Everyone Is Related: Difference between revisions

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In some stories, it's not enough for the hero and villain to be [[Long Lost Sibling|long lost brothers]], separated at birth. It's not enough for the protagonist to find out that the man he has chased down with intense hatred is [[Luke, I Am Your Father|also the man who conceived him]], and thus they are linked by fate. Every main character is secretly related, and everyone they have even incidental contact with is a far removed cousin or uncle. If nothing else, [[The Dragon]] is secretly [[The Lancer]]'s adoptive father, or the [[White Magician Girl]] went to the same monastery as the dread summoner who now threatens all of existence. For one reason or another, everyone of even marginal importance to the story secretly has some kind of connection to each other, to be revealed only at the moment of greatest dramatic impact (because the writers hadn't thought of it until just now). In particularly silly cases, you can gauge a character's rising importance in the story by the fact that they are suddenly revealed to have been related to someone else in the plot all along.

Very common in [[Soap Opera~~|Soap Operas~~]], which hinge on dramatic twists. You can't really blame them for eventually running out of reasonable ones and going back to the family well. Also common in particularly [[Mind Screw~~|Mind Screwy~~]] and plot-heavy video games and long-running dramatic television series. Modern incarnations are often a [[Deconstruction]], but not always. The presence of (fertile) immortals can easily lead to this, especially if the immortality is itself heritable.

Very common in [[Soap Opera]]s, which hinge on dramatic twists. You can't really blame them for eventually running out of reasonable ones and going back to the family well. Also common in particularly [[Mind Screw]]y and plot-heavy video games and long-running dramatic television series. Modern incarnations are often a [[Deconstruction]], but not always. The presence of (fertile) immortals can easily lead to this, especially if the immortality is itself heritable.

Often [[Truth in Television]] when dealing with a feudal society. Those stories tend to revolve around royalty and nobility, who were intermarried so heavily that it's entirely plausible for every scheming duke and brave baron to be someone's uncle or cousin. This is possibly where the trope originates. Also true for humanity in general: recent studies indicate that the most recent common ancestor of ''all'' humans alive today may have lived as recently as three or four thousand years ago, while in most groups where immigration isn't the primary method of population growth, it is inevitable that this has happened much more recently. The way populations work, someone ends up either leaving a lot of descendants, or the family line dies out within a few generations. So if a person living now can trace their ancestry back to, say, Charlemagne, that means inevitably hundreds of thousands, and probably millions, of other people living today can do the same thing, which means they are all distant cousins.

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== Anime and Manga ==

* Almost every single character from the ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]] Ryo-Ohki!'' OVA is related in some vague way. Of the show's huge cast, there are probably only about three characters that aren't a part of that tree: Tenchi's two school-mates, and Doctor Clay.

* Alright, [[Mahou Sensei Negima]]. I'm just going to put this whole thing in spoilers: {{spoiler|Negi and Asuna are related by blood, and Negi's dad's group has ties to Asuna, Konoka, Evangeline, Takamichi, and the Headmaster. Konoka's bodyguard/love interest Setsuna is the sempai of now-villainous Tsukuyomi. Chao is a time traveling descendent of Negi's, and helped create Chachamaru with Hakase. Zazie's [[Evil Twin]] sister is an underling of one of the [[Big Bad]]'s allies<ref> Said ally is also blood-related to Negi, Asuna and the rest</ref>, Yuuna's mom was revealed to be a mage, and Misora was in on magic to begin with, as was Mana.}} To be fair, not everyone is related, but at this rate, it won't take long.

* Alright, [[Mahou Sensei Negima]]. I'm just going to put this whole thing in spoilers: {{spoiler|Negi and Asuna are related by blood, and Negi's dad's group has ties to Asuna, Konoka, Evangeline, Takamichi, and the Headmaster. Konoka's bodyguard/love interest Setsuna is the sempai of now-villainous Tsukuyomi. Chao is a time traveling descendent of Negi's, and helped create Chachamaru with Hakase. Zazie's [[Evil Twin]] sister is an underling of one of the [[Big Bad]]'s allies,<ref>Said ally is also blood-related to Negi, Asuna and the rest</ref> Yuuna's mom was revealed to be a mage, and Misora was in on magic to begin with, as was Mana.}} To be fair, not everyone is related, but at this rate, it won't take long.

* ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler]]'' seems to have everyone related by convoluted means. Given that it's an [[Unwanted Harem]]..

