Total Drama DISASTER: How Shipping RUINS Characters 

Thanks to everyone who completed the video, and apologies for that one jumpscare mistake around the two hour and 18 min mark that I didn't catch.🤦‍♂

Real talk: Chris and Chef are the best couple.

Also, former Gwent shipper here, I liked how chill Trent was. *Until he wasn't.*

I blame Cartoon Network and Teletoon’s executives for forcing unwanted pairings and triggering shipping wars.

honestly Trent x Gwen would have been a peak ship if the show had given him more of a personality besides just being Gwen’s boyfriend. That’s basically all he was in the show.

Surprisingly, the shipping drama never bothered me. Even as I kid, I knew the romance in this show was going to be a dumpster fire. The show is named "Total DRAMA", after all. I just accepted the shipping drama and had fun watching it.

Literally screamed outloud "THREE HOURS!?" Welp looks like it's my daily documentary time

As a Courtney fan I always wanted her to fix herself after the whole Duncan thing. As a Total Drama fan, I love how it went from “I hate him” to “I can fix him” but it actually was a “I can ruin her” that spiraled into a “fuck I ruined her too much” Also I kinda wish we could’ve seen Courtney x Trent out of this, because in retrospective Courtney is an aggressive tsundere and Trent a closed yandere which is a rare ship dynamic in western media

"Despite her aesthetic Gwen is one of the more normal and down to Earth contestants" For the millionth time, THIS IS WHAT REAL GOTH PEOPLE ARE LIKE, they aren't the brooding apathetic Mall Goth posers.

Harold rigging out Courtney over Duncan is easily one of the most unbelievable moments in the entire show and it continues to stun me why on earth he didn’t eliminate Duncan who was actively bullying him I have yet to hear any good explanation that doesn’t make Harold look worse than Heather

Cortney was a counselor in training at a summer camp? THAT IS WHAT C.I.T. MEANT???? When I was young, I thought she was training in some legal profession, and that is why she was so full of herself. I assumed she had so many lawyers because she was training at a law firm or something. Knowing she was just going to be a camp counselor completely changes how I see her.

Fun fact: leaked early drafts of all-stars revealed that the original intended final 2 was Courtney (a former hero swapped to villains) vs Gwen (a former villain swapped to heroes). In the Sundae episode, it was Zoey who was supposed to be eliminated. But the writer designated for that episode refused to eliminate his favorite character over his most hated character (Ed McDonald notoriously HATED Courtney). His strike is why the season was so delayed. In the end, they changed the ending and then immediately fired him afterwards. It just sucks knowing that a wholesome final 2 that was perfect for tying the knots of the entire show was on the horizon but was yoinked away.

The whole 9 thing with Trent sounds like actual OCD. The idea of Trent having a mental disorder could have been interesting, but I guess he's just crazy. Or maybe the writers didn't think of the implications of what he was doing that made Trent crazy.

Well, In Trent’s defense, he was a 16 year old who plays guitar and Gwen was an introverted goth teen girl. Of course the show writers had to fuck it up, it was super tempting😂👌🏽

Haven’t watched the video yet, but can I just say: I was so mad when Trent and Gwen broke up. Even more mad that Gwen and Duncan got together. They ruined all 4 of their characters for drama. The creators didn’t even want to break up Gwen and Trent, but the network did to show kids that breakups can happen. AND let me also just say, Trent could’ve been one of the best characters but he was set to the side after the breakup. I was so disappointed.

With how obsessed with legality and lawyers she is, I feel like the producers really made a pun out of the name COURT-ney

as a courtney and gwen fan, seeing the writers make courtney a horrible person each minute she was in RUINED ME and that last part where gwen and courtney's friendship went down the drain cause of some stupid list MESSED ME UP FOR WEEKS. ( duncney also messed me up there was no winning in this show istg)

11:47 You calling Courtney his future ex instead of future girlfriend is so funny, and honestly, a fitting description.

