History Main / SocialClimber

Note, however, that a Social Climber is not ''always'' a bad person, there are those who are genuinely good people who just happen to have ambition. That doesn't stop fiction from portraying [[AmbitionIsEvil ambition as a negative trait]] fairly often. Though it must be noted that this trope when used is generally about the person wanting to leave his past and feeling ashamed of his roots, whereas a WorkingClassHero traditionally embraces and is defined by his roots.

* '''[[WideEyedIdealist The Idealist]]''': Generally a more benevolent type (at least at first), this kind of social climber wants to make it into the elite to change the world, and at first, they try the more honorable ways of gathering prestige, such as heroism for glory's sake. However, to be a successful social climber, the Idealist has to resort to underhanded tactics and dubious schemes, and make compromises with his conscience. Usually, when the Idealist finally makes it to the top, he has already abandoned his morals for one reason or another and becomes one of the other types.

Compare NouveauRiche, RagsToRiches, SelfMadeMan and WorkingClassHero. Often overlaps with AmbitionIsEvil. A Social Climber may also be a MilesGloriosus in order to warm himself to his intended circle. A school-age Social Climber would want to be InWithTheInCrowd. Also, some may be VicariouslyAmbitious, and are looking to push someone else into doing some social climbing rather than doing so for themselves.

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': [[{{Deuteragonist}} Griffith]]'s dream is to become the king of Midland even though [[RagsToRoyalty he was born a commoner]]. He starts as a leader of the Band of the Hawk, [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores a small band of mercenaries]], and earns himself fame as a great military leader in the ongoing One Hundred Years War. Eventually he gets [[{{Knighting}} knighted]] and after he's led the Band of the Hawk into a war-deciding victory agains the Castle of Doldrey his mercenaries are given the title of "White", the highest possible honor an army can be granted. After the war has ended, however, Griffith can't climb any higher by military merits alone. His last plan is to marry [[PrincessClassic princess Charlotte]] so he would eventually inherit the throne. [[spoiler:In the end, the fact how close to succeeding Griffith gets only serves to make his fate that much more tragic. [[BreakTheHaughty Griffith loses all that he has gained]] and [[DealWithTheDevil sacrifices his men]] in a [[DespairEventHorizon desperate attempt]] to salvage what has been lost]].

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** Carter Bowen is strongly implied to be this. His family is Nouveau Riche and had to pull a lot of strings to get him into Balliol, suggesting that his overachieving is to compensate for this perceived failing of his background.
** The Lances became this by complete accident. Because Laurel befriended Tommy and Oliver on her first day of school, the Lances unavoidably got dragged into the world of Starling City's elite. By the present day, they've been a part of that world for so long that everyone, including even themselves, have forgotten that they aren't nearly as well-off as the rest of their social circle.

* ''Literature/AliceAdams'': Alice comes from an ordinary middle class family. But she's desperate to climb the social ladder, putting on airs, lying through her teeth when telling Arthur about her family, even assuming a different tone of voice when trying to come off as rich and sophisticated. Meanwhile, her mother is just as concerned with Alice about her family's social standing, relentlessly browbeating Virgil about making more money.
* ''Literature/AnAmericanTragedy'' by Theodore Dreiser was an attempt to take this trope from its European setting and transplant it to American society, to show that it was NotSoDifferent. In this instance the Social Climber uses {{Nepotism}} to get into the family business and also hopes to marry into money. (The same plot features in the film adaptation, ''Film/APlaceInTheSun''.)

* Littlefinger from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' fits this trope perfectly. The son of a minor lord, he has used charm, wits, treachery and flattery to climb as high up the ladder of Westerosi politics as he can. As of Literature/ADanceWithDragons [[spoiler:he is one of the most powerful Lords in the realm, being both Lord Paramount of the Trident and Lord Protector of the Vale. He's had to leave a substantial trail of bodies in his wake to get to that point, though.]]

