partly because he thought she was ''[[The Fair Folk|qhal]]'' and therefore soulless, but also because he was pledged to her service and found that confusing (since normally a warrior could only be pledged to the service of a ''male'' noble).

* [[Jeeves and Wooster (~~Literature~~)|Jeeves/Wooster]] shippers have to deal with this both ways. On the one hand, Jeeves is employed as Bertie Wooster's valet; on the other hand, though, Bertie is a docile [[Upperclass Twit]] while Jeeves is an intelligent, manipulative master of the [[Batman Gambit]].

* [[Jeeves and Wooster (novel)|Jeeves/Wooster]] shippers have to deal with this both ways. On the one hand, Jeeves is employed as Bertie Wooster's valet; on the other hand, though, Bertie is a docile [[Upperclass Twit]] while Jeeves is an intelligent, manipulative master of the [[Batman Gambit]].

* In ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', Daenerys Targaryne was married off to Khal Drogo for political reasons when she was a destitute, powerless, friendless 13-year-old princess and he was an extremely powerful, feared, 30-something warlord with 50,000 men at his back. Once Dany gained power in her own right, her [[Les Yay|relationship]] with her handmaidens became this, as they are her slaves. The shippers love these ships, especially the former.

** The shippers also like Sansa/almost every male character, which is basically a guaranteed [[Unequal Pairing]]; Sansa has almost no power behind her, aside from being the first daughter of a pretigious family, and {{spoiler|she loses that in the first book when her father is executed for being a traitor.}} Awareness of the inequality in their relationship lead {{spoiler|Tyrion}} to leave it unconsummated, and though {{spoiler|Littlefinger}} is similarly aware, this may not stop him, as he appears to view Sansa as {{spoiler|a surrogate for her mother. Which only raises the [[Squick]] factor, as he's effectively adopted her as a daughter.}}

** There's also the popular Jaime/Brienne pairing, which can be cut both ways--Jaime is older, more experienced, and a scion of the wealthiest and most powerful family in Westeros and finds it easy to fluster Brienne, but Brienne is larger, stronger, and the better fighter, and likes to call Jaime out on his crap.

* Charlotte Bronte features a [[Teacher-Student Romance]] [[Official Couple]] in ''The Professor'' and an employee/employer couple in ''[[Jane Eyre]]''.

* ''[[~~Septimus Heap (Literature)|~~Septimus Heap]]'' displays much Septimus/Jenna-[[Shipping]] despite the fact that canonically a Wizard/Princess relationship is a taboo in the Castle due tot he political consequences and rivalry between them.

* ''[[Septimus Heap]]'' displays much Septimus/Jenna-[[Shipping]] despite the fact that canonically a Wizard/Princess relationship is a taboo in the Castle due tot he political consequences and rivalry between them.

== Live-Action TV ==

* In ''[[Samurai Sentai Shinkenger]]'', pretty much ''anyone'' on the team shipped with Takeru would have overtones of this, since they're all his vassals. The only possibility that could get around it is Takeru/{{spoiler|Kaoru}}, which has [[Parental Incest|its own problems]] after the results of episode 48.

** In ''[[Engine Sentai ~~Goonger~~]]}}'', the fairly popular pairings of Hanto with either [[Ho Yay|Gunpei]] or [[Dating Catwoman|Kegalesia]] would count as this.

** In ''[[Engine Sentai Go-onger]]}}'', the fairly popular pairings of Hanto with either [[Ho Yay|Gunpei]] or [[Dating Catwoman|Kegalesia]] would count as this.

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' fanfic had Giles/Buffy. Note that this is never even suggested in the series, with the exception of a few jokes about how Giles spends all of his time around adolescent girls ([[And Zoidberg|and Xander]]).

** There's also (a lot of) canon Angel/Buffy. Although, they both act like clueless fifteen year olds during the time they're in a relationship, Angel is actually over two hundred years old and rarely shares information if he can avoid it.

* ''[[House (TV)|House]]'' had House/Cameron.

* ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' had House/Cameron.

