Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
213,740
edits
The Unfavourite: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
m (update links) |
No edit summary |
||
| (20 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|"Wrong kid died!"
|'''Dewey's father'''|''[[Walk Hard]]''}}
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.
Line 8 ⟶ 9:
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.
Line 14 ⟶ 15:
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]].
Can easily escalate into [[Cain and Abel]]. May be rooted in a [[Death by Childbirth]]. May cross over with [["Well Done, Son" Guy]] if [[The Unfavorite]] wants some recognition. If the favorite of the parents isn't even a member of their family, it's a case of [[Why Are You Not My Son?]].
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Jun Manjyome of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'', disowned by his brothers for his inability to live up to the family name.
Line 29:
*** Fate herself, however, states that she is ''not'' Alicia.
*** {{spoiler|In spite of their identical origins and memories, Precia claims that Fate and Alicia have very different personalities (This is confirmed in the Movie). Of course, Precia was more-than-slightly unhinged by Alicia's death, so it apparently never occured to her the Fate might have turned out more Alicia-like if it weren't for the, you know, ''horrible abuse''}}.
**** It's also implied that a number of the early differences are in Precia's head. Since she knows that the clone isn't really Alicia, she starts seeing every tiny difference in behavior (even if it's just a one-off) as being proof that it's not really Alicia.
* Hinata Hyuga from ''[[Naruto]]'' starts off as The Un-Favourite of her family, due to her apparent 'lack' of talent and how her little sister Hanabi apparently had it all.
** Hiashi's disappointment in Hinata does not necessarily translate into favoring Hanabi, as earlier in the scene when he denounces Hinata as inferior, he expresses disapproval for Hanabi's performance in training.
Line 42 ⟶ 43:
*** 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. }}
Line 54 ⟶ 55:
** ...who is ''himself'' an Unfavorite {{spoiler|due to his short telomeres giving him frail health and a limited lifespan. Adaptations of ''SEED'' state that Rau was abandoned by Al de Flaga when he was very young, once Al found out.}} This is part of why Mu empathizes with him very late in the series.
* Abo Ozawa in the baseball manga ''[[Stripe Blue]]''. His older brother Bantarou is the closing pitcher on a professional team that owes its recent success solely to him. Being that Abo is ''also'' a baseball pitcher, he has to work extra hard to stand out, even to his own parents, despite frankly having not very formidable skills.
* Shinji Ikari of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion
** In actuality, while Shinji is the unfavorite and Rei gets something resembling affection from Gendo, his
* 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.
Line 62 ⟶ 63:
** England is hated by his older brothers [[All There in the Manual|(Scotland, Wales, and most likely Ireland as well)]].
** Roman Empire clearly loved North Italy more than [[Jerkass Woobie|South Italy]]; the Chibitalia chapter said that he took Italy with him when he had to run away, but was shown to have left Romano. This pattern continues throughout their childhood, with [[Tear Jerker|Romano at one point lamenting his status.]] It gets better when Spain picks up on the situation and starts showing him as much love as he can (Spain can be weird sometimes, but at least he's trying).
*
* Definitely Ageha from ''[[Papillon Hana To Chou]]''<nowiki>:</nowiki> as an infant, her mother sent her to live with her grandmother in the country because she couldn't stop crying; her twin sister Hana/Kana (the translators kept switching) is popular and glamorous and steals her potential boyfriend; she's even screwed over by her only [[Poisonous Friend|"friend"]]. No wonder she's almost [[Driven to Suicide]]. {{spoiler|Fortunately her relationship with her mom improves dramatically when they finally start talking to each other. Kana/Hana, however, is becoming uneasy with her sister's newfound confidence...}}
* Asagi Ayase of ''[[Yotsubato]]'' gets far more than her share of crap from her mother. It's played for laughs, since Asagi tends to retaliate in kind, but at least one flashback has shown she's gotten this treatment for years.
* 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.
