The Unfavourite: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|"Wrong kid died!"|'''Dewey's father,''' ''[[Walk Hard]]''}}
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A regular line that may be entailed with this is a variant of, "Honestly, (insert name), why can't ya be more like (insert favourite's name)?"
Frequently, being The Un-Favourite is a [[Freudian Excuse]] for a character who's a particularly pathetic loser. If the [[Parental Favoritism]] was garden variety (or even a product of his/her imagination), PG-rated [[Wangst]], this is probably being played for comedy, a weak excuse for being a failure. If the favoritism was particularly vicious, however, up to and including abuse,
A variant is where The Un-Favourite is actually highly successful and [[The Dutiful Son|dutiful]], but can never get the [["Well Done, Son" Guy|approval of his parents]], simply because their sibling will always do "better" in their parents' eyes. ("Hey look, dad, I won the Nobel Prize for Physics!" "That's nothin' -- your brother won Employee of the Month at Shop 'n Go last April!"). The Un-favorite doesn't need to play second fiddle to an actual sibling, and can even be an only child. Un-favorites without a sibling are often unwanted or unexpected children and can even, in perhaps an extreme case, be passed over for the family pet.
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The audience's attitude towards the un-favourite is often based on [[Age-Appropriate Angst|what age the character is]]. There's a common perception that an adult character should really have gotten over this by now and moved on, even if the viewers/readers empathize with them. A child character, on the other hand, is likely to get the audience's unreserved support.
Age notwithstanding, this is usually a character you sympathize with, because we're supposed to root for the disadvantaged; expect the favorite either to be rubbing their status in their sibling's face, be an [[Aloof Big Brother]], or completely unaware of the situation. It is, however, completely possible that the character is interpreting some behavior as
And Heaven help the poor kid if [[Too Good for This Sinful Earth|the favorite child is dead]]. (Possibly having received the status of "favorite" by dying.) See also [[You Should Have Died Instead]].
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*** Yes, but you have to remember they were babies at the time. Koji didn't know Koichi existed. It most likely they just that both parents just got a baby when they divorced
* Subverted in ''[[The Prince of Tennis]]''. Yuuta Fuji feels he's the unfavorite since his middle brother Shuusuke is talented, handsome and popular at their school, so he leaves and transfers into another school and its dorms. But that genuinely ''hurts'' Shuusuke, who [[Big Brother Instinct|really loves and cares for Yuuta]] and ''just didn't know'' what his brother was going through, becoming a huge [[Stepford Smiler]] out of the hurt he feels upon Yuuta abandoning him. {{spoiler|It'll take more than a year to reunite them.}}
* Subverted in ''[[Code Geass]]''. Lelouch Lemperouge spends a good portion of his life believing that not only are he and his sister Nunnally their father's unfavorites, but that their mother Marianne was too, since she was the only Imperial Wife to come from common origins; only much later on does he learn that {{spoiler|his parents practically fell in [[Love At First Sight]], and by extension, Lelouch and Nunnally were practically his favorite children. Further, they both wanted Lelouch to help them with their plan to make the world a better place... Only that, since both parents were [[Knight Templar Parent
** Further subversion: The apparent golden child who is the Emperor's right hand man and direct heir? {{spoiler|The one man that Charles' seemed to actually fear, warning that the failure of his plan means that Schneizel's would now be in play.}}
* In ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'s'' second season, there's an unfavourite that doesn't even need a family {{spoiler|(they got killed by terrorists several years ago)}} to feel this way. {{spoiler|Lyle Dylandy thinks that several of the Celestial Being members expect him to be just like his deceased twin older brother, Neil "Lockon Stratos" Dylandy. Lyle doesn't like it, logically, so after taking up Neil's Lockon mantle he decides to downplay his own and ''considerable'' fighting and piloting skills to make himself look different from Neil. }}
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* [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|Shinji]] gets this so damn much. Even taken by itself, his relationship with his father is defined by Gendo's neglect and a cold-blooded insistence that he pilot a walking death machine under horrible conditions. But aside from that, Gendo has Rei, whom he treats as a surrogate daughter. Shinji and Rei become friends, but the fact that his father likes her better clearly bothers him. While Shinji is hard-pressed to get his father to even glance at him, many characters note on how surprisingly caring Gendo is to Rei. Asuka even points out to Rei, "You're Commander Ikari's favorite, aren't you?" while Shinji is ''still in the room.'' In keeping with the typical rules for favorites, {{spoiler|Rei bears a close similarity to (and is a half-clone of and integral in the plan to revive) Gendo's dead wife Yui.}}
** In actuality, while Shinji is the unfavorite and Rei gets something resembling affection from Gendo, his real favorite is his wife, {{spoiler|and he's willing to (and planning on) using both of them to get her back.}} Rei seems totally aware that she's not really Gendo's favorite either, even correcting Asuka on the subject when she accuses her of it.
