Shobin

Shobin is the non-binary ship between Shulk and Robin from the Super Smash Bros. fandom.

Canon
Robin and Shulk have fairly similar backstories of being found by a group of heroes (The Shepherds for Robin, Colony 9 for Shulk), with the difference that Shulk was found and raised as a baby while Robin was fated to meet Chrom and his vigilantes as an adult. Both seem to enjoy reading, Robin uses a spellbook as one of their regular weapons, Shulk's character art for his home game shows him reading a book. Both are rather studious, Robin is fascinated with strategy and receives the title of "Genius Tactician" in Fire Emblem: Fates, Shulk has studied the Monado for many years long before he ever got to use it.

Super Smash Bros. For Nintendo 3DS and Wii U
Both Shulk and Robin were added in this game as part of the base roster, Shulk was the first newcomer announced after Robin. They are both mechanically unique characters, with Robin having durability for his sword and spells, while Shulk is capable of temporarily buffing his attacks with the runes of the Monado.

In the Event Match "New Challengers 2", Robin and Shulk are two of the opponents. In "The Ultimate Swordsman", the player controls Ike while fighting every swordfighter in the base game (except Lucina), including Robin and Shulk.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Robin and Shulk do not interact in this game.

Due to being revealed right after one another in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS (and Lucina being placed right next to Marth as his Echo Fighter), Robin and Shulk are placed right next to each other both on the character roster and on smashbros.com.

Fanon
Shobin is the most popular ship in the "Super Smash Brothers" tag on AO3. The ship is so popular that Fire Emblem and Xenoblade Chronicles fans actually started shipping it without any Smash basis. It helps that there's a lot of overlap in their fandoms (both being JRPGs) and that people who main Robin are likely to main Shulk and vice-versa. The ship is actually more popular than Shulk's canon ship with Fiora on AO3, but it's considered just one of many Robin ships, since their nature as a gender-neutral blank slate for the player means that they can be shipped with pretty much everyone in their home game. The het and slash variants seem to be equally popular, though some prefer Male Robin as Shulk's partner since they have similar haircuts.

Part of the appeal is their many similarities in design, characterization and tragic backstories. However, many also like the idea of Robin's Dark Fantasy setting clashing with Shulk's Science Fantasy setting, finding the mashup to be incredibly interesting. A common theme is to make Shulk forward and friendly towards Robin, with Robin responding nervously or aloof, sometimes calling Chrom for help. Some depict Shulk as a father to Robin's child Morgan, either having conceived Morgan with Female Robin, or being a stepfather with Male Robin.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

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