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The [[Heroic BSOD|traumatic disillusioning event]] that pulls many heroes into angsty cynicism.
The [[Anti
[[Desperately Looking for
He'll swear off distractions like optimism or [[True Companions|having friends]], and if there's an enemy to be fought, swear an oath of [[Revenge|vengeance]] against them. If not the [[Anti
He'll always be critical if he feels the show's actual hero isn't doing his job at protecting the ones he loves, although he may mellow out once he becomes [[Failure Knight|friends]] with [[The Messiah]]. Further closure can be supplied by his former tormentor/villain appearing at a later date in the series so he can defeat them.
Sometimes he'll get his own [[Morality Pet]] which reminds him of his
If, on the other hand, the character [[Morality Chain|descends into full villainhood]] to punish the world that killed his
Expect a [[Hollywood Atheist]] to have one of these to explain why he or she does not believe in God.
A subtrope of [[Disposable Woman]]. Occasionally ties into the [[Oblivious Younger Sibling]]. Can lead to a [[Shapeshifter Guilt Trip]]. A
{{examples
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==▼
* ''[[Mobile Suit
▲== Anime and Manga ==
▲* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny (Anime)|Gundam SEED Destiny]]'''s main character Shinn Asuka has this ''hardcore'' with his literal dead little sister, Mayu, who was accidentally blown up alongside their parents when they got caught in between battle fire. To the point where Shinn carries around her cell phone and listens to her "leave a message after the beep" recording when he gets down. [[Nightmare Fuel|Creepy.]]
** It is in fact lampshaded upon in [[Super Robot Wars Z]], after being taken out of his berserker streak by Stellar Louissier if they saved her earlier. When back at base, Shinn's girlfriend Lunamaria Hawke is concerned that Stellar is going to be a contender for Shinn's heart, but Shinn tells her that he sees Stellar as a platonic brother-sister relationship. Making up for your mistake theres huh Shinn?
*** Hey, it kills two birds with one stone, enabling Shinn to save Stella and keep his [[Official Couple|relationship with Luna]].
*** It is also related to how Freedom was responsible for losing someone who was so close to him, first Mayu and then Stellar, this is a semi-epiphany on Shinn's part as he has a second chance. Though how Stellar viewed Shin could also pose as potential [[Brother
* Subverted in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ
* Female version: Himiko Kudo from ''[[
* Kanae from ''[[Elfen Lied]]'' is a dead little sister, but a non-example, as while Kouta remembers her fondly, he's gotten (sorta) over her death. Lucy's [[Kill All Humans]] mentality, however, began because of the loss of {{spoiler|her puppy}} at the hands of some [[Kids Are Cruel|very cruel kids]]. Her [[Start of Darkness]] was a lethal [[Unstoppable Rage]] at [[All of the Other Reindeer]] [[Kick the Son of
** For the record, he got over it by
*** And Lucy {{spoiler|is the one who killed Kanae and Kouta's father right in front of him!}}
* Dias's motivation in ''[[Star Ocean]] EX'' was literally his dead sister.
* Mikagami from ''[[Flame of Recca]]'', whose older sister died early. At some point before his [[Heel Face Turn]], he kidnaps Princess Yanagi and forcibly cuts her hair since she looks a lot like his sister.
* In a mild example of the phenomenon, Sai "Ice Machine" Jounouchi in ''[[
* ''[[Soukou no Strain]]'' gives Lottie a dead older brother. Sara's dead schoolmates also fit the "failed to protect" mold, giving her post-traumatic stress syndrome for a long time afterward.
* ''[[Fruits Basket]]'' has several, to varying degrees. Hatsuharu and Hiro each feel that they failed to protect someone they loved ({{spoiler|Rin and Kisa}}), though no one died. Averted with Tohru, whose mother died, because her warm personality is the point of the series.
** Tohru's mother Kyoko goes on a self-destructive and nearly suicidal streak after {{spoiler|her husband Katsuya dies of illness}}, and only recovers after remembering she still has a daughter who needs her.
* Chester, the archer in the anime adaptation of ''[[
** That's his motivation in the game, too. In a less literal example, Cless is also fighting for his parents, who were killed in the same event.
*** In fact, it is so heavily impacted on him that he gets rather overprotective of Kanonno that original characters that they wonder why it is so.
* The main character of ''[[Blade of the Immortal]]'' put down his sword after his Bounty Hunter lifestyle led him to accidentally kill his sister's husband (he'd never met him before), causing said sister [[The Ophelia|to mentally revert to a child-like state]] to cope. He picks it back ''up'' after his refusal to fight later resulted in his sister being graphically sliced to pieces. The story deals with his need to balance the two extremes; of course, the whole thing leans more towards violence, but generally it's for a good cause.
* {{spoiler|Nunnally}} in ''[[Code Geass]]'' seemingly towards the end of R2. {{spoiler|She gets better but not in time for Lelouch to stop his [[Zero
** Since Lelouch kinda recognized Rolo as his little brother {{spoiler|in episode 19...now he has a ''dead little brother'' too.}}
** It's also genderflipped in the case of Lelouch's [[Bodyguard Crush|female bodyguard]], [[Action Girl|Kallen Kouzuki]], who has a dead ''older brother'' named Naoto.
*** Likewise for Nunnally {{spoiler|Who now has a dead Lelouch, not to mention the many siblings Lelouch himself killed.}}
** To be fair, Nunnally and Schneizel {{spoiler|offed at least three of their siblings themselves too.}}
** Played straight with Euphemia for Cornelia.
** Also used in the spinoff manga ''[[Nightmare of Nunnally]]'' {{spoiler|where [[Canon Foreigner]] Alice has a real
** Episode 16 of the first season reveals that Cornelia feels this way about Lelouch and Nunnally. The dialogue ''kind of'' implies that these feelings are part of the reason she hates the Japanese. Obviously, [[Dramatic Irony|she doesn't know that they're both alive]].
* In ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]'', a young girl named Ai whom Akito meets in an underground shelter shortly before it's attacked by enemy [[Mecha
* ''[[Meine Liebe]]'' Orphereus has a case of an older dead sister that fits the trope, as does Ed's missing little sister although we do not know whether she is indeed dead.
* ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'': Yukishiro Enishi has a Dead ''Big'' Sister complex. {{spoiler|The entire Jinchuu arc is fought to see if she smiles on their actions.}}
* ''[[
* Ken Ichijouji of ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]'' has a Dead Big Brother instead, but it certainly tears him apart.
** Neo Saiba's digital world takeover in the manga ''[[
* In ''[[Noein]]'' the pseudo-villain/anti-hero Atori watched his little sister step on a land mine. Atori's attachment to Miho is most likely due to her resemblance to his dead sister.
