Captain cigno has no chemistry
This might be the argument I understand the least. I've seen other couples I ship accused of lacking chemistry, but those are a very different type of couple - either couples who were together from the start of the series, so they've passed the stage of obvious sexual tension and chemistry, o couples whose appeal is più emotional than physical attraction. With those types of couples, te can almost expect the accusation. In comparison, Captain cigno have the sort of chemistry which leaps out of the screen. I know that the perception of chemistry can be subjective, and I've seen some people claim that what they'd call chemistry would need to be più than just physical attraction between the characters, so maybe this was the basis of this criticism in earlier seasons.
People only ship Captain cigno because they find him hot
Firstly, anyone who claims that their shipping is never influenced da physical appearance is lying. People tend to become più invested in couples where they're attracted to at least one of the individuals involved. People also find couples which are roughly equally attractive più believable - the concept of being "out of someone's league".
I can also say that I personally never ship a couple just because of their appearance o hotness. There needs to be an emotional element too, something in how they interact together o what they have in common. In the vast majority of Amore triangles in fandoms I'm a part of, I've found myself shipping the più emotionally-founded couple rather than the più sexualised one o the one labelled "hot". So this criticism doesn't apply to me, and I doubt that it applies to many other fans.
Captain cigno is forced and was only done to appease fans
The writers confirmed that they had always intended for Killian to be Emma's main Amore interest. Sometimes such announcements need to be taken with a pinch of salt, but in this case there are some indications in season 2 which support it. There are parallels between the characters from the start - both abandoned as children, both having been thieves, both having a loved one die in their arms due to a crushed cuore - which suggest some sort of connection o kindred spirit. Emma and Killian have their first major interactions in the very same episode which shows flashbacks of Emma's first love. This hints towards him being a possible future Amore interest. In that episode, Killian succeeds in Leggere her "like an open book", their conversation speaks of Lost loves, Killian uses his mouth to bandage her hand and Emma grabs Killian in a gesture he misinterprets as a romantic embrace. He continues to flirt with her in almost every scene where they interact throughout the rest of the season. The writers were clearly hinting at a future relationship before any episodes had aired, so it's impossible for fan reactions to have influenced them. They have also claimed that they did not allow fan demands to alter their plans as they wrote, and not reviving Graham and the lack of cigno Queen are 2 examples which support this.
Killian's flirting in earlier seasons means that he wouldn't be faithful to Emma
I'm generally not a big fan of couples which involve a "bad boy" flirting o sleeping around until he meets the right woman. It normally makes me wonder what was so wrong with every precedente Amore interest of his. But I don't think this fully applies in Captain Swan's case. In the flashbacks in The Crocodile, Killian only shows interest in Milah, not flirting around randomly. His attempts to protect her, lying to the Dark One and further risking himself, and his commitment to avenging her over several centuries proves that the relationship was not meaningless for him. This suggests that his later flirtations and casual attitude are an attempt to shield himself from più emotional pain after her death, rather than his true approach to love. It parallels Emma's own preference for one night stands after Neal's betrayal. And their relationship over the latter half of the series clearly proves that he can be faithful. This argument also portrays Emma as a fragile girl who needs to be protected from a relationship which could be only physical, when in reality she would have been più comfortable with such a relationship and the emotional vulnerability of the più committed relationship Killian would want was one of the reasons she took so long to act upon her feelings.
Captain cigno validates sexual harassment
Some fan claim that Killian's flirting towards Emma and pursuit of her during seasons 2 and 3 was actually sexual harassment, and that her relationship with him therefore sends the message that harassment succeeds. However, this is based on the assumption that Emma never had any interest in him. It interprets her eye rolls and ignoring him as proof of complete disinterest rather than considering the possibility that Emma was focused on other issues o fighting against her attraction. It also disregards how his behaviour towards her changed. He didn't make any più innuendo-filled commenti in season 3, and didn't make any più declarations of his intention to win her cuore after leaving Neverland. He does baciare her without her consent, but it was an attempt at a true Amore baciare to restore her memories, and her reaction to it was not rewarding. The baciare parallels similar kisses in other pairings. During season 3B, he was there supporting her without pressurising her for a relationship. It was her comments, not his, which would remind viewers of his feelings during their conversations.
Captain cigno would be abusive/Killian is a rapist
This argument is mostly just based on assumptions about how people would expect a villain and a pirate to behave. I'm not sure if some people didn't understand the plot twist at the end of the flashbacks in The Crocodile, o if they're applying real life accounts of piracy without considering how a fairy tale approach might romanticise characters. There are also 2 incidents/lines in the series which can be misinterpreted: ""when I jab te with my sword, you'll feel it" and Past Killian's commento about getting women drunk in Snow Drifts. For the first, I doubt that the writers intended it as a rape threat, o realised it could be interpreted this way. For the second, the context makes me think he's speaking of women being drunk enough to lose some inhibitions, not drunk enough to be unaware and unable to consent. The accusations of abuse and rape are most offensive when made da Regina/Swan Queen fans, who ignore the fact that she is strongly implied to be one of the canon rapists.
Captain cigno took over the mostra and took too much focus from other pairings/other character relationships
Whether o not certain fan of Regina o Rumplestilskin like it, the fact remains that Emma is the main character in Once Upon A Time. It follows that her Amore story would be the main Amore story of the series. That means that this pairing would have più focus, più scenes and più stories revolving around them. The same would have been true if Neal, o Graham o Regina was Emma's main Amore interest.