** And later, Cuddy/House.

* ''[[~~Torchwood (TV)|~~Torchwood]]'' has both Jack/Ianto (all the way) and Jack/Gwen (UST) in canon -- the fact that the former is the boss to both of them is the least of their worries.

* ''[[Torchwood]]'' has both Jack/Ianto (all the way) and Jack/Gwen (UST) in canon -- the fact that the former is the boss to both of them is the least of their worries.

* Arguably any pairing of [[Doctor Who|The Doctor]] and a human (particularly his companions). This is mainly due to the fact that he's a centuries-old [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien]], and the companions are (for the most part) [[The Watson]].

* The rather odd Mal/River pairing that pops up often in the ''[[Firefly]]'' fandom. Not even considering the age difference (Mal is roughly twice as old as River) but he's also the ship's captain, and she's become its {{spoiler|pilot, following Wash's death}}.

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** There's also implications of future John Connor/Allison Young, which gets ''really'' disturbing when one considers Cameron looks exactly like Allison and can apparently ''become'' Allison in personality.

** On the other hand, Cameron spends a ''lot'' of time around Sarah, and for some reason blithely obeys her every order without question...

* Other than Sam/Dean, the second most popular incestuous ''[[Supernatural (TV)|Supernatural]]'' ship is John and Dean. Seeing how Dean [[The Renfield|follows even the most criminally stupid of orders]], you can guess how this one turns out.

* Other than Sam/Dean, the second most popular incestuous ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' ship is John and Dean. Seeing how Dean [[The Renfield|follows even the most criminally stupid of orders]], you can guess how this one turns out.

** Or how about Castiel/Dean? They've been paired together because they act like an astonishingly pretty married couple but, if he wants to stay out of hell and keep his eyes, Dean should probably behave like a good boy from now on.

* [[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined|Kara Thrace]] and her CO/daddy surrogate Bill Adama. Like that time he risked the entire Fleet to go looking for her after she'd been shot down and presumed dead.

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** The "bible" document for Season One had it that Lee would develop romantic feelings for Roslin.

* The main slash pairing of ''Tour of Duty'' is Lieutenant Goldman and Sergeant Anderson who are assigned to the same platoon during the Vietnam War.

* [[ITV]]'s ''[[~~The Palace (TV)|~~The Palace]]'' had the King of England and his secretary falling in love, for maximum drama.

* [[ITV]]'s ''[[The Palace]]'' had the King of England and his secretary falling in love, for maximum drama.

* ''[[~~30 Rock (TV)|~~30 Rock]]'' has Jack and Liz. [[Word of God]] says [[No Hugging, No Kissing|they'll never get together]], but that doesn't deter shippers.

* ''[[30 Rock]]'' has Jack and Liz. [[Word of God]] says [[No Hugging, No Kissing|they'll never get together]], but that doesn't deter shippers.

* In ''[[~~Stargate Atlantis (TV)|~~Stargate Atlantis]]'', there's some (not a whole lot, but it ''exists)'' fanfic pairing Todd with John Sheppard or Evan Lorne. Question: Which way does the inequality go? Answer: It varies.

* In ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'', there's some (not a whole lot, but it ''exists)'' fanfic pairing Todd with John Sheppard or Evan Lorne. Question: Which way does the inequality go? Answer: It varies.

* ''[[~~Stargate Universe (TV)|~~Stargate Universe]]'', when it is revealed that Young and TJ {{spoiler|not only slept together}}, but {{spoiler|conceived a child in the process.}}

* ''[[Stargate Universe]]'', when it is revealed that Young and TJ {{spoiler|not only slept together}}, but {{spoiler|conceived a child in the process.}}

* [[Star Trek ~~the~~ Next Generation|Picard and Dr. Crusher]] invoke their differing ranks as a reason why they can't get together. Though, given that Beverly (as the ship's head doctor) could (and occasionally did) pull rank on Picard, that rational feels more like [[Ship Sinking]] than characterization. And not that that stopped the fic writers, at any rate.

* [[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Picard and Dr. Crusher]] invoke their differing ranks as a reason why they can't get together. Though, given that Beverly (as the ship's head doctor) could (and occasionally did) pull rank on Picard, that rational feels more like [[Ship Sinking]] than characterization. And not that that stopped the fic writers, at any rate.

