History Main / LonelyRichKid

[[caption-width-right:350:He has everything, and no one to share it with.]]

''A noticeable shortage of close friends'', for various reasons. They could be a RichBitch or JerkJock, or at least mistaken for one. The character may be leery of friendship overtures because these have turned out to be attempts to take advantage of their wealth. If they do have plenty of opportunities for friendships with other rich kids, they likely want nothing to do with them, usually loathing them for their [[UpperClassTwit arrogance, ignorance, superficiality, and immunity from consequences for their often-atrocious behavior and life choices]].

''Some form of ParentalAbandonment.'' Mom and Dad will be either a) dead, b) never around as they are traveling world for business or pleasure, c) [[ParentalNeglect inattentive and uncaring]], as they have far more important things to do (either running their empire or just living a decadent life of debauchery), d) inhumanly demanding for the child to achieve in life to the exclusion of actual ''parenting'', or e) [[ParentsAsPeople overwhelmed with all the other responsibilities they need to handle]] or f) some combination of the above.

''Rich intelligent kid''. Wealth and inherited intelligence often go hand in hand and IntelligenceEqualsIsolation. God help if the lonely rich kid is also intelligent! Even with all their wealth, a rich ''and'' intelligent kid feels alien in their world and among their lesser intellectually endowed peers. Their wealth ''may even exacerbate'' the situation, turning mere scorn and anti-intellectualism into ''active hate''.

* Alexis on ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' is an unapologetically spoiled RichBitch celebrity who seems to hate other kids as much as they hate her. Still, she confesses to Superman that she just wants to have friends and [[IJustWantToBeNormal be normal]], not the richest girl in the galaxy. It turns out she ''really'' never learned to take 'no' for an answer, though: When Superman makes it clear he can't just drop everything and spend time with her whenever she wants, she figures the solution is donning a suit of PoweredArmor to [[MurderTheHypotenuse kill all of Superman's friends in the Legion to eliminate the competition]]. And then, in the end, she realizes that she ''doesn't'' want to be normal after all and that being a supervillain is her true calling. Er, yay for a happy ending? [[spoiler:It's shown on her prison uniform the name Luthor, which explains everything.]]

** {{Justified}} with [[AlphaBitch Chloé Bourgeois]], since she's a self-absorbed {{Jerkass}} who treats everyone poorly - even her supposed best friend Sabrina (so far, the only known exception is Adrien, and [[TheDogBitesBack even he has his limits]]). She's seemingly unaware of this, though, as she firmly believes everyone loves her... until [[spoiler:"[[Recap/MiraculousLadybugS02E22Malediktator Malediktator]]" reveals that Chloé is aware that everyone hates her, and that's one of the reasons she wants to leave Paris with her mother]].
** {{Downplayed}} with [[NewTransferStudent Lila Rossi]], whose mother is busy at the embassy, but she's [[VillainWithGoodPublicity well-liked at school]] due to her elaborate {{Celebrity Lie}}s, managing to [[BitchInSheepsClothing mask her true nature]] from everyone but Marinette and Adrien.

* Sabo from ''Manga/OnePiece'' is a partial case. He grew up in a rich noble family and states to his orphan friends that even though he had parents, he felt more lonely than them. However, it was not as much that he was lonely as that he just didn't have someone who cared about him.

* [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne]] is portrayed as being one after his parents' death. Before this he was not, as he was friends with Tommy Elliot, Roman Sionis, and Zatanna Zatarra, the future supervillains Hush and Black Mask; and superheroine Zatanna, respectively. He was also loose acquaintances with Kate Kane, the future Batwoman and his cousin, and Oswald Cobblepot, the future Penguin, due to those two being his age and part of the founding families of Gotham.

%%* [[ComicBook/XMen Charles Xavier]], founder of the X-Men, was one.

Then there are the wealthy parents of the rich kid to consider. It could be that parental pressure is toward the character becoming remote and icy because that's what worked for them, all that caste and class nonsense. Politicians' and tycoons' kids often have anti-kidnapping protection around them (bodyguards and mandatory travel in a huge, armored SUV, vetting of new pals) that friends have just as hard a time getting through as do the bad guys.

