Wicked Stepmother: Difference between revisions

[[File:SnowWhite.jpg|frame|The [['''Wicked Stepmother]]''' luring [[Snow White (Literaturefairy tale)|Snow White]]]]

{{quote|''Better a serpent than a stepmother!''|'''[[Euripides (Creator)|Euripides]]''', ''[[Alcestis (Theatre)|Alcestis]]''}}

{{quote|''I was but seven year auld<br />

''When my mither she did die;<br />

''My father married the ae warst woman<br />

''The warld did ever see.''|'''The Laily Worm and the Machrel of the Sea'''}}

The [['''Wicked Stepmother]]''', the woman hostile to her stepchildren, is a perennial trope. [[Older Than Feudalism]], she appears constantly in legends and folklore around the world. She seldom appears played straight in modern works, except when they are retelling [[Fairy Tale|Fairy Tales]]s, but the number of retold fairy tales (especially "[[Cinderella (Literaturenovel)|Cinderella]]", "[[Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (Literaturenovel)|Snow White]]", and "[[Hansel and Gretel (Literature)|Hansel and Gretel]]") gives her a number of straight appearances. Many psychologists hypothesize that she is an [[Archetypal Character]], devised by children to contain all they hate in their mothers so they can continue to regard Mother as perfect. Sadly enough, [[Truth in Television]]; children are vastly more likely to abused by stepparents (and people cohabiting with the parent are even worse). For any or all of these reasons, even decades (centuries?) of [[Subverted Trope|subversion]] have not tranformed her even into a [[Discredited Trope]]; she can still be played straight or subverted. [[Shout -Out|Shout Outs]] are commonplace whenever dealing with a stepfamily.

She generally favors her own children -- whetherchildren—whether from a previous marriage or this one -- overone—over her stepchildren. Sometimes her [[Greed|economic motives]] are made clear: there is only so much to go around, and she wants it for herself or her own children. An equivalent male figure is the [[Evil Uncle]] -- because—because inheritance is generally through the male line, the uncle can inherit his brother's children's estate. [[Green-Eyed Monster|Envy]] is another common cause; the [['''Wicked Stepmother]]''' either wants to be [[Fairest of Them All]] or to have her daughters be so.

Her tactics vary widely. She may simply [[Cinderella Circumstances|oppress the heroine, keeping her in rags and slaving at household work]] -- sometimes—sometimes going as far as assigning the [[Impossible Task]]. As a [[Wicked Witch]], she may [[Baleful Polymorph|transform]] the child(ren) [[Animorphism|into animals]]. She may drive or send them off. She may act [[Family-Unfriendly Violence|violently]] toward them and even [[Family-Unfriendly Death|kill]] them (and perhaps cap that by [[Due to Thethe Dead|cooking them up and serving them to their father]].)

The stepchild(ren) may succeed in defeating her through help from their [[Unfinished Business|real though dead mother]] -- the—the Grimms' version of "Cinderella", "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130824062133/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/german.html Aschenputtel]", has Aschenputtel get her gowns from the tree planted on her mother's grave. [[Talking Animal|Talking Animals]]s may also feature, as can a [[Fairy Godmother]]. These figures can do everything from performing the [[Impossible Task]] on behalf of the child to ensuring that [[She Cleans Up Nicely]] despite the dirt and rags she is reduced to.

On the other hand, writers sometimes [[Bowdlerise]] fairy tales by transforming a [[Evil Matriarch|cruel mother]] into a wicked stepmother. Grimms' original tales of "Snow White" and "[[Hansel and Gretel (Literature)|Hansel and Gretel]]" both featured a cruel mother.

Her chances of surviving the ending are not good. The [[Happily Ever After]] ending of most fairy tales often dwells with more detail on how the [['''Wicked Stepmother]]''' and/or her children were [[Family-Unfriendly Violence|punished]] than on the hero and happiness. On the other hand, stepmothers who are not disposed of often return; when she is not [[Family-Unfriendly Death|executed at the wedding]], she may, for instance, try to kill the heroine when she gives birth and replace her with her own daughter; so the [[Fairy Tale]] doesn't end (happily or not) until she's dead.

Sometimes preceded by a [[Guess Who I'm Marrying]] scenario. Can involve a [[Missing Mom]]; older stories usually do, often caused by [[Death Byby Childbirth]].

A common subversion is the [[Green-Eyed Monster|jealous]] [[Daddy's Girl]] regarding any stepmother as a [['''Wicked Stepmother]]'''.

