Incest

This article is about the fictional depiction of sexual activity between two or more characters who are closely related by kinship.
The exact degree of relation required for a work to be labeled incest (by the creator or by others) is a matter of debate - some use legal standards from their local area; some use specific degrees of blood relation (in which case, step-sibling sex would not be considered incestuous); some use religious or other social community standards.
==Prevalence in Fandom==
In some fandoms, incest fic involving a specific pair of characters is relatively common. In Supernatural, many stories are written about the brothers Sam and Dean; some stories include one or both men and their father. In Harry Potter, stories about sexual relations between the Weasley twins are very common, and sometimes tolerated even by people who refuse to read any other incest fic. Stories about Draco and Lucius Malfoy or the Black family are also fairly common. In the Wizards of Waverly Place fandom, the largest ship by far is between brother and sister Justin and Alex Russo. In the late 80s–early 90s, Simon & Simon slash between the two Simon brothers was not uncommon, though fairly stigmatized at the time. In the late 1990s Kung Fu: The Legend Continues had a mailing list dedicated to the intergenerational father/son incest pairing of the fandom, i.e. Peter/Pop slash. 
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Incest is also common in some RPF fandoms. Lord of the Rings actor Elijah Wood is sometimes paired with his sister Hannah, and Gerard Way/Mikey Way is one of the most popular My Chemical Romance pairings.
In slash fiction, these stories are more likely to explore concepts of devotion and family solidarity than the power-imbalance focus in many non-fannish incest kink stories.
== Terminology ==
* Shipcest can be used as a catch-all for any form of incest shipping.
* Brothercest or brotherslash for the incestuous relationship between brothers.
* Sistercest, siscest, or yuricest for the incestuous relationship between sisters.
*Daddycest for the incestuous relationship between a character and their father.
** Dadson is also used if it's a Slash pairing.
* Momcest for the incestuous relationship between a character and their mother.
* Siblingcest or sibcest for the incestuous relationship between any siblings.
* Twincest is the incestuous relationship between twins.
* Wincest is another term for incest or twincest, e.g. "incest is wincest" (to describe something as "win" is to call it a good thing). It is also a term for an incestuous relationship between the Winchester brothers in Supernatural fandom.
*Clonecest or selfcest (more extensively described on the doppelganger page) is used for literal clones or for characters multiplied via alternate universes, time travel, magic, replication superpowers, etc. Also used in some fandoms for crossovers pairing characters played by the same actor.
To name pairings, "cest" can be added to the end of the characters' last name, or a shortened form of their last name, e.g. Winchester becomes Wincest, Uchiha becomes Uchihacest, Petrelli becomes Petrellicest, Tam becomes Tamcest, and so forth. The "cest" ending can be added to a number of words to show an incestuous scenario or kink, as noted in the terms listed above. For example, selfcest being a pairing in which the character is paired with themself rather than being about actual incest.
==Fandoms with significant incest pairings==
Any fandom can have a one-off story. These are sources where one or more incest pairings are common in stories/vids/art of the fandom. In a few cases the information below is a spoiler for the original source material.
===FPF===
* The 100 -- "Blakecest" Bellamy Blake/Octavia Blake
* A Series Of Unfortunate Events -- "Baudecest" Violet/Klaus
* A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones
** Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister (canon)
** "Starkcest": Jon Snow/Sansa Stark, Jon Snow/Robb Stark, Robb Stark/Sansa Stark, Jon Snow/Arya Stark, Robb Stark/Catelyn Stark, and many more.
* Ace Attorney - Gavincest (Kristoph/Klavier), Iris/Dahlia to a lesser extent. Apollo/Trucy is an interesting case in that they were a popular pairing before it was discovered they were related, though some do still ship them regardless.
* Arrow -- "Queencest", Oliver/Thea
* Assassin's Creed -- ConHayth and Fryecest are somewhat common. Ships between Desmond and his Animus ancestors (for example Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad/Desmond Miles, Ezio Auditore da Firenze/Desmond Miles, Connor Kenway/Desmond Miles) are also often seen as incest, though they are separated by many generations (centuries, even).
