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Spoiled Sweet: Difference between revisions
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''She wears her heart on her sleeve''|'''China Forbes''', "Ordinary Girl", theme to ''[[Clueless]]''}}
So you've got lots of money, you've [[
Not you! Just because you're pretty, popular, and rich doesn't mean you have the right to belittle people, and you know it! Maybe one of those "little people" is your best friend, or maybe you fell in love with some poor kid, or your parents or teachers simply brought you up right. Whatever the reason, you're one of the sweetest people around!
The [[Spoiled Sweet]] character is a pretty, rich girl (or guy) who has plenty of potential to be the [[Alpha Bitch]], but instead of being mean to everyone, she's as nice as can be, and she ''deserves'' that popularity. She's still spoiled, somewhat shallow, maybe even selfish (and yes, prone to attitude), but when it comes right down to it she's a loyal friend and doesn't use her money or popularity as an excuse to treat everyone like garbage - though she is often [[Rich in Dollars, Poor In Sense]] and makes errors out of ignorance. She can fit in with the [[Dumb Blonde]] stereotype, or she can be smart in a [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]] type of situation. She's typically an equal opportunity friend, hanging out with the popular crowd and the misfits alike. She'll sometimes be paired up with [[Alpha Bitch]] or a group thereof as the one nice girl in their midst, or perhaps form a dyad with the female protagonist in a [[Tomboy and Girly Girl]] pair. As shallow as she is, she'll often be the one to [[Give Geeks a Chance]], hooking up with a guy who would never ever be expected to land such a beautiful girl.
When faced with the need to do some kind of hands on work, (a common way to develop this character) something most of us do naturally, they might actually get excited about the opportunity, having lived in a [[Gilded Cage]] (although typically a gilded cage that they enjoy to some extent). "I always wanted to try this!" If she succeeds she will be very proud of herself - not in a haughty way but in that "Hey, I did a thing!" way. Sometimes she just thinks she succeeded and the more competent people are struggling to fix whatever she messed up. But she's just so happy and sincere about wanting to help, nobody can break her heart and tell her that she just needs to stay out of the way.
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A mild warning - the Spoiled Sweet card must be played carefully. If the writer isn't careful, she'll just wind up as a [[Canon Sue]] or a whiny, ditzy little brat and may even turn back into the [[Alpha Bitch]].
Differs from [[Jerk With a Heart of Gold]] in that she's always outwardly nice to begin with; if she's a [[Jerk With a Heart of Gold]] she doesn't belong here. Note that a [[Spoiled Sweet]] character doesn't have to be ''always'' nice to qualify, this kind of character is certainly prone to a selfish moment or two, or even a [[What the Hell, Hero?]] moment if her selfishness gets the better of her.
A [[Sub Trope]] of [[Idle Rich]].
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She might become somewhat of an [[Uncle Pennybags|Aunt Pennybags]] when grown up. Also, if the [[Spoiled Sweet]] character loses her money and position, she'll be a [[Fallen Princess]].
{{examples
== Advertising ==
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** A subversion is {{spoiler|Princess Gracia/Naga the Serpent, Amelia's older sister. While she shares Amelia's penchant for adventure and will help others, she's also [[Holier Than Thou|haughty]], [[Bottle Fairy|a drunkard,]] brands herself as superior due to her status (which most don't know about because of her given moniker), tries to garner fame without the effort (unless the situation is dire), and it's mentioned in the novel adaptations that she frequently asks for money from her and Amelia's father.}}
* From ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura (Manga)|Cardcaptor Sakura]]'', Tomoyo Daidouji (Madison in the dub). Even though she was rich and probably going to be a pro fashion designer, she liked being a sidekick to Sakura, giving her "super-hero" outfits and filming her adventures.
** She definitely lacks the [[Rich in Dollars, Poor In Sense]] part though: she manages to be at ease anywhere, and to know every (non-magic) thing that's going on.
** Also Li Meiling, once you go through her [[Spoiled Brat]] facade.
** Nadeshiko, Sakura's mother, was this when alive. Tomoyo's mom Sonomi is a grown-up version of the trope.
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** Gino could be considered a rare male example. Even if he's more than a little bit [[Upperclass Twit|unfamiliar with the "commoner" life]], he treats everyone with kindness and respect.
* Garma Zabi from ''Mobile Suit Gundam 0079'' had a privileged life, but cared about common civilians from the Earth Federation as well as preserving the environment that belonged to them.