** It didn't stop much of anything, really. In the post-series novels, Picard's gotten over himself and married Beverly.

** Also the rank thing was really just a convenient excuse, the real reason is because of Picard's feelings of guilt over the death of Jack, Beverly's husband.

* This would apply to any hypothetical relationship involving Gibbs/Anyone on Team Gibbs in ''[[NCIS]]''. Especially Abby, where the surrogate father/daughter relationship is particularly blatant. The one possible exception, Gibbs/Jenny, is somewhat balanced out by his having been her superior in the past {{spoiler|and her now being dead.}}

* Among ''[[Heroes (TV)|Heroes]]'' fans who shipped Mohinder and Sylar, this was a VERY popular theme in fanfic before {{spoiler|Mohinder gave himself superpowers in Season 3}}. Usually, Sylar's near-godlike advantage in raw physical power was tenuously balanced by Mohinder's relative grip on sanity and his being [[Bishonen|just too pretty to kill]].

* Among ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' fans who shipped Mohinder and Sylar, this was a VERY popular theme in fanfic before {{spoiler|Mohinder gave himself superpowers in Season 3}}. Usually, Sylar's near-godlike advantage in raw physical power was tenuously balanced by Mohinder's relative grip on sanity and his being [[Bishonen|just too pretty to kill]].

* ''[[The Inspector Lynley Mysteries]]''' [[Fan-Preferred Couple]] of Lynley/Havers has this in ''spades'', in both class disparity (he's a Lord, she is very much ''[[Working Class Hero|not]]'') and in rank (he's a [[Scotland Yard|Detective Inspector]], she's a Detective Sergeant). This is mitigated in that by the end of the series their interactions are much more those of police ''partners'' as opposed to superior/subordinate, but there are still massive issues to overcome. [[Fan-Preferred Couple|The entire fandom ships them anyway.]]

* ''[[Robin Hood (TV)|Robin Hood]]'' had Guy/Marian (he was physically stronger, politically more powerful, and eventually stabs her to death) and Robin/Kate (he was the aristocratic lord of Locksley, she was an illiterate peasant girl). Both pairings were rife with [[Unfortunate Implications]].

* ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]'' had Guy/Marian (he was physically stronger, politically more powerful, and eventually stabs her to death) and Robin/Kate (he was the aristocratic lord of Locksley, she was an illiterate peasant girl). Both pairings were rife with [[Unfortunate Implications]].

* Pretty much every relationship ever on ''[[~~Greys~~ Anatomy]]''.

* Pretty much every relationship ever on ''[[Grey's Anatomy]]''.

* ''[[Kamen Rider OOO]]'' has quite a bit of [[Ho Yay]] for Date/Gotou: Date being around 10-15 years older, Gotou's mentor, holding the position of Kamen Rider Birth (which Gotou desperately wants to become) and physically much stronger, to the point where he can easily handle the Birth Driver whereas Gotou has to train very hard to use it.

** Saeko/Kirihiko in ''[[Kamen Rider Double]]'' is a pretty tragic example, leading to Kirihiko's {{spoiler|acceptance of his wife abusing him, and finally murdering him.}}

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* ''[[Touhou]]'' fandom has people shipping everyone with everyone else, which leads to many cases of this. One of the most popular is Yuyuko Saigyouji/Youmu Konpaku. Yuyuko is the Queen of Hakugyokurou, absolute ruler of the Netherworld and holding mastery over death. Youmu is... well, her official title is Hakugyokurou's ''gardener''. The fact Yuyuko [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|looks]] thirty-something while you'd be hard-pressed to think of Youmu as older than sixteen also factors for this trope.

** The same for the [[Our Vampires Are Different|Remilia Scarlet]]/[[Ninja Maid|Sakuya Izayoi]] pairing, the former a centuries-old terror of the night while the latter is a human probably no older than her early twenties. This mostly revolves around the persistent mystery of why a powerful, [[Hypercompetent Sidekick|capable]] individual has dedicated herself to a capricious, over-bearing, literally childish being, most common theories involving some variation of [[Subordinate Excuse]].