Just because Gwen was Gothic and Duncan was punk that does not mean they were similar at all with personalities. They just like the same style. 🥲

Courtney did seem to be friends with Bridgette in the first season. Admittedly the show barely shows them interacting but there's a few little moments, most notably the Boney Island episode, where Bridgette picks Courtney to be her partner, they both look enthusiastic about it, and they're shown talking to each other in multiple scenes. I've always wished the show ran with that friendship a little more because I always really liked it as a kid, I could see Bridgette as being a patient enough person to see the good in Courtney and bring out the best in her.

I feel like someone in the writing room just hated Courtney. As a kid she was always my favorite in S1 but after that i felt like she was slowly just becoming a different person for literally no reason. That's why i chose to believe that the show within the show of total drama is staged and all the characters are actors.

okay as someone who’s writing career began as a beta reader for tdi/tdi/world tour fanfic in the early 2010’s, this is my roman empire. this almost encapsulates the infighting i witnessed daily. you’re a hero

I love how Cody got his creepy behavior 100x worse with sierra. It’s like the series punished him for being a creepy simp in island.

Crimson and Ennui are the best total drama relationship, and I will not hear any arguments against this lmao

honestly, i agree with the point of: all of the campers should have been on their early 20's instead of 16, because of what you said, juvie would be prison. homeschooled would be dropout and there'd be a lot of beer. Some characters always felt older than others and they all felt older than 16, the thirsty moments like all of lindsay, or naked gwen, heather boobs, etc would have been remedied by just making them legal.

The love triangle ruined all three of the characters involved (especially Gwen), in my opinion. I understand it was Network interference, but they could’ve handled it way better. And it sucks seeing all of these characters storylines and character arcs be ruined by the end of the show. And it hurts even more if you’re a Courtney or Duncney fan (which I’m both)

HOT TAKE I think Justin is a great character in TDA. Now hear me out, I like the fact how in S2 he subverts the stereotype of the pretty boy by having to deal with the fact that women no longer find him attractive. As someone who is tired of seeing pretty boys who only exist to be attractive and make some of the female characters look shallow it's nice to explore the idea of what happens to a pretty boy when they lose the thing that original defined there character. PS: I find it funny that Justin's VA also played Wayne from 6teen and his voices works for both characters.

This show could easily be a way to educate show producers on how NOT to write a ship, much less a shipping triangle. 😮‍💨

Round of applause and standing ovation to this creator who took on what many people would consider and insane task or impossible task. All respect in the world.

Honestly, the one couple that I wish was handled more in the show was Alejandro and Heather. They were the ideal villainous power couple that we didn't get to see much of.

Tbh as a person with OCD, Trent is a mood. Compulsions like that can ruin your life. It's out of nowhere, yeah but they could've made this more... Normalized and hint at it in the original series? I think that OCD is valid and they could've wrote it better (ex: his 9 obsession could stem from his fear of losing Gwen). But yeah the obsession with Gwen got way too far. It makes sense but damn.

Even as a kid I hated the Duncan/Gwen thing. Duncan was always my favorite character in the show so it really disappointed me the way they bungled him in the second half of World Tour and All-Stars.

Chris and chef are the “healthiest” relationship in the show

Courtney keeps changing from tsundere to yandere constantly 😂

I know Cody was kinda weird at times, but honestly, I think he truly cared for Gwen. The scene where he saves her from being eliminated despite the rest of his team wanting to vote her off (plus the fact that she chose yet another guy over him) always warms my heart. Them strategizing together in the Australian episode was sweet too. I feel like if he matured a bit more they’d be cute.

There’s alternate endings where Gwen wins Island and I personally find that one more enjoyable than the Owen ending

Trent in TDA feels like a character that is supposed to be written with OCD, to add 'depth' to an otherwise milquetoast boring character. However, it's also never explicitly stated or really shown to be a thing in Island and if he is supposed to have OCD, it's not really a good portrayal of it. It did feel like it was implicitly stated in the grandfather story on Aftermath. That's my read at least, im probably wrong.

As someone whose favorite character was Gwen in island…her being ruined in action hurt. It stung a lot. And world tour didn’t make it any better.

