History Main / TheUnFavourite

* Hank Hill from ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' is the Unfavorite of his two brothers. His older brother, an illegitimate child born of Cotton Hill's affair with a woman in Japan, gains a surprising amount of affection since his mother is perhaps the only person Cotton ever genuinely loved. His younger brother Good Hank was born when Cotton was in his seventies, and at the right age to appreciate having children. Meanwhile, Hank was born in a bathroom in New York, not Texas, and Cotton never quite forgave him for failing to be a native Texan, hating him literally since the day he was born. Being saddled with a {{Jerkass}} father like Cotton affected Hank well into adulthood and left him with his uptight, close-minded personality.

* {{Huntress}} has at times been considered so, among the members of the Batfamily, due to her supposed violence and [[IWorkAlone unwillingness to work well with the others]], and especially Batman himself, with whom she has a conflicted relationship.

* [[NeonGenesisEvangelion Shinji]] gets this so damn much. Even taken by itself, his relationship with his father is defined by Gendo's neglect and a cold-blooded insistence that he pilot a walking death machine under horrible conditions. But aside from that, Gendo has Rei, whom he treats as a surrogate daughter. Shinji and Rei become friends, but the fact that his father likes her better clearly bothers him. While Shinji is hard-pressed to get his father to even glance at him, many characters note on how surprisingly caring Gendo is to Rei. Asuka even points out to Rei, "You're Commander Ikari's favorite, aren't you?" while Shinji is ''still in the room.'' In keeping with the typical rules for favorites, [[spoiler: Rei bears a close similarity to (and is a half-clone of and integral in the plan to revive) Gendo's dead wife Yui.]]

* In ''WebOriginal/MotherOfLearning'', Zorian's parents disapprove of his lack of interest in the family business and by his poor charisma.

* The FriendshipIsMagic fanfiction, ''FanFic/RacerAndTheGeek'', features a particularly [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/81159/1/racer-and-the-geek/predawn tear-jerking example]] of this trope in its never chapters.

* In J.R. Ward's BlackDaggerBrotherhood, Phury is the Unfavourite of his family. He was the second-born twin, which apparently is bad luck in his world. His twin, Zsadist, is kidnapped by a nanny as an infant and sold into slavery. Phury is not directly blamed for this, but it is inherent that his birth and its bad luck was the reason. His family falls apart, and notes that he had to drag his father's drunken body inside as dawn approached so that he would not die. It was also noted that when he left to find his brother, no one noticed his departure, and he did not attend his parents' funerals. He finally finds his twin, who is being horribly abused and tortured by an aristocrat, and helps him escape. In the process, he loses the lower half of one of his legs and uses a prothesis. He vows that he will help his brother, which includes beating him up on several occasions at his request. He takes a vow of celibacy, and becomes a drug addict. He eventually finds peace with his parents while withdrawing from the drugs, but spends most of the series with some serious guilt.

** The episode in which Chandler [[FakingTheDead fakes Ross's death as a joke]] ends with Ross on the phone to his mom explaining he's fine. "No, Mom, even if I had died, you wouldn't be childless ... ''Monica''!"

*** Chandler, despite being an only child claims he still suffered from this trope, because his parents prefered his ''imaginary friend'' to him. More ParentalNeglect and HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood though. (Interestingly he and Monica eventually fall in love, possibly because they understand each other's insecurities so well).

*** Chandler, despite being an only child claims he still suffered from this trope, because his parents prefered his ''imaginary friend'' to him. More ParentalNeglect/HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood though. (Interestingly he and Monica eventually fall in love, possibly because they understand each other's insecurities so well).

* ''Series/{{Firefly}}''. Despite making her brother look like a idiot child, River Tam's parents are clearly more invested in Simon's medical career. The lack of concern over her cries for help from the Academy is particularly damning...
** Unlike his parents, Simon Tam is still a sympathetic character due to the fact that he does admit to her superior intelligence, albeit somewhat grudgingly in his younger years, abandons aforesaid medical career and status as the 'beloved child' to help her, and in the flashbacks seems to show her more affection than the parents did.
** The parents' investment is more in their lives as wealthy, law-abiding supporters of the system; naturally it's easier for them to deny everything than admit that the government is doing evil things to their daughter. Even Simon had moments of resentment at having to give that life up.

* Moe Shishigawari from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' was [[spoiler:the only Fullbringer with whom Ginjo did not share Ichigo's stolen power, and Ginjo planned to kill him as soon as they were done, because he's potentially TooPowerfulToLive]].

** Even when Lindsey is revealed to be adopted Lucille mentions she still loves Lindsey as much as her other children and even more than GOB.