* Played with in regards to Belarus of ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'', who ''thinks'' she's
** [[Romantic Runner-Up|Canada]] might as well be invisible next to his brother [[Large Ham|America]].
*** And let's not even talk about Sealand.
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* Moroboshi Ataru from ''[[Urusei Yatsura]]'' is another only-child example of this trope. His parents are constantly lamenting the fact that he was ever born, in his presence. Played pretty much entirely for laughs.
** They also wistfully mention how much they wanted a little girl, making Ataru the Unfavorite to a sister who doesn't even exist.
* Sachiko in ''[[With the Light]]'' loves both of her
* In ''[[There Beyond the Beyond]]'', both of the kingdom's twin princes are named Virid Visette Viridian. The one who would eventually become the [[Axe Crazy|"Mad Prince"]] was left to be abused and forgotten in a cell, while his brother got to be doted on in the palace.
* ''[[Inuyasha]]'': Sesshoumaru feels that he's this. After finding out that his brother [[Half-Human Hybrid|InuYasha]] inherited their father's [[Infinity+1 Sword|legendary offensive weapon]] that he had wanted while he was bequeathed the [[Healing Shiv|healing sword]] that he disdained, events conspire to lead him to the [[Always Second Best|realisation]] that his [[Power At a Price|hard-earned]] extremely impressive [[Cruel and Unusual Death|offensive ability]] was only given to him so that he could master it for Inuyasha to take from him. This leads him to the
* Seileiz, eldest of the three heirs to his country in ''[[Vampire Game]]'', is also by far his mother's most hated. {{spoiler|There are three reasons for this: he's adopted (as are his brothers), he's the [[Son of a Whore]], and he's the illegitimate son of the king. The queen was willing to put up with the first two, but having a reminder of her husband's refusal to sleep with her running around really pissed her off.}}
* In ''[[Nononono]]'' Nono's brother, Yuuta is like this. Both of them were trained by their ski-jumper dad to be ski-jumpers, hoping to go to the olympics. The problem is, Nono is the more talented of the two, but she can't go to the Olympics due to being a girl. Their father kept on pushing Yuuta to be as good as his sister.
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** This isn't the only time {{spoiler|Briar}} mentioned this. She explains that her family treated her like an old, useless nursemaid and made {{spoiler|her younger sister Rose the queen instead of her. The reason, according to her, is because nobody knew she was a Veni-Yan-Carni, a type of powering dreaming sorcerous born into the family line. It's possible she just neglected to tell them though, since Rose mentions she thought Briar's "dreaming eye" was blind.}}
* In ''[[Adventures In The Rifle Brigade]]'', Captain Hugo Darcy is a man among men and a true hero if ever there was one. He saved the entire world at the end of the first miniseries, and once called Erwin Rommel "a big nosed cunt" to his face. At the beginning of the first mini, he visits his parents... who are much more proud of his brother Bobby, a rank and file airman who has served without distinction thus far.
* Kalibak in the [[DCU]] is Darkseid's Unfavourite. Even worse, his father's favorite, Orion, is the heroic [[Arch Enemy]] of the entire rest of his blood family and wants to kill
** Grayven has it even worse. Darkseid at least sees Kalibak as useful and loyal [[Dumb Muscle]]. Darkseid snubs Grayven at every possible opportunity since Grayven is nothing but Darkseid-lite. Grayven's [[Eye Beams]] are weaker than Darkseid's Omega Effect, Grayven isn't as strong as Darkseid, Grayven's a [[Smug Snake]] while Darkseid is a [[Magnificent Bastard]] of a [[Complete Monster]]...the only thing Grayven has going for him is his hair. There is literally nothing Grayven can do that Darkseid can't do better. Grayven's also pretty open about his ambitions to overthrow Darkseid. He's incompetent ''and'' disloyal.
* [[Marvel 2099|Paul-Philip Ravage]] suffered from this quite a bit. Didn't help that his was a family of backstabbing businessmen, all of whom immediately began plotting his downfall when he started proposing ''actual'' solutions to pollution problems. {{spoiler|And by the time he was winning his father's respect, he began losing his human form...}}
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* Albert in ''[[The King's Speech]]'' was this as a child, due to his stuttering. But this becomes subverted as when they became older, his older brother preferred a more carefree frivolous lifestyle while Albert was [[The Dutiful Son]]. His father George does approve of the adult Albert (though still frustrated by his speech impediment) and his last words were that Albert would be a better king than his brother, even though he didn't say it to Albert directly.