* In ''[[Fruits Basket]]'', when they realize how woefully miscast the characters are in a [[Cinderella (Literaturenovel)|Cinderella]] play, they [[Fractured Fairy Tale|rewrite the play]], titling it "Sorta Cinderella" . An Elegant Gothic Lolita Cinderella is impervious to her Wicked Stepmother's demands; but she loves her sweet and innocent stepsister, who suffers at the mother's hands because she wishes to marry her off.

* In ''[[Ghost Hunt (Manga)|Ghost Hunt]]'', a little girl's possessed doll told her that her stepmother was evil and trying to poison her.

* ''[[Prétear]]'', being a mixture of "Snow-White" and "Cinderella" turned into a [[Magical Girl]] anime, does provide the main character with a stepmother, clearly aiming to invoke this trope, but then subverts it -- sureit—sure, Natsue is strict, but not evil, not to mention that she is so much in love with Himeno's father Kaoru she'd rather spend her time with him instead of lecturing Himeno. In the original manga, Natsue is more cruel, but still obsessed with Kaoru, to the point of not caring not only for Himeno, but also for her own daughters. And in this continuity {{spoiler|she was possessed by the [[Big Bad]]}}, so it's not ''entirely'' her fault...

* In ''[[Ranma One Half|Ranma 1/2½]]'', the secondary character Konatsu has a Wicked Stepmother (who bears a remarkable resemblance to late actor Edward G Robinson) and two Wicked and ''UGLY'' Stepsisters. Konatsu's entire life story is a direct and unabashed ripoff of the Cinderella tale's backstory (except for the cross-dressing ninja part).

* Shigeko from ''[[PietaPietà]]'' does her best to marginalize and shove Rio to the side, so that she doesn't interfere with her [[Stepford Smiler|picturesque family life]].

* In [[The Brothers Grimm (Creatorcreator)|The Brothers Grimm]]'s "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130921113251/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/47junipertree.html The Juniper Tree]" and in [[Joseph Jacobs (Creator)|Joseph Jacobs]]'s "[httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20140401211439/http://surlalunefairytales.com/hanselgretel/stories/rosetree.html The Rose Tree]", the stepmother kills the child, [[I'm a Humanitarian|cooks the body]], and serves the dish to the child's father -- afather—a girl in "The Rose Tree", but the boy of "The Juniper Tree" is the more common form. In most versions, the child [[Unexplained Recovery|gets better.]] (Note that the half-sibling in these stories is invariably on good terms with the stepchild.)

* In "[[East of the Sun and West of Thethe Moon (Literature)|East of the Sun West of The Moon]]", the stepmother enchanted her stepson into a bear form out of revenge because he would not marry her daughter.

* In "[http://www.classicreader.com/book/995/28/ The Boys with Golden Stars]" the stepmother tried to kill her stepson's children -- againchildren—again because he had chosen a bride other than her daughter.

* In "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130718151144/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/sixswans/stories/twelvewilducks.html The Twelve Wild Ducks]", the stepmother is [[Green-Eyed Monster|jealous]] of her stepson's bride's beauty and tries to have her killed.

* In "[https://web.archive.org/web/20140324190359/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/13threemenforest.html The Three Little Men In the Wood]", the stepmother sends her stepdaughter into the woods on an impossible task to kill her. When she returns having won magical rewards with her good manners, she sends her daughter after and is furious when her ill-tempered daughter is justly punished. When the stepdaughter marries the king, she tries to murder her and replace her with her own daughter.

* In "[https://web.archive.org/web/20140405140235/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/135whiteblackbride.html The White Bride and The Black One]", after a similar distribution of curses, the stepmother tries to murder the stepdaughter en route to her wedding and replace her with her own daughter.

* In "[[Brother and Sister (Literature)|Brother and Sister]]" the stepmother drives off the title characters with her cruelty, tries to enchant them into animal forms (and succeeds with Brother), and tries to murder Sister after her marriage and replace her with her own daughter.

* In "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130910114342/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/babayaga/ Vasilissa the Beautiful]", the stepmother sends Vasilissa to [[Baba Yaga]]'s hut.

* In "[https://web.archive.org/web/20131104152714/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/birch.html The Wonderful Birch]", a [[Wicked Witch]] turns the heroine's mother into a sheep and by [[Voluntary Shapeshifting|shapeshifting]] takes her place; she has the sheep killed and feeds it to the woman's husband, although the daughter does not eat and manages to bury the bones. Then she does everything in ''Cinderella'' and then enchants her stepdaughter after the wedding and puts her own daughter in her place.

