History Main / SettleForSibling

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* In ''ComicBook/AstroCity'', Silver Agent's first girlfriend got over him and married his brother.

* ''Film/ThePatriot'': Benjamin Martin is a widower with seven children at the start, but he's on good terms with his sister-in-law and visits her with his family from time to time, who becomes a sort of surrogate mother for her nephews and nieces. They eventually get married by the end of the war.

* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', due to male GenderRarityValue, all the sisters of a family marry one man, so a man cannot settle for sibling, he gets all of them or none. However, a family who offers for Jerin seems inexplicably (it is suggested) unwilling to consider one of his (not yet of age) brothers, or any of his (close to him in age) cousins, despite it being an arranged marriage, anyway. (Though they do appreciate Jerin's good looks) A minor character, who would like to get his sisters married to a brother of his wives, for a DoubleInLawMarriage that would allow him frequent contact with his sisters, is willing to settle for a cousin of his wives to be married to his sisters.

* In ''Webcomic/SuburbanJungle'', Dover Cheetah eventually switches his affections from main character and unrequited crush Tiffany Tiger to her (half) sister Comfort. As Comfort likes him and Tiffany thinks of him as a friend, this works out well and they beat Tiffany and her beau to the altar by several years.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'' alludes to this twice:
** Briggid fears that either Jamke or Midayle will pull this on her since they both had {{Bodyguard Crush}}es on her younger twin sister Edain. Her love talks with both dudes have them saying this isn't the case.
** Lewyn/Erinys plays with the trope; Lewyn had a major crush on Erinys' sister Annand when he was young, but in a talk event he tells her he's over it and truly wants to be with Erinys now.
* This is optional in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates''. In Saizo and Kagero's supports, it is mentioned that the two were once a couple, but due to their differences in how they handled being Prince Ryoma's retainers, they ultimately decided to end their relationship so that it would not get in the way of their service. Kagero can then marry Saizo's younger twin brother Kaze, whose calm personality is much more similar to hers. Due to the open-ended nature of supports in the game, however, she can just as well [[NewOldFlame rekindle her relationship]] with Saizo.

* Happens in ''Literature/{{Mahabharata}}''. King Vichitavirya of Kuru died childless, leaving behind his two wives, Ambika and Ambalika. In keeping with the ancient Vedic custom of ''niyoga'', the two were "passed down" to Vichitavirya's maternal half-brother, Vyasa. Vyasa's union with Ambika conceived Dhritarashtra (father of the one hundred Kauravas), while his union with Ambalika conceived Pandu (father of the five Pandavas). However, both boys were legally considered Vichitavirya's heirs, and succeeded him as kings of Kuru.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons,'' Marge's high school prom date, Artie Ziff, had [[UnrequitedLoveLastsForever a decades-long infatuation]] with her, but later winds up having a fling with Selma. Their shared dislike of Homer helped to forge an attraction.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog,'' when Charlotte le Boeuf can't get married to Naveen to fulfill her dream of marrying a prince, she (at least jokingly) toys with the idea of marrying Naveen's brother instead. [[spoiler:[[JailBailWait He's six]][[PracticallyDifferentGenerations -and-a-half.]]]]

* ''Literature/AppointmentWithDeath'' has a subplot where [[spoiler:Jefferson Cope, a friend of the Boynton family, is in love with Nadine, who is married to Lennox Boynton. While at first Nadine considers leaving Lennox and the Boynton family altogether, she ends up staying with her husband, and Jefferson ends up marrying her sister Carol.]]

* In ''ComicBook/XMen,'' Scott's ex-wife Madelyne Pryor dates his brother Alex for a while.(Naturally this includes a period where she was crazy/possessed and convinced him to help her destroy the world while both wore {{Stripperific}} outfits.) Interestingly, in the ''ComicBook/MutantX'' universe Madelyn never met Scott (who disappeared with their parents and is presumed dead), and she and Alex wound up married (though not necessarily happily).

* UsefulNotes/HenryVIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was originally married to his older brother, Arthur. Naturally it was an ArrangedMarriage, so when Arthur died young it was agreed that Henry would marry his brother's widow (because you don't give up a strategic marriage to a literal Spanish Princess whose nephew is due to become ruler of one of the greatest empires the world had yet seen,[[note]]The nephew in question being Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, who was also Carlos I, King of Spain. In the former capacity, he ruled Austria, Burgundy, and the Low Countries as well as (at least theoretically) all of Germany and half of Italy, while in the latter capacity, he held not only Spain but also most of the Americas -- and all of their silver.[[/note]] especially not when she and the new king [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage actually know and rather like each other and seem quite compatible personally]]). This was somewhat problematic -- the concept of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affinity_%28canon_law%29 affinity]] meant that the couple was [[IncestIsRelative technically considered incestuous]], so the pope had to give special dispensation to allow it. When five of the couple's six children later died young ([[HeirClubForMen leaving only a daughter]]) Henry claimed that {{God}} disapproved of the marriage and that it should thus be annulled, "justifying" the separation of the English Church from the Roman when the Pope refused to retract the dispensation. This led, eventually, to the end of the Tudor succession/the passage of the English crown to the Stuarts, the UsefulNotes/EnglishCivilWar, and the birth of modern liberal representative democracy. Small trope, big impact.

