When people think of fantasy, they tend to think of rings to be destroyed or dragons to be slain. But at the heart of many — if not most — fantasy tales is a love story. This isn’t to say we don’t enjoy the destroying of the ring or the slaying of the dragon. But it’s often the love story, when done right, that makes us care.
Here are some of fantasy’s best, most memorable love stories:
Guinevere and Lancelot
The mythology surrounding King Arthur and his knights is dizzying in its complexity, and there is no one true canonical account of how things went down in Camelot. But no matter who’s telling the story, most agree on one thing: something hot and heavy happens with the king’s wife and his best knight. The affair of Lancelot and Guinevere is legendary, and whether it’s told with sympathy or harsh judgment, the fact remains we just can’t stop talking about it.
Robin Hood and Maid Marian
He robbed from the rich and stole from the poor. She was rich, but totally dug his politics. Whether it’s Errol Flynn’s flamboyant fey archer or Kevin Costner’s brooding everyman, Robin has always fought the good fight, all the while being outlawed by the Sheriff of Nottingham and Prince John. And girls just love their bad boys, don’t they?
Buttercup and Westley 
A love affair between a farm boy and a…well, we never really knew exactly what she was before the movie gets going…is torn asunder when said farm boy, Westley, leaves to find his fortune and is allegedly killed by pirates. Buttercup, numb and unhappy, then becomes betrothed to the prince until she is abducted by some baddies, then abducted again by the Dread Pirate Roberts, a dashing masked fencer in black. But, oh! Who is under that mask but good old Westley, and when Buttercup is let in on the secret, the sparks fly again and never stop.
Willow and Tara
This is easily one of the most unique and beautiful love stories that ever played out on television. TV is shamefully lacking in both quality and quantity in its representation of LGBT characters, but one show was brave enough to unapologetically follow two women who fall in love…who also happen to be demon-fighting witches. Seen on the cult hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the relationship between Willow and Tara was often the most stable on a show full of heterosexual relationships, and brilliantly and touchingly portrayed by Allyson Hannigan and Amber Benson. The purity of their love made it that much more shocking when Tara was senselessly killed by a villain who wasn’t even gunning for her.
Han Solo and Princess Leia
Star Wars is science fiction, you say, not fantasy? Take a closer look at it and you’ll see it’s simply the story of a prince rescuing a princess — with swords and magic, no less! In any event, when we first met Han and Leia, she is a brat and he is a scoundrel. That’s more or less what they are at the end of the story as well, except for two things: they have successfully helped to overthrow the empire, and they have fallen very much in love. The pivotal moment in their relationship occurs in The Empire Strikes Back, and is a scene that has been scorched into the memory of many a young romantic. Han has been captured by Darth Vader, and is about to be frozen in carbonite as Leia looks on. Things are looking pretty bad. Terrified for his life, Leia can’t help herself and finally admits, “I love you.” Han, in true tough guy form, looks at her and replies, “I know.” But in his eyes we see just how much he loves her in return.
Jean Grey and Scott Summers
First introduced in the early 60’s, the two X-men codenamed Phoenix and Cyclops have been through a lot, and so has their relationship. But somehow, they always seem to make it work…even though she’s dead right now. (But don’t expect that to last.) As one of Marvel Comics’ flagship couples, their love was never tested more than during that Hamlet of comic book storylines known as the Phoenix Saga. Jean is given godlike abilities, and upon losing herself in her absolute power, she absentmindedly destroys an inhabited world. She, Scott, and the rest of the X-Men then fight off an army sent to bring her down until ultimately she sacrifices herself, believing she’s too much of a risk to stay alive. Then other things happen. She comes back bad. Then she comes back good. It gets confusing. It’s still confusing. But one thing that has never been confusing is the strength of their passionate bond.
Lestat and, Well, Everybody
Before she found Jesus and ruined her career, Anne Rice cultivated a series of novels called The Vampire Chronicles, which centered on Lestat, a pansexual rock star vampire. Lestat quickly became an icon for his fluid sexuality and outrageous behavior, and his lovers were many, yet he managed to imbue each love affair with a seemingly intense significance. Chief among his mates were Louis, his perpetually gloomy best friend, and Gabrielle, who in his former human life was…his mom. (Even the undead have oedipal issues.) It was Lestat’s ability to voraciously love and be loved by many that’s made him an icon to emo kids everywhere.
