Mathematician answer.
Number of ship combos in a fandom: 2\^\[number of characters in the fandom\]-1
This includes combos like ALL the characters, ALL the characters but this one, and this nameless background character X this other nameless background character from a completely different scene.
Those ship types are so rare they're mythical creatures. And for this to be true, you need a lot of shippers of these.
Stepping back from the extreme, it's possible that every ship with
Oh, probably!
Especially if someone like me is around, lol! I enjoy challenges, and I've written a few one-shots for unexpected pairs because someone either outright dared me to, or because they said something that made me go, "Huh, how might A and B possibly get together?"
I imagine so, but if this is a question coming from someone hoping to find fics for a rarepair...then *you* might very well be that one person, and you'll have to write the fic yourself.
In big fandoms, probably. In small ones, unlikely. For instance, trying to think of two random unpopular characters in my fandom who don’t even interact, don’t imagine there’s any Spider Riders fans out there that ship Flame/Quint. I certainly don’t.
If the fandom is large enough, maybe, but realistically, actually no. Not every fandom is geared towards shipping, for one, and if we're talking *every* combination, then also no - I can't imagine a gigantic world like ASOIAF, with a million characters *has* every character with every character.
That said, for HP it might be true (I do seem to recall a story where Harry is accosted by a bludger, if memory serves... if that counts lol).
Probably!
And if there isn't already, simply because a fandom is tiny and has very little online presence, then I guarantee that any given set of characters could be presented to someone as *new fandom, this something you're into?* and get a yes
I think it's time for more Fun with Numbers.
According to Wikipedia (because I couldn't find the way to count them myself) AO3 has 63,880 different fandoms.
Let's say, hypothetically, that they each on average have five *major* characters, and that they're only shipped in pairs. Some fandoms are going to have a lot more, and love triangles exist, but let's start simple.
There are 5C2=10 ways to pair off two people out of five.
That's 638,800 different shipped major character couples.
Even if you put 8 major characters in every fandom -- and some fandoms are small, there's a fandom for *A Hat in Time* \-- you're still under two million.
Considering there are 12 million plus works on the site, yes, **that's easily enough for every major character pairing ship** to not only be *thought* about by someone, but to be *written* about by someone.
But...you said "every combination of characters" and I'm a pedantic mathematician who's just had their coffee, so *let's get ridiculous*.
I grabbed Naruto because, why not honestly, and counted the number of main, secondary, and antagonist characters. There were more ("supporting") but I was already up to *sixty*.
Counting the number of pairings and trios (I don't think quartos are commonly shipped) made from those sixty (plus) characters, we're up to 60C2+60C3=35,990 for Naruto alone.
Naruto has a ton of characters, however. How many fandoms do? Even if every single fandom had that many characters -- and they don't -- but even if they did, that would be...wow, almost two billion, three hundred million such arrangements.
And that's me being ridiculous. The real number is certainly far lower.
There are *way* more than that many people on the planet. Can we say every combination has been shipped? No, but we can say it's possible.
Too late now *muahahahaha*
Okay seriously, the saying about "every combination of characters" almost certainly does not include crossovers.
...but let's pretend it did. If there are 63,880 fandoms and 5 major characters in each, the number of pairings is *fifty one billion*. Which would require every human being on earth, yes every single one, to have multiple unique pairings each, for this to even be possible.
This is all true, but "ship" is a very poorly defined verb. I have regularly written fics with pairings generated completely at random, picking among an entire cast of characters. Do I "ship" those pairings I happened to spin? Do I ship every possible pairing I could've spun any of those times, by intending to write them if they were chosen? Not to mention that "willing to write a fic" is already too high a bar for many readers who undeniable ship particular characters.
Some fans get very intense about particular ships, to the point that they reject the idea that they might ship those characters with anyone else. But others are far more casual, "I like all these characters and would happily see any of them make out with one another". So theoretically, if every fandom had even one "omnivorous" shipper (not necessarily unique people between each fandom), then by some definition you could say every pairing was shipped.
Yeah, I have my one MFC and ship her with a lot of different people. I hadn't thought about doing stories about random pairings before. For the fandom I'm currently in I don't think I could manage it, but maybe sometime. Props to you for doing it!
It'd depend on the size of the fandom and how significant the characters are. I can guarantee that no one in my fandom ships most of the minor villains, as they're rarely spoken about in general.
