Sheith

Sheith is the slash ship between Shiro and Keith from the Voltron: Legendary Defender fandom.

Canon
Before Keith and Shiro became the Red and Black Paladins, they met at an undetermined point in the Galaxy Garrison, an institution for training astroexplorers. While exactly what transpired is unknown, Keith has frequently stated in the show that it deeply affected him, even saying in the premiere for Season 3, episode 1, that, "Shiro was the only one that didn't give up on me––I won't give up on him." Keith was expelled from the Garrison after Shiro went missing during a mission in space, presumed dead due to his own piloting error.

It has been confirmed in canon that Shiro is one of the most important people in Keith's life. In the Blade of Marmora, Keith's suit allowed him to hallucinate his greatest hopes and fears. In the first hallucination, Shiro appears as Keith's greatest hope, with the hallucination-induced Shiro subsequently abandoning him as his greatest fear.

Shiro and Keith have engaged in a lot of casual and comforting touches over the course of the four seasons, including, but not limited to: shoulder touches, clasped hands, and emotional hugs. This is exclusive to their dynamic, and they are not shown to exhibit this kind of bone-deep familiarity with any of the other characters on the show.

Likewise, they are very comfortable with each other, to the point where many fans of the ship have speculated about the exact nature of their relationship pre-Kerberos, and Keith is the only person Shiro allows himself to be truly vulnerable around.

Season 1
The Rise of Voltron Some Assembly Required Taking Flight Crystal Venom
 * After a successful first mission, Shiro affectionately slaps Keith's shoulder.
 * After Keith is knocked out by the Gladiator, it goes for Shiro next. Shiro freezes as it's about to attack, then Keith springs up to Shiro's defense, asking if he's okay.
 * As Shiro heads to bed, Keith can be seen in the background getting up from the couch, all while smiling and looking at Shiro.
 * As Pidge talks about Hunk’s “new girlfiend”, Shiro and Keith smile at each other.
 * When the team remembers Sendak, Keith is first to wonder where Shiro is.

Season 2
Across the Universe
 * As soon as Keith gets his bearings straight, his immediate next thought is where Shiro is. In return, as soon as Shiro exits his Lion, his immediate next thought is where Keith is.
 * Shiro mentions a wound, Keith is soon concerned and says, "Wait, what wound?" Shiro replies it's nothing. In return, when Keith is dangling off a high cliff, Shiro asks what's wrong, and Keith tells him, "Minor delay. But I'm on my way."
 * Keith is able to pilot the Black Lion so he can save Shiro from wild creatures.
 * When Keith tells Shiro to “stop talking like that”, Shiro gives Keith his best, though weak smile at his words.

Fanon
Along with Klance, the ship has really taken off for modern audiences in the last couple years. This is thanks to Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 2, produced by Studio Mir (Legend of Korra). A lot of the writers and directors for Voltron migrated from Korra, famed for it's bisexual ending, and have made comments hinting at possible LGBT content, including the quote, "I think I'll just let that play out as we go. No comment on that question," when prompted about future LGBT content. Although the ship is not confirmed in canon, many fans still enjoy Keith and Shiro's dynamic in a fanon environment due to the deep connection Keith and Shiro have been shown to share over the last four seasons.

The ship has received hate because of its prospective age gap. Many contradicting age ranges have been mentioned by many different official sources, some fans consider that there are no definitive set ages for Keith or Shiro, or for any of the other Paladins, while others do not consider any published age information canon.

Behind the Scenes
The ship has been acknowledged by countless members of Voltron's production team since the show first aired, further supporting it as a ship for fans to enjoy. These instances include:
 * Members of the production team such as art director Chris Palmer, Steve Ahn, Christie Tseng, Barlee, and Lauren Montgomery liking Sheith fanart on various social media platforms.
 * Voice Actors such as Bex Taylor-Klaus and Josh Keaton mentioning the ship on several occasions on social media, including when Keaton suggested the ship name "sheith", and the instance wherein Taylor-Klaus declared that Keith is a powerbottom in response to Keaton posting a picture of red and black shoes.
 * Members on the staff such as former art director Chris Palmer and Kim Il Kwang produced art that emphasizes the bond between Shiro and Keith, and are often theorized to have romantic undertones.

Fandom
AO3

Trivia

 * Keith pilots the Red Lion, which forms the right-hand of Voltron, thus making him the right-hand man of Shiro, who lost his right arm to the Galra.
 * Keith is part Galra, and Shiro's right hand was replaced by a Galran prosthetic.
 * The ship name was coined by Shiro's voice actor, Josh Keaton, after he proposed "Sheith" on his Tumblr blog.
 * Shiro's Bayard, when combined with Keith's, activates Voltron's Blazing Sword, and it's a joke within the community that Shiro lights Keith's fire.
 * In an AfterBuzzTV interview, it was brought up that the fans discovered Keith and Shiro in the background flashback with Matt and Pidge. Lauren and Joaquim congratulated the fans on a well done for finding the easter egg. Lauren commented with "I put that shit in there&mdash;Oh, I just said a bad word." and "Shiro was still his guiding light, it was good."
 * It placed #2 on Tumblr's Fandometrics ship list on June 18, 2018. (3 days after Season 6 aired.) This is the highest the ship has been on the list.


 * The Paladin's Handbook guidebook  states that Shiro is 25 and Keith is 18, though there is some doubt as to whether this information is accurate to the canon because the book was not reviewed by executive staff.
 * The show staff previously gave "safety zone" ages of "25" and "late teens" respectively, while agreeing that Shiro is an adult and the other Paladins are not.
 * Official show descriptions describe the Earth paladins as "five teenagers", placing Shiro as a teenager in contrast to his published age; Josh Keaton grants some insight into the discrepancy by stating that during production of the show as early as the voice actor auditions, the pitch was "five teenagers", but certain character models ended up looking different than the description, so the writing adapted to the finalized designs. This suggests the book does not take the ages from the original pitch as staff feared and reflects the organic changes they have made, while the official show description is the original pitch that is inaccurate to the canon.

Variations

 * Keirotora refers to the ship between Lotor, Allura, Shiro and Keith
 * Shallureith refers to the ship between Allura, Shiro and Keith
 * Sheithunk refers to the ship between Hunk, Shiro and Keith
 * Sheitor refers to the ship between Lotor, Shiro and Keith
 * Shkatt refers to the ship between Matt, Shiro and Keith
 * Shklance refers to the ship between Lance, Shiro and Keith