In 1993, X-Files fans began using the term “relationshippers” to describe fans who were invested in a romantic relationship between the two leads, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.
Although the practice of pairing two characters together had existed in fandom for a while, this is recognized as the first use of the term. By the late 1990s, “relationshipper” had been shortened to “shipper” and was being used in other major media fandoms as well.