* Creator/CharlesDickens books often feature characters who try to escape their dark upbringing and arrive at a position of comfort and respectability though it almost always features characters who triumph by honest, hard work. Literature/DavidCopperfield is a good example. One reason why ''Literature/GreatExpectations'' is regarded as highly mature is that Dickens finally critiques his use of the trope in showing the social climbing hero Pip to be a bit of a snob in his yearning for social respectability, only to discover that the MysteriousBacker of his rise up the social ladder was not the rich Mrs. Haversham as he had assumed but [[spoiler:the poor convict Magwitch. This starts his CharacterDevelopment]].

* Hyacinth Bucket in ''Series/KeepingUpAppearances'', a dissatisfied woman seeking to vault up the social ladder from her lowly upper-middle class retiree status, who fails miserably and humiliatingly.

* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': Tom Neville and Julia Neville seem to be a combination of the backstabber and the butt-kisser. "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E8TiesThatBind Ties That Bind]]" has the two throw their "friends" the Fabers under the bus to save their son Jason's life. "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E16TheLoveBoat The Love Boat]]" has Jason say to his father's face that the man just wants to have people kiss his butt. He has a point, considering that [[spoiler:Tom Neville becomes power-mad shortly have taking over the Monroe Republic]] in "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E19ChildrenOfMen Children of Men]]" and "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E20TheDarkTower The Dark Tower]]".

* Main motivation for ''Series/GossipGirl'''s Dan Humphrey, though he spends a large part of the series vehemently denying it and even shaming others who do the same. His sister Jenny is a more honest about it example of this trope.

* Mai's parents in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' seem to be a Butt-Kisser version. Their desire to advance in Fire Nation society leads them to force Mai into a submissive and meek persona when around others, and represses her emotions, so that others will think well of the family. Sadly just as her brother is born they have completed their social climb and give all of their love to him, leaving her to be TheUnfavorite.

* The UsefulNotes/FurryFandom has the stereotype of the Popufur - someone who will do anything to raise their follower count and who they're seen with than they are for meeting people. Despite being largely untrue, this stereotype is so engrained that many new to the fandom assume that people with expensive fursuits will always be like this, when it is only true of a minority.

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* In ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{ResurrectedMemories}}'': [[spoiler: Ember's mother is revealed to have been one of these. As her husband's career continued to advance, she became more focused on her families social status, to the point of emotionally neglecting Ember in the process.]]

--> '''Ratcliffe:''' And don't think I don't know what those backstabbers at court say about me.\\
'''Wiggins:''' All that talk about being a pathetic social climber who's failed at everything he's tried ...

* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': Tom Neville and Julia Neville seem to be a combination of the backstabber and the butt-kisser. "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E8TiesThatBind Ties That Bind]]" has the two throw their "friends" the Fabers under the bus to save their son Jason's life. "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E16TheLoveBoat The Love Boat]]" has Jason say to his father's face that the man just wants to have people kiss his butt. He has a point, considering that [[spoiler: Tom Neville becomes power-mad shortly have taking over the Monroe Republic]] in "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E19ChildrenOfMen Children of Men]]" and "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E20TheDarkTower The Dark Tower]]".
* ''Series/BabylonFive'': This very much describes two of Londo's three wives, [[spoiler: the ones he winds up divorcing]]. The final one doesn't really seem to care that much about it.

* ''WebComic/MagickChicks'': This is [[EvilRedhead Cerise]] in a nutshell. From the moment the Hellrune Coven was transferred to [[AllGirlSchool Artemis Academy]], she plotted [[http://www.magickchicks.com/strips-mc/you_had_that_look to overthrow Melissa]], by rising to the top of the school's social ladder before Melissa could. She even went so far as to [[spoiler: [[http://www.magickchicks.com/strips-mc/a_good_second_banana pretend to have feelings for Callista]]]]; thus, using her popularity to gain recognition for herself. But once she gained the power of [[spoiler: Hecate's dark essence]], she no longer needed [[spoiler: Callista]] and simply decided to take over the school. Cerise's first order of business was to [[spoiler: get rid of her, [[http://www.magickchicks.com/strips-mc/girls_who_resisted along with the rest of the student council]]]].