* Doubly [[Inverted Trope|inverted]] in ''[[Detective Conan]]''. Shiho Miyano is younger than her sister Akemi, but since Shiho was a [[Teen Genius]] she is already the leader in [[The Syndicate]]'s lab while Akemi is just a random member and local [[Anti
** Many other dead little/older siblings appear in too many cases to list here. The most spectacular case is {{spoiler|[[Ill Girl]] Karin Torakuro, the victim of a really cruel trap from her brother's boss.}}.
* In ''[[Gunslinger Girl]]'' the brothers Guiseppe and Jean are both seeking revenge for the death of their sister Enrica at the hands of terrorists. The names of their chosen weapons, the cyborgs 'Henrietta' and 'Rico', reflect this. The difference is that Jean is cold-blooded towards Rico ([[Jerkass Facade|deliberately]]), whereas Guiseppe has created a [[Replacement Goldfish|surrogate]] in Henrietta, even (in the manga chapter "Fantasma") making her wear one of Enrica's dresses. Though Jean is visibly shocked by this act, he is unable to find the strength to reprimand his brother.
* ''[[Ef:
* In ''[[Fairy Tail]]'', Mirajane and Elfman's
** She doubles as a Dead Childhood Friend/Crush for Protagonist Natsu, although his personality didn't really change much, when he thinks of his happy childhood with the guild he always thinks of Lisanna first, and has nightmares about her. He also [[Never Got to Say Goodbye]], since their last interaction before she left for the mission that would kill her, was her promising to visit him when she got back.
**
** The anime moves this to further [[Tear Jerker]] territory as it expands on her background and death scene.
* In ''[[Saiyuki]]'', Hakkai's Dead Sister Kanan is also {{spoiler|[[I Let Gwen Stacy Die]], because they [[Brother
* Ayaka Yukihiro of ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' had a little brother who was the same age as Negi, but he died shortly after birth. This is probably the root of her [[Shotacon|attraction to Negi]].
* ''[[Pokémon:
* All the [[Claymore]] share more or less the same [[Dark and Troubled Past]] : family murdered by Youma, exiled from their village, and then are forced to become [[Half
* [[White
* ''[[Trigun]]'' plays it oh-so-very-straight with {{spoiler|Rem}}. Meryl Stryfe is the familiar [[Morality Pet]] because she looks a ''lot'' like her.
* Played straight in ''[[Dr.
* In the manga and anime ''[[Project ARMS]]'', Ryo Takatsuki goes on a brief downward spiral after believing he caused the death of his childhood friend (and girl he loved) Katsumi. {{spoiler|When it turns out she was really alive}}, he spends most of the series traveling from Japan to America with his friends to rescue her, only to {{spoiler|watch her be killed again by his own hands by accident (the bad guy threw her in front of himself as Ryo attacked)}}, which causes Ryo to nearly bring about the end of the world out of his guilt and sadness. ''Then'', when it turns out {{spoiler|she's not dead again but is implanted with ARMS of her own and kidnapped by the evil organization Ryo's been fighting}} he must again battle his sadness while setting off to rescue her. Wow.
* ''[[Naruto]]''. As far as {{spoiler|the Raikage}}'s concerned, {{spoiler|Killer Bee}} is this for him. This leads to {{spoiler|the raikage's pwning of Sasuke.}} {{spoiler|Subverted: Killer Bee managed to escape from Sasuke's team}}
** Played straight with {{spoiler|Konan and Nagato/Pain}} and {{spoiler|their best friend Yahiko}}.
* In ''[[Kenichi:
* ''[[Samurai Gun]]''. Ichimatsu watched his sister get raped and murdered; leading to his quest to find whether his mysterious employers were responsible, and his [[Celibate Hero]] relationship with [[Hooker
* In ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'', Nuriko's dead sister Kourin {{spoiler|inspires [[Samus Is a Girl|his]] [[Inverted Trope|appearance]].}} And Tamahome receives a power-up once {{spoiler|Suboshi kills his family, ending with Tamahome's youngest sister}}. And for worse, {{spoiler|Suboshi killed them because he blamed Tamahome for the apparent death of ''his'' older twin brother, Amiboshi.}}
** We later learn that {{spoiler|Nuriko ''became'' a Dead Little Brother for his surviving sibling, [[Ill Boy]] Chou Rokou}}
* In ''[[Darker
* ''[[
** He got a chance to take revenge on the killer {{spoiler|and a spirit who's taken over his lover's body, but doesn't end up killing either of them}}.
* In ''[[Et Cetera]],'' Baskerville's younger sister was an [[Ill Girl]] whom he was trying to save. He joins the Syndicate in order to get access to a medicine for her, {{spoiler|but it turns out the medicine was a narcotic that quickened her heart rate and worsened her condition, eventually killing her.}}
* In ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00
* Following the events of ''[[Tokyo Babylon]]'', Hokuto serves as this for Subaru during ''[[X 1999]]''.
** {{spoiler|Kotori}} also becomes Kamui's
** In the first ''[[Tokyo Babylon]]'' OAV, [[Broken Bird|Kazumi Asou]] has a dead older brother, murdered by his co-worker [[Smug Snake|Shinji]] [[Winds of Destiny Change|Nagumo]]. In the second, {{spoiler|the [[Serial Killer]]'s [[Start of Darkness]] happens when ''he'' accidentally kills his little sister as a child, strangling her while they were playing.}}
* ''[[Cross Game]]'' has {{spoiler|Wakaba}} as {{spoiler|Aoba}}'s dead older sister.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! (manga)|Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'': Ryou Bakura
** Alister joined doom to get revenge on Kaiba for the death of his little brother {{spoiler|later revealed to have been killed on Dartz's orders as part of massive xanthos roulette}}
* In ''[[Robotech:
* In ''[[Zetsuen no Tempest]]'', Mahiro doesn't care about saving the world and just wants to kill his sister's killer - not to get revenge or because she'd want him to or anything, but because it wasn't fair. (He doesn't seem to care much that his parents were also killed, though.) Interestingly, it turns out the sister was also Yoshino's girlfriend, which is the reason he ends up joining Mahiro.
* In ''[[Paranoia Agent]]'', Lil' Slugger comes about {{spoiler|and ends up destroying Tokyo because Tsukiko felt guilty about her puppy dying when she was a child.}} Seriously.
* Edward Elric from ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' has two major
* ''[[The Legend of Koizumi]]'' uses the real-life example below of {{spoiler|Robin and [[George W. Bush]]}}.
* Chōji Suitengu from ''[[Speed Grapher]]'' only maintained sanity throughout his years of {{spoiler|hellish service in the military}} by thinking of finding his little sister again after he got out. When he finally does, {{spoiler|the only thing he can do for her is [[Mercy Kill|end her suffering]]}}, turning him into a callous bastard and the [[Big Bad]] of the series.
* The occurrence of this trope is what starts off ''[[
* Kind of downplayed in ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'': Touji Suzuhara's little sister was critically wounded in the first battle. Leads to tension with Shinji.
