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{{trope}}
The '''Black Sheep''' is the one member of a family who does not fit in, the prodigal son, the castaway from [[The Clan]] or from the [[Big Screwed
A Black Sheep is not just someone who doesn't fit in with the
The Black Sheep might be [[The Unfavorite]] but he can also be the Favorite instead. The latter case, of course, drives [[The Dutiful Son]] crazy as to why ''he's'' the favored one.
Sometimes the Black Sheep is ''really''
In kids shows there is a common Aesop where a
Not to be confused with the [[Black Sheep
Contrast [[White Sheep]], where all inversions of this trope belong.
{{examples
== Anime and Manga ==
* Urd from ''[[Ah
* The lead from ''[[
* Kouhei from ''[[
* ''[[Inukami!]]'': Keita for failing to attract an Inukami during his clan's coming of age ceremony. {{spoiler|Later revealed to be because Yohko, his [[Magical Girlfriend]] sorta kinda, scared all the others away so even though as a Kitsune she could form a pact with him when he would be desperate enough to accept. Why? [[Because You Were Nice to Me]]. When Keita was younger he gave her some chocolate cake. Since she was forced to live on a mountain with Inukami for a long time (aka supernatural dogs/wolves and as a Kitsune she is terrified of them) and lived liked this until she formed the pact with him.}}
* ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'''s Jagi is so unlike the other three disciples of Hokuto Shinken, despite being the closest relation-wise to their master (according to the ''Jagi Gaiden'' manga, adopted son), that he is not considered among the "three Hokuto brothers."
** Justified in the sense that he never truly mastered Hokuto Shinken, and in fact spent several years running around doing other things instead of spending time training.
* It's implied that [[Bleach
* [[Naruto
* [[
* Maya is actually revealed to be a black sheep (albeit one still loved by her family) in episode 4 of ''[[Burn Up|Burn Up Excess]]''. She's a Tokyo cop while her family runs a criminal syndicate in Osaka. She's not a [[White Sheep]] because she doesn't hold it against them nor they hold it against her.
* Wabisuke is the Jinnouchi's prodigal son in ''[[Summer Wars]].''
==
* Albrecht Strong of ''[[
* In ''[[
* Among the [[Batman|Batfamily]], ''three'' characters fit this trope at one point or another of canon:
** [[The Archer|Huntress]] was considered "too extreme" by Batman due to her willingness to use deadly force, and at various points they fought. Eventually they learned to get along passably well. Her efforts to [[Birds of Prey|infiltrate the Gotham Mafia and destroy it from within]] eventually even earned his approval.
{{quote|
** [[Plucky Girl|Stephanie Brown]] was, at best, a ''tolerated'' teen crime-fighter as Spoiler, but she was never accepted or welcomed into the group. [[Batman]] alternated between ignoring her and actively ordering her to quit (and, on two occasions, [[Master of the Mixed Message|training her, including once as Robin]]) until she eventually [[Legacy Character|asumed the mantle of]] [[Batgirl]] and
** [[Fallen Hero|Jason Todd]], since he came [[Back
** Most of the Wayne family are decent, but {{spoiler|Dr. Hurt aka Thomas Wayne (an ancestor who shares the same name as Bruce's father)}} was a crazy evil jerk. {{spoiler|Bonding to one of [[Darkseid
* [[The Sandman|The Prodigal]], AKA {{spoiler|Destruction of the Endless}}.
** Unusually, he's probably the only member of the family that everyone else likes- he's also one of the most affable, rational and well adjusted of them.
** Not counting Death, of course. In fact, it's one of the great, unspoken ironies of the series that the most relateable and most empathetic members of the Endless (at least, maybe until {{spoiler|Daniel replaces Morpheus as Dream of the Endless}})are Death and {{spoiler|Destruction}}.
* Parodied by Walden Woods in ''[[Dork Tower]]'': his parents are perfectly fine with his
*
* Interloper, one of ''[[Defenders (comics)| The Defenders]]''. He is one of the Eternals of Earth, but has little to do with them, having lived most of his life as a hermit for unknown reasons.
== Film ==
* Dewey Cox in ''[[Walk Hard]]'', after his brother died in that unfortunate machete fighting accident.
* The movie ''[[Black Sheep (film)|Black Sheep]]'' has [[Chris Farley]]'s character being a major pain to his politician brother because he's fat, loud, and clumsy...in other words, a Chris Farley character.
* The '''other''' ''[[Black Sheep (2006 film)|Black Sheep]]'' movie has two brothers who were fifth-generation sheep farmers. The younger one was considered a "[[Parental Favoritism|Golden Boy]] natural-born farmer" until a combination of his brother traumatizing him and his dad's death at the same time caused him to develop a sheep phobia and he fled to the city while older one took over the farm and developed [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|mutant-were-sheep-zombies]] {{spoiler|that are also related to them.}}. The title could refer to any of these.