* Reina in ''[[Queen's Blade]]'' apparently suffers from this early on, being clearly the weakest between the three Vance sisters and not being allowed to leave the palace or do anything with her life. The justification for this later on is that {{spoiler|Reina is the [[Generation Xerox]] of her mother, who died fighting in Queen's Blade, and her father was being overprotective for that reason.}}
* Moe Shishigawari from ''[[Bleach]]'' was {{spoiler|the only Fullbringer with whom Ginjo did not share Ichigo's stolen power, and Ginjo planned to kill him as soon as they were done, because he's potentially [[Too Powerful to Live]]}}.
* "Genius kunoichi" Konatsu from ''[[Ranma ½]]'', so much so that his life before encountering Ranma reads like a Japanese ninja version of ''[[Cinderella (fairy tale)|Cinderella]]''.
Line 101 ⟶ 103:
** 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...}}
Line 111 ⟶ 113:
==
* In some ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fics, Harry is treated like this when it is mistakenly
* This is the entire premise of some ''[[Naruto]]'' Fanfiction. Often, Naruto's OC sibling is substituted for the jinchuriki, and Naruto's parent-inclusive life becomes inexplicably ''worse''. One such example is [https://web.archive.org/web/20120418014936/http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6077073/1/The_Heros_Brother this].
* ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'' has some interesting cases with Jim being the unfavourite compared to ''his dead father''. His mother couldn't stand the resemblance between them and would often do nothing to stop his stepfather from beating him, neglecting him and traveling far away just so she wouldn't have to look at Jim.
** In one story, after becoming captain, to get back at his mother from neglecting and allowing the abuse to happen, Jim donated a huge sum of money towards charities where children had been abused, naming it her, "for all the things she did when he was a kid". Afterwards, people went up to her, asking her "how does it feel?" for raising such a nice kid and how ''proud'' she must be.
** For the record, there is little to no evidence for this in canon.
* There is a very good ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' fanfiction called ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2138430/1/Misconception Misconception]'', in which time changes and another child is born in
* Fanfiction often has [[Transformers (film)|Megatron jealous of his brother Optimus.]] Whether they are actually biological brothers or simply brothers by name depends on the author. For example, [
Line 127 ⟶ 129:
** Spoofed in ''[[Walk Hard]]'', where Dewey Cox's father shouts "The wrong kid died!" even in completely inapplicable situations.
* The mother in ''Crossroads'' quite batantly tells her high school graduate daughter who she abandoned years ago that she was a mistake and that she never wanted to have her. She is remarried and has two sons.
* Kevin
* Nuka from ''[[Lion King]] II: Simba's Pride''. The scrawny, barely a mane growing lion voiced by Andy Dick. Little cub Kovu gets picked over him to take on Scar's heritage (Kovu not even having been sired by Scar, though it's implied Nuka is, being the son of Zira, who was apparently one of Scar's mates. Everybody got that? Good. Moving along...), and gets treated unfairly by the lionesses just cause... just cause. This makes {{spoiler|his death even more tragic, when he chases Simba up a dam, proclaiming he's doing it for his mother, and that this'd be his moment of glory, with a mad driven look in his eyes. Just before the footing gives away from underneath him, and he ends up crushed by a bunch of logs. His mother for the first time in the movie shows she actually ''does'' care and frantically tries to dig him out. He ends with a whimper. "Sorry... I tried..."}}
** A deleted storyboard set continues with Nuka saying {{spoiler|"I got your attention now . . . " and then expiring.}}
Line 143 ⟶ 145:
* 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
Line 157 ⟶ 159:
* Thomas Raith in [[Jim Butcher]]'s ''[[The Dresden Files]]''. In ''Blood Rites'', it is revealed that he is Lord Raith's only surviving son, because Raith always kills his sons when they are old enough to become a threat (although he keeps his daughters around him). Thomas is still alive only because he was clever enough to avoid his father's earlier indirect attempts to get him killed.
** It's unclear how clever he is; while Thomas is [[Obfuscating Stupidity|smarter than he looks]], we've rarely if ever seen him accomplish anything that's really extraordinary for his kind. However, Thomas is the ''youngest'' son, so that might be why he survived as long as he did.
*** It's also implied he's been using the [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] to keep his father from thinking he's a threat worth eliminating.
