12 Best Cartoon Couples Of All Time, Ranked

Animated romance comes in many forms. It can include Disney date movies, more casual sitcom couplings, and whole genres full of romantic anime. Some cartoon couples launch passionate ship wars online, while others have become such a part of our entertainment diets that we almost take their greatness for granted. Though historically the industry has leaned towards heteronormativity, the past 15 years or so have seen a huge boost in LGBTQ+ representation in animation; same gender pairings make up half the couples ranked on this list.

Both movies and television cartoons were up for consideration in ranking the 12 greatest cartoon couples. The only limitations were that we were only considering 2D hand-drawn animation (apologies to CG couples like WALL-E and Eve or Shrek and Fiona) and that pairings had to be officially canon (otherwise there'd be nothing stopping us from listing Pinky and the Brain as a couple and opening a whole can of worms). Factors considered in this ranking include how entertaining their romances were to watch, whether the characters in question are good for each other, and, to a lesser extent, their broader cultural impact.

Fry (Billy West) and Leela (Katey Sagal) are at the bottom of this list because, for most of "Futurama," they weren't officially a couple. In the original FOX run of the sci-fi comedy, Fry's feelings for Leela went mostly unrequited (they did get married, but divorced soon after in the time skip episode). In the Comedy Central run, Leela more clearly reciprocated Fry's feelings — they slept together for the first time while in Farnsworth and Zoidberg's bodies — but there was an on-again, off-again inconsistency.

It's the finale of the Comedy Central run, "Meanwhile," which solidified the Planet Express duo among animation's greatest couples. When Fry attempts to propose to Leela, a series of time travel mishaps causes the rest of the world to freeze in place... except for Fry and Leela, who proceed to get married and grow old together. When Farnsworth appears through a portal with an offer to fix the timeline at the cost of erasing their memories, they agree to "go round again," grateful for the chance at multiple lifetimes together. And to some significant relief, they are still together in the show's latest Hulu revival!

Showrunner ND Stevenson knew from the start that "She-Ra and the Princesses of Power" would end with the heroine Adora (Aimee Carrero) and her childhood friend-turned-enemy Catra (AJ Michalka) becoming a romantic couple, but he had to keep this plan secret. It was risky to put a lesbian relationship at the emotional core of a DreamWorks reboot of a Hasbro toy tie-in cartoon for kids — even one like "She-Ra," which already had a big queer fanbase.

So, to get away with it, the series made the implicit chemistry between Adora and Catra so undeniable that there was no way to not complete their arc from friends to enemies to lovers. When they finally kissed and confessed their love in the series finale, it was cause for celebration, a moment that makes the whole series even better in retrospect. This pairing might not be the healthiest relationship on this list — what with all the murder attempts and whatnot on the way to that confession — but it's so dramatically juicy that we became obsessed.

Compared to other sapphic ships in all-ages cartoons, Luz Noceda (Sarah-Nicole Robles) and Amity Blight (Mae Whitman) from "The Owl House" became a couple fairly quickly. Amity's first introduced as the mean girl at Hexside School, but she soon finds herself admiring Luz's good nature and determination — not to mention sharing her passion for "The Good Witch Azura" books. Luz and Amity become best friends with obvious crushes on one another over the course of Season 1, and simultaneously ask each other out as girlfriends midway through Season 2. Whether or not any corporate homophobia at Disney is to blame for Season 3 being cut short is uncertain, but has been a subject of speculation.

The Lumity romance is just part of what made "The Owl House" such a special show, but is undoubtedly one of its highlights. The character development is well-paced and natural, and the queer romance meshes well with the show's broader themes of nonconformity in the face of oppression. You could tell the crew got excited by this storyline with how the animation quality suddenly improves in when Luz and Amity have their Grom dance, or when they have their first kiss.

Isaac Dian (Masaya Onosaka) and Miria (Sayaka Aoki) are nearly inseparable as a couple. Some might say it's because they're so in love with one another that it's almost sickening, and that's fair. But there's another hypothesis for their compatibility: They need to stick together because they share one solitary brain cell. And that brain cell is mostly focused on crimes — "good" crimes, to be clear, like stealing from the Mafia — and costumes. They need lots of costumes to do the crimes.

