| 1 | ->''"CODAW starts off on the right foot when we're introduced to our hero taking off his helmet to reveal that he's a white dude with awful facial hair. We then turn to his best friend who takes off his helmet to reveal that he's the exact same identical white dude with awful facial hair. Then they start talking about their dads because it's always dads, isn't it? There are no mothers in Call of Duty's world. Soldiers are birthed fully formed from the tailpipes of their fathers' restored Cadillacs."'' |
| 2 | -->-- '''Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw''' (on ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare''), ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation'' |
| 3 | |
| 4 | Maybe it's because MostWritersAreMale, but when a character has a {{legacy|Character}} of [[RagsToRoyalty royalty]], [[VillainousLineage villainy]] or [[SecretLegacy heroics]], it tends to come from the father. The implicit assumption is that if a character is going to inherit something of relevance from their bloodline, it's going to be from their father's side, never their mother's. This is applied to both sons and daughters. |
| 5 | |
| 6 | This is often paired with SingleLineOfDescent, creating a long line of fathers and sons. Compare the similar trope NeverASelfMadeWoman, where important female characters ultimately owe their positions or talents to men. It may be an InUniverse reason why NatureAdoresAVirgin, and why MyGirlIsNotASlut, especially if the DaddyDNATest does not exist and neither does much in the way of reliable birth control. The idea is that it's important to know whose kids are whose, and therefore, it's important that one's wife never have slept with anyone else, usually tied to an even bigger concept that MenActWomenAre. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | If the matter in question is legal inheritance, you're looking at its sister trope HeirClubForMen. Lineage Comes From The Father is concerned with the less traditional "inheritance"--for example, [[VillainousLineage villainy]] or [[SecretLegacy heroics]], rather than a title or money. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | The prevalence of this trope is such that most examples will be subversions. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | In the case of a {{Matriarchy}} or otherwise matrilineal society, this trope is automatically GenderInverted. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | A SuperTrope to GenderEqualsBreed, though in that trope, the daughter takes after the mother instead. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | Frequently overlaps with IAmXSonOfY, when "Y" refers to the father instead of the mother. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | Compare RidiculouslyLonglivedFamilyName. |
| 19 | ---- |
| 20 | !!Examples: |
| 21 | |
| 22 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 23 | |
| 24 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 25 | * GenderInverted in ''Manga/BlackClover''. The Guidebook confirms that Acier was a Silva by birth, and she was the Captain of the Silver Eagles and a Magic Knight famed for her beauty and strength. Noelle is the spitting image of her mother and strives to become a powerful mage like her. Her father, on the other hand, is never mentioned nor seen aside from a very brief flashback which doesn't even show his face. |
| 26 | * ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' initially plays this straight with the main protagonist, Ichigo Kurosaki, whose spiritual awareness and successful transition into a Shinigami are attributed to the powers he inherited from his Shinigami father, Isshin, while his mother was a normal human whose sole importance is to perform HeroicSacrifice to protect her son. [[spoiler:Then we learn in the final arc that Masaki was actually a powerful Quincy. All this time, whenever Ichigo tapped his "Shinigami" power, it's actually Quincy power. Ichigo has never used his Shinigami power, because he always unwittingly suppressed it; the "Hollow Ichigo" ''is'' Zangetsu, while the long-haired "Zangetsu" is his Quincy heritage manifesting in the form of [[BigBad Yhwach]].]] |
| 27 | * ''Manga/BootyRoyaleNeverGoDownWithoutAFight'': Main character Haebaru Misora, recurrer Chae Yun-Hui, and TournamentArc competitor Maria Riviera were all trained in martial arts by their fathers. Misora's late father Shunji taught [[UsefulNotes/{{karate}} traditional karate]], Yun-Hui's taught UsefulNotes/{{taekwondo}}, while Maria's is a retired MMA fighter who runs a UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu dojo. |
| 28 | * ''Anime/CodeGeass'': Emperor Charles Zi Britannia has fathered hundreds of children, from multiple wives. Every kid is at least a half brother or half sister to each other since they all have only one father, and a bunch of them are line to take over as the ruler of Britannia. Most of them are backups, in case something happens to the first three or so "sets" of sons and daughters. Even Lelouch is nowhere near in position to inherit the throne (17th in line at the beginning). Subverted by the protagonist himself and his sister though since they mostly take after their mother and choose to use her maiden name as their surname instead of making an alias after leaving the royal family. At least one of Lelouch's allies goes out of their way to emphasize that they are only helping him ''because'' of who his mother was. [[spoiler:Even the reason that he and Nunnally are actually his father's favorite children comes from her, as their mother is the only woman Charles has ever loved.]] |
