Lonely Rich Kid: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''"You're such a lucky girl," that's what they always say<br />

So, I feel all alone''|''Etoile in ''[[Rhapsody a Musical Adventure]]''}}

 

 

If you're under the age of about 20 or so and your parents [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money|have a lot of money]], it's very likely that you have both of the following problems:

* Keisaku Satou in ''[[Shakugan no Shana]]''. He's not a totally straight example (as he does have a friend in Eita), but otherwise he fits. He's rich as hell, bored and slightly depressed with it, and feels like he has no purpose. Then [[Ms. Fanservice|Margery]] [[Action Girl|Daw]] enters his life, and he falls for her, and unlike Eita, who eventually decides to gracefully decline further service to her mission as a Flame Haze, he still helps her for no benefit to himself, mostly because her presence in his life is removing the "Lonely" from the trope title. In fact, even after she catches on and tries to tell him her [[Dark and Troubled Past]] to keep him at arms length, it only draws him closer to her.

** {{spoiler|And in the light novels and the third season of the anime, she eventually breaks down and they become an [[Official Couple]]}}

** Karen's ''[[Futari wa Pretty Cure]]'' [[Expy|predecessor]], Honoka, has a nearly identical backstory, but it takes long enough for the series to get into her head that it's hard to say whether she actually fits the trope.

* Minto Aizawa from ''[[Tokyo Mew Mew]]'', who initially [[Jumped At the Call]] but refused the built-in gang of [[True Companions]] out of snobbery. She gets better, though, especially when Zakuro shows up and her [[Fan Girl]] side kicks in.

* Christopher "Chris" Thorndyke in ''[[Sonic X]]'', even though his grandfather is around most of the time and he has several friends at school.

** Her dad seems to enjoy his life as an extradimensional talking cat secret agent who may or may not be [[media:s_true_identity.jpg|Santa Claus]].

* Extra points for ''[[Great Teacher Onizuka]]''. Nanako's parents started out poor and nice and became less pleasant as they got rich. The protagonist solves the family problem without bankrupting them, however. With a sledgehammer.

** A number of characters including Urumi and Miyabi fit the bill as well. While their parents aren't gone {{spoiler|except Urumi, who doesn't know her father as anything more than a sperm donor}}, they're emotionally detached from them to the point they act out. Granted they have more issues than just this trope, but ''GTO'' prefers a cornucopia of issues for its characters.

* Kaito Doumoto of ''[[Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch]]'' is popular at school and has an [[Instant Fanclub]], and hides his lonely brooding behind the mask of a carefree joker instead of a standoffish loner like most of these examples. His parents died in a storm at sea, leaving him with a vast amount of money, and he doesn't like to talk about it. It's only Lucia's perseverance and [[Loves My Alter Ego|his growing suspicion that she might be the mermaid he's looking for]] that allows him to eventually open up to her.

** You think he's bad? Check out Michal Amagi, an [[Ill Girl]] whose [[Big Brother Instinct|older brother Rihito]] is pretty much the only person she talks to. Although he pours his riches into making her happy, she's so desperate and depressed that [[Heroic Self-Deprecation|she thinks that he's wasting his energy on her]]. When Kaito shows her genuine kindness, she goes all-out [[Clingy Jealous Girl]], throwing herself at him, practically chaining him to her mansion, and [[Amnesia Danger|ready and willing to do anything to keep him from remembering Lucia.]] Her [[Freak-Out]] when he decides to move back home is ''both'' profoundly creepy and heartbreaking.

* Both Ami Mizuno and Rei Hino in ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' (specially the manga), until they join the Senshi.

* The entire main cast of the anime ''[[Special A]]'' qualifies thanks to various relationship traumas during their childhood.

* Ai Shinozaki, the [[Tall, Dark and Bishoujo]] Ojou from ''[[Hell Teacher Nube]]''. Lampshaded when she reveals her loneliness {{spoiler|that led her to be possessed by a demon}} to Makoto and Nuubee and says it's one of the reasons is how she can't make true friends.

