{"id":1024651,"date":"2026-01-13T20:06:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T20:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=471037"},"modified":"2026-01-13T20:06:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T20:06:22","slug":"when-crack-ships-crack-the-superhero-mainstream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/when-crack-ships-crack-the-superhero-mainstream\/","title":{"rendered":"When crack ships crack the superhero mainstream"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Once upon a time, there was a teenage girl, the bastion of innocence, who became enamored with a centuries-old bad boy with an eternal curse. Amid a tumultuous love triangle, quasi-real breakup, and a chapters-long fight over their surprise baby, they battled for their happily-ever-after and captured the hearts of millions of invested fans.<\/p>\n

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This week on Polygon, we\u2019re exploring how superheroes are dominating not just comics and movies, but all media, in a special issue called Superculture<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This is the story of Sukunella, the fan-conjured crack ship between Disney\u2019s Cinderella and Sukuna, the King of Curses from the shonen anime series Jujutsu Kaisen<\/em>. But I wouldn\u2019t blame you if you thought I was describing the toxic love story of Twilight<\/em>\u2019s Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, which shares more than a few fleshed-out parallels with the Sukunella lore that\u2019s all over TikTok.<\/p>\n

In videos chronicling flirty quarrels and ballroom dances, Sukunella shippers have created a compelling, albeit absurd, saga, with one artist even going as far as composing a breakup ballad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That level of dedication hints that the crossover is more than just a means to quick laughs.<\/p>\n

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@soup_and_sasha<\/a> <\/p>\n

This is not satire #cinderellaxsukuna<\/a> Inspo: @\u2606 <\/p>\n

\u266c Queen Charlotte – Soup<\/a> <\/section>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Sukunella is one of the more vibrant and sprawling examples of a crack ship, the impulse to pair characters who might not otherwise romantically or sexually interact into bizarre-sounding relationships. Typically, these characters hail from different fandoms, universes, or IP, but the core premise is that they must have a near-zero chance of hooking up. The ethos? Unapologetic chaos.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Superhero, Disney, and anime fandoms are often the harbingers of this cursed content. Sukunella exploded thanks to TikTok user cloudstrifesimp, who is also responsible for Elsa (Frozen<\/em>) x Goj0 (JJK<\/em>)<\/a>, Tiana (The Princess and the Frog<\/em>) x Nanami (JJK<\/em>)<\/a>, and Toji (JJK<\/em>) x Buzz Lightyear (Toy Story<\/em>)<\/a>. In August 2023, cloudstrifesimp posted a carousel<\/a> of Sukuna spotting Cinderella at a ball and later eating her mouse, Gus. The lore now includes a love triangle<\/a> between Prince Charming, Cinderella, and Sukuna. Later videos introduced their son Bagdemagus Ryomen<\/a>, played by Bakugo from superhero shonen My Hero Academia<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What?<\/em> (\u201cI wished I could tell you,\u201d confesses<\/a> cloudstrifesimp under a comment asking the same thing.)<\/p>\n

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@localdeernamedbambi<\/a> <\/p>\n

Soooooo its been a whileeee\ud83d\udc49\ud83d\udc48 Hope everyone\u2019s been well\ud83d\udc95\ud83d\udc95\ud83d\udc95 Im back\ud83e\udef6\ud83e\udef6\ud83e\udef6\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\udc95\ud83d\udc95\ud83d\udc95 Also this audio was requested so hope you enjoy \ud83e\udef6\ud83e\udef6\ud83e\udef6\ud83d\udc95\ud83d\udc95\ud83d\udc95\ud83d\udc95 #jjkxdisney<\/a> #jjkxdisneyprincess<\/a> #sukunella<\/a> #sukunaryomen<\/a> #cinderella<\/a> #jjk<\/a> #sukunaxcinderella<\/a> #fyp<\/a> #sukunsxcinderellaxprince<\/a> <\/p>\n

\u266c original sound – W<\/a> <\/section>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

What do these pairings offer that canon or \u201cnormal\u201d fanfiction cannot? Primarily, shock value: There is something viscerally traumatizing about Winnie the Pooh moaning<\/a> \u201cYou\u2019re making me rumbly in my tumbly\u201d while in Final Fantasy 7<\/em> villain Sephiroth\u2019s arms. Alternatively, the tamer #MordeTwi<\/a> pairing of My Little Pony<\/em>\u2019s Twilight Sparkle and Regular Show<\/em>\u2019s Mordecai, set to \u201cAirplanes\u201d by B.o.B. and Hayley Williams, appears to exist for us to throw up our hands and sigh, \u201cWhy not?\u201d (My Little Pony: A New Generation <\/em>storyboard artist Kaitrin Snodgrass declared in jest that the ship is \u201ccanon,\u201d per Comic Book Review<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Other crack ships make (some) sense because of similar traits: villainy, powers, or aesthetics, to name a few. Tumblr blog \u201cA Crack Ship a Day,\u201d for one, cataloged the \u201cforbidden love\u201d between antagonists Waluigi and Dr. Doofenshmirtz. A user astutely analyzes<\/a>: \u201cTheir noses would block them kissing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s timing. In the 2010s, the Marvel Cinematic Universe popularized crossovers with The Avengers <\/em>\u2014 and AO3 has amassed over 42,300 works about Steve Rogers x Tony Stark<\/a>. <\/em>Around the same time, animation fandoms kick-started Rise of the Brave Tangled Frozen Dragons<\/a> (ROTBTFD), an ambitious Avengers-like crossover of (admittedly, all-white) heroes from five CGI movies, including Rise of the Guardians<\/em>, Frozen<\/em>, and more. It spawned Jack Frost x Elsa, a mega-famous crack ship that still persists<\/a> as an internet favorite, but fic historians often overlook its spinoff: Secret of the Incredible Frozen Guardians, which emerged amid Pixar\u2019s The Incredibles 2 <\/em>announcement<\/a> and birthed the Frozone (who is canonically married) x Elsa<\/a> crack ship \u2014 a nod to their powers.<\/p>\n

Corporations, too, have leaned into crack ships. As profit-seeking businesses, they capitalize on fan hype, but that doesn\u2019t necessarily detract from the impact. Take Archie Comics\u2019 Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man crossover, which helped legitimize crack ships as a mainstream method of consumer engagement. Writer Ian Flynn joked<\/a> on Kotaku <\/em>that fans could look forward to \u201c[hot] Amy-on-Wily action,\u201d referring to the pink female anthropomorphic hedgehog and (old) Lord Wily from Mega Man<\/em>. The artwork itself fueled the MegaSonic ship, which resulted in at least one comic where Megaman gave Sonic \u201cbedroom eyes<\/a>,\u201d according to Tumblr. Archie Comics continued its crack pairing with Sonic Universe<\/em> issue 72, whose cover featured a \u201cmatchmaker\u201d that allowed readers to mix-and-match Sonic characters at their whim.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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