Sci-Fi & Fantasy TV’s Hottest Couples: ‘Outlander,’ ‘A Discovery of Witches’ & More

Outlander, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, A Discovery of Witches
Starz; Michael Courtney/The CW; Simon Ridgway/Sundance Now/Bad Wolf

This is an excerpt from TV Guide Magazine’s Sci-Fi & Fantasy Special Collector’s Issue, which is available for international pre-order online at SciFi2021.com and available nationwide on newsstands now.

Devils and detectives, killers and clones, zombie world survivors—these passion players have some of the most fiery romances in the universe.

So whether you prefer your relationships with a side of magic (A Discovery of WitchesMotherland: Fort Salem), time travel (OutlanderStar Trek: DiscoveryLegends of Tomorrow), or a bit with life after death (Upload, spoiler alert! Lucifer), we’ve got you covered. We fell in love with these relationships across time, space, and universes, as they fought off walkers, villains, metahumans, and more.

Scroll down to take a look at some of sci-fi and fantasy TV’s hottest couples (in no particular order).

Caitríona Balfe as Claire, Sam Heughan as Jamie in Outlander
Starz

Claire and Jamie Fraser (Outlander)

Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan

Match Points A circle of magic stones sends a former World War II combat nurse back in time…where she meets a Scottish Highland warrior and falls in love. Their steamy story of passion sets screens afire.

Words of Love

Claire: “Blood of my blood.”

Jamie: “Bone of my bone.”

Claire: “As long as we both shall live.”

Toughest Hurdle They’ve been separated time and again—by abductions, multiple rebellions around the world and time itself—but fate keeps pulling them back to each other.

Why We Love Them No matter what trials they’ve suffered through and what foes they’ve faced together and apart—such as the sadistic Black Jack Randall—nothing can undo the deep devotion they share. Starz

Wilson Cruz as Doctor Hugh Culber and Anthony Rapp as Lt. Stamets in Star Trek Discovery
Michael Gibson/CBS

Lt. Cdr. Paul Stamets and Dr. Hugh Culber (Star Trek: Discovery)

Anthony Rapp and Wilson Cruz

Match Points Science officer Stamets and medical officer Culber, Star Trek’s first openly gay characters, were in love even before we started following their space exploration.

Words of Love

Culber: “You have to let me go.”

Stamets: “I can’t leave you twice.”

Culber: “If you stay, it’ll be twice as deadly for the network.”

Stamets: “We’ll find another way.”

Toughest Hurdle Culber’s death nearly spelled the end…until Stamets kissed a tear on his cheek, an act that allowed Stamets to become a conduit and transfer Culber’s DNA into the mycelium network and bring him back.

Why We Love Them They won us over as they stood brushing their teeth while discussing their day—an ordinary, loving moment in their extraordinary world. Paramount+

 

Robbie Amell as Nathan and Andy Allo as Nora in Upload
Amazon

Nathan Brown and Nora Antony (Upload)

Robbie Amell and Andy Allo

Match Points In a to-die-for romance, he’s a deceased—then uploaded—computer programmer; she’s the guardian angel (literally) who helps him navigate a digital afterlife.

Words of Love

Nora: “I love you, Nathan. Can you handle me saying that? Nathan?”

Nathan: [Freezes, having run out of data]

Toughest Hurdle Usually, “she’s alive, he’s not” would be a dead end for romance. But in this case, we’re not even worried about her still-living love interest or his ex-
girlfriend uploading herself to be with him.

Why We Love Them If Nathan giving Nora stars to increase her customer service rating isn’t love, we don’t know what is. And seriously, even in death, he’s changed for the better—all because of her. Who says you have to be on the same plane of existence to form a meaningful connection? Prime Video

Grant Gustin as Barry, Candice Patton as Iris in The Flash
Katie Yu /The CW

Barry Allen and Iris West-Allen (The Flash)

Grant Gustin and Candice Patton

Match Points Lightning certainly struck for these two after a S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator exploded. The superhuman speedster and one of Central City’s top journalists quickly shifted from childhood friends to lovers; now, they continue to face powerful threats.

Words of Love

Barry: “Are you sure you don’t want to know about the other timeline?”

Iris: “No, I guess in my mind, wherever you go, you’ll always be Barry and I’ll always be Iris, and we always find each other.”

Toughest Hurdle When Iris was trapped in the Mirrorverse, not only did the duo refuse to give up on each other, but Flash went as far as tampering with his Artificial Speed Force generator to get her home—even when his single-minded pursuit nearly made him ignore several other friends in peril.

Why We Love Them Duplicates and body swaps may come and go, but Barry and Iris always know how to find the real version of each other, whether on this Earth or another. The CW

Caity Lotz as Sara, Jes Macallan as Ava in DC’S Legends of Tomorrow
Michael Courtney/The CW

Sara Lance and Ava Sharpe (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow)

Caity Lotz and Jes Macallan

Match Points The Legends leader with an assassin’s past and a clone from the future begin by battling things out before falling for each other while on Arrowverse missions across time and space.

Words of Love

Sara: “What if I can’t be the person that you need?”

Ava: “Neither of us needs anybody. But you are who I want.”

