History Main / TangledFamilyTree

Incest, TimeTravel, cloning and genetic engineering, {{reincarnation}}, PracticallyDifferentGenerations, ExtraParentConception, RelatedInTheAdaptation, CrossoverRelatives, and {{Alternate Universe}}s can all contribute to creating a Tangled Family Tree. For obvious reasons, any family with a Tangled Family Tree is likely to be a BigScrewedUpFamily as well. If it's a case of RoyalInbreeding, this probably overlaps with RoyallyScrewedUp. Often this is a ContinuitySnarl looking for a place to happen, as sometimes a single genealogy can become so complex that even the writers can't keep it straight. This is the kind of family that you ''want'' to in-breed just to consolidate the branches.

* In a collection of puzzles called A Tangled Tale, ''Creator/LewisCarroll'' poses a problem: The Governor of Kgovjni wants to give a very small dinner party, and invites his father’s brother-in-law, his brother’s father-in-law, his father-in-law’s brother, and his brother-in-law’s father. Find the number [minimum possible number] of guests. The [[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Tangled_Tale/Answers_to_Knot_II optimal family tree]] is, of course, very tangled. [[spoiler:The answer given is one guest. However, it is possible to create a family tree with zero guests, meaning that the governor is his father’s brother-in-law, his brother’s father-in-law, his father-in-law’s brother, and his brother-in-law’s father.]]

version fuck if i know at this point. adding in [[WebVideo/HermitcraftServer hermit]][[WebVideo/EmpiresSMP empires]] shenanigans is probably going to be my downfall but also. [[PropheticNames i didn’t name myself icarus for nothing]] \\

* [[https://www.tumblr.com/apollos-boyfriend/705102380746883072/congratulations-to-mx-sophietexas-for-being-the Behold]] the Sparklez Family Tree, an attempt by one Tumblr user to record the romances and honorary family relations between numerous ''Minecraft'' content creators (centered on LetsPlay/CaptainSparklez, hence the name) using information gathered from numerous [=SMPs=] (e.g. ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'', ''LetsPlay/EmpiresSMP'', and ''LetsPlay/LifeSMP'', to name a few) as well as the general dynamics between said content creators. The results are definitely something, considering there are at least ''56'' content creators listed in the diagram, and due to the tendency of Minecraft [=YouTubers=] to spontaneously generate new "relationships" and "family dynamics" between each other, ''it is still far from complete''.

version fuck if i know at this point. adding in [[LetsPlay/HermitcraftServer hermit]][[LetsPlay/EmpiresSMP empires]] shenanigans is probably going to be my downfall but also. [[PropheticNames i didn’t name myself icarus for nothing]] \\

[[folder:Radio]]
* ''Radio/TheArchers'' has a bit of this going on. It's best [[http://www.niles.org.uk/archersft.html visually represented here.]]
[[/folder]]

* The Bright family from the Website/SCPFoundation is... complicated. Even by SCP standards. One of the five main siblings, TJ, hasn't physically aged since he was 16 and has a daughter who's a fully grown adult. Pretty much all spouses of the family members are only vaguely mentioned in passing on account of the fact that they don't have Bright blood, with the exception being Adam and Evelyn (which, yes, [[SurpriseIncest means what you think it means]]). The family also holds [[ExtremeOmnisexual very little standards in concern to sexual partners]], resulting in there being dozens of bastard children all over the place. One of whom eventually leads to Joey Tamlin, who travels back in time and kickstarts the whole bloodline. Also, one of them is green. No, not a guy with green skin. The actual color green. There's a reason the family often uses the term "family wreath" instead of "family tree."