* ''A noticeable shortage of close friends'', for various reasons. They could be a RichBitch or JerkJock, or at least mistaken for one. The character may be leery of friendship overtures because these have turned out to be attempts to take advantage of their wealth. If they do have plenty of opportunities for friendships with other rich kids, they likely want nothing to do with them, usually loathing them for their [[UpperClassTwit arrogance, ignorance, superficiality, and immunity from consequences for their often-atrocious behavior and life choices]]. Then there are the rich parents of the rich kid to consider. It could be that parental pressure is toward the character becoming remote and icy because that's what worked for them, all that caste and class nonsense. Politicians' and tycoons' kids often have anti-kidnapping protection around them (bodyguards and mandatory travel in a huge, armored SUV, vetting of new pals) that friends have just as hard a time getting through as do the bad guys.
* ''Some form of ParentalAbandonment.'' Mom and Dad will be either a) dead, b) never around as they are traveling world for business or pleasure, c) [[ParentalNeglect inattentive and uncaring]], as they have far more important things to do (either running their empire or just living a decadent life of debauchery), d) inhumanly demanding for the child to achieve in life to the exclusion of actual ''parenting'', or e) [[ParentsAsPeople overwhelmed with all the other responsibilities they need to handle]] or f) some combination of the above.

* ''Rich intelligent kid''. Wealth and intelligence often go hand in hand and IntelligenceEqualsIsolation. God help if the lonely rich kid is also intelligent! Even with all their wealth, a rich ''and'' intelligent kid feels alien in their world and among their lesser intellectually endowed peers. Their wealth ''may even exacerbate'' the situation, turning mere scorn and anti-intellectualism into ''active hate''.

* ''A noticeable shortage of close friends'', for various reasons. They could be a RichBitch or JerkJock, or at least mistaken for one. The character may be leery of friendship overtures because these have turned out to be attempts to take advantage of their wealth. If they do have plenty of opportunities for friendships with other rich kids, they likely want nothing to do with them, usually loathing them for their [[UpperClassTwit arrogance, ignorance, superficiality, and immunity from consequences for their often-atrocious behavior and life choices]]. Then there are the rich parents of the rich kid to consider. It could be that parental pressure is toward the character becoming remote and icy because that's what worked for them, all that caste and class nonsense. Politicians' and tycoons' kids often have anti-kidnapping barriers around them that friendlies have just as hard a time getting through as do the unfriendlies.
* ''Some form of ParentalAbandonment.'' Mom and Dad will be either a) dead, b) never around, c) [[ParentalNeglect inattentive and uncaring]], d) inhumanly demanding to the exclusion of actual ''parenting'', or e) [[ParentsAsPeople overwhelmed with all the other responsibilities they need to handle]] or f) some combination of the above. There are seldom aunts, grandparents, or siblings around to fill in the gaps. In many cases, there are housemaids, nannies, or [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Au_pair au pair]] girls left to take care of them.

This one-two punch serves up a lonely kid, one with resources. Unhappy kid + money = trouble, more often than not.

* Murasaki Kujoin from ''LightNovel/{{Kurenai}}'' is born into a very rich family but at the cost of being locked away from the outside world for the rest of her life [[spoiler:to eventually bear her older brother's children]].

%%* Chise Umenomori from ''LightNovel/MayoiNekoOverrun''.

* James in ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' has this as part of his {{backstory}} - he grew up in the lap of luxury, but only had a Growlithe for a friend. He eventually ran away to escape an ArrangedMarriage.

* Murasaki Kujoin from ''[[LightNovel/KureNai Kure-nai]]'' is born into a very rich family but at the cost of being locked away from the outside world for the rest of her life [[spoiler:to eventually bear her older brother's children]].

* Ayn Rand and Albert Speer were hallmarks of lonely top intelligent and rich children.

