Emmanuel College The Hub

Written by: Sofia Orlando ’28

When taking a daily scroll through your Tiktok “For You Page”, there are a plethora of things you might come across- the current outfit trends, an interesting story-time from your favorite creator, or even the latest meme that has taken the internet by storm. However, avid Tiktok users may have noticed the latest internet phenomenon to hit their FYP that has come in the form of a historic internet concept: cross-shipping.

Deriving itself from the terms “crossover” and “relationships”, cross-shipping refers to two characters from differing universes being coupled together in a fan inspired relationship. Oftentimes, these characters will have complimenting personalities or traits, which causes them to get grouped together and therefore “shipped”. The term itself is certainly a relic of its time, gaining its popularity in the early 2010s as cross-shipping fandoms began to form, including ones such as “Superwholock”, “Onceler Fandom”, and “Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons,” which is also referred to as “The Big Four”. While each fandom was popular within its own right, “Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons” seemed to gain the most attention, and could be considered the base framework for modern cross-shipping.

Beginning on the internet platform Tumblr, this crossover compiled the names of hit films including “Rise of the Guardians”, “Brave”, “Tangled”, and “How to Train Your Dragon”. This expansive universe grouped the main characters of their films, Jack Frost, Merida, Rapunzel, and Hiccup, respectively, into one universe that would allow each character to interact and form complex relationships. The fandom itself emerged in 2012, which was around when each movie was released, and gained mass popularity after its introduction. From there, members of the fandom began creating artwork, edits, and supercuts that incorporated the characters. And by 2013, the fandom grew exponentially with the addition of characters from the “Frozen” film franchise. 

While a good chunk of content revolved around the characters going on adventures or hanging out and being “normal” teens, “The Big Four” became a haven for cross-shipping culture. Many fans often paired together the characters of Jack Frost and Rapunzel (Jackunzel) and Hiccup and Merida (Mericcup) due to their complimentary personalities. These ships, more specifically “Jackunzel”, found its popularity by feeding into the common relationship trope of “good girl x troubled boy”, which captivated audiences and ultimately made it easier to produce content based on the pairing. However, with the addition of “Frozen” into the universe, “Jackunzel” was gone and a new ship had emerged in the form of “Jelsa” (Jack Frost and Elsa), causing discourse amongst original and new fans of the media. 

Over the years, this fandom has certainly faded into the background of internet history, however there are still plenty of “Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons” fans active today who continue to produce content. In fact the wiki site for the fandom has comments from fans as recent as 2024. 

With that brief history out of the way, there has certainly been a resurgence of the concept as of late, with the most recent and popular cross-ship coming from the unlikely pairing of Diary of a Wimpy Kid’s Rodrick Heffley and Mean Girls’ Regina George. 

Sprouting from the imaginative mind of the creator @Monialynn, the Rodrick and Regina (or “Rodrina”) pairing began to take off on October 10 after the creator’s fanart of the two went viral. Since then, other fans of the couple have begun editing clips from their respective films together, creating more fanart, and even writing tales of fan fiction to give more depth to their story. And while this relationship may seem uncanny to many, it uses the same logic of the cross-shipping for “The Big Four”; complimentary personalities, similar age ranges, and fitting a common relationship trope such as “popular girl x unpopular boy”. 

While this fan-made relationship is the most popular, it has ultimately inspired a resurgence in cross-shipping culture that has since become one of Tiktok’s latest trends. Plenty of creators have begun introducing their own pairings via Tiktok videos, with many rising to popularity including Andrew Garfield’s “Peter Parker” and Anne Hathaway’s “Mia Thermopolis” from the “Spiderman” and “Princess Diaries” series’, respectively. 

This resurgence is certainly still in its early stages, however with a previous knowledge of cross-shipping history in mind, it’s likely that the concept will once again go viral and introduce a whole new audience to the beloved internet phenomena.