Jonaerys

2011shipping / fandom portmanteaudead

Published September 3, 2026

Jonaerys is the fan ship name for the romantic pairing of Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen from HBO's Game of Thrones, blending their names into a single portmanteau. The theory dates back to 2011 forum posts but exploded during summer 2017 when the show's seventh season put the two characters in the same room, spawning one of the most argued-over ships in fandom history.

fandom shipping memesgame of thrones memesportmanteau memesfandom discourse memesfan fiction memes

Overview

Jonaerys, also spelled Jonerys, is the mashup name fans use for Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen, the two dragon-adjacent protagonists of Game of Thrones. The ship covers everything from tender Tumblr edits to wedding fan-fic to full-on defenses of its central awkwardness, which is that Jon turns out to be Daenerys's nephew via his hidden Targaryen parentage1.

The format is standard fandom shipping: fan-made music videos cut to the pair's on-screen glances, Twitter threads reading subtext into their dialogue, Instagram edits of actors Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke, and endless debates about whether the incest angle is a dealbreaker or just Targaryen tradition1. Media outlets treated the ship as a mainstream fandom talking point rather than a niche interest, running explainers on why viewers were rooting for a canonically related couple5.

Origin & Background

Platform
Westeros.org forums (early speculation) / Twitter (viral spread)
Date
2011

Speculation about the pairing traces back to George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels, but the earliest recorded online discussion appeared on May 7, 2011, when Westeros.org forum user CornCornSnow started a thread titled 'Would Daenerys find John Snow attractive?' that drew more than 390 replies 4. That date lines up with the debut of the HBO adaptation, which put both characters in front of a much larger audience for the first time3.

The ship name itself, Jonaerys, is a straightforward blend of the two first names and circulated on Tumblr and Twitter through the mid-2010s, with the Jonerys spelling also common in fan tags8.

How It Spread

The first fandom artifact of note was a fan-made music video called 'Jon & Dany, On Course,' posted to YouTube by user ladysnow1988 on June 22, 2011, which racked up more than 122,000 views over the following years2. On February 5, 2016, photographer @peggysirota posted an Instagram shot of Harington and Clarke kissing on set with a caption about the on-set chemistry, and the image pulled in more than 7,800 likes6.

Interest spiked in summer 2017 once season seven finally had the two characters meet on screen. On July 28, MTV published 'Will Daenerys Marry Jon Snow? And 12 More Game Of Thrones Questions,' framing the pairing as a way to preserve the Targaryen bloodline7. Two days later, Vulture ran 'Is It Gross to Ship Daenerys and Jon Snow?,' directly addressing the incest complaint that trailed the ship everywhere it went5.

After the episode 'Beyond the Wall,' Twitter filled with reaction threads and screencap edits, including a widely shared July 31, 2017 tweet from @SohaniTT joking about the pair's dialogue as thinly veiled flirting3. Bustle piled on with a piece about how the parallel between Jon's parents Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen made the whole thing weirder, not less weird1. The ship largely went quiet after Game of Thrones ended in 2019, with Daenerys's controversial arc and Jon's role in it souring much of the fandom on the pairing.

How to Use This Meme

Fans typically tag Jonaerys or Jonerys on edits, gifsets, and fan-fic that pair Jon and Daenerys romantically, often paired with hashtags for specific season seven and eight episodes. A common convention is to lean into the doomed-lovers framing rather than dodge the reveal about Jon's parentage, treating the incest angle as tragic Targaryen destiny rather than a plot bug1.

Frequently Asked Questions

Jonaerys

2011shipping / fandom portmanteaudead

Published September 3, 2026

Jonaerys is the fan ship name for the romantic pairing of Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen from HBO's Game of Thrones, blending their names into a single portmanteau. The theory dates back to 2011 forum posts but exploded during summer 2017 when the show's seventh season put the two characters in the same room, spawning one of the most argued-over ships in fandom history.

fandom shipping memes game of thrones memes portmanteau memes fandom discourse memes fan fiction memes

Overview

Jonaerys, also spelled Jonerys, is the mashup name fans use for Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen, the two dragon-adjacent protagonists of Game of Thrones. The ship covers everything from tender Tumblr edits to wedding fan-fic to full-on defenses of its central awkwardness, which is that Jon turns out to be Daenerys's nephew via his hidden Targaryen parentage1.

The format is standard fandom shipping: fan-made music videos cut to the pair's on-screen glances, Twitter threads reading subtext into their dialogue, Instagram edits of actors Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke, and endless debates about whether the incest angle is a dealbreaker or just Targaryen tradition1. Media outlets treated the ship as a mainstream fandom talking point rather than a niche interest, running explainers on why viewers were rooting for a canonically related couple5.

Origin & Background

Platform
Westeros.org forums (early speculation) / Twitter (viral spread)
Date
2011

Speculation about the pairing traces back to George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels, but the earliest recorded online discussion appeared on May 7, 2011, when Westeros.org forum user CornCornSnow started a thread titled 'Would Daenerys find John Snow attractive?' that drew more than 390 replies 4. That date lines up with the debut of the HBO adaptation, which put both characters in front of a much larger audience for the first time3.

The ship name itself, Jonaerys, is a straightforward blend of the two first names and circulated on Tumblr and Twitter through the mid-2010s, with the Jonerys spelling also common in fan tags8.

How It Spread

The first fandom artifact of note was a fan-made music video called 'Jon & Dany, On Course,' posted to YouTube by user ladysnow1988 on June 22, 2011, which racked up more than 122,000 views over the following years2. On February 5, 2016, photographer @peggysirota posted an Instagram shot of Harington and Clarke kissing on set with a caption about the on-set chemistry, and the image pulled in more than 7,800 likes6.

Interest spiked in summer 2017 once season seven finally had the two characters meet on screen. On July 28, MTV published 'Will Daenerys Marry Jon Snow? And 12 More Game Of Thrones Questions,' framing the pairing as a way to preserve the Targaryen bloodline7. Two days later, Vulture ran 'Is It Gross to Ship Daenerys and Jon Snow?,' directly addressing the incest complaint that trailed the ship everywhere it went5.

After the episode 'Beyond the Wall,' Twitter filled with reaction threads and screencap edits, including a widely shared July 31, 2017 tweet from @SohaniTT joking about the pair's dialogue as thinly veiled flirting3. Bustle piled on with a piece about how the parallel between Jon's parents Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen made the whole thing weirder, not less weird1. The ship largely went quiet after Game of Thrones ended in 2019, with Daenerys's controversial arc and Jon's role in it souring much of the fandom on the pairing.

How to Use This Meme

Fans typically tag Jonaerys or Jonerys on edits, gifsets, and fan-fic that pair Jon and Daenerys romantically, often paired with hashtags for specific season seven and eight episodes. A common convention is to lean into the doomed-lovers framing rather than dodge the reveal about Jon's parentage, treating the incest angle as tragic Targaryen destiny rather than a plot bug1.

Frequently Asked Questions