*Avatar: the Last Airbender -- "Firecest", more commonly called "Zucest" is the surprisingly prevalent ship between siblings Azula and Zuko.
* Batman -- "Batcest" or "Robincest"
* The Brady Bunch - Greg/Marcia and Jan/Peter have commonly appeared in fanfiction, bolstered by the fact that the actors of each pair dated in real life. Other combinations such as Jan/Greg are less common, but not exactly rare.
* Charmed -- Any pairing between the sister characters - Prue, Piper, Phoebe and Paige is feasible (with the exception of Prue/Paige due to timeline incompatibility), and among the more common non-het ships.
* Chronicles of Narnia - "Pevensiecest", Peter Pevensie/Susan Pevensie and Edmund Pevensie/Lucy Pevensie which is sometimes interchangeable: Susan/Edmund, Lucy/Peter, Edmund/Peter, Susan/Lucy
* Clannad -- The Fujibayashi twins, Kyou and Ryou, have a very close relationship that borders on incestuous even in canon.
* Crimson Peak -- Lucille Sharpe/Thomas Sharpe aka Sharpecest
* Devil May Cry -- Dante/Vergil, aka Spardacest or DanVer, is the most popular ship in the fandom. The term "Spardacest" is also used for any pairing involving Dante, Vergil, and/or Nero with another member of the Sparda bloodline.
* Dexter -- Dexter/Debra (adopted siblings) and to a lesser extent Dexter/Brian (separated siblings).
* Digimon -- Brothers Yamato and Takeru, and Osamu and Ken were sometimes paired, as well as Taichi with his sister Hikari
* Fire Emblem:
** Michalis/Minerva was very popular among Archanea fans.
** Genealogy has the canon pairings of Arvis/Deirdre, and Lachesis is canonically in love with her brother Eldigan who may return those feelings. In the second generation, Seliph and Julia starts with an high love score that drops as time goes on due to them being half-siblings, but fans will ship them together anyway.
** Three Houses saw a rise in Mercedes/Jeritza aka Emile (half siblings from the same mother) and Dimitri/Edelgard (former stepsiblings). When Three Hopes was released, a few fans started shipping Claude with his antagonist half-brother Shahid.
** Engage saw the pairings of Timerra/Fogado and Diamant/Alcryst gain shippers almost immediately. Some fans dropped the Veyle/Alear ship when it was revealed they were siblings, but others kept shipping it for that reason.
* Elden Ring -- Miquella/Mohg (half-brothers) is a canonical pairing also involving abduction, implied non-con, and potential underage.
* Firefly -- "Tamcest" or "Crazy Space Incest" Simon/River
* Frozen -- Elsanna (Elsa/Anna) or "Icest" is one of the fandom's most popular ships.
* Fullmetal Alchemist -- Elricest, Edward/Alphonse (fanworks for this ship are sometimes shota as well)
* Gravity Falls -- Pinecest (Dipper/Mabel) and Stancest (Grunkle Stan/Ford Pines)
*Harry Potter -- many common incest pairings: Weasley and Patil twincest, plus frequent pairings in the Black, Malfoy, and Weasley families.
* Hetalia -- Many countries are siblings or parent/child and are paired together. Among the most popular yaoi couples are US/UK, though this pair is not always written as an incest couple. Also Germancest (Germany/Prussia) and the het couples Switzerland/Lichtenstein and Belarus/Russia. The latter has canon support.
* Heroes -- "Petrellicest" Nathan/Peter, Peter/Claire, Nathan/Claire
* The Hobbit -- Kíli/Fíli (brothers), Kili/Fili/Thorin (brothers/uncle) Durincest, Nori/Ori/Dori, etc.