** Only Ayumu Nishizawa has escaped this fate so far. Either going to the [[Everyone Went to School Together|same school]] or related... or both.

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== [[Comic Books]] ==

* Due mainly to the Summers' [[Tangled Family Tree]], the [[Marvel Universe]] sometimes looks like this. The time travel doesn't ~~help -- Jean~~ Summers (''nee'' Gray) lost one baby to the future... who came back as two different superheroes from different futures!

* Due mainly to the Summers' [[Tangled Family Tree]], the [[Marvel Universe]] sometimes looks like this. The time travel doesn't help—Jean Summers (''nee'' Gray) lost one baby to the future... who came back as two different superheroes from different futures!

== [[Fan Fiction]] ==

* Perhaps this should be it's own trope "Wold Newtonism" (http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Pulp.htm ) For example, we know that Sherlock Holmes' family seat, Mycroft Hall, is in Norfolk. As all the county gentry are more-or-less related, we may assume that Sherlock and Mycroft were related to Lord Peter Wimsey. And we know that Sherlock & Mycroft had French relatives; perhaps BELGIAN ones? Perhaps that's why Hercule stayed in England after the ~~war--he~~ had English relatives?

* Perhaps this should be it's own trope "Wold Newtonism" (http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Pulp.htm ) For example, we know that Sherlock Holmes' family seat, Mycroft Hall, is in Norfolk. As all the county gentry are more-or-less related, we may assume that Sherlock and Mycroft were related to Lord Peter Wimsey. And we know that Sherlock & Mycroft had French relatives; perhaps BELGIAN ones? Perhaps that's why Hercule stayed in England after the war—he had English relatives?

* Life and Love: Pokemon Journeys invokes this.

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** Let's see, Tonks is the niece of Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy, making her Draco's cousin. Well, just see the [http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/File:Black_Family_Tree.png family tree yourself] It's surprising that the Lovegood family isn't there.

** Draco and Harry are actually distant relatives, who share a great-great-grandfather. Even one minor character in Slytherin, who is not much more than a sparring partner for Hermione in the second book, is related to Harry and Draco. Her great-great-grandmother is their great-great-grandfather's wife. And of course, by the end of the story {{spoiler|the [[Power Trio]] are all Weasleys by marriage or blood.}}

* According to [[The Bible|the book of Genesis]], every human being that ever lived is descended from Adam and Eve, and everyone born since the great flood is descended from Noah. One might conclude at first that this means that [[Fridge Horror|any kind of sex is incest]], except for two things: First, the gene pool was still <ref> apart from the Nephilim</ref> clean at the time of the flood, and the incest taboo wasn't needed until centuries later when God handed the law down to Moses. And even then, God [http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=religion never prohibited first cousin marriage].

* According to [[The Bible|the book of Genesis]], every human being that ever lived is descended from Adam and Eve, and everyone born since the great flood is descended from Noah. One might conclude at first that this means that [[Fridge Horror|any kind of sex is incest]], except for two things: First, the gene pool was still <ref>apart from the Nephilim</ref> clean at the time of the flood, and the incest taboo wasn't needed until centuries later when God handed the law down to Moses. And even then, God [http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=religion never prohibited first cousin marriage].

* Heavily subverted by ''[[Stationery Voyagers]]'': Other than a few marriages resulting later on, almost NOBODY (important) is blood-related ([[Bizarre Alien Biology|or for that matter, Ink-related]]) to anyone else (important)! Yet, while blood relations are severely lacking among major cast members, everyone is "connected" in more abstract ways. (See that work's official page for an in-depth analysis.)

* In any book after the first in any [[Piers Anthony]] series, EVERY CHARACTER EVER. Even, like, the robots and stuff. ''He'll find a way.''

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* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' is another example. With each season, more familial bonds spring up between main characters that originally lived on completely different continents.

** Then again, powers are genetic, so it's a convenient way to introduce a new character with powers by saying they're a relative.

* As mentioned in the trope, most [[Soap Opera~~|Soap Operas~~]] tend toward this eventually. If nothing else, it's an inevitable consequence of the constant marriage and divorce of everyone in the show.

* As mentioned in the trope, most [[Soap Opera]]s tend toward this eventually. If nothing else, it's an inevitable consequence of the constant marriage and divorce of everyone in the show.