** [[Mad Doctor|Eirin Yagokoro]]/[[Everything's Better ~~With~~ Princesses|Kaguya Houraisan]] also falls into this, but not the way most expect. While Kaguya does have authority over Eirin, Eirin is actually ''far'' more powerful than Kaguya and the arrangement is entirely at Eirin's discretion (she could leave whenever she wants, she just doesn't want to).

** [[Mad Doctor|Eirin Yagokoro]]/[[Everything's Better with Princesses|Kaguya Houraisan]] also falls into this, but not the way most expect. While Kaguya does have authority over Eirin, Eirin is actually ''far'' more powerful than Kaguya and the arrangement is entirely at Eirin's discretion (she could leave whenever she wants, she just doesn't want to).

* ''[[Gears of War]] 2'' rather ''strongly'' implies that Sergeant Marcus Fenix and Lieutenant Anya Stroud have a relationship that goes past the professional.

* [[Big Bad|Nowel]] and her loyal servant [[The Dragon|Ruru]] in ''[[Magical Battle Arena]]''. The prologue of Ruru's scenario outright states that the only wish in Ruru's heart is to be with Nowel. As a fan-translator put it, Ruru almost out-gays the ''[[Lyrical Nanoha]]'' [[Les Yay|cast]].

* Gumshoe/Edgeworth has a small but loyal following in ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' fandom, even though Edgeworth has reduced Gumshoe's pay so much that he's forced to subsist on a diet of instant noodles.

* Implied in ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' if your character is male, has a relationship with Bastila and chooses to fall to [[The Dark Side]] at her prompting. She becomes both "your lover and apprentice", in her words.

* Confirmed in ''[[Star ~~Warsthe~~ Old Republic]]'': at least one love interest each for the Jedi Consular, Jedi Knight, and Sith Warrior is the player's [[Teacher-Student Romance|padawan]]. For the Trooper the love interest is a lower ranked member of your squad.

* Confirmed in ''[[Star Wars: The Old Republic]]'': at least one love interest each for the Jedi Consular, Jedi Knight, and Sith Warrior is the player's [[Teacher-Student Romance|padawan]]. For the Trooper the love interest is a lower ranked member of your squad.

* Just about any pairing involving Shepard in the ''[[Mass Effect]]'' series, because of the fact that (s)he's the captain of the ''Normandy'' and all of the squad members are his/her subordinates, but especially Shepard/Ashley and Shepard/Kaidan; all three of them are in the Alliance navy and Shepard outranks both Ash and Kaidan. As Shepard points out, though, what with the Saren and the Reapers and all, being caught fraternizing is the ''least'' of their problems.

** Ashley touches on this trope in an e-mail to one of her sisters, says that she would never get together with one of her subordinates because if she has to decide who lives and who dies, she doesn't want love to factor into her decision. This becomes [[Harsher in Hindsight]] when you consider that {{spoiler|on Virmire, Shepard has to choose between her and Kaidan, both of whom can be romanced. Ashley can, depending on the player's choices, be sacrificed for a romanced Kaidan or saved because Shepard is in a romance with her.}}.

* In ''[[~~The Orion Conspiracy (Video Game)|~~The Orion Conspiracy]]'', Devlin finds out early on that Captain LaPaz and Lowe (who is on a lower rank than LaPaz) are married. This becomes a plot point later on when {{spoiler|1=Devlin finds out that LaPaz is eight weeks pregnant and has to use this information to blackmail her into giving him the keys to his son Danny's cupboard}}.

* In ''[[The Orion Conspiracy]]'', Devlin finds out early on that Captain LaPaz and Lowe (who is on a lower rank than LaPaz) are married. This becomes a plot point later on when {{spoiler|1=Devlin finds out that LaPaz is eight weeks pregnant and has to use this information to blackmail her into giving him the keys to his son Danny's cupboard}}.

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* ''[[Kim Possible]]'' fans who 'ship Drakken/Shego tend to ignore the fact that Drakken is Shego's boss. But to be fair, [[Dragon-in-Chief|so does Shego most of the time]].