I will accept that Captain cigno does take focus from Emma's other relationships, such as with Henry and with her parents, but this does happen in almost every series. Romantic pairings get the most attention because they sell. The first 2 seasons were all about building up Emma's relationships with her family, with very little romance for her, and it was near inevitable that these relationships would get less time in future seasons once a più significant romantic pairing was introduced. Real life concerns may also have limited the other relationships, such as her parents' actors reducing their hours to spend time with their children. And the story did sometimes focus on these relationships rather than Captain Swan, for example the focus on Emma and Henry in the season 6 finale.
Captain cigno shouldn't be together because Killian was previously with Henry's paternal grandmother
I don't think this is enough of a reason to be against the pairing. It isn't like Milah was Emma's ancestor and that as a result, she reminds Killian of her and could be a rebound. With how crazy Henry's family albero already is without this detail, the connection is just another humorous, slightly awkward addition.
Emma's parents would disapprove of Captain Swan
Firstly, Emma is an adult and doesn't need her parents' approval o blessing regarding her choice of partner o what sort of relationship she chooses to have. The slightly strange dynamic their family sometimes has as a result of her growing up while they were cursed doesn't change this. I also don't think Snow and Charming would favour Neal as much as they did in earlier seasons if they were fully aware of the details of their past relationship and how it affected Emma. Finally, character relationships can develop after time, and her parents' initial distrust of Killian didn't mean that they had to dislike him throughout the story. They fully trusted him with Emma once they realised the depths of his Amore for her and that it was reciprocal.
Emma and Killian's characters changed too much as a result of Captain Swan
I wonder if people who make this argument have ever heard of character development. o do they view it as a bad thing? Character development is necessary, particularly in the case of main characters. It prevents characters from becoming stagnant and can give a story momentum.
I can't see how Emma's character development can be viewed as negative. She becomes più open, able to trust and Amore others. She overcomes the emotional limitations and walls which she had grown as a result of her childhood and Neal's betrayal. This character development is something which would have probably happened with any other Amore interest, o even with just her growing relationships with Henry and her parents.
Killian's character development is also positive. The redemption of villains and choosing to forgo revenge is a key theme in Once Upon A Time, as shown da the redemption of other main villains Regina and Rumplestilskin. His redemption was not rushed o unforeseen either, o simply for Emma's sake, as some claim. His very failure as a villain in season 2 suggests that he was not meant for that role. His conversation with Regina in the finale shows that he is already beginning to see the hollowness of revenge, before his choice in the finale to survive rather than sacrifice himself and all others to destroy Rumplestilskin, and his later choice to return rather than using the magic fagiolo to save himself only. The flashbacks with Baelfire mostra that this choice was not only for Emma's sake. He did want to be a part of something bigger, as she'd phrased it, and his main motivations at the time were honouring Baelfire's memory da helping his son and not letting his killers be victorious.
Blaming Captain cigno for the deaths of other characters
This is an argument I can half-understand, since there is a pairing in another fandom I like less than I would otherwise because I can't shake the interpretation that a member of my secondo favourite pairing there was killed for their sake. However, I don't think the claim is valid in this case.
I don't believe that Neal was killed off simply to make way for Captain Swan. There are many other ways to resolve a Amore triangle, which don't leave the successful pairing open to the accusation of only winning because there was no competition at the end, and several examples of Amore triangles in other fandoms resolved without a character death. I'm not sure whether Neal's actor had asked to leave for a new project - I've seen commenti arguing both ways over this. However, Colin O'Donoghue was made a regular after a few episodes, while Michael Raymond-James was always a guest star. This suggests that Neal was always intended to be a temporary character. Rumplestilskin's death was foreshadowed in season 2, and he was too popolare and key a character to be killed off permanently. The rules of magic in OUAT state that another would need to be sacrificed to save him. There would be più emotional impact if the person sacrificed was one of his loved ones - Neal o Belle. It could also be argued that Neal's own death was foreshadowed in season 1 before he was even introduced, that Emma's claim that Henry's father was dead meant that the man would die in the series.
I also don't believe that Robin's death was necessary as a price for Killian's resurrection at the end of season 5. When I first watched the series, I assumed that his death was due to his actor choosing to leave. I'm not sure if this was the case, o if Robin was killed off because the writers wanted Regina's final happy ending to be non-romantic. Robin didn't die as a direct result of Emma trying to save Killian, unlike someone using the double-sided candle o the Dark One resurrection spell. If there was any character in the series who could overrule the need for another life being exchanged, it would be a deity like Zeus. The writers may have chosen to parallel Robin's death and Killian's return, but that was just a creative choice and not essential. They could have saved Killian without losing Robin, saved Robin at a later data o made Wishrealm Robin a permanent return.
Hating Captain cigno simply for the sake of a different pairing
All I can say for this argument is that I don't believe that threatening, blocking o even ending another pairing is a good enough reason to hate a couple. I understand not shipping a rival pairing - I ship my favourite couples exclusively in almost every fandom - but to hate a couple to the extent of calling them a NOTP, there'd need to be more. They'd need to feel incredibly forced to me, be abusive, include rape o have negative subtext. Basically, the above accusations and arguments would need to be true.
