Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
213,518
edits
Rules of Orphan Economics: Difference between revisions
m
removed Category:Examples Need Sorting using HotCat
m (categories and general cleanup) |
m (removed Category:Examples Need Sorting using HotCat) |
||
| (10 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
Worst day ever. Bobby's [[Conveniently an Orphan|parents have died]] [[Stuff Blowing Up|in a terrible freak accident]] that has him living in an empty house. It is up to the author, however, to decide whether life will be [[Best Years of Your Life|sunshine and puppies]], or [[Orphan's Ordeal|downright gruesome]]. Depends on the [[Humans Are
In a more realistic setting, Bobby will not [[
So now we get to the trope. Remember that house in which Bobby has been living since his parents died? That's his new abode. But there is no way that Bobby, a child, could pay for the water, the food, the drinks, the crazy weekend parties and the taxes, right? Bobby isn't even old enough for a job!
This is where the road will fork:
# No Worries
# Wealthy Benefactor
# Get a Job
Because these scenarios seem to set off the [[Fridge Logic]] sensors in viewers' brains, barely any Type 1 examples are left these days. Typically,
▲* In a wonderful twist of fate, some awesome, wealthy, kind person or organization who may or may not have known Bobby's parents has decided to pay for all of Bobby's expenses! In fact, the orphans may even gain help through inheritance.
▲* Worst case scenario: In a brutal take on [[Truth in Television]], Bobby will be forced to somehow pay for all his expenses by working, whether it be stealing or factory work, or whatever.
▲Because these scenarios seem to set off the [[Fridge Logic]] sensors in viewers' brains, barely any Type 1 examples are left these days. Typically, Type 1 will occur for part of a story until it is later explained that someone is taking care of the orphans.
Since Type 1 can only be determined after a series has ended (and the economic stability has been left open-ended or largely forgotten by the author), please refrain from listing examples under Type 1 until the work has been finished.
Line 26 ⟶ 24:
{{examples}}
== <span id="Type_1">No Worries</span> ==
=== Anime and Manga ===
* Sailor Jupiter in ''[[Sailor Moon]]''. [[Fanon]] often presumes a parental trust fund, but there was no mention of same in the show or comic.
* After Joyce's death in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' and Buffy's [[Promotion to Parent]], Buffy does not work a paying job but still somehow manages to pay the bills. Her financial concerns later become plot points in season 6, though. ▼
=== Live-Action TV ===
▲* After Joyce's death in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' and Buffy's [[Promotion to Parent]], Buffy does not work a paying job but still somehow manages to pay the bills. Her financial concerns later become plot points in season 6, though.
** It's mentioned in season 6 that Joyce had a life Insurance policy. It was mostly eaten up by medical bills, but only 'mostly', thus explaining where the money comes from in Season 5.
** And from Giles. And presumably the almost-[[Disappeared Dad]] is paying Dawn's child support. And Willow and Tara live there (but Tara has no means of support either, so....)
=== Theatre ===
* ''[[Peter Pan]]''
== <span id="Type_2">Wealthy Benefactor</span> ==
=== Anime and Manga ===
* In ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro
* In ''[[Naruto]]'', the fourth Hokage's dying request was that the village take care of his son.
** This one might be justifiable: A village whose economy is based on soldiers of both sexes must have some solid program for orphans. If nothing else, orphans are easier to train into [[Tyke Bomb|Tykebombs]], since they have no family attachments. Sai is a great example.
* In ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
* Obliquely touched on in ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]''. By enrolling his daughter Antimony at the Court prior to his disappearance, Anthony Carver had insured that she would be provided for, since the Court has no tuition fees and provides for all the students' needs. ''[[Infinite Supplies|All of them.]]''▼
** In ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS]]'', it was established early on that Fate had been providing for Erio and Caro before they enlisted.▼
** {{spoiler|As if the Court would let a descendant of a fire elemental and a potential medium go anywhere else.}}▼
* [[Harry Potter]] has the Dursleys providing a roof over his head, and his parents' money for expenses in the magical world.▼
=== Comic Books ===
* Young [[Ciem Webcomic Series|Candi Flippo]]. However, not having money problems means she has to worry about plenty of other things: like a [[Attempted Rape|psychopath boyfriend]] in grade school or [[Everything Trying to Kill You|aliens that want to carve her like a pumpkin]].▼
* ''[[wikipedia:Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane|The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane]]''. [[The Other Wiki]] article says her father "...made plans to allow Rynn to live alone...", presumably including financial matters.▼
* [[Batman|Bruce Wayne]] is supported by [[Mega Corp|Wayne Enterprises]] (which he will eventually run) when his parents are killed in a mugging, and is given a foster mother as a caretaker. Robin (or at least Dick Grayson) is taken in, in turn, by Bruce.
* [[Little Orphan Annie (Comic Strip)|Little Orphan Annie]], the defining example of type 2.▼
▲* In ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]] A's '', [[Ill Girl|Hayate Yagami's]] source of funds is brushed off as a wealthy friend of her late parents. {{spoiler|In reality, it is a rogue TSAB Admiral waiting for her to become one with the [[Artifact of Doom|Book of Darkness]] in hopes of trapping it before too much of the world gets lain waste to.}}
▲** In StrikerS, it was established early on that Fate had been providing for Erio and Caro before they enlisted.
* Shirou in ''[[Fate Stay Night]]'' is being taken care of by... well, [[Yakuza|a yakuza head,]] who was a friend of his father. The Yakuza head's sweet granddaughter drops by every now and then to make sure he hasn't got into any trouble as he lives in his dad's giant sweet mansion, but he's still an entirely emancipated minor. Shirou, however, has a streak of independence which makes him keep the ''entire giant mansion'' clean all by himself, with only one of his younger female classmates coming by to help. The sweet granddaughter, despite being sweet, is no help, instead sponging off of him to devour his great homemade meals. Shirou also maintains an income by fixing up the Yakuza head's motorcycle and keeping up with three different part-time jobs. In times of need, however, Shirou can ask for a maid from the Yakuza head to keep his house in order.▼
* In the case of ''[[Pippi Longstocking (Literature)|Pippi Longstocking]]'', you wonder about this at first, until you realize that she actually has a whole pile of pirate gold on hand to pay for the things she needs. (And, a lot of the time, she has no idea of the actual value of the gold she's slapping down for trivial things like ice cream.)▼
===
▲* ''[[wikipedia:Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane|The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane]]''. [[The Other Wiki]] article says her father "...made plans to allow Rynn to live alone...", presumably including financial matters.
* Hilariously done in ''[[The Sims]]''. The children are literally unable to do anything about the taxes or get money.▼
** Not quite, kids can paint pictures and sell them. This troper once made a family of all children and put them to work at the easels to pay for everything.▼
=== Literature ===
* In ''[[Onegai Twins]]''. Maiku makes his money as a freelance, work-from-home programmer. (His employers are unaware that he's a minor.) The girls' source of livelihood, though, is never mentioned.▼
▲* [[Harry Potter]] has the Dursleys providing a roof over his head, and his parents' money for expenses in the magical world.
=== Newspaper Comics ===
▲* In the case of ''[[
=== Video Games ===
▲* Shirou in ''[[Fate/stay
=== Web Comics ===
▲* Obliquely touched on in ''[[
▲**
▲* Young Candi Flippo in ''[[Ciem Webcomic Series
== <span id="Type_3">Get a Job</span> ==
=== Anime and Manga ===
▲* In ''[[
** At first they're freeloading, Maiku even makes a point out of it when stating that they're poor because he had parasites, they later get a part-time job.
* ''Nobody Knows'' by Hirokazu Kore-Eda: Four children are abandoned by their irresponsible mother, and are on their own in an apartment in which food and other supplies are slowly running out. With no money, they must resort to various means to find food and keep up a pretense of normality (not that anyone seems to care, hence the title). Not all of them make it. Unfortunately, based on a true story.▼
* [[Shazam|Billy Batson]], the world's youngest full-time radio presenter.▼
* In the British newspaper strip ''[[The Perishers (Comic Strip)|The Perishers]]'', Wellington is an orphan who lives with his dog Boot, initially in a large concrete pipe in an abandoned factory yard, later in a closed railway station. It's never explained how the two of them survive, but the implication is that they live on handouts from Wellington's friends, plus Boot's theft of the occasional string of sausages.▼
* ''[[A Little Princess]]'' is type 3 turns type 2.▼
* ''[[Grave of the Fireflies]]'' is a pretty good example of a type 3. And then [[It Gets Worse]].
* ''[[Tokyo Mew Mew]]'' has Bu-ling, the [[Kid Appeal Character]] of the group. She is eight years old when the series begins and, though only her mom's dead, her dad has gone off to train in the mountains and left her with five younger siblings to care for and a dojo to
* ''[[Recettear]]'' is type 3, but with a good amount of adventuring involved as well.▼
=== Comic Books ===
* In [[Gene Stratton Porter]]'s ''Michael O'Halloran'', Mickey. Then, given the time frame, children worked then. He was working even before his mother's death, and she had carefully prepared him to live on his own.▼
=== Film ===
▲* ''[[Nobody Knows]]'' by [[Hirokazu Kore-Eda]]: Four children are abandoned by their irresponsible mother, and are on their own in an apartment in which food and other supplies are slowly running out. With no money, they must resort to various means to find food and keep up a pretense of normality (not that anyone seems to care, hence the title). Not all of them make it. Unfortunately, based on a true story.
=== Literature ===
▲* ''[[A Little Princess]]'' is type 3 turns type 2.
▲* In [[Gene Stratton Porter]]'s ''[[Michael O'Halloran]]'', Mickey. Then, given the time frame, children worked then. He was working even before his mother's death, and she had carefully prepared him to live on his own.
=== Newspaper Comics ===
▲* In the British newspaper strip ''[[
=== Video Games ===
▲* Hilariously done in ''[[The Sims]]''. The children are literally unable to do anything about the taxes or get money.
▲** Not quite, kids can paint pictures and sell them. This troper once made a family of all children and put them to work at the easels to pay for everything.
▲* ''[[Recettear]]'' is
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Narrative Devices]]
[[Category:Laws and Formulas]]
[[Category:Orphaned Index]]
| |||