History Main / GameBetweenHeirs

* Most of the plot of {{Literature/Stardust}} comes from a set of heirs competing to inherit the throne.

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* ''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'': During a Family reunion, Malevola [=DeVil=] announced she'd bequeath her whole estate to the relative who takes Dearly Farm for her. [[spoiler:[[FailureIsTheOnlyOption Since nobody won the "game"]], see [[spoiler:InsurrectionistInheritor]] to learn who got the inheritance.

* ''Film/{{Stardust}}'': Before he dies, the king of Stormhold announces that his heir will be the one who manages to obtain a ruby he threw into the sky.

* The series ''The Goodwin Games'' (premiering on Fox in the 2012-13 midseason) is about three heirs competing for their father's inheiritance, making it similar to TheWestingGame.

* Most of the plot of Literature/Stardust comes from a set of heirs competing to inherit the throne.

Legal nitpick: Since Bob for this trope necessarily leaves a will, the "heirs" are technically "devisees" and "legatees" a person's ''heirs'' are those who stood to inherit had he died ''without'' a will; devisees and legatees are persons named in the will receiving real property (land) or personal property (anything other than land) respectively. Often these are the same people as Bob's heirs, but often they are not.

Legal nitpick: Since Bob for this trope necessarily leaves a will, the "heirs" are technically "devisees" and "legatees'': a person's ''heirs'' are those who stood to inherit had he died ''without'' a will; devisees and legatees are persons named in the will receiving real property (land) or personal property (anything other than land) respectively. Often these are the same people as Bob's heirs, but often they are not.

This trope occurs when the will of the deceased doesn't specify who will inherit their possessions, leaving it up to a game of succession or a puzzle, so whoever is worthy can obtain the fortune. The puzzle can be a race, a mystery game with continuous hints or a number of things. May also be a SecretTestOfCharacter.

* In the interactive book ''TheDandeeDiamondMystery'', the reader/protagonist's rich and eccentric uncle left the Dandee Diamond to the one who most deserves it. However, before he can figure out who deserves it the most, he must find the diamond, and the uncle's only clue in the will was talking to his parrot.

* ''TheDandeeDiamondMystery'': The Dandee Diamond's last owner willed it to the person who deserves it the most. The people called to the reading of the will not only have to figure out who deserves it the most but they must also ''find'' it.

* ''TheWestingGame'': Samuel W. Westing chose 16 people apparently at random as his heirs; the book opens with them summoned to hear the reading of the will. He leaves everything to the winner of the puzzle he calls [[TitleDrop The Westing Game]]. Who will win? That's the entire book.

* In chargesdotcomdotbr web series "Só Levando", there was a season where MichaelJackson {{Expy}} "Miguel Jackson" died and wrote a {{Will}} leaving one million dollars to one child from each nation. One of the main characters of that series is a boy named Johan, who, as his name suggests, is a German. However, he was adopted by a Brazilian family after his birth parents were killed during a police raid. Johan's foster parents entered a game show held to decide which Brazilian child would get the money. [[spoiler:Johan won. However, because his foster parents never went through the proper channels to adopt him, he still was, for all legal intents and purposes, German, disqualifying him.]]

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* In LMMontgomery's ''ATangledWeb'', eccentric Aunt Becky willed that the name of the heir of a priceless heirloom will only be disclosed a year after her death. Because the will dropped a few hints that a unknown judge would be selecting the heir, the family members spent the rest of the year trying their best to live up to what Aunt Becky would have wanted in an attempt to win the heirloom.

* ''FullmetalAlchemistBrotherhood'' has Ling and May, two potential successors to the throne of Xing (out of over a dozen others). All of them are searching for the best way to prove that they will be the best to succeed the throne, and these two decide to seek out the philosopher's stone in hopes of obtaining a method to give immortality to others.

* ''Manga/FullMetalAlchemistBrotherhood'' has Ling and May, two potential successors to the throne of Xing (out of over a dozen others). All of them are searching for the best way to prove that they will be the best to succeed the throne, and these two decide to seek out the philosopher's stone in hopes of obtaining a method to give immortality to others.

* ''UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'': The successor to the Ushiromiya family's headship and fortune (which includes 10 tons of solid gold) seemed to be locked and set--and then a letter from the [[MagnificentBastard resident witch]] arrived, announcing that the spoils have been made fair game to anyone who can solve the Witch's Epitaph, a long riddle which incidentally, details a ritual requiring human sacrifice. Mind games (and [[AnyoneCanDie lots and]] [[KillEmAll lots of murder]]) ensue.

* ''WhereOnEarthIsCarmenSandiego'': Carmen's will placed her main henchpeople and the main detectives on a scavenger hunt to decide who's fit to inherit her place as head of VILE.

A common twist includes discovering that one of the potential heirs is the one who killed Bob. The winner usually ends up with an [[UnexpectedInheritance unexpected new fortune.]]

* In the interactive book ''TheDandeeDiamondMystery'', the reader/protagonist's rich and eccentric uncle left the Dandee Diamond to the one who most deserves it. However, before they can figure out who deserves it the most, they must find the diamond and the uncle's only clue in the will was talking to his parrot.
* In LMMontgomery's ''ATangledWeb'' eccentric Aunt Becky willed that the name of the heir of a priceless heirloom will only be disclosed a year after her death. Because the will dropped a few hints that a unknown judge would be selecting the heir, the family members spent the rest of the year trying their best to live up to what Aunt Becky would have wanted in an attempt to win the heirloom.
* ''TheWestingGame'': Samuel W. Westing chose sixteen people apparently at random as his heirs; the book opens with them summoned to hear the reading of the will. He leaves everything to the winner of the puzzle he calls [[TitleDrop The Westing Game]]. Who will win? That's the entire book.

* In an episode of ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'', Al Bundy's Uncle Stymie, the only male Bundy to be a success in life (Al credits this to the fact Stymie was the only one who never married), left his $500,000 estate to the first male Bundy to have a legitimate son named after him. Considering that the lawyer who read the will would later marry a male Bundy and give birth to Stymie Junior to get the money, Al and the other Bundys who didn't get the money even though [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot could have challenged the will under claims of undue influence]].

* In the video game ''{{Safecracker}}'', a millionaire hides his will in a house full of bizarre safes, every one of which must be unlocked to access the document. When found, it leaves it up to whomever successfully cracks the safes to decide who gets his fortune.

* ''UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'': The successor to the Ushiromiya family's headship and fortune (which includes ten tons of solid gold) seemed to be locked and set… and then a letter from the [[MagnificentBastard resident witch]] arrived, announcing that the spoils have been made fair game to anyone who can solve the Witch's Epitaph, a long riddle which incidentally, details a ritual requiring human sacrifice. Mind games (and [[AnyoneCanDie lots and]] [[KillEmAll lots of murder]]) ensue.

* In ''TheRockyAndBullwinkleShow'', for a series of episodes a will specified that the deceased's "million-dollar note" would go to whomever had a foot bearing a certain name on it -- which turned out to be Bullwinkle. Except that [[OnOneCondition to claim the money]], he had to spend the night in the owner's mansion (with the owner's sons making various attempts to get him out of the building). Rocky and Bullwinkle succeed, but then it's revealed that his foot no longer bears the mark, because apparently it was just an imprint from his shower mat. So the million-dollar note goes to the sons. [[TwistEnding BUT!]] It turns out to be a ''promissory'' note, placing the sons in a 1-million debt, while Bullwinkle gets to go home to the happy status quo (telling Rocky that although that mark on his foot was just a temporary imprint, the mark on his ''other'' foot "never comes off").