* The Bright family from the Website/SCPFoundation is... complicated. Even by SCP standards. One of the five main siblings, TJ, hasn't physically aged since he was 16 and has a daughter who's a fully grown adult. Pretty much all spouses of the family members are only vaguely mentioned in passing on account of the fact that they don't have Bright blood, with the exception being Adam and Evelyn (which, yes, [[SurpriseIncest means what you think it means]]). The family also holds [[ExtremeOmnisexual very little standards in concern to sexual partners]], resulting in there being dozens of bastard children all over the place. One of whom eventually leads to Joey Tamlin, who travels back in time and kickstarts the whole bloodline. Also, one of them is green. No, not a guy with green skin. The actual color green. There's a reason the family often uses the term "family wreath" instead of "family tree."
* In ''[[http://soulsrpg.com/ Souls RPG]]'', the Lykoi and de le Poer families are quite tangled and intricate.
* The majority of the cast in ''Literature/ThaliasMusings''. It's the Greek Pantheon.

version fuck if i know at this point. adding in [[LetsPlay/HermitcraftServer hermit]][[LetsPlay/EmpiresSMP empires]] shenanigans is probably going to be my downfall but also. [[PropheticName i didn’t name myself icarus for nothing]] \\

* [[https://www.tumblr.com/apollos-boyfriend/705102380746883072/congratulations-to-mx-sophietexas-for-being-the Behold]] the Sparklez Family Tree, an attempt by one Tumblr user to record the romances and honorary family relations between numerous ''Minecraft'' content creators (centered on LetsPlay/CaptainSparklez, hence the name) using information gathered from numerous [=SMPs=] (e.g. ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'', ''LetsPlay/EmpiresSMP'', and ''LetsPlay/LifeSMP'', to name a few) as well as the general dynamics between said content creators. The results are definitely something, considering there are at least 56 content creators listed in the diagram, as well as the fact that due to the tendency of Minecraft [=YouTubers=] to spontaneously generate new "relationships" and "family dynamics" between each other, ''it is still far from complete''.
-->'''OP of the post in question:''' i re-made the entire thing. i hate minecraft youtubers.

* [[https://www.tumblr.com/apollos-boyfriend/705102380746883072/congratulations-to-mx-sophietexas-for-being-the Behold]] the Sparklez Family Tree, an attempt by one Tumblr user to record the romances and honorary family relations between numerous ''Minecraft'' content creators (centered on LetsPlay/CaptainSparklez, hence the name) using information gathered from numerous [=SMPs=] (e.g. ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'', ''LetsPlay/EmpiresSMP'', and ''LetsPlay/LifeSMP'', to name a few) as well as the general dynamics between said content creators. The results are definitely something, considering there are at least 56 content creators listed in the diagram, on top of the fact of it still being incomplete.

Incest, TimeTravel, cloning and genetic engineering, {{reincarnation}}, PracticallyDifferentGenerations, ExtraParentConception, RelatedInTheAdaptation, and {{Alternate Universe}}s can all contribute to creating a Tangled Family Tree. For obvious reasons, any family with a Tangled Family Tree is likely to be a BigScrewedUpFamily as well. If it's a case of RoyalInbreeding, this probably overlaps with RoyallyScrewedUp. Often this is a ContinuitySnarl looking for a place to happen, as sometimes a single genealogy can become so complex that even the writers can't keep it straight. This is the kind of family that you ''want'' to in-breed just to consolidate the branches.

* ''Film/YouveGotMail'': Thanks to his father and grandfather taking up with and having children with younger women, 40-something Joe has an 11-year-old half-aunt and a 4-year-old half-brother, both of whom are naturally mistaken for his children when he takes them out for the day.

* [[https://www.tumblr.com/minecraftrelatedrandomness/694699664440737792 Behold]] the Sparklez Family Tree, an attempt by one Tumblr user to record the romances and honorary family relations between numerous ''Minecraft'' content creators (centered on LetsPlay/CaptainSparklez, hence the name) using information gathered from numerous [=SMPs=] (e.g. ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'', ''LetsPlay/EmpiresSMP'', and ''LetsPlay/LifeSMP'', to name a few) as well as the general dynamics between said content creators. The results are definitely something, considering there are at least 56 content creators listed in the diagram, on top of the fact of it still being incomplete.

* [[https://www.tumblr.com/minecraftrelatedrandomness/694699664440737792 Behold]] the Sparklez Family Tree, an attempt by one Tumblr user to record the romances and honorary family relations between numerous ''Minecraft'' content creators (centered on LetsPlay/CaptainSparklez, hence the name) using information gathered from numerous [=SMPs=] (e.g. ''LetsPlay/DreamSMP'', ''LetsPlay/EmpiresSMP'', and ''LetsPlay/LifeSMP'', to name a few) as well as the general dynamics between said content creators. The results are definitely something, considering there are at least 56 content creators listed in the diagram, on top of the fact of it still being incomplete.