** More shocking: in the anime, after being recruited, he asks as a favor having his sister transferred to Nerv's hospital. In the manga, the
* In ''[[
* Aside from being Chihaya's dead little Brother this trope is played straight as it gets in the anime version of ''[[The Idolmaster (
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* In [[Marvel Comics]], the death of Bucky at the end of [[WW 2]] served as a continual source of angst and self-flagellation for [[Captain America (comics)]].▼
▲* In [[Marvel Comics]], the death of Bucky at the end of [[WW 2]] served as a continual source of angst and self-flagellation for [[Captain America]].
* [[X-Men (Comic Book)|Magneto]]'s Dead Little Sister? Is ''[[World War II|the Holocaust]]''.
** The ''exact'' event that serves as Magneto's
*** Actually, the [[Moral Event Horizon]] that turned him into the [[Big Bad]] came after Magneto, while working for the CIA to capture Nazis, captured one that was working for the United States. As punishment for 'crossing the line' (the captured Nazi was working with the CIA to best the Soviet Union), Magneto's handler killed his lover and tried to kill him after giving him a [[Hannibal Lecture]]. [[Start of Darkness|Antagonizing Magneto thusly was not a good idea]] - [[Epic Fail|and it did not go the way the CIA expected.]]
* Also from the X-Men, Colossus, the big armored Russian, had a literal dead sister: when his younger sister and local [[Dark Magical Girl]] Illyana/Majik died of the Legacy Virus in the early '90s, he went all gloomy and pulled a [[Face Heel Turn]] to join Magneto's side for a while. {{spoiler|He then got back, and then he died. And got back again.}} It's... complicated.
** Not to mention {{spoiler|Illyana came back as well.}}
* Subverted in a pretty awesome manner in ''Fray'', set in a [[The Future]] of the [[Buffy Verse]].
* In the comics, ''Snake Eyes'' from [[G.I. Joe|G.I.Joe]] carries a picture of his twin sister with him during his service in Vietnam, as a good-luck charm. When he comes back home, he learns that his entire family has died in a car accident. [[It Gets Worse|And that's just the beginning for him...]]
* [[Green Lantern]] John Stewart was retconned (or [[Judd Winick
** Not to mention his role in {{spoiler|the destruction of Xanshi}}, which almost makes him commit suicide.
* Late in ''[[Y:
* Lara, the little girl who secretly rebuilt the battered robot paratrooper Mongrol in ''ABC Warriors''. Her death, compounded with the electric torture that fully returned him to live, took such a toll on his psyche that he was left a single-mindedly violent monster who knows only rage and confusion. According to the narration, in his broken mind he sees and hears Lara always, encouraging his quest for vengeance against the enemy forces that killed her.
* The most recent version of [[Shazam|Black Adam's]] origin story features the deaths of his wife and children sending him over the edge.
** In [[
* ''[[The Flash|Flash]]'' villain Captain Cold has always been, as the name implies, a cold-hearted, merciless SOB. He's become even more so since his younger sister, the Golden Glider, was murdered. In one issue, {{spoiler|he tracks down, tortures, and murders her killer. A few panels later, he's at home, tears running down his face, saying, "Much as I hate it, my heart's not always cold."}}
* Various retellings of [[Doctor Strange]]'s origin story give him one to explain how he became [[Dr. Jerk]]. (In the first version he didn't have any real excuse; he was just an ass.)
== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[
== Films -- Live-Action ==▼
▲* ''[[Old Boy]]'', although there {{spoiler|the bad guy was in an incestuous relationship with his sister, which she ended by committing suicide when details of their relationship threatened to be exposed by the 'good' guy.}}
* ''[[Hotaru no Haka]]'' (aka ''Grave of the Fireflies'') (1988). Except for the "hero" part; the character was just an ordinary boy trying to take care of his kid sister. {{spoiler|When she dies, it's the beginning of the end of his own life.}} (There's also much more recent TV series based on the same novel.)
** It should be noted Nosaka, the original novelist, based much of it on his own wartime experiences, including the very real death of his own younger sister.
* Danny Archer, in ''[[Blood Diamond]]'': {{spoiler|His mother was was raped and shot and his fatherwas decapitated and hung from a hook in the barn.}}
* Colonel Mortimer in ''[[For a Few Dollars More]]'' spends the whole movie hunting down the man who caused his [[Neutral Female|sister]]'s death, but we never find out how old she was.
* Marni fills this role for Nathan in ''[[
* In ''[[Kiss Kiss Bang Bang]]'', the death of Harmony's little sister Jenna drives the plot - but her death doesn't fulfill this trope. No, what made Harmony all kinds of screwed up and guilty was that she couldn't protect Jenna from their [[Parental Incest|father]], and then Harmony skipped town as soon as she was sixteen, leaving Jenna alone with him.
* Michael from ''[[Underworld (
** Selene's entire family was brutally murdered by Lycans, leading her to mercilessly hunt them once she became a vampire. {{spoiler|Turns out Viktor, who turned her, was the one who actually killed her family.}}
* Colonel O'Neil from ''[[Stargate (
** Subverted in ''[[Stargate: Continuum]]''. Daniel Jackson assumes that the O'Neill of the altered timeline also lost his son to a gun accident many years ago but it turns out that he's alive and well. This only serves to disgust alternate O'Neill that Daniel would suggest something so horrible, and enhances his refusal to believe their story.
* In ''[[Million Dollar Baby]]'', Frankie Dunn is enstranged from his daughter which leads to him first going to church on a regular basis (though he often irritates the minister by asking questions like "was Jesus a demi-god?") and later seeing Maggie Fitzgerald as a surrogate daughter.
* In ''[[Lady in the Water]]'', after reading Cleveland Heep's diary, Story learns that he became depressed and withdrawn from society after a
* In ''A Short Film About Killing'' directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski, the young man on death row espoused a life of crime because he was so haunted by his dead little sister's memory.
* In ''[[Top Gun]]'', Maverick's angst during the second half of the movie comes from his feeling of responsibility over his RIO Goose's death.
* [[Hannibal Lecter]] is literally given a dead little sister ("Mischa") during "Hannibal," causing a great deal of [[Badass Decay]]. Not enough to stop him from going on another killing spree, however.
* Subverted in ''[[Revenge of the Sith]]'', where the ''fear'' of the loss of Padme [[Death
** For extra [[Dramatic Irony|irony]], she dies from childbirth because she loses her desire to live after seeing the monster Anakin becomes in trying to prevent her death.
* Conrad's Dead Older Brother in ''[[Ordinary People]]'', whose death [[Driven to Suicide|drove him to attempt suicide]] and committed him to four months in a mental hospital.
* ''[[Lakeview Terrace]]'' is about a cop (played by [[Samuel L. Jackson]]) who will go to any lengths, including intimidation, violence, and murder, to get the interracial couple who just became his new neighbors to move. The event that ultimately drove Turner to focus his rage on the couple is revealed to be the death of {{spoiler|his wife, who was killed in a car accident while on her way to meet her white boss... who she was having an affair with}}.