* Hazuki Fujiwara from ''[[Ojamajo Doremi]]''. Her father is a famous movie director and her mother is a popular fashion designer, but as much as they ''do'' genuinely care for her, they're so absorbed in their work that Hazuki's more usual companions are her landlady and the other Ojamajo.

** The local [[Alpha Bitch]], Reika Tamaki, also hits this trope to some degree. Her dad spoils her because he doesn't want to make her cry, but that shapes her into a spoiled Alpha Bitch [[Heroic BSOD|who has a complete emotional meltdown]] when she starts doubting if her dad ''really'' loves her.

** But averted with Onpu Segawa, who, when confronted with an empty house and a cold plate of plastic-wrapped food(on Christmas!) just went out to have fun with the other girls.

* Eri Sawachika from ''[[School Rumble]]'' is an archetypical example (as well as an archetypical [[Tsundere]], and [[The Ojou]].)

** {{spoiler|Athena Tennos}} is another, ''specially'' in her backstory {{spoiler|More exactly, when she kicks Hayate out after their fight, but almost immediately falls into despair due to being magically locked in a [[Gilded Cage]]-like mansion.}}

* The F4 boys from ''[[Hana Yori Dango]]'' display this trope in ''very'' different ways.

** Domyoji Tsukasa's parents live in New York where their Corporate Empire is headquartered and at the beginning of the plot he states that he hasn't seen them in years. His [[Cool Big Sis|older sister]] Tsubaki, [[Promotion to Parent|who had been largely responsible for his upbringing]], leaves Japan to get married sometime before we meet him, leaving him alone in his [[Big Fancy House]], besides the legions of servants whom he regularly abuses. His [[Parental Abandonment]] is cited by other characters as his [[Freudian Excuse]] for bullying/[[Screw the Rules, I Have Money|complete lack of respect for anyone]]/borderline psychopathic fits of rage. And once we meet his [[Evil Matriarch]] mother, well...

** Similarly, Mark Owairan is a ''real'' Arabian prince who spent several years locked inside his father's palace and discovered soccer only when he went out of his [[Gilded Cage]] with his bodyguards and saw a bunch of children playing in the streets. He's so fascinated that he begins training and playing, rising to the top thanks to his own merits and not to his family's influences.

* Tatsuki Iizuka from ''[[Hyakko]]''.

* Kuno from ''[[Ranma One Half|Ranma 1/2]]'' could be considered a bizarre variation even though he's rarely sympathetic. He lives in a mansion occupied by no one but his sister Kodachi and only has one unpaid servent (and only in the anime). He's estranged from his dad, behaves in a Outdated fashion, and appears to have no real friends.

* Isabella from ''[[Paradise Kiss]]'' was raised by her butler, and also had the issues you'd expect from a little [[Ojou]] [[Transsexual|trapped in a little rich boy's body]].

** {{spoiler|And said remaining relative, George's [[Rich Bitch]] mother Eva, was hardly the best caregiver, due to Bernkastel's intervention ''and'' her [[Silent Scapegoat]] position.}} Ange is also very isolated at school; unusually, it's not so much because she's rich (since it's a boarding school for rich girls), but because [[All of the Other Reindeer|her classmates]] don't like her gloomy personality.

* In ''[[Tona Gura]]'', Nina Isokawa is a sweet but annoying example, and as a result is very devoted to her friends, the Arisakas and Kaguras. Her extreme early-bloomer bustiness freaks Yuuji out, but at no time does he try and exploit her obvious crush on him. Her [[Genki Girl]] nature always freaks Marie out.

* Usami from ''[[Junjou Romantica]]'', until meeting Hiroki. His mother is shown as highly distant, father more or less not present, and his half-brother constantly jealous of him.

** Misaki says to him "You've got the typical rich boy complex. Am I right? You grew up with a father who was never home and abandoned his parental responsibilities, while your mother indulged herself in her own hobbies. Thus, in your loneliness, you found companionship in my older brother who was in the same boat. You lived life without ever finding true understanding, and hence you strayed from the right path, but found nothing but more loneliness. And on top of that, you own a red sports car and a longhaired dog named Alexander!" To which Usagi replies, "How did you know?"