* '''The Snob''': In RealLife, originally Snob used to refer to the non-noble students of {{Oxbridge}}, who'd imitate the nobles' mannerisms UpToEleven as a way of sticking it to them. Nowadays, it's used to refer to people who are perfectly willing to stick up their noses at people they've left behind.

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* Surprisingly enough, the ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse features many of them. [[FridgeBrilliance Then again most of them are somehow connected to Scrooge]], who is a ''successful'' one as a side effect of becoming rich...

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* RPG PlayerCharacter tend to follow this behavior quite often; many quest lines are social climbs in different guilds and organizations, and it's not unusual to accumulate high positions and responsibilities, which somehow never get in the way of the primary activity of DungeonCrawling or war-waging or world-saving.

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* The UsefulNotes/FurryFandom has the stereotype of the Popufur - someone who will do anything to raise their follower count and who they're seen with than they are for meeting people. Despite being largely untrue, this stereotype is so engrained that many new to the fandom assume that people with expensive fursuits will always be like this, when it is only true of a minority.

* 'VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', the PlayerCharacter starts poor but eventually becomes super-wealthy; his mission-givers also show the same progression.

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--> '''Ratcliffe:''' And don't think I don't know what those backstabbers at court say about me.
--> '''Wiggins:''' All that talk about being a pathetic social climber who's failed at everything he's tried ...

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* In ''Fanfic/TheElementsOfFriendship'', Moondancer in one (before she actually appeared on-screen in canon, mind), making Twilight blowing her off a lot more understandable. Twilight also believes Rarity to be one of the negative variety when they first meet.

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%%* Maggie in ''ComicStrip/BringingUpFather''.

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-->-- '''Kate [=McGowan=],''' ''Titanic''

* Subverted in AkagamiNoShirayukihime. Several people initially assume that Shirayuki is this to Zen, but Zen knows better, and everytime Shirayuki is tested on the issue, she demonstrates that she wants to succeed or fail on her own merits.

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* Maggie in ''ComicStrip/BringingUpFather''.

* Everyone in the musical ''Titanic.'' See page quote.

* Progression in WideOpenSandbox games often features examples of this. In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', the PlayerCharacter starts poor but eventually becomes super-wealthy, his mission-givers also show the same progression.
** The most extreme example is ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' where the hero Carl Johnson grows up in a Los Angeles slum with poor weapons and neighbourhood gun-fights, graduates to working with the Triads, moonlights with a corrupt American agent and then becomes a wealthy entrepreneur in the casino business while tussling with the Italian Mob for turf.

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* The FurryFandom has the stereotype of the Popufur - someone who will do anything to raise their follower count and who they're seen with than they are for meeting people. Despite being largely untrue, this stereotype is so engrained that many new to the fandom assume that people with expensive fursuits will always be like this, when it is only true of a minority.

* Mai's parents in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' seem to be a Butt-Kisser version. Their desire to advance in Fire Nation society leads them to force Mai into a submissive and meek persona when around others, and represses her emotions, so that others will think well of the family. Sadly just as her brother is born they have completed their social climb and give all of their love to him, leaving her to be TheUnfavorite.

Most people strive for acceptance in society, but these people take it up to an extreme - they are actively looking to better their position and make themselves known in society, and it doesn't matter who they crush in the process. These characters often start out poor, get their big break from some stroke of luck, get it into their heads that they can make it further, and thus begin their ascent through the echelons of society. With each higher position they achieve, they decide to aim even higher.

* '''[[WideEyedIdealist The Idealist]]''': Generally a more benevolent type (at least at first), this kind of social climber wants to make it into the elite to change the world, and at first, they try the more honorable ways of gathering prestige, such as heroism for glory's sake; however, to be a successful social climber, the Idealist has to resort to underhanded tactics and dubious schemes, and make compromises with his conscience. Usually, when the Idealist finally makes it to the top, he has already abandoned his morals for one reason or another and becomes one of the other types.