* [[Roald Dahl]]'s ''[[Matilda (novel)|Matilda]]'' has parents that are completely unappreciative of her superlative brilliance. Her father cares far more about son Mikey, a total nonentity, and the mother is more interested in bingo.
* Ebenezer Scrooge, of [[Charles Dickens]]'s ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'' fame is heavily implied to be this, sent away to [[Boarding School]] for years at a time by his resentful father. In some versions (at least in [[The Film of the Book]] with Alistair Sim), it's explained that Ebenezer's father blames him for his mother's [[Death by Childbirth]]. His kind-hearted and beautiful [[Fridge Logic|younger]] sister Fan is kept at home and is the apparent favorite, possibly due to an implied resemblance to her mother.
Line 163 ⟶ 166:
* [[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).}}
*** The ''[[Game of Thrones]]'' TV series apparently felt that Catelyn's constant [[Kick the Dog|kicking the direwolf]] made her too unsympathetic. Whereas in the novels, Catelyn's hatred of Jon endures long after he leaves to join the Night's Watch, to the point that she loathes ''all people born out of wedlock because they remind her of him'', in the series Catelyn repents of her treatment of him, berating herself for "being unable to love a motherless child".
** 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.
Line 189 ⟶ 193:
*** There have been other issues between J.K. Rowling and her father, besides issues of favoritism. Both admit they became distant after JK's mother died, and there have been issues over finances and money where JK's father is concerned.
* ''[[The Earth My Butt And Other Big Round Things]]'' is a great insight of being [[The Unfavorite]]. The narrator is a chubby, brown-haired, high-schooler with average grades living in a glamorous upper-class family of beautiful slim blond people.
* In [[J. R. R.
** Denethor himself was the Unfavourite to Thorongil/Aragorn's Favourite.
{{quote|"Indeed [Denethor] was as like to [Aragorn] as to one of nearest kin, and yet was ever placed second to the stranger in the hearts of men and the esteem of his father." ''The Return of the King'', Appendix A, J.R.R Tolkien.}}
Line 195 ⟶ 199:
* ''Jacob Have I Loved'' takes this to biblical proportions, as implied by the title. The protagonist is overshadowed by her twin sister from birth, first because of the latter's frail health, then because of her beauty and musical talent. The title comes in when she parallels herself to Esau, Jacob's older, less fortunate brother, and decides she must be ''God's'' UnFavorite.
* Subverted in ''[[Dragonlance]]'' because Raistlin Majere appears to be [[The Unfavorite]] of the universe while his twin brother Caramon is well-liked by damn near everyone he meets; really, though, people don't like Raistlin because he's a [[Jerkass]].
* Jochi in the ''[[Conqueror]]'' books is disdained by his father, Genghis Khan, due to [[Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe|suspicion]] he was conceived as a result of Borte's rape by Tartars. In [[Real Life]], this resulted in tension between Jochi and Chagatai, which in turn was part of the reason the great khan named his third son as his successor. In [[Real Life]],
** In [[Real Life]], [[Elective Monarchy|the great khans were elected]], however.
* ''[[Outbound Flight]]'' features a minor character who hates his Jedi sister because, since she wasn't around to do anything less-than-perfect, he was forced to endure an entire childhood of "[[Why Couldn't You Be Different?|Why couldn't you be more like your sister?]] I bet ''she'' never [INSERT CHILDHOOD HIJINK HERE]."
** Survivor's Quest has him, much older and as one of the main characters, realize that it wasn't quite like that.
Line 228 ⟶ 233:
"Mary had exceptional ability," said Mrs. Bates.
"I wonder how she convinced you of it. None of the rest of us can discover it," said Kate. '' }}
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
Line 238 ⟶ 242:
** 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
** 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]]''.
** Jan was actually a [[Fanon]] [[Alternative Character Interpretation|interpretation]]. In her case, she was actually just [[Overshadowed by Awesome|overshadowed by Marsha]]. Now the
* Curious example on ''[[Dirty Sexy Money]]''. In a first-season episode, matriarch Letitia says that Brian and Jeremy are their father's unfavorites; considering the fact that Jeremy is a drug-addicted layabout and that Brian isn't Tripp's biological son, this makes sense. But after learning about Brian's illegitimacy, Tripp starts liking him ''more,'' giving him a company job and calling him 'son' for the first time in the series.
* Possibly the example most familiar to American TV viewers, Robert from ''[[Everybody Loves Raymond]]''. With the slight reversal that Robert is actually the elder brother himself.
Line 251 ⟶ 255:
** 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".
Line 271 ⟶ 275:
** Not least in the story which shows just how small the difference in history between him and [[The Ace|Ace Rimmer]] (what a guy!) is.
** There are several scenes in the show which give Rimmer a more sympathetic POV. Curiously, a deleted scene in Series 6 shows that his brothers all ended up screwed up in later life, making Arnie perhaps the least screwed up of the lot ultimately. Another source of his angst is in Series 2, where he laments that he just wanted his father to congratulate him on something, but will never get the chance now.
* There's a bit of this buzzing around Lore, from ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'', who considers Data the favourite of their father. The "older brother" of the two androids Noonien Soong created, Lore (who has emotional awareness, while Data didn't), went [[
{{quote|'''Lore:''' You didn't fill Data with substandard parts, did you? No, that honour was bestowed upon me. You owe me, old man. Not him. ''Me.''}}
* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'': Even though Dean's Daddy issues are a lot more obvious, you could say that both of them fit this trope. The only affection Dean ever gets from John is when John is possessed or about to die, a regrettable incident that happened when he was 9 gets hung over his head for 17 years. And as for Sam, he's disowned when he wants to be normal, John actually blames him for his brother's impending death in ''In My Time Of Dying'' and he gets two utterly dismal goodbyes while Dean at least gets an apology and a smile. And the worst thing? He told Dean that he might have to kill Sam if he goes bad, and Dean thought he had to basically commit suicide (just not right away) because John gave him an order and he failed and, as shown by ''Long Distance Caller'' is still devoted to his father. Oh, John. You might have been a good man but you failed at being even a halfway decent father.
Line 307 ⟶ 311:
== [[Music]] ==
* The premise of the song "Better Version of You" by Paul and Storm is the parents informing
Line 324 ⟶ 328:
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[Warhammer
** On the tabletop itself several armies could lay claim to this. The long suffering Dark Eldar went ''ten years'' without receiving an update. Now that they have a new rulebook and set of models the mantle passes on to the Witchhunters, though their chances of getting an update are [[Demoted to Extra|looking grim]]. With the [[Amazon Brigade|Sisters of Battle]], for a while it was bad enough that a fan wrote ''[[The Steadfast Tin Soldier|The Steadfast Pewter]] Sororitas'' [http://1d4chan.org/wiki/The_Steadfast_Pewter_Sororitas story], and it was regularly remembered. To put it in perspective, this happened while GW gave reasons to be accused of ''blatantly'' using "cheese" as a marketing strategy (updating different factions in turn into a [[Game Breaker]]/"easy mode", to the point of being restricted in non-"official" games, so that the newbies would buy related materials - and presumably the older players a reason to buy something else).
== [[Theater]] ==
Line 352 ⟶ 356:
* 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.
Line 372 ⟶ 376:
**** 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.
Line 379 ⟶ 383:
* Liquid Snake, in the AU ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' fancomic series [http://zarla.deviantart.com/art/Les-Enfants-Terribles-38063076 "Les Enfants Terribles."] [http://zarla.deviantart.com/art/Les-Enfants-Terribles-14-96287462 Solidus gets this treatment too], but to a lesser extent.
** This also occurs in the webcomic ''[[The Last Days of Foxhound]]''. Hell it occured in the games as well.
* Black Mage from ''[[8-Bit Theater
** Red Mage too, although technically that was {{spoiler|entirely concocted and implanted in his mind by Thief}}.
* Riff from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' is the Unfavorite to his stepbrother (who is apparently his mother's new husband's son). When said stepbrother asks if he is better than Riff, his mother tells him that it's not nice to "rub it in". Riff is thus somewhat pleased, albeit humiliated, when Bun-bun and Kiki's attempt to stand in for him at a party with a mechanical look-alike fails and results in him getting disowned.
* Mizuna of ''[[Adventurers!]]!'' '''thinks''' she's one of these, bringing up how she was always compared with Karashi when younger. When she mentions this to Karashi, the latter says that the comparisons were always ''favorable''; eg. "Mizuna is so much more advanced than Karashi was at her age!"
* [[Cain and Abel|Isaac Jenner]] from ''[[Demonology 101]]'', both in the eyes of his father and The Powers That Be. This is his primary reason for his numerous attempts to murder his brother Gabriel.
* Monette of ''[[Something
* In ''Instant Classic'', when Author is born, he has an unexpected twin brother. His parents are dismayed, the father going so far as to name the boy Xauthor, declaring him to be the ''evil twin'' at birth and treating him accordingly through his entire childhood and early adulthood, despite him not doing anything remotely evil {{spoiler|until he snaps due to being told he's evil for YEARS}} He's also got a goatee.
* ''[[What Birds Know]]'' has Dores, stuck in the shadow of her brother Ian. Her family completely fails to recognize her talents, seeing her instead as a lazy, irresponsible and ill-tempered brat. Her mother is by ''far'' the worst about this, to the point that when the parents are worrying about their daughters {{spoiler|taking several days too long to return from their errand}}, she argues ''against'' sending help, muttering that she'll just ground Dores later, and freaks out when Ian volunteers to help. "This is not going to happen!"
Line 411 ⟶ 415:
** 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
* [[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."
Line 421 ⟶ 425:
*** Though generally it doesn't really matter who is less loved because Magneto is almost always a ''terrible'' father to both of them, regardless of writer or medium.
**** To be fair to him, in the original continuity, he didn't even meet them until they were almost adults, and didn't discover that they were actually his children until even later.
* In the [[Animated Series]] of Disney's ''[[Hercules (
* It depends on the writer, but each of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' kids has, at one point or another, been treated as the unfavorite. Lisa's most often made this (what with Bart being a hellion, Maggie an infant in need of constant care, and the whole family being average or stupid except for her), which is spoofed in the "Sherry Bobbins" episode. She sings, "I'm getting used to never getting noticed!" But there's also the running gag of Homer forgetting Maggie ''exists'' ("We have ''three'' kids!" "Marge, the dog doesn't count!") and while strangulation does ''technically'' count as giving Bart attention...
** In one flashback episode, the parents meet with Bart's school counselor to try to help him be less miserable in school, only to discover Lisa is a prodigy and immediately write Bart off.
Line 430 ⟶ 434:
** In truth, it frequently zigzags between the two of them. Dr. Venture seems to prefer Hank in an adventuring context, and Dean in a scientific context. Needless to say, he's not the greatest father.
* As indicated by the page quote, [[King of the Hill|Hank Hill]] is the Unfavorite of his two brothers. His older brother, an illegitimate child born of Cotton Hill's affair with a woman in Japan, gains a surprising amount of affection since his mother is perhaps the only person Cotton ever genuinely loved. His younger brother Good Hank was born when Cotton was in his seventies, and at the right age to appreciate having children. Meanwhile, Hank was born in a bathroom in New York, not Texas, and Cotton never quite forgave him for failing to be a native Texan, hating him literally since the day he was born. Being saddled with a Jerkass father like Cotton affected Hank well into adulthood and left him with his uptight, close-minded personality.
* Before ''[[Evil Con Carne]]'' was cancelled, and ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
* Saranoia and Carl from the show ''[[Yin Yang Yo!|Yin Yang Yo]]'' are both the unfavorites to their parent(s). It caused Saranoia to go quite insane while Carl has yet to go down that road, he's just very lonely and desperate.
* In ''[[Pepper Ann]]'', Nicky is convinced she's the Unfavorite, though a lot of it is circumstantial (and the fact that people ''other than'' her parents really do tend to favor her sister). For example, when they were kids, the exercise equipment was put in Nicky's room... because it was either put it there or in her sister's room, and they feared the sister, who has very weak arms, would be much more insulted by it than the surprisingly-strong Nicky.
Line 444 ⟶ 448:
* 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{{when}}
*** 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.
* A lot of families do have these, particularly if they were hoping for a child of a certain gender
** In any case, in families that are poorer, oftentimes when they have one child, they'll be able to afford new clothes and such for that child, but when the second one comes along being able to afford to take care of both will undoubtedly be harder, so the second child ends up with a lot of hand-me-downs from their older sibling, which can lead to them feeling like they are loved less, particularly when they're at an age when they can't really understand financial issues.
* According to the history... [[Date Masamune]], despite being the rightful heir of the Date clan and quite liked by his father, is [[The Unfavorite]] for his mother. Thanks to him [[Eye Scream|plucking his eye out]], she has deemed him unworthy to inherit the clan and favors his younger brother. This has gotten so bad that at one point [[Evil Matriarch|his mother tries poisoning his food just so he'd die and his brother could take over]]. Masamune's response? [[Kick the Dog|Kill his brother]] just so his mother can see him rule, like it or not. After his father's death, he ends up banishing his mother to her home clan (his allies, which also goes on to be one of his most trusted allies in Sekigahara).
* Wilhelm II, [[World War
** Wilhelm felt very close and dearly loved his grandmother Victoria, who died in his arms. It would seem ''she'' got along better with him than with her son, the Prince of Wales, who appears to have been her least favourite child. This may have contributed to the deep antipathy between Edward VII and Wilhelm II. And it was George V who declared war on Wilhelm, not the other way around.
*** A lot of the bitterness between Wilhelm and his mother can be put down to Bismarck's political maneuvers. Victoria, Princess Royal/Empress Frederick, was a liberal, as was Wilhelm's father. Bismarck saw that when the Crown Prince came to the throne he would be ousted and so set to work distancing the oldest surviving children (Wilhelm, Charlotte and Henrick) from their parents and succeeded. It backfired on him eventually but the damage couldn't be undone. When Bismarck saw the writing on the wall for him he went to Victoria and tried to get Wilhelm to keep him but she just replied that there was no chance of that since there was no relationship between herself and her son. Bismarck had seen to that. It also stopped Wilhelm from listening to the liberals and pushed him into the arms of the military and while he was the favourite of his grandparents it did nothing to stop his ego from getting too big and being a major factor in starting [[World War
* [[Lindsay Lohan]]'s siblings Cody (aka Dakota), Ali and Michael Jr. are apparently this to their father.
* 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.
***** Chinese traditionally favored large families, and in relation to this trope, gives a bigger pool to choose the Favorite or Heir from. You sure as heck don't want the
* As shown in her book ''[[Chinese Cinderella]]'', Adeline Yen Mah was quite obviously the Unfavorite of her entire family despite being very intelligent, simply because her mother died giving birth to her and thus she was considered "unlucky". Her stepmother hated her most of all (though she also clearly favored her own two children over her stepchildren) because she stopped the stepmother from hitting the youngest sister. The rest of the book details the various circumstances the poor girl finds herself in, as everyone shoves her one way and another to get rid of her.
* In a supremely [[Irony]]-filled example (as chronicled in [[Freakonomics]]), there's the case of Richard Lane, who named one of his sons "Winner" and another younger son "Loser". "Loser" ended up becoming a police officer in New York City. "Winner" became a career criminal. Yeah...
** Though the father claims he didn't give Loser's name because of this: apparently he enjoyed the [[Book Ends|book end]] [[Theme Naming|effect]].
* David Pelzer, author of ''[[A Child Called It]]'', was this until he was removed from his family. His mother took out her rage on him, resulting in one of the worst cases of child abuse in California history, and took care of the other children. Sadly, her anger didn't end when Dave was removed from the home...she started abusing his brother Richard when her favorite target was gone.
* Urban Dictionary: Middle Child Syndrome - "it is a known fact the youngest and oldest are treated differently than the middle child for the oldest is the first child aka favorite and the smallest is the baby aka the last child known for getting whatever they desire because they are the "baby". Middle Children sydrome includes neglect, forgotten dates, and sometimes in bad cases forgetting they even exist."
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
| |||