Why do people ship Spike with Rarity?

[J.T. 1,843]

Why do people ship Spike and Rarity? Isn't that akin to shipping a ten year old with a twenty year old? It's kind of messed up when you think about it

[catnet 9,359]

There's lots of messed-up ships that people love to support- that doesn't make them any less enjoyable to read 

Besides, the people who've made the show put the effort in to have some sort of chemistry between them; why not make good use of it?

Edited January 5, 2015 by Edwardo_Brony

[Koukatsu 5,899]

Because a lot of people find the one sided love adorable, or have felt that from experience... ._.

I'M ROOTING FOR YOU SPIKEY-WIKEY! ;~;

[Jora 164]

because they can and they will end of argument...

[epzik8 92]

Well, he does have a canonical crush on her...

But one new ship I've seen lately is Spike and Sweetie Belle, which I guess makes more sense age-wise. But fans have the power to ship any two characters with each other, no matter how odd it seems.

[DragonFlyer 329]

This is probably one of the more normal ships in the fandom, to be honest. Plus Spike does have a legit crush on Rarity and like someone else said, one-sided love can be kind of adorable. Sure the age difference is odd but maybe it's not such a big deal in Equestria? At any rate, people are gonna ship what they want.

[CC_Maud_Pie 6,431]

Easy answer. It's their opinion.

[Queen Rarity 199]

Well, he does have a canonical crush on her...

But one new ship I've seen lately is Spike and Sweetie Belle, which I guess makes more sense age-wise. But fans have the power to ship any two characters with each other, no matter how odd it seems.

Ooh. With Sweetie Belle. Interesting choice.

[CC_Maud_Pie 6,431]

Well, he does have a canonical crush on her...

But one new ship I've seen lately is Spike and Sweetie Belle, which I guess makes more sense age-wise. But fans have the power to ship any two characters with each other, no matter how odd it seems.

I agree it does make more sense age wise. But it's still ponyillogical because no matter how much he fits in with ponies, he's a dragon not a pony.

[Shanks 10,817]

A lot of it is wish fulfillment which does apply to a lot of shipping in general  now than I think about it. A lot of fans really relate to having a one sided crush on someone and as result kind of root for Spike. 

[Luna the Great of all the Russias 3,115]

I find it odd when I see fanarts depicting Spike and Rarity being in a relationship as their age in the show (Spike being ~10 and Rarity ~20). Unless I'm very much mistaken, I wouldn't be surprised if Rarity was male and Spike was female the ship would be far less popular and seen much more negatively.

[DragonFlyer 329]

 

 

Unless I'm very much mistaken, I wouldn't be surprised if Rarity was male and Spike was female the ship would be far less popular and seen much more negatively.

You make a good point there, that's a big double standard for a lot of people. A younger boy crushing on an older girl is acceptable but reverse it and people get up in arms about it. Hell you see it a lot in real life, ex: female teacher has an affair with an underage boy and you'll see comments like "what a lucky guy!" but reverse it with a male teacher and an underage girl and oh hell no. It's wrong either way.

[Lisa 5,553]

Because Spike has a crush on Rarity. ;p

[Tameless 980]

Well yes it is messed up to a degree but I'd like to think of Spike to just have a simple crush on Rarity. Sure if he was older then yes I would pair them. Keep in mind, most people don't know the ponies ages.

[Odyssey 5,719]

Because it's a canonical crush. A lot of people think that Spike's a child, but I'm going to disagree with that. That's a different topic for another time, however.

 

Not only that, but most Sparity fans I've met are well aware of the flaws of this ship. No matter how odd it is, I'd rather let a fandom do their own thing rather than whine about the implications of a ship.

[veryoriginalponyname 121]

I'm not a fan of it either, but they're not the only ones. The CMC and other foals get shipped with adults a lot, like Scoots with RD and whatnot. Nothing is off-limits to this fandom (or pretty much any fandom to be fair). 

 

Sparity can be kinda cute when it's innocent, but other than that, it doesn't work for me. I'm not gonna stop anyone from enjoying it though. 

Edited January 5, 2015 by veryoriginalponyname

[Conred 274]

It woudn't be such a big deal with the age difference since a big part of the fandom ship Fluttershy with Discord even when there is thousands of years of age gap. The problem is psychological and physical maturity of Spike compared to Rarity. It would be wrong as long as Spike is depicted as a naive child. Such romance would harm Rarity as a character as she would obviously take advantage of childish crush like an adult teacher taking advantage of a little girl.

[Sceethe 704]

it´s even more messed up when you think about the fact that they aren´t even the same species!

 

MLP is a cartoon, and Rarity kind of represents the high-class girl that spike wants to be with, while simply not being in her league.

 

I haven´t read any shipfics, but i can imagine that being a story-element in at least some of them.

[VitalSpark 1,830]

Why do people ship Spike and Rarity?