* In the new ''[[Thor (film)|Thor]]'' movie, Loki's [[Start of Darkness]] is a result of his jealousy over the fact that his father, Odin, has always favoured his brother Thor. {{spoiler|It turns out that Odin chose Thor to succeed the throne of Asgard because Loki is adopted, and isn't Asgardian. Loki could never have ruled no matter what Odin's preference was. Odin's actual feelings towards Loki are left ambiguous -- it could be that he genuinely loves Loki as a son, or it could be that he only took the boy in to use as a political pawn.}}
* In Gru's [[Flash Back]]s in ''[[Despicable Me]]'' show his mother treating him as
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* [[Tom Holt]] has a tendency to do this - the most obvious example is the protagonist Malcolm in ''Expecting Someone Taller''. Like all of Holt's male leads, Malcolm is a total git, and his parents unabashedly compare him to his super-perfect sister Bridget. Becoming the heir to practically unlimited power makes Malcolm immediately think that it was originally meant for Bridget. {{spoiler|In fact, Malcolm's lack of self-esteem and desire to do good make him the perfect person to inherit said power; Bridget would totally mess it up.}}
** Another example is Kevin Christ in ''Only Human'', who's the younger brother to Jesus and the second son of God.
* In Sharon Lee's and Steve Miller's ''[[Liaden Universe|Scout's Progress]]'', Aelianna Caylon, despite being acknowledged as the foremost mathematical mind on Liad and the indirect saviour of many starship pilots, is
* In [[C. S. Lewis|CS Lewis]]'s ''[[Till We Have Faces]]'', the king abused all three of his daughters
* Tyrion Lannister of George RR Martin's ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'': his mother died giving birth and he is a dwarf. No, not the [[Our Dwarves Are All the Same|fantasy kind]]. His father hates him, as does most everyone else. Interesting, however, in that the favorite, Jaime, is actually the only one in the family who truly loves Tyrion and will ever take his side.
** Jon Snow is treated this way by Catelyn Stark. Although he is actually Ned Stark's bastard son, Ned treats him like all of his children. Catelyn, on the other hand, treats him coldly and at one point wishes to his face that a near-fatal accident had happened to him rather than to one of her own children.
*** {{spoiler|Made more ironic by the fact that there's a significant chance that Jon isn't actually Ned's bastard at all, but was placed under his protection and the ruse was designed to hide his true heritage. At least some portion of the readership assumes Jon may in fact be the child of Ned's sister Lyanna and Prince Rhaegar (which would make Jon <s>a rightful heir to the kingdom</s> Rhaegar and Lyanna's bastard).}}
** Also, Samwell Tarlly to his father Lord Tarlly.
* [[Tamora Pierce]]'s ''[[Circle of Magic]]'' series had Tris. She was disowned and disposed of by her parents, who sent her to live with various relatives who used her as a live-in servant while constantly berating and bullying her. Particularly strange was that she seems to have been an only
** It's noted that at least part of the reason why this happened is that Tris's powers - which cover control over pretty much all weather - were unknown and uncontrolled at the time...which meant that they tended to synchronize with her emotions. They thought she was possessed, and it terrified them - but Tris does still think they could have handled it better. Also notable is that no one in her family is ever mentioned to have tried to make contact with Tris after she becomes known as one of the youngest and most powerful mages of her generation. (At one point in the second series, she tells her student that her family would probably like to have her back for her powers, but that'd be the only reason. She doesn't say whether or not her family attempted a reconciliation between books, though.)
** There's also Daja, whose whole ''culture'' banished her, after she was the only survivor of a shipwreck that killed the rest of her family, due to the association of a lone survivor being bad luck. She understands the reasons behind it, but it still [[Berserk Button|upsets]] her until they bring her back in.
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** Lucille lampshades this in the pilot: "I don't care for GOB."
** Even when Lindsey is revealed to be adopted Lucille mentions she still loves Lindsey as much as her other children and even more than GOB.
* Kara "Starbuck" Thrace of the new ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined]]'' was
** Not quite a straight example. Socrata was bastardly and abusive to Kara because she knew Kara had a special destiny and didn't think she was trying hard enough to live up to her natural ability.
* Jan Brady of ''[[The Brady Bunch]]''.
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** The parents' investment is more in their lives as wealthy, law-abiding supporters of the system; naturally it's easier for them to deny everything than admit that the government is doing evil things to their daughter. Even Simon had moments of resentment at having to give that life up.
* Lorne in ''[[Angel]]''. When he visits home for the first time in years, his parents say "We ate the wrong son."