For me, Lindsay was my favourite character. It was the main reason I liked Action because she showed some logic and reason… plus her trolling Courtney. World tour put her on the Team victory chopping block which irked me but I’m not too mad she was eliminated first in All Stars. Frankly, as long as she’s still alive by the end, I’m glad she missed out on that insanity.

I loved that when everyone thought that Trent cheated everyone literally came together. Especially when Duncan looked pissed

I do believe that making Trent's character suffer from PTSD from his Grandfather dying would have made it somewhat less awful. Just have his Grandpa die between Seasons 1 and 2 and this is him struggling to cope with it while dealing with the pressure of being on TV trying to win a million dollars and having his new girlfriend by his side while he suffers and tries not to make her hate him for failing to cope with the situation. Gwen tries to be supportive, but Trent is just too much to handle, and Duncan is supportive of her while she tries to support Trent and they just gravitate towards each other. It doesn't "fix Trent" but at least it would give him a much more rational reason why the 9 thing came up out of nowhere so suddenly.

Half way through the video, Trent doesn't even look like a caricature of a human to me anymore. All the other characters do, but Trent? He just looks like a pile of shapes

Just wanting to say that Heather and Alejandro are the best couple ever!! Also, thanks for the 3 hour content!!

Duncan getting imprisoned for terrorism being a footnote in this video was funny

Kind of wished this included the reboot ships, which had one of the healthiest couples AND one of the unhealthiest couple in the entire series both in one season, but it's understandable why it's not included since this is mainly gen 1 drama. Regardless, very good video once again, I really enjoyed it

The worst thing that happened to Duncan is the showrunners became very aware of how popular he was with the fanbase. It was like watching the Homer Simpson "Poochie" joke act out in real time. "Duncan needs to be louder and more obnoxious, and every time he's not on screen the other characters should ask 'Where is Duncan?'" Because Duncan was popular for being a bad boy, the writers doubled down and exaggerated all of his worse features, and when you combine that with them also trying to pander to what was, at the time, the big fandom wish fulfillment ship in Duncan and Gwen. Yeah it made for a nasty combination, Duncan as a character really should not have returned after his episode 1 elimination in World Tour.

Emma and Kitty are 2 of the best written female characters in the franchise and they are also the best siblings.

Trent had OCD, and they punished him for it (he still acted horribly and his behavior isn't okie, but they didn't have to demonize him like that, in my opinion)

That "network" that forced the couple breakups wasn't Cartoon Network, BTW, but Teletoon, actually. Teletoon are now dead. Yeah. Also, no mention of OwenxIzzy? At all? Cause they deserve their own video, too, mostly from the fact that it was as big of a mess as the couples featured in this one.

I thought the three hours was for every ship from the original lineup of characters, but it was just about the top billing 4 and triangle and every minute was well spent. Damn, would love to hear you talk about other ships, especially the fanon and queer ones cuz I never considered Gweather as a tween, but now you have shown it to me I am immediately obsessed. Also, would love to hear you talk about Heather x Alejandro, and tbh, as a kid I liked Tyler x Lindsay and Harold x Leshawna.

For some armchair psychology, it looks like Trent has some OCD that flares up when he's under stress and he isn't dealing with it properly. He might not know about it, especially with how stigmatised that particular disorder is. Which, of course, a cartoon couldn't have tackled, especially not at the time.

Am I the only one getting major OCD vibes from Trent’s whole nine obsession?

So, to summarize, they put us through all of that so that we would learn that "relationships don't always work out"? ... Most of us are children of divorce, people.

Personally I liked the IDEA bringing the cast back for round 2. They just didn't lean hard enough into the drama from Season 1. Heather's progression in Season 2 was my favorite part. Nobody actually wanting her there, but knowing that she was actually valuable to not just immediately throw out was the exact kind of thing they should've done with more people. People should've been all over Gwen and Owen as finalists so they could use them. Instead they just don't really acknowledge it much. Other than Heather it seems like everyone else's drama got left behind. After Season 2 they just should've gotten a new cast...

They did my boy Trent so dirty in TDA. A lot of people were upset that he wasn’t brought back in TDWT since he was actually a singer, but nah let my mans rest and be as far away as possible from all that mess.