* Mikawa Kai of ''[[Seto no Hanayome]].''

* Chise Umenomori from ''[[Mayoi Neko Overrun]]''.

* Takiko Okuda aka Genbu no Miko from ''[[Fushigi Yuugi Genbu Kaiden]]''.

** Also Hotohori, as the son of the former Emperor of Konan and his mistress/the local [[Gold Digger]]. He later is orphaned and becomes [[The Emperor]] himself, which makes him ''even lonelier'' - so he latches on the legend of the Suzaku No Miko and falls for Miaka when she treats him as a person and not as the leader of the country.

* An episode of the first [[Detective Conan]] season brings up the kidnapping and murder of a highschool girl named Naoko Takei, who happened to be Shinichi and Ran's classmate. She was [[Shrinking Violet|the shy and quiet daughter]] of a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]], and in one of the dubs Shinichi/Conan ''literally'' refers to her as "that poor little rich girl". {{spoiler|It turns out Naoko is alive; her captor was her dad's [[Sexy Secretary]] Akiko Hanai, who never intended to kill her... but wanted to punish Mr. Takei, who [[Pater Familicide|drove her dad to kill himself, her mother, and her little brother Masahito]] after causing the family's monetary ruin. Takei was actually such a [[Jerkass]] that he didn't really care for poor Naoko's safety, having given a ransom money ''that was all fake''... which Akiko brutally calls him out on when she tries to kill him ''and'' herself as revenge. She even states that she probably would've abandoned the whole plan if he had cared enough to use real money. And in a glorious payback moment, as soon as she was released Naoko ignored her father calling out to her, ran to Akiko ''and forgave her'' for everything, leaving Takei with his hands empty.}}

** Shinichi himself may count to a degree. His parents do love him, but they spend much more time in the USA than in Japan and, until he got shrunk and went to live with the Mouris, they left him alone in their [[Big Fancy House]].

* Oz from [[Pandora Hearts]] is this in spades.

* Tamaki from [[Ouran]]. Double because he's {{spoiler|an [[Heroic Bastard]] as well.}}

* Yukio from ''[[Bleach]]''. {{spoiler|Doubling as a [[Cute Psycho]].}}

 

 

== Comic Books ==

** And in ''[[Smallville]]'', Lex Luthor.

** But not [[Iron Man (Comic Book)|Tony Stark]], who grew up surrounded by social types and was quite the unrepentant ladies' man once grown to adulthood.

 

== Fan Works ==

* Blaine in ''[[Hunting the Unicorn (Fanfic)|Hunting the Unicorn]]'' is shown to be this--though he has [[True Companions|the Warblers]], [[Parental Substitute|Greg,]] and [[Official Couple|Kurt,]] his father is [[Parental Neglect|neglectful]], his mother is [[Values Dissonance|extremely old-fashioned,]] and his siblings are [[When You Coming Home, Dad?|traveling constantly or studying in California]]. It's a [[Cerebus Retcon]] of his [[Relationship Sue|canon portrayal]], which turns him into a [[Love Martyr]] [[Extreme Doormat|who goes along with everything Kurt says]] because he doesn't want yet another person to leave him. {{spoiler|Like the first guy he slept with.}}

 

 

== Film ==

* Jenny from ''[[Oliver and Company]]''. Her parents were too busy to come home for her birthday, but when Jenny met Oliver and took him in, she perks up.

* Ridley in ''[[Diary of the Dead]]''

* The movie version of ''[[Richie Rich]]''.

* Jane and Michael Banks in ''Mary Poppins''

* Kiara from [[The Lion King|The Lion King 2]]

* Lucas in the film of the same name paints himself as this, explaining that his parents are "superficial" people who take no interest in him, don't meet with other parents, and don't want him inviting friends over or giving out his phone number. At the end, one of his friends reveals that he lives in a trailer with an alcoholic father.

