Mentor Ship

When The Hero (or sometimes another member of the cast) has a very close and intimate relationship with their mentor, especially if it's a Sexy Mentor, they might have very hot chemistry together, and Shipping ensues. This can be greatly helped by a Hands-On Approach.

Depending on the characters' respective age, this could be a popular pairing or a No Yay for the majority of the fandom.

Subtrope of Unequal Pairing. See also Merlin and Nimue, Hot for Student.

Examples of Mentor Ship include:

Anime and Manga

• Nanoha and Subaru, thanks to the latter's squeeing and blushing over the former.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion: Asuka has an insane crush on her first guardian Kaji. Then there's the interesting relationship between Shinji and his trainer/captain/guardian Misato... and implied relationship between Rei and her boss Gendo... On second thought, let's not get into this.
  • Let's not forget Maya's crush on Ritsuko.
    • And Fuyutsuki's feelings for his former intern Yui.
• Bleach has Yoruichi, who enjoys teasing Ichigo and sometimes Byakuya.
  • Yoruichi can Flash Step out of her clothes. She taught Byakuya this technique. Think about that for a sec.
    • Don't forget Yoruichi/Soi Fon
• In D.Gray-man, if For can count as Allen's mentor (at least for that section where they were sparring together every single day), their relationship is definitely shipped by quite a few fans. Quite a bit of their chemistry was obviously on purpose, however, including a rather tender moment where she acts like a very shy and flustered Tsundere around him. And then there's how the dialogue and actions of her Heroic Sacrifice played it like they were lovers...
  • There's also General Cross and Allen. C'mon, don't tell me you don't see it... (Caution, major spoilers)
    • Considering that Cross is a Trickster Mentor so tricky that he qualifies Allen for an honorary mention on the page for Abusive Parents, that falls into deeply, deeply creepy areas.
    • Cross raised Allen from age 10 to 15, so if the one scene where he displays parental affection for him qualifies them for a ship, it would be a No Yay one.
• Guts and Farnese from Berserk. With Farnese crushing majorly on Guts, who is her role model, "savior," and the person who will "guide her." Except... she can't help but feel jealous when Guts has romantic moments with his canon love interest Casca.
• Hellsing has Alucard/Seras as a popular in the English fandom thanks mostly to the influence of the Gonzo anime that changed the dynamics between Integra, Alucard and Seras and omitted Pip Bernadotte's existence. There's some hints of it in the beginning and towards the end with Alucard's motive to turn her being her eyes reminding him to Integra's when she was younger according to the Word of God whereas in the original manga there's absolutely nothing to support them as a pair in a romantic or sexual way.
  • In the ovas, there is actually support for them as a pair, though it's just in the beginning, where Alucard transforms Seras into a vampire and acts like a predator to her... Yes, that kind of predator.
    • It's kind of squicky, because he also holds her hand and answers her call when she asked for her parents, then OVA team insists she's like his cute daughter figure when asked. All their ambiguous scenes aren't present in the Manga. It looks like it's again the producer Yasuyuki Ueda who was also behind the TV series.
    • In the manga Alucard calls Seras "my beloved servant," though.
• Lal Mirch and Tsuna in Katekyo Hitman Reborn. Of course, since Tsuna is paired with everyone, this should come to little surprise.
  • Though one pairing (which is actually more common) that falls into far creepier areas is Reborn/Tsuna.
  • Dino and Hibari...It doesn't help that their weapons are a whip and a pair of handcuffs respectively, and that their training sessions are always very physical. Make of that what you will.
• In Full Metal Panic, there's the shipping of Kalinin with Sousuke. A bit unnerving, considering that he actually held Sousuke when Sousuke was a baby. And he's around 40-50 years old. And he legally adopted Sousuke. But since many people tend to see Ho Yay in close bonds, there's definitely an abundance that can be found between them.
• In Mahou Sensei Negima, it's been revealed Negi's martial arts master, Ku Fei, has grown to like him in that way. Eva, his magic training mentor, also frequently seduces him (or at least tries to), though it's mostly due to him bearing a strong resemblance to the his father the Thousand Master, the man she loved. Hey and considering that Negi is the teacher to 3-A and a number of girls has already shown interest in him...well, just take a guess.
  • And one of Negi's students loves (definitely loves in some sense of the word) the teacher whose class he took over, although she did basically grow up with him as well.
• In Peacemaker Kurogane, there's the shipping of Tetsunosuke with Hijikata. Looking past the disturbing aspect of how Tetsunosuke looks like he's six years old and Hijikata looks to be in his late 20s-30s, the pairing isn't exactly unfounded. They love digging at each other, and are constantly bickering over petty things. Yet it's made clear that they both have a deep (albeit grudging) affection for each other. It's definitely helped that both are incredibly good looking.
• In Naruto, Kakashi/Sakura has gained quite a fan following, despite the fact that it has no evidence whatsoever from the manga or anime whatsoever to support it.
  • To say nothing of the Kakashi/Naruto or the Kakashi/Sasuke shippings.
    • ...or the Gai/Rock Lee, Kurenai/Hinata, and Kurenai/Shikamaru shippings
    • Orochimaru has this with just about everyone of his many disciples. Especially Anko and Kimimaro.
• In XxxHolic, there's quite a fan following of the pairing of Yuko and Watanuki. It definitely helps that Watanuki is cute and Yuko is incredibly sexy. And the official art of them together certainly teases at it.
  • And CLAMP is certainly making this pairing more and more Anvilicious as time goes on. To the point where Haruka pretty much comes out and gives Watanuki a little speech that remarkably resembles an If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her... talk ( "If you believe that you can meet, you musn't do anything to make her cry, then."). To which Watanuki promptly angsts and reminisces over her while saying her name and holding her precious pipe.
• Kirby of the Stars: Meta Knight is a mentor to both Kirby and Fumu. Guess what two of the series' most popular ships are.
• Axis Powers Hetalia. America and England, anyone? Not to mention it's practically canon (in this troper's opinion, but Your Mileage May Vary).
  • In the same vein, there's China/Japan, Canada/France, Germany/Prussia, Greece/Turkey, and the almost-canon Spain/S.Italy.
• The titular Zettai Karen Children and their handler Minamoto.
• In Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple we have Kenichi and Shigure

Comic Books

• Maybe you've heard of a book called Seduction of the Innocent.
• When introduced, Mia Dearden (the new Speedy) had a fairly obvious crush on her mentor Green Arrow. And on his son, Green Arrow.
• It's a fairly common plot device in comics when a hero and a sidekick are opposite genders. During Nightwing's fake Face Heel Turn, Ravager had a crush on him, and in Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Strikes Again", Catgirl and Batman ended up with some very romantic undertones.
• Wolverine and his young female sidekicks. They aren't particularly rare ships...

Film

• In Star Wars both Qui Gon Jin/Obi-Wan and Obi-Wan/Anakin have big followings. Their playful banter makes it very easy to see as either a father/son relationship, or this. In the Revenge of the Sith Novelization, Obi-Wan and Anakin are specifically and repeatedly stated to love each other dearly, to the point where Anakin actually has to hesitate when choosing if he loves his wife more.
  • "A student must always love his teacher."--Palpatine to Dooku, Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
  • Darth Bane and Darth Zannah.
  • And Luke and Mara.
  • "Kiss Tahiri for me."--Anakin to Jacen
    • In Allies, we learn that Jacen obliged, and more.
  • And some speculate Jacen and Ben.
  • Not to mention Anakin and Ahsoka.
  • And Anakin and Palpatine.
  • Hell, Jaina and Kyp are canon!

"We have to stop seeing each other like this." "I know." "It's just so wrong, but I can't help it." —Fate of the Jedi: Allies

• • Vergere and Jacen. Vergere comes right out and says "What, no hug? No kiss for your friend Vergere?" in Traitor.
  • Mara Jade agreed to a reciprocal apprenticeship with Kyle Katarn because she thought it was a sexual position.
  • Luke is speculated to do this with all his apprentices, but especially of note are:
    • Corran Horn. Just read I, Jedi.
    • Mara Jade, as mentioned. Hell, it's canon.
    • Kyp Durron. Kyp is regularly described as handsome by everyone, suggesting Stupid Sexy Flanders.
    • Tionne, just because of KJA's Epic Fail in implying Luke's dating her in Young Jedi Knights.
    • Prince Isolder. They were in a polyandrous marriage, and Isolder did reflect on the possibility of Luke having sex with his mom.
    • Callista. Not exactly the mentor part, but fits this in spirit, and is canon.
    • Jem Ysanna, in Dark Empire. Though she was almost immediately assassinated.
    • In some fans' eyes, The New Rebellion suggests this with Brakiss. Certainly Brakiss is obsessively emotional over his old master, with his new master once dryly telling him "You don't hate Skywalker. You hate the way he makes you feel." And hell, Luke does mention finding Brakiss attractive.
  • Looking at the Star Wars EU page for Ho Yay, nearly everyone obsessed with Thrawn is or has, at some point, been his underling and unofficial student.
• Alfredo Linguini and his assigned haute cuisine mentor Colette Tatou in Ratatouille.
• In Star Trek fandom, Pike/Kirk is quite popular. The interesting thing is that while Pike is Kirk's mentor in the film, he was actually Spock's mentor in TOS.
  • In the Star Trek the Original Series episode "The Menagerie", Spock willingly risked the death penalty to save Pike. One could build a case that this was out of more than pure loyalty.
• 2 x 5 of Shane Acker's 9, anyone?

Literature

• Harry and Dumbledore. Even Rita Skeeter thought so.
  • When you think about it, in book six, you felt it was a good thing Harry was a boy, because else, what would people have said about all the time they spend together. Then Word of Gay came... Of course we actually see Harry and Dumbledore's interactions and know it is entirely appropriate.
• Lucy Maud Montgomery (of Anne of Green Gables fame) once wrote a story about this. So Guy A and Guy B are competing over the same woman. Guy A loses and goes away. Guy B and the woman get married, have a daughter, then the father dies. Guy A assumes godfather responsiblities for the daughter, but they fall in love. Guy A didn't want to, in fact he tried to set up his nephew with the girl, but apparently True Love conquers all, even in 19th century Canada.
• Tamora Pierce seems to be fond of this one. Daine and Numair from the Immortals quartet are the most obvious examples.
• The Dresden Files:
  • Donald Morgan and Anastasia Luccio are a canonical (if one-sided) example.
  • From the same (and equally one-sided), Molly and Harry. Although Harry has been under the impression that Molly's feelings were a passing adolescent crush, Susan has pointed out that Molly is genuinely in love with Harry. Harry's self-conscious awareness of Molly's attractiveness makes it all the more awkward (and imply that the ship isn't quite out of the question, either).
    • Especially, considering how long wizards live. When Molly is 40, Harry will probably have fewer issues with the fact that he taught her when she was a teenager.
• In A Song of Ice and Fire, Petyr Baelish is probably hoping for things to turn out this way between him and his daughter Alayne trainee Sansa, and a good chunk of the fandom would be happy to see it as well. The rest of the fandom is too Squick'd out by his clear transference of affection for Catelyn onto her daughter, not to mention him being her uncle, semi-adoptive father, and twice her age.
• In Havemercy, the world-weary exile Royston tries very, very hard to fight his feelings for Hal, an innocent young country boy whose interest in literature Royston fosters and promotes. He fails. But Hal doesn't mind in the slightest.
• A lot of fans of Mistborn read a lot of subtext in Kelsier's relationship with Vin, a fact which was referenced and denied by Vin in the second book. However, Word of God says she probably did have a crush on him, even though he saw her as more of a daughter.
• In Vampire Academy, the main ship is this trope exasctly.
• Kvothe has a brief and non-romantic affair with his mentor in The Wise Man's Fear.
• In Warrior Cats, Cherrytail has the kits of her mentor Sharpclaw.

Live Action TV

• In Doctor Who The Doctor and any number of Companions.
• Giles/Buffy had a number of followers. In fandom. The two times someone (a werewolf hunter and Spike) suggested such a thing on the show, Buffy was Squicked. As was Giles in the first instance. He wasn't there in the second.
  • Giles/Willow also had followers. In one scene in the episode "Faith, Hope, & Trick", when Faith describes Giles as cute, Willow has an impish grin on her face.
    • Willow says she used to have a crush on him in "Where The Wild Things Are"
• "Young, ingénue" Dr. Cameron's crush on her "gruff, older mentor" Dr. House.
• The Middleman:
  • There is a sizable portion of the fandom who ship the Middleman and Wendy, his protégé. Their relationship is more of a partners dynamic than a boss-employee one, but Wendy has said that since her father's disappearance, the Middleman is the closest thing she's had to a father.
  • In the Episode 13 comic, it is revealed that the love of the Middleman's life was his Middlewoman, Raveena Rao.
• In NCIS:
  • Gibbs mentored Jenny Shepard in their early days at NCIS; they later became partners. She vanished for about a decade, and then turned up as Director in the beginning of season three, neatly reversing the dynamic (as there is still plenty of UST there).
  • Tony's rather glaring puppy-like devotion to Gibbs. It doesn't help that nobody else can control him.
    • Now that we've met Tony's playboy father it's more explicit Tony and Gibbs is more Tony DESPERATE for a "Well Done, Son" Guy from SOMEONE vaguely parental.
• Firefly has a substantial River/Mal shipping base.
• Canon example: Ziggy and Doctor K from Power Rangers RPM, although the mentor (K) is actually younger than the Ranger.
• Jesse and Shelby from Glee could also count. That hug at the end of Regionals...and the hand-holding...and the kiss on the cheek. And, oh yeah, he helped her find her biological daughter and all that.
  • Also seems to be heading this way in regards to Kurt and Blaine. They're both very gay, and Blaine IS Kurt's Sexy Mentor / Big Brother Mentor...
  • Kurt/Blaine is canon as of 2.16 - but by this point, it's not really a Mentor Ship, they're on pretty equal footing.
• Michael and Nikita from Nikita, due to the uncontrollably large amount of Unresolved Sexual Tension between them that eventually culminates in a Relationship Upgrade after "Covenants", much to the fans' delight.

Video Games

• Ace Attorney:
  • Mia Fey and Phoenix Wright. Well, before The Plot Reaper shows up.
  • There's also Mia and her mentor Diego Armando, which is Canon.
  • Not to mention Phoenix and his assistant Maya, which even has an in-game fangirl in the form of Pearl, Maya's cousin. It's probably the most popular het ship in a fandom full of yaoi and yuri.
  • A slightly less popular ship, but Kristoph/Apollo.
• In Metal Gear, Naked Snake and The Boss.
• Dynasty Warriors 5 has Zhao Yun and Xing Cai, this troper knows that there ARE fans of this pairing.
• Final Fantasy IV the After Years has one between Palom and the Epopt trainee Leonora.
• Fire Emblem fandom has small followings for these pairings: Saleh/Ewan and Seth/Franz in FE8, Pent/Erk and Marcus/Isadora in FE7, and Cecilia/either Roy or Lilina in FE6.
  • Don't forget Karel/Guy in FE7 and Shinon/Rolf in FE9/10.
  • Or Ike/Titania. On the subject of Roy/Cecilia, this can actually happen in the game if you get them to A level support.
  • There's also Jeorge/Gordin from FE3/FE12.
• Luke and Van from Tales of the Abyss. Luke and Tear as well. Also Asch and Van.
• In Breath of Fire 3, there's Ryu and Deis/Bleu (who he's heavily implied to have a crush on). She can also become a mentor that you learn spells from. Canonically, he expresses some of the most romantic interest in her (compared to others) considering how he is through the entire game (including one of the few dialogue choices, where both choices imply his attraction to her). And then there was one of the few instances that he showed extreme emotion, which involved him turning bright red when he first saw her awaken.
• Commander Shepard and Garrus Vakarian if Shepard is female. This one's a rare example of the hero being the mentor.
• In Tales of Symphonia, Lloyd/Raine can be made possible in the sequel.
• Yuri/Nia in Infinite Space, as Nia taught Yuri many things regarding his life in space. Sadly, it was sunken by the end of Act 1 following Nia's Heroic Sacrifice.
• In the Metroid series, Samus and her former commanding officer Adam Malcovich, who she considers a father figure (not that they care), is heading into this direction... At least that's better than Samus x Ridley.

Western Animation

• Batgirl's (fortunately, one-sided) crush on Batman in Batman: The Animated Series. Honestly, with Kevin Conroy's voice, who could blame her?
  • Not completely one-sided, as it's canonically stated in Batman Beyond that Bruce and Barbara had a relationship. Confirmed again by Word of God (Bruce Timm).
  • There are Batman Beyond fics pairing Bruce Wayne and Terry. Depending on the viewer, recall the revealing twist in "Epilogue" and the Ship becomes No Yay (if it wasn't already).
• Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!:
  • Some people ship Chiro/Antauri. Interspecies Romance, anyone?
  • There's also Nova/Offay out there.
• Aang of Avatar: The Last Airbender gets shipped with all 3 of his Bending teachers -- Katara, Toph, and Zuko. He ends up with Katara.
  • Fic suggesting he was Gyatso's catamite obviously exist due to the inherent derangement of the Internet.
• Well before Sequel Series The Legend of Korra aired, shippers pairing Aang's teenaged Reincarnation Korra with her Airbending mentor Tenzin (Aang's son) manifested, despite the implicit May-December Romance the pairing would require. News of Tenzin being Happily Married with three children and a bun in his lovely lady wife Pema's oven caused most to Abandon Shipping. Most, but not all.
• 9's resident LOATS woob 5 gets this a lot with 2, to the point that some are actually arguing for its canonocity.
• The animated adaption of Teen Titans has inspired such a ship in the form of Slade/Terra, the former being a Manipulative Bastard and the latter being his apprentice. It also doesn't hurt that they were a canon item in the original comic storyline.
  • There's also Slade/Robin; much the same, but a lot less consensual.
• My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Twilight Sparkle/Princess Celestia is a popular pairing.

Fanfic

• This Vaarsuvius x Aarindarius fic on the Crack Pairing thread. It's not very happy.