The "Baccano!" anime, based on the light novel series written by Ryōgo Narita (author of "Durarara!!" which also became an anime), has fallen into obscurity due to a decade of legal unavailability in the United States. That's unfortunate, because this 1930s caper about gangsters and alchemists is an entertainingly wild ride, and this pair of enthusiastic would-be Robin Hoods is a big reason why. If you have any trouble following the complicated non-linear storytelling or keeping up with the enormous cast of characters, don't stress about it: Isaac and Miria don't have any clue what's going on either, and they're still having a great time!

Here's another cartoon crime couple, these two a bit more competent and emotionally complex than Isaac and Miria. Ever since Harley Quinn was first introduced in "Batman: The Animated Series," it was obvious that her "roommate" Poison Ivy was a healthier romantic alternative to the abusive Joker, but this could only ever be implied in a '90s kids show. A few decades' worth of comic book subtext (and a few alternate reality romances) later, Season 2 of the "Harley Quinn" adult cartoon finally made HarlIvy official in 2020.

The cartoon's Harley (Kaley Cuoco) and Ivy (Lake Bell) have successfully navigated through many struggles in their relationship: Harley's impulsiveness contrasting with Ivy's introversion, for instance, or the year Harley tried to become a hero with the Bat family while Ivy led the Legion of Doom towards "socially conscious evil." Whether they're bad guys, good guys, or somewhere in between, they're good for each other, and are always guaranteed to deliver plenty of entertaining chaos across the DC Universe.

Until some future "Zootopia" movie finally gives an affirmative answer to the "will they or won't they?" tension between Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), Belle (Paige O'Hara) and the Beast (Robby Benson) remain the Walt Disney Feature Animation couple with the strongest character development on both sides of the relationship. Belle set a new standard for strong and independent Disney Princesses, while the Beast offered a redemptive portrait of how one can overcome their worst nature. Put these two great characters together, and you get the first animated film nominated for a best picture Oscar.

In bringing up "Beauty and the Beast," some will inevitably question if it's actually about Stockholm Syndrome. The answer to that tired bit of discourse is that Stockholm Syndrome might not actually exist, but even if it did, Belle doesn't start liking the Beast until after he stops being a jerk; and even after she starts to fall for him, she leaves his castle to help her father at the first chance she gets. So no, Belle does not have Stockholm Syndrome; stop repeating old memes.

Natsuki Takaya's "Fruits Basket" manga, adapted to animation partially in 2001 and in its entirety from 2019 to 2021, contains a lot of adorable couples, but its the central romance between Tohru Honda (Yui Horie in 2001, Manaka Iwami in 2019) and Kyo Sohma (Tomokazu Seki in 2001, Yuma Uchida in 2019) that stole our hearts the most. Their love story is another take on the "Beauty and the Beast" fairy tale, though despite his beastly curse, Kyo can pass for a human when he wears his Juzu Bead Bracelet... and turns into an adorable cat when any girl hugs him.

Tohru's a heroine of near-limitless empathy; her understanding of complicated relationships and ability to see the good in people that they can't see in themselves is essential to breaking the curses that have held the Sohma family captive for generations. Kyo has plenty of chips on his shoulder as his family's designated scapegoat (scapecat?), but with Tohru, he has hope. They both offer each other caring and acceptance of the parts of each other they struggle to accept in themselves.

Have you seen how everyone is going crazy for HBO Max's steamy sports romance "Heated Rivalry"? Anime fans had basically the same experience in 2016 with "Yuri!!! on Ice," except the winter sport of choice was figure skating rather than hockey, and the steamier parts were left to your imagination. Directed by Sayo Yamamoto, "Yuri!! on Ice" follows a Japanese figure skater, Yuri Katsuki (Toshiyuki Toyonaga), reviving his career under the coaching of his idol, Russian skater Victor Nikiforov (Junichi Suwabe).

Sports anime tend to attract a large audience of shippers, but "Yuri!!! on Ice" stood out from the crowd as an honest-to-God canon gay romance in the genre. Because figure skating is a form of artistic expression as well as a sport, the beautifully animated routines enhanced viewers' understandings of the characters' emotional journeys; the series was almost as popular among actual figure skaters as it was among anime fans! Alas, a prequel movie got canceled after years in development hell, and no official continuation to Yuri and Victor's love story is likely to occur.

