Gadget's love life

Gadget's love life is an issue heavily explored in fanworks. Many fans feel that Chip and Gadget felt a natural attraction toward each other in the show and should be a couple. Others feel that Dale would be right for her. Still others feel that she could go well with another canonical character (such as Sparky) or a fanmade character, and some feel she wouldn't pair up with anybody at all.

Fan terms used to describe Gadget's relationships

The Pros

A Pro is somebody who is in favor of C+G, or in other words, Chip and Gadget having a relationship. A typical Pro argument would claim that Chip and Gadget showed a sort of latent attraction to each other in the TV series, often citing incidents such as the beginning of Parental Discretion Retired, where Chip and Gadget enjoy a brief, non-verbal flirting session. They also argue that Chip and Gadget's intelligence and personalities mesh much better than any other combination. Good Times, Bat Times is a popular episode for Pros, as not only does it show Chip trying to get more serious with Gadget a few times, but they reason that the introduction of Foxglove effectively removes Dale from the picture, leaving Chip as the only logical choice for Gadget.

The Antis

An Anti is somebody who is against C+G. Such a person may be in favor of Dale+Gadget, somebody else+Gadget, or nobody+Gadget. Since none of these groups is as numerous by itself as the Pros, the Antis have all been grouped together under one label. A typical Anti argument would claim that Gadget never showed Chip any special treatment in the series (any more than Dale, anyway), and that Gadget either was oblivious to his advances or clearly did not want to pursue a relationship with him. Incidents such as the end of Gadget Goes Hawaiian, when Gadget ducks out of a kiss attempt made by Chip and Dale, are often cited to support their viewpoint. Other arguments involve the personalities of Chip and Gadget clashing, and the notion that Gadget doesn't really need anybody.

Incidentally, the Antis were originally founded solely on the idea of nobody+Gadget, and only later did the term grow to encompass the other definitions.

The Neutrals

This much less vocal group of fans are mostly undecided about C+G, or simply don't view the matter as worth their attention. Since the series never concretely resolved the issue, many neutrals feel that it could've gone either way.

Conflicts regarding Gadget's love life

C+G was one of the earliest and most often repeated debates regarding the TV show. A flame war erupted in the reader comments section of the CDRR comic, with possibly the first public Pro-versus-Anti discussion between Fritz Baugh and Scott Storm. During the early to mid-90's there were many online debates regarding who Gadget should end up with. This culminated in late 1997, most probably October if this incident can still be retrieved, with Ranger War I, a flame war fought on Usenet between the Pros and the Antis. Neither side effectively won the debate, and a stalemate was called.

However, a post on Valentine's Day 1998 on the newly-created Acorn Cafe resparked the debate, resulting in Ranger War II, otherwise known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Many feelings were hurt on both sides, and the issue was highly divisive among the fandom. Soon, in the interest of keeping the peace, the issue was quietly dropped, and still today is somewhat taboo to seriously discuss. Nevertheless, the Pros and Antis are still alive and well, although much less apparent than they used to be.

According to Candy Goldstein [1], April 1999 almost saw a Ranger War III. Candy sent a message to Love Guru at the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter website[2] and hid herself behind the pseudonym "Chuck" which was of course nothing less than a play on Chip's name. She then presented the response[3] at the Acorn Café as a proof of her Anti attitude being "right" and provoked another flame war, but the experiences of the past Ranger Wars prevented things from going too far.