| 29 | * ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'': |
| 30 | ** Kamado Family: While it was rather easy to assume due the unmistakable physical resemblance and particular traits, the 2nd Databook confirmed Tanjuro as the one descending from Sumiyoshi and his children (although it isn't said from which one), thus being the one who received the legacy from his father, passing down the Hinokami Kagura to his son Tanjiro. |
| 31 | ** Tokito Family: Left hanging, in the manga it couldn't even be assumed which UnnamedParent could be the one who is a descendant from [[spoiler:Kokushibo, the Upper-1 demon, once head of the Tsugikuni Family]], due the lack of color illustrations and enough details, and the 2nd Databook doesn't specify which parent came from that bloodline; the anime, however, could be implicitly leaning towards the father, due his colored physical characteristics resembling those from that bloodline, while the mom doesn't, but in the end nothing is confirmed. |
| 32 | * ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Subverted. It becomes really clear, really early on that Naruto's father is the village hero, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. However, it turns out that the one whom Naruto really got all the important stuff from was his ''mother'', Kushina Uzumaki, and Naruto being her child is emphasized far more by the characters and the story itself. [[spoiler:The focus on the importance of a mother's legacy becomes even more prevalent with the Sage of the Six Paths and his brother Hamura, who also gained their power from their mother, Princess Kaguya, the strongest person to have every lived. ''Unlike'' Kushina Uzumaki, [[EvilMatriarch she isn't the type of mother you would be proud of]].]] |
| 33 | * ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'': Zigzagged and gender-inverted with Negi. The work focuses initially on his father, the Thousand Master, [[GenerationXerox who he takes after and looks almost identical to]] comes up before then. Ultimately his character is much more similar to his mother, and his lineage from her is more important to the plot (although his lineage from his father is more important to ''him''). |
| 34 | * GenderInverted in ''Anime/SailorMoon'', where almost all the planetary kingdoms across the universe are implied to be matriarchal (all of them are shown being ruled by princesses and queens with the exception of Earth) and the power of the Moon Kingdom is explicitly passed down mother to daughter. Princess Serenity inherited her royal title from her mother (her father is never referred to in any way, not even indirectly, and [[TrulySingleParent may in fact be completely nonexistent]]) and also received her powers as Sailor Moon after her mother reincarnated her. The same holds true for Chibiusa -- her mother, Neo-Queen Serenity, is clearly the one in charge of Crystal Tokyo and is who Chibiusa inherits her title of princess and eventual senshi powers from. |
| 35 | * ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'': |
| 36 | ** [[HalfHumanHybrid Inuyasha's]] supernatural powers and {{youkai}} inheritance comes from his father. Even his compassion for humans is stated to be from, thus making him like, his father (later reinforced by his full-{{youkai}} brother's growing compassion also being stated as coming from, and making him like, their father). In fact, there are three [[HalfHumanHybrid half-breeds]] who had a human mother, gain all their abilities from their father's side and had a father whose compassion towards humans essentially [[OvershadowedByAwesome overshadows]] any contribution any of the mothers could have made even on this front. |
| 37 | ** Though subverted with Izumo/Gyo-Oh, a half-demon whose father was human and his mother was a bull demon. He inherited his philosopher-like intellect (and the name Izumo for his human form) from his father's side, and his monstrous evil tendencies from his mother. |
| 38 | ** ''Anime/YashahimePrincessHalfDemon'': |
| 39 | *** Played straight with Towa and Setsuna, who got their special powers from their demonic father Sesshomaru. In particular, Towa uses Soryuha, the sword attack Sesshomaru was known for when he had Tōkijin (it should be noted, however, that Towa, despite her biological relationship, considers Sota Higurashi to be her real father for raising her). |
| 40 | *** Zigzagged with Moroha. She is a sword fighter like her father. And she uses the same demon powers as he does, like the Sankon Tesso and the Hijin Kesso. But at the same time she also fights with a bow and arrow and with spiritual powers, like her mother. |
| 41 | * Inverted in ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' with Syaoran, whose claim as Clow Reed's successor is through his descent from the family of Clow Reed's mother, the Li clan. |
