Line #36 Main/PerenniallyOvershadowedBirthday


1	[[quoteright:350:[[Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2023_01_06_at_23611_pm.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: Even UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} would appreciate a separate present for his birthday.]]
3
4	->'''Kisuke Urahara:''' No one remembered our birthdays this year either.\
5	'''Yoruichi Shihouin:''' It's kind of sad, isn't it?
6	-->-- ''Franchise/{{Bleach}}'', whose birthdays are on December 31st and January 1st, respectively.
7
8	Birthdays are supposed to be a special occasion every year when a person's friends and loved ones come together to celebrate their life and show just how much they mean to them.
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10	Not so for these folk. Unfortunately for them, their birthdays just so happen to coincide with larger, widely celebrated occurrences like national holidays and annual events. Think you'd get double the presents for a [[UsefulNotes/{{Christmas}} Dec. 25th birthday]]? Think again, you're more likely to get just one to cover both occasions. Maybe you thought you'd at least get a party. Not so if you have a New Year's Eve birthday; your celebration is likely rolled into larger celebrations for the coming year, if not [[ForgottenBirthday forgotten entirely]]. God forbid your birthday is on a day of remembrance for a national tragedy, and let's not forget about those poor sad saps born on UsefulNotes/LeapDay, whose birthdays technically don't even exist 75% of the time. In extreme cases, the character may have NeverHadABirthdayParty since their friends and family choose to prioritize the holiday.
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12	In sum, if birthdays are days where you're meant to feel special, these characters rarely if ever get that chance due to their days being consistently overshadowed by other widely celebrated annual occurrences and they aren't too happy about it. This includes general sadness, frustration, resentment, and anger directed at the situation broadly or to their friends and family for not considering their feelings more about it. This sometimes leads to them becoming a BirthdayHater, but more often than not, their hate will be directed at the holiday or event that lands on the same day, à la TheGrinch or ValentinesDayVitriol.
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14	While having a birthday on the same day as a national holiday is the most common way this trope shows up, other annual events also count. Having a birthday that always coincides with the UsefulNotes/SuperBowl in a big sports family can lead to this trope if the birthday-haver feels like their family cares [[ParentalNeglect more about watching the game than celebrating their birth]].
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16	One-time inconveniences however do not count. A character upset that the annual SchoolFestival lands on their birthday ''this'' year when they've been able to celebrate their birthday just fine in previous years would not qualify, for example.
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18	Compare ForgottenBirthday. May lead to OnePersonBirthdayParty or NotSoForgottenBirthday. For birthdays on which personal tragedy strikes, see ABirthdayNotABreak. See BirthdayBuddies for when two characters share the same birthday and end up resentful or in competition with each other because of that. Generally overlaps with SignificantBirthDate.
19	----
20	!!Examples:
21	[[foldercontrol]]
22	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
23	* An omake of ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' shows Urahara and Yoruichi celebrating their birthdays together but alone from everyone else. The reason for this is because their birthdays are December 31 and January 1, thus all of their friends are celebrating New Year's Eve and New Year somewhere else at the time. According to their dialogue, this happens ''every year''.
24	* ''Manga/AConditionCalledLove'': Hotaru's birthday is on Christmas Eve, but every year she spends it with her family focused on preparing for and attending her younger sister's annual figure skating pageant. However, this year Hananoi takes Hotaru out on a date to explicitly make the day special for her and treat her like a princess. Downplayed as the kind Hotaru doesn't really resent her family's tradition, however she is so moved by Hananoi's prioritization of her that this is the trigger for the ObliviousToLove Hotaru's LoveEpiphany.
25	* ''Manga/ItsudatteMySanta'': The protagonist [[BirthdayHater hates his birthday]] because it's also Christmas and it contributes to his overall sense of feeling neglected and unloved. To make matters worse, his parents [[EmbarrassingFirstName chose to name him Santa]]. However, he soon discovers that the kids at his high school ''do'' [[NotSoForgottenBirthday remember his birthday]] and when he shows up to a party they try to invite him in because they're celebrating him as well as Christmas, a revelation that starts to change his viewpoint.
