Best Riverdale Romances Ranked, From Bughead to Varchie

Whoever said truth was stranger than fiction had obviously never seen Riverdale, a show that pushes the boundaries of “suspension of disbelief” with every new season. If you went into the series thinking you’d get another romance-heavy CW show… well, you’d be right, actually. But the relationship hurdles Archie (KJ Apa) and the gang face are like none other on television. Hey, if your romance can survive in Riverdale, otherwise known as the murder capital of the world, you can make it anywhere, right? Below, we rank ten of Riverdale’s all-time best relationships.

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10. Charles & Chic

Okay, this one may be a little out of left field, but they are kind of iconic, aren’t they? Chic (Hart Denton) is the guy who poses as Betty and Jughead’s half brother. He goes on to become the Black Hood’s murderous mentee and later, the Gargoyle King. And Charles (Wyatt Nash) is Betty and Jughead’s actual half brother who inspires Betty’s dream of being in the FBI but is also a secret serial killer. And their odd, long-term love affair cumulates in holding Alice (Mädchen Amick) at gunpoint and forcing her to marry them during a mass inmate escape from Shankshaw prison. Honestly, their relationship tells you all you need to know about the kind of bonkers stuff that goes down in Riverdale. They’ve earned their place on the list for that alone!

9. Hermione & Hiram

Riverdale’s number one toxic power couple sure had their ups and downs. Sometimes they worked against each other, like the multiple times Hermione (Marisol Nichols) tries to have Hiarm (Mark Consuelos) killed. A lot of times, though, they work together to further the Lodge family’s business interests. Returning to their hometown after years of living in NYC, they come in and quickly take charge, figuratively and literally as they both serve terms as Riverdale’s mayor. At some point, though, it becomes a bummer to see Hermione’s ambitions subsumed by her husband’s, which is why it is such a relief to see her leave him to join the cast of Real Housewives, and to see him chased out of town by every citizen capable of wielding a weapon.

8. Jughead & Tabitha

Tabitha Tate (Erinn Westbrook) brings in a breath of fresh air when she joins Riverdale in Season 5, and frankly, a welcome shake-up to the romances that have been entrenched in the main cast from all the way back in Season 1. And while Jughead (Cole Sprouse) of the TV series may not be the burger-eating glutton of the Archie comics, it still does make a certain cosmic sense for him to be romantically involved with Pop Tate’s granddaughter. Not only is she the kind of kind, intelligent badass that he’s historically attracted to, but she’s also independent and has her own business ambitions. After the chaos Jughead has endured, it’s nice to see him with someone as sensible and reliable as Tabitha.

7. Kevin & Fangs

Kevin Keller (Casey Cott) is unlucky in love for a long time, but for a while, it seems like he has finally met his match in Fangs Fogarty (Drew Ray Tanner). Sure, their relationship begins when they are both under the sway of Evelyn Evernever (Zoé De Grand Maison) and her farm cult. And it is definitely put to the test when Kevin gets them mixed up in a tickle video fetish scheme. But after the Season 5 time jump, they appeared to be in a truly healthy, stable place expecting a baby via surrogate with Toni (Vanessa Morgan). Unfortunately, the highly impressionable Kevin is a master of self-sabotage, and ends up walking away from what could have been a happy ever after with Fangs and a family.

6. Veronica & Reggie

The thing that’s hard to get past in Veronica’s (Camila Mendes) relationship with Reggie Mantle (Charles Melton) is how he always seems like a runner-up to Archie. That’s true for the audience and for Reggie himself, as it seems to be one of his insecurities in their romance. If they could find a way to step out of Varchie’s shadow, though, these two could have a lot going for them: Reggie is willing to do the kind of dirty work that Archie never would, and his looser morals complement Veronica’s ruthless streak nicely. Is V doomed to repeat her father’s patterns, in business and romance? Is Reggie doomed to become the lackey of yet another Lodge? Maybe so, but at least they have the romantic chemistry to keep things interesting.

5. F.P. & Alice

F.P. Jones (Skeet Ulrich) and Alice Cooper are hands down the best parent-couple on Riverdale. Their sizzling chemistry makes them an enduring fan favorite, even as their relationship makes their kids’ lives, well, complicated. (See: the aforementioned half brother Charles that the duo conceived when they were teens, plus the pseudo-incestual time when Bughead were living under the same roof as their dating parents.) But the awkward family tree implications can’t put a damper on their undeniable spark. Even their romantic Season 5 goodbye scene is more swoon-worthy than some of the show’s teen romances ever achieve!

4. Betty & Archie

It takes a long time for the girl-next-door to finally win over her childhood crush. Betty’s (Lili Reinhart) romantic feelings for her longtime pal Archie is the starting point of the entire series (well, besides the whole Jason Blossom murder), but it simply isn’t meant to be back in Season 1. They revisit the idea a couple of times: once during high school, sending the core four into a tailspin, and when Betty first returns to town after the time jump. But it isn’t until Betty has solved the Lonely Highway murders, and Archie has finally rid the town of his nemesis Hiram, that they are finally ready to give their relationship a try as adults. We’ll see if they’re able to go the distance. Betty’s Rivervale doppelganger ends up sacrificing her Archie Midsommar-style, so here’s hoping it goes better for the OGs.

3. Cheryl & Toni

Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch) and Toni Topaz are the underdog romance that becomes one of Riverdale’s favorite power couples. The pair butt heads at first. But Cheryl’s eventual coming out reveals yet unseen depths to her character, and Toni accepts her with patience and compassion. They quickly become a serious couple and go from leading the Vixens dance team to their own gang, the Pretty Poisons. They have each other’s backs through all manners of insane Riverdale situations, but Toni probably has to put up with the most craziness (like her girlfriend hanging out with the corpse of her dead twin). Homophobia is a frequent obstacle for Choni, but sadly, what ultimately tears their relationship apart is the terrible shadow of the Blossom family legacy, which is its own chapter of Riverdale insanity.

2. Archie & Veronica

Ah, the couple that everyone in town, including Archie’s mom, thinks is #endgame. Sparks fly between these two as soon as Veronica rolls into town, and their odd couple dynamic is the backbone of the show for a long time. She is the sophisticated city slicker with the killer instinct, and he is the small-town rube with the heart of gold. Somehow, their idealized high school romance makes it cute that Veronica unironically calls him “Archiekins.” If only V’s dad wasn’t constantly trying to have her boyfriend literally murdered, maybe they could have seen that endgame through. Alas, Hiram comes between them too many times, and their differences ultimately proved insurmountable. (For now!)

1. Betty & Jughead

Is it sacriliege not to have an Archie-based couple at the top of an Archie-based list? If so, that’s too bad, because Bughead just has something even Varchie can’t touch. For one thing, the steamy chemistry between the (ex) real-life couple Sprouse and Reinhart gives Bughead a serious edge. They make a fantastic team. In a town with more serial killers than average citizens, they are a pair of crime-solving wunderkinds who bond over their investigations. And since investigating bizarre occurrences is Riverdale’s lifeblood, they are kind of the top couple by default. To make a long story short: he is a weirdo who doesn’t want to fit in. She is fearless and crazier than him. She is his Serpent Queen, and God help anyone who disrespects his queen!

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