* Happens twice in ''[[Sucker Punch]]''. In the beginning of the film, Baby Doll accidentally shoots her younger sister in an attempt to defend her from their evil stepfather, which leads to her being sent to an insane asylum. Later on, {{spoiler|Rocket dies after sacrificing herself to protect her older sister, Sweet Pea, who, ironically, had only decided to help out the group to keep Rocket from getting killed}}.
* In both versions of ''[[Footloose]]'', Reverend Shaw's son getting killed in a car accident led to him leading a town-wide campaign against dancing and secular music.
* In ''[[Face Off]]'', Castor Troy's accidental murder of Sean Archer's son is a key event in the backstory of the two characters.
▲== Literature ==
* The book and movie ''Hannibal Rising'' give [[The Silence of the Lambs|Hannibal Lecter]] one of these, elaborating on allusions in the prior book and movie, ''Hannibal''.
* In one of [[
* [[Stephen King]]:
** ''[[IT]]'': little brother Georgie's murder by [[Monster Clown|Pennywise the Clown]] launches Bill into the leadership role of the Losers Club.
** In ''[[The Dark Tower]]'' series, Henry Dean has a
** Wendy Torrance in ''[[The Shining]]'' lost her sister Eileen when she was run over by a car: Eileen was six, Wendy ten at the time. Wendy thinks that's probably the reason her mother became such an insufferable bitch.
** Older sibling variant: in ''[[Pet Sematary]]'', Rachel witnessed her ten-year-old sister's terminal illness and death when she was eight, leaving her phobic about even mention of death.
* Inverted in ''[[Harry Potter and
* ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'': Fan Scrooge, who is said to have [[Death
** Fan was named after Dickens' older sister Fanny, who, ironically, died of tuberculosis five years after the book was published, and had a crippled son who was the inspiration for Tiny Tim.
* In ''[[Haunted (1988
* ''[[Of Mice and Men]]'': {{spoiler|Although the
* ''[[
* In ''[[Tales of MU]]'', it's implied that Coach Callahan has a Dead Little Sister in Theona. Callahan honors Theona by [[Sink or Swim Mentor|Sink Or Swim Mentoring]] the Theona-ness out of college students.
* The ''[[
* There's an example in the [[King Arthur]] myth. The [[I Didn't Mean to Kill Him|accidental slaughter]] of ''three'' of Gawain's younger brothers turns his long rivalry with Lancelot into a [[
** Of course, Arthur doesn't attack Lancelot until he rescues Guinevere from being burned alive for adultery, and takes her to Joyous Gard, his realm. Sources debate on whether Arthur was counting on Lancelot rescuing the Queen or not.
* ''[[The English Patient]]'' has at least two: Hana's father and Kip's mentor, Lord Suffolk. Possibly Katharine Clifton as well, in the Patient's backstory; it's hard to tell, since those sequences are recounted by the Patient, and [[Unreliable Narrator|heavily tinted]] by his own worldview.
** In the film version
* This is the humanizing element of "Gentleman" Johnny Marcone, [[Affably Evil]] [[Anti
* From the books of [[Dale Brown]], Patrick McLanahan's little brother almost getting killed is what gets him started on a vigilante quest using the titular [[Powered Armor]] of ''The Tin Man''. Eventually, {{spoiler|both his wife and brother get killed.}}
* Elizabeth March aka Beth of ''[[Little Women]]'' actually ''becomes'' this, based on [[Creator Breakdown|the author's own Dead Little Sister]].
* In ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', Sandor Clegane's little sister's death {{spoiler|at the hands of ''their own older brother'', [[Complete Monster]] Gregor}} is part of the scarring childhood that created the cynical persona the reader meets. Also, Eddard "Ned" Stark has a good dose of this; while he never became a cynic after Lyanna's death, the man does know how to angst.
** Don't forget Oberyn and Doran Martell, who want revenge on the Lannisters for the brutal rape and murder of their sister Elia. It's clear that Elia's death had a big effect on both of them, but particularly Oberyn, since he matured quite a bit afterward.
* In ''[[The Hunger Games]]'', {{spoiler|at first,}} averted, in that Katniss, whose sister was just picked to be a Tribute, volunteers to go instead. {{spoiler|Played straight in Mockingjay.}}
* The death of her sister Estelle was the defining moment of the life of ''[[
* In ''[[
* A biographical example would be Laura Ingalls Wilder's younger brother Charles Frederick
* This is common in ''[[
* ''Sisterhood'' series by [[Fern Michaels]]: Barbara Rutledge is this for Myra Rutledge and Nikki Quinn, who both witnessed her death at the hands of a drunk hit-and-run driver who used [[Diplomatic Impunity]]. However, Barbara returns as a ghost from the afterlife from time to time. Alan, Kathryn Lucas's dead husband, is this for Kathryn.
* The infestation of Jake's parents and his failed attempt to rescue them at the end of ''[[
* Jeff Winston's lost daughter in ''[[
* In ''[[The Purple Widow]]'', Glen O'Brian, a servant at the palace of Tommikia, reveals that his two younger sisters (along with his mother) were burned at the stake for trying to escape imprisonment for false charges. Why, ''why'' is it always [[Break the Cutie|Glen?]]
* Asher has a dead ''older'' sister in ''[[Someone
* The original ''[[Dark Shadows (TV series)|Dark Shadows]]'' has {{spoiler|Sarah Collins}} as the motivation for at least some of {{spoiler|Barnabas'}} angst.▼
* ''[[The X
▲* The original ''Dark Shadows'' has {{spoiler|Sarah Collins}} as the motivation for at least some of {{spoiler|Barnabas'}} angst.
* Sgt Maritza Cruz from ''[[Third Watch]]'' had a younger, drug-addicted sister named Lettie, who died of an
▲* ''[[The X Files]]'' does this, with Mulder's little sister's disappearance providing probably the biggest motive for a large portion of his adult life and career.
▲* Sgt Maritza Cruz from ''[[Third Watch]]'' had a younger, drug-addicted sister named Lettie, who died of an overdose -- which caused Maritza to bend the rules even more than she usually did in order to find the dealer.
* One episode of ''[[This Is Wonderland]]'' featured a man trying to get sent to a federal prison so that he could kill the man responsible for the death of his father and brother, but ''not'' his sister, who was still alive.
* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'':
** Mary Winchester was this for Sam and Dean's father John, only John went a lot more off the rails than Sam later did, probably because Dean was only four and not available to do the same level of stabilizing. (Time travel shows John used to be as clean-cut and youthful as Sam in the
** Sam's [[Disposable Woman]] girlfriend Jessica Moore who gets offed in the pilot [[Downplayed Trope|functions like a less intense variant of this]], and the FBI, who believe the boys are serial killers, interpret it as being this straight.