* Farnese from ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''. Her older siblings were generations apart, her father was always away on business, and her mother took no role in parenting since she was always out partying. Thus, Farnese developed some, [[PyroManiac problems]] ([[ADateWithRosiePalms and urges]]) due to a sense of ParentalAbandonment, and would terrorize her servants and kill pets that didn't reach her expectations. This wasn't made any better when she was given a military position whose [[KnightTemplar purpose was to]] [[KillItWithFire burn people at the stake...]] Princess Charlotte and Theresia count as well, though Princess Charlotte has fared a bit better since [[OnlyFriend she had one friend in her maid Anna]] and Theresia was at least okay when Puck came around and cheered her up, [[BreakTheCutie until her whole childhood was destroyed]]. Basically, if you're an aristocratic female in ''Berserk'', your life is going to be an emotional mess.

* In an old rare story of ''Franchise/ArchieComics'', Veronica invites Betty over for a sleepover and flaunts all her wealth to intimidate Betty into giving up trying to compete with her for Archie. It works at first… until Veronica overhears Betty calling her mom and dad to say goodnight with love. Veronica breaks down into tears because her parents are never home, as they constantly traveling away to places where Veronica doesn’t even know, so she can’t even call them.
* [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne]] is portrayed as being one after his parents' death. Before, he wasn't, and was friends with Tommy Elliot, Roman Sionis, and Zatanna Zatarra, the future supervillains Hush and Black Mask; and superheroine Zatanna, respectively. He was also loose acquaintances with Kate Kane, the future Batwoman and his cousin, and Oswald Cobblepot, the future Penguin, due to those two being his age and part of the founding families of Gotham.

* ''Anime/SakuraWarsTV''

* Shouko Kirishima from ''LightNovel/BakaAndTestSummonTheBeasts''. The reason why she's {{Yandere}} for Yuuji is because [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe he's the only person who treated her like a normal girl]], whereas everyone was scared to death by her ultra-high social status.

* Sena Kashiwazaki from ''LightNovel/{{Haganai}}''. A large part of her loneliness is due to the other girls being jealous of her due to her good looks, grades, athleticism, and ample cleavage. As a result, she was often shunned by other girls in group activities, to the point that she had no real friends prior to joining the Neighbors Club.

* Murasaki Kujoin from ''[[LightNovel/KureNai Kure-nai]]'' is born into a very rich family but at the cost of being locked away from the outside world for the rest of her life [[spoiler:to eventually bear her older brother's children]].

%%* Chise Umenomori from ''LightNovel/MayoiNekoOverrun''.

* Keisaku Satou in ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana''. He's not a totally straight example (as he does have a friend in Eita), but otherwise, he fits. He's rich as hell, bored and slightly depressed with it, and feels like he has no purpose. Then [[MsFanservice Margery]] [[ActionGirl Daw]] enters his life, and he falls for her, and unlike Eita, who eventually decides to gracefully decline further service to her mission as a Flame Haze, he still helps her for no benefit to himself, mostly because her presence in his life is removing the "Lonely" from the trope title. In fact, even after she catches on and tries to tell him her DarkAndTroubledPast to keep him at arm's length, it only draws him closer to her. [[spoiler:And in the light novels and the third season of the anime, she eventually breaks down and they become an OfficialCouple]]
* ''Anime/ShamanKing'' has Kana Bismarch, a membress of the ''Hanagumi'' Team, who used to be this in the past. The poor girl was isolated in her family's BigFancyCastle until her parents died and her greedy relatives appeared and took everything away, leaving Kanna destitute. Hao arrived and killed them all and invited her to join his team.

If a character is between the ages of 18 to 21 or younger, and their parents have a lot of money, it's very likely the character has these problems:

* Nanaki in ''Literature/TanteiTeamKZJikenNote'' is an {{exaggerated|trope}} example, as he's supposed to inherit his family fortune [[OnOneCondition on the condition]] of [[MinorLivingAlone being cloistered]] at a LargeFancyHouse until he reaches majority.