* ''[[Lost]]'' has had a few. Jack and Claire {{spoiler|are half-siblings.}} We had met Widmore, Eloise, and Daniel in seasons 2, 3, and 4, respectively, but it wasn't till season 5 that we found out Widmore and Eloise {{spoiler|are Daniel's parents.}}

** Which makes Penny {{spoiler|Daniel's half-sister}}, and Desmond and Daniel- who were already good friends- {{spoiler|brothers-in-law.}}

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* In ''[[Haunting Ground]]'' {{spoiler|Riccardo is Fiona's uncle, and Lorenzo is Fiona's grandparent.}}

* In ''[[No More Heroes]]'', almost every character important to the plot ends up being related to {{spoiler|Travis Touchdown. He reveals before the Rank 4 fight that his parents are dead. The real Rank 1 holder, Dark Star, claims to be his actual father, and certainly knows enough to rekindle Travis's memories of watching his parents get killed. However, Jeane, who kills Dark Star before the match takes place, points out that he saw his parents die, so Dark Star can't be his father. Jeane should know too, as she was dating Travis just to get close enough to Travis's parents to kill them. She only wanted to do this because she's Travis's half sister (Yes, [[Squick]]), and wanted revenge on Travis's father for abandonning her family and causing her mother's death. Travis's rival, Henry, is also his twin brother, making Sylvia, Travis's love interest, his sister-in-law, and her daughter, Jeane, his niece}}. [[Mind Screw|Don't]] [[Suda 51|think]] [[Gainax Ending|about it]] [[Rule of Funny|too hard]]

* In the [[Multiple Endings|normal ending]] of ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'', it's revealed that {{spoiler|several people you met throughout the ages are all part of Marle's bloodline, including one of the last surviving humans from the [[Bad Future]] and fellow party member Ayla}}. And another, far less serious ending reveals that {{spoiler|Frog married into Marle's family as well}} ~~-- though~~ it's implied this is only true for this ''particular'' ending/timeline.

* In the [[Multiple Endings|normal ending]] of ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'', it's revealed that {{spoiler|several people you met throughout the ages are all part of Marle's bloodline, including one of the last surviving humans from the [[Bad Future]] and fellow party member Ayla}}. And another, far less serious ending reveals that {{spoiler|Frog married into Marle's family as well}}—though it's implied this is only true for this ''particular'' ending/timeline.

* 12 out of the 18 characters [[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]] starts out with are direct family of each other whether by blood or by marriage. Then again, [[Justified Trope|most of the story takes place during a family conference]]. (The other 6 characters are five of the family head's servants, and a friend of his.) As for the characters who show up later ([[Loads and Loads of Characters|and there are a lot]]), a number of them are Meta characters, two characters are [[Expy|based on characters from a previous work]], {{spoiler|and a number of characters might just be [[Split Personality|Split Personalities]].}}

* Basically every present-day character in [[Fate/stay night]], although you can somewhat include many of the Servants as well. Where to begin. Shirou is schoolmates with Rin, Sakura, and Shinji. Shinji's younger sister is Sakura, {{spoiler|whose real older sister is Rin}}. {{spoiler|Shirou's adoptive father Kiritsugu is Illyasviel's biological father}}. Kirei was Rin's father's apprentice, {{spoiler|and Caren is his estranged daughter}}. {{spoiler|Rin's, Shinji's and Illya's ancestors were all partners who started the Holy Grail War together}}. Shirou's only friends at school are Issei and Shinji, who both happen to be the school's cool kids (as a side note, Issei has an old rivalry with Rin and Shinji has a crush on her), while Shinji {{spoiler|is Rider's temporary Master}} and Issei lives with and is soul brothers with {{spoiler|Kuzuki, Caster's Master}}. Shirou's Servant, Saber, {{spoiler|was Kiritsugu's Servant previously}}, during which time {{spoiler|she met and was proposed to by Gilgamesh}}, {{spoiler|who was originally Rin's father's Servant}}. Shirou was formerly in the Archery club with Shinji, Sakura, and Ayako, and Ayako happens to be Rin's old, close friend. Taiga is simultaneously Shirou's neighbor, childhood friend, guardian, homeroom teacher, and former club adviser, and her grandfather is an old acquaintance of Kiritsugu who lets Shirou do his bike maintenance. And I shouldn't even need to mention {{spoiler|[[Future Badass|Archer]] [[Future Me Scares Me|actually]] '''[[My Future Self and Me|is]]''' [[I Hate Past Me|Shirou]]}}, should I?