* ''Fanfic/ForgingABetterFuture'': While Tommy Swann had feelings for Laurel Lance first, the woman he eventually falls in love with for real is Laurel's younger sister, Sara. It's played realistically in that Tommy didn't actively pursue Sara; instead, his attraction to her was a result of spending so much time with her while Oliver and Laurel were out on dates.

* Jovan Ghermani married Princess Simeona Obrenović, who died in 1837. Some time later Joven had an affair and fathered a child with Simeona's sister Anka, though they never married.

* In the backstory of ''Literature/DragonBones'', Ward's father was attracted to the AmazonianBeauty Stala, but her ancestry wasn't up to his standards (she was a bastard, apparently), so he settled for her much more delicate (half)sister, whom he didn't respect and mistreated horribly because he viewed her as "weak".

* ''Theatre/TwelfthNight'' has an accidental version. Viola disguises herself as a man and winds up the object of Olivia's affections. Then Olivia meets Viola's HalfIdenticalTwin (whom Viola believes is dead), mistakes him for male!Viola and winds up marrying him before the truth all comes out.

* A variant in Creator/JacquelineWilson's ''Hetty Feather'' series: Hetty's foster brother Jem promises to marry her when they grow up, but after Hetty returns to the Foundling Hospital, she is devastated to learn that Jem has now made the same promise to their younger foster sister Eliza. [[spoiler: Ultimately subverted since Jem ultimately marries a third woman nothing to do with the family.]]
* In Rumer Godden's ''In This House of Brede'', Larry wants to marry Elspeth Scallon, but she [[TakingTheVeil becomes a nun]]. He marries her cousin, Jean.

* ''Manga/RedRiver1995'': Himuro, Yuri's boyfriend from the 20th century, ended up marrying her younger sister Eimi.

* [[LampshadeHanging Given a lampshade]] in ''Anime/AshitaNoNadja''. [[spoiler: A girl named Marianne is in love with a boy named Francis, who's in a SiblingTriangle since he and his twin brother Keith both love main heroine Nadja (who leans more [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan towards Francis]], but once was VERY strongly [[AllgirlsWantBadBoys leaning towards Keith]]).]] Therefore, she believes that [[spoiler: Nadja should go with Keith, which [[BroodingBoyGentleGirl would not only help]] [[TroubledButCute Keith]] but would help her to get Francis's affections]]. [[ShipperWithAnAgenda She]] is so convinced of such a possibility that she even tells such things to [[spoiler: Nadja herself.]]

* A variation in ''Manga/ABridesStory'' occurs with a woman named Talas. In her culture, it is customary to marry your husband's brother if he dies before having children. Her first husband had four brothers, and each married her and died childless in succession until each one met an untimely end. Talas had to Settle for Sibling ''four'' times in a row.

* Attempted in ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'', when it's shown that [[spoiler: Mamimi's behavior to Naota comes from her being totally broken after his brother Tasuku left to the USA. Towards the end, however, she thinks better of it.]]

* ''[[ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy Season 8]]''--[[BadassNormal Xander]], who had had a crush on [[TheHero Buffy]] way back in season one, winds up dating [[ShesAllGrownUp Dawn]] (who likewise had a crush on ''him'' back [[PrecociousCrush when she was a teenager]] in season five). Made even more awkward because this was right when Buffy realized [[UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo that she might have feelings for him]] herself.

* In ''Film/PrinceValiant1954'', Sir Gawain hooks up with Princess Aleta's sister Ilene after Aleta ditches him for Val.

* Something like this happens in ''Film/LikeWaterForChocolate''. Basic outline: BoyMeetsGirl. Boy likes girl; girl likes boy. Girl can't marry because of cultural tradition. Boy can't be around her alone because of a restrictive culture. Boy marries girl's sister to be close to girl.
* A variant at the end of ''Film/NightAtTheMuseumBattleOfTheSmithsonian''. Larry appears to be starting a relationship with a woman who [[IdenticalStranger strongly resembles]] [[spoiler:Amelia Earhart]]. At one point, he asks [[DoesHeHaveABrother if she's related to her]].
* In ''Film/PsychoII'' we learn that Marion's sister Lila married her boyfriend Sam. Lila's resemblance to Marion may have made her a ReplacementGoldfish as well.

* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', due to male GenderRarityValue, all the sisters of a family marry one man, so a man cannot settle for sibling, he gets all of them or none. However, a family who offers for Jerin seems inexplicably (it is suggested) unwilling to consider one of his (not yet of age) brothers, or any of his (close to him in age) cousins, despite it being an arranged marriage, anyway. (Though they do appreciate Jerin's good looks) A minor character, who would like to get his sisters married to a brother of his wives, for a DoubleInLawMarriage that would allow him frequent contact with his sisters, is willing to settle for a cousin of his wives to be married to his sisters.
* In the backstory of ''Literature/DragonBones'', Ward's father was attracted to the AmazonianBeauty Stala, but her ancestry wasn't up to his standards (she was a bastard, apparently), so he settled for her much more delicate (half)sister, whom he didn't respect and mistreated horribly because he viewed her as "weak".
* In ''Literature/KristinLavransdatter'', Kristin leaves her betrothed [[DoggedNiceGuy Simon]] for [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Erlend]]. Simon ends up marrying Kristin's little sister, but never really gets over Kristin.

* Laurie, TheOneGuy of ''Literature/LittleWomen'', fell in love with Amy aka the little sister of his frustrated FirstLove Jo.
* In ''Literature/TessOfTheDUrbervilles'', [[spoiler:Tess knows she is going to die, so she makes Angel promise that he will marry her sister Eliza]].
* In the ''Literature/{{Outlander}}'' series of novels, [[spoiler:a young priest dying of consumption marries his pregnant lover to his impotent brother while on his deathbed. The baby is the heroine's great-something-grandfather.]]
* In ''Literature/LikeWaterForChocolate'', the hero wants to marry the heroine but is told that since she is the youngest daughter, she may never marry. So he marries her sister to be close to her.
* In ''Literature/HarryPotter,'' WordOfGod says that George married Angelina Johnson, who had once gone on a date with his twin brother, Fred. [[spoiler:Fred is dead by this point]].
* A variation happens in the short gothic story "The Romance of Certain Old Clothes" by Creator/HenryJames. Two sisters fall in love with the same man. The man marries one of the sisters, who dies shortly after. He then marries the other sister. The story ends with [[spoiler: the jealous ghost of the first wife exacting revenge on her sister]].

* Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev: Arkady is at first interested in Madame Odintsov, but eventually goes for her younger sister Katya.

