My Top 10 Fictional Couples That Ever Were (Or Weren't) [Pt. 1]

Warning! There will be spoilers in this blog, so don't read unless you're okay with finding out a bit about a book.

In many of the books out in the world there is a power-couple. In the ever-popular and ever-romantic Pride and Prejudice we see one of the most epic couples that ever lived in the pages of a novel: Mr. Darcy and Lizzy Bennet. In the phenomenal series Harry Potter, the hero and title character ends up with Ginny Weasley. In the ever-mocked Twilight (which was once an exceptional book by my standards, until I discovered there was a sequel) there is Bella and Edward, who become an eternal annoyance by the end of Breaking Dawn. These three are just examples of leading epic couples.

Honestly, I'm not impressed. There's just something about the characters with a bit more mystery, whose life you haven't followed with a rabid fascination while tearing through the pages of a book, that sparks a curiosity towards their love life.

This blog is an ode to all the couples from more obscure books, or couples that in themselves are more obscure. I do indeed involve leading characters, and there is one epic couple that most people have never heard of, unless you're a Tamora Pierce fan like myself.

Another aspect of this blog is that of the couples I wish had existed, and one that I'm speculating on. There are many possibilities after you close the book and I'm willing to let my mind wander.

1. Alanna of Trebond and Olau & George Cooper, from the Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce

Status: Were

This would be my epic leading couple from the series. They're my absolute favorite couple of all ficitional times.

Originally in the Alanna quartet, Tamora Pierce had married Alanna to Prince Jonathan, her romantic interest in the first two books. Thank goodness something made her change her mind, because I'd probably be very angry at the never-were-ness of it all.

Alanna and George have such a strong, passionate love that it makes me smile every time I read the books. I love how even at the beginning George saw potential in her and a future relationship, and it was Alanna who had to fight her own inner battles before coming to grips with true love. I mean, it's her series so she gets all the good inner battles. Between hiding her identity, coming to terms with her new-found sexuality, fighting the bad guys, and saving the realm, she manages to find time for personal relationships.

After being with Prince Jon (gag me) and Liam the Shang Dragon (he was pretty B.A., but he died), she finally finds comfort in George. What I love most about this couple is that they went through hell to get each other and survived.

2. Theodore "Teddy" Lawrence & Josephine March, from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Status: Weren't

Oh, boy. This is the one book that I refuse to accept the ending.

I was about ten when I first read Little Women. You could not imagine my disappointment when I read the scene of Jo's final rejection of Teddy, and he left for Europe. I was so convinced that she was making a mistake and had this crazy hope through the rest of that ridiculously long book that Teddy would come back and she would finally fall in love with him.

I guess overall I just don't like the book very much. As much as I want to think good things come to good people, I learned a few things. One, the blonde girl gets the amazing man. Two, only the good die young, as Billy Joel told us. Three, if someone burns the only copy of your masterpiece, you better be in for a ton of pain when everyone tells you it was your fault.

So, years later, I've decided that Little Women is not a book that I enjoy. Meg and John are the only couple I'm satisfied with throughout the actual plot. I am, so ever deeply, part of the sect of Little Women readers that are all for Teddy and Jo getting married and having a bunch of little misfits together.

3. Rose Weasley & Scorpius Malfoy, from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling

Status: Very Possibly May Be

She set herself up for this one.

Perhaps it's because I've read one too many FanFictions about this cute little pairing, but they make me so happy to think about. My personal belief is that she was foreshadowing when Ron Weasley told his eleven-year-old daughter that "Grandad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pure-blood" in the epilogue. Think about it: Harry was much more forgiving of Draco Malfoy during the seventh book. He had seen more of what Malfoy had to deal with at home and under the rule of the Dark Lord, so he had more compassion for him. Ron, on the other hand, hated the ferret. In the second book, he tried to hex Malfoy for insulting Hermione. In the seventh book, during the battle, Ron punches Malfoy after he and Harry save him. He has a lot more hate for Malfoy than Harry does. It makes for great drama.

He'd want his baby girl far, far away from Malfoy's kid, but you know that's not how great stories work. I see these two starting out hating each other but, having mutual friends and/or responsibilities, they become friends. Then from there, it becomes Ron's worst nightmare.

4. Magnus Bane & Alec Lightwood, from the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

Status: Were

I was so proud of this popular book series for creating a gay couple. For this sort of thing to come out into popular culture means we're one step closer to wide-spread acceptance.
In a story that pushes some serious boundaries (siblings in love with each other, true evil, twisted relationships, and a homosexual relationship) this couple becomes the real thing when Jace and Clary's issues become resolved and the dark side is defeated. As it turns out, the siblings aren't really siblings, so the incest problem is out the window. Clary's real, evil, and twisted brother is killed along with the main villain, her father Valentine.

Though they have their ups and downs, in the end Alec gives up on keeping his orientation from his parents and reveals his love of Magnus. Surprising as this is to Magnus himself, he responds rather enthusiastically and they become the first gay couple I've ever had the pleasure of reading about in a mainstream novel. In different books I've come across gay minor characters whose relationships the reader doesn't really see, but in the Mortal Instruments Cassandra Clare puts two important characters into the limelight with their relationship.

What makes them an even more epic couple than the tortured Jace Wayland and Clary Fray is that their love is different. Alec has to overcome his own love of Jace to be able to see what an amazing thing he has with Magnus. He also has to brave the censure and judgement of his parents and all the other Shadownhunters. What makes them epic is that they battle not only demons, but their very world.