"Steven Universe" fans already loved Garnet (Estelle), the leader of the Crystal Gems, long before they found out in the Season 1 finale that she is "made of love" as a near-permanent Fusion between two smaller Gems, the fighter Ruby (Lo Mutuc) and the oracle Sapphire (Erica Luttrell). As Garnet would put it, they're not one person or two people, but "an experience" or "a conversation." However you want to define their existence, Beach City and the Planet Earth is better off for it — as are the lives of many LGBTQ+ viewers who never saw themselves represented this way in animation before.

Like ND Stevenson did with Catradora in "She-Ra," Rebecca Sugar made the romance between these technically genderless but female-presenting space rocks so integral to the story that it became impossible to cut it from the show. Still, they had to fight with Cartoon Network to allow more direct displays of affection; Ruby and Sapphire's history-making wedding episode got approved, but at the cost of the original series' run being cut short.

Of all the long-running animated family sitcom parents out there, Bob (H. Jon Benjamin) and Linda Belcher (John Roberts) of "Bob's Burgers" fame might have the most stable and healthy relationship. Yes, Homer (Dan Castellaneta) and Marge Simpson (Julie Kavner) have their moments of sweetness, but Marge also has to forgive a lot. Nobody thinks of Peter (Seth MacFarlane) and Lois Griffin (Alex Borstein) from "Family Guy" as an ideal couple. Hank (Mike Judge) and Peggy Hill (Kathy Najimy) are probably closest to Bob and Linda in their general respectfulness, but the "King of the Hill" cast has baggage of conservative emotional repression that the Belchers don't.

Maybe I'm personally biased towards ranking Bob and Linda so high because they remind me so much of my own parents, but then everyone else who knows my parents seems to think they're great, and everyone who watches "Bob's Burgers" thinks the same of Bob and Linda. Linda's enthusiasm helps Bob leave his comfort zone — he couldn't have started his restaurant without her — while Bob's common sense keeps Linda grounded amidst her flights of fancy. They embrace each other's eccentricities, and are good parents to their equally quirky children.

Before "The Owl House," "She-Ra and the Princesses of Power," "Steven Universe," and even those two seconds of hand-holding at the end of "The Legend of Korra," the queer cartoon renaissance arguably began with the "What Was Missing" episode of "Adventure Time." Fans in 2011 instantly understood Princess Bubblegum (Hynden Walch) and Marceline the Vampire Queen (Olivia Olson) as exes who still long for each other, but an official recap video acknowledging this reading got pulled from YouTube. "Adventure Time" continued dropping hints of subtext, and in 2014, Olson confirmed PB and Marcy dated but the show wasn't allowed to say it. Changing standards thankfully allowed the candy scientist and musical vampire to kiss on-screen in the series finale.

Despite being canonized so late in the original series, the Bubbline ship has only gotten better over the years as the "Adventure Time" franchise continues to explore these two complicated characters' relationship in later installments. The "Obsidian" special in "Adventure Time: Distant Lands" finally told the story of how they broke up and, after centuries of growth, found happiness together once again. "Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake" examines how Marceline and Bubblegum's love plays out across the multiverse. You can argue whether their human male counterparts, Marshall Lee and Gary Prince, count as the same characters, but one great cartoon couple so directly inspiring another should count for at least some points in the former's favor.

At first glance, the relationship between Roger Rabbit (Charles Fleischer) and Jessica Rabbit (Kathleen Turner) seems like one of the most unlikely ones in movie history. Why would a sex symbol who can attract any man she wishes — whose presence makes men's eyes pop out of their skulls Tex Avery-style — choose to marry this wacky rabbit? But then you think about how all these men constantly judge her on appearances, of course the guy who actually likes her for her personality has to be the most attractive of all. When Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) asks Jessica what she sees in Roger, she has the perfect answer: "He makes me laugh." That's love in its most true form right there.

While Gary K. Wolf's original novel "Who Censored Roger Rabbit?" painted Roger and Jessica as more toxic partners, in Robert Zemeckis' loose film adaptation "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," they're genuinely good, both as individuals and as spouses. Even Jessica's "patty cake" infidelity turns out to be a misunderstanding resulting from an attempt to protect her husband's career — she's not bad, she's just drawn that way. For being such a memorable, mutually supportive, strangely wholesome couple at the center of one of the cartooniest movies of all time (even if it is technically half live-action), Roger and Jessica take the top spot on our cartoon couple rankings.