* The stepmothers in "[http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/greenknight.html The Green Knight]" and "[https://web.archive.org/web/20191123051321/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/pentamerone/6cenerentola1911.html Cenerentola]" persuade the heroines to get their fathers to marry them, and then start to abuse them.

** Also in "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130824020414/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/hearthcat.html The Hearth Cat]"

* In "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130906231232/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/frogking/stories/wellworld.html The Well At the World's End]", the stepmother sends her stepdaughter to the title well with a sieve and then forces her to obey the frog from sheer nastiness.

* In "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130313074520/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/asbjornsenmoe/katiewoodencloak.html Katie Woodencloak]", Katie flees her stepmother in fear for her life.

* In "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130713055849/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/jacobs/english/laidlyworm.html The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh]", the stepmother, [[Fairest of Them All|out of jealousy at her beauty]], turns her stepdaughter into a dragon; she is disenchanted by her brother.

* In "[https://web.archive.org/web/20100206025940/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/jacobs/moreceltic/ridere.html The Ridere of Riddles]", the stepmother tries to poison her stepson. Her son, however, loves his brother, warns him, and then flees with him.

* In "[https://web.archive.org/web/20131017031044/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/twelvedancing/stories/katiecrackernuts.html Katie Crackernuts]", the [[Green-Eyed Monster|envious]] stepmother has her stepdaughter Anne's head turned into a sheep's head. Subverted in that the Katie of the title is ''her own daughter'', who sees what she's done and sets out with her stepsister Anne to escape and solve the problem; normally the stepdaughter is the heroine.

* In "[[Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (Literaturenovel)|Snow White]]", the queen is jealous of her stepdaughter because she wants to be the [[Fairest of Them All]].

* Story 25 of "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio", seen [https://web.archive.org/web/20111227011158/http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/7207/GilesB.htm here]; as a summation doesn't do this story justice, just read the whole thing. Note, however, that the Stepmother is the only one denied a [[Happily Ever After]].

* In "[httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20140401204322/http://surlalunefairytales.com/armlessmaiden/stories/biancabella.html Biancabella and the Snake]", the hero Ferrinando's [[Wicked Stepmother]] orders her men to kill [[The Ojou|Biancabella]] after she marries her stepson; they don't, but they [[Family-Unfriendly Violence|gouge out her eyes and cut off her hands]] as evidence that they have. Biancabella has to go through a [[Break the Cutie]] process to get her place in the family back.

* In "[http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/015.htm The Witch]", the [[Wicked Stepmother]] intentionally sends her children to a [[Wicked Witch]].

* Some version of "[[Hansel and Gretel (Literature)|Hansel and Gretel]]" have the father only sending the kids out after the stepmother convinces him.

* Many versions of "[[Cinderella (Literaturenovel)|Cinderella]]".

* "[[Rapunzel (Literature)|Rapunzel]]" had a [[Wicked Witch]] for an ''adoptive'' mother - but when you consider that her real mother was a drug-addict who sold her own daughter to get her next fix, she was probably better off that way.

* Lady Rodmilla de Ghent of ''[[Ever After (Filmfilm)|Ever After]]''.

* Subverted in ''[[Labyrinth (Film)|Labyrinth]]'', where the stepmother complains that Sarah treats her like this figure. Sarah's [[Character Development]] in the movie reveals the real problem is Sarah's [[Green-Eyed Monster|jealousy]] toward her stepmother and new half-brother.

** There's also a [[Shout -Out]] where Morgan is worried that Nancy will be a wicked stepmother. The fact Nancy's surname is [[Cinderella (Disney film)|"Tremaine"]] probably doesn't help.

* ''[[The Night of the Hunter (Film)|The Night of the Hunter]]'' has an evil stepfather.

** So does ''[[Pans Labyrinth|Pan's Labyrinth]]''.

* In ''[[The Sound of Music]]'', Maria's rival is clearly aiming to be a [[Wicked Stepmother]]; she's already planning to pack the children [[Off to Boarding School]].