* Homestuck -- John/Jade (Prospitcest) and Rose/Dave (Dersecest) , both pairs are discovered to have been raised by adoption and are biologically/genetically related by IVF/biology lab, similar to Leia and Luke in Star Wars. They had/have a previous friendship and many fans still considered them to have chemistry after the reveal, continuing on shipping. Calliope/Caliborn are aliens with a "sibling-like" relationship, as described by them and others. There are also other minor incest ships based on the time travel and occasional alternate universes present in canon.
* House of Wax -- Carly/Nick (which is also twincest)
* iCarly - Carly/Spencer
* InuYasha -- "Inucest", half-brothers Inuyasha/Sesshoumaru are the mainly shipped incest pairings. Less popular is the Inu no Taisho/Sesshoumaru, father/son, and Inu no Taisho/Inuyasha, father/son. On rare occasion, there is the Sango/Kohaku pairing, brother/sister.
* Kung Fu: The Legend Continues 
* The Locked Tomb series -- Coronabeth Tridentarius/Ianthe Tridentarius (siblings and sisters) mutually "handsy" and close/devoted and codependent in canon, possibly implying this. Some of fandom is interested. Gideon Nav/John Gaius, John having expressed interest in Gideon and later having been revealed as her biological "father". Canon as a whole has themes of pseudo-incest or incest kink that are sometimes explored by fans. Namely the imperial and/or religious structures of the empire using father, mother, child, brother, and sister as terminology and some characters preferring to use these terms as part of their flirtations or kink activities.
* Lord of the Rings -- Eowyn/Eomer, Boromir/Faramir
* Lost -- "Pacecest" - Charlie/Liam
* Loveless -- Seimei/Ritsuka
* Marvel Comics -- Pietro/Wanda, Illyana/Piotr, Scott/Alex, Johnny/Sue
* Mo Dao Zu Shi -- Lan Wangji/Lan Xichen - (Jadecest)
* Mortal Kombat X/11 -- Cassie Cage/Sonya Blade, or "Sassie" and Mileena/Kitana, or "Kiteena"
* Naruto -- "Uchihacest" especially Itachi/Sasuke, Hyuugacest specifically Neji x Hinata
* Numb3rs -- "Eppecest" Don/Charlie
* Phineas and Ferb - Phineas is sometimes shipped with his sister Candace or his step-brother Ferb
* Randall's Friends - Ivorycest
* Revolution - Charlie/Miles, Miles/Danny, Charlie/Danny
* Revolutionary Girl Utena -- Anthy/Akio, Miki/Kozue, and Touga/Nanami. The first is out and out canon, with Anthy and Akio's sexual relationship driving the plot. Miki/Kozue is merely suggested, while Nanami's onesided feelings for Touga are canon until late in the series.
* RWBY -- Ruby Rose/Yang Xiao Long
* Saint Seiya -- In the manga it is stated that all the bronze saints are children of Mitsumasa Kido with different mothers. Therefore, according to manga canon, all ships between bronze saints would be incest. This is not so in the anime, where Ikki/Shun is the only bronze saint incest ship, since they are children of the same mother. Leo Aiolia/Sagittarius Aiolos is also a popular ship. The series also features several pairs of twins, one of the ships (Saga x Kanon) is in the top 10 ships of the series in AO3.
* Sanders Sides -- While all of the Sides are technically aspects of a single personality (and therefore "selfcest"), there are some familial undertones to certain relationships. Patton/Virgil (Moxiety) is one of the more popular pairings in the fandom. Despite canon evidence of a father/son relationship, the majority of the fandom doesn't see Moxiety as incest. Remus/Roman (RemRom), however, has been shunned by much of the fandom as incest or twincest due to Remus being compared to Roman as a "brother"/"twin" in canon. The platonic ship of Remus&Roman is called "Creativitwins".
