Valentine’s Day List – Top Ten Fictional Romances

Happy (Belated) Valentine’s Day, everyone! I was intending to do this special Valentine’s Day post yesterday, but I was busy. And before you go thinking I was out on a date with a special someone (or whatever couples do on Valentine’s Day – I wouldn’t know), allow me to explain otherwise. Actually, one of my sisters and I went out to a Valentine’s disco where we were two of about half a dozen people there – and one of those people was sleeping. On the bright side, we got almost the entire dancefloor to ourselves. Hurray for being loners!

But I digress. Today I’m going to be belatedly celebrating Valentine’s Day with a list of my Top Ten Fictional Couples/Romances. I say romances because not all of these could be technically classed as couples, but I want them to be on the list anyway. Also, the list is in no particular order. Let’s begin!

WARNING: Spoilers below! I’ve left out the most major ones, but there are a few more minor ones.

Top Ten Fictional Couples/Romances

1. Rocky Balboa and Adrian Pennino (Rocky)

The original Rocky film is one of my favourite movies ever, and I think Rocky and Adrian’s romantic subplot really adds some depth to the film. From the beginning of the movie, when Rocky pays attention to Adrian and is nice to her even though she’s painfully shy, they seem like a sweet couple. Unlike many other fictional romances, Rocky and Adrian’s isn’t abusive or angsty. They just care about each other and make each other happy, which is wonderfully simple for a film romance with such emphasis put on it.

2. Belle and Beast (Beauty and the Beast)

I have a poster for this film, the tagline of which reads “The most beautiful love story ever told”. I’d have to agree with whoever wrote that, because Beauty and the Beast’s story has to be one of Disney’s most beautiful – and that’s saying something. Belle and Beast’s love is founded on “what’s on the inside”, not love at first sight, which I think makes this one of Disney’s most meaningful relationships.

3. Hazel Lancaster and Augustus Waters (The Fault in Our Stars)

Hazel and Augustus are the youngest couple on this list, at 16 and 17, respectively. Their teenage romance in TFiOS could have been done so badly, with too much drama, too much angst, too much heartbreak. In reality, the whole thing was done realistically and sensitively. If nothing else, Hazel and Augustus’s relationship in TFiOS will supply you with a book full of poignant love quotes.

4. Hugo and Alice (The Vicar of Dibley)

I’ll be quite surprised if more than perhaps 2 people reading this know who I’m talking about when I say “Hugo and Alice from Vicar of Dibley”. Hugo and Alice are both a bit dorky and silly, but they love each other anyway. In fact, they probably love each other because of it. If you have time, I recommend you look up a video or some pictures of their rather unique wedding – if that doesn’t make you fall in love with their relationship, I don’t know what will.

5. Sophie Hatter and Wizard Howl (Howl’s Moving Castle)

This is yet another lesser-known relationship on the list, although it comes from a relatively well-known book. Howl and Sophie’s relationship isn’t a given a great deal of focus, but if you look closely you can see them fall in love slowly over the course of the book. They bring out the best in each other through their differences, but they still like each other for who they are.

6. Elizabeth Bennet and William Darcy (Pride & Prejudice)

Well, it’s not like all of the couples were going to be lesser-known ones, is it? I don’t feel I have much more to add about this relationship. At least nothing that hasn’t been said before, anyway. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you one of the most famous fictional romances of all time: Elizabeth Bennet and (Fitz)William Darcy!

7. Cam and Mitchell (Modern Family)

Now we’ve got some Austen characters on the list, it’s time to go a bit more modern (get it?). Cam and Mitchell are definitely the most domesticated couple on this list, as by the time we even meet them in their series of origin they’re living together and have adopted a baby. They’re also the only LGBT couple on the list, which makes them unique in two ways. I like how different the two of them are as people, as well as how well they’re shown to know each other. Their daughter, Lily, is also completely adorable, and Cam and Mitchell come across as being nice parents, too.

8. Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler (Gone with the Wind)

Here’s yet another extremely well-known fictional couple. I have only seen the film with Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable, so forgive me if what I’m saying doesn’t quite apply to the book. Scarlett and Rhett have a pretty tumultuous relationship, and they’re also not together for the whole portion of the story. That said, you can’t really equal their relationship in terms of passion, and I reckon you always want them to get back together in the end. Their romance doesn’t necessarily have the happiest ending, but perhaps it’s more realistic to have at least one couple like that on this list.

9. Sayuri and The Chairman (Memoirs of a Geisha)

It’s been years since I last read Memoirs of a Geisha, as I borrowed it from a library and don’t own it. However, I wanted to include the relationship between Sayuri and the Chairman on this list because I still remember how meaningful I felt it was when I first read it. Although I can’t remember their exact ages, I think that Sayuri and the Chairman have the largest age gap between them out of all the couples on this list.

10. Hermione and Ron (Harry Potter)

Even though neither of them are the number one protagonist in the Harry Potter books (as evidenced by their titles), Hermione and Ron’s romance is easily the most prominent in the series. They started out as friends first, and they’re good foils to one another even before they become a couple. At the risk of getting some groans from pun-haters in the peanut gallery, I’m going to go ahead and call this the most magical coupling on the list.

Couples that didn’t quite make the Top Ten:

• Katniss and Peeta (The Hunger Games)
• Bryce and Juli (Flipped)
• Rapunzel and Eugene (Tangled)
• Kurt and Blaine (Glee)
• Christian and Satine (Moulin Rouge!)
• Ram and Nita (Q & A)

It was really hard picking just 10 couples to go on this list, but I’m happy with the overall results. What did you think? Have I missed anyone, or put someone on the list who didn’t deserve it? Feel free to let me know in the comments (I love comments). Anyway, I hope you all had an awesome Valentine’s Day, however you spent it. Here is a heart: <3

 

PS: In case anyone was wondering, there are very few pictures in this post for two reasons: A) I messed up my formatting every time I inserted a new picture, and B) WordPress kept deleting large chunks of text when I tried to supply image credits – I have no idea why, but re-writing the same paragraph over and over gets tiring after the fifth go.