** When Sam, Dean's little brother dies (he [[Contractual Immortality|obviously]] gets better; he's [[Sorting Algorithm of Deadness|the other main character]]) this is the event that pushes Dean over the edge to make his Suicide-By-Sacrifice [[Deal
** The two several-month periods Sam spends attempting to resurrect and/or avenge his ''big'' brother, in 'Mystery Spot' and the season break before 'Lazarus Rising,' see him become [[Darker and Edgier]] to the [[Incredibly Lame Pun|point of]] [[Blood Knight]]. He never actually makes a [[Face Heel Turn]], but he does start to tolerate a hell of a lot of collateral damage, and then commits the cardinal sin that unmakes any [[Anti
** There's also Gordon, with a nasty twist; he tells Dean about how he became a vampire hunter after they got his little sister - only to later reveal that they had turned (not murdered) her, and it was him who tracked her down and killed her.
* The first episode of ''[[
** Holtz's daughter was similarly turned, forcing Holtz to kill her.
** Also, in an inverted example is Angel himself. One of the first things he did after being turned into a vampire was return home and murder his little sister. Well, after terrorizing the town a little, but she still trusted her brother Liam enough to let him in. Oddly, despite having clearly been rather close with her, Angel displays no issues one way or the other regarding little girls.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'' engineer 'Trip' Tucker's sister was killed in the Xindi attack on Earth. This affects his behaviour throughout the season three 'war arc', most notably in "The Forgotten".
* A flashback scene in ''[[Battlestar Galactica
* On ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', a
** Turns out [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|she's not dead]]. Hover the cursor over the end of the previous sentence to find out what ''really'' became of her.
* The motive for ''[[ER
* Josh Lyman from ''[[The West Wing]]'' has a dead ''older'' sister named Joanie, who died in a fire while she was babysitting him. Josh feels unspeakably guilty about the fact that he ran out of the house and left her behind, even though he was only six or seven at the time.
* ''[[
* Fiona of [[Burn Notice]] has a dead little sister, Claire, whose killing at the hands of a British soldier caused Fi to join the IRA. This continues, sometimes subtly, to inform her actions.
* ''[[Leverage]]'' has Nate Ford, whose son died when the insurance company he worked for refused to pay for the treatment that could have saved him. This led to Nate quitting his job, divorcing his wife and becoming an alcoholic.
** Parker had a brother who [[Tear Jerker|died in front of her after being hit by a car.]] This is found out by a fake psychic doing a cold reading, which Parker, given [[No Social Skills|who she is]], has [[Fridge Horror|no way of understanding.]]
* Johnny
** In one episode of the second season, JJ tells Morgan and Reid about how her childhood fear of the woods stemmed from finding the body of someone at a summer camp she worked at as a teenager. Turns out she was just messing with them and there was no real reason.
* On ''[[Nikita (TV series)|Nikita]]'', the murder of a rogue Division agent's girlfriend drives him to attempt to kill, Percy, Division's leader. This forces Nikita to have to stop him, as Percy has set up several "little black boxes" filled with sensitive information that would bring down the U.S. government, set to be automatically released in the event of his death.
** This trope is what leads to Michael being recruited to Division in the first place; his wife and child were killed in a car bomb meant for him, and Percy promised to help him track down the man responsible. {{spoiler|Nikita is the one who eventually helps Michael get revenge, and it is that plus Percy's lies that lead to Michael's eventual defection to Nikita by the end of season 1.}}
* In ''[[Flashpoint (TV series)|Flashpoint]]'', it was revealed that {{spoiler|Sam}} had a sister who died in a car accident when he was young. When doing a mission, he froze when he saw a dead woman lying on the ground without her shoes, which triggered memories of his sister who had died in a similar position.
* In a ''[[The Man
* Annie, Kirby's dead girlfriend in the ''[[Masters of Horror]]'' episode "Cigarette Burns". She killed herself for reasons that are never quite explained, but her copious drug abuse seemed to have sent her in a downward spiral.
== [[Oral Tradition]], Folklore, Myth and Legend ==
* Sayadio in the Iroquois myth of Sayadio was motivated to rescue his sister from the spirit world by this trope.
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==▼
▲== Tabletop Games ==
* George Weathermay, one of the [[Ravenloft]] setting's greatest werebeast hunters, began a downward spiral into self-recrimination and depression when he brought his new fiancee home to meet the family, only to have her reveal herself as a lycanthrope and attack his young nieces. Neither girl died, but he blames himself and is now obsessed with tracking down and destroying this treacherous werewolf, {{spoiler|whom he fears may have infected one of the twins with lycanthropy}}.
* The creators of Penny Arcade and PVP, along with Wil Wheaton, form the D&D gaming group "Acquisitions Incorporated", featured in several podcasts available from Wizards of the Coast. At a live gaming session at PAX 2010 for this group, Jerry Holkins of Penny Arcade invoked this trope for his cleric, Omin Dran, when all characters were required by a magic ritual to reveal a hidden secret about themselves.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* In ''[[Fantasia Otome Game Series|Fantasia - Requiem of the Abyss]]'', Nazim has Farah, a little sister he had failed to protect during the war.
* In ''[[
** Triple, if you remember that the only reason {{spoiler|Rhyme}} was out in that street is because {{spoiler|she was chasing after Beat, who had stormed out of the house.}}
***
** It's also implied that Neku's refusal to open up is because {{spoiler|his best friend died. Granted, this comes from the non-canonical "Another Day" sidestory, so take it with a grain of salt.}}
*** Well... {{spoiler|it IS canonical, just that it occurs in another parallel world. The main story's Joshua and Hanekoma are present, after all, so perhaps the real world's Neku had the same close friend, as well.}}
* In ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'', Delita starts out as Ramza's [[The Lancer|trusted companion]]. But when his little sister Tietra is [[Shoot the Hostage|killed in cold blood]] by an [[Aristocrats Are Evil|arrogant, uncaring noble]] [[Face Heel Turn|in his own party]] who sees "lesser" people as tools, he goes on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] against the very society that allowed this situation to unfold. He therefore joins up with the [[Corrupt Church]]'s [[Ancient Conspiracy]], becomes a [[Mysterious Protector]] to a candidate to the throne, [[The Chessmaster|deftly]] [[Batman Gambit|manipulates]], [[Xanatos Gambit|outwits]], or [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|murders]] any threat to his plans, and ultimately proves to be a self-serving [[Villain
** Wiegraf deconstructs the trope. As commander of the Corpse Brigade, he used to have enough honor to wish for the well-being of the troops drafted from commoners and peasants, and only campaigned for proper reparations for those left to rot by the nobles after the war. When he catches word of the death of his sister Milleuda, he loses his mind and seeks power at all costs in order to claim his revenge. But when Ramza later confronts him whether Milleuda would have wanted him to (literally) [[Deal
* Maria Robotnik for Shadow in both Sonic Adventure 2 and his namesake game, as well as [[Sonic X]], which contains an [[Animated Adaptation|adaptation]] of the former.
* ''[[Eternal Sonata]]'''s Polka was inspired by Chopin's real life Dead Little Sister. In game, he mentions that Polka reminds him of his sister.
