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The Unfavourite: Difference between revisions
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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.
The audience's attitude towards the un-favourite is often based on [[Age
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 favoritism -- and the other character also regards himself as [[The Unfavorite]]. (Cue Sibling Rivalry.) Also, another possible situation is that the favourite is indeed aware of the situation, sympathize with the unfavourite and may even start the "talk with the parents" scene.
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** Sasuke is neglected by his father, Fugaku, in favor of his talented big brother Itachi. The father praises Itachi frequently and refers to him as "my son". Later Sasuke brings home a report card placing him at the top of his class hoping his father will call him "son" too, instead Fugaku tells him to become like Itachi. The situation reverses somewhat after Itachi starts acting strangely and is suspected of murdering Shisui.
** Gaara, because everyone in his family (and his entire city) is scared of him, or at least of the demon sealed inside him. {{spoiler|He was conceived only to be a container for the demon and be a living weapon, and his mother died giving birth to him and his father, the Kazekage hated him because of this.}}
* Seta Sōjirō from ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'' is a particularly tragic example of this trope. {{spoiler|So much that his half siblings try to ''kill'' him for being an illegitimate child. [[Self
* Machi Kuragi from ''[[Fruits Basket]]'' is such an unfavorite that her parents automatically assume she attempted to ''kill'' her little brother, despite her (more or less believable) claim that she was just trying to keep him warm.
** Practically anyone who is born as one of the Zodiac
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** 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 [[The Unfavourite]] of her older brother Russia because of their older sister Ukraine and Russia's subordinates, the Baltic brothers (Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia). This leaves the girl, well... [[Brother-Sister Incest|rather]] [[Yandere|unstable]].
** [[Romantic Runner
*** And let's not even talk about Sealand.
**** Nobody ''else'' does!
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** 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.
* Josephine in [[Tim Powers]]' ''[[The Stress of Her Regard]]''. She is the disturbed and unappreciated younger sister of protagonist Michael Crawford's wife Julia; their mother [[Death By Childbirth|died giving birth]] to Josephine; the family says that they don't hold this against her but that Josephine holds it against herself. Josephine spent her youth coping with stress by becoming someone else; imitating a clockwork machine, or imitating her sister Julia (who charmingly made sure that people knew about this). Years after Julia's death, Crawford and Josephine are guests in someone else's home when Josephine slips into 'becoming' Julia for several days. Crawford then feels that he now knows Julia far better than he did when they were married - and doesn't like her much, and tries to help Josephine return to her own personality.
* Ron of [[JK Rowling]]'s ''[[Harry Potter]]'', feels like this, though it's not true (his family never shows him anything but the utmost unconditional love). Specifically he feels overshadowed by his five older brothers, '''and''' his younger sister because his mum supposedly wanted a daughter most of all, '''and''' his famous best friend, who his mum treats like another son. And, of course, Harry himself is constantly compared unfavorably to his cousin Dudley by his aunt and uncle; this becomes one of the ways the book shows Harry growing up, as "not being liked by parental figures" [[Age
** Molly has shown some unfavorite sentiments toward Fred, George, and Ron. More than once she's compared the three of them unfavorably to their three older brothers. Later, when Ron is appointed a school prefect (like Bill, Charlie, and Percy), Molly squeals, "That's everyone in the family!" prompting George to quip, "What are Fred and I? Next door neighbors?" She also apparently didn't have much faith in Ginny becoming a prefect either.
** Ron eventually gets everything he wants. In the first book we see that his heart's desire is to win the Quidditch Cup and be Head Boy, surpassing all his brothers: he does indeed win the cup and probably ''would'' have gotten to be Head Boy if he'd stayed at Hogwarts for his seventh year. As if Fate's trying to make up for it, he gets the girl of his dreams instead while his best friend marries his younger sister.
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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 ''[[
** 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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== [[Video Games]] ==
* This is the motivation of the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Drakengard]]'', Manah. Her mother showered her brother Seere with love but abused Manah, finally culminating with abandoning her in a monster-infested canyon for a cult to take. After that, she decided that the only way she could make her mother love her was if the gods themselves loved her. And since [[God Is Evil]], this entails being infused with their power, ascending to the head of the cult, taking control of [[The Empire]], and [[The End of the World As We Know It|destroying the world.]] All [[Enfante Terrible|at no older than six years of age]]. The moral of the story: [[Space Whale Aesop|don't abuse your children, or they'll destroy the world]].
* Beat in ''[[The World Ends With You (Video Game)|The World Ends With You]]'' typically sees himself as [[The Unfavorite]] of his family, especially compared to his younger sister {{spoiler|Rhyme}}. As a result of being unable to live up to their standards, he stops trying at school altogether, which Neku notes is at odds with the [[Hot
* In ''[[Silent Hill Homecoming]]'' Alex's younger brother Joshua is clearly the favourite of his parents, to the extent that Alex tells his mother to "stop pretending you care about me" at one point when she tries to apologize to him. It's later revealed that {{spoiler|Alex's parents had to choose one of their children to be sacrificed to Silent Hill's god in order to keep it from destroying Shepherd's Glen. They chose Alex and, knowing he was doomed, purposely remained distant with him to make the inevitable sacrifice easier}}.
* The titular [[Neverwinter Nights|Bastard of Kosigan]], whose situation at home was so uncomfortable for him that he ran off and became a mercenary after his father (the only person defending him from his uncle's abuse) died.
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** [[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 Luke -- who is younger -- to tag along. Although the Professor's reasoning is good (he's unwilling to take a young lady into dangerous situations), it seems a bit wince-worthy, especially since Luke is only the Professor's apprentice and Flora is his actual foster daughter.
** 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
* In ''[[FEAR]]'', 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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*** Except in her own mind {{spoiler|her perception of her mother says that she always loved Azula}}. And in an earlier flashback she told Zuko to play with Azula, so it's not like she thought Azula should be shunned.
**** Ursa ''did'' love Azula. She was simply concerned about her budding little sociopath of a daughter. We see nothing in her onscreen behavior that says she thought Azula was "a monster". Can't help but wonder where the kid got the idea. Perhaps Ozai told her a few stories about "what your mother said when you weren't around" so he could guarantee that he was Azula's [[Well Done Son Guy|Well Done Daughter Guy]]. Also, it's possible {{spoiler|that "perception" was saying what Azula wanted it to say, not what she believed the real Ursa actually ''would'' say}}, and she knew it, which is why she got so upset. [[Word of God]] pretty much confirms [http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll305/Maylene-Autumn/Sozins%20Comet%20Novel/scan0033.jpg this]
** Ozai himself, father of both of the above, used to be this too. After his older brother Iroh's son died, his father ordered him to kill Zuko to let him know what it feels like. To put this into perspective, though, Fire Lord Azulon only ordered this after Ozai tried to use his nephew's death as an excuse to steal his brother's birthright, and after he openly scoffed at Iroh's grief for his lost son causing him to abandon the siege of Ba Sing Se. Still...ouch! Let's face it, [[Royally Screwed
*** Except for Ursa and Iroh. Zuko eventually matured and [[Calling the Old Man Out|said 'screw you' to Ozai.]]
** The series implies that Mai's parents treat their younger son Tom-Tom much better than her. When Mai was a little girl she was forced to be stiff and rigid at all times, never showing any emotion in case it damaged her father's political career (leading into her emotionally-stunted teenage years). By the time Tom-Tom was born, her father was already a governor and given control over an entire "colony" (said colony being a conquered Earth Kingdom City), so they're free to be more expressive and affectionate with him.
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[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
[[Category:The Unfavourite]]
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