1:05:30 that 9 thing was so strange. It wasn't funny, forced conflicts, ruined a relationship and destroyed his character to the point that he never came back

You can add least give the franchise this it's diverse in the couples it creates. There are a lot of characters from the franchise that I'm shocked got a serious relationship like Noah and Owen. It really shows that with a good writer you can give almost any character a genuine.

I was a Duncan and Courtney shipper so u can imagine season 3 wasn’t great for me. Season 2 also wasn’t great cuz they decided to transform Courtney from bossy know it all to straight out villain. As much as I loved more screen time for her and seeing her skills, it sucks it came at the expense of leaning heavy into the spoiled brat. Then season 3, she loosens up a bit in time to make a friend in Gwen, only for that to crash and burn when Gwen kisses Courtney’s boyfriend. Then Courtney is turned into the bad guy for getting angry at her new friend and boyfriend stabbing her in the back. And she’s turned into the psycho ex. Duncan cheated but comes out with a new girl and is openly unapologetic about cheating. Then all stars made a half baked attempt at drama by having Duncan thirsty for courtney’s attention, and jealous of her interest in Scott. Which costs him his relationship with Gwen, who lost interest in favor of making up with Courtney. Friends reunion…..nope gotta still have Courtney be a baddie so let’s have her plot to vote Gwen off, get exposed and come out of that season a loser with a bonus of getting thrown up on by a shark (bonus clip) I have a complicated love/hate for total drama. But I can’t stop watching. Except drama Rama, that is just bad.

And this is why Aleheather is the best ship! Their story was simple, yet engaging.

Top (non-romantic) ship: DJ and the Goths. "We're bunny buddies"

Ugh you got me. As a kid I wanted Gwen and Ducan to pair up during 'Island' based on only a couple of interactions and a similar aesthetic. Usually I prefer the haters to lovers story, but I found Courtney insufferable. But you're absolutely right - when they finally got together it was unsatisfying, and I couldn't stand how Gwen was villanized (even if it was commentary). I'm glad I didn't watch 'All Stars' lol.

To be fair, they probably took inspiration from actual reality shows ...

I'll be honest, I was in the camp of people that didn't really like Duncan and Courtney while also thinking the concept of Duncan an Gwen had potential. It wasn't a shipping war type thing, I just didn't see any happy future for Duncan and Courtney and felt they both could've done better. Trent and Gwen was okay until they ruined him in action and tried to make Gwen the bad guy. I couldn't even enjoy Gwuncan when it finally happened due to both characters obsessing more over Courtney than their own relationship. I kinda wish the show had the balls to make them a threesome to shut them all up.

This show and Miraculous Ladybug SUCK with their romance plots. Heather and Alejandro are the only couple I could ever even take seriously

Lets be honest here, if he made a video on total drama island, It's bound to be 3 hours long and that's coming from someone who's barely watched it

This is legitimately one of THE best Total Drama videos on RU-vid. You actually have opinions that aren’t just parrots of others and use examples and good arguments to back up your points. The video especially picked up once it hit Action. Great job man!

I feel like Total Drama had the same season to season characterization problems that Glee had. Gwen and Leshawna going from besties to meh is like how Mercedes and Kurt were the dynamic duo in Glee in season 1 then all of a sudden it was Kurt and Rachel. It’s like the writers think fans will forget the dynamics they’ve already created in favor of moving whatever plot they want in that moment forward.

I was there. I was there in 2011 in the Italian community arguing on the shippings. My first AMVs were about Total Drama. I own everything to this show and I love so much this analysis. Thank you man for the memories 💕🫶

Quick Thoughts on Total Drama shipping: -Duncan x Courney relationship was peak in S1 before it went downhill due to Courtney just becoming an unlikable character -Gwent got done VERY dirty by the crew and I wish they never broke them up - Gwen x Duncan was VERY unnecessary - Noah x Emma from Ridonculous Race is adorable (with Noco being overrated as hell) - All Stars made me ship Gwen x Camereon - Jasmine x Shawn from Pahkitew is probably the best ship in the entire Total Drama franchise -I do not care for Cody x Sierra at all - Best canon ships in the franchise as a whole though along with Jasmine x Shawn are Nemma, Geoff x Bridgett and Zoey x Mike.

