.:analysis of Shipping names:.

In Pokemon fandom, there are a lot of different names for each coupling, and also a lot of different WAYS of naming couplings. This can be really confusing, but I think the history of it is interesting.

The most popular way to name a couple is to come up with something that the two characters in the supposed couple have in common and add "ship" onto the end of it. "Ship" is a shortened form of the word "relationship." This method of naming couplings actually originated within the Pokemon fandom.

The story goes that a girl called Rocket Jesse was talking to her friend, and they were saying that there ought to be a name for people who believe that Jesse and James are in love. Both RJ and her friend were fans of The X-Files and both liked the idea of a romantic relationship between Mulder and Scully. At the time, people who wanted a romantic relationship between Mulder and Scully were called "Shippers." RJ's friend decided that people who believe in a Jesse and James romance should be called "Rocketshippers"- making a pun on the words "Rocket" and "Shipper"- get it, like a rocket ship!

Rocket Jesse was a member of the message board TRHQ (Team Rocket Headquarters), and she popularized the term "Rocketshipper" there. From then on, people who supported the Jesse and James romance were known as Rocketshippers. While the word "Shipper" originated in another fandom, Pokemon was the first fandom where there were several different types of "Shippers," each with a different name. After the term "Rocketshipper" became popular, other couplings started getting their own Shipping names. The next to be named was the Butch and Cassidy romance, by a girl called TRMusashi, who named it Neoshipping. Then, the term Twerpshipper was coined for people who believe in an Ash and Misty relationship. Since the idea of naming ships started in the Team Rocket fandom, it was natural to call the idea of an Ash and Misty relationship "Twerpshipping," since the characters Jesse and James were always calling Ash and Misty "twerps," and many Team Rocket fans disliked Ash and Misty and also called them "twerps."

The idea of naming ships eventually spread all over Pokemon fandom, and now just about any two characters you could possibly think of have a name for their ship. This by itself can get confusing, but what can get even more confusing is the fact that many couples actually have multiple names for their ship. There are several reasons why a couple can end up with multiple names.

One is when the supporters of a couple are dissatisfied with the current name. A good example of this is the people who believe in an Ash and Misty relationship. As I mentioned, it was originally called Twerpshipping. Of course, this name was invented by Team Rocket fans, and many people who were fans of Ash and Misty found it insulting. So, fans of Ash and Misty renamed the ship to PokeShipping. However, a lot of people thought the name Pokeshipping was too vague, since it sounds like it could mean a relationship between any two characters on Pokemon, or between two actual Pokemon. So, some people began to call it Sakashipping (after Ash and Misty's Japanese names, SAtoshi and KAsumi.)

This situation can get confusing when some people are still calling the ship by the old name, while others are calling it by the new name, and many people won't yet have heard of the new name and don't know what it means.

Another instance when a coupling can have more than one name for its ship is when it's a very obscure coupling. Since not many people support it, it's not talked about very often, so people will make up a name for it, not realizing it already has a name. An example of this is the concept of an Ash and Jesse romance, which is called both Charlieboyshipping and Redshipping.

This can definitely get confusing; as long as the couple remains obscure, the majority of people still won't have heard of a name for it, and will continue to make new names. Also, when someone does use an already existing name for the couple, most people won't have heard of it and won't know what it means. Nowadays, you can find lists on the internet that list all known ship names for various couples, so this problem has been reduced.

The third situation when a coupling can have more than one name is when there are two different groups of people who came up around the same time who believe in the same couple, but are actually separate from each other and conduct themselves differently. A good example of this is people who support the Ash and Gary relationship. One group called themselves Palletshippers, and the other called themselves ShiShis. (The name ShiShi was derived from syllables from Ash and Gary's Japanese names, SatoSHI and SHIgeru; the idea of naming a pairing by smashing together syllables from their names comes from an entirely different system of naming couplings, which I'll go into in more depth later.)

Anyways, at the time, there were certain differences between Palletshippers and ShiShis. For instance, Palletshippers tended to be out in the mainstream of the fandom, and very into finding proof for the couple; ShiShis were more focused around fanfiction and fanart and were very anti-dub version.