* Sloth in ''[[
* Joshua in ''[[Little Odessa]]'': due to him being a [[Professional Killer|hitman]] for [[The Mafiya]], he is banished from home by his father.
* Edmund Pevensie in the first ''[[Chronicles of Narnia]]'' movie is regarded as the black sheep of the family, at least for the first half of the
* Jason of the eponymous ''[[Mystery Team]]''.
== Literature ==
* ''[[Harry Potter (
** Ron's family is almost all wizards except one of Molly's distant cousins who is an accountant. "We don't talk about him much..."
** The Weasleys also have Percy, a stuck-up, anal-retentive stick-in-the-mud introvert born into a family of humble, friendly, generous extroverts and who never fit in. For all his faults, Percy was mildly mocked by his brothers even prior to cutting off all ties from them. Eventually he decided to distance himself from the other members of the Weasley clan for political favor, albeit he returned to fight on his family side by the moment it was time to fight the [[Big Bad]].
*** It's mostly the twins. Percy was one of their biggest targets, but that's mostly due to the fact that all siblings tease each other. Though, there is the fact that Percy and the twins in particular are polar opposites.
* In ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', the Brynden Tully aka the Blackfish got his nickname by punning on this and the family's sigil of the trout.
** Euron "Crowseye" is the black sheep (squid?) of the Greyjoy family. And in that family, that takes a fair amount of effort.
** Jorah Mormont earned his
** And, of course, there is Jon Snow, who is the black sheep of the Starks due to his [[Heroic Bastard|bastardy]].
** And Perwyn Frey, notably the only decent member of House Frey, and was sent away before the {{spoiler|Red Wedding}}.
** [[Lovable Coward]] Samwell Tarly was sent to the Wall by his father because he liked singing more than fighting.
* [[Forgotten Realms|Drizzt Do'Urden]] would be a "classic" example, though he's actually the "white sheep" of his usually [[
* A ''Dr. Ecco'' puzzle features three heirs to a fortune, Alice, Brad, and Carla. Brad and Carla are stereotypical rich folk but Alice, the self proclaimed
* A recent version of ''[[Alice in Wonderland (
* An inversion is found in ''Burton's Zoom Zoom Varoom Machine'' by Dorothy Haas. The entire family are eccentric inventors of one sort or another, except for Little Brother. He's the
* The Gray Spartan team from ''[[Halo (series)|Halo]]: The Cole Protocol''. They are the most independent and individualistic of the SPARTAN teams, trained to operate for long periods with little control or assistance. After their abduction and indoctrination into the SPARTAN-II program, most of the SPARTAN-II candidates were able to quickly adjust to their new lives as soldiers. Cooperation, teamwork, and camaraderie were easily integrated into their minds and within five months, they were fully willing to take on their training. The exception were the Spartans who would become ''Gray Team''. Gray Team is comprised of the SPARTAN candidates who were the most difficult to control. These SPARTANS were loners who tried constantly to escape their training, and resisted indoctrination in any way possible. When these attempts to escape became increasingly costly, with numerous trainers with broken fingers and shattered knee caps and at least one Pelican dropship hijacked and destroyed, the three SPARTANS were formed into their own team, trained separately from the rest. Unlike the standard SPARTAN teams, Gray Team members are all trained to think and act individually.
* Temuge in the ''[[Conqueror]]'' books. While his brothers are all [[Badass]] warriors, poor Temuge is a rather soft chap who can barely hold a sword. He eventually makes up for it by becoming [[The Smart Guy]].
* In the ''[[Women of the Otherworld]]'' series by Kelley Armstrong, Lucas Cortez is without a doubt the ''
* In the ''[[Disgaea Novels]]'', [[Love Freak|Flonne]]'s sister, Ozonne believes in the power of money and rejects the concept of love.
* Christian in ''[[
* Rhett Butler in ''[[Gone
* A common thread in the ''[[Heralds of Valdemar]]'' series. [[The Empath|Talia]] [[The Unfavorite|Sensdaughter]], [[The Cassandra|Lavan]] [[Playing
* Nancy and Peggy's [[Cool Uncle]] Jim Walker, aka "Captain Flint", in the ''[[Swallows and Amazons]]'' series. Note that while Nancy describes him as "the black sheep of the family", he's actually quite close to his sister and her daughters.
* As the one [[Nice Guy]] in a [[Big Screwed
== Live-Action TV ==
* Joxer from ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' claims to have been the black sheep of his family. Specifically, his father is a warlord, his mother is a warlord's wife, and his brother is an assassin of renown. [[Heroic Wannabe|He can't compare.]]