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** In ''[[Suikoden V]]'', the Godwins have {{spoiler|Rosalind, a dead mother and wife to Gizel and Marscal, respectively. She was assassinated during a civil war between Falzrahm and Shahrewar over who would take the crown, and Gizel decides to make Falena a strong nation -- under his rule -- to prevent any more tragedies. As part of driving toward that goal, he ''reassembles the same organization that killed his mother'' -- but under ''his'' control, so that makes it okay.}}
** The Barows have their own example in {{spoiler|Hiram, Euram and Luserina's older brother, who also got assassinated by Nether Gate during the same civil war. Their mother was bedridden afterwards, and it's implied that Euram's loutish behavior grew ''far worse'' following his brother's death, as he became heir apparent in his place.}}
* The heavy amount of angst that the title character of ''[[Max Payne (
** And it only piles up with the rising bodycount. Some of the later plot points rely on it.
* {{spoiler|Martel}} in ''[[
** Also, the death of {{spoiler|Alicia, Regal's fiancée, who he killed after she was mutated into a monster and begged him to kill her}} caused Regal to become [[The Atoner]] to the n-th degree. He eventually makes peace with her ghost, who is in a position to tell him that she didn't want him to torture himself in that manner personally. He keeps torturing himself, though. At least until the [[Big Bad]] is taken down, in which he's fulfilled his promise to atone for his crime.
** Similarly to Regal, {{spoiler|Kratos being forced to kill his wife Anna, along with the assumed death of his son Lloyd, caused him to lose all hope in creating a better world on his own and return to [[Big Bad|Mithos and Cruxis]].}}
** [[Gender Flip
** Played straight in ''[[
* Prince Janus of the Kingdom of Zeal in ''[[
** Perhaps even more tragically, {{spoiler|in the sequel, it's Serge who eventually finds her and frees her from the darkness beyond time, causing her to apparently be reborn in our world, where Janus will likely never find her}}.
*** Worse yet in the [[Video Game Remake|DS Remake]] is the fact that {{spoiler|Schala ''herself'' tells Magus to give up his quest to save her for his own good. She then promptly teleports the crew back into their own times and sends her brother off. Magus is left bewildered over his purpose, leaving his memories erased in the end}}.
**** The {{spoiler|Radical Dreamers music montage over the credits}} isn't intended as a literal representation. Indeed, at the very end, {{spoiler|Kid stands on Opassa Beach, in a radically (sorry) different outfit, implying that she grew up in the ''[[
* Subversion: Akihiko Sanada from ''[[
** ''Persona 3 Portable'' puts a very different spin on this if you play as a female main character. Akihiko is motivated to become stronger not simply to save others, but to avoid feeling the pain of being powerless to save someone who is precious to him. His social link halts when he senses the heroine is becoming too important to him, because as he later explains after some character development, it was easier to not let things become too important than to risk losing them. But after said character development, his motivation shifts from pain avoidance to a true desire to protect the people he cares about.
* Played with in ''[[
* ''[[Persona 2]]'' has a bit of this around Joker, who accuses Tatsuya of killing their 'big sis'. {{spoiler|The 'big sis' is actually Maya Amano, who's been there the whole time. She actually escaped the fire. Oh, and Tatsuya was the one who wanted to SAVE her.}} Hell, it has a LOT of this with Tatsuya. {{spoiler|When Maya DOES die, Tatsuya fucks up an entire WORLD because of it. And then he has to remember everything to keep her from dying again. Sucks to be him, right?}}
* Gorrister from the adventure game adaptation of ''[[I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream]]'' is suicidal because he feels responsible for driving his wife insane. Once he realizes that it's not entirely his fault, he is freed of his guilt and gets the strength to beat AM at his own game.
* ''[[Parasite Eve]]''. The protagonist Aya, after the death of her mother and sister in a car accident when Aya was young, inspired her to grow up and become an NYPD detective.
* ''Animamundi: Dark Alchemist'' had its [[Villain Protagonist]] Dr. Zaberisk make a [[Deal
** {{spoiler|Ironically enough, she was indeed a dark sorceress. It's revealed in the end game that she sold her soul to the very same devil to save her brother several years back.}}
* Micaiah of ''[[Fire Emblem]]: Radiant Dawn'' has a {{spoiler|dead king. That she killed. In order to free their country from the [[Deal
** Also, {{spoiler|[[Dragon Rider|Cormag]] }} from ''[[Fire Emblem]]: The Sacred Stones'' has {{spoiler|a dead older brother, Glen.}}
** {{spoiler|Alvis}} in ''[[Fire Emblem]]: Genealogy of the Holy War'', technically has this with {{spoiler|Deirdre}}, though he obviously never ''saw'' her as such. A subversion would be {{spoiler|Tiltyu and Blume}}; he was unable to prevent her death from a broken heart through his wife's emotional abuses, but on the other hand he didn't even ''try''. Finally, {{spoiler|Ethlin becomes this to Sigurd after Thracia's massacre of Lenster's troops in the Yied Desert}}.
* James Sunderland from ''[[Silent Hill 2]]'', whose wife Mary passed away three years ago, supposedly receives a letter from her which beckons him to come to the town of Silent Hill. There he meets [[Expy|Maria, who looks just like Mary]]. He fails to save her from being killed by [[Implacable Man|Pyramid Head]] in the hospital, but she is later brought [[Back
* ''[[Silent Hill 3]]'' has Heather {{spoiler|avenging Harry's death after he is [[Stuffed Into the Fridge]] halfway through the game}}.
* ''[[
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
** It should be noted that [[Legacy Character|this]] Link is a major case of a [[Knight Templar Big Brother]], which causes him to react to a kidnapping of his sister pretty much the same way a "regular person" would react to her death.
* Hal Emmerich's motive for infiltrating the Big Shell in ''[[Metal Gear|Metal Gear Solid 2]]'' is to rescue his stepsister Emma, who is one of the hostages. Naturally, [[Stuffed Into the Fridge|her death at the hands of Vamp is the cause of Hal's grudge towards Vamp]] in ''Metal Gear Solid 4''.
*** Not just double, but ''tripple'' inverted in Metal Gear Solid with {{spoiler|Gray Fox}}. Not only is he the brother of {{spoiler|Naomi}} and older than her, he's also not as dead as everyone had thought. His [[Fighting Your Friend|almost killing by Solid Snake]] and the experiments made on him by the [[Nebulous Evil Organization|Patriots]] are the reason {{spoiler|Naomi joins Ocelot and infiltrates FOXHOUND}}.
* The entire plot of the Japanese visual novel ''Kana: Little Sister'' is based around the possibility of this event due to the title character having a serious illness. {{spoiler|In all but one of the endings, she dies. The other one is awful for other reasons.}}
* In ''[[
* In the back story of [[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]], the death of Carl Johnson's little brother Brian is what causes him to run away from home and live in Liberty City. Ironically enough, it's the death of his mother that brings him back to San Andreas to begin the plot.
