JeanMarco

JeanMarco was a popular ship in the Attack on Titan fandom, between Jean Kirschtein and Marco Bodt. It had a large and passionate fanbase even though one of its characters, Marco, died early in both adaptations. Many fans even considered JeanMarco fanon, and it was a background relationship in a lot of fanfiction written to focus on other characters and relationships.
During the long gap between the releases of Season 1 (2013) and Season 2 (2017) of the anime, passion for the entire Attack on Titan fandom lost steam as fans moved on to other fandoms. Though JeanMarco fans were used to a dearth of content from canon, their fandom eventually petered out too, though it is remembered fondly by many of its participants and BNFs. This loss of interest was helped along by the convoluted twists in the manga's writing and growing awareness of controversy surrounding Hajime Isayama’s political views.
== In Canon ==
Jean and Marco have very different personalities, Jean acting as a bad-tempered foil to Attack on Titan’s protagonist as soon as he is introduced and Marco acting as a voice of reason. Despite this, they are depicted as close friends. Jean thinks Marco is a naive idealist and Marco thinks Jean would make a good leader. Marco saves Jean in battle, and then Marco is killed in episode 13 of the anime and chapter 18 of the manga. Jean is the one to discover his corpse and his death changes Jean’s perspective and life goals. Jean joins the Survey Corps (also called the Scout Regiment) and continues to work alongside Eren because of Marco. Marco is rarely mentioned after his death, however the circumstances surrounding it are shown to still impact Jean even years later.Attack on Titan Chapter 127 End's Eve
== Fandom ==
Jean/Marco is the second most common relationship in AoT fics on AO3.
Many Attack on Titan fan creators who favored JeanMarco became friends, collaborated on pieces together, and gifted each other with content. It was especially common for fanartists to fill their art with Easter Egg details—references to other popular JeanMarco fanworks. In particular, Jean was often drawn wearing a red beanie that had no association with his attire in canon. What resulted was a tightly knit community of creators who often made more art specifically for JeanMarco than for Attack on Titan as a whole.
"Red-Beanie Thursdays," on which fans posted selfies, fanart, fanfiction, and cosplay related to JeanMarco were inspired by the popular fic Wisteria and its prequel, Forget Me Not, in which Jean has a red beanie that is an important plot point.
==Tropes & Fanon==
It is a popular headcanon that Jean continued to think about Marco, his death, and the effect it had on Jean’s life as the series progressed. This is confirmed late into the series, including the fact that he talked about Marco to other characters who didn't know him.
Because half of this ship died so early on in the series, many JeanMarco fanworks either took place before Marco’s death or had to avert canon. Thus the majority of fanworks are Alternate Universes in which Marco's death is somehow averted. This is reflected in the Nobody Dies/Everybody Lives tag being the most commonly used for JeanMarco works on Archive of Our Own.
Some fanworks reflected the dark tone of the source material and on angst, in both works close to canon and Canon Divergence works that avoided Marco's death. The majority of works that focus on Marco are JeanMarco, so JeanMarco works often include tropes generally found in Marco works. This includes Injured!Marco or Disability Fic in which Marco survived the titan attack or Dark!Marco based on theories that Marco was secretly a titan shifter or villain. The focus on disability in JeanMarco fandom is notable for a slash/yaoi anime pairing, as such ships generally focus on two able, conventionally attractive characters together.
Other fanworks were lighter and more fluffy; these were often AUs that were more different from SNK canon, such as Modern AUs and Mundane AUs. It was common for Marco to be an amputee.
=== Popular AUs ===
 
*Military Police AU: Jean and Marco both wanted to join the Military Police while they trained as soldiers. Because Jean is inspired by Marco’s death to join the Survey Corps instead, it’s a common headcanon that they would have gone to the Military Police instead if Marco had lived.