 

Because if you had to pick any pair of main characters who are not blood relatives, you couldn't pick two characters who love each other more (in canon) than Spike and Rarity do. Rarity just happens to love Spike in a different way than Spike loves Rarity.

 

Also, he's the only major male character in the show, so in that sense is an obvious choice if you want a male/female shipping.

 

Most people have had an unrequited love in their past, so a story about an unrequited love becoming, well, requited, has emotional appeal.

 

As far as his age goes, do remember he's a dragon and we know virtually nothing about how dragons mature. Although he appears to be physically immature, and needs a lot of sleep, he does also have a full time job, and is trusted to stay at home without supervision when the ponies go off to the Crystal Empire in Just for Sidekicks. He is in many ways treated as an equal by the mane 6.

 

Dragons as a species might just mentally and emotionally mature faster than they physically mature. Such a growth pattern would actually make a lot of evolutionary sense in a creature that breathes fire: it would ensure that they were more emotionally equipped to deal with anger issues before their bodies (and fire-breathing capacity) grew.

 

With regard to the species difference, unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, donkeys, zebras, griffins, minotaurs, and so on all seem to share the same society in Equestria. There is nothing considered strange about Rainbow Dash and Gilda being friends with each other; one is not the other one's pet, they're on an equal footing with each other. If cross-species friendships are commonplace, then it's plausible that cross-species romantic and sexual relationships are not as taboo there as they would be here.

 

If Fluttershy were to have an affair with Angel Bunny, that might cross a boundary, as Angel Bunny is a member of a species from a lower level of sentience. But Spike and Rarity, being from species with the same level of sentience, might be a different matter. I'm not saying that that's exactly what Equestrians believe, but it seems a plausible explanation to me.

Edited January 5, 2015 by Vital Spark

[James A Williams 199]

Because ever since the first time he saw her, Spike seems to have a crush on Rarity. So it does make sense to ship them (just don't take it too far a.k.a them clopping) unlike stuff like AppleDash or PinkieShy.

[Coco before Pommel 679]

Hm, I can think of a few reasons:

 

1. People like/identify with Spike, and he has a canonical crush on Rarity, so they want him to get what he wants.

 

2. People like/identify with Spike and they have a crush on Rarity too, so they self-insert onto him.

 

3. People like the "unrequited love becomes requited" trope for wish-fulfilment or whatever reasons. (personally I generally dislike it because it hits close to home on some RL issues, but each to their own~)

 

4. People just like their canon dynamic and see potential/think it would be cute for there to be more between them...or for pretty much the same reasons as why you would ship any other ship.

 

 

I don't like two-sided Sparity (his canon crush is cute, if a bit overdone sometimes) mostly because of the age difference - as others have pointed out, it's debatable as to exactly how old Spike is meant to be and I'm cool with others disagreeing, but he does still feel very much like a child to me, at least no older than maybe 12 in human years - and because as I mentioned I'm not a fan of  unrequited love ships, but I feel like a lot of people who do mostly ship it with Spike aged up, in art and fanfic anyway? Even those who don't, though...eh, there are controversial aspects but I wouldn't call it that messed up because at least they do have a canon friendship and Spike can be surprisingly mature at times - although I guess that depends on just how far you want to take it? like cuddling and kissing with Spike's canon age is fine, but more...again, I wouldn't necessarily judge someone for it because some people are into that kinda thing in fiction, but it would personally make me a bit . And anyway, sometimes messed-up ships are fun! (I have a few myself, though not in MLP) I'd probably have some issues if it became actual two-sided canon, but ship and let ship~ it's easy enough to ignore Sparity stuff if you don't like it, and this is a big fandom so there should be room for us all to enjoy what we like 

[Tao 8,845]

It makes for some cute moments in the show and all

and well little boys tend to crushes like that in real life

so maybe a writer had something like that happen to them

and used that RL event into a play into the show.

 

One thing I can ship  a Spike/Rare and  but only if

its Older Spike and Rare or if you get a really

good AU setting so the shipping works but I do not

support clopping of underage cannons at all....

[Everleaf 542]

Well it's simple... it's cute

though the age difference may seem....odd or out of normal it still comes out cute and innocent (with exceptions)

as long as people don't take it too far (and even then it's up to that person) I find it a very cute ship, besides it is pretty much classed as canon,

 

I am quite the Sparity shipper myself so I cannot complain!

 

 

 

[Jeric 46,880]

The reasons behind the Sparity shippers are beautifully laid out by Coco before Pommel. I myself don't ship as I desperately want an episode where Rarity lets Spike down, or rather Spike realizes that his crush on Rarity is actually NOT a crush ... that he has a deep bond of friendship with her.

 

That second one is on my top ten wishlist items for the series.

[Petrus 696]

****************************SPOILERS********************************

 

This is my opinion don't judge me if i'm way off

 

Because in that one episode where spike and rarity are falling to their death spike admits he likes her, but she already knew that and started to cry. they lived, and ever since then she liked spike more.