* The [[Moe|adorable]] Louise Halevy from ''[[Gundam 00]]'' was somewhat of a [[Spoiled Brat]] but still a [[
* Relena Darlian from ''[[Gundam Wing]]'' has all the right elements to be a proper [[Spoiled Brat]] or [[Alpha Bitch]] (rich and famous family, most popular girl in school, very beautiful)...but instead she's sweet, friendly, charismatic, smart, and clever. As with most [[Sunrise]] girls, [[It Got Worse]], but [[Plucky Girl|she hangs on and grows all the stronger for it]]. {{spoiler|And even when she learns that she's adopted, she stops Mrs. Darlian from [[Tell Me About My Father|telling her about her past]] by [[Tear Jerker|hugging her, crying and asking her to never stop being her mother]].}}
* [[The Ojou|Platinum Berlitz]] from ''[[Pokémon Special]]''. Daughter of Sinnoh's richest family, she initially insists on staying at high-class hotels and refuses to give her true name to those she considers commoners. However, she is genuinely interested in learning and trying out new things first hand, and eventually warms up to Diamond and Pearl.
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* Being a princess with little knowledge of ordinary life, Sisi, from ''[[Wind On Fire|Slaves of the Mastery]]'', is by all standards quite spoiled, but she also [[The Ingenue|has an incredibly sweet nature]] and is unwilling to hurt anyone. Then she [[Took a Level In Badass|takes a massive level in badass]].
* Ned Maddstone from The Stars' Tennis Balls by [[Stephen Fry]], [[Spear Counterpart]] male version, he's the head boy at Harrow School captain of the cricket team and dates a hot waitress... but is incredibly self-deprecating and kind hearted and without even thinking about it agrees to keep secret that one of the boys at the school is working class ... this sort of behaviour naturally makes other character's hate him for what they see as showing off (their actually just resentfully towards him for being a better person then them).
* Sandrilene fa Toren of the [[Circle of Magic]] books is the most wealthy heiress in the Namorn empire, closely related to royalty in two countries, had rich parents who travelled around the world with her having fun all the time, and yet readily befriends those of lower social status, is determined to think well of them, and has such a sense of noblesse oblige that {{spoiler|Empress Berenene plays off it in order to keep her from leaving the country out of loyalty to the tenants who work on her lands}}. Of course, she also has a few [[Well, Excuse Me, Princess!]] moments, but they all stem from wanting to do the right thing. Even her foster-sister remarks that she has "too good a heart".
* There were several pseudo-historical novels based on Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary (a.k.a. "Sisi")'s life, portraying her as this. Though sometimes [[Character Exaggeration|they would go so overboard]] that Sisi, a [[Broken Bird]] [[Rebellious Princess]] in [[Real Life]], would end up as a [[Purity Sue]] instead.
* Matilde from the old Chilean novel ''Martin Rivas''. Female lead [[Well, Excuse Me, Princess!|Leonor]] would become one as a part of her [[Character Development]].
* Anita, Rebeca and [[Defrosting Ice Queen|ultimately]] Graciela aka Chela from "Golondrina de Invierno" ("Winter Sparrow"), another old Chilean novel.
* Rose Campbell from ''Eight Cousins'' and ''Rose in Bloom''. Annabelle Bliss would straddle the line between this and the [[Alpha Bitch]] in the second part, as she's vain and superficial but also partially defies social rules by getting engaged to a Chinese man.
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** YMMV. Clearly, the writers ''intended'' Rory to be seen this way, but some viewers thought otherwise, especially after she had an affair with a married man.
* Serena van der Woodsen on ''[[Gossip Girl]]''.
* Lady Sybil Crawley on ''[[Downton Abbey]]''. Born into tremendous wealth, clearly [[
{{quote| '''Lord Crawley:''' [[Let Me Get This Straight|I cannot use my library because one of the housemaids is in there applying for another job?]]. <br />
'''Sybil:''' That's about the size of it. }}
* Even though Kelly and Donna from [[Beverly Hills 90210]] were both spoiled rich kids (and maybe somewhat shallow), neither one of them really had any [[Alpha Bitch]] qualities.
* In ''Chinese Paladin 3'', Xuejian is partly this: a well-brought up young lady who adores her grandfather, is fiercely protective of her servants, loyal to her family...and is not above [[Spoiled Brat|throwing tandrums when annoyed.]] Longkui is another example, as she is very sweet and thoughtful of others (and also is a [[
* Princess Mithian from ''[[Merlin (TV)|Merlin]]''. The show sets her up so that the audience expects her to be a [[Spoiled Brat]], but she ends up being quite lovely.
* Alexis [[Castle]] is this despite her father being a bestselling novelist who also often acts like a [[Man Child]]. This is also with a grandmother who is an overly dramatic former actress and a mother who is rather impulsive and irresponsible. It is arguable that she is actually the most mature member of her family.