Beauty and the Beast
Before you protest a children’s movie being on the list, think back to that first time you watched Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and tell me you weren’t enamored by Belle’s quirky innocence and intrigued by the Beast’s agitated longing. True, she was his prisoner, and this might be the most romantic case of Stockholm’s Syndrome ever committed to film, but that scene where he dressed up for dinner and she joined him in her iconic yellow gown is forever etched in our collective memory. And when he swept her along the dance floor, we all sighed and enjoyed this tale as old as time as though it were the first we’ve heard of it.
Sam and Frodo
There are many kinds of love in this world, and a love story doesn’t have to tell of a passionate affair that ends in the bedroom. In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo is sent on a journey that will almost certainly lead to his death, and without hesitation his loyal servant, gardener, and best friend Sam volunteers to accompany and protect him. The humble hobbits then face a world’s worth of danger, and the key to their survival is their true and honest love for each other. Much has been speculated about the true meaning of their relationship (in the end, Sam is torn between marrying another hobbit named Rosie or living with Frodo, and at Frodo’s urging does both), but whether those hugs and kisses shared between them meant anything more than friendship is ultimately up to individual interpretation. Whatever the measure of their love, they went to hell and back together, and we’re lucky to have tagged along.
Superman and Lois Lane
This one goes without saying. Even someone who has never cracked open a comic book knows of the relationship between the last scion of Krypton and the feisty Daily Planet ace reporter. Lois and Clark have been together from the very beginning — since Action Comics issue #1 in 1938, then spanning countless incarnations throughout the years, perhaps most memorably in Richard Donner’s classic film, Superman. Christopher Reeves and Margot Kidder made movie romance magic, which reached its zenith when he takes her on a moonlit flying session and we hear her inner monologue, wondering if this handsome guy can read her mind as she stares at him in wonder. Hearts melted quicker than if blasted by heat vision, and we all fell in love with this immortal super-couple.
Ten great fantasy love stories? No, there are far more than that! Here are some honorable mentions — but, of course, even these are just the tip of the iceberg!
Achilles and Patroclus – Many historians agree that Achilles and Patroclus were seen by the ancients as a couple, but the ridiculous de-gaying of these characters in 2004’s Troy (“This is Patroclus, my…uh…cousin! Yeah, he’s my cousin.”) assured that the masses that get their knowledge through pop entertainment never even knew they were in love. Nevertheless, Achilles’ quest for vengeance after his lover’s death is one for the ages.
Buffy, Angel, and Spike – Maybe I’m biased, but while I appreciate that millions hung on the relationship between Buffy and Angel, then later Buffy and Spike, then later the tension between Spike and Angel, I get a little tired of angst and self-loathing. However, there was real beauty in some of the connections between the slayer and her vampires, and it will always be remembered by fans.
Arwen and Aragorn – A touching if relatively simple love story (Boy meets Girl, Boy gets separated from Girl due to a history-altering quest and achievement of kinghood, Girl gives up immortality so she can live and die with Boy), not that much time is really given for us to dwell on their relationship, and its overshadowed by the platonic bonds between the other characters. Still, it’s the most prevalent romantic relationship in all of The Lord of the Rings, and thus deserves a nod.
Xena and Gabrielle — ‘Nuff said.
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Hi, everyone,
What a wonderful site. Call me biased, but I’ll echo the sentiment I receive in so many letters about the novel HERO. Quite a few people are rooting for Thom and Goran (Dark Hero) to stay together forever, now that they’ve found each other in this lonely and often loveless world. Events in the sequel will challenge their feelings for each other, and the question remains: Will Thom and Goran’s relationship survive throughout all the HERO sequels to come?
What are your thoughts on the subject?
Humbly yours,
Perry Moore, author of HERO
Please write me at perrymoorestories@gmail.com
Richard and Kahlan, form the books, not the series. It hasn’t gotten there yet for me, but the books do a fantastic job relating their love for one another.I really hope their love story is one the show doesn’t depart much from. I couldn’t watch the episode about the tomb of the seeker becausse it seemed to do just that.
How about Elric and Moonglum sure there was no romantic love involved, but does anyone who’s actually read the final(I mean the one where he dies, I know Moorcock still writes stories of his life)ever doubt that they loved each other?
How can you list any of “the greatest love storys”, without putting a huge page leading Xena and Gabrielle segment right at the top one or two segments!?