* Scream -- "Satara or Carpenter-cest" Sam Carpenter/Tara Carpenter There's plenty of moments in both Scream 5 and Scream 6 that seems to point to Sam and Tara having romantic feelings for each other such as constantly touching one another's hair, hugging all the time and very intense eye contact. Not to mention the fact that they're both overprotective of each other. Satara is one of the newest F/F ships within the Scream fandom.
* Sherlock (BBC) -- "Holmescest" Sherlock/Mycroft
* Simon & Simon -- Incest from the slash early days. 
* Shameless -- Gallaghercest (Ian/Lip, Lip/Fiona, Lip/Debbie, Debbie/Carl, etc), Milkovichcest (Mickey/Mandy)
* Smallville -- "Luthorcest" especially Lex/Luthor and Lex/Tess
* Sorcerer Hunters -- Glacécest (Carrot/Marron) had a small but devoted fanbase in the early 2000s due to Marron's devotion to his brother being the main part of his character in canon.
* Star Wars -- Luke/Leia was a common pairing after the first movie, now comparatively rare.
* Succession -- Various combinations of Shiv Roy, Kendall Roy, and Roman Roy
* Supernatural -- "Wincest" Sam/Dean are probably the biggest incest pairing, ever; Dean or Sam are also paired with their father, John, or sometimes their mother, Mary
* Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles -- The turtles have been raised as brothers in all incarnations of the story, though whether they are genetically related is usually unknown; all the turtles have been paired together at some point, but Leonardo/Raphael is the most common.
* Terminator: TSCC -- "Reesecest" pairs brothers Kyle Reese and Derek Reese. Some works pair John Connor with either his father Kyle, or his uncle Derek.
* The Thundermans -- "Thundercest" mostly refers to Max/Phoebe but also Nora/Billy
* Undertale -- Sans/Papyrus is far and away one of the most common ships in the entire fandom. It's usually called "Fontcest".
* The Vampire Diaries -- "Salvatoreslash" the sibling incest ship between Damon and Stefan Salvatore is popular in both the book and tv series fandoms.
* Vampire Knight -- Various incest ships in canon as well as fanon, including twincest.
* Voltron: Legendary Defender: Matt/Pidge, otherwise known as Holtcest, is fairly popular.
* The Walking Dead -- "Dixcest" Daryl Dixon/Merle Dixon
* Wizards of Waverly Place -- Justin/Alex, or "Jalex"
====Avunculate relationship====
* Peter/Claire from Heroes, uncle-niece
* Daenerys Targaryen/Jon Snow from Game of Thrones, aunt-nephew
* Bruno Madrigal/Mirabel Madrigal from Encanto, uncle-niece
* Daemon Targaryen/Rhaenyra Targaryen from House of the Dragon, uncle-niece
===RPF===
* Bandom -- Waycest (My Chemical Romance)
* Borgia Family - Cesare Borgia/Lucrezia Borgia
* Popslash -- Lynncest (NSYNC), Cartercest (Backstreet Boys), Jonas Brothers
* Hanson -- Mostly Zac Hanson/Taylor Hanson
* Oasis -- Liam Gallagher/Noel Gallagher
* Tokio Hotel -- Bill Kaulitz/Tom Kaulitz
* LoTRiPS -- Woodcest Elijah/Hannah Wood
===Twincest===
See the list of twincest pairings in the twincest article.
===Examples in fanworks===
* (Dave Franco/James Franco) by totem
==Controversy==
As incest has been a powerful taboo in most societies throughout most of history (although societies have varied in their definition of kinship), controversy is bound to arise over the fictional depiction of incest in fanworks.
Many fans refuse to read any of it, and believe all of it is sick and wrong.WARNING: Possible Dolt Porn (formerly Fan Fiction) Discussion thread on TWOP Others see incest fiction as normalizing abuse and sexual assault and believe that repeated exposure to the genre and its greater acceptance in fandom creates an atmosphere where the abuse becomes tolerated in real life.See Hossgal's author's notes to "Mother of Horses." Still, some objectors are willing to allow themes of incest within fandom providing they are not written to satisfy kink and do not whitewash abuse.See Hossgal's author's notes to "Mother of Horses." 
