Family-coded
| Synonyms: | sibling-coded, parent-coded |
| See also: | Coded, Minor-coded, Queer-coding, Neurodivergent-coded, Race-coding, Gender-coding |
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Family-coded, and variations of it such as sibling-coded or parent-coded, are terms used in fan spaces to describe character relationship headcanons that are not unlike that of a family or of characters who are otherwise related. Although the concept has existed for many years, the terms themselves rose to prominence primarily in the early 2020s. Reliance on subtext in canonical material for these headcanons, such as with the study of queer-coding, neurodivergence-coding, or race-coding, aren't common to fans who use these terms.[1]
Family-coded and similar terms may be used for various fannish things: it may be tagged/included in the summary of gen works[2][3], used in shipwars to deter other fans from shipping, or used to accuse romantic ships as being problematic. Much like minor-coded, the terms are often viewed with skepticism in fan spaces, especially given the tendency for the terms to be used to attack other fans for their headcanons.
The same reasons which might lead to a creator making a character queer-coded or a character neurodivergent-coded — such as skirting censorship per the Hays Code leading to the need for queer-coding, or avoiding criticism or complaints which might occur with Disabled or neurodivergent characters — seem unlikely to need to apply for familial relationships. The analysis behind discussions of race-coding also seem unlikely to be applicable to family relationships. Semantic drift seems to play a role in how the concept of character coding as been broadened as a concept, moving away from its original use.
Other fans have suggested that there are character relationships where a family-like bond is implied without the characters being related. However, given the discussions around what constitutes genuine coding even for more widely accepted usages of character coding, whether these portrayals are a form of coding is much debated. Terms like "big brother energy," "little sister energy," "the mom friend," the "dad of the group," have long been used within fan spaces in interpretations of characters, and how much they overlap with the newer use of terms like sibling-coded seems to vary.
Use in fandom
In some fan-spaces, such as Twitter, the general term "family-coded" seems to often be applied to real people, in both day-to-day fan commentary and more specific RPF discussions. Music groups — on Twitter, this particularly seems to be K-Pop groups — and the cast members of shows may be referred to as "family-coded" based on friendly interactions between them as a group.
While they may also be applied to real people, terms like sibling-coded and parent-coded (and potentially over familiar relationships), see more frequent use in discussions around characters. In some fandoms, the claim that a pair of characters are sibling-coded is often used as part of criticism of certain ships, where some fans will claim that a pairing are sibling-coded and it would therefore be incest to ship them.
Relationships often applied to
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
As Siblings
- Cody & Heather from Total Drama: where Cody is like a little brother and Heather is like a big sister. This is commonly tagged in Cody & Heather works on Archive of Our Own. Cody/Heather was more popular on FanFiction.Net and was far more popular than their gen ship until around the 2020s when the fanon that they are sibling-like became common on sites such as TikTok.
- Luz Noceda & Hunter from The Owl House: Hunter/Luz is less common than Hunter & Luz. Fans may dislike the romantic interpretation and leave harassing comments on Hunter/Luz works.[4][5] "Family-coded" works for this pairing may give Hunter the last name Noceda and call them the Pit Twins.[6]
Criticisms and Controversy
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Being applied to real people
Stereotyping
Use in shipwars or attacks on shippers
Examples of meta and discussions
References
- ^ Comment reply to 'Is anyone else annoyed when people claim random ships are relatives when they’re clearly not?', Archived version at r/Fanfiction, Reddit, March 2023.
- ^ silly sibling duo by farty.martyy on TikTok, Archived version (02 July 2023, Luz Noceda & Hunter)
- ^ they're so siblings coded I love them sm by ashlynisagirlboss on TikTok, Archived version (23 December 2023, Cody & Heather)
- ^ i love them so much 💛💜 by xxkittycatz on TikTok, Archived version (23 May 2023, see comment section)
- ^ ESPEREN, yo también quierooo 🥹 by beyondclip on TikTok, Archived version (11 May 2023, see comment section)
- ^ FW!! THIS TOOK ME SO LONG OMT by luzurazs on Tiktok (24 February 2024) [Dead link]