The Nintendo Company is one that can proudly own the fact that they introduced video games to many generations. Mario, Zelda, Animal Crossing, and Splatoon games are just super kid-friendly while also being fun and mature enough for older gamers.

When it comes to romance, Nintendo excels at what we can probably dub “puppy love.” In other words, it’s kid-friendly. It’s not like Bioware, which is not necessary good or bad. In Nintendo, it’s all about saving a pretty princess and defeating the ugly bad guy. It’s all pretty simple in terms of storytelling.

While Nintendo typically sticks to its classical and child-friendly relationships and storytelling, fans grow and change. Our imaginations escape and we think of what possibilities there could be outside of Nintendo’s canon. Like what if Zelda was lesbian or what if a princess did fall in love with Bowser?

In this list, we collected fanart of these unexpected Nintendo couples. Some of them tell stories, others are just for fun. Either way, we hope you enjoy.

via: pinterest.com

While it’s not canon, this is one of the most popular ships right now in the Legend of Zelda fandom.

Sidon was introduced in Breath of the Wild and fans fell in love with him for his charming personality and positive attitude.

The Zora are distrusting of Link, except for Sidon, who seems to have total faith in Link’s ability to help them. His level of supportiveness is much appreciated in the cold and cruel world of a broken Hyrule.

24 Peach And Bowsette

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Bowsette is one of the latest Nintendo internet sensations. She was made by fans after it was released that there is a crown that can turn Toadette into a Peach variation. Fans took that fact and ran with it and Bowsette became a popular fan creation. Basically it’s if Bowser put on the crown.

What’s not to love about Bowsette? Monster princesses are as punk as you can get. Shipping the real Peach with Bowsette is a whole new level of enlightenment.

23 Hugh And Protagonist

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Hugh is a much underappreciated Pokémon game rival. His underappreciation may be due to the fact his only appearance is in the Black and White game sequels.

Like most rival’s, he is the player’s childhood friend.

Despite being an overall good person, he is quick to anger which already makes him a much more interesting character than a lot of other rivals from the games. He even has his own little plot to save his sister’s stolen Pokémon which is sweet.

22 Daisy And Wario

via: reddit.com

Who said Wario isn’t a gentleman? Sad Luigi in the background of this picture is funny because he’s the one Daisy is canonically romantically paired with. The winter scene is cute. Daisy and Wario are cozy inside in their warm clothes with hot cocoa. Those marshmallows are enormous, maybe that’s what is making Daisy look so surprised.

This scene is like that sad cliché where a sad, alone, and cold person is looking in on a family having a happy Christmas.

Octoling And Inkling

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This couple is unconventional because their races have been in a brutal race war, at least prior to the Octoling expansion in Splatoon 2. In Inkling society, a lot of Octolings even hide their identity because of the war. In a way, this romance is like Romeo and Juliet where both of their races will probably not support their relationship. Maybe they both disguise each other at family gatherings. In Splatoon turf wars, they hide and talk to each other and joke around.

Artist is unknown.

21 Eusine And Morty

via: deviantart.com/mcjamie

Eusine is a fun character due to his obsession with the legendary Pokémon, Suicine. Morty is a ghost specialized Gym Leader from Ecruteak City and gives out the Fog Badge.

The reason these two have been seen together in fan art is due to Suicine’s origins being linked to the Burned Tower in Ecruteak City.

Due to that, it’s easy to say that Eusine probably hangs out in that city a lot for his obsession. That might explain why Ho-Oh is in this picture as well since it comes from the same city.

Art was made by mcjamie.

20 Midna And Zelda

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Midna and Zelda are both princesses, and from the beginning it seems they have some sort of mysterious close relationship. They appear devoted to each other. Zelda even sacrifices a lot to save Midna’s life while Midna obviously values Zelda’s life over her own, as she begs Zelda not to sacrifice herself for her. With Link’s more modest background, there might be some things these princesses could only understand in each other due to their similar backgrounds.

19 Underwater Kisses

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Of course we are going to have more than one Sidon and Link picture in this list. Canonically, Link’s personality is timid and shy while Sidon is the opposite. Sidon is confident and loud. This is another aspect of the relationship fans really like in fanart and fanfiction. That’s definitely evident in this picture with Link’s blushing. A lot of Zora have crushes on Sidon though, so this relationship would have to be a secret. That’s not to mention a lot of Zora just are suspicious of Link.

18 Gladion And Protagonist

via: wattpad.com

Gladion is one of Pokémon’s latest angst machines and we love every minute of it. He’s a tough person and the protagonist canonically cannot reach his level of edge.

It’s easy to imagine him as a protective boyfriend.

This would also add more layers of drama to the whole situation with his mother since she’s sort of the big bad in the story. Also doesn’t he just deserve to be happy? Maybe a relationship could make him feel more supported.

via: pinterest.com

Super Smash Bros. is a pairing breeding ground. Both Pit and Link are often seen shipped together in fanart and fanfiction.

Once, when Super Smash Bros. came out with a new game, some of the first commercials were anime style fights between certain characters.

One of the first of these videos featured an impressive duel between Link and Pit. If you have not seen the trailer, it’s on Youtube and worth looking up and watching for the cool fight.