* An unusual variant from the ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' series. Shortly after her father's death young Queen Selenay of Valdemar is charmed by [[TheEvilPrince Prince Thanel]] of Rethwellan and finds herself in a miserable marriage that ends when she is widowed in a [[TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch "hunting accident"]][[note]]his kinsmen knew he had died during the attempted assassination of his wife, but also knew ''him'' and were happy to sweep the matter under the rug rather than deal with the political complications[[/note]]. Some 15 years later, Selenay met her late husband's younger brother Daren in person for the first time and they [[LoveAtFirstSight fell for each other on the spot]].
* In Rumer Godden's ''In This House of Brede'', Larry wants to marry Elspeth Scallon, but she [[TakingTheVeil becomes a nun]]. He marries her cousin, Jean.
* In ''[[Literature/LegendsOfDune Dune: The Butlerian Jihad]]'', when Xavier thinks Serena is dead he marries her sister Octa.
* Happens a few times in the works of Creator/VCAndrews. Examples include:
** In the Literature/LandrySeries, when Ruby marries Paul Tate, Beau marries her twin sister Giselle since he can't have Ruby.
** In the Literature/CutlerSeries, Jed Booth wanted to marry Violet ([[spoiler:Lillian's real mother]]), but instead married her sister because polite society dictated he should court the oldest daughter.
** A variant in the Literature/LoganSeries. Cary is heavily implied to be in love with his [[BrotherSisterIncest twin sister]] Laura, so after she dies, he ends up with their cousin ([[spoiler:second cousin, although they don't initially know that]]) Melody, whom everyone thinks looks like Laura.
** ''Literature/SeedsOfYesterday''. Bart thinks he's successfully seduced brother Jory's wife Melodie away from him following the latter being left paralyzed after an accident, but eventually comes to realize he's only a substitute.
* In Creator/PoulAnderson's ''The Un-Man'', Jeanne Donner is married to a man who, she does not know, is one of a great Brotherhood of clones. When he is killed in underground work, she is induced to leave her home with their son by another clone, passing himself off as her husband, before his killers capture them both. Later, having learned the truth, she tracks down the clone who rescued her, who had fallen in love with her. When he says he would get over it, she tells him she doesn't want him to.
* In the Creator/AgathaChristie novel ''Sparkling Cyanide'', Anthony Brown enjoys an initial flirtation with the married Rosemary Barton and eventually ends up courting her younger sister Iris. However, it wasn't so much "settling" for the sibling as it was Anthony recognizing Iris's charm and depth of character; he later refers to his feelings for Rosemary as like [[Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet Romeo remembering Rosaline after he'd first seen Juliet]].
* ''Film/GoneWithTheWind''. Frank Kennedy ''thinks'' he's doing this in regard to marrying Scarlett instead of her sister Suellen, who he's been courting for years, thanks to Scarlett's lie that Suellen's going to marry someone else.
* A variant in Creator/JacquelineWilson's ''Hetty Feather'' series: Hetty's foster brother Jem promises to marry her when they grow up, but after Hetty returns to the Foundling Hospital, she is devastated to learn that Jem has now made the same promise to their younger foster sister Eliza. [[spoiler: Ultimately subverted since Jem ultimately marries a third woman nothing to do with the family.]]
* In ''Literature/TheBattleOfLife'' by Creator/CharlesDickens, Alfred wants to marry Marion with her sister Grace's approval. Marion thinks the two of them should be together instead and stages her own running away to hope this trope will kick in for Alfred and Grace. Which it does.
* In ''Clover'' by Susan Coolidge, a sequel to ''Literature/WhatKatyDid'', Clover rejects her cousin Clarence Page's proposal of marriage in favour of Geoffrey Templestowe. The subsequent book, ''In The High Valley'', reveals that Clarence subsequently married Clover's sister Elsie.
* ''Literature/ForestKingdom'': Book 4 (''Beyond the Blue Moon'') reveals that King Harald, still needing to fulfill the marriage contract he was under with Duke Alric, married Princess Julia's next-youngest sister Felicity after Julia ran off with Prince Rupert.
* ''Literature/TheSummerITurnedPretty'' features a SiblingTriangle that has aspect of this trope. Belly is initially head over heels in love with Conrad, but the latter is mostly indifferent to her. Belly eventually grows tired of his mixed signals and decides to date his brother, Jeremiah, who is in love with her. But then [[BelatedLoveEpiphany Conrad begins pursuing Belly]], causing her to become confused by her feelings for the two boys. Finally, Belly decides to part ways with Jeremiah [[RunawayBride right when the two are about to marry]] so she can be with Conrad.
* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'':
** Part of the reason Carlisle turned Rosalie was so she could become a mate for Edward, the only bachelor in the Cullen coven. She even kept her surname (Hale) so it wouldn't have been weird if the two hooked up. But as Edward was resistant to any charms Rosalie could muster, she grew tired and eventually settled for Emmett, a new vampire who took the Cullen surname and as a result is legally Edward's brother.
** The reason why Leah Clearwater is cold and aloof is because her relationship with Sam Uley, leader of the werewolf pack, broke down when he imprinted on Emily Young. Emily is only Leah's second cousin, but they were close like sisters when they were young.

* A darker version occurs in ''Series/NewTricks''. It turns out that the victim's brother-in-law [[spoiler:was the one who put her in a coma. As he "had a thing for Asian [[note]]South Asian, that is[[/note]] women" and decided if he couldn't have her, nobody could. He tried to make it look like a hate crime and then invoked this trope]].
* ''Series/MadMen'': Anna Draper, upon learning from our Don that her husband (the real Don Draper) never mentioned her, she muses that he actually preferred her sister who "looked like her but had two good legs." Perhaps this is the reason she was so warm and welcoming to the man who stole her late husband's identity.
* One episode of ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'' revealed that Alan had originally asked out his ex-wife Judith's sister then only dated Judith after she said no.

* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''
** Helo was originally in love with Boomer, who was in love with Chief Tyrol. Helo fell in love with Athena, a copy of the same Cylon model as Boomer, when they were set up together by the Cylons on the planet Caprica, thinking that she was Boomer. Helo married Athena some time after learning the truth, and they became arguably the series' most stable couple.
** Starbuck, who was engaged to Zak, who died before the series begins, but for much of the series she's romantically linked with his brother Apollo. Although they nearly cheated on Zak soon after meeting, so Apollo may not be the one she's settling for.
* On ''Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman'', the backstory of Loren and Dorothy is revealed to be this--he had courted her back in their younger days before she abruptly married someone else. Her sister consoled him and they ended up marrying.
* On ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', Earl helps a Frenchman he once teased by finding a few girls from their class for him to hook up with. One of the girls was nowhere to be found, but "she had a real friendly sister," who ends up having sex with Pierre in the back of Earl's El Camino.
* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis''- In season two, Eddie brings this up when he thinks Patricia and Alfie might be into each-other, stating that it might be what Alfie is thinking.
--> '''Eddie:''' "Well, He was into [[PolarOppositeTwins Piper,]] maybe you're just the next best twin."
* In ''Series/{{Deadwood}}'', Seth Bullock marries his brother Robert's widow Martha after Robert's untimely death. This is seemingly less about romance and more about acting as a provider for the family and especially a father for Robert and Martha's son William.

* On ''Series/TheBoldAndTheBeautiful'', Caroline, Taylor, and Brooke all ended up with Thorne Forrester at various intervals, generally because they were fed up with big brother's Ridge's constant waffling between them and Brooke (in Caroline and Taylor's cases), or them and Caroline or Taylor (in Brooke's case).
* ''Series/OneLifeToLive'': After teen sweethearts Jessica and Christian's relationship fizzled, she ended up with his brother Antonio, while he ended up with her sister Natalie.
* ''Series/OneTreeHill'': Karen Roe was Dan Scott's high school sweetheart, then when she got pregnant with their son Lucas he left, remarried, and had another son, Nathan. Karen raised Lucas as a single mother but was always friendly with Dan's much-nicer brother Keith before it blossomed into romance [[spoiler:shortly before his death]]. This resulted in another child, a daughter named Lily Roe.

* In ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'', there are some suggestions Hamilton believes he's done this in choosing Eliza over Angelica due to Angelica stepping aside, such as describing her as his "dearest". However, he later comes to realize that Eliza is the "best" wife.

* A not-entirely-romantic variation is possible towards the end of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'': it is possible to persuade Queen Anora to marry [[spoiler:Alistair]] -- the long-lost, illegitimate younger brother of her late husband King Cailan. Though this marriage is driven by pure pragmatism (Ferelden needs both Anora's firm grip on politics and the Theirin {{royal blood}}line), Anora is shown to have had very tender feelings for Cailan and is slightly confused by the prospect of developing them for his brother.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'': This is suggested by Tidus after it comes out that Wakka's dead younger brother Chappu was Lulu's fiance. [[SubvertedTrope Lulu dismisses the idea]], yet by the sequel (just two years later) [[DoubleSubverted they're married with a child on the way]].

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' Elliot's relationship with Nanase breaks up fairly early on, apparently because Elliot has feelings for someone else. Shortly thereafter, Nanase realizes she's a lesbian and hooks up with Elliot's [[TangledFamilyTree sister/daughter/]]OppositeSexClone, Ellen.
* In the space arc of ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'', when Mordred realises that he's in love with Guenevere, his reaction is to seek permission to un-HumanPopsicle her clone.

* UsefulNotes/HenryVIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was originally married to his older brother, Arthur. Naturally it was an ArrangedMarriage, so when Arthur died young it was agreed that Henry would marry his brother's widow (because you don't give up a strategic marriage to a literal Spanish Princess whose nephew is due to become ruler of one of the greatest empires the world had yet seen,[[note]]The nephew in question being Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, who was also Carlos I, King of Spain. In the former capacity, he ruled Austria, Burgundy, and the Low Countries as well as (at least theoretically) all of Germany and half of Italy, while in the latter capacity, he held not only Spain but also most of the Americas--and all of their silver.[[/note]] especially not when she and the new king [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage actually know and rather like each other and seem quite compatible personally]]). This was somewhat problematic--the concept of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affinity_%28canon_law%29 affinity]] meant that the couple was [[IncestIsRelative technically considered incestuous]], so the pope had to give special dispensation to allow it. When five of the couple's six children later died young ([[HeirClubForMen leaving only a daughter]]) Henry claimed that {{God}} disapproved of the marriage and that it should thus be annulled, "justifying" the separation of the English Church from the Roman when the Pope refused to retract the dispensation. This led, eventually, to the end of the Tudor succession/the passage of the English crown to the Stuarts, the UsefulNotes/EnglishCivilWar, and the birth of modern liberal representative democracy. Small trope, big impact.

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' Elliot's relationship with Nanase breaks up fairly early on, both because Elliot has feelings for someone else and because Nanase has realized that she's a lesbian. Shortly thereafter, Nanase hooks up with Elliot's [[TangledFamilyTree sister/daughter/]]OppositeSexClone, Ellen.