This situation can get confusing because many people won't know that there is a difference between Palletshipping and ShiShi, so you'll get people calling themselves ShiShis who actually act more like Palletshippers, and they won't understand when they run into people who think Palletshipping and ShiShi are two slightly different things. As time went on, Palletshipping and ShiShi became essentially synonymous, and now most people don't realize that there was ever supposed to be any difference between the two.

Even the term ShiShi itself has multiple permutations. Some people started calling it ShiShishipping, in order to make it conform to the general standard of having "ship" in the name of each ship from Pokemon. ShiShi is also often called Shi2, since the syllable "shi" is repeated twice. Because of the commonality of calling ShiShi "Shi2," people gave the name "Shi3" to the concept of a three-way relationship between Ash, Gary and Richie (for SatoSHI, SHIgeru and HiroSHI, their Japanese names.) Interestingly, Shi3 is virtually always just called Shi3, and never ShiShiShi.

Another highly confusing situation can happen when multiple ships actually share the same name. A good example of this is Rainbowshipping. In the Pokemon Special manga, there is a character called Red, who is based on Ash; a character called Green, who is based on Gary; and a female character called Blue. However, in the English version of this manga (called Pokemon Adventures) Green and Blue's names are switched. Thus, in English, Blue is the boy who is based on Gary, and Green is the girl. The original name for the relationship between Red and Green (the boy) was Rainbowshipping. Sometimes, people will see that a relationship between Red and Green is called "Rainbowshipping," and, not knowing about the Japanese version, will assume that "Rainbowshipping" means a relationship between Red and Blue (the girl,) even though the correct name for the relationship between Red and Blue (the girl) is actually Luckyshipping. Eventually, the name Rainbowshipping fell out of use, and the relationship between Red and Green (the boy) is now more commonly called Originalshipping or MangaPalletshipping. Because the term Rainbowshipping wasn't very well known anymore, someone decided to name the idea of a relationship between Brock and Molly "Rainbowshipping." So now, when you see someone talking about Rainbowshipping, they could be talking about any one of THREE different couples.

Another interesting thing about names for ships is that some of them can imply very specific beliefs. For instance, Diamondshipping is the term for a relationship between Delia and Giovanni, but being a Diamondshipper very specifically includes the belief that Giovanni is Ash's father, and does NOT necessarily include the belief that Delia and Giovanni are currently together or will be in the future.

Names for ships can also be used as a derogatory term for a particular group. For instance, Gakishipping is yet another name for people who support an Ash and Misty relationship. While the people who call themselves Gakishippers think of it simply as an alternate name, in other circles, the term Gakishipper is taken to mean a supporter of an Ash and Misty relationship who is a newbie and knows nothing of the Japanese version and is very prone to immaturity and flames.

The only couples that seem to get off with only one name with one clear meaning are couples that are fairly well known, yet have few hardcore supporters. For instance, you rarely hear the coupling of Brock and Misty called anything besides Gymshipping.

Of course, Pokemon is an anime and originates from Japan, and the Japanese have a whole different way of naming their couplings. Many people who are aware of the Japanese version will try (the key word here is "try") to use the Japanese system for naming couplings.

The Japanese system is actually very simple and leaves little room for confusion about coupling names. What you do is you take the two characters' names, you drop the last syllable off of each of them, and you smash the two names together. In a heterosexual relationship, the name of the male goes first; in a homosexual relationship, the name of the one thought to be dominant (usually the tallest one; this has no real logic to it, but it's just the rule) goes first. For example, in Japan, Rocketshipping would be known as KojiMusa.

There are two types of Shippers in the English speaking world who tend to try to use the Japanese naming system. One is people who support homosexual couples; I assume this is because there is so much homosexuality in Japanese anime, but it's often cut out of dubs, so people who support homosexual couplings have stronger ties to the Japanese version. The second type is people who strongly believe in their coupling and are concerned with trying to "prove" it; this is because dub-added things can never count as a valid "hint," so these people also have strong ties to the Japanese version. Of course, sometimes supporters of a coupling can be BOTH of these types.

