What is it about romantic relationships (or "ships") between fictional characters that keeps us coming back for more, disregarding the sad "canon" as "truth," and writing all sorts of stories about these characters? In celebration of the month of love, let's talk about some of our favorite fictional ships—both old and new, classic and adapted—and why we've fallen so hard for them.
Regardless of age, experience, or circumstance, we can all be suckers for romance, and we've all become avid supporters of fictional couples, one way or another—whether it's in the novels we read when we were younger or it's in the countless movies and/or series (not all necessarily under the romance genre) we've watched in our free time. Maybe some of us have dug deeper and read fanfiction about these couples—even written our own. Maybe some of these couples aren't even "canon" (true to the events of the medium in which they belong), but we love them and ship them anyway. Either way, our favorite ships not only set the butterflies in our stomach aflutter but also teach us the most important lessons about true love and commitment, fictional though they are.
Here are some of our fave romantic ships—from classic narratives to more recent ones—and why we adore them:
Queen Charlotte × King George III
In the eighteenth century, a young Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz meets, falls in love with, and marries King George III of Great Britain—all within a short period. The real love story happens afterward, when she comes to realize the ordeal of being queen, being a wife, and caring for a husband with a debilitating mental illness. Together, Charlotte and George—as they battle through the hardships of running a country, accepting the somber truth of George's declining mind, and simply understanding each other as spouses—show us that while anyone can easily fall in love, staying in love is a commitment, an action, and a choice, one that may bring a lifetime of happiness in the face of a harsh world and harsh realities.
On media portraying this ship, anyone who's on board the Bridgerton train may have indulged in the prequel Netflix series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, which recounts the tumultuous yet passionate and inevitably fulfilling relationship between the headstrong monarch and her betrothed-turned-husband.
Benedick × Beatrice
While not the most popular romance in Shakespeare's acclaimed list of plays, the relationship between the gallant Benedick and the proud Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing is still one worth praising and may as well have been one of the earliest literary progenitors of the "enemies to lovers" trope. In Messina, Italy, despite the easy blossoming love between their friends Claudio and Hero, Benedick and Beatrice clash in several ways, owing to their headstrong personalities, jaded ideas of romance, and prejudiced (albeit witty) opinions of each other. This goes on until their friends conspire to have these two stubborn personas fall in love with each other through fabricated confessions and hearsay—and funnily enough, this plan works well. Soon, after a plot to break up Claudio and Hero is uncovered and everyone works to reunite these two and have them marry, the play ends with Benedick and Beatrice publicly confessing their romantic feelings for each other, with fresh lovers' eyes and the realization that maybe falling in love, which involves baring your vulnerabilities to another person and trusting them to care for you nonetheless, isn't such a bad idea after all.
As with any Shakespearean work, Much Ado About Nothing has borne countless adaptations on the stage, on the screen, in music, in art, and so on. One of the more well-recognized ones includes the critically acclaimed 1993 film directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh (pictured above), who plays Benedick opposite Emma Thompson's Beatrice. Perhaps the most recent adaptation is the 2023 romantic comedy film Anyone But You, starring Hollywood heartthrobs Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell as "Bea" and "Ben," respectively.
Percy Jackson × Annabeth Chase
Photo credit: https://www.readriordan.com/character/percy-jackson/; https://www.readriordan.com/character/annabeth-chase/
Fans may disagree on how to pronounce their ship name, but one thing they're all sure to agree on is that these two were meant to be from the beginning. From having one another's back to (spoiler) one literally going to hell for the other, the love story between Percy and Annabeth is sure to rival any romance in Greek mythology. At first glance, the pairing might seem doomed because of their parentage, but for Percy, a son of Poseidon, and Annabeth, a daughter of Athena, their parents' disagreement was only the beginning of the trials they were set to face. Throughout the main series of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, their bond grew from indifference to a steadfast friendship, with both willing to do whatever it took to keep the other safe, including holding up the entire world on their shoulders. Percy and Annabeth (a.k.a. Percabeth) have become the epitome of "friends to lovers."
Their story begins in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and continues to bloom in the Heroes of Olympus series, in which their friendship and love is put to the test once more. They also make a cameo in The Trials of Apollo; however, their latest appearance is in Rick Riordan's latest book, The Chalice of the Gods, the first book in another Camp Half-Blood Chronicles series.
Elizabeth Bennet × William Darcy
Photo Credit: https://www.usmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Pride-and-Prejudice-2005-Cast-Where-Are-They-Now-Feature.jpg
Nothing says "enemies to lovers" like a headstrong girl from a middle-class family meeting an emotionally constipated guy from the elite class. The Liz-and-Darcy ship has become so recognizable everywhere, and it's not hard to see why. We all know the story, but Jane Austen told it first. Elizabeth Bennet is the second of five daughters in an upper-middle-class family in regency England. Their mother despairs as her daughters grow older and remain unmarried, because if her husband dies, all of their properties will be inherited by a distant cousin. Determined to have one of her daughters marry, Mrs. Bennet sets her sights on the newly-arrived Charles Bingley by creating opportunities for him and her daughters to meet. Luckily, Bingley seems to be enamored by the eldest sister, Jane, upon their first meeting. However, the reception between Bingley's friend Darcy and Jane's sister Lizzie is less than warm. As they spend more time together, we witness both Lizzie and Darcy grow out of their preconceived notions of one another and watch as love blossoms between them.
This classic couple appears in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, which has received many adaptations over the years. Some of its most popular iterations are the 1995 BBC drama starring Colin Firth as Darcy and the 2005 film, with Keira Knightley as Lizzie. It has also been adapted into other media, such as the Bridget Jones' Diary films and the Lizzie Bennet Diaries web series.
Romance has a way of making us feel happy, joyful, and optimistic, even though their stories are far-fetched from our own. While these ships don't even scratch the surface when it comes to our favorites, hopefully, you find a new favorite to root for this Valentine's Day.
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