* In ''[[The Last Emperor]]'', Pu Yi who has the eponymous title cannot leave the Forbidden City despite being curious about the outside world; his tutor R.J. said, "I think the Emperor is the loneliest boy on earth."

* In one of the ''[[Eloise]]'' movies, Eloise befriends a child at the plaza named Leon, who is actually a prince. He isn't used to having friends because royalty and his father isolated him, so in an effort to keep friends he does not reveal his status to Eloise.

* Deconstructed in ''That Championship Season''. Phil was this as a kid, and now is almost 40 but he still doesn't know if people like him for who he is or for his money.

 

 

== Literature ==

** Played straight in the beginning of the ''Artemis Fowl'' series, but increasingly averted as the series progresses. Oh yes, and the reason he was hunting fairies in the first place was to rebuild the lost family fortune, for the expressed purpose of locating his missing father. {{spoiler|Which he finally succeeds at in the Arctic Incident.}}

* Holden Caulfield in ''The Catcher in the Rye''.

* Chance the Gardener in ''[[Being There]]'' is a variation. He was raised by a wealthy man but was forcibly confined to the townhouse ''all his life'' due to his mental retardation. So as the story opens, Chance is middle-aged but otherwise he fits the trope: he's attended to by a maid; he spends his days eating, sleeping, tending to a garden, and watching television; and he has no friends. Perhaps luckily, the poor guy doesn't ''know'' he's not living a normal life. When he's forced to leave the house after the master's death, he winds up befriending and enriching the lives of Eve and Ben Rand, a married couple who also serve as adult versions of this trope.

* In ''[[Hating Alison Ashley]]'' Erica, already dissatisfied with her middle-class family, is very jealous of the rich new girl, Alison Ashley. It takes her the whole book to realise that maybe having parents who bother to turn up to the school play you are starring in is more important than a fancy house and your own room.

* Terisa Morgan in ''Mordant's Need''.

* Lila Fowler of the ''[[Sweet Valley High]]'' series is normally proud of her status as the richest girl in town and unafraid to flaunt how awesome and cool she is, but she's had her moments of crying over how she hardly ever sees her busy, emotionally distant father and has a [[Missing Mom]] and being envious of the Wakefield twins for having the perfect family.

** [[Character Development|She got better]] when her mom and dad remarried later in the series.

* Colin from ''[[The Secret Garden]]''.

* This trope is used a lot in [[Harry Potter]].

== Live Action TV ==

* Logan Echolls from ''[[Veronica Mars]]''.

* Brett Aspinall from ''[[Waterloo Road]]'', at least when he was first introduced.

* Greg from ''[[Dharma and Greg]]'' had this kind of childhood.

** Wes from ''[[Power Rangers Time Force]]'' also was one of these until he joined the Power Rangers.

* Leonard Hofstadter from ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' also had this kind of childhood.

* Elliot Reed from ''[[Scrubs]]''. At least she had a Hispanic nanny to give her "cheer-up hugs"?

* Steve Wilde from ''[[Running Wilde]]'' was not only a lonely rich kid, he grew into a lonely rich adult.

* Martin from the Swedish TV series ''Ebba och Didrik''.

 

== Video Games ==

* For all her academic and Shadow-fighting prowess, Mitsuru Kirijo of ''[[Persona 3]]'' seems to be somewhat cursed socially. She and her father rarely talk, she rarely has any free time whatsoever, she takes the burden of guilt for {{spoiler|her grandfather's creation of the Shadow threat}}, and her sheltered upbringing means she's [[Fish Out of Water|often lost in everyday situations others take for granted]]. It's no wonder she [[Heroic BSOD|collapses]] after {{spoiler|her father is murdered by Ikutsuki}}.

* Nanjou Kei in ''[[Persona]]'' -- the only person in his household who ever paid attention to him was his butler, Yamaoka {{spoiler|who dies while protecting him very early on in the game}}.