THREE HOUR SARCASTIC CHORUS VIDEO? HELL YEAH! This is super because I'm baking atm. Thank you , sir.

Gotta be honest here: back in the days, I was absolutely on the DuncGwen train. I loved the dynamic, call me basic but truly I did. But the amount of character assasinations and plot contrivances they had to go through only to have them get together and the ones they then had to resort to make them break up after having us deal with ALL OF THAT, it's just... For as fun as a dynamic as it was, it really wasn't worth the pain of watching so many characters getting ruined and acting in such an uncaracteristic way. Shipping them was... simply not fun, not fun at all.

Since total drama was created as a parody of survival shows and had their cast be stereotypes it would've been cool if they used this premise to breakdown and explore said stereotypes. The show kind of did this, but the execution was very sloppy. The relationships are cool, but they're ruined by the plot. Courtney and Duncan's relationship was never gonna last because it was toxic and dysfunctional, yet it was fun to watch. But the show definitely could've handled their breakup better. Massacring Courtney's character to justify Duncan and Gwen getting together was goofy. I could totally see Courtney cranking up the worse parts of her personality in order to win, but it could've been portrayed better. Duncan being portrayed as a bad boy with a good heart who secretly cares about people thinking he's a bad boy is a interesting character, but he gets boggled down by a pointless love triangle. I think Gwen and Trent worked well together, but they really got fucked over by the narrative. Interesting conflicts get introduced by outside forces, but they aren't addressed in a timely manner and resolved inadequately. Then they ruin Trent's character by making him lose his mind to justify ending the relationship. I also think Gwen and Duncan could've worked well together, but the way they got together and the way they broke up was very poorly written. They were only shipped because of aesthetics, but the show should've shown them having romantic interests for each other before having them get together. And then having Duncan obsess over Courtney again out of nowhere just to break him and Gwen up is weird. Courtney and Scott could work well together, but I wonder if it's better for Courtney to be with someone that challenges her bossy nature to allow her a chance to grow as a person instead of letting themself get steamrolled.

It's honestly about time you made a video on Total Drama with how crazy the ship stuff gets lol

Fun (or interesting depending on your POV) fact: the episode in All Stars where Courtney was eliminated-"Sunday Muddy Sundae"- was so hated by viewers, that the writer was fired. Yeah, it was that bad. I also read that the writers were hoping to have Courtney be a final contestant and actually win All Stars (I don't have sources so don't quote me; just something I heard somewhere). I could live with Courtney being eliminated, but it was done in such a horrible contrived way. If it was her time to go, the writers could've done it where it was one of those "automatic" eliminations or a set up by Mal where she's framed. If they had to do this "list" where she shows how she's using people, maybe show her making it early in the series, but as time goes on she forms genuine bonds with the contestants and decides to forgo her plan and gets rid of the chart...only for Mal/Mike to find it and frame her as planning to use all of them from the beginning. Then when the final episode comes on where it's Mike/Mal v. Zoey, it gets revealed that her attempts to reform were genuine and she was eliminated for nothing. And for a while she could be bitter and reluctant to forgive everyone, reinforcing her belief that relationships of any kind are a waste. That would've been SO much better than what we got.

Finally it's about time someone agrees with me that Total Drama should've only lasted one season.

Interesting fact, originally the characters were all meant to be different ages with most being their early to mid 20’s. With Cody being the youngest at 16 and Izzy being the oldest at 25 (or maybe it was 23). It was changed during the shows development as many cartoons will try to keep the main characters age the same as the target demographic. This is the reason many scenes seem out of place for the characters age. Such as Heather’s top being ripped off, Linsey being portrayed as a bimbo, and numerous scenes with Owen. In fact several characters had the overall personality changed around. Owen for instance was originally a frat boy. This was the reason he was always ready to go at the weirdest things, and the reason he was willing to devour the grossest shit. It was less about weight and more about poking fun at college fraternities.

