Love in is the air and we’ve got some gaming headcanon pairings for you this Valentine’s Day!
Our video games are packed with compelling narratives, twists and turns, and certain characters that we are just rooting for to get together. Sadly, they don’t always get the happy ending we think they deserve or aren’t even shown as canonically being romantic! Pffft, rubbish. This is where headcanon comes in, a happy little space for all our favourite pairings. We’ve got five headcanon gaming pairings to celebrate this Valentine’s.
Emily and Sandy – Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley is the farming sim that keeps on giving. In the near ten years since its release, ConcernedApe has added new content and romanceable characters – including zany Emily. While this blue-haired fashionista is the object of Clint’s obsessions and can be courted by the farmer, it is her friendship with Calico Desert vendor Sandy that has us seeing hearts. Especially since the 1.6 update with the Desert Festival and their adorable fashion booth.
It’s clear from the Stardew lore that these two are close, spending birthdays together and writing to each other about all the latest goings on in Pelican Town. It’s giving history will remember them as roommates and not the lovers they are.
(As a cheeky extra – especially for the Lewis haters – in-game dialogue would suggest that Marlon fancies Marnie, and that is definitely something we can get behind. Marnie is a queen and deserves a man who celebrates that.)
Holly Alto and Malcolm Landgraab – The Sims
With the introduction of the Alto crime family as a foil to the absolutely totally legitimate Landgraabs in The Sims 3, it would seem like we had the perfect opportunity for a little Romeo and Juliet style romance. Holly Alto is the good-hearted daughter of mean-spirited Nick and Vita while Malcolm is the heir to the Landgraab fortune. A match made in star-crossed heaven. Except she’s a teen and he’s a child. Or a married man in the console version.
In The Sims 4, however, Malcolm Landgraab is a teen, and it’s this version of him which we can see falling for sweet Holly Alto in a dramatic and tragic tale. Especially as teen Malcolm has the evil trait. Just imagine Holly Alto vibing with the Taylor Swift song I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can). In Simlish, of course.
Cloud and Aerith – Final Fantasy VII
I hear you, technically Cloud and Aerith have The Feels™. That is an accepted fact in the Final Fantasy VII lore. But (spoiler alert), she dies. So, I guess the headcanon is that they get to live happily ever after, rearing chocobos with the next generation of fighters running about the place.
Aerith is the perfect sunny personality to balance Cloud’s moody angst. Even with Tifa presented as a childhood romance that never quite happened, we just can’t help but feel like Cloud and Aerith are end game. In another life, maybe they are – we can but dream.
Claire and Leon – Resident Evil 2
Nothing says romance quite like fighting through a zombie virus outbreak, yet this is where we found love for Claire and Leon in Resident Evil 2 and subsequent games. On their dangerous missions to fight Umbrella, find lost siblings, and survive zombies, their paths cross several times – often resulting in daring rescues. The moment when Leon pulls Claire to safety away from the acid in Resident Evil Infinite Darkness really gets our hopeful hearts a-fluttering!
We aren’t the only ones, either – fans have modded the scene where Leon and Ada kiss to be with Claire instead. Clearly, needs to be canon.
Shadow and Amy – Sonic the Hedgehog Series
Our final headcanon pairing is Shadow the Hedgehog and Amy Rose from the Sonic the Hedgehog universe. It has a similar energy to those out there who ship Peach and Bowser. (Me, I ship Peach and Bowser. Take a hint Mario, she’s never in the castle!)
It’s all well and good, having the leading lady be in love with your protagonist but, let’s face it, we love an antihero with a troubled past. It is absolutely within the realms of possible that sweet, bubbly Amy Rose would find Shadow fighting for Maria’s dying wish of peace to be ✨dreamy✨.
Your Perfect PC Pairing
With Overclockers UK’s impressive collection of gaming PCs, you don’t have to imagine the perfect happy ending. Choose from pre-built PCs, expertly crafted to suit a range of play styles and budgets, or take advantage of our custom PCs, offering a range of options to personalise the spec to best meet your needs.
OcUK Gaming Mach 1 Pre-Built PC
- Pre-built gaming PC – 1080p performance on a budget!
- AMD Ryzen 5 5600 CPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 GPU
- 16GB DDR4 RAM and SSD storage
- Covered by our three years parts and labour warranty
Be Our Valentine
More Headcanon Pairings
Who are your gaming headcanon pairings? Let us know in the comments below!
PC specs are subject to change.
- 5 min read
Emily Haylock
Author
Emily is a board and cosy gamer, keyboard obsessive, and content copywriter for Overclockers UK. She has been with Overclockers UK since 2020, writing about everything from noblechairs to 8Pack PCs. She writes from within her desk nest with a foster pup at her feet. (What, a desk duvet is a totally normal thing!) In her downtime, she likes to play board games, farming sims, and old-school Final Fantasy. IX to be specific. It is the best, and that is a hill she will die on.
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