However, this seems to be much more restricted to focused relationships between siblings and parents/children, as in some countries, such as Brazil, real relationships between cousins ​​or uncles/nephews are relatively common. Because of this, many pairings seen as incestuous in certain countries may not have the same connotation in Brazil. However, even with this similarity between fiction and reality, not every Brazilian fan openly declares that they have read or written incestfic, due to its taboo.
===Same vs. Cross-Generation===
Others can accept incest fic among peers (siblings, esp. adult siblings) but not cross-generational incest such as parent/child:
===RPF===
Incest is one of the most controversial topics in fanfic, especially in RPF.
===Slash vs. Het===
There is a common perception in many fandoms that slash incest pairings are much more acceptable than heterosexual ones. Complaints and discussions of this pattern regularly turn up in anonymous forums like LOL meme and fandomsecrets. This same pattern has been observed outside of fandom as well. 
In kangeiko's 2006 meta on fandom incest, they theorized that the popularity of m/m incest in comparison to m/f incest could be related to the prevalence of female writers in fandom: 
Kangeiko also highlighted the use of outsider POV and the prevalence of male character POV in m/f incest, while f/f incest is extremely rare in fandom.
===Incest and antis===
With the rise of antis and antishipping culture, claims of incest are often treated as a trump card against certain hated ships in shipwars, even when the characters aren't related in canon. Some examples include the arguments over Rey's parentage after Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out, antis' insistence on Shiro and Keith being brothers, or the backlash against Thorki after Thor: Ragnarok for being pseudo-incest. 
In the Jonsa vs Jonerys ship war, in which both pairings share a blood kinship of a comparable degree (first cousins vs. aunt/nephew), objections raised against either ship tend to be more complex. For example, Jonerys shippers sometimes point out how Jon and Sansa grew up believing they were half-siblings, arguing that this makes the Jonsa pairing both sibling incest and cousin incest. Conversely, Jonsa shippers sometimes argue that Daenerys and Jon actually have a higher degree of consanguinity than the average aunt and nephew, since both were born into a dynasty that has traditionally practiced sibling marriage.
==Why Incest?==
What's the appeal? Why do fans read/write/draw/vid/etc. incestuous pairings? Sometimes it's because of the taboo, sometimes it's in spite of it, and sometimes the taboo is irrelevant.
There are many fans for whom incest pairings have a special appeal. Sistermagpie says about the attraction of brother/sister incest for her: 
Jana summed up an explanation of the historical and cultural taboos against incest by stating: 
Explanations or justifications for including incest in a story can include: "No matter whether their canonical relationship is brotherly, these characters/actors are way hot and I want to envision them getting together!""Those guys are showing some major subtext between them! They practically beg to be slashed!" (and given that slashy friends often say they love each other "like a brother" the conflation of family intimacy and sexual intimacy as types of emotional intimacy is a common cultural concept)"I've got a brocest kink already, and these guys give me a great excuse to air it out!"Meta: Fandom - Slash - Incest - Wincest... by on_verra, 3 Mar 2008"These characters' lives are already so fucked up, incest is a 'natural' continuation of this dysfunction (and perhaps, paradoxically, the least dysfunctional part of their lives.)" For example: 
"It's inappropriate and that makes it more interesting." For example: 
"It's beautiful that they love each other so much to break the taboo." 
Fans also may write incest pairings even though incest itself is not among their kinks:
A popular and memorable quote by peripheralsight summarized the thinking that fans were drawn into incest ships simply because that's what they were given by canon: 
==Evolution in fannish works that include incest==
Some fans argue that as incest pairings have become more common in fanworks, that the way 'cest pairings are being written has changed. For example, in a 2010 dreamwidth comment, Zvi said, "cheery, uncomplicated, happily ever incest ... is new and strange."19 January 2010 comment by zvi in her dreamwidth post "A whirlwind tour of fannish incest". Initially most or all 'cest stories made at least a nod to the fact that they were doing something considered wrong by society. More recently, though there are still plenty of angsty 'cest stories, many stories ignore incest issues altogether -- somewhat like historical aus that allow same-sex marriage with no one blinking an eye.