| 42 | * Played with in ''Anime/{{Noir}}''. While Mireille Bouquet's life was undoubtedly affected by her father Laurent and his ties to TheMafia, her mother Odette arguably winds up having the biggest impact on the story because of [[spoiler:the promise she extracted from her own killer, who was none other than Mireille's future partner Kirika, to take care of Mireille]]. |
| 43 | * Subverted in ''Manga/DragonBall'': while Goku gets his looks and his fighting genes from his father Bardock, it is from his mother Gine ([[AllThereInTheManual introduced in a supplementary manga released long after the end of the series]]) that he gets his kind and gentle nature. |
| 44 | * With Saya and Diva from the anime ''Anime/BloodPlus'' it is inverted. They are true Chiropterans and thus queens of their kind, and their mother was also a Chiropteran. And later [[spoiler:the two daughters are born when Diva rapes Saya's brother Riku becoming true Chiropterans like Diva]]. |
| 45 | * ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': |
| 46 | ** [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Giorno Giovanna]] and [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Jolyne Cujoh]] are the children of DIO and Jotaro respectively, and have the same {{Kiai}} as their fathers. Both of their mothers are much less important to the story and neither of them [[NominalImportance even have a name]]. |
| 47 | ** Zigzagged with Joestar bloodline overall. While the [=JoJo=] legacy carried forward is that of the male Jonathan Joestar, the lineage is passed down to Part 3 protagonist Jotaro by his mother, Holly. |
| 48 | * ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'': |
| 49 | ** Subverted with Nanoha. Her status as a fighter clearly comes from [[BadassFamily her father's side of the family]], but [[HumbleHero what actually defines her as a person]] comes from [[SweetBaker her mother]]. |
| 50 | ** Inverted with Ginga and Subaru. Despite having been raised by their father, almost everything about them came from their late mother, including their [[FullContactMagic fighting]] [[RollerbladeGood style]], [[AncestralWeapon weapons]], and [[StrongFamilyResemblance looks]]. [[spoiler:[[ClonesArePeopleToo Even their genetics came exclusively from her]].]] |
| 51 | * ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' plays this straight, and Gender-Inverts it on several occasions. |
| 52 | ** Mikasa's heritage zigzags this all over the place, with it ultimately proven that ''both'' her parents passed something significant on to her. [[spoiler:Her superhuman abilities come from her father's heritage, while the "East Sea Clan" that her mother was descended from turn out to be ''major'' players on the world stage]]. |
| 53 | ** Gender-Inverted with Levi, who turns out to be the SonOfAWhore and inherited [[spoiler:the superhuman abilities of the Ackerman clan]] from his late mother. That said, we don't yet know if his father is anyone of importance. |
| 54 | ** Royal blood, and the unique heritage it entails, is passed down with no regards for gender. One case, [[spoiler:Historia Reiss]] plays this trope straight, while the case of [[spoiler:Zeke Yeager]] is a Gender-Inversion. The founding of the royal line itself is a zig-zagged version. [[spoiler:while the first known ruler of Eldia was a male, the first King Fritz, it was through his concubine, Ymir Fritz, that the power of the Titans entered the royal line and she passed the power unto her three daughters.]] |
| 55 | ** Reiner Braun is another case that Gender-Inverts this trope. [[spoiler:A mixed-race child, his mother's Eldian blood is what allows him to use the power of the Titans]]. This seems to be the case with any [[spoiler:Eldian: so long as they have Eldian blood to ''some'' extent they're able to become Titans, whether it be mindless Titans or shifters]]. It's also implied that this applies to other powers in the series, such as the aforementioned [[spoiler:Ackermans]]. It's the blood itself that matters, not which side of the family it comes from. |
| 56 | * Inverted in ''Anime/YourName'', where the Miyamizu are a matrilineal bloodline who apparently produce only daughters, all of whom are implied to have had body swap experiences. |
| 57 | * Gender-Inverted in ''Anime/FenaPiratePrincess'' with the La Pucelle lineage; The [[BarrierMaiden Maiden]] [[ApocalypseMaiden of]] [[TheChosenOne Choosing]] is always female and obligated to give birth to a daughter who will be the next Maiden. |
| 58 | * Gender-Inverted in ''Manga/DrStone'' with the bloodline of the Village Chiefs/Priestesses. Each Priestess is the daughter of the previous Priestess and is obligated to marry whoever wins the Grand Bout, who in turn succeeds her father as Village Chief. |
| 59 | * Inverted twice over in ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'', where Maki's claim to being a legitimate member of the Shinomiya bloodline (and thus Kaguya's cousin) is shown in a family tree to be traced back through her maternal grandmother. |
| 60 | * ''Anime/IsabelleOfParis'': Isabelle hails from the wealthy Laustin family, through her father, Léon. He wants his daughters to marry rich to preserve the family name. |
| 61 | * ''Anime/VoltesV'': |