Compare NouveauRiche, RagsToRiches, SelfMadeMan and WorkingClassHero. Often overlaps with AmbitionIsEvil. A Social Climber may also be a MilesGloriosus in order to warm himself to his intended circle. A school-age Social Climber would want to be InWithTheInCrowd. Note, however, that a Social Climber is not ''always'' a bad person, there are those who are genuinely good people who just happen to have ambition. That doesn't stop fiction from portraying [[AmbitionIsEvil ambition as evil]] fairly often. Though it must be noted that this trope when used is generally about the person wanting to leave his past and feeling ashamed of his roots, whereas a WorkingClassHero traditionally embraces and is defined by his roots. Also, some may be VicariouslyAmbitious, and are looking to push someone else into doing some social climbing rather than doing so for themselves.

** Unsurprisingly, Gatsby himself turns out to be an Idealist version, despite [[MultipleChoicePast several rumors to the contrary]]. [[spoiler:He was born to dirt-poor farmers in the Midwest who left to seek his fortune, and used the money he inherited from an old man who grew to love him like a son to start living the high life.]] He falls under the Idealist category because he genuinely seems to believe millionaires are {{Gentleman Adventurer}}s and the like, and his want to advance up the social ladder is not so much for personal gain as it is for winning Daisy's heart. He also fits the Idealist category because [[spoiler:he's already gotten his hands dirty, and actually gains much of his fortune selling drugs.]]

* Eugène de Rastignac from Honoré De Balzac's ''LaComedieHumaine'' is such a climber that his name has become synonymous with the trope in the French language. He's not especially dishonourable compared to others around him, though, and he makes mistakes and has setbacks. By the end of the series, he makes it to Minister.

* Todomatsu AKA Totty, the youngest of the ''Anime/OsomatsuSan'' brothers; his brothers put him down in the lame hole. He's also [[{{Pride}} quite vain]], TheFakeCutie, and a BitchInSheepsClothing.

* Todomatsu AKA Totty, the youngest of the ''Anime/OsomatsuSan'' brothers; his brothers put him the low hole. He's also [[{{Pride}} quite vain]], TheFakeCutie, and a BitchInSheepsClothing.

* Todomatsu, the youngest of the ''Anime/OsomatsuSan'' brothers; his brothers put him the hole. He's also [[{{Pride}} quite vain]], TheFakeCutie, and a BitchInSheepsClothing.

Compare NouveauRiche, RagsToRiches, SelfMadeMan and WorkingClassHero. Often overlaps with AmbitionIsEvil. A Social Climber may also be a MilesGloriosus in order to warm himself to his intended circle. A school-age SocialClimber would want to be InWithTheInCrowd. Note, however, that a SocialClimber is not ''always'' a bad person, there are those who are genuinely good people who just happen to have ambition. That doesn't stop fiction from portraying [[AmbitionIsEvil ambition as evil]] fairly often. Though it must be noted that this trope when used is generally about the person wanting to leave his past and feeling ashamed of his roots, whereas a WorkingClassHero traditionally embraces and is defined by his roots. Also, some may be VicariouslyAmbitious, and are looking to push someone else into doing some social climbing rather than doing so for themselves.

Compare NouveauRiche, RagsToRiches, SelfMadeMan and WorkingClassHero. Often overlaps with AmbitionIsEvil. A Social Climber may also be a MilesGloriosus in order to warm himself to his intended circle. A school-age SocialClimber would want to be InWithTheInCrowd. Note, however, that a SocialClimber is not ''always'' a bad person, there are those who are genuinely good people who just happen to have ambition. That doesn't stop fiction from portraying [[AmbitionIsEvil ambition as evil]] fairly often. Though it must be noted that this trope when used is generally about the person wanting to leave his past and feeling ashamed of his roots, whereas a WorkingClassHero traditionally embraces and is defined by his roots.

In ''Fanfic/TheElementsOffriendship'', Moondancer in one (before she actually appeared on-screen in canon, mind), making Twilight blowing her off a lot more understandable. Twilight also believes Rarity to be one of the negative variety when they first meet.