==Incest in Alternate Universes==
Some fans do write AUs where the incestuous pairings are not related. This is a sub-genre in Supernatural and Elsanna.
Less common is the AU that takes an unrelated couple and turns them into an incestuous pairing.For example, Last Will and Testament by Speranza is a very rare Stargate Atlantis story where the popular slash ship turn out to be brothers. Certainly rare enough that the author felt the need to apologize. This is sometimes used for some ambiguously incestuous characters such as the Batfamily in DC Comics, where an AU might change it so characters were more closely raised together.
Season ten of Smallville introduced a canon AU where Clark Kent had been raised a Luthor and was sleeping with his sister Tess. However, fans had already been writing Clark/Lex Luthorcest AUs since a season two storyline that revealed Lionel's part in the Kents' adoption of Clark.
==Canonical incest in Western fandoms==
Some, usually minor, fannish sources feature canonical incest. Flowers in the Attic is probably the most mainstream example of incest between two biologically related siblings who were raised together. Another is Wiseguy: Mel and Susan Profitt, a brother and sister raised together, have a clearly implied relationship in canon which is later made more explicit when another character, referring to Susan's pregnancy, notes that the baby could very well be Mel's. In Blades of Glory, US figure skating pairs team of brother and sister Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg share an off-rink intimacy that lends a certain piquancy to their routines.
A tragic intra-generational incestuous relationship, fatal for both siblings involved, is told by J.R.R. Tolkien in The Children of Húrin, where the wedded couple Turin and Nienor turn out to be brother and sister. Both commit suicide. It is set in the Middle Earth universe.
George R.R. Martin's fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire and the TV show based on the books, Game of Thrones, includes brother-sister incest between Jaime and Cersei Lannister which results in three children who are believed to be children of (and thus heirs to) Cersei's husband, King Robert.
Robert A. Heinlein's World As Myth universe incorporated incest in several stories, both between siblings and between parent/child, particularly in the novel Time Enough for Love. In this universe, as long as the threat of a bad combination of recessive genes is averted, there's no incest taboo.
Sometimes the interaction between two characters in canon reads to the fans like romantic or sexual chemistry, but then TPTB reveal that the two characters are actually related, retconning the pairing to be incestuous. For instance, part of the plot of Veronica Mars, season 1, involves Veronica discovering that her ex-boyfriend Duncan may actually be her half-brother, causing Veronica to fear that she has unwittingly been in an incestuous relationship. Luckily, this turned out to be fakecest.
Similarly, in Heroes, several episodes after Peter and Claire met, viewers learned that he was actually her uncle. Rather than let their pairing be jossed, some fans continued to ship Peter/Claire anyway. 
Star Wars is another well-known example: Leia kisses Luke on the cheek in Star Wars: A New Hope, on the mouth in The Empire Strikes Back, and is revealed to be his secret long-lost twin in Return of the Jedi, thus turning Luke/Leia into a rare het twincest pairing. Published in March of 1978, the first Star Wars tie-in novel, "Splinter of the Mind's Eye" by Alan Dean Foster, features several scenes with explicit sexual tension between Luke and Leia. Wookieepedia, Splinter of the Mind's Eye Last accessed October 10, 2008.
Another canon pairing came to light in Marvel Comics' The Ultimates, written by Jeph Loeb. Previously, Wanda and Pietro's relationship had been a matter of subtext, but in issue #1 of the third Ultimates series, they were revealed to have had a canonical twincest relationship. Doop, Ultimates 3 #1: Pietro and Wanda December 7, 2007. Last accessed October 9, 2008.
Finally, stories that feature time travel may play parent-child attraction for laughs and/or shock value, such as in Back to the Future or Futurama.