* Asbel in ''[[
* Ragna the Bloodedge, the protagonist of the ''[[
* In the backstory to the ''[[
* Prior to the events of ''[[Silent Hill Homecoming]]'', the death of Alex Shepherd's little brother caused him to snap and be institutionalized, the real reason why he was in the hospital. One of the endings reveals that he is still institutionalized and the game events were [[All Just a Dream]].
* In ''[[Avalon Code]]'', Rex, your Best Friend, had his little sister that fits this trope. Sadly, she {{spoiler|was killed along with Rex's mother and father when the country that he was an ambassator to killed them}}. Not only that, he also {{spoiler|lost his home and Social Class}} due to this. He meets up with{{spoiler|[[Big Bad|Kullervo]]}} in order to {{spoiler|return her to life}}, but [[It Got Worse]].
* Trish Daily has one in ''[[
* In the ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'' connector comic "The Passing" it is revealed that Zoey was forced to shoot her own father. Later, it is revealed that his DNA was responsible for keeping Zoey alive, and he died in vain. Fortunately, she's got too much on her plate right now to be all mopey about it.
* In ''[[Dragon Age II]]'', depending on how [[Player Character|Hawke]] is played, personality wise, this can be played straight, [[Averted Trope]] or [[Invoked Trope]], both from the beginning what with [[It Was His Sled|Bethany or Carver dying in the prologue]], and the Deep Roads expedition {{spoiler|leading to your other sibling dying, becoming a Grey Warden or joining the Circle/Templars}} and [[Wham! Episode|All That Remains]] in Act II {{spoiler|where your mother dies}}. Even without taking into account the [[Cosmic Plaything|other things that can occur to Hawke and companions]] [[Trauma Conga Line|throughout the game]], is it any wonder an otherwise [[The Paragon|helpful and heroic]], or [[Deadpan Snarker|wisecracking and jovial]] Hawke can become an [[Anti
** Several of Hawke's companions have their own. Aveline has her husband Wesley, whom either she or Hawke kills in the prologue to save him from the [[The Virus|darkspawn taint]]. Anders has Karl, his ex-lover, who was [[Empty Shell|made Tranquil]] by the Templars. Sebastian has his ''entire family'', who were murdered by hired thugs {{spoiler|and eventually his mentor Grand Cleric Elthina, whose murder reawakens his lust for vengeance}}. Varric {{spoiler|has his older brother Bartrand, who betrays him and whom he's forced to kill.}} Merrill {{spoiler|eventually has her mentor, Keeper Marethari, who dies protecting her, as well as potentially her whole clan}}.
* In ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'', Raul Tejada's little sister Rafaela was killed (and likely worse) by raiders while trying to scavenge for supplies for her brother (then undergoing radiation sickness/ghoulification) centuries ago. Later on in his life he had a [[Replacement Goldfish]] that was also killed. However the player, through talking with him and taking him to see various other NPCs can encourage him to pick up his guns and become a Vaquero once again.
** Also if you think about it, young femal Couriers might possibly serve as another substitute for Rafaela, especially if they're Hispanic.
* ''[[Tekken]] 6'', Miguel's reason to join the King of Iron Fist Tournament is to avenge his sister, who's killed by Jin Kazama's bombers in the intro.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Lusternia]]'', the death of [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness|Amberle]] drives Meridian to spearhead the war against the [[Eldritch Abomination|Soulless Gods]]. Doubling the woe, Amberle is both his
{{quote|
* Natasha from ''[[
* Artina for Valvatorez in ''[[Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten]]''. However, rather than disillusioning him and driving him to cynicism, Artina's death (and his failure to take him promise to [[I Will Definitely Protect You|protect her]] seriously) instead drilled into him a notion that vows should never, ''ever'' be broken.
* Sayuri in ''[[
▲== Visual Novels ==
▲* Sayuri in ''[[Kanon (Visual Novel)|Kanon]]'' has a dead little brother that shaped her into a lonely girl that refused to admit that everything was not all right. It even {{spoiler|changed the [[Third Person Person|way she talked.]] }}
** {{spoiler|Kaori}} treats her [[Ill Girl]] sister Shiori as if she never existed, as a way to avoid the pain of her eventual death. {{spoiler|She gets better.}}
* In ''[[Clannad (
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[The Wotch]]'': It is strongly implied that Miranda West's distance is because she blames herself for her friends' deaths.
* [[The Order of the Stick
** Elan himself seems to regard {{spoiler|Therkla}} (who was poisoned and died in his arms) this way. E.g. he used one of his spells learned on ''Neutralize Poison'' despite having more generally useful spells available to him at that level-up.
** {{spoiler|Redcloak, the [[Anti
* {{spoiler|Eric}} is revealed to have one in ''[[Venus Envy]]''.
* {{spoiler|Darby}} has the older brother version in ''[http://www.tru-lifeadventures.com TRU-Life Adventures]''. Watching {{spoiler|how others got hypocritical in response}} had more of an impact than the actual death, though.
* [[Errant Story|Ian]] set off on his quest to find the elven gods because his ''older'' sister was dying and he wanted to find a way to heal her. {{spoiler|When he achieves godlike power and returns home to find that she died while he was away, [[Freak
* In ''[[Misfile]]'' Kamikaze Kate's [[Backstory]] is a textbook example of this trope, except it's a
* In ''[[Picatrix]]'', Samael is motivated to exact revenge on the angel of death who took the soul of his twin sister.
* [http://www.goldcoincomics.com/?id=127 Clark's sister] in Gold Coin Comics.
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* In ''[[Powerpuff Girls Doujinshi]]'', Dexter seems to be collecting these. First of all he's got the haunting {{spoiler|death of Dee Dee, his literal dead sister (ironically a dead ''big'' sister)}} hanging over him. Then, not long after, he develops a secondary complex involving his guilt over {{spoiler|Mandark's death in light of Mandark's own little sister promptly moving to Dexter's school after the loss of her sibling}}. One way or another, he’s suffering a lot of angst these days.
== [[Web Original]] ==▼
* In [http://www.takealemon.com Take a Lemon] Marsh seems to regard his little sister Tina as dead, even though she is standing right in front of him, because {{spoiler|:her memories were apparently altered by the experiment}}.
▲== Web Original ==
** Later in the story, Marsh finds out that {{spoiler|his favorite cousin is now [[Ret
▲* In [http://www.takealemon.com Take a Lemon] Marsh seems to regard his little sister Tina as dead, even though she is standing right in front of him, because {{spoiler|:her memories were apparently altered by the experiment}}.
▲** Later in the story, Marsh finds out that {{spoiler|his favorite cousin is now [[Ret Gone]] due to the same experiment}}, leading to a [[Heroic BSOD]].
* In [[Spoilsbury Toast Boy]], {{spoiler|Toast Boy's sister, Liache, is drowned by the beetles because they felt she didn't deserve to breathe. Her mucus told them this}}.
