Robarian

Robarian is the het ship between Robin Hood and Maid Marian that is present in multiple fandoms, including the Disney movie, the anime series, the BBC series, the CGI series and Once Upon A Time.

Canon
The origins of Robin's and Marian's romance are contested, but many scholars believe that Robin Hood had no lover in the earliest incarnations. However, a character named the "May Queen" or "Queen of the Shepherds" was the patron of the "May Day" celebrations and was often conflated with another character of said celebrations named Marian. Marian had a shepherd lover who just happened to bear the first name "Robin" and scholars believe that all four of these characters were conflated to concieve the romance between Robin Hood and Maid Marian as we know it today. Thus, Robin and Marian could be considered one of the earliest examples of a crossover couple.

While Robin Hood is the hero of the ballads and their adaptations, Marian is the moral center of the story, a kind and wise noblewoman who supports Robin's fight against the royal oppression and keeps him grounded.

Robin Hood (1973)
Maid Marian was playing badminton with her trusted Lady Kluck just as a boy from Nottingham named Skippy accidentally fired an arrow into her yard from a bow gifted to him by Robin Hood himself. Upon discovering Skippy, Marian notes how he looks like a younger Robin Hood, wearing one of Robin's hand-me-down hats. As Skippy calls his friend and his two sisters to him, they shower Marian with questions about Robin, whether she and Robin are sweethearts. Marian doesn't deny that they were childhood sweethearts, but doesn't know if Robin still feels the same way about her. Playing pretend with Skippy in the role of Robin Hood and Kluck in the role of the villainous Prince John, Marian muses about getting to see Sherwood Forest when "Robin" takes her there. When asked if she still wants to be Robin's wife, Marian thinks that it's been too long and that Robin probably doesn't remember her at all.

In truth, Robin can't stop thinking about her, to the point of ruining a pot of grub he was meant to prepare for himself and Little John. Robin receives the news that there's going to be archery tournament, with the prize being a kiss from Maid Marian herself. Though Robin is excited, he realizes that he needs to keep a low profile and decides to enter the tournament in disguise. At the tournament, a stork contestant approaches Marian, giving her a flower. Marian recognizes Robin immediately by looking into his eyes, but does not dare blowing his cover until he has won fair and square. However, her loud cheering for the stork causes some suspicion from Prince John sitting next to her, who is already suspecting Robin to have entered the tournament. When Robin and the Sheriff of Nottingham are the last ones standing, Marian is initially worried that the Sheriff might win this, only to cheer and hug Lady Kluck when Robin splits the Sheriff's arrow in two.

However, to the surprise of Maid Marian, the tournament was all a trap from Prince John to find Robin Hood using Marian as bait. As the Prince sentences Robin to death, Marian pleads for John to let him go. When the Prince asks why he should do that, Marian confesses her love for Robin in front of everyone, with Robin confirming that he feels the same way about her. Prince John couldn't care less about their sentimentality and plans to go through with Robin's execution, causing Marian to break down in tears and Kluck to comfort her. Luckily, Little John comes to their aid by holding Prince John at knifepoint outside of everyone's view, threatening him to revoke the execution order or else. When Prince John complies, Marian embraces Robin, but the joy doesn't last as the Sheriff discovers Little John and Prince John immediately returns to the execution as soon as he isn't threatened no more.

A battle breaks out between Robin and his allies and Prince John and his soldiers, with Marian being told to run to safety while Lady Kluck joins the battle on Robin's side. Marian however is run into a corner by the prince's soldiers, with Robin heroically rescuing her after she calls for him. High above the action, Robin proposes to Marian and she admits that she thought he'd never ask. However, she does playfully note that he could've picked a more romantic moment to do so. While they are fighting off Prince John's soldiers, Robin casually discusses where they should have their honeymoon and how many children they should have. Marian does rescue Robin from being shot with a crossbow by throwing a pie in the wielder's face.

They manage to escape unharmed and Robin takes Marian on a midnight stroll through Sherwood Forest while Marian sings about how much she loves Robin. At Robin's hideout, they are surprised by Robin's friends who celebrate his victory over Prince John and the two of them dance along with them to a song mocking the wannabe ruler. However, the song reaching Prince John causes him to intensify his methods against Robin and the citizens of Nottingham. He taxes the poor even further, locks up anyone who can't pay their taxes and holds Friar Tuck hostage with intend of having him executed in order to bait Robin into coming out of hiding. After Robin frees all the prisoners and steals all of the taxed money back, Prince John is dethroned by the return of his brother King Richard, who gives Robin his blessing to marry his niece Marian. They ride off to their honeymoon on carriage driven by Little John and Skippy hangs onto the carriage, promising Robin and Marian to "keep an eye on things" once they have children.

In a deleted scene that takes place after the climax, Robin was supposed to get injured during his escape from Prince John and get taken to the church by Little John to be nursed back to health by Maid Marian. When Little John leaves to get more help, Marian is completely helpless when Prince John ambushes them with a knife in hand, but still puts herself between him and Robin to protect him. They are saved by King Richard's arrival, who orders his brother to be arrested.

Fanon
Robarian is one of the most well-known relationships in all of mythology, with every adaptation of the Robin Hood ballads shipping it to some degree.

Disney fans largely adore them, but do have a few issues with how their relationship is portrayed. Many lament that, for a character who turned out to be adorable and quite popular, Marian doesn't get much to do in the movie, with many noting that the deleted scene should've been kept to rectify this. Some have also criticized that Marian is depicted as a vixen, making her the only character in the movie whose species does not adhere to her personality stereotypes. Some suggested that Marian should've been a lioness, assuming that King Richard is her biological uncle, though that hasn't stopped people from speculating that he's her uncle through marriage. People often assume that the movie takes place in the same world as Zootopia, with them often being imagined as actors in a period piece and the parents of Nick Wilde. Fanfiction still addresses Nick's mother as "Marian", with his father often also being named "Robin". However, that idea isn't popular with fans who want to ship Robin with Nick romantically.

Fandom
FAN FICTION