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** Also, Priscilla of Carleon and Louise the Lady of Violets from ''[[Fire Emblem]]: [[Fire Emblem Elibe|The Blazing Sword]]'', though in Louise's case [[Rags to Riches|she was actually a peasant girl who married into a VERY noble clan.]]
** That makes her ''husband'', Lord Pent, a male example. He could've had ''any'' rich and noble girl as his wife or mistress, but he chose the lady who said, [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|"I can't sing and dance and I'm not the most noble, sir, but if you need my help, count on my archery skills!"]]
** {{spoiler|Louise's youngest daughter}} Clarine from ''[[Fire Emblem]]: [[Fire Emblem Elibe|The Sword of Seals]]'' [[Well, Excuse Me, Princess!|doesn't come off this way in her first appearance]], but as you get her support with [[Shorttank|Dorothy]] and [[But Not Too Foreign|Rutger]], you can see that she places less interest in social class than you first thought. Mage General Cecilia and the Princesses Lilina and Guinevere play it more straight, though.
*** Her beloved older brother Klein, who actually ''[[What the Hell, Hero?|calls out]]'' Clarine about how spoiled she is in their supports, is this through and through.
** Also Eliwood, Lyn, Hector, Sigurd, Lachesis, Roy, etc... While there is a quantity of Rich Bitches or Bastards around, there's also quite a bit of noblemen and noblewomen with kinder dispositions in your parties. Specially if they're the main charas of the games.
* [[Rebellious Princess|Silk]] [[Jade Empire|Fox]] has a sweet nature... it just takes some [[Defrosting Ice Queen|digging]] to find...
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* Lola Mbola from ''[[Robotboy]]''.
* Muffy Crosswire from ''[[Arthur (Animation)|Arthur]]'' floats between this and the [[Alpha Bitch]]. While she is undeniably selfish and arrogant, she really does care about her friends and (usually) means well. Prunella may be a more straight example. She's not as rich as Muffy, but she is more likely to lord things over the other students, while Muffy is generally oblivious of how others interpret what she says.
* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' has Rarity, a pony who is quite accustomed to the finer things in life and cannot tolerate any sort of fashion faux pas. Yet her defining quality is her generosity: she's willing to go to great lengths to help others ([[Jerk With a Heart of Gold|even if you wouldn't suspect it at first glance]]) and ruin her own carefully-planned look if it helps someone else.
** A male example from the episode "Sweet and Elite" would be Fancy Pants, shown in the end when he was completely accepting of Rarity coming from a relatively backwater town like Ponyville and called the rest of the Mane Six "charmingly rustic" (even complimenting the rather simplistic dress Rarity ended up giving Twilight).
** Twilight Sparkle might also be an example. She was largely raised in the royal palace by the reigning monarch, and was clearly a foal of privilege even before that: her foalsitter was a royal princess, suggesting that her parents are high-ranking aristocrats. Yet she is generally humble and, from the end of the pilot onward, friendly. Even before the pilot, she was not cruel or stuck-up, but rather was so concerned with her studies and her duty that she did not make time for friendship.
** Princess Cadence, the [[God
*** As mention above, she foalsat for Twilight; however, it's heavily implied that she wouldn't have cared if Twi was rich or not, she just wanted to foalsit.
* Princess Ilana of ''[[Sym-Bionic Titan (Animation)|Sym-Bionic Titan]]'' thinks about the needs of others, whether it's the people of her home world or her fellow students on Earth.
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* Lady Di is a weird example, considering that while she ''did'' help many people in distress, she could be a ''really'' nasty [[Manipulative Bitch]] in private life, and might have been a bit of a [[Gold Digger]] in the beginning. See her entry in [[Wounded Gazelle Gambit]].
* The Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa was this before she got [[You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry|angry]] and [[Took a Level In Badass]].
** Her daughter [[Marie Antoinette]] was a more straight example, according to some interpretations. The "let them eat cake" line [[Beam Me Up, Scotty|was never hers]], and she was more sheltered and naive than bitchy.
*** Even if she had said it, the line indicates sheltering more than unconcern. Someone who really could afford cake whenever and hadn't been educated on the subject really might consider buying untaxed cake an obvious alternative to over-taxed bread.
*** In addition, the exact quote in French is "Qu’ils mangent de la brioche". Brioche is not actual cake but a denser, sweeter bread. Taking the above troper's entry even further, you could argue that whoever said the line meant that the bakers should adjust the brioche recipe from a sweet luxury to a more nutritious and economical bread.
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