Fictional couples we adore

These days, it’s easy to get caught up in “shipping” for certain relationships in popular culture. With all the “Team This Guy” and the amalgamation of two names into one super-name, entertainment shoves couples down our throats pretty regularly. But just like the rom-coms, we embrace it open arms (clearly, we have issues as a culture). Nonetheless, here are some of our favorite fictional couples.

Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy: Jane Austen was way ahead of her time in terms of how she thought romantic relationships should be constructed. Although romancing in the early 19th century was fraught with concepts like “advantageous marriage” and restrictive gender expectations, Austen’s most famous protagonists ultimately conquer their baser emotions and unite with respect and equity. –Megan Clayton

Harry and Sally from “When Harry Met Sally”: Their relationship stretches over 5 years before they finally end up together, and it’s worth the wait. They are hilarious in their diagnoses of other peoples’ relationships, but the highlight of the film is Sally’s fake orgasm in the middle of a diner at lunch time. –Doug Evans

Alvy Singer and Annie Hall from “Annie Hall”: These two are one of the romantic comedy genre’s best couples because in the movie they don’t end up together. That doesn’t make their story any less of a love story, because the movie kind of shows failed relationships aren’t actually a failure. I even think that their story is somewhat realistic; they are two opposites and the relationship simply didn’t work out because of that. Even though real life doesn’t have witty dialogue and beautiful cinematography of New York to make situations more romantic, the ideas are the same. They had good times and both learned from each other, or at least changed a little bit because of each other. –Julia Shedlin

Lois Lane and Clark Kent from “Superman”: In any form of media, from comics to television to film, these two have captured the hearts of millions around the world for decades – and longevity is key in any good relationship. Though Lois occasionally wavers in her love for CK, it’s only because his alter ego has taken over. –Cory Barker

Lucille Ball and Ricky Ricardo from “I Love Lucy”: They are a great couple because of their real life relationship as well as their on screen one. The show was of course, a little sexist and ridiculous. For example she would sometimes respond to him “yes sir” and they slept in separate beds, but that wasn’t really their fault it was the era’s fault.  And despite all that Lucy still had a mind of her own and they were so obviously in love. They’re relationship and interactions on the show is really what makes I Love Lucy a period piece.  Even though like most Hollywood love stories they ended up getting divorced in real life, they still supposedly talked everyday and remained really close. –JS

Cory and Topanga from “Boy Meets World”: Together for the majority of this sitcom’s seven seasons, this duo survived high school, college, early marriage, poverty and fairly creepy relationship with a principal and charmed our assess off all the way home. He was overly-paranoid and her name was weird enough, but we loved those crazy kids anyway. –CB

Phil and Rita from “Groundhog Day”: The beauty of this relationship is that despite Phil’s complete awareness of everything that is going to happen (if you don’t recall, Phil is stuck living the same day, day after day after day), Phil just cannot seem to win the heart of his love interest. When he finally realizes it’s not about himself, he starts to woo Rita. It helps that he learns to play piano, carve ice sculptures, and meet everyone in town in his free time. –DE

Hermione and Ron from “Harry Potter”: We grew up with them, feeling the awkward, sexual tension build just as the two of them tried to mask it with name-calling, animal mistreatment and snogging with others. And even though some of us still might think Harry and Hermione would have made a better intellectual match, it’s precisely the differences between the head-strong Weasley and bright-as-a-bulb Granger that kept us hanging on for an entire book series. –CB

Kat and Patrick from “10 Things I Hate About You”: This couple gets a nod because it’s Ledger’s first major role and he nails it, showing signs of amazing things to come. As silly as the film may be, it’s the perfect romantic couple. Kat wants nothing to do with guys, and Patrick could care less about girls. When he gets paid to take her out, Patrick soon falls for her and sings her Frankie Valli’s “Can’t take my eyes off of you” along with the marching band in front of the whole school. Kat closes the film with her poem, aptly named after the movie’s title. –DE

Seth and Summer from “The OC”: Only in television would someone so initially shallow fall for some so initially introverted, but by the time “The OC” slumped into its season three doldrums, these two crazy kids were the only characters that we could keep rooting for. Despite their odd (read: geekishly lovable) infatuation with toy horses/ponies, no relationship gave us more pop culture-related smiles in the early part of the decade. –CB