* Sandry from Literature/TamoraPierce's ''Literature/CircleOfMagic'' series starts this way, as her parents' globetrotting ensured that she would have no permanent friends and very few of the people they met could get past the gulf in class to ''let'' their kids befriend a clehame.[[note]]countess[[/note]] She finds TrueCompanions at Winding Circle, but she feels lonely and isolated again in ''The Will of the Empress'' because the trip to Namorn is all ''about'' her status. That, along with the things that happened in their travels, partly alienates her friends.

* ''A noticeable shortage of close friends'', for various reasons. They could be a RichBitch or JerkJock, or at least mistaken for one. The character may be leery of friendship overtures because these have turned out to be attempts to take advantage of their wealth. Then there are the rich parents of the rich kid to consider. It could be that parental pressure is toward the character becoming remote and icy because that's what worked for them, all that caste and class nonsense. Politicians' and tycoons' kids often have anti-kidnapping barriers around them that friendlies have just as hard a time getting through as do the unfriendlies.

** Justified with [[AlphaBitch Chloé Bourgeois]], since she's a self-absorbed {{jerkass}} who treats everyone poorly - even her supposed best friend Sabrina (so far, the only known exception is Adrien, and [[TheDogBitesBack even he has his limits]]). She's seemingly unaware of this, though, as she firmly believes everyone loves her... until [[spoiler:"Malediktator" reveals that Chloé is aware that everyone hates her, and that's one of the reasons she wants to leave Paris with her mother]].
** Downplayed with [[NewTransferStudent Lila Rossi]], whose mother is busy at the embassy, but she's [[VillainWithGoodPublicity well-liked at school]] due to her elaborate {{Celebrity Lie}}s, managing to [[BitchInSheepsClothing mask her true nature]] from everyone but Marinette and Adrien.
** "Ikari Gozen" reveals that [[DefrostingIceQueen Kagami Tsurugi]] also falls into this trope, as she has no friends outside of Adrien, and her mother is also very controlling (case in point; she considers '''''Gabriel Agreste''''' overly lenient towards his son). Finding out about this motivates Marinette, who'd previously been [[GreenEyedMonster hostile]] towards Kagami, to reach out to her.
** "Sole Crusher" introduces Chloé's maternal half-sister Zoé Lee, who was bullied and isolated at her old school, and after moving to Paris is forced to act cruel to fit in with her mother and sister [[JerkassFacade despite being a kind person at heart]]. Fortunately, Marinette is ultimately able to convince her to be herself, and they become friends.

** [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Queen Elizabeth II]] was determined to avoid this trope. She and Prince Philip were very hands-on parents (to the point of changing nappies and bathing their children) and insisted that the children be sent to primary school to get a traditional education rather than being taught privately at home by tutors.

* Byakuya Togami in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc''. His father came from a long line of [[CorruptCorporateExecutive amoral businessmen]] who saw their children as nothing but tools to increase the family's prestige and pitted him against his own siblings in order to become heir to the proverbial throne. As a result, in the present day, he's become a [[LackOfEmpathy borderline sociopath]] with the only person in the world he feels close to being his family butler until meeting [[PlayerCharacter Makoto]].
* [[ShelteredAristocrat Sonia Nevermind]] and [[SecretlyWealthy Nagito Komaeda]] from ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' are both this trope. Sonia due to being raised to be a strong and perfect ruler for her country and Nagito due to his [[UnluckilyLucky luck cycle causing the deaths of his parents]]. However, while Sonia manages to overcome this and make friends, Nagito ends up becoming [[TheFriendNobodyLikes unanimously hated by the rest of the group]] because of his AxCrazy tendencies and [[TheAntiNihilist fanatical obsession with hope]].

* In ''VisualNovel/MurderByNumbers2020'' Becky Call's parents don't pay attention to her at all, and a major reason she wants to win a Starshine Award is so they notice her.

* In ''VideoGame/MurderByNumbers2020'' Becky Call's parents don't pay attention to her at all, and a major reason she wants to win a Starshine Award is so they notice her.

* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries''