DreamWorks animation has been on the rise in recent years, putting in a solid effort to compete with what many consider the gold standard of animation, Pixar. Though they’ve been around since 1998, starting with Antz, it was Shrek in 2001 that really put them on the map. The satirical take on Disney-style fairy tales was a huge hit with kids and adults alike and fuelled hope in the industry that there was room for more serious competitors in the world of animation.

Since then, DreamWorks has produced an impressive line of franchise hits, including Madagascar (and it’s spin-off, Penguins of Madagascar), Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon. This, along with a handful of respectably successful one-offs, has cemented these unique characters in the hearts of a whole generation of new fans.

Of course, just as we’ve seen with other cartoon properties, fans’ imaginations have no bounds, and they often put characters from their favorite DreamWorks films into unexpected couples that were never together in the scripted stories. And why not? Disney’s fans have been making their own relationship creations for years. It only makes sense that someone might want to see our heroes go in a different direction with their relationship choices.

It doesn’t necessarily have to make sense. Sometimes it’s two characters from the same movie, but occasionally fans like to mix and match characters from different DreamWorks franchises because there’s really no rules here. We’ve got to admit—there are some talented artists here, so it’s a blast to see them in their element, imagining pairings we’ve never quite pictured before! Here are 20 Fan Redesigns of Unexpected DreamWorks Couples.

Hiccup and Ruffnut

In this artist’s imagination, the lovable but nerdy Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon gets snatched up by Tuffnut instead of Astrid. Though, as the artist puts it, fans shouldn’t worry because"Astrid is off-screen getting her axe to save her damsel…I mean boyfriend."

Tuffnut was ordinarily seen roughhousing with her twin brother, Ruffnut. They rode a two-headed dragon, with each head named separately, Barf and Belch. Vikings name their own dragons so this gives you a clue as to Tuffnut’s sensibilities.

Having the somewhat introverted and bookish Hiccup ending up with Tuffnut seems to be an outlandish possibility–it seems like Tuffnut would walk all over him, literally. By the way they’re drawn, it seems like Tuffnut would definitely wear the pants in this pairing.

19. Alex and Marty

Of course, Alex the lion and Marty the zebra from Madagascar were never romantic in the stories, but that doesn’t stop this artist from making an adorable homage to what could have been. In the official movies, Alex and Marty were best friends even before being stranded in Madagascar. But they go through a bit of a rough patch when they no longer get regular feedings on the island and Marty looks more and more like food to Alex. It wasn’t long before Marty found Alex’s jaws around his hindquarters, which was more than a bit awkward for both of them.

Luckily, they got it all sorted out. And though they never became romantic… it’s kind of funny to think that they might have.

Megamind and Roxanne

Megamind was a great twist on the superhero movie genre, where the villain ends up actually saving the city, becoming the kind of “hero” he had always in the past had fought against. Megamind dated the reporter Roxanne in the movie, but he never looked as sharp as the artist depicts him in this in a fitted black suit with a black skinny tie.

Probably at a party after the end of the film when Megamind defeats the “hero” Titan who has gone mad with power, it looks like this pair is out to celebrate and paint the town red.

It’s fun to see these two together and to see Megamind enjoy the fruits of his oversized brain. He’s been an outcast his whole life, so it’s great to see him step out into the spotlight.

Shrek and Po

Okay, these two aren’t exactly a couple, but you could say they are both in a romantic triangle with that Turkey. This artist does an amazing job catching these two in a candid moment.

Shrek from Shrek has a huge appetite and doesn’t much like anyone outside his immediate circle in the first place, especially not a greedy thieving panda. Po, from Kung Fu Panda, really just can’t help himself. His whole martial arts mastery is based on attaining imaginary food, so when they the real thing comes along, he’s helpless to his culinary desires.

Who would win in this situation? We think Po has a leg up on getting away with it, but if Shrek’s fairy-tale friends come to the rescue, all bets are off.

Puss in Boots and Kitty Softpaws

The adorable Puss in Boots was such a surprise hit character from Shrek, that DreamWorks created a spin-off just for him. With the title role voiced by Antonio Banderas, Puss in Boots was another major hit for the studio.

Set in the years before Shrek, when Puss in Boots was still an infamous outlaw, the story traces Puss as he gets involved in a heist to steal a golden goose from a giant’s castle. Humpty Dumpty is the mastermind behind the scheme, who double-crosses Puss because of a shared incident in their younger days.

The artist depicts a scene here where Puss flirts with Kitty Softpaws, a fellow thief voiced by Salma Hayek. Though they do pair up by the end of the movie, it’s fun to see the artist’s own take on this scene.

Jack Frost and Tooth Fairy

Rise of the Guardians had a fun premise where the characters came from many of the legends and fairy tales we grew up with team up, like the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, Sandman, and Jack Frost. Jack Frost was the central hero who became a big hit for fans, with many artists drawing him in crossover romances across a host of different films.

The film’s version of the Tooth Fairy was unique, in that the teeth she gathered held the children’s memories, which she would return when they needed them.

The Tooth Fairy was never quite paired with Jack Frost as a plot point, but being that she helps save the Guardians from children losing faith in them, we could see this artist’s idea that maybe she would take a shine to him.

Hiccup and Jack Frost

Hiccup and Jack Frost are two enormously popular characters in the DreamWorks animated universe, so why not put them together? And when you can do it like this artist does, it practically appears that they were animated that way to begin with. Excellent art and photoshop skills.

It really does look like they are sharing the screen together in the same movie. Given that Jack is from a different world than Hiccup, we’re not exactly sure how they would meet to begin with. But it doesn’t matter, we’re sure the artist has a clear idea in his head about the whole backstory.

Though it’s not quite the Arctic Circle, Hiccup does live in a cold climate, so we think that Jack would probably find himself comfortable and at home.

Gloria and Melman

Gloria the hippo and Melman the giraffe actually do get together in the Madagascar films, but never quite as fanciful and dreamlike as the scene this artist creates. They sit together in a jungle lit by the light of the full moon while fireflies blink in and out all around them. Gloria has a small set of angel wings, because why not?

Melman looks like he’s chilling out as Gloria bedazzles his neck with hot pink fluorescent hearts. Is it just us or does this look like a poster hanging in some eleven-year-old’s room somewhere? We’d love to see her treatment of Marty and Alex, or maybe even the penguins. To go with the theme, maybe all playing Poker on a rainbow somewhere?

Sinbad and Eris

DreamWorks started doing animation a long time ago and one of their films, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, was among the last few films to be released with a 2D hand-drawn animation style. Which is kind of a shame because, in our minds, 2D animation still has a lot of charm.

With an impressive cast including Brad Pitt as Sinbad, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Marina and Michelle Pfeiffer as Eris the Goddess of Chaos, Sinbad is tasked with retrieving the Book of Peace from Tartarus and evading all of Eris’ traps. The film has a gorgeous look reminiscent of the best of Disney’s 2D movies, though it wasn’t much of a hit at the box office.

The artist envisions Eris being with Sinbad, though given the character, she’s probably up to no good.

  Po and Tigress

It’s pretty cool when an artist like this one can capture what an animated animal couple might end up looking like if they were actual human beings.

Taking Po the Panda and Tigress from Kung Fu Panda, she re-imagines them as a similar odd couple you might see on the street.

One approach might be to take the people who played the voices as the actual characters, in this case, Jack Black and Angelina Jolie.

However, we like what this self-described fan-girl has done, taking a heavy-set guy resembling a panda and a red-head girl with eyes like a cat. Their costumes totally complete the look: we know at first glance this is Tigress and Po.

Toothless and Stormfly

While animals with humanoid-like features are tough enough to turn into a human equivalent, different dragons from How to Train Your Dragon must have been a huge challenge for this artist, but it turned out great. Above are Toothless and Stormfly in human form. Toothless, if you remember from the story, had a damaged wing, so the artist depicted the human version as missing his forearm. Stormfly has horns and spikes all over her head, so the artist went for a spiky shoulder guard for the same effect. They’re both dark-skinned, too, implying that they’re not from the same place as the Vikings are.

Overall—a visually fascinating interpretation of these ordinarily inhuman characters!

Branch and Poppy

Trolls was voiced by a star-studded cast, with Justin Timberlake as Branch and Anna Kendrick as Poppy. This artist takes the same color palette and feel of these troll characters and turns them into human versions.

In the movie, Trolls are all insufferably happy (except for Branch) and tiny little diminutive creatures, small enough to be threatened by spiders. Poppy takes Branch on a quest to save her Troll friends from being cooked and eaten by the miserable Bergens.

It’s fun seeing the hopeful optimism captured in Poppy’s eyes and the begrudgingly charmed Branch responding to her. This image might inspire more than a few cosplayers to try the same thing.

Jack Frost and Toothless

In another crossover from How to Train Your Dragon and Rise of the Guardians, Jack Frost meets Hiccup and Toothless for the first time. But the artist thinks that it’s Toothless that Jack will fall in love with, not Hiccup.

We’re not exactly sure how Toothless the dragon would handle flying both Hiccup and Jack Frost at the same time, but this is an imaginary crossover so it probably doesn’t really matter.

Given that Hiccup can fly pretty much “where no one goes” - it might even be more than likely he could run into Jack Frost somehow. With How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World coming up next March, who knows?

B.O.B. and a plate of JELLO

Monsters vs. Aliens plot rolled out exactly as you would expect, with a team of “monsters” tasked with stopping a group of invading aliens. One character on the team of monsters called B.O.B. (which stood for Benzoate Ostylezene Bicarbonate) is a joke-cracking slime-like creature who had some of the best jokes of the film.

One of the running gags is that B.O.B. falls in love with a plate of green JELLO he meets at a gathering. B.O.B. flirts with the JELLO unaware that it isn’t sentient like him and really he’s just talking to a dessert. That doesn’t stop him from having feelings for “her”, because as he indicates at the beginning of the film, he doesn’t have a brain. Turns out it’s “totally overrated.” This artist nails it.

Susan and Dr. Cockroach

Susan and Dr. Cockroach are two other members of the monsters team in Monsters vs. Aliens, but never really get romantic in the story. They’re both labeled monsters for a reason—Dr. Cockroach was a mad scientist who accidentally fused his body with a cockroach, and Susan was hit by a meteorite that has grown her to gigantic proportions. Together, along with B.O.B., they team up to stop an evil alien overlord, while becoming best friends along the way.

As for why this particular couple? The artist says, “I know they are not a couple, but I think they look cute together.” Good enough reason as any!

Megamind and Bernard

This is a bit of an odd one because, in the story of Megamind, Megamind actually disguises himself as the human museum curator Bernard. It’s never really even a friendship, Megamind just freezes him and steals his appearance directly, impersonating him throughout the film.

As his alias of Bernard, he actually has a chance to walk around with humans and meet with Roxanne, who he has a crush on. In the artist’s version, it looks like their first meeting is much more amicable, and maybe they even bond over their book knowledge.

Bernard, luckily, is not harmed and gets back to living his own life near the end of the film.

Link is also known as “The Missing Link” in Monsters vs. Aliens. He’s a humanoid amphibious reptilian creature, looking similar to the classic monster from the film The Creature From the Black Lagoon.

In Monsters vs. Aliens, there was nothing romantic between these two characters, but we’ve seen stranger pairings, even ones on this list.

The artist uses a wonderful 2D animation style here, giving it the look and feel of older cel-shaded animation movies from the past. Looks like Link went all out and took Susan to Paris, where no doubt they’re doing a little stargazing before they go out and hit up the town.

The artist captured a certain whimsy in both of their eyes, that look of a young couple just getting to know each other. Weird, but great!

 Megamind and Metroman

The whole plot of Megamind revolves around Megamind finally getting rid of Metroman for good in a fatal match-up—but life afterward isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Megamind is just horribly bored, as without a superhero to go up against, he just isn’t challenged.

So he ends up creating his own superhero, who unfortunately goes absolutely mad with power. Megamind finds himself becoming the hero to save the city, in a twist that he simply did not expect.

However, it turns out Metroman had not perished at all—he faked his own destruction. With Metroman still alive, Megamind’s conscience is clear. Perhaps this artist’s depiction is Metroman thanking him, but we’ll never really know.

Alex and Toothless

If Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon were to meet Alex from Madagascar, he would a long way to go. First off, presuming the world of the dragons happened in our distant past, he would have to travel through time. Then he’d have to travel from Scandinavia (where many of them have Scottish accents for some reason) all the way to Madagascar—that’s over 5900 miles.

But, presuming the could meet, what’s not to stop this lovable lion from totally digging Toothless? Everybody digs Toothless. He’s arguably the world’s most likable dragon.

We’ll probably never, ever see this crossover in real life. But this artist helps us imagine, “what if?”

Po and Tigress

Po and Tigress from Kung Fu Panda would make an amazing couple, and plenty of artists have depicted it—but what makes this depiction unique is the unusual lineless style of the artist. Using mostly flat colors she creates an animated style reminiscent of certain cartoons from the 1950s and ’60s.

Though these two don’t quite have a burning romance in the films, they are excellent friends and Tigress definitely has his back. After all, they’ve defended each other and saved countless people together throughout the course of three films! As far as we know, there are no plans for Kung Fu Panda 4, but if there is, then perhaps a romance may still be in the cards for these two.

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Which of these did you like most? Let us know in the comments!!