A good example of people who try to use the Japanese naming system are people who support the Ash and Gary relationship. As I mentioned, this coupling is often called ShiShi, which comes from smashing together parts of Ash and Gary's Japanese names, SatoSHI and SHIgeru. However, the actual correct Japanese name for this couple is ShigeSato. Some English speaking people know this and actually call the couple ShigeSato, giving this couple yet another commonly used name.

People who support an Ash and Misty relationship also frequently call their couple by the Japanese naming system. Usually they get it right and call it SatoKasu, but I've also seen people calling it KasuSato.

Besides the "ship" naming system and the Japanese naming system, there is also another naming system. It is common to call a couple by the initials standing for Character And Character's Love. Thus, the Jesse and James couple is often called JAJL; the Ash and Gary couple is often called AAGL. Also, in fanfiction, it is common to use initials standing for Character And Character's Romance Novel. Thus, a romance story about Ash and Misty is called an AAMRN. I believe it's because of this fanfiction naming system that sometimes, when naming the couple itself, people interchange the word "love" with "romance;" thus AAML and AAMR mean the same thing.

Not only are there many different ways of naming couplings, but there are also terms specific to the Pokemon Shipping fandom that relate to Shipping but aren't indicative of a particular ship.

A good example of this would be the term "half breed." This means a person who supports two conflicting couples. Originally, it was used to refer to someone who supports both the Ash and Gary relationship and an Ash and Misty relationship. However, it can technically be used to describe a person who supports any two conflicting couples.

Another example of a term like this is "ghost." Putting the word "ghost" in front of a ship's name is understood to mean that you don"t believe the two characters are in love now, but you believe they will be in the future. So, a GhostGakishipper would be someone who believes that Ash and Misty don't like each other now but will get together in the future.

I think the diverse system of naming ships is within the Pokemon fandom is actually quite fascinating. Some other fandoms just stick to one way of naming and one name for each couple.

For example, in Digimon fandom, they almost always try to use the Japanese system of naming ships. And in Digimon fandom, the word "try" is definitely emphasized. But even though they almost consistently get the Japanese names incorrect, almost everyone calls each couple by the same name. For instance, it seems to be agreed throughout the English speaking world to call the Yamato and Taichi relationship Taito (even though the correct Japanese name would be TaiYama.)

In most fandoms, though, it's even simpler than that, and people generally just take the names of the two characters in the couple and put a slash between them and add the word "Shipper" on the end. This is especially true for fandoms that originated in the English speaking world. For example, in the Xena: Warrior Princess fandom, if you supported the relationship between Xena and Gabby, you would simply say "I"m a Xena/Gabby Shipper!"

The concept of putting a slash between the two characters' names originated in Star Trek fandom with the supporters of a Kirk/Spock relationship. This is actually the reason that the term "slash" means a homosexual relationship between two fictional characters. (However, for characters originated from Japan, a homosexual relationship between them would generally be referred to as "yaoi" or "shounen-ai" instead of "slash.") However, even though "slash" is understood to mean a homosexual relationship, people who support heterosexual relationships will still put a slash between the names of the two characters; they simply won't use the word "slash" to describe the relationship itself.

Though many fandoms use the simple method of just putting a slash between the names of two characters, some fandoms put their own little spin on this. An example is the Harry Potter fandom, where it's common to only use the first initial of the characters' names instead of the whole name. So, a person who supported a Harry and Draco relationship would say "I"m an H/D Shipper!" Of course, some of the characters in Harry Potter share the same first initial. Since the initial "H" is understood to refer to the character Harry, people decided to use "Hr" to refer to the character Hermione. So, if you supported a relationship between Hermione and Draco, you'd call it D/Hr, rather than calling it D/H, lest it be confused with a Draco/Harry relationship.

The Harry Potter fandom has always been familiar with the term "Shipping," and because of this, some people in the fandom started an inside joke where they pretended that ships were actual ships (as in boats) and said that they "sailed" the ships. On the message board Fiction Alley, people began naming the ships- not in the traditional way of putting a word in front of the term "shipper," but in the way that you might name an actual boat. For instance, the Harry/Draco ship is named "The SS Guns and Handcuffs," and the Harry/Hermione ship is names "The SS Pumpkin Pie." So, if you were to say, "I sail on the SS Fire and Ice," you would mean that you supported a relationship between Draco and Ginny, also known as D/G or Draco/Ginny. These ship names are quite well-known in the Harry Potter fandom now.