* ''[[Sleepy Hollow (Film)|Sleepy Hollow]]'' has {{spoiler|Lady Von Tassell, who offs her husband and tries to off her stepdaughter in order to inherit the family fortune. She's also implied to have killed the first wife while posing as her nurse.}}

* In ''[[The Parent Trap (1961 film)|The Parent Trap]]'' (both the original and the remake), the twins almost end up with an Evil Stepmother. The one in the remake is especially egregious, since the girls' father is a millionaire and the stepmother-to-be is a bona fide [[Gold Digger]].

* ''[[Ella Enchanted]]'', a retelling/send-up of "[[Cinderella (Literaturenovel)|Cinderella]]", has Dame Olga.

* [[Patricia C. Wrede]]'s ''[[Enchanted Forest Chronicles]]'' features "The Right Honorable Wicked Stepmothers' Traveling, Drinking, and Debating Society," including the "Men's Auxiliary" which has a few Wicked Stepfathers, but is mainly for Wicked Uncles. In one book, when the [[Genre Savvy]] hero runs across a princess lamenting her exile in the forest, he concluded that she and her stepmother had cooked it up between them.

* In [[Diana Wynne Jones]]' ''[[Howl's Moving Castle (Literaturenovel)|Howl's Moving Castle]]'', the [[Genre Savvy]] characters know that stepmothers are supposed to be wicked, but the actual stepmother is only a little careless.

* In Piers Anthony's ''[[Xanth (Literature)|Crewel Lye]]'', Threnody is cursed by her stepmother, but realizes in time that it was necessary, to keep her from harming Xanth.

* Subverted in ''[[The Princess Bride (Literaturenovel)|The Princess Bride]]'': Prince Humperdinck calls his stepmother "ES", short for Evil Stepmother, because when he was a child he used to think that all stepmothers are evil. She's actually stated to be the most beloved person in the kingdom, and she and Humperdinck have a very good relationship -- therelationship—the name is more of an endearment than anything.

* This trope is so old that the ''[[The Tale of Genji (Literature)|Tale of Genji]]'', the world's oldest surviving novel, uses it and then [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] it. Genji is the son of the Emperor but can't be named a successor because of his low-ranked mother and his evil stepmother, Kokiden. Later in the novel, Genji is talking about stories with his son and notes how tiring it is to see all the wicked stepmothers in the local stories.

* Another male example is Emily's stepfather in ''[[Cloud of Sparrows]]'', who beats and whips Emily's brothers and [[Rape Asas Drama|rapes]] Emily and her mother. {{spoiler|He also murdered Emily's biological father, who was an altogether nicer chap}}.

* And another Evil Stepfather turns up in ''[[A Night in Thethe Lonesome October]]'' -- {{spoiler|a priest of [[Cthulhu Mythos|Nyarlathotep]]}} planning to sacrifice his stepdaughter to acquire supernatural power.

* Mr. Murdstone in ''[[David Copperfield (novel)|David Copperfield]]'' is an archetypal evil stepfather.

* One could argue that Mrs. Reed from ''[[Jane Eyre]]'', while technically an aunt, still qualifies as an evil stepmother. Not only does she play the part, she is Jane's aunt by marriage, and thus not a blood relative, so she is a [[Wicked Stepmother]].

* Male example: Ganelon is Roland's stepfather in ''[[The Song of Roland (Literature)|The Song of Roland]]'' and other material related to the Matter of France. He betrayed Charlemagne's rearguard during the retreat from Spain, leading to Roland's death at Roncesvalles.

* In the [[Chivalric Romance]] ''William of Palerne'', [[Our Werewolves Are Different|a wolf is really a prince enchanted]] by his [[Wicked Stepmother]].

** His feelings were arguably [[Justified Trope|justified]], if not when they were directed towards Indis: Feanor's mother suffered [[Death Byby Childbirth]], but elves can come back to life after spending a certain amount of time in the afterlife. Notably, Feanor's father is the only elf we ever hear of remarrying.

* Subverted in ''[[Literature The Orphans Tales]]'' by [[Catherynne M. Valente (Creator)|Catherynne M Valente]], in which one character becomes her stepmother's favourite and adores her in return.

{{quote| "...my father married again...I see you smile, Witch. You think you know how these stories go. ... I quickly became my stepmother's favorite, quick and clever as I was."}}

* Averted in ''[[Sense and Sensibility (Literaturenovel)|Sense and Sensibility]]''; Mrs. Dashwood was in fact a very kind stepmother to her husband's son from his first wife. It's John Dashwood who's a [[Jerkass]].

