Duncan/Gwen

Duncan/Gwen, also known as Gwuncan, is a popular pairing within Total Drama fandom. The ship is between Duncan and Gwen, both prominent characters. It has been popular since 2007, when both were paired by fans during the run of Island (2007), and was canon from 2010 to 2013. An infamous love triangle during World Tour, which had Duncan cheat on Courtney with Gwen, paired them up. When they returned for All-Stars, however, their relationship was slowly declining due to Gwen not appearing to be interested in Duncan any more and being more focused on repairing her friendship with Courtney. Their relationship came to an end during the fifth episode of All-Stars, as Duncan's obsession with grabbing Courtney's attention infuriated Gwen because he still into his ex-girlfriend, leading to her dumping him. The love triangle arc of World Tour has overshadowed the ship itself since.
Duncan/Gwen and Courtney/Duncan and are inseparable as pairings, as is Courtney/Gwen, and the vast majority of fans have seen fanac of all three ships. Ship war between Courtney/Duncan and Duncan/Gwen fans specifically has existed since 2009, though Gwen/Trent and Courtney/Gwen shippers are not to be ignored from the equation.
==Common Tropes==
*Codependency - Gwen helps Duncan cheat on Courtney in-universe. Fanworks may expand upon this dynamic.
*Shared Hobbies - as Duncan is Punk and Gwen is Goth, some fanworks may expand upon these subcultures. Referencing specific musicians and/or horror movies they both may enjoy within fanworks is not unheard of.
*Historical AUs - more so than other pairings, as former Duncan/Gwen BNF Dalhia-Gwenhttps://www.deviantart.com/dalhia-gwen regularly featured them in her fanart.
*Height Difference - Duncan is taller, Gwen is shorter.
==Duncan/Gwen Fandom==
Before Duncan/Gwen became canonized, ship war between Duncan/Gwen and Gwen/Trent fans was somewhat prevalent, more so than with Courtney/Duncan shippers. Trent's behavior during Action soured many Total Drama fans to his character, and canonically Gwen and Trent broke up while Courtney and Duncan wouldn't until World Tour. Confrontational Duncan/Gwen fans may have flamed the sinking ship. Immediately following World Tour's I See London... airing, which canonized Duncan/Gwen, newly invigorated fans may have also flamed the sinking ship of Courtney/Duncan.By the time later seasons such as Revenge of the Island aired, the flames directly from World Tour cooled.
Many fans of both ships also agree that the relationship's breakup during All Stars was rushed and poorly written, like the rest of the season, though neither of these sentiments are ubiquitous. 
As of 2020s' Total Drama fandom, some fan circles consisting of mostly younger users such as Wattpad and TikTok may invoke flames, but communities such as Reddit and Tumblr are more sympathetic on all sides. Fanon ships getting into the ship-war picture, whether Het, Slash or Femslash, is rare but not unheard of.
Gwen's attraction to Duncan is implied to be stronger than the reverse canonically. Duncan fans may believe that the relationship is more mutually beneficial to both parties than his relationship with Courtney, which was always tumultuous. Fanworks for Duncan/Gwen tend to focus more on Gwen than Duncan, though not by a significant margin. Some BNFs for Duncan/Gwen fandom include noyoucantpinmedownhttps://noyoucantpinmedown.tumblr.com and hella-marshmellahttps://hella-marshmella.tumblr.com.
October 23rd is Gwuncan Day on Chefhatchet's Appreciation Calendar.
==Fan Opinions==
Because everyone who watches the show knows about Duncan/Gwen post-World Tour, fan opinion regarding the pairing varies greatly. 
Perspectives are split into Watsonian and Doyalist for convenience on this article, as both are prevalent in meta. 
===Largely Watsonian===
===Largely Doyalist===
==Example/Notable Fanac==
, an AMV on Youtube which features several fic recs in its description.
===Fan Communities/Fan Events===
*, a large Fanpop community.
*Gwuncan Week 2014, a fanweek hosted on Tumblr.
*Gwuncan Week 2020, a fanweek hosted on Tumblr.
*, a community on DeviantART.
*, a community on DeviantART.
*, anti-Duncan/Gwen club on DeviantART.
*The Duntrent Den has a channel for Duncan/Gwen.
*Gwuncan Community.
*Gwuncan (Discord server).
===Aesthetic Edits===
*.
=== Blogs ===
* on Tumblr.
===Collections===
*, a collection of 119 fanarts on DeviantArt.
*, a collection of Spanish Duncan/Gwen fanfiction on FanFiction.Net.
===Fan Art===
* by sallychan as part of her Bouncey series. (27 Nov 2013)
*, Duncan and Gwen in outfits fit for the 1970s-80s punk and goth scenes.
*.
*. Wedding fanart, featuring Duncan in a tuxedo and Gwen in a dress.
=== Fan Fiction===
*A drabble for this pairing was featured in Total Drama Crack before it became canon.
*, an attempt at a community-created fanfiction on Fanpop. It has a sequel, .
*, an English work-in-progress (likely abandoned) longfic which takes place in a boarding school AU. It is the most favorited fic for Duncan/Gwen on FanFiction.Net as of September 2023.
*, an English completed fanfiction where Duncan "gets caught in the middle" of Gwen/Trent. Written before I See London... premiered, the episode which canonized Duncan/Gwen.
===Playlists===
*, a fanplaylist on YouTube.
*, a fanplylist on YouTube featuring mostly AMVs. It features 199 videos total.
*Situations by ju5t4n3rd (2013)
*gwuncan by totaldramagothgf (2018)
===Meta===
*, a discussion on Fanpop from early 2012.
*, an essay on DeviantArt by Striddums, somewhat of a Total Drama BNF.
*, a DeviantArt post with 39 comments archiving fans' reactions to the kissing scene in I See London... soon after it aired.
* (2021)
==References/Further Reading==
* on Shipping Wiki
* on Total Drama Wiki
Category:Pairings
Category:Het Pairings
Category:Total Drama Het Pairings
Category:Total Drama Relationships