* An interesting example in ''[[Frasier]]'': ''both'' Crane brothers considered themselves to be
* Monica on ''[[Friends]]'' is treated like this by her parents, while her brother can do no wrong (the reason given in the show is that they thought their mother was barren, which means that Ross was their "Miracle Child," and by the time Monica was born, the amazement was over.) Possibly why she is so screwed up. Interestingly, Ross actually calls them out on it a couple times.
** Though when her dad realises that they've been doing this, he gives her his Porsche to make up for it, so, you know, "every cloud".
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== [[Music]] ==
* The premise of the song "Better Version of You" by Paul and Storm is the parents informing
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* Though it may not be confirmed as we never see his parents,Nozomi Suemitsu aka the Gourmet King from ''[[Persona 3]]'',{{spoiler|he constantly in his older and less rotund bother's shadow}}
** [[Persona 4]] takes this trope a step further with Kou Ichigo. {{spoiler|It's revealed that he was adopted as a child because his adoptive parents though they couldn't have any children of their own...until they actually do. When they do, Kou feels that they've literally cast him to the side now that they have a "real" child.}}
* Flora, in the ''[[Professor Layton]]'' series, seems like this sometimes because the Professor keeps trying to leave her at home when he goes on investigations, but allows
** Although it's arguably justified by the differences in Flora and Luke's backgrounds. Luke, as the professor's apprentice, is used to solving puzzles and hazarding dangerous situations. Flora has not had that sort of experience, and also is implied to still be recovering from {{spoiler|the trauma of her dad first trying to pass off a robot as a replacement for her mother, then being raised by [[Ridiculously-Human Robots]] after her father's death.}}
* In ''[[F.E.A.R.]]'', it turns out that {{spoiler|the Point Man}} was the unfavorite grandchild of {{spoiler|Harlan Wade}}, as he did not possess the same [[Psychic Powers]] of his brother, Paxton Fettel.
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**** Eugene's unfavoritism was well in place long before his death. In ''On the Origins of PCs'', a still-alive Eugene tells Roy all about the Blood Oath solely so that Roy can relate it to favored Julia when she gets old enough to do something about it.
**** To add to the above comment, Eugene only starts pushing Roy into finishing the oath because it gets passed down to the eldest, I.E. Roy. So when Roy died, it got passed to Julia, until Roy was brought back to life.
* Wally from ''[[Zebra Girl]]'' is a
* Rayne from ''[[Least I Could Do]]'' claims in one strip that he was locked in a cage and fed newspaper as a child. His friends know it's BS, but Mick remarks "his stories amuse me so."
* Played with in ''[[Narbonic]]''. Dave's brother Bill is actually a pretty boring, ordinary guy, but Dave is stubbornly convinced that Bill is cooler, better looking, and otherwise superior to him in every way. There's no indication whether this is related to parental favoritism.
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** Further expanded in Fatherklok, where Pickles' father straight out calls him trash.
* Sometime between the original run of ''[[Family Guy]]'' and the [[Uncancelled|current series]], Meg Griffin went from mildly ignored to outright hated by the rest of her family (caused in part by the running joke that Meg may or may not be the result of an affair Lois had behind Peter's back, which in turn cost her a chance to become an Olympic swimmer. Lampshaded in that the show itself has pointed out her unpopularity via doing an entire episode around the family being the subject of a reality tv show. In the episode, the people filming the Griffins point out that Meg is the least liked member of the family, resulting in her being replaced with an attractive actress. And this episode was ''before'' the [[Uncancelled]] portion.
** You could go on for days about the [[Comedic Sociopathy]] Peter and Lois inflict on poor Meg. Lois in particular; she tried to steal Meg's boyfriend in one episode, couldn't even say "I love you" to the girl on her own wedding day, and ''tried to get her to kill herself''.<ref>She left a bottle of sleeping pills and an [[Emily Dickenson]] book next to Meg and said "Whatever happens, happens" in a bored tone of voice</ref>
* [[Mad Scientist|Dr. Doofenshmirtz]] on ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]''. His mother preferred his younger brother Rodger, while his father preferred the family dog.
** It didn't help that [[Jerkass|his father]] named their dog, "Only Son."
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* A lot of kids have suspicions that they might be this.
** That being said, in all likelihood there are probably a number of Unfavourites in the big bad world.
** A recent
*** It's entirely possible to have more than half of the population the "unfavorite" if families have more than one child, or even if they have only one seeing as how you don't actually need siblings to be an unfavorite child.
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* In certain cultures, daughters.
** In some countries, it is common for women to have abortions if the child is the "wrong gender."
*** This has actually gone so far in mainland China as to have started to ''flip'' the preferred
**** It's possible to get permission to have a second child.
***** Or if you are rich enough to not care about fines/state taxes/additional expenses/etc., as many as you can afford.
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