26	* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'': All five members of the student council have birthdays that happen to fall on holidays, though the only one that it is actually relevant for is Kaguya. Since she was born on New Year's Day, she spends every year at the family home in Kyoto and has NeverHadABirthdayParty. When she turns 17 roughly halfway through the series, she notes that the only family member who actually wished her a happy birthday was her [[TheGhost ever unseen]] sister-in-law, [[spoiler:though Shirogane did get her a necklace as a birthday present to commemorate their recent RelationshipUpgrade.]]
27	* ''Manga/MonthlyGirlsNozakikun'': Mikoshiba's birthday is on Valentine's Day, so most of his classmates give him Valentine's chocolates as his birthday present, which he resents because he'd rather get a regular gift.
28	* ''Manga/WitchWatch'': Keigo's birthday is January 3rd, right in the middle of New Year's celebrations. Although his housemates seem to have forgotten the fact before he brings it up, causing him to act coolly in response, it's revealed that [[NotSoForgottenBirthday they were actually faking]], having already made preparations with a cake taking into account business closures for the holiday. However, a crescent-shaped decoration on the cake causes Keigo to unleash [[SplitPersonality Wolf]], who eats the entire cake in one bite, [[GagEcho causing his housemates to now act coolly in response]].
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30
31	[[folder:Literature]]
32	* In ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKidCabinFever'', Greg says that he feels bad for people whose birthdays fall during holidays (meaning they don't get extra gifts) and is glad his birthday is a few months before Christmas so he gets presents for both days. What follows is an illustration of UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} receiving a gift from someone who says it counts for both Christmas ''and'' his birthday, with Jesus disappointedly thanking him.
33	[[/folder]]
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35	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
36	* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'': [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] when George, Sr. realizes he doesn't know his son Michael's birthday, and asks if it was hard to have a birthday close to Christmas.
37	* ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'': Shinnosuke, the titular Rider, is a BirthdayHater because his birthday falls on Christmas Eve, which meant he's spent his whole life getting combined Christmas-birthday parties and presents. During the birthday depicted in the series, his FairCop partner Kiriko invites him out to dinner; he's happy at the prospect of a date, but is much less pleased when all their co-workers jump out and shout "Happy Birthday!"...and even less so when DaChief announces that this party will also serve as the office Christmas party.
38	* ''Series/ModernFamily'': In "Fizbo", Phil and Claire say that Luke's birthday gets lost in the holiday shuffle since it falls so close to Thanksgiving. They had actually [[ForgottenBirthday forgotten his birthday]] the previous year and had to improvise with a cake made of stuffing.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Music]]
42	* The Music/SpikeJones song "My Birthday Comes On Christmas" is about a kid lamenting that he only gets one set of presents a year because his birthday is on Christmas.
43	* ''Music/{{Tsukiuta}}'''s December MoeAnthropomorphism IdolSinger, Hijiri Kurisu, has a song about this called "I Hate Christmas". Her birthday is December 24th, and in the song, she says Santa is her rival.
44	[[/folder]]
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46	[[folder:Stand-Up Comedy]]
47	* Comedian Creator/BobSmith joked about this:
48	--> "Those of us with birthdays in December know what the Three Wise Men said to Jesus when they arrived: 'Now, this is both for your birthday and Christmas.'"
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Video Games]]
52	* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': Bennett is already TheJinx with a lot of bad luck, but to compound this even further, his birthday is on February 29th, i.e. UsefulNotes/LeapDay, so he was literally BornUnlucky. He laments that he can't fully celebrate his birthday every year like everyone else, so to compensate for his "lack of a birthday", he sends his birthday letters to the Traveler on February 28th instead.
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55	[[folder:Web Animation]]
56	* Cartoon Music/LouisTomlinson's birthday is on Christmas Eve (as in real life), and he fears throughout the ''WebAnimation/TheAdventurousAdventuresOfOneDirection 3'' that Harry has [[ForgottenBirthday forgotten his birthday]].
57	* Inverted in the ''WebAnimation/RWBYChibi'' segment "Happy Birthday-Ween". Ruby's birthday is on October 31st, the same day as Halloween, and she takes full advantage of it by taking candy from everyone and telling her friends to get her a costume for a Halloween party, which causes her to get on their nerves. This attitude [[LaserGuidedKarma does bite her hard]] when the costume they get her is a trash can.
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59
60	[[folder:Western Animation]]
61	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': In "The Shut-In", it's revealed that One-Eyed Wally's birthday is on the night of the annual Blue Moon Shut-In. Since on that day everyone has to spend the entire night locked in their houses to avoid the Blue Moon's curse, that means that Wally has to spend every birthday alone.
62	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Cyberchase}}'': In the HalloweenEpisode's "For Real" segment, Bianca's birthday is revealed to be on Halloween and nobody wants to celebrate it. Her younger cousins decided to share their Halloween candy with her.
63	* ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'':
64	** In the ''WesternAnimation/BeCoolScoobyDoo'' episode "Scary Christmas," it's revealed that Daphne's birthday is on December 25, which means it always gets overshadowed by Christmas. In the episode, she tries to get the others to celebrate her birthday instead of Christmas.
65	** ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'': In "[[Recap/WhatsNewScoobyDooS2E5AScoobyDooHalloween A Scooby Doo Halloween]]", it’s revealed that Marcy's Birthday is on Halloween, but it is overshadowed by her parents' annual Halloween party. She decides to frighten everyone in revenge. After explaining her motive upon being unmasked, her parents feel guilty putting the holiday over their own daughter.
66	* ''Franchise/SouthPark'':
67	** ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark:'' The first ChristmasEpisode includes a mid-credits scene where Jesus is having a OnePersonBirthdayParty in his studio, [[ImpliedTrope implying this trope]].
68	** Also alluded to in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpiritOfChristmas'' when Stan talks to Jesus and expresses his pity for Jesus having his birthday on Christmas.
69	--->'''Jesus:''' Tomorrow is my birthday. Yet all is not right.\
70	'''Stan:''' Your birthday is on Christmas? That sucks, dude.
71	* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'', where Star's birthday is revealed to be on Stump Day (Mewni's equivalent of Christmas), but rather than be unhappy about this, she ''actually wants'' people to celebrate Stump Day instead while her birthday is celebrated on a different day, to the point where she gets annoyed at Marco for throwing her a party on the same day anyway. This is because she believes the Stump won't be happy if its day is not celebrated properly, which no one else believes... Until everyone gets into a fight and the Stump comes for them, [[ProperlyParanoid proving Star right]].
72	* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': Not only does Ezra's birthday fall on Empire Day, a day celebrating the founding of the Empire he is rebelling against, but it is also the day he lost his parents. Who were taken away ''by'' the Empire and left him a street orphan.
73	[[/folder]]
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75	[[folder:Real Life]]
76	* Creator/RobertLouisStevenson once heard of a girl named Annie Ide, whose own birthday fell on Christmas and she was upset at having no separate celebration, so [[https://seamussweeney.net/2018/05/04/robert-louis-stevenson-bequeaths-his-birthday-to-annie-ide/ he gave her his own birthday as a present]], claiming it's not nearly as pleasurable for him as it would be for her.
77	* ''Blog/AskAManager'' [[https://www.askamanager.org/2018/01/i-paid-for-fake-references-is-it-rude-to-shush-someone-and-more.html once told the story of an employee]] who works at a company that gives perks on your birthday, including a day off and a bonus. However, one employee's birthday is Leap Day, which means she only gets the perks once every four years. She doesn't even get to have her name put on the monthly birthday cake!
78	* UsefulNotes/NorthKorea observes an annual mourning period around the death anniversaries of both Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il (July 8 and December 17, respectively). Among many other restrictions, citizens are banned from celebrating their own birthday should they happen to fall on either anniversary.
79	[[/folder]]

Context Main / PerenniallyOvershadowedBirthday