History TheUnFavourite / WesternAnimation

** *** [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderPrincessAzula Princess Azula]], Zuko's sister, ''thinks'' she's this, and has therefore developed all the bad psychology to go with it. Because her father encouraged her abusive and manipulative tendencies and her mother ''discouraged'' them, she assumed that the parent giving her negative attention hated her and favored her kinder, more naturally empathetic brother. Likewise, her father hated what he saw as Zuko's weakness (i.e., his distaste for seeing others hurt), and favored Azula over him. In other words, Ozai managed to give this complex to the child he favored ''in addition to'' the child he didn't favor, by making it clear that not being his favorite child means he hates and abuses Zuko, and forcing her into a state of mind where she will do ''anything'' not to be his unfavored child. As a teenager, Azula says that her mother thought of her as a monster, and tries to laugh it off by saying ''she was right,'' but this does indicate that she is, on some level, aware that her cruelty is unacceptable and the related insecurity comes back during her VillainousBreakdown right before her Agni Kai with Zuko. Azula's this close to a complete psychotic break, and after having banished all her servants and advisors out of paranoia, she sees her mother's reflection, who both gently chastises Azula for letting her fear of trusting others get the better of her and assures her that she really does love her after all. Azula can't handle it and shatters the mirror [[BrokenTears before falling to the floor, sobbing.]]

** Zuko was treated horribly by his father Ozai in comparison to his sister Azula, a fire-bending prodigy. This unbalanced treatment makes Zuko's Season 1 obsession with gaining back his "honor" by finding Aang much more transparent as an attempt to finally gain his father's love and respect.
** Azula, Zuko's sister, ''thinks'' she's this, and has therefore developed all the bad psychology to go with it. Because her father encouraged her abusive and manipulative tendencies and her mother ''discouraged'' them, she assumed that the parent giving her negative attention hated her and favored her kinder, more naturally empathetic brother. Likewise, her father hated what he saw as Zuko's weakness (i.e., his distaste for seeing others hurt), and favored Azula over him. In other words, Ozai managed to give this complex to the child he favored ''in addition to'' the child he didn't favor, by making it clear that not being his favorite child means he hates and abuses Zuko, and forcing her into a state of mind where she will do ''anything'' not to be his unfavored child. As a teenager, Azula says that her mother thought of her as a monster, and tries to laugh it off by saying ''she was right,'' but this does indicate that she is, on some level, aware that her cruelty is unacceptable and the related insecurity comes back during her VillainousBreakdown right before her Agni Kai with Zuko. Azula's this close to a complete psychotic break, and after having banished all her servants and advisors out of paranoia, she sees her mother's reflection, who both gently chastises Azula for letting her fear of trusting others get the better of her and assures her that she really does love her after all. Azula can't handle it and shatters the mirror [[BrokenTears before falling to the floor, sobbing.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' played with this a couple times. In one episode, Angelica convinces the twins Phil and Lil that every family has a Favorite and a Reject; each one spent the rest of the episode convinced that they were the Reject, and mistaking normal parental behavior as signs of this, until, in the end, they make up and decide to be Rejects together (and Angelica even decides to become a Reject). In another, Angelica's parents are going to have another baby, and she has a horrible dream about being rejected in favor of it (until it [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever grows gigantic]] and tries to eat her).

** In one episode after the movie, Tommy starts to feel like the unfavorite out of his friends after Angelica teaches them how to cry and fake injuries to get attention from Tommy's parents, but Tommy won't do it. The parents are fussing over the other kids, but Stu does take a moment to apologise to Tommy and say he's glad there's nothing wrong with him. It's kind of sweet, but also sad.

* Hank Venture from ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' While in the first season, Dr. Venture seemed equally neglectful towards both sons, the following ones made his ParentalFavoritism towards Dean more and more apparent. This has become especially prominent in Season 4 after [[spoiler:the clone slugs were destroyed and Brock left]] - Dr. Venture wised up and decided to be more fatherly, but only towards Dean.

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* It depends on the writer, but each of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' kids has, at one point or another, been treated as the unfavorite, but the major example is Bart. His parents both prefer Lisa and Maggie over him. Homer explicitly says that Lisa is his favorite multiple times, and Marge is often too preoccupied with Maggie, although she does admit to a new neighbour that she breastfed Lisa when she was baby but didn't breastfeed Bart or Maggie. Even at a young age he was second fiddle to Lisa with nobody understanding his anger, this subject is the main theme of the episode "Barthood". In the episode "How Lisa Got Her Marge Back", Homer told Bart that while he does love him, if there were a second Bart he'd hang himself. Unlike everybody else though, Bart has a good relationship with Grampa and he wonders why parents are nicer to their grandchildren than their actual children in "Holidays of Future Passed".

** Despite this, Glargg isn't much better. Despite not being their father, he favors and trusts Starley more than her brothers Chuck and Finley, which causes them to be hurt and jealous.