* Flora from the ''[[Professor Layton]]'' series. Both her rich parents died and she lives on top of a tower where no one dares to go.

* Etoile of ''[[Rhapsody a Musical Adventure]]''

* Yusuf Amir from [[Grand Theft Auto]] IV is a rare adult example. He is rich enough to own a [[Bling Bling Bang|gold plated attack helicopter]] and live in the lap of disgusting luxury. But one gets the impression that at heart, he is an awkward man who yearns for a good friend and all his antics are his way to show that he is a cool guy.

* In a [[New Game+]] for ''[[Eien no Aselia]]'' you learn that {{spoiler|big bad(ish) Shun}} was one of these. It explains a lot.

* In the [[Visual Novel]] ''[[Katawa Shoujo]]'' {{spoiler|Shizune is revealed to be one of these in her route. A combination of her deafness and her [[Abusive Dad]] mean that she actually has a very difficult time making friends and forming relationships with other people. One of the main reasons she joins the Student Council was so that she could do things around the school to make people happy [[I Just Want to Have Friends|so that people would like her]] but in the end, her own competivness and awkwardness end up driving nearly the everyone else on the council, including her cousin Lilly, away.}}

 

== Web Comic ==

* Head cheerleader Alexandra King from ''[[Cheer]]''. Makes her cling fiercely to to her fellow cheerleaders now and implied to be what made her a bullying [[Jerk Jock]] back when [[Gender Bender|she was a boy.]]

* In ''[[Tales of the Questor]]'', Rahan, Quentyn's childhood bully and minor nemesis, is implied to be this, despite his toadies and hangers-on.

* Mia of [http://www.tnemrot.com/ Tnemrot] is [http://www.tnemrot.com/?p=29 ignored by her father] and so isolated the only friend she has is a teenage boy she met the day before. Despite this, she has no problems with sending him into a fight to the death.

** She's also willing to [http://www.tnemrot.com/?p=52 sleep next to] someone with a [http://www.tnemrot.com/?p=32 long list of kills] to her name with no trouble.

* Ashley Madder in ''[[Tales Of Gnosis College]]'' has a wealthy (and thuggish) Senator for a father who regards her as an ornament to his political career. She seems to have trouble making real friends and acts out.

 

 

== Web Original ==

* Cassidy Cain in ''[[Grandmaster of Theft]]'' fits. Her own is self-inflicted by her perfectionism, choosing to spend far more time worrying about self-mastery needed to be a [[Magnificent Bitch]] than getting close to many people.

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* Remy Buxaplenty from ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]'' counts. In fact, [[Abusive Parents|his workaholic and billionaire parents's EXTREME neglection of him]] is Remy's [[Freudian Excuse]] as well as the reason why he's got a fairy godfather in the first place.

** In the episode "Burns' Heir," Bart went through the temporary version.

** Fortunately, one benefit of a {{spoiler|[[Heel Face Turn]]}} is acquiring lots of ''new'' friends.

** [[All There in the Manual|Supplementary information]] indicates that not only [[Cute Bruiser|Toph Beifong]] was kept hidden from the world and confined to her parent's estate, but her parents left the bulk of her actual care/interaction to servants. No wonder she sneaked out enough to become defending champion at the local pitfights.

** [["Well Done, Son" Guy|Zuko]]. [[Missing Mom|Zuko]]. [[The Unfavorite|Zuko]]. [[Cosmic Plaything|Zuko]]. [[The Woobie|Zuko]]. Enough said.

* In one episode of ''[[Jimmy Neutron]]'', Jimmy changed the past so that his parents became rich, but it turned out they never paid any attention to him once they had money, so he went back to the past and undid the change.

* In ''[[Sonic X]]'', Chris believes himself to be one, despite still having friends and his grandpa around. Such a self-deprecating attitude made him [[The Scrappy]] in the fandom.

* Eddie from ''[[Class of 3000]]''. "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnYzUqG65VM A Richer Shade of Blue]" pretty much sums it up.