* Found (obviously) in the Charles II of Spain episode of ''Podcast/FatFrenchAndFabulous'', but this goes for both hosts as well. Jessica's family is apparently two families that "got Brady-Bunched" in three different places, making her related to several people multiple times. Janel, on the other hand, has a grandmother who was adopted after the family lost a daughter and decided to simply replace her with their servants' child who was around the same age.

* The Bright family from the Wiki/SCPFoundation is... complicated. Even by SCP standards. One of the five main siblings, TJ, hasn't physically aged since he was 16 and has a daughter who's a fully grown adult. Pretty much all spouses of the family members are only vaguely mentioned in passing on account of the fact that they don't have Bright blood, with the exception being Adam and Evelyn (which, yes, [[SurpriseIncest means what you think it means]]). The family also holds [[ExtremeOmnisexual very little standards in concern to sexual partners]], resulting in there being dozens of bastard children all over the place. One of whom eventually leads to Joey Tamlin, who travels back in time and kickstarts the whole bloodline. Also, one of them is green. No, not a guy with green skin. The actual color green. There's a reason the family often uses the term "family wreath" instead of "family tree."

[[folder:Film]]

* [[https://www.tumblr.com/ctinarose/694676233752051712/i-re-made-the-entire-thing-i-hate-minecraft Behold]] the Sparklez Family Tree, an attempt by one Tumblr user to record the romances and honorary family relations between numerous ''Minecraft'' content creators (centered on LetsPlay/CaptainSparklez, hence the name) using information gathered from numerous [=SMPs=] (e.g. ''LetsPlay/DreamSMP'', ''LetsPlay/EmpiresSMP'', and ''LetsPlay/LifeSMP'', to name a few) as well as the general dynamics between said content creators. The results are definitely something, considering there are at least 56 content creators listed in the diagram, on top of the fact of it still being incomplete.
-->'''ctinarose:''' i re-made the entire thing. i hate minecraft youtubers.

* [[https://www.tumblr.com/jortitties/694676233752051712/i-re-made-the-entire-thing-i-hate-minecraft Behold]] the Sparklez Family Tree, an attempt by one Tumblr user to record the romances and honorary family relations between numerous ''Minecraft'' content creators (centered on LetsPlay/CaptainSparklez, hence the name) using information gathered from numerous [=SMPs=] (e.g. ''LetsPlay/DreamSMP'', ''LetsPlay/EmpiresSMP'', and ''LetsPlay/LifeSMP'', to name a few) as well as the general dynamics between said content creators. The results are definitely something, considering there are at least 56 content creators listed in the diagram, on top of the fact of it still being incomplete.
-->'''jortitties:''' i re-made the entire thing. i hate minecraft youtubers.

* [[https://www.tumblr.com/apollos-boyfriend/694676233752051712/i-re-made-the-entire-thing-i-hate-minecraft Behold]] the Sparklez Family Tree, an attempt by one Tumblr user to record the romances and honorary family relations between numerous ''Minecraft'' content creators (centered on LetsPlay/CaptainSparklez, hence the name) using information gathered from numerous [=SMPs=] (e.g. ''LetsPlay/DreamSMP'', ''LetsPlay/EmpiresSMP'', and ''LetsPlay/LifeSMP'', to name a few) as well as the general dynamics between said content creators. The results are definitely something.
-->'''apollos-boyfriend:''' i re-made the entire thing. i hate minecraft youtubers.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeIsxXDyjlc "I'm My Own Grandpa,"]] which manages to create the eponymous situation with neither {{Incest|IsRelative}} nor TimeTravel, just a couple of unlikely marriages. If you marry a widow, and your father marries that widow's daughter, you become your own grandpa... in-law. Most of the song is working out the relationships when both families start having children.

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeIsxXDyjlc I'm My Own Grandpa]]", which manages to create the eponymous situation with neither {{Incest|IsRelative}} nor TimeTravel, just a couple of unlikely marriages. If you marry a widow, and your father marries that widow's daughter, you become your own grandpa... in-law. Most of the song is working out the relationships when both families start having children.

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTj6-BFROVo None but the Lonely Heart]]" -- A Music/SpikeJones Soaperetta.

* ''Radio/TheArchers'' has a bit of this going on. It's best visually represented [[http://www.niles.org.uk/archersft.html here]].

* ''Literature/MadgieWhatDidYouDo'': It's hard to explain Bunny and Madgie's family tree but it is clear it is this trope, seeing that the two have so many relatives, it is hard to tell who is related to which, as well as the fact that they are so numerous they are scattered throughout the world, coupled with the fact that some of them are all younger than Madgie.

* In ''[[http://soulsrpg.com/ 'Souls RPG]]'', the Lykoi and de le Poer families are quite tangled and intricate.

* TangledFamilyTree/LiveActionTV

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' isn't [[https://i.redd.it/93jfyk4xwney.png that bad]]. For starters, Jake the dog is the son of Joshua impregnated by an alien and has a half twin brother. Jake himself is a [[SupernaturallyYoungParent grandfather]] thanks to his children getting RapidAging. Meanwhile his adopted brother Finn has a "son" with Princess Bubblegum and [[OrWasItADream might]] have a family in a parallel world and a clone "Fern". As for Princess Bubblegum, she's technically the mother of the entire Candy Kingdom including her "uncle" Gumbald.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' episode [[Recap/TheAmazingWorldOfGumballS4E5TheSignature "The Signature,"]] Richard adopts his grandmother's (Granny Jojo) seventy-two-year-old fiance, Louie, in order to stop them from getting married. This makes Louie the brother of Gumball, Darwin, and Anais (Richard's children), and it gets weirder when Louie adopts Richard's wife Nicole. This means Nicole is married to her own grandfather, and Granny Jojo is engaged to hers. It also means that Nicole's the niece to her own children. They end up sorting it out by finding Richard's estranged father.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'' is about a fairly typical blended family (mother of two marries a father of one), but in the final episode, Donna's ex-husband Robert [[LoveFatherLoveSon hooks up with]] her mother Dee Dee and the pair adopt a Chinese child, greatly upsetting the family. Rollo is especially frustrated because he's supposed to make a family tree for school, and now he has to figure out a way to make his grandma his stepmom, his dad a grandparent, and add an uncle his own age who's also his half-brother. Eventually he gets so annoyed that he rips it up.
* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' brings this back to the Duck family, by virtue of doing its best to follow the original Carl Barks and Don Rosa comics. Lampshaded in the episode "Last Christmas" where a time-displaced Dewey tells a young Donald that he's "your fifteenth step-cousin on your great-grandmother's niece's side from... Canada."
-->'''Donald:''' Ugggh, this is the most confusing family.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
** The Griffin family itself. Besides the standard nuclear family of Peter, his wife Lois, and their three children, [[RememberTheNewGuy countless relatives of his]] (his brother Thaddeus, sister Karen, broster, and vestigial twin Chip included) have come and gone over the years, especially ancestors who only appear in cutaway gags. One of his ancestors, Nate Griffin, even had children with one of Lois's ancestors, Lois Laura Bush Lynne Cheney Pewterschmidt, which somehow makes Peter and Lois KissingCousins. There have also been mentions of them having other children that either died in infancy, were stillborn, or miscarried (albeit mostly in cutaway gags). We're not even getting into [[MisterSeahorse the puppies]] [[HomosexualReproduction Stewie had with Brian]] (who, by the way, [[BestialityIsDepraved is a]] ''[[BestialityIsDepraved dog]]'') in "Stewie is Enceinte" (which makes their offspring half-siblings to [[HalfHumanHybrid Brian's son Dylan]]), [[CloningBlues his clones]], his half-brother Bertram, his other half-siblings in "A House Full of Peters" (and God knows how many ''other'' half-siblings he might have out there after Peter's mishap at the sperm bank), ''or'' his ancestor Leonardo da Vinci. (To top it all off, after Bertram killed Leonardo, Stewie had to become [[MyOwnGrampa his own ancestor]] in "The Big Bang Theory" in order to salvage his chances of being born and save the universe, which he inadvertently created in that same episode.) [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Did we mention Peter's biological father is Mickey McFinnigan?]]
** How about Peter and Lois being reincarnations of Quahog's founder Griffin Peterson and his true love, Lady Redbush? Yeah, well, it should also be noted that they each married a (possible) previous incarnation of [[ParentalIncest Meg and Stewie]] before finding each other again. Oh, and don't forget the kids Lois had with Quagmire in an alternate timeline... or the many different versions of the Griffin family that live in alternate universes as seen in "Road to the Multiverse."
** It should also be noted that in one episode, when Tom Tucker was dating Peter's mother Thelma, he was technically Peter's stepfather (which made his son, Jake, Peter's stepbrother). Another episode saw Tricia Takanawa as the stepmother of Lois, her sister Carol, and her brother Patrick during the brief time she dated Carter Pewterschmidt. Carol herself had been married to Mayor West, who was her tenth husband and the stepfather of [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome her son who made his only appearance in "Emission Impossible"]]. Brian married and later divorced Lois in "The Perfect Castaway," which temporarily made him the stepfather of Meg, Chris, and Stewie; this also made Dylan their stepbrother. At one point, in "Peterotica", Babs Pewterschmidt divorced her husband Carter and married Ted Turner, the same man who'd impregnated Seabreeze (who, like Brian, [[BestialityIsDepraved is also a dog]]) with his puppies in an earlier episode.
%%* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' brings us Fry's family tree, [[http://theinfosphere.org/Fry_family_tree seen here.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'' presents a literal family tree in the second season, wherein the families are in constant argument over their descendants marrying a century ago.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheOblongs'', we are given a glimpse of the Oblong family tree. Given that nearly the entire current generation is made up of people with deformities and/or missing limbs, it is understandably messed up, but the fact that some of the family members were in Hiroshima around the time of the A-Bomb's detonation, and were originally traced back to carny folk is quickly eclipsed by the presence of Uncle Kiki, ''a monkey''.
-->"As far back as I can trace, my relatives were carnival folk who were touring a place called "Hiroshima" in the summer of 1945. After that, because of their lack of hair and skin, they mostly married each other. And here I am!"
* ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'', over various spin-offs, has introduced enough cousins, uncles, aunts, nephews, and even ''siblings'' of Shaggy, Scooby, Fred, Daphne, and Velma (most of them appearing only once and then never to be seen again) that they probably fall under this trope.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'' is far from the most egregious example, as Jonas Venture currently has only [[spoiler: six]] known descendants. That said, exactly half of those relationships were plot-twists [[spoiler: JJ's existence was a plot twist, and the Monarch and Dermott being Jonas Sr. and Doc's bastards, respectively, were major twists. Although, in Dermott's case, the plot was not so much that Dermott was a Venture, which had minimal plot relevance, but that Doc had slept with an underaged girl.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/WordGirl'': In the final season episode "The Ordinary, Extraordinary Botsfords," Todd and Violet's family trees apparently suggest that [[BrotherSisterIncest their parents are brother and sister]]. This is the only time incest is implied in the whole series. [[https://wordgirl.fandom.com/wiki/Mrs._Ming?file=MingFamilyTree.jpg Here's Todd's tree]] and [[https://wordgirl.fandom.com/wiki/Ms._Heaslip?file=HeaslipFamilyTree.jpg here's Violet's tree.]]
[[/folder]]

!!Examples

* In a collection of puzzles called A Tangled Tale, ''Creator/LewisCarroll'' poses a problem: The Governor of Kgovjni wants to give a very small dinner party, and invites his father’s brother-in-law, his brother’s father-in-law, his father-in-law’s brother, and his brother-in-law’s father. Find the number [minimum possible number] of guests. The [[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Tangled_Tale/Answers_to_Knot_II optimal family tree]] is, of course, very tangled. [[spoiler: The answer given is one guest. However, it is possible to create a family tree with zero guests, meaning that the governor is his father’s brother-in-law, his brother’s father-in-law, his father-in-law’s brother, and his brother-in-law’s father.]]

* ''Radio/TheArchers'' has a bit of this going on.