** Oddly, there's [[Lounge Lizard|a third brother]]. [[Ambiguously Gay|Neither brother likes to talk about him.]] Maybe he's the true black sheep?
* [[Stargate Atlantis
* A 1998 issue of "[[Soap Opera]] Digest" had a feature which discussed each show's creepiest family. A black sheep of each family was mentioned-in this case the member that was a relatively good and normal person compared to the rest of his/her family. The entry on ''As The World Turns'' had this (intentionally or not) funny line: "Paul is the only Stenbeck who hasn't, at one time or another, gone crazy and terrorized half the town. Not coincidentally, he's also the only one who's never 'died'"
* [[Heroes (TV series)|Peter Petrelli]]. Peter's idealism and sweet nature naturally clashed with the corrupt and ruthless ambition of his family. He chose to become a nurse instead of a lawyer like his father and brother, and even after acquiring abilities, is derided by his family as naive.
* ''[[
== Music ==
* The John Anderson song "Black Sheep" is about a guy who comes from a rich family who is considered an embarrassment to his family because he preferred to drive a truck for a living, instead of pursuing a more lucrative career.
== Theatre ==
* Prince Hal in [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Henry IV]]'' spends his time boozing and committing petty crime, but sobers up and becomes worthy of the crown in the course of the play. [[Alternate Character Interpretation|Unless]] [[Batman Gambit|it was an act the entire time]].
* In ''[[
==
* Ambrose from ''[[Clive
* Kairu from ''[[Black Sigil]]'' is the adopted son of the duke, but disliked by virtually the entire duchy ''except'' his adopted sister and father. Despite presumably being the heir, Kairu gets subjected to a lot of bullying.
* According to his backstory, as a child, [[Fallout: New Vegas|Edward Sallow]] never quite fit into the humanitarian organization Followers of the Apocalypse due to his own petulance and narcissism. [[From Nobody to Nightmare|He later grows up to lead a Roman-inspired Legion dedicated to the subjugation and enslavement of the known world]].
* In ''[[Squid Row]]'', [http://squidrowcomics.com/?p=2056 Grace].
* Boudica from ''[[The Adventures of Wiglaf and Mordred]]'' is the only member of her family who isn't evil. In fact, while the rest of her family plots to take over the world, she is a concert pianist.
== Web Original ==
* In ''[[
▲== Web Originals ==
* Jonas from ''[[
▲* In ''[[The Gamers Alliance (Roleplay)|The Gamers Alliance]]'', the demon lord Omaroch and the merchant Jeremiah both end up being the black sheeps of their respective families because they are more virtuous than their scheming family members.
* In ''[[Nodwick]]'' side story "Q4orce", [http://nodwick.humor.gamespy.com/gamespyarchive/index.php?date=2005-11-23 Spawn of Santa]{{Dead link}} has a style... rather different from his dad's.▼
▲* Jonas from ''[[Lonely Girl 15]]'' was rejected by his family. Tragically, {{spoiler|his parents used to be Resistance just like him, before they had their memories erased and were brainwashed by the Order. They now want nothing to do with him}}.
▲* In ''[[Nodwick]]'' side story "Q4orce", [http://nodwick.humor.gamespy.com/gamespyarchive/index.php?date=2005-11-23 Spawn of Santa] has a style... rather different from his dad's.
== Western Animation ==
* In ''[[
* ''[[
** That, and because he has an advanced vocabulary that the other characters write off as another demonstration of how horrible a person he is.
* Jazz in ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' deliberately made herself a
* Helen's sister Amy from ''[[Daria]]'' - apparently the brainy misfit who deliberately withdrew from the family to avoid getting caught up in her two sisters' constant rivalry and left home as soon as possible. Unsurprisingly, she's Daria's favorite aunt, and there's a strong physical resemblance between them as well as in personality.
** Jane also actually uses the term Black Sheep when talking about her particular branch of the Lane family to Daria when she and Trent have to attend a family reunion.
* Sheldon J. Plankton in ''[[
* Shego from ''[[Kim Possible]]'', who walked out on her [[Dysfunctional Family|annoying]] [[Good Is Dumb|heroic]] brothers to become [[Evil Is Cool|a villain]].
** In another episode, Drakken mentions that his cousin, Motor Ed, is the
* Heinz Doofenshmirtz from ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' could qualify as this. He's divorced, without a job, his mother favors his younger brother, his father thinks of his dog as his son rather than Heinz and his parents even disowned him. To make matters worse, it's not exactly easy to compete with his younger brother Roger since he's the Mayor of Danville and seen as perfection in human form.
* Scar is implied to be this in ''[[The Lion King]]''.
* In ''[[Thundercats 2011
== Real Life ==
* [[Hands Go Down|Put your hands down.]]
** On the other hand,
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Family Tropes]]
[[Category:Black Sheep]]
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