==Canonical incest in manga/anime fandoms==
Incest or near-incest is a common theme in many manga and anime. Revolutionary Girl Utena features heterosexual sibling incest; in Ceres: Celestial Legend, a brother and sister are possessed by the spirits of dead lovers; in Neon Genesis Evangelion, a teenage boy obsesses over a clone of his mother; Saiyuki features several heterosexual incest pairings, including a twin brother and sister as well as a mother and son; and then there's Marmalade Boy, about two couples who decide to get divorced, swap partners, and re-marry, turning their children (one couple has a teenage boy, the other has a teenage girl) into double-step-siblings. Hijinks ensue.
The 2001 manga Koi Kaze features an incestuous romance between long-lost siblings. This is a much more dramatic take on the trope, with both parties dealing with the guilt over their feelings for each other and even considering committing suicide together. They choose to live, however, and stay together.
Incestuous romantic comedies have become more popular in recent years, examples being "Oreimo" and "I Don't Like You At All, Big Brother!!". These are less well-received, due to the overly comedic, sexualized, shallow portrayal of such risky relationships.
==Canonical ambiguously incestuous pairings==
Though the definition of "incest" at first seems quite clear and unambiguous, different cultures and time periods have radically different definitions for it, and the legal definition may differ from how people generally use the word in daily life. Moreover, some relationships may be seen as having incestuous overtones without involving incest in a literal sense. Examples of relationships that are often perceived differently in different contexts include those between first cousins, more distant cousins, relatives by marriage, and people with a foster or adoptive relationship. See: Pseudo-incest.
Many pairings within the Batman comics universe fall under this umbrella; pairings between characters who are not related and were not raised together may still be labeled "Batcest" if they are part of the "Batfamily" centered around Bruce Wayne, including relationships between the various characters who have been Batman, Robin, or Batgirl. The Killing Joke animated film was controversial for its decision to portray a canon Barbara Gordon/Bruce Wayne relationship. "Robincest" is the term for shipping Robins with each other.
Similarly, in The Royal Tenenbaums, two siblings who are only related by adoption have what is technically an incestuous relationship. In Lost, step-siblings Shannon Rutherford and Boone Carlyle appeared to have a tension-filled, typically bickering sibling relationship; it was later discovered that they had engaged in an intimate relationship at least once, and (it seemed implied) probably more than once.Lost, Season 1, Episode 13, "Hearts and Minds."
A sexual attraction between step-siblings Greg and Marcia is played for laughs in the Brady Bunch movie A Very Brady Sequel.
British fandoms, especially if they are historical, may feature relationships between cousins, which to American fans can seem incestuous. For instance, in The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer, the romantic hero and heroine are first cousins.
Step-siblings or adopted siblings falling in love is a fairly common plot device in anime and manga as well.
In the Darkover novels by Marion Zimmer Bradley sworn friends refer to each other as brother and sister ("bredu" and "breda") and the main affectionate term used by same-sex lovers is an especially intimate inflection of the same word ("bredhyu" and "bredhya").
In The Flash, Barry Allen and Iris West were raised together and later got married.
==Further Reading/Meta==
* Incest in Fanfiction - Rambling thoughts (1998)
* In Defense of Fictional Incest; archive link by Thamiris (2001)
* Keeping it in the family: a question of fandom incest by kangeiko (2006)
* , norah (2007)
* (2015)
* Squick by Fangirls Anonymous (May 2021)
==Fannish Links==
* Shipcestuous
* x4ashes4ashes
* Familiar Attraction and Familiar Attraction on Tumblr
* Relationshipping an incest exchange
* Folgers flash Exchange --- Multifandom fanfiction flash event for incest pairings (2023)
*Asexuelf's Big-N-Large, Ever-Growing List of Incest Ships 
==References==
Category:Glossary
Category:Romance Tropes
Category:Sexual Tropes & Kinks
Category:Relationships Glossary