Theirs was certainly one of the greatest love story ever shown in Fantasy ever filmed.
Sheila
I like this. ‘Tis a great list but I would prefer if Aragorn and Arwen were higher. Admittedly their story may seem a bit cliche in fantasy these days, nut that is because most modern fantasy and fantasy love stories have been slightly or mostly based on the Lord of teh Rings. Therefore Aragorn and Arwen’s story is one of teh most classic tales of love in fantasy ever.
Also, I have to add that Eowyn and Faramir should be on this, their love story is incredible.
Am I the only one thinking it should be King Arthur and Lancelot? Sparks and Swords: The Untold Love Story of a King and His Knight.
Han Solo and Princess Leia were great, she was equally essential to the storyline which is rare in straight fantasy.
Xena and Gabrielle remains my favourite fantasy couple: passionate, funny, insane, full of mistakes and loyal.
The ending was contrived and yet bold too - but too complicated for my little nieces. They are convinced Xena came back from the world of the dead (their explanation: she knows the way, she’d done it before in other episodes) and X&G are reunited, and live together forever.
I am not crushing their little dreams and their ending suits me better.
You’re not the only one. The only person Lancelot loved more than Guinevere was Arthur and the only person Arthur loved more than Lancelot was Guinevere.
YAY! Xena and Gabrielle were mentioned.
Although a lot of the mentioned relationships seems to share a similarly tragic demise with one of the pair dying or being permanently separated from the other.
At least a few of them got their own “happily ever after” and since both Willow and Gabrielle were “left behind” I’m sure Willow can work some magic to create her own “happily ever after” with Gabrielle.
But! But! Xena lives forever in Gabrielle’s heart!
Okay, you have a really good point.
(I still loved the last ep of XENA; Xena and Gabrielle had literally changed places–Xena becoming the selfless being of light, and Gabrielle becoming a warrior-for-good.)
Pfffft. Xena doesn’t live in Gabrielle’s heart - she ran off to the Jappa afterlife with that Akemi sl*t.
At best, part of Xena (mostly the ashy left-overs of her burnt corpse) does live in the little black pot that Gabrielle carries around (until she acceidentally dropped it over the side of the boat on her way to Egypt).
I enjoyed the final episode for the “swapping places” type of ending (with Gabrielle becoming the next “warrior priestess” and Xena finding her peaceful redemption), but I didn’t enjoy TPTB’s convoluted reasoning behind *why* Xena had to remain dead (the 40,000 souls demanded it because a bunch of villagers attacked a drunken and depressed Xena some 35+ years ago and they were then too stupid to run from their burning homes into the ocean/harbour next to which their town was built).
Okay, I agree it was contrived. But they needed to show that Xena had learned her lesson: that she was willing to do ANYTHING to redeem herself. Obviously.
Plus, I just thought it was cool that they had the guts to actually end it like that.
Incidentally, you know your XENA! A person after my heart…
110% agree on the actual “ending”. I wouldn’t have gone with the surrounding circumstances, but I couldn’t see the show ending in any way other than Xena dying and Gabrielle picking up the title of “warrior princess” and continuing to battle on for the “greater good”.
A happily ever after ending for Xena (like Hercules and Iolaus got with their walk off into the sunset) just would have felt a little cheap and almost dishonest given the nature and tone of the show (and both Xena and Gabrielle had previously mentioned and accepted that they wouldn’t be growing old and grey together).
Besides, at the end of the day, we know they’ve got that whole intertwined soul mates destiny thing going on and at the very least they’ll show up again in the “present day” and Ares will throw Xena’s soul into a more fitting body and “Annie” and “Mattie” will get their happily ever after in the end.
For me, Star Wars has always been, at heart, a fantasy story with the trappings of sci-fi.
I read an interview once by Marion Zimmer Bradley who wrote both fantasy and scifi and she was asked what advice she would give to aspiring authors. For scifi, she said to read up on the latest scientific advances. For fantasy, she said people should study religion and I find that to be very true. Religion is often very important in fantasy stories, even if it is just part of the backdrop.
Back to Star Wars, George Lucas was huge into Joseph Campbell’s The Power of Myth books when he was writing Star Wars and that is all about religion. Lucas has talked about how much Campbell’s books influenced Star Wars.
Really, I think if you take away the laser guns and space ships and look at the story itself, you have a fantasy.