Toughest Hurdle Sara was abducted by aliens (just as she planned to propose!), and Ava had to continue to captain the Waverider in her absence while attempting to get her back. Also, Sara becoming a human-alien hybrid clone in her time away was tough to swallow.

Why We Love Them We don’t know what we love more: their sweet, domestic, couple-y moments or their kickass action scenes. The CW

Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, Danai Gurira as Michonne in The Walking Dead
Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

Michonne and Rick Grimes (The Walking Dead)

Danai Gurira and Andrew Lincoln

Match Points These two resolute survivors found comfort in each other while navigating the darkest of worlds: a zombie apocalypse after the collapse of modern civilization.

Words of Love

Rick: “You OK?”

Michonne: “Yeah.”

Rick: “I’m OK.”

Michonne: “I know.”

Rick: “How?”

Michonne: “Because I’m OK too.”

Toughest Hurdle She thought he died sacrificing himself to take out a bridge of walkers, only to find proof he likely survived. With a goodbye to their children over a walkie-talkie, she set out to find him—and there’s always hope for a reunion in the upcoming Rick movie franchise.

Why We Love Them They went from building trust as partners to becoming a power couple that could dispatch walkers and lead a community, all while forging a new family at the most unlikely moment. (And her pep talks always helped him.) AMC

 

Teresa Palmer as Diana Bishop, Matthew Goode as Matthew Clairmont in A Discovery of Witches - Season 2, Episode 1
Simon Ridgway/Sundance Now/Bad Wolf

Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont (A Discovery of Witches)

Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode

Match Points She’s a historian studying alchemy at Oxford (as well as being a powerful witch); he’s a professor of biochemistry (and an ancient vampire). They’re drawn to each other as they search for the powerful, long-missing Book of Life.

Words of Love

Diana: “Tell me.”

Matthew: “If I do, there’s no turning back. You have to understand what that means.”

Diana: “Ysabeau made me understand. Tell me.”

Matthew: “From this moment, we will always be one. Diana, I love you.”

Toughest Hurdle Neither the
Congregation that forbids their relationship nor Matthew’s dangerous blood rage has stopped them from mating for life.

Why We Love Them They’re magical when together—and not just when she uses her powers to connect them. Sundance Now

Azie Tesfai as Kelly Olsen, Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers in Supergirl
Dean Buscher/The CW

Kelly Olsen and Alex Danvers (Supergirl)

Azie Tesfai and Chyler Leigh

Match Points Department of ExtraNormal Operations agent Danvers and soldier Olsen’s mutual support and complementary skills made it so easy to slip into a relationship—and to eventually suit up as Sentinel and Guardian—while battling both human and alien threats.

Words of Love

Alex: “You helped me heal, from wounds to scars to just memories, and that’s all I want to do for you.… I meant it when I said that you feel like home.”

Kelly: “You feel like home too.”

Toughest Hurdle With no way to ask her girlfriend to change, Kelly had to accept that she could lose someone she loved again due to the danger Alex faces as a superhero.

Why We Love Them It’s rare to find a pair that communicates as well as this one, starting from the moment they met while Kelly’s brother James was in the hospital. The CW

Tom Ellis as Lucifer, Lauren German as Chloe in Lucifer
John P. Fleenor/Netflix

Lucifer Morningstar and Chloe Decker (Lucifer)

Tom Ellis and Lauren German

Match Points The vacationing lord of the underworld and a hard-working LAPD detective come together as they play to their particular strengths while also solving crimes.

Words of Love

Chloe: “I love you. Please don’t leave.”

Lucifer: “My first love was never Eve. It was you, Chloe. It always has been.”

Toughest Hurdle Would you believe an origin story that hellish? Chloe certainly didn’t for a long time, even plotting against him before finally buying that Lucifer really is the Devil.

Why We Love Them He evolved from being physically vulnerable around her to emotionally open too. Our wait to see him realize he was capable of loving her was worth it—especially since it took nearly sacrificing himself to bring her back to life. Netflix

Taylor Hickson as Raelle, Amalia Holm as Scylla in Motherland Fort Salem
Freeform/David Bukach

Raelle Collar and Scylla Ramshorn (Motherland: Fort Salem)

Taylor Hickson and Amalia Holm

Match Points Raelle is only a minor witch (Dad’s a civilian, after all) and Scylla has her own past issues as the daughter of military dodgers. Still, they fight for each other and for what they believe in—even though Scylla’s ties to the Spree terrorists are against Raelle’s world of army conscription.

Words of Love

Scylla: “I was scared.”

Raelle: “Scared of losing your mark?”

Scylla: “It started like that. Then you were you. I fell for you. I promise I’m telling the truth.”

Raelle: “Was anything real? Any of it?”

Scylla: “All of it.”

Toughest Hurdle Even though it seems like all the lies—among them that Scylla infiltrated the army for the Spree and learned Raelle’s mother is alive—should be too much, there’s no denying their shared passion.

Why We Love Them As soon as Scylla introduced Raelle to flying (using the drug Salva)—which led to a much-needed moment of fun amid the training and subsequent combat—we were hooked. Freeform