* In [[LML. M. Montgomery]]'s ''[[Anne of Green Gables (Literature)|Rainbow Valley]]'', the minister's motherless children are told by another child that all stepmothers are wicked, it comes with the role. Nevertheless the youngest goes to persuade a woman to marry her father because her father is so miserable since she rejected him. And in ''Rilla of Ingliside'' it is clear that she is a perfectly lovely stepmother.

* The evil aunts Spiker and Sponge in ''[[James and Thethe Giant Peach]]''.

* Played with in [[A Song of Ice and Fire]], with two of the protagonists [[Yamato Nadeshiko|Catelyn]] and [[Heroic Bastard|Jon Snow]]. While Catelyn was never exactly abusive towards Jon, she made it quite clear he's not part of the family and even has a [[You Should Have Died Instead]] moment with him regarding one of his half-brothers. Then again, there's [[A Song of Ice and Fire (Literature)/WMG|a lot of speculation as to whether he's really her husband's son]]...

* In the Chinese [[Cinderella (Literaturenovel)|Cinderella]] story ''Bound'' by Donna Jo Napoli, Xing Xing's stepmother rarely calls her by name, referring to her as the Lazy One, despite Xing Xing doing most of the work in the house. She constantly puts down Xing Xing, no matter how hard she worked to make her stepmother happy.

* Enforced in the [[Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms]]; because the world runs on narrative causality, even stepmothers who don't start out evil become evil, unless [[Genre Savvy]] people can subvert it. Played with to hell and back in ''The Sleeping Beauty'', where no less than three evil sorceresses try to enchant the king while he is still mourning his beloved wife; the local Fairy Godmother beats them to it and marries the king herself in disguise as the [[Obviously Evil]] [[Wicked Stepmother]].

* In [[CSC. LewisS. (Creator)Lewis|CS Lewis]]'s ''[[Till We Have Faces]]'', the nurse Batta tells the princesses that their new stepmother will be evil, just like in the stories she's told them. It turns out to be a subversion, as their stepmother is a frail, gentle young woman who is relatively kind to the girls until she dies in childbirth.

* In his essay collection "Happy To Be Here", [[A Prairie Home Companion|Garrison Keillor]] wrote "My Stepmother, Myself", a [[Deconstruction]] of fairy-tale stepmothers, suggesting what happened to three famous fairy-tale heroines after [[Happily Ever After]]. [[Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (Literaturenovel)|Snow White]] and [[Hansel and Gretel (Literature)|Gretel]] regret that their relationships with their stepmothers were so sour(and Snow has to deal with the fact that Prince Charming could [[I Love the Dead|only get it up if she pretended to be dead]]), while [[Cinderella (Literaturenovel)|Cinderella]] now regards her stepmom as her new best friend; living in a palace where a phalanx of servants do everything for her, she finds that she misses doing chores for her stepmom.

* Averted in ''[[DirgeA for Prester John (Literature)|Dirge for Prester John]]''. When Anglitora comes to meet John, Hagia practically adopts the girl as her own.

* ''[[Step Byby Step]]'': Somewhat averted, to where there are no major issues between the stepparents and their stepkids, even if the transition is not as smooth as ''The Brady Bunch''. However, there are some major points of contention that are dealt with:

* The '80s [[Sit ComSitcom]] ''The Charmings'', which was about Snow White, her husband, their two kids, and her stepmother in a modern setting.

* The ''[[MST3KMystery Science Theater 3000]]'' episode ''Jack Frost'' is based on a Russian legend of a Cinderella-esque girl who must endure abuse from her standard issue [[Fairy Tale]] [[Wicked Stepmother]] and stepsister. The girl's father is alive, but is so browbeaten that he doesn't object even when told to dump his daughter in the forest in the middle of winter.

* Sarah from ''[[Strangers Withwith Candy]]'' is definitely a wicked stepmother.

* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' did an episode called ''Bedtime Stories'' that involved the Winchester brothers investigating a series of murders that resembled fairy tales. Fittingly, the spirit causing the murders was that of a comatose girl who'd been poisoned by her stepmother.

* ''[[The Adventures of Shirley Holmes (TV)|The Adventures of Shirley Holmes]]'' episode "The Case of the Rising Moon" featured a princess from an eastern land being targeted for murder. The princess, whose name means [[Title Drop|"Rising Moon"]], believed her stepmother was behind this because, with the princess dead, the stepmother's son would be the next in line for the throne. {{spoiler|It was later revealed the stepmother was innocent and the conspiracy had been engineered by sexists who didn't want a woman as a ruler}}.

