History Main / WhyAreYouNotMySon

* ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex''. In "Solid State Society" Aramaki goes to visit a mentor in hospital. It's not a dignified sight -- his mentor is dying alone and in pain, rambling incoherently, with only his {{Sex Bot}}s to tend him. When Aramaki goes to leave however, the mentor appears to mistake Aramaki for his son and says, "I'm glad an old fool like me sired a genius like you."

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' also uses the Norman Osborn/Green Goblin preferring Peter Parker to his son Harry plot. This version of Norman is by far the most blatant, contrasting the two of them right to Harry's face.

* Yet another ''Spider-Man'' example: Norman thinks this of Peter in ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'', though it's somewhat mitigated by the fact that this version Norman does care about his own son, Harry. Becomes blatant in the episode "Carnage" though, where he hails Peter as the son he always wanted and dismisses his and Harry's relation as just sharing recessive genes.

* In ''Series/{{Kings}}'', the ruling King Silas prefers David to his son [[DepravedHomosexual Jack]] because Jack's homosexuality and generally hedonistic lifestyle prevents him from being capable of taking over the kingdom. The plot being lifted from the story of Saul, Jonathan, and David from ''The Bible'' makes this Older Than Feudalism.

->'''Norman Osborn:''' Peter! Good to see you! Here to help Harry, eh?\\
'''Peter Parker:''' We help each other, Mr. O.\\
'''Norman Osborn:''' Now, now, Peter, modesty doesn't become men like ''us''. Smart, driven, responsible. Self-made.\\
'''Peter Parker:''' I'm... more of a work in progress.\\
'''Norman Osborn:''' ''[with a significant glance at Harry]'' At least you're ''making'' progress.
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan''

* Yet another ''Spider-Man'' example: Norman thinks this of Peter in ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'', though it's somewhat mitigated by the fact that this version Norman does care about his own son, Harry. Becomes blatant in the episode "Carnage" though:
-->'''Goblin/Norman:''' Ah, Welcome home, son.\\
'''Peter:''' What do you want? Let me go. Did you just say "son"?\\
'''Goblin:''' The son I've always wanted. Harry and I share a few recessive genes, but nothing more. You're smarter, more driven. And as a wimpy, defenseless kid, you appreciate power. You can be a greater creation than the late, great Spider-Man.

* A subversion on ''Series/{{Glee}}'': Burt Hummel is quite accepting of his CampGay son Kurt, even though he's a fairly masculine man himself. But when Finn becomes his stepson, Burt and Finn start bonding over their similar interests, and Kurt fears that this trope is occurring, until his father assures him that though he may not always understand Kurt, he always loves him. Burt even chews out Finn for using a homophobic slur against Kurt, though he later chews out Kurt as well when he learns why Finn was so upset with Kurt.

* A variation on ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''--while Nog's father Rom is fully supportive of his son's desire to join Starfleet, Uncle Quark isn't.

* An ironic example comes in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/40826400/chapters/102300381 Three Heads]]'': while on a hunt, Robert Baratheon laments how spoiled and soft Joffrey is, stating Jon Snow is closer to the ideal son he'd have liked to have with [[TheLostLenore Lyanna]]. Jon, who is made aware of his true heritage as Rhaegar and Lyanna's secret son earlier on thanks to his older half-sister Rhaenys, [[SparedByTheAdaptation who survived the sack of King's Landing]] by being smuggled out by her Dornish relatives and staying hidden as her uncle Oberyn's illegitimate daughter, reaching out to him, inwardly notes how freaky it is that Robert is so to the truth.

* In ''Literature/ClanOfTheCaveBear'', Brun shames his son Broud by referring to Ayla, a girl, as the son he should have had.

** Ron gets off easy compared to Neville. In addition to the pressure of living up to his Auror parents, his grandmother likes to ask him why he couldn't be more like Harry (and she only speaks to him once in the series). At the start of book six, Professor [=McGonagall=] tells Neville that it's time his grandmother started appreciating the grandson she had instead of the one she thought she ought to have. [[spoiler:His grandmother eventually does [[SoProudOfYou say how proud of him she is]]]].

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'': Michael introduces Franklin to Trevor as "the son [he] always wanted", and treats him like this too. Considering that his two (adult) children, Jimmy and Tracey, are brats he's disappointed of, it's not hard to see why Michael prefers to hang out with Franklin rather than with Jimmy, the latter causing Michael a lot of troubles with.

* In ''Franchise/{{Batman}}: Heart of Hush'', Tommy Elliot's mother constantly praises Bruce Wayne as an intelligent, successful man of the world while keeping her own son under her thumb and getting in the way of his own dreams of success. Tommy grows increasingly frustrated by this, especially since he thinks of Bruce as a spoiled playboy.

* This was the FreudianExcuse of '90s ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' enemy Kenny Braverman/Conduit (''ComicBook/TheDeathOfClarkKent''), who was convinced Clark was always one step ahead of him as teens because his powers had already manifested. Superman was pretty disgusted to find Kenny's dad still disparaging him after his death.

* In ''Manga/RamenFighterMiki'', Makiko says this about hard working Kankuro (Makiko's daughter is TheSlacker AdultChild Miki).

* In ''Manga/ALoveLetterForTheMarchingPuppy'', Fujino Kagami's mother is rather cold to her own daughter, but dotes on Shinobu Iindou, the orphaned daughter of her old friend, and Iindou considers Fujino's mother to be an HonoraryAunt.

* ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex''. In "Solid State Society" Aramaki goes to visit a mentor in hospital. It's not a dignified sight — his mentor is dying alone and in pain, rambling incoherently, with only his {{Sex Bot}}s to tend him. When Aramaki goes to leave however, the mentor appears to mistake Aramaki for his son and says, "I'm glad an old fool like me sired a genius like you."

* This was the FreudianExcuse of '90s ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' enemy Kenny Braverman / Conduit (''ComicBook/TheDeathOfClarkKent''), who was convinced Clark was always one step ahead of him as teens because his powers had already manifested. Superman was pretty disgusted to find Kenny's dad still disparaging him after his death.

* Kali Belladonna takes this trope up to {{Yandere}} levels in regards to [[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} Ruby Rose]] in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12737614/1/Kali-Wants-A-Kitty Kali Wants A Kitty]]''. Kali feels that she had failed in raising Blake simply because the latter did not grow up the way the former intended her to, and thus sees Ruby as an alternate, more ideal daughter, and is willing to kill anyone who stands in her way of attaining her. The story has two [[MultipleEndings Alternate Endings]]: Ending One has [[spoiler:[[TheBadGuyWins Kali effectively lobotomizing Ruby into becoming her daughter after framing Yang for the murders she committed]]]], while Ending Two has [[spoiler:Yang kill Kali, [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim but in doing so, becomes exactly like her]]]].

* If the narrative of ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13376018/2/My-Hero-Academia-Hero-Time My Hero Academia:Hero Time]]'' is anything to go by, [[{{Jerkass}} Katsuki Bakugo's]] parents constantly compare him to his [[NiceGuy much nicer]] [[WeUsedToBeFriends former childhood friend]], Izuku Midoriya.

* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': Chloe suspects that her father feels this way towards Goh and Ash, as they share his interest in Pokémon and are more than happy to assist him with his research, whereas she isn't nearly as enthusiastic about such matters. This has led to him unintentionally ignoring his daughter in favor of the boys, only paying attention to her when Pokémon are involved. This is ultimately clarified to not be true.

* Subverted in ''Film/TheGodfather Part II'' when Michael Corleone comments that Hyman Roth acts like Michael is his son, but "he thinks he's going to live forever" and is actually plotting against Michael. Roth does use this trope in regard to Moe Greene, whose death Michael arranged in the first film, so it's implied that revenge is partly his motive.

-->'''Tall:''' You feel like a son to me, John. [beat] You know what my son does? He's a bait salesman.

* ''Literature/AlexRider'': A variant that does not include the villain being disappointed in his actual son is seen in ''Skeleton Key.'' In fact, Alexei Sarov takes a liking to Alex specifically ''because'' he reminds him of his (deceased) son. [[spoiler: Eventually, Sarov starts trying to convert Alex to be his ReplacementGoldfish.]]
* Arulaine makes no secret of his liking for Malachi in ''Literature/{{Eludoran}}'', much to his own daughter's jealousy

-->'''Mayor Prentiss:''' You were always the truer son, Todd. The one with the potential, the one with the power, [[WeCanRuleTogether the one I'd be proud to have serve by my side.]]

* PlayedWith in ''Literature/TheCloakSociety.'' In the first book, protagonist [[{{Telekinesis}} Alex]] defects from the titular supervillain team. Later, [[TheBrute Titan]] pretends to be his parents' son when the three of them [[spoiler:pose as superheroes]]. Alex can't help but feel like this shows what kind of son they ''wish'' they had.

* A variant in ''Literature/TheRiseOfKyoshi.'' Kyoshi's parents abandoned her at a young age. When she tracks down their old [[spoiler:bandit crew]] she meets Lek, an orphan whom they took in sometime afterwards. Kyoshi is understandably annoyed that her parents cared about some random other kid more than her. For his part, Lek can't stand Kyoshi disrespecting them, with an underlying layer of DenyingTheDeadParentsSins.

-->''[Brian is tinkering with a light fitting while Rory and Amy hold the ladder steady]''\\

'''Amy:''' ''[With a smug look at Rory]'' Thank you, Brian.

* Completely averted in ''{{Series/Kaamelott}}''; where Leodagan already finds his own son Yvain a complete disappointment (imagine the kind of lazy and selfish teenager incapable of grasping his lack of talent and has no plans for the future), and sees Yvain's best friend Gauvain as equally annoying (now imagine two of them).

* In the first series of ''Series/{{Skins}}'', Sid's episode shows that his father clearly prefers Tony over him, not getting that Sid is trying to be a hero helping people while Tony is a boderline sociopath.

* {{Subverted}} in the episode dealing with Daedalus and Icarus in ''Series/TheStoryteller''. Daedalus is frustrated by his son Icarus' clumsiness and lack of inventive genius. A cousin comes to stay with them who does have this brilliance and attracts Daedalus' favor. The twist, is that although he acts like a WellDoneSonGuy towards Icarus, Daedalus "accidentally-on-purpose" kills his nephew, both because he reminds him of disappointment in his own son, and because he sees him as a rival. This also happened in the actual myths and was much less "accidental."

* ''Webcomic/DragonBallMultiverse'': U18 Vegeta appears to have this briefly when he see's how strong U16 Bra is, and gets annoyed with his own daughter when she rejects his suggestion for her to train to get as strong as her counterpart.

* On one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheReplacements,'' Riley goes to Canada on an exchange program and the boy from Canada who arrives to live with the Darlings ends up being so well liked that the family neglects Todd.

* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': Chloe suspects that her father feels this way towards Goh and Ash, as they share his interest in Pokémon and are more than happy to assist him with his research, whereas she isn't nearly as enthusiastic about such matters. This has led to him unintentionally ignoring his daughter in favor of the boys, only paying attention to her when Pokémon are involved.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': This is the sort of subtext that Buffy feels when Kendra, the ''other'' Slayer, shows up. She and Giles hit it off easily, as she's been training her whole life for the role and is closer to what a Slayer is "supposed" to be.

[[folder: Newspaper Comics]]

* In ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'', during a brief period where Characters/MarvelComicsCyclops defects to the Brotherhood, Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto asks him to call him "father" and encourages him to pursue a relationship with the Scarlet Witch, right in front of his actual son Quicksilver. However, it's not clear if this is due to genuine respect for Cyclops or just an extension of the constant emotional abuse Magneto subjects Quicksilver to.

In these situations, the parent will usually employ some variation of WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent against their child at some point, telling them that they should try to be more the person they are being negatively compared to.

In these situations, the parent will usually employ some variation of WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent against their child at some point, telling them that they should try be more the person they are being negatively compared to.

In these situations, the parent will usually employ some variation of WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent against their child at some point.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad,'' this comes about after Steve complains about Stan forcing him to get involved with his interests. As a result, Stan takes an interest in Steve's friend Barry. It goes FromBadToWorse when Barry stops taking his anti-psychotic medication and decides to eliminate Steve from the picture.

A type of being TheUnFavourite in which a character's parent compares them negatively to one of their friends or acquaintances. It is very common for this to sow antagonism between the two people compared. The extent to which the parent shows this attitude tends to vary, ranging from an unconscious preference for the friend to an openly antagonistic attitude towards their own child.

* This dynamic often underlines ComicBook/SpiderMan's dynamic with ComicBook/NormanOsborn, AKA the Green Goblin, and his son Harry Osborn who is Peter's best friend:
** Originally this wasn't there so much. Norman was an avuncular figure to Peter in his amnesiac lame dad phase. After his resurrection, in ''ComicBook/RevengeOfTheGreenGoblin'', Norman decides that Peter is his true heir and resolves to torture him until he becomes a Goblin.

* Norman Osborn in the first ''Film/SpiderMan1'' film is a more unintentional example, clearly impressed by Peter's brilliance and implicitly comparing his own son, Harry, negatively to Peter. [[ItWasHisSled As everyone knows]], Norman becomes the villain the Green Goblin, and Harry ends up going crazy and following in his father's footsteps. In their battles at ''Film/SpiderMan3'', Peter -- corrupted by the Venom symbiote -- uses this trope at Harry to mock him, [[KickTheDog telling him that his father was ashamed of him as his son]]. However in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' it's shown that Norman genuinely did love Harry, as his AlternateTimeline counterpart breaks into tears over not being able to find him after ending up in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse.

* To an extent, Ron encounters this in ''Literature/HarryPotter''. He already feels like TheUnfavorite compared to his [[MassiveNumberedSiblings six]] siblings, but there are also some moments where his parents dote on Harry and he feels slighted. From a more objective perspective, however, one could easily see that his parents care about him too--they just feel more sorry for Harry because [[OrphansOrdeal he has no loving family of his own]].

* Kali Belladonna takes this trope up to {{Yandere}} [[UpToEleven levels]] in regards to [[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} Ruby Rose]] in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12737614/1/Kali-Wants-A-Kitty Kali Wants A Kitty]]''. Kali feels that she had failed in raising Blake simply because the latter did not grow up the way the former intended her to, and thus sees Ruby as an alternate, more ideal daughter, and is willing to kill anyone who stands in her way of attaining her. The story has two [[MultipleEndings Alternate Endings]]: Ending One has [[spoiler:[[TheBadGuyWins Kali effectively lobotomizing Ruby into becoming her daughter after framing Yang for the murders she committed]]]], while Ending Two has [[spoiler:Yang kill Kali, [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim but in doing so, becomes exactly like her]]]].

** Ron gets off easy compared to Neville. In addition to the pressure of living up to his Auror parents, his grandmother likes to ask him why he couldn't be more like Harry (and she only speaks to him once in the series). At the start of book six, Professor [=McGonagall=] tells Neville that it's time his grandmother started appreciating the grandson she had instead of the one she thought she ought to have. [[spoiler:His grandmother eventually does [[SoProudofYou say how proud of him she is]]]].

* In ''Literature/TheBoyWhoDrewMonsters'', both Jack's parents see Nick more as the normal son, which they could have had and favor him in many circumstances, not that this even bothers Jack in any way (too involved with his drawings), Tim (the father) especially envisions Nell (Nick's mother) as the wife he could have had and Nick as the son he could have had, in the life he could have had (at the hospital Tim even blurts to Nell, in front of his own son, that [[LikeaSontoMe Nick is like a son to him]], Nell then points towards Jack (his actual son) telling him that he is his son not Nick, but Jack is not even aware of the entire dialogue); Holly, in contrast, envisions her life at one point without any son, or any husband for that matter. Downplayed to an extent though, and strangely zigzagged at times, because even though both parents essentially blame Jack for ruining their lives with the troubles he has caused them and their marriage, due to his suddenly new abnormal behavior, it is quite clear that they both still care for and love their son, and acknowledge him as such. They even refer to him numerous times as their son, their 'baby boy', the boy that they want back.

* Heavily implied to be the case in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords''. [[spoiler: It's [[ShrugOfGod partially confirmed]] that [[EvilMentor Kreia/Darth Traya]]'s true identity is the Jedi Knight Arren Kae, Brianna's mother. Despite Kreia knowing full well who she is, [[TheChessmaster she sees her own daughter as a pawn in her games]], [[AbusiveParents to be used and sacrificed without a second thought]] [[LikeASonToMe for the sake of]] TheExile. However, when she confronts the male [[PlayerCharacter Exile]] about his possible interest in Brianna and Visas Marr, [[ShipperOnDeck the way she speaks is almost as if she would rather have the Exile choosing the former]] which makes an odd amount of sense.]]
* Blodeuwedd from ''VideoGame/DeadInVinland'' tells the very helpful [[WhiteMagicianGirl Angelico]] [[WantedAGenderConformingChild she'd love to have a daughter like him]] -- then does a VerbalBackspace when she realizes she's implied he's unmanly. (He isn't offended.)