Some doctors marry consulting detectives

DISCLAIMER: ALL EXAMPLE SHIPS CAN BE DEBATED AND CATEGORY LINES ARE FUZZY. This is just a rubric I’ve found useful.

1: Canonical. These are actual couples, undisputedly together according to both the original Creator and the Fandom. (Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger; Dean Winchester and Lisa Braeden; Anderson and Sally Donovan)

2: Semi-Canonical. These are couples who canonically love each other, but in a debatably platonic way. (Sherlock and John, Dean Winchester and Castiel, Dean and Sam Winchester)

3: Non-Canonical. These are couples who are not canonically together at all, but do know each other and have some kind of canonical relationship. (Sam Winchester and Gabriel, Molly Hooper and Lestrade, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy)

(I feel like 3 should be split in two: characters who are relatively close, like they work together or are friends, and those who either hate each other or only know each other in passing, but the line there gets surprisingly fuzzy)

4: Extra-Canonical. These couples consist of characters who do not know each other canonically, often characters who are from different universes (infinite examples…people seem particularly fond of shipping the Doctor with people)