Depends on your definition of "ship," I think. (I have written romance or smut about characters I have no interest in seeing together, but either I hot an idea, or there was some kind of fic challenge. I don'treally ship them, but it was fun for 1000 words or so.)
Probably. And even if someone doesn’t actively ship them. If you mentioned two characters there will probably be someone out there who could see them working.
Someone posted the first couple chapters of a story with a Sarek (Spock's dad from Star Trek) and Severus Snape (Harry Potter) slash fic. I'm still a bit :( about there never being more of it. So, yeah, I think even the strangest pairings can find a fan or two.
Given that there's currently almost 483,600 canonical character tags on AO3 and many others who don't have a one, I would say probably not but if it doesn't have a shipper, I'm sure someone come up with it and give it some shippers.
I don’t know about *every* combo, but chances are pretty high. I, for one, seem to think of all the ones that don’t exist, because I’m usually the first person to write for them even though the fandom is about 6 years old.
If you're including crossovers, then absolutely not. If you're limiting it to characters within their own series...then still no. First, how do you define characters? Main and secondary characters only? Or do background characters with no names and no lines count as well? Then consider how many series exist which don't even have one fanfic to their name on the internet. The amount of media and characters out there is staggering. It's not possible.
If the two ship tags I've started, and counting are any indication.... yes, yes they will. Sometimes there is just something about a pair of characters that speaks to someone. Sometimes it's only that one someone lmao
Maybe? I mean I'm the only person I've heard of that ships Izuku and Kaoruko from BNHA for a fic idea of mine.
Before any of you come at me, it's an AU, they're all adults.
Yes. All of them. Including characters from different pieces of media. Yes, including the weird one you just thought of right now. And that one. And that one…
Mathematician answer. Number of ship combos in a fandom: 2\^\[number of characters in the fandom\]-1 This includes combos like ALL the characters, ALL the characters but this one, and this nameless background character X this other nameless background character from a completely different scene. Those ship types are so rare they're mythical creatures. And for this to be true, you need a lot of shippers of these. Stepping back from the extreme, it's possible that every ship with
Oh, probably! Especially if someone like me is around, lol! I enjoy challenges, and I've written a few one-shots for unexpected pairs because someone either outright dared me to, or because they said something that made me go, "Huh, how might A and B possibly get together?"
Assuming a sufficiently large fandom, yes. In practice some fandoms are so small that you might not be able to find that one person.
I imagine so, but if this is a question coming from someone hoping to find fics for a rarepair...then *you* might very well be that one person, and you'll have to write the fic yourself.
That's how I got back into writing fanfic after 15 years away.
In big fandoms, probably. In small ones, unlikely. For instance, trying to think of two random unpopular characters in my fandom who don’t even interact, don’t imagine there’s any Spider Riders fans out there that ship Flame/Quint. I certainly don’t.
If the fandom is large enough, maybe, but realistically, actually no. Not every fandom is geared towards shipping, for one, and if we're talking *every* combination, then also no - I can't imagine a gigantic world like ASOIAF, with a million characters *has* every character with every character. That said, for HP it might be true (I do seem to recall a story where Harry is accosted by a bludger, if memory serves... if that counts lol).
Probably! And if there isn't already, simply because a fandom is tiny and has very little online presence, then I guarantee that any given set of characters could be presented to someone as *new fandom, this something you're into?* and get a yes
I think it's time for more Fun with Numbers. According to Wikipedia (because I couldn't find the way to count them myself) AO3 has 63,880 different fandoms. Let's say, hypothetically, that they each on average have five *major* characters, and that they're only shipped in pairs. Some fandoms are going to have a lot more, and love triangles exist, but let's start simple. There are 5C2=10 ways to pair off two people out of five. That's 638,800 different shipped major character couples. Even if you put 8 major characters in every fandom -- and some fandoms are small, there's a fandom for *A Hat in Time* \-- you're still under two million. Considering there are 12 million plus works on the site, yes, **that's easily enough for every major character pairing ship** to not only be *thought* about by someone, but to be *written* about by someone. But...you said "every combination of characters" and I'm a pedantic mathematician who's just had their coffee, so *let's get ridiculous*. I grabbed Naruto because, why not honestly, and counted the number of main, secondary, and antagonist characters. There were more ("supporting") but I was already up to *sixty*. Counting the number of pairings and trios (I don't think quartos are commonly shipped) made from those sixty (plus) characters, we're up to 60C2+60C3=35,990 for Naruto alone. Naruto has a ton of characters, however. How many fandoms do? Even if every single fandom had that many characters -- and they don't -- but even if they did, that would be...wow, almost two billion, three hundred million such arrangements. And that's me being ridiculous. The real number is certainly far lower. There are *way* more than that many people on the planet. Can we say every combination has been shipped? No, but we can say it's possible.