* In ''[[Once Upon a Time (TV series)|Once Upon a Time]]'', it turns out that the Evil Queen who poisoned Snow White was actually Snow's stepmother.

* In ''[[Ramayana (Literature)|Ramayana]]'', Rama is exiled from the kingdom as a result of plotting by Kaikeyi, who's not his mother but another one of his father's wives.

* [[Medea (Theatre)|Medea]], when she goes to live with Ageus, tries to have him kill his son Theseus (before Ageus realized that Theseus ''was'' his son). He fared better than [[Offing the Offspring|her own children]] with Jason, though.

* Engelbert Humperdinck subverts it in ''[[HaenselHansel Undand Gretel (Theatre)|Haensel Und Gretel]]''; the stepmother sends the children out into the forest to gather strawberries, unaware of the dangers there.

* In [[Euripides]]'s ''[[Alcestis (Theatre)|Alcestis]]'', [[Character Title|Alcestis]] references this when pleading with her husband not to remarry after her death; he must spare her children any possible stepmother.

* In [[Dorothy L. Sayers]]' ''The Emperor Constantine'', Constantine's wife tricks him into [[Offing the Offspring|killing his son]] by his first wife.

* Inverted in ''[[BioBioShock Shock(series)]] 2'': Eleanor Lamb much more favors her monstrous, but kind to her, adopted father over her own uncaring, emotionally detached mother and resurrects him to save her from her mother's imprisonment and becoming a tool in her mother's mad plan.

* Otacon's stepmother in [[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]] was revealed to have seduced him, causing his birth father to commit suicide and mentally scaring his step-sister who nearly drowned that day, when he was suppose to be watching her. If the stepmother regerts these actions or anything is unknown but she sure as hell didn't mind seducing him.

* [[God Save Us From the Queen|Queen Protea]] of ''[[Radiant Historia (Video Game)|Radiant Historia]].''

* ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro Nini]]'' plays with this. Battler gets along with his stepmother, Kyrie and his half-sister Ange despite leaving home for six years due to his father remarrying [[Too Soon]] after his mother's death. Then later arcs reveal that Kyrie ''hated'' his mother, Asumu. [[Yandere|A lot]]. To the point where {{spoiler|she flat out states that if Asumu hadn't died on her own, she would have killed her. Then the penultimate arc reveals that she's a [[Complete Monster]] who doesn't even care for her own daughter. Oh, and it turns out that Kyrie is actually Battler's ''real'' mother.}} How much of this is true is... [[Mind Screw|Debatable]].

* In ''Rise of the Snow Queen'', the third installment of the [[Dark Parables]] games, an in-game storytelling device talks about how [[Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (Literaturenovel)|Snow White]]'s father was riddled with guilt over having been unable to protect her from her evil stepmother. Said stepmother is a [[Posthumous Character]] during the game itself.

* Bart's teacher, Edna Krabappell, was dating Ned Flanders in one episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]''. Not liking the idea of having her as a neighbor, Bart tried to make Ned's sons, Rodd and Todd, afraid she'd be a [[Wicked Stepmother]] who'd force them to do all the household chores. It backfired because Rodd and Todd enjoy doing them.

* ''[[YuYU+ME: Me Dreamdream]]'': Fiona has one, whom we realize is rather wicked once we learn that {{spoiler|her affair with her now-husband is what caused Fiona's real mother to be [[Driven to Suicide]]}}.

* Also subverted in ''[[Dan and MabsMab's Furry Adventures]]'', Alexi (Dan's half-sister) [http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_306.php considers her stepmother Dee to be her mother], and Dee [http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_704.php considers Alexi to be her daughter].

* ''[[Homestuck (Webcomic)|Homestuck]]'': With the death of [[No Celebrities Were Harmed|Colonel Sassacre]], his adoptive children Nanna and Grandpa were left in the care of [[Crack Pairing|Betty Crocker]]. Initially it just seems to be the typical negative opinion one would expect children to have in such a situation, but {{spoiler|it turns out that Crocker was/is an inhuman [[Chessmaster]] who had a hand in Gamzee's swandive off the deep end, and is later revealed to be [[God Save Us From the Queen|Her Imperious Condescension]] herself, the tyrranical troll Empress. And now she's gone and taken over the Alpha Derse on the orders of [[Big Bad|Lord English]].}}

[[Category:WickedAbuse StepmotherTropes]]

[[Category:Trope{{PAGENAME}}]]