Man, my huge OTP of Total Drama was Courtney and Duncan, because they had some really good "opposites attract" chemistry and they balanced each other out. I know it's a drama show, but even then, I hated when they started pushing Gwen and Duncan, because it felt like "yeah, she's a goth and he's a punk, lets put the two with the dyed hair and dark clothing together." and I felt like they had a good friendship that was ruined by their relationship being a thing, especially in All Stars. Heck, it gets even worse, when you liked Courtney's characters in Island, but she slowly starts to decline in likability and when she got into a better place in All Stars with Gwen and started having feelings for Scott, they made an entire episode just to ruin her and eliminate her, with Gwen, who was so desperate to win back Courtney's friendship the entire season to "eh, I don't care about her anymore after that." It just drove me nuts!

Honest to God, I think the people behind this show hate their own show. They straight up got mad that people were paying more attention to their gimmicky show than the teen drama they had been working on for way longer (by the way, 6teen is pretty good), and instead of quitting, decided to ruin their show in any way they could think of. It’s the only explanation for how extremely cynical and abrasive this show became throughout its run.

The fact that I read a fanfic with freaking Dave and Sky in Gwen and Trents places and the kissing Heather plot line somehow came out healthier (DAVE AND SKY)

TIMESTAMPS CAUSE WHY NOT: 5:46 Courtney x Duncan (Duncey) 34:52 Gwen x Trent (Gwent) 1:04:30 Geoff x Bridgette (Geotte) 1:07:40 Gwen x Duncan (Gwecan 2:48:56 Courtney x Scott (Scotney) I would of wished to see the Coderra one or even overlook the Lindsay x Tyler ones since there was a sign of equality in the relationships.

To be fair, a number obsession created from trauma (death of grandpa) could be triggered by a stressor (like being afraid of losing his relationship, ie: the loss of someone important to him) and worsen as the stress increases. It's hardly good OCD rep, but it is a thing that happens.

Chorus, I'd like to know what you personally think is more impressive. Option 1. The amount of shipping drama in total drama. Option 2. The drug trip or as you put it (shipping on crack) that is the love square from miraculous.

I just pretend the show ended after season one. Courtney and Duncan stayed together and that's it

Honestly Scott and Courtney were one of my favorite td couples, they fr just suffered from poor writing and lack of time to actually have their relationship fleshed out esp since they're an actually healthy couple that play off each others strengths instead of bringing out the worst in each other

At least Aleheather was decent and entertained me throughout world tour, I absolutely love their dynamic. I’m glad they worked out for the most part.

Ridonkulous Race really was a great high note to end on.

“World tour, the unloved middle child” Oh man, it was my favourite jajaj

You know its good when sarcastic chorus posts a movie and a half

I started the day with a 10 hour about Death Note, and now I'm watching a 3-hour one about Total Drama. When did my life become this?

2:17:20 "a match made in hot topic" got me laughing so hard I almsot choked

Heather x Alejandro and Duncan x Courtney was my shit as a kid. Heather and alejandro cuz heather was my fav and having someone like her and challenging her was great

“Who needs a personality when you’ve got forehead for days” LMFAO THAT GOT ME 😭😭😭

Breaking up Duncney and Gwent was something I never forgave CN for. Why? These two relationships worked so well in s1. If they REALLY wanted to end them, at least they could do it with grace. What they did to Duncan, Trent, my girl Courtney and Gwen was anything but grace.

I just felt bad for Trent the whole time

Courtney/Duncan and Owen/Izzy were always my favorite couples in the early season.

What's ironic is that Gwen's best male romantic interest is now Cameron. The guy who is like Cody but better. And the only other guy Gwen kissed (on friendly terms).

As a kid the first Total Drama season I saw was World Tour, so naturally my OTP was Heather X Alejandro as I saw the Duncan Gwen Countney love triangle as too much of a mess.

The new season feels like a breath of fresh air for shipping, we got our first MLM couple (Bowie/Raj) and we currently don't see a disaster that was planned from the start or the closest thing to soap opera from them (hopefully)

i kinda wish Katie and Sadie competed in another season of TDI. wanted Katie more than I wanted Sadie but you can’t have Katie without Sadie.

Lowkey i ship courtneyxgwen