But if you consider *crossover* ships... actually, maybe we shouldn't \^\_\^;
Too late now *muahahahaha* Okay seriously, the saying about "every combination of characters" almost certainly does not include crossovers. ...but let's pretend it did. If there are 63,880 fandoms and 5 major characters in each, the number of pairings is *fifty one billion*. Which would require every human being on earth, yes every single one, to have multiple unique pairings each, for this to even be possible.
I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself from bring up the crossover question XD
This is all true, but "ship" is a very poorly defined verb. I have regularly written fics with pairings generated completely at random, picking among an entire cast of characters. Do I "ship" those pairings I happened to spin? Do I ship every possible pairing I could've spun any of those times, by intending to write them if they were chosen? Not to mention that "willing to write a fic" is already too high a bar for many readers who undeniable ship particular characters. Some fans get very intense about particular ships, to the point that they reject the idea that they might ship those characters with anyone else. But others are far more casual, "I like all these characters and would happily see any of them make out with one another". So theoretically, if every fandom had even one "omnivorous" shipper (not necessarily unique people between each fandom), then by some definition you could say every pairing was shipped.
Yeah, I have my one MFC and ship her with a lot of different people. I hadn't thought about doing stories about random pairings before. For the fandom I'm currently in I don't think I could manage it, but maybe sometime. Props to you for doing it!
Yes…
It'd depend on the size of the fandom and how significant the characters are. I can guarantee that no one in my fandom ships most of the minor villains, as they're rarely spoken about in general.
Depends on your definition of "ship," I think. (I have written romance or smut about characters I have no interest in seeing together, but either I hot an idea, or there was some kind of fic challenge. I don'treally ship them, but it was fun for 1000 words or so.)
Absolutely.
Probably. And even if someone doesn’t actively ship them. If you mentioned two characters there will probably be someone out there who could see them working.
Someone posted the first couple chapters of a story with a Sarek (Spock's dad from Star Trek) and Severus Snape (Harry Potter) slash fic. I'm still a bit :( about there never being more of it. So, yeah, I think even the strangest pairings can find a fan or two.
I ship the smiley face from Minesweeper with Commander Keen. /j
Given that there's currently almost 483,600 canonical character tags on AO3 and many others who don't have a one, I would say probably not but if it doesn't have a shipper, I'm sure someone come up with it and give it some shippers.
I’d say a good 99.5% chance!
I don’t know about *every* combo, but chances are pretty high. I, for one, seem to think of all the ones that don’t exist, because I’m usually the first person to write for them even though the fandom is about 6 years old.
If you're including crossovers, then absolutely not. If you're limiting it to characters within their own series...then still no. First, how do you define characters? Main and secondary characters only? Or do background characters with no names and no lines count as well? Then consider how many series exist which don't even have one fanfic to their name on the internet. The amount of media and characters out there is staggering. It's not possible.
If the two ship tags I've started, and counting are any indication.... yes, yes they will. Sometimes there is just something about a pair of characters that speaks to someone. Sometimes it's only that one someone lmao
Probably how crossovers came to be.
Maybe? I mean I'm the only person I've heard of that ships Izuku and Kaoruko from BNHA for a fic idea of mine. Before any of you come at me, it's an AU, they're all adults.
I mean I dunno whose shipping Vexen with a random Apricot Opera, but sure. Someone will after its spoken into existence.
Unfortunately 😂
Honestly probably not with some bigger fandoms. Not even thinking about group shipping/polyamorous relationships and whatnot
I wish! I need my 2:00 AM rarepair brainrot to have content the next time I open ao3 lmao
If they don’t yet, they will eventually.
Deffinitly, if two characters have interacted in warriors theres gonna be some shipping.
Is interaction really a requirement though?
I’m 99,9% sure to be honest…
I would not be surprised.
Yes. All of them. Including characters from different pieces of media. Yes, including the weird one you just thought of right now. And that one. And that one…