Relationships are a common theme throughout life, no matter good nor bad, and in my view you have a relationship with basically everyone in this world (even if it’s the “I don’t know who that is” kind). Relationships also share common ground when it comes to video games, and not only are there simple relationships between characters in games, but some games are totally revolved around that relationship. Not all games have already pre-existing relationships though, and often times people have to work hard to get that ideal girl/boy in the video game. Here are some pretty famous video game relationships that everyone should know about! And if you don’t, well, here’s your chance to know about ‘em!

Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith(Final Fantasy)
“the love triangle, screwed up by a long haired baddie”
Childhood is a great place to start early relationships am I right? Well, Tifa and Cloud have been great friends since childhood. They eventually became closer friends, and Cloud has hidden feelings for Tifa that he doesn’t bring up. Later Cloud meets Aerith and falls in love with her. Aerith reacts in a similar way, because Aerith sees her previous dead boyfriend(Zack) in Cloud. However, eventually Sephiroth kills Aerith, and Cloud is left with Tifa. Its shown in Advent Children later that Cloud and Tifa are living together, but Cloud still has feelings for Aerith that reoccur many times. Verdict? In my opinion, don’t date someone if you can’t get over someone else (get over them first). I can’t imagine how annoying that would be for Tifa, especially after all she is giving up for Cloud.

Sora and Kairi(Kingdom Hearts)
“where did you go my love? I’ll chase you as long as I have to and save you…”
You know, I kinda felt sorry for Sora when I was playing Kingdom Hearts. I remember feeling the same things Sora did while gaming, excited when he got to see Kairi, depressed when she was away from her reach again. Excited when something led him closer to getting his friends back, sad when something separated him farther from his friends. You gotta give him credit. This kid travels through so many different worlds, fights evil Disney bosses, and even gives up his “heart” just to reach this girl grow up and become pretty good looking. You know, there really was never a hint that they would be together in the end (the games portray an extremely friend based level with both Riku and Sora working together to save everyone), but I sure hope they do. Verdict? Work hard and it can be yours. And if it wasn’t mean to be, then it just wasn’t. But anything is possible if you put your heart to it(haha get it?).

Luigi and Daisy(Mario)
“thrown onto each other from the start…but yet they still share great chemistry”
Is it just me or is it fate? Everyone knows Mario has the total hots for Peach. I mean isn’t a majority of the game where your goal is to save her? Well better yet, the sidekicks of the main protagonists are getting it on themselves. Luigi and Daisy seem to have something together, and there is a ton of evidence to support it. For a majority of Mario themed games not revolving around the main story, there are a lot of appearances that would make one think Luigi and Daisy are a couple of their own. Did you know that in Mario Power Tennis, Daisy says to Luigi “Hey Sweety!” and in Mario Kart for the Wii, there is a giant statue with Daisy and Luigi holding hands and dancing with another of baby Luigi and baby Daisy together on the Daisy circuit? This is cute. But my verdict? If you can get this great of a love from being fated and thrown upon each other, then kudos to you. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but it hasn’t happened for anyone I know so far. The guys I know always had to search for the girl.

Hana and Rain(Fear Effect)
“because you have to have at least one pair of lesbians on there” - Yuliya
Hailing from Fear Effect series, Hana and Rain are a couple that like to get it on(I’ll let you own imagination soar, and yes, you’re allowed to, it’s rated M). Hana originally meets Rain on a mission, and surely enough they eventually will become partners, in a lot more ways than just the professional way. Sure, the designer of the game, Stan Liu, states that

Once and for all, let me set the record straight. Hana is not a lesbian! She likes men…and she likes women. Who she chooses to go to bed with at the end of the day is not a big deal![...]The only reason I wanted Hana to have a female companion this time around is because it gives me the ability to create an extremely interesting love triangle further down the road.

but no way in hell do I believe him. Not many old games portray a relationship between two same sexed partners(I believe Dragon Age Origins sets a whole new pathway though for that now though), but this is one of those rare ones that do. Sorry for the ladies! But guys, I guess this isn’t the way to get a relationship. I mean the verdict is, you end up with no one and she ends up with who you wanted right?

Tidus and Yuna(Final Fantasy)
“summoner falls for annoying kid” -Alexa
Tidus. Yes Tidus. You did it again. Even Gamespot said you were “annoyingly whiny”, and Eurogamer thought you were “whiny” and “destestable”. But you pulled off the incredible. You got your relationship with Yuna voted the best relationship of 2001 by Game Informer. How did you pull it off though? I mean, you were just an annoying kid who played Blitzball really good and had your homeworld destroyed by Sin. But hey, it’s not the origins that matters, its how you approach the girl. After tagging along with Yuna on her pilgrimage as a summoner, it is his un-awkward times with Yuna that give him the upper edge. One scene we can take from in Final Fantasy X is the laughing scene. If you can do that with a girl, you know you’ve got something going on. If you can make a girl gladly and officially make you her guardian, that’s a bonus too. Eventually they reach the end of their journey, defeating Yu Yevon and allowing the Faythe to depart. But Tidus must disappear along with them, and it is here that we see Yuna’s true love for Tidus arise. It is a tearful ending, but in the end the whole story of FFX-2 with Yuna’s motivation of joining the sphere hunting group in hopes of finding Tidus trapped in a cage only goes to show how much dedication she has for her love of Tidus. What can I say? The verdict? Guys, if you could pull this off, you know where it’s at. You know what’s up. Kudos to you, just make sure you teach us single people how you did it. Tidus, you deserve a pat on the back, you annoying kid you. Remember: How you approach the girl is important. Even the whiny kid got love, I’m sure you can to.