*Reincarnation AU
*Everybody Lives AU
*High School & College AUs
*Punk/Pastel AUs were particularly common in fanart
=== Homophobic Jean ===
A very common plot point in JeanMarco fanfiction was internalized homophobia. Usually in these fics, Marco was depicted as gay, closeted or not, and Jean was both attracted to him and in denial about it. Sometimes Jean knew he was attracted to men but didn’t want to admit it because of his family or job. Sometimes he told Marco, whether it was the truth or not, that he could not love him because Marco was a man and he wasn't gay. Often Jean would cite his attraction towards Mikasa, which shows up in canon, as proof he was straight.
Some fanworks used Jean's "no homo" attitude as a source of comedy, and others as a source of conflict. A few fic authors used it as an opportunity to tackle the reasons behind internalized homophobia in real life or for Jean's character development in their fic.
As fans noticed this trend, many expressed frustration and disappointment in the prevalence of homophobic Jean characterizations. by cousinnick, Tumblr. Posted 21 February 2014. Accessed 06 May 2022. Fans complained that it was a harmful portrayal of a gay character, and that it was often shallow and always overused. by tsunfisk, Tumblr. Posted no later than 11 March 2014. Accessed 06 May 2022.
== Gallery ==
File:JMeastereggs.jpg|enjouji's fanart of They Radiate Like Stars by farseersfool including Easter Eggs for many other fics, like the poster for Ghost Story in the background of the first panel (2014)
File:JMlockerroom.jpg|locker room scribbles by gottachasepigeons (2013)
File:Thisismouseface iheard tumblr.jpg|alt=Marco in a pastel sweater and Jean in a jacket and a mohawk, holding hands|I heard “pastel Marco and punk Jean” and came running by thisismouseface on Tumblr
File:Johannathemadjeanmarco01.png|April 2019 JeanMarco by johannathemad
File:Johannathemadjeanmarco02.png|Hey, love! Let’s run away! by johannathemad (2017)
File:RBTfeature hdotk tumblr.jpeg|alt=Marco and Jean, dressed as cops, shout at each other on a shooting range.|Fanart and Red Beanie Thursday Feature of sinelanguage's Give And Take by hdotk
File:Untitled kaa-05n2 tumblr.jpeg|alt=Jean, dressed in winter clothes, playfully pins a smiling Marco in the snow.|Fanart by kaa-05n2 (2018)
File:Guardianangel jeanlubipieguski.jpeg|Guardian Angel by jeanlubipieguski
File:JMPaperCages.jpg|Screencap of Paper Cages by muchacha11
== Example Fanworks ==
=== Influential and Popular Fanfiction ===
*Ghost Story by avoidingavoidance
*Wisteria by butterflychansan, also made available as a Kindle book
*Benvenuto by chromochaotic
*They Radiate Like Stars by farseersfool
*Keep That Breathless Charm by jacklalonde
*Strings by Kenjiandco
*Render by Legendaerie, available in other formats
*Like a Drum by Lownly which has a trailer on YouTube
*Long Time Coming by morvish
*give and take by sinelanguage
=== Fanartists ===
*Johannathemad
*jeanlubipieguski / Razuri
*H.K
*Theicarustheory on tumblr
*Muchacha11 on tumblr
*kimiooon / Kimi
*Lemonorangelime on tumblr
*Kaa-05n2
*rainbowd00dles
*thisismouseface / Mouse
*Lazy-afternooner or grassprint
*falloutboyonboy on tumblr
*kierlia / kie
=== Other ===
* Jonah Scott's fan voice acting
* Always - A JeanMarco Skit by TheAlchemicFox
* Adventures at Titan High by Vändett∀ Cosplay
==Links & Resources==
* JeanMarco on Shipwikia
* JeanMarco on Shipping Wiki
* Jean Kirstein and his anime portrayal on Attack on Titan Wiki
* Marco Bodt and his anime portrayal on Attack on Titan Wiki
==References==
Category:Slash Pairings
Category:Attack on Titan Relationships