* Hazel Rainart, one of [[The Dragon]]s to [[Big Bad]] Salem of ''[[RWBY]]'', is not actually outright evil like his compatriots but rather is motivated by his anger at Ozpin for the death of his sister Gretchen while a student at Beacon Academy.
* The [[Justice League (animation)|Justice Lords]] are revealed to have started falling off the slippery slope after {{spoiler|their Flash}} was murdered.▼
▲== Western Animation ==
▲* The [[Justice League|Justice Lords]] are revealed to have started falling off the slippery slope after {{spoiler|their Flash}} was murdered.
* ''[[Darkwing Duck]]'': An [[Time Travel|alternate timeline]] in "Time and Punishment" showed Darkwing [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope]] as the "[[Knight Templar|crime fighter]]" Darkwarrior Duck when [[The Heart|Gosalyn]] disappeared.
* ''[[Batman:
* ''[[Legion of Super
* When Scarface murdered Dreamer, the youngest daughter of Fox and Vixen, in [[Animals of Farthing Wood]], this led not just to the feud between the red and blue foxes, but also resulted in Bold, their eldest, attempting to hunt him down when he got old enough.
* A gender-reversed version of this trope appears in [[Shadow Raiders]]. Graveheart's younger brother perished in a raid Graveheart was leading against Planet Fire for energy; this explicitly caused him to renounce his position in the elite Quarriors and become a simple miner instead, and is implied to be the reason why he is so keen on the idea of peaceful trading replacing the former raid-based interactions between the worlds.
* Sitka, Kenai's late older brother from ''[[
* [[Avatar: The Last Airbender
* On ''[[Young Justice (
* In ''[[Doctor Strange]]: The Sorcerer Supreme'', Strange has a literal Dead Little Sister named April, who died of a mysterious ailment despite Strange himself performing surgery on her.
== [[Real Life]] ==▼
▲== Real Life ==
* [[Charles Darwin]]'s response to the death of his daughter ([[Alternate Character Interpretation|according to]] ''[[Charles and Emma]]'').
* [[Older Than Feudalism]]: Drusilla, Roman emperor [[The Caligula|Caligula]]'s favorite sister.
** Something similar in the case of Julius Caesar, who lost [[
* The death of Oscar Wilde's little sister Isola was reportedly a major catalyst for much of his darker literature, including his poem for her, "Requiescat".
* [[George W. Bush]] has a ''literal'' dead little sister, Robin, who died of leukemia when he was a little kid. [[George
** Maybe not in the household, but they do sometimes bring her up for the PR. The Barbara Bush library in Texas has a statue of Robin in the entrance with a dedication supposedly written by her older brother.
* John Fitzgerald Kennedy had his dead older brother Joseph, who died in [[World War Two]]. Not to mention, both he and Joseph Jr. were Dead Older Brothers to Bobby and Ted, and sadly, JFK, RFK, and Joe Jr. '''all''' were Dead Older Brothers to Ted, the only one who lived a full life.
** JFK's two sons, Patrick (dead two days after his birth) and John Jr. (dead in a plane crash) are dead younger brothers to his only surviving child, his daughter Caroline.
** The Kennedy Family's involvement in the Special Olympics is inspired by (or perhaps penance for) the fate of JKR's sister Rosemary, who was lobotomized and then kept locked in an asylum as a young adult because Joseph Kennedy Sr. was flimflammed into thinking it was a good way to deal with [[Rebellious Princess|a willful daughter]] by celebrity lobotomist Walter Freeman.
* [[Mark Twain|Samuel Clemens]] lost his younger brother Henry in a boiler explosion on the steamboat that he piloted, and was guilt-ridden about it for the rest of his life.
* Akiyuki Nosaka, author of Grave of the Fireflies wrote it as an apology to his little sister who died of malnutrition in war torn Japan during WWII.
** Internet rumour has it that she didn't die of malnutrition and that he simply lost her one day and never saw her again. The book (and subsequent anime film) were ways of convincing himself of this.
** Of course, as Japan's records of the time are terrible at best it' most likely that the story was crossed with one of someone else.
* Angelica Hamilton, daughter of [[Alexander Hamilton]], suffered a mental breakdown from which she never recovered, after her older brother Philip was killed in a duel.
* The Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis and his daughter/heiress Christina had a Dead Son and Dead Older Brother, respectively: Alexandre Onassis Livanos, who died in a plane crash (which is a favorite topic aming [[Conspiracy Theorist
* Philip K. Dick had a Dead Little Twin Sister who died when the two were only five weeks old. Being raised as a child with this knowledge (his mother allegedly claimed that the wrong child had died during an argument) the loss haunted PKD throughout his life. The figure of the mysterious, dark-haired and unattainable woman that is prominent in so many of his works (especially "Flow My Tears, the Police Said") is said to based on PKD's imaginings of what his sister would have been like had she lived.
* Argentinian tennis player Juan Martín del Potro dedicates each of his victories to his older sister, who passed away in an accident when they were young.
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** Likewise, [[Backstreet Boys]]'s song "Show me the meaning of being lonely" is dedicated to Howard "Howie D" Dorough's deceased older sister, who perished a year before the song was released; she's represented by the [[Lady in Red]] who, in the video, runs towards him and fades away.
* According to ''Three Cups of Tea'', Greg Mortenson founded the Central Asia Institute to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan after he attempted to climb K2 to fulfill a promise made to his younger sister, Christa, who died at a young age. He ended up ill and stranded in a poor Pakistani village after losing the trail, and after the residents nursed him back to health, he promised to return with the materials to build a school for the children there, which he eventually did.
* The poet Seamus Heaney lost a younger brother to an automobile accident, and later wrote a [[Tear Jerker|gut-wrenching]] [http://teaganlynnpoetry.blogspot.com/2008/06/last-year-i-kidnapped-literature-book.html poem] about it.
* As told in ''Boy: Tales of Childhood'', the loss of [[Roald Dahl]]'s older sister Astri drove his father to [[Death
* Wyatt Earp vendetta against The Cowboys, following his brother Virgil's permanent injury and Morgan's death. It's known for being retold in the film ''[[Tombstone]]''.
* Back in 2004, UFC middleweight Vitor Belfort's sister Priscila was abducted in Brazil, and for three years he used his fights as a soapbox from which to tell fans about this and solicit information and help, but the distraction due to this contributing to his losses in this time. Unfortunately in 2007 a woman ended up confessing to her murder, though the Belforts didn't initially believe her (fearing rather the possibility of her covering for someone else); nevertheless, it was only after this that his career turned
* Musician Eric Clapton's son died in a tragic accident when just a toddler, about which the songs The Circus Left Town and Tears In Heaven were written. Though close, this example subverts the Trope - particularly with Tears In Heaven, Eric rarely plays it in public as he says he has tried to move on from a very sad period in his life and "Doesn't need" the song anymore.
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[[Category:Sibling Tropes]]
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