By TYLER PATRICK
With Valentine’s Day approaching, love fills the air. However, romance is found year-round in television shows through some of the most iconic couples to ever hit the big and small screens.
This entertainment obsessed columnist will discuss his favorite couples and what gives them the quality to make the list.
Lily and Marshall from How I Met Your Mother – These two characters are more perfect together than peanut butter and jelly. Lily and Marshall met in college and according to the show, remain together forever.
These two fit so well together because they are basically the same person. Whenever Marshall is feeling something, Lily can be found feeling the same thing and vice versa. The pair are also a good representation of a great couple because they are so easily relatable. They fight, laugh and they face real life problems people potentially encounter everyday.
Even when Lily and Marshall separate for the summer in the un-aired space between seasons one and two, they get back together mid-season two and the crowd learns how hard it was for the two of them to be apart from each other.
There is not a better way to see true love than in the actions of these two characters.
Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty – This pair of Disney royalty is perhaps one of the greatest imaginary couples to reach our hearts. The idea that these two lovers met “Once Upon a Dream” only adds to the magic between them.
Prince Phillip’s love and passion come through when he fights for her affection and defeats the evil Maleficent to save her from eternal slumber. His kiss of “true love” is the only thing that can wake Aurora. This film is perhaps the only one that really embodies fighting for the princess, which is what makes it worthwhile as one of the top five best couples of all time.
Rose and Jack from Titanic – This couple is perhaps one of the most well known and liked pair to ever come across the big screen. Their love story, based off the true story of the Titanic sinking, is as iconic as Kate Winslet’s red hair in the film.
The forbidden love these two portray is exactly what most people search for in real life. However, the film’s ending is what seals the deal on their relationship.
As Jack sacrifices his own life to save Rose after the ship has sunk, it is understood there is nothing but real love between them because it takes true love to die for another person.
Hermione and Ron from the Harry Potter franchise – No love will ever top these two characters for this entertainment junkie. Watching them grow from young friends who fought and bickered every second to young adults who began having feelings for one another, their relationship is pure magic.
Perhaps, what makes this relationship so real is the fact that Ron and Hermione were so real themselves. They fought like real couples and they love each other like real couples. Their love is something one could not find in real life.
As Hermione becomes jealous of Ron when he snogs Lavender Brown in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, that sense of attraction is defined for the first time, even though there were constant suspicions from fans throughout the whole series. When Ron leaves in the first part of the seventh installment, Hermione is devastated and one can tell she is really torn by her decision to stay with Harry and help him find the horcruxes.
When Ron and Hermione kiss in the final film, it was obvious they finally released all the tension between them and it is perfect.
Edward and Bella from Twilight – Although this fan of the franchise first began as a supporter of Jacob and Bella’s relationship, by the fourth installment, this fan had switched to team Edward and Bella.
Their love really is the definition of forbidden. Her small, gentle and fragile nature next to his cold, hard and dark soul make for a horrible match. But just as the book says “the lion fell in love with the lamb.”
After Bella is transformed into a vampire like Edward, their love becomes eternal as they really do spend the rest of their lives together.
Allie and Noah from The Notebook – It’s actually quite a surprise that these two didn’t make it to the top five. They represent true love in every sense of the phrase. After years of being apart, they still wind up together, showing that love can last if it really means something.
The reason these two stand out though is how true their love remains until “death do them part.” After Allie suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and forgets about Noah and the rest of her family, he moves in to her nursing home and reads their story to her everyday, refusing to back down. Only dedication and devotion can create a love like this.
Lucy and Ben from Crossroads – These two unlikely characters make for the cutest couple to be a part of chick flicks everywhere. When Lucy, the quiet and reserved bookworm meets Ben, the rough and greasy guy giving her and two friends a ride to California, a sense of attraction is immediately noticed. However, Lucy’s strong will to not seem vulnerable stops all vibes between them.
After Lucy is forced to calm Ben down after a meltdown, the two of them develop a close bond. It’s after this that he drives her toward a singing career, something she never expected to have inside her. The two’s unpredictable relationship and understanding of one another make them a notable couple.
Alex and Mason from Wizards of Waverly Place – These characters are another representation of forbidden love. With Alex being a witch and mason a werewolf, their relationship rides fully on whether or not Alex wins the family wizard competition. If Alex loses the match and is forced to become mortal, then she and Mason cannot be together.
A relationship that runs solely on one competition can only indicate how pure it is because anything that lasts under these circumstances shows devotion to one another, because they could easily just end the relationship if it wasn’t worth fighting for. In the end, Alex does win the competition and she does get to be with Mason, only completing their love story.
Troy and Gabriella from High School Musical – These two characters were about as compatible as winter and summer when they first met, yet fate brought them together. Troy is the school jock and Gabriella is the bookworm, but through their secret love of singing, they found a connection.
The film centers around them trying to break out of the social norms of high school and be together through their ability to perform together. Despite the several people against the pairs relationship, they break past stereotypes to perform together and develop a solid relationship.
In the third film, the two go off to college together and have the perfect “happily ever after.”
Ariel and Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid – One of the most perfect fairytale couples to possibly ever exist. The different forms and worlds of these two characters made it almost impossible for them to meet, yet they did. It seems cliché, the whole mermaid and human story, but a love like this can only mean true love because a mermaid willing to give up her best feature and whole world, just to be with one man is more than just a fairytale, it’s flawless.
It’s something every child dreams about for when they grow up, a love that knows no boundaries.
Loves like these are but a fraction of all the couples to come across both the big and small screens. However, these five relationships stick out the most because they represent true love and commitment.