The Unfavourite: Difference between revisions

 

{{quote|"Wrong kid died!"

 

The nasty end of [[Parental Favoritism]]. Where there's an Alpha wolf, there's got to be an Omega. When there is a first banana, there is a second banana. This is the person in the family who can't get a break. For example, this is the child who's the big [[Why Couldn't You Be Different?|let-down]] to their parents, the daughter that was supposed to be a son (or vice-versa), the child the parents had by accident when they'd already decided they didn't need another mouth to feed. But all in all, this is basically the kid who is always getting the short-end of the stick.

* Shinji Ikari of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' 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 ''true'' 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.

** [[Romantic Runner-Up|Canada]] might as well be invisible next to his brother [[Large Ham|America]].

*** And let's not even talk about Sealand.