Beauty and the Beast–I loved the dancing scene too; it was very romantic. My favorite scene, though, is when she sees the two story library for the first time. I absolutely love that scene and I want a library like that. I’m such a book nerd. :)
On the Library - Me too!! I think my dream home will one day include an entire room devoted just to my collection of books. Or at the very least, all the extra space in my office will be filled with books. I just love ‘em!
And for SW being fantasy - I completely agree, I think it’s fantasy wearing a science fiction dress to the genre ball. However, I think that people will always argue on this point, based on perspective. :) [This is to everyone in general!]
I agree with you, Remi–Star Wars was fantasy before scientific explanations were added. Since “Star Wars” still means 4-6 to so many, I think it is fantasy for all intensive purposes.
Nice list!
The thing with Frodo and Sam is fascinating in both the book and movie — after Mordor, there’s a whole homosexual panic (seemingly by Tolkien himself) followed by a “heterosexual-Ex-Machina” in the form of Rosie. Hey, remember this chick that loved you that we haven’t ever mentioned in 2,000 pages? You’re straight, Sam! It plays a bit like the novel Maurice, where Sam, who can “pass”, decides to be unfulfilledly straight, while Frodo, the REAL queer, has to leave Middle Earth altogether, along with the wizards and elves and faggots and unicorns and other magical non-procreative creatures…
Excellent (and amusing) analysis, Strepsi! Those are two of my favorite movies and I never noticed the parallels in the love stories. I completely agree with your assessment. Clearly Frodo is the love of Sam’s life!
And I must say I’m glad Willow and Tara were mentioned here. Their story was beautiful and heartbreaking. The fact that it happened to be between two women makes it groundbreaking, but it was just a terrific love story for two tv characters. Period.
Hilarious! “heterosexual-Ex-Machina”
Heterosexual-ex-machina is my new favorite word, so thank you!
But here’s my take on it. In the book, he did marry Rosie and simultaneously live with Frodo - weird - until Frodo sailed off to the Undying Lands. But deep, deep in the appendices, one can find the conclusion of Sam’s life story: after serving seven terms as Mayor of Hobbiton, Sam retires and heads off on a journey. Since he was (for a time) a ring-bearer, he was permitted to also sail to the Undying Lands, which he did, thus joining Frodo in what is essentially the afterlife. So even their story has a happy ending, if a bit unconventional.
It was a contrivance of the film to have Sam mention how much he missed Rosie while on the cliff at Mount Doom, but I don’t think it was a gay panic thing. I think it was just the filmmakers fleshing out that scene a bit. And, as filmmakers often do when trying to “improve” on a great book, they ended up detracting from it.
Willow/Tara
Xena/Gabrielle
woohoo! booyah!
Nice try but star wars is not fantasy
Star Wars not fantasy? Well then how much did your X-Wing cost and can I borrow it? Or maybe we can just trade protocol droids. My addition to the list would be EVE and WALL-E. I never thought 2 robots could capture what it means to love.
well…before the whole “theres things in your blood that make you able to use the force” thingy, the force was a mystical power without a clear explenation…like magic, so you could see star wars as a fantasy thing up until then.
The more doubtful part for me is achilles and patrocles, and I mean apart from the fact that the iliad doesn’t settle the debate either way and both interpretations are valid. What I mean is, if for quite some time people considered this history and not fantasy…can we call it fantasy?
Then again, the iliad is so filled with love stories (theres this girl named helen in it somewhere as well) it is hard to leave it out when discussing love stories…
Star Wars is one of those stories that will always straddle the line between science fiction and fantasy, and a person’s opinion will probably rest on their own personal definition of each genre. Is it science vs. magic? Is it future vs. historical? Is it improbable vs. impossible? etc.
I like the inclusion of Sam and Frodo, no matter what one’s personal take is on their relationship. Along with Aragorn and Arwen as honourable mentions, I would include Faramir and Eowyn from LOTR as well!
And the movie Troy almost had me throwing a brick into my TV, I was just so upset with it. Especially their contrived ending. Again, whether the Iliad is classed as fantasy or not is probably based on one’s own perspective.
Yes, it all depends on your definition. But I think a strong case can be made that it’s fantasy.
I think I’m the only one who thinks The Princess Bride is way over-rated.
Liked it, didn’t love it.
Nice. But Xena and Gabrielle need to be MUCH higher. ;-)