16 Marina And Pearl

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These two are the faces of Splatoon 2. With Marina being an Octoling and Pearl a Squidling, they both make for an unusual couple. They also have opposing opinion all the time. If each of them taking the opposite stance for every turf war is not enough, they also have opposite personalities. Marina is more soft spoken and polite while Pearl is more loud and isn’t afraid to be rude. As far as romances go, it would make for some good entertainment.

Art was made by ava-riel.

15 Zelda And Urbosa

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Most fans see Urbosa as someone who has taken on a motherly role to Zelda. Others see it differently. They see that Urbosa’s love for Zelda can be more romantic and vice versa.

Evidence that fans use for this ship is that the two are shown in intimate positions with each other.

In cutscenes, we see Zelda sleeping in Urbosa’s lap. In another, she keeps looking at Urbosa during the knighting ceremony. Also Zelda’s powers did not awaken until Urbosa perished, which is a common romance trope.

Art was made by Boddbby.

14 Lillie And Protagonist

via: picbon.com

Even before Sun and Moon came out for the 3DS, fans were shipping Lillie with the main character the moment they saw her in the trailers. The biggest reason people ship these two characters together is very simple: they are cute. In terms of in-game evidence or clues, there is some such as how Lillie is often protected by the protagonist. Fans like the fact that Lillie dislikes Pokémon battles because they could complicate and make a relationship with her more interesting.

13 Mario And Bowser

via: edtertainer.tumblr.com

“Til Game Over do us part,” wrote the artist.

This art depicts Bowser and Mario in their wedding outfits from Super Mario Odyssey. For those who haven’t beaten the game, after Peach is saved by Bowser, Mario proposes to her only to get shut down. So both Bowser and Mario are shut down by her. What if they decide to not waste the wedding then and marry each other? That’s some bachelor solidarity right there. Bowser would finally leave Peach alone as well. Then Mario can retire from always saving Peach.

Art was made by edtertainer.

via: deviantart.com/kalisami

This is one of the far more depressing pictures on our list, depicting Midna saying goodbye in Twilight Princess.

“I remember that in the final part of the video game, Twilight Princess. . . Midna didn't hug Link, or say goodbye with her hand, or said what both felt!” wrote the artist.

“Nintendo want to make to us suffer. Instead, she’s depressed. I don't know if it was because there was Zelda or Midna did not want to make it more difficult.”

Art was made by kalisami.

11 Rosalina And Peach

via: kisspng.com

Pairing princesses together is popular in all realms of fanfiction, from Disney crossovers to Game of Thrones, people love it. Sociologically, it makes sense. Why do you think there was so much inward pairings in the royal families back in medieval times? It was so wealth would be kept within the family! Luckily for Rosalina and Peach, they aren’t relatives. Though there are probably theories out there floating around since they are both blonde and blue-eyed.

10 Team Flare Grunt And Protagonist

via: weheartit.com

Grunts are played off as stupid and faceless throughout the Pokémon franchise. They try hard and always fail, which is somewhat endearing.

They’d be far less endearing if they were smart and succeeded in their sinister ways.

Jessie and James are some of the most popular characters, showing that mere grunts can have good qualities about them. Also, people just like to ship good and dastardly together. It causes tension and forces character development. Maybe the grunt will have a change of heart at the end of the story?

9 Ghirahim And Fi

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These two characters are similar beings from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Fi is the spirit that inhabits the Master Sword. Ghirahim is the spirit that inhabits the sword owned by Demise, the main villain. Spirits inhabiting sword can’t be that common, can they? They probably would have an understanding of each other that no other beings could have with them. It’s also the opposites attract idea. Fi is very reserved and calculated while Ghirahim is flamboyant and dismissive.

8 Shulk And Rosalina

via: deviantart.com/0-sahara-0

“I drew the image like Disney’s Pinocchio and blue fairy,” wrote the artist. Art such as this inspired a lot of fans to ship these two characters, but others see it as a mother and child figure.

Rosalina, after all, is a very motherly character and Shulk has had a tragic childhood.

So maybe this is not romantic love, but there is a ton of love and awe shown in this fanart. Shipping did not appear to be the artist’s intention.

Art was made by o-sahara-o.

7 Ravio And Hilda

via: pinterest.com

Ravio and Hilda are Link and Zelda’s counterparts of Lorule. Since so many fans ship Link and Zelda, then of course they would ship the counterparts of Lorule as well. It’s canon that Ravio cares about Hilda deeply despite going behind her back to undo her plans to steal Hyrule’s Triforce. In Ravio’s mind, he’s saving Hilda from herself. All this is found out in Ravio’s journal, where he explains he does not care if he never sees her again as long as she is saved.

6 Together In Twilight

via: deviantart.com/christy58ying

Even regular fans will dream of a time that Midna and Link may be reunited. That’s not even mentioning those that ship this pairing, they desire these characters to meet again most of all.

The little details in this piece make it seem like Link went to join Midna in the Twilight Realm. His jacket has glowing marks like most objects seem to have in that world. Midna is also wearing flowers in her hair, which is very cute.

Art was made by christy58ying.