| 62 | ** Both played straight and inverted [[spoiler: with Prince Heinel - while his father is Prince Gohl, the Emperor's younger brother, what is really needed to be a noble in Boazanian society are [[FantasticCasteSystem horns]], which he was born without. Gohl's own father tried to commit fillicide after he was born hornless, claiming that a hornless child would shame the family, but was convinced by his wife to keep the child and raise him with prosthetic horns. After becoming the Boazanian Minister of Science, Gohl fell in love with a Horned Boazanian woman named Lozaria, who knew his secret and kept it. The child that came out of this marriage was Prince Heinel, but by the time he was born Gohl was arrested after his horns were exposed as fake, and Lozaria died in childbirth. Heinel was raised by his grandparents, who refused to speak of his father and his crime.]] |
| 63 | ** [[spoiler: Kenichi, Daijirou and Hiyoshi are HalfHumanHybrids, born to the Boazanian Prince Gohl and the Japanese scientist Mitsuyo Go. Unfortunately, Mitsuyo dies as well]]. |
| 64 | [[/folder]] |
| 65 | |
| 66 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 67 | * ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': In the comics, despite being both an Earthbender and of mixed nationality in a country that was until recently Fire-supremacist, Kori is legally a Fire Nation citizen because her father is one. |
| 68 | * ''ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'': GenderInverted. Aquaman's royal lineage comes from his mother. |
| 69 | * ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'': GenderInverted for Steve Rogers, the original Captain America, who gets nearly all of his notable personality traits from his mother, Sarah, including his compassion, morality, {{Determinator}} status, and even his ability to give inspirational speeches. His father, Joseph on the other hand, was an abusive person that Steve actively tries not to be like, though (also like his mother) [[EasilyForgiven he still loves yet pities him, rather than hating him.]] |
| 70 | * ''ComicBook/CaptainAtom'': GenderInverted with Nightshade whose [[CastingAShadow powers]] from her mother, the Queen of the Land of Nightshades. |
| 71 | * ''ComicBook/RichardDragon'': GenderInverted with a vengence with Richard Dragon, who [[ShedTheFamilyName ditched his father's name as soon as he was able]] and got his orange hair, greenish eyes and willingness to stand between potential victims and a raised fist from his mother. |
| 72 | * ''ComicBook/{{Robin|1993}}'': While it is repeatedly implied Tim more resembles his mother in intelligence and priorities his mom's maiden name and family are never revealed while his father's multi-generational military lineage leads to the Veteran trying to recruit him. |
| 73 | * ''ComicBook/SubMariner'': GenderInverted. Namor's royal lineage comes from his mother. |
| 74 | * ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': In ''ComicBook/TheKryptonChronicles'', Superman and ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} trace their ancestry through their fathers' line (Jor-El and Zor-El, respectively) back to Erok-El, ruler of the continent of Urrika and founder of the first Kryptonian civilization. |
| 75 | * ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'': |
| 76 | ** Gender-inverted example in ''ComicBook/NewTeenTitans''. In the issues leading to the crossover ''ComicBook/TotalChaos'' and in the crossover itself, future despot Lord Chaos, who is a future version of Donna Troy's unborn baby, Robert Long, inherits his mother's godlike powers, who were given by the Titans of myth. |
| 77 | ** ''ComicBook/Titans1999'': Gender-inverted example. A good-aligned version of Robert Long, Donna Troy's son, comes to the present from an alternate reality in the arc ''ComicBook/WhoIsDonnaTroy''. He also inherits his mother's powers and Darkstar moniker. |
| 78 | * ''ComicBook/WhiteSand'': Kenton's stubbornness and Sand Master abilities both come from his father, though with Kenton having a MissingMom, it's uncertain how much he got from his mother apart from dark skin. |
| 79 | * ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' was originally an intentional {{subversion}} of this idea: her mother is Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, while her father's identity was treated as irrelevant; [[Comicbook/WonderWoman1987 her 1987 reboot]] explicitly stated that she had no father, having been sculpted by clay by Hippolyta and given life by the gods. ''ComicBook/WonderWoman2011'' then {{Ret Con}}ned her into being the daughter of Zeus. This is controversial for a few reasons, including the perceived subversion of the franchise's feminist themes. |
| 80 | * ''ComicBook/XMen'': |
| 81 | ** GenderInverted in the case of Ororo Munroe[=/=]ComicBook/{{Storm|MarvelComics}}. Her powers over magic and the weather are specifically said to be passed from mother to daughter every few generations, to the point where only women can rule her mother's native tribe and she is in fact its rightful heiress, causing some resentment by her uncle, who felt left out. |
| 82 | ** Double subverted in the case of ComicBook/RachelSummers. Rachel inherited her mother's powers, but she is eventually more powerful than ComicBook/JeanGrey thanks to her father ComicBook/{{Cyclops|MarvelComics}}' genes. The same goes for her brothers, [[