Instead of putting a slash between the names of two characters, some fandoms prefer to use an "x." In the Yu-Gi-Oh fandom, all couplings have traditional "Shipping" names, but it's also popular to put an "x" between the characters' names or initials. For instance, the term "Puppyshipping" is well-known to mean a relationship between Seto and Joey, but people will often also write "SetoxJoey" or "SxJ" to mean the same thing.

In Yu-Gu-Oh fandom, this can become confusing because of the fact that many of the characters actually have the same name. For instance, there are two characters called Marik and three characters called Bakura (though two of the Bakuras are essentially the same person, being that one Bakura is simply the spirit of a Bakura that died in the past; the third Bakura is a completely separate person with a separate soul. And the two Mariks do not have separate souls, as Marik has dissociative identity disorder and the "other" Marik is actually just his alternate personality.) So basically, this is already confusing by itself.

Because of so many characters having the same name, people in the fandom came to a general agreement about a different name to call each character in order to avoid confusion. For instance, Marik is generally called "Malik," while his alternate personality is usually called "Marik." Within the fandom, Bakura (the one who is the spirit of the Bakura that died in the past) is usually just called Bakura, while the other Bakura (the one who has a separate soul) is usually called Ryou (because of the fact that Ryou is actually his first name, though in the actual anime he is virtually always referred to as Bakura, and not Ryou.) Therefore, a relationship between Marik (the regular Marik, not the alternate personality) and Bakura (the one who is NOT an ancient spirit from the past) would be referred to as MalikxRyou, or MxR. This coupling is also called Angstshipping.

Because Marik and Malik still have the same initial, in order to differentiate the two when using the system of putting an "x" between the initials of two characters, Malik's initial is "M," while Marik's initials are "YM" (which stands for Yami Marik, the word "yami" being Japanese for "dark.") Therefore, if you supported the relationship between Bakura (the spirit of the Bakura who died in the past) and Marik (the Marik who is NOT the alternate personality) you would refer to it as BakuraxMalik, or BxM, or Thiefshipping. People understand that BxM means Thiefshipping, because if they were talking about Deathshipping (the idea of a relationship between the Bakura that is NOT a spirit from the past, and Marik's alternate personality) they would use YMxR; the YM would show that they were talking about Yami Marik (the alternate personality) and the R would show that they were talking about Ryou Bakura (the one that is NOT an ancient spirit.)

There are also two characters called Yugi- Yugi, and Yami Yugi (who is actually a spirit who lived in the past and was named Atem.) In the fandom, Yugi is just called Yugi, and Yami Yugi is usually just called Yami. Yugi's initial is "Y" while Yami Yugi's initials are "YY." Despite the fact that Bakura (the spirit) is also a Yami, and is known to be Yami Bakura, nobody ever really uses the initials "YB" to refer to him; his initial is simply "B." This is because it's unnecessary to use "YB" to refer to him, since the "other" Bakura's initial is always "R," so people automatically know that the initial "B" means Yami Bakura. So, if you supported Tornshipping (the idea of a three-way relationship between the spirit Bakura, the other Bakura, and the Marik who is NOT the alternate personality) you would call it BakuraxMalikxRyou, or BxMxR, and everybody would know exactly what you were talking about. The code "BxMxR" would be easily understood and nobody would wonder which of the three Bakuras or which of the two Mariks you were referring to with each initial. In a way, it's kind of amazing that the entire fandom pretty much managed to agree on all these names and initials so that nobody would be confused. This fandom also does not seem to have the problem of having multiple names for the same ship.

So, even though the system for naming ships can be extremely complex and confusing, I think it's very interesting. Shipping has a lot of culture and tradition to it. It can be overwhelming for a newbie or for someone who's not deeply immersed in it, but that's why you have people like me who have little better to do than to write huge essays explaining it. The way I view it is, I've wasted a huge sector of my life on Shipping, and large portions of my brain are filled up with useless information about it, so I'm darn well going to share that information with people.