Rasputin x The Bride

Rasputin x The Bride is the het ship between Rasputin and The Bride from the Just Dance fandom.

Canon
Due to the vague nature of Just Dance's canon, the chronological order between the ship is not known. However, it is widely accepted within the fan community that Rasputin and The Bride first met in either Liza Friday's party in "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) or in Panda's adventure in All Star mode, with "Sugar", "Sweet but Psycho" and "I Am My Own Muse" being placed in subsequent order.

Both coaches appear in their initial separate routines in different games. Rasputin is the coach for "Rasputin" by Boney M., which is featured in Just Dance 2, and The Bride is the coach for a clean version of "Hot N Cold" by Katy Perry, which is featured in Just Dance. Rasputin initially dressed in a dark teal blue Russian outfit with dark green hat, red belt and black hat and boots. The Bride initially dressed in a white dress and outfit reminiscent of a wedding gown, with her skin, hair and accessories being orange from Just Dance to Just Dance 3 before her skin turns white and the hair and accessories in hot pink as remake for Just Dance streaming services, itself becoming the basis for her re-appearance in Sugar.

Rasputin and The Bride are seen for the first time in "Sugar", a song by Maroon 5 that is featured in Just Dance 2019. The coaches serve as the first pair in the routine, with other pairs appearing in the routine that are also composed of older coaches from previous routines. The song's context is about a person desiring the love of their beloved, which matches to the wedding themes of the routine. The ending returns back to Rasputin and The Bride on top of their own wedding cake, and the routine ends with Rasputin carrying The Bride in his arms and The Bride planting a kiss on his cheek. This part strongly implies, and later confirmed in years, to be the start of their relationship.

While both coaches do not appear prominently in subsequent games, Rasputin and The Bride appear as in "All Stars" mode, a mode dedicated to the 10th anniversary of Just Dance that was part of Just Dance 2020, where Panda, one of the franchise's mascots, travel through different Danceverses and gather past coaches along the way before reaching the final Danceverse. In the cinematics between songs and in the final, Rasputin and The Bride can be seen mingling with each other.

The pair are seen again in Just Dance 2022, this time in the routine for Katy Perry's song "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)", with The Bride appearing more prominently to help Liza Friday dancing. In a certain point of the party, Rasputin appears dramatically with open arms and the two exchange flirtatious actions and playing along with each other, with The Bride conveniently ignoring the advances of another man (Mister Overload, a coach from Just Dance 4's "Never Gonna Give You Up") and happily taking his hand and goes through the crowds. Humorously, The Bride also returns in subsequent parts, where she has a fake beard identical to her lover. The two appear once again together at the end of the routine.

By the time Just Dance 2023 Edition is revealed and released, the relationship between Rasputin and The Bride quickly turns sour and ends with the two separated. This is both shown in their respective routines, where they adopt a darker outfit style that reflects their breakup. The Bride's hair is dyed red and styled after the "Max Cut", her dress is split between her original outfit and a shiny black leotard, and large red eyeshadows that gives her either a puffed-eyed appearance or her makeup running. Rasputin loses his hat, his top replaced with a leather jacket, his pants having some rips and his boots changed to leather boots, giving a modern punk version of his original outfit.

This is first shown in Ava Max's "Sweet but Psycho", which focuses on The Bride having a breakdown that she thrashes the setting of what is strongly implied to be their wedding venue. It is first symbolized in the intro sequence, where the statuettes of both coaches are seen at the top of the wedding cake, except Rasputin's fall off just as the camera zooms in. The Bride is seen throughout the routine throwing away her bouquet to knock over a tableware, kicking and smashing plates, glasses and vases, bringing down portraits in an aisle that depicts them together, knocking over chairs in another background, and smashing over the glass panes in a glass house full of roses. The routine ends with The Bride as the "sole" cake statuette, while Rasputin rushes in to see the witness the venue being wrecked in horror and shock, too late to stop in time.

Just Dance 2024 Edition was released to reveal Rasputin's routine in the song "I Am My Own Muse" by Fall Out Boy, which serves as the "sequel routine" to "Sweet but Psycho". The routine begins with their portrait split in half and showing Rasputin kneeling on the floor, looking weary before standing up. While the routine does not provide a clear explanation of their break up nor explanation to what happened to them afterwards, it has a clear theme of Rasputin wanting their relationship to be back together again, from putting back the toppled and damaged portraits back to their place to having visions of her back. The routine ends with him smiling with his raised right hand just as a vision of The Bride looms over him in the glass house.

Quotes
"Now when I need a little sugar, I’ve got my beautiful bride."

- Rasputin's quote for his epic avatar, Rasputin in Love

Fanon
Prior to official confirmation via Just Dance 2023 Edition, the ship is one of the most popular ships within the Just Dance fanbase, due to the coaches being highly memorable and the subtext of the two being in a relationship. Their popularity only rises with the release of "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)", where their interactions solidify their status as a pairing, both in canon and in fanon.

The reveals of "Sweet but Psycho" and "I Am My Own Muse" causes a massive shift in how fans perceive the ship, in addition to the mystery of their fall out that it has multiple fans having dedicated videos on TikTok and YouTube trying to explain their lore, or simply dedicating a video to the ship. While many fans support the ship, certain groups of fans also split on how the break-up actually happens. Some fans put the blame on Rasputin for the break-up while some fans blame The Bride instead, with heated debates in forums and social media. Other fans also headcanon of why it happened, whether it may be both their fault due to lack of communication or their break up is caused by a potential third party, with Night Swan, who was introduced in Just Dance 2023 Edition, being a prime suspect. Shippers who do not enjoy demonizing either coaches for the break up prefer to have alternate scenarios and headcanons where it is Night Swan's fault of their breakup, that they prefer to be brought back together in the end and mend back their relationship, reconciling in the end of their story, or becoming amicable exes and departing in better terms.

In relations to other ships, Rasputin has an additional ship with the coach of "Body Movin’ (Fatboy Slim Remix)" by Beastie Boys from Just Dance 2, with both coaches appearing in Just Dance 3 in the song "Hungarian Dance No. 5". While it is a popular ship among fans and exists before Rasputin and The Bride, heated debates and discourse sparks between both ships by the time Just Dance 2023 Edition is released, with The Bride's defenders putting the blame on the ship for the cause of "Sweet but Psycho" and their breakup while Rasputin's, and by extension the coach's, defenders try to paint The Bride as a "psycho".

Fandom

 * FAN FICTION

Trivia

 * While the ship is not the first canon ship in the franchise (e.g., the characters from the Mini-Musical storyline in the spinoff ABBA: You Can Dance), it is the first canon ship in the main Just Dance series, as well as the first multi-game narrative in the franchise.
 * The ship is also the first canon ship to explicitly undergo a breakup.