** And then they did a [[Last-Minute Hookup]] in the [[Grand Finale]] that [[Word of God]] confirmed.

* Canonically occurs twice in ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003 ~~(Animation)~~|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' (2003), first between Karai, second-in-command (and later, head) of the Foot Clan, and Dr. Chaplin, the company's head scientist; and, to a lesser extent, between Starlee Hambrath--a [[Teen Genius~~|teen genius~~]] interning for O'Neil Tech -- and Cody Jones, O'Neil Tech's owner.

* Canonically occurs twice in ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' (2003), first between Karai, second-in-command (and later, head) of the Foot Clan, and Dr. Chaplin, the company's head scientist; and, to a lesser extent, between Starlee Hambrath--a [[Teen Genius]] interning for O'Neil Tech -- and Cody Jones, O'Neil Tech's owner.

* Most pairings involving Megatron and his subordinates in ''[[Transformers]]'' involve this. A bit less so with Optimus Prime, but the power difference is still there.

* ''[[Batman ~~the~~ Animated Series]]'' (technically, ''[[Batman Beyond]]'') gave us Batman/Batgirl. It's long over by the time we and Terry learn of it. His reaction can be summed up as "Wait, what? Whoa."

* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' (technically, ''[[Batman Beyond]]'') gave us Batman/Batgirl. It's long over by the time we and Terry learn of it. His reaction can be summed up as "Wait, what? Whoa."

** Nightwing's was worse, as he appeared to cut off all ties with '''both''' of them.

* The semi-common ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender|Avatar]]'' Zhao/Azula [[Crack Pairing]] takes this from two angles. On one hand we have a [[Lolicon|middle-aged man and a fourteen year old girl]], on the other we have a naval officer with more ego than sense and the [[Evil Overlord]]'s [[Daddy's Little Villain|favorite]] (not to mention [[The Gift|freakishly skilled]] and [[Magnificent Bastard|terrifyingly cunning]]) [[Daddy's Girl|daughter]].

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** There's a really great [http://archiveofourown.org/works/164669/chapters/239418 fanfic] that plays with the power dynamics involved in shipping Zuko and Lt. Jee. On one hand, you have Prince/Commoner. On the other, you have middle-aged man/16-year-old boy. On still another hand, you have legitimate ship captain/his superior who holds no actual rank. Both are stubborn and [[Belligerent Sexual Tension|neither of them really likes the other.]] Conflict ensues.

* A common pairing in ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' is Vlad/Danny. Vlad is [[Shotacon|literally old enough to be Danny's dad]] (Vlad and Jack went to college together). In canon, he actually wants to make Danny his son, which is kinda creepy. And then you have Vlad's general [[Magnificent Bastard]]-ness. This one is fetishized to the point that rapefic is practically the norm. Don't believe me? [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4158839/1/Humiliatingly_Desperate_Measures Here's an example.]

** This is frequently compared to [[Teen Titans (~~Animation~~)|Slade/Robin]], which is like Batman/Batgirl combined with the above.

** This is frequently compared to [[Teen Titans (animation)|Slade/Robin]], which is like Batman/Batgirl combined with the above.

* [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic ~~(Animation)~~|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]] fandom has the relatively common shipping of Princess Celestia, a multi-thousand-year-old [[Physical Goddess]] who controls the rising and setting of the Sun and is the unquestioned diarch of Equestria, with Twilight Sparkle, a relatively normal unicorn filly who is her student (and somewhat socially naive to boot). Other fanfics ship Celestia's sister Luna with Twilight Sparkle, Trixie, or Fluttershy.

* [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]] fandom has the relatively common shipping of Princess Celestia, a multi-thousand-year-old [[Physical Goddess]] who controls the rising and setting of the Sun and is the unquestioned diarch of Equestria, with Twilight Sparkle, a relatively normal unicorn filly who is her student (and somewhat socially naive to boot). Other fanfics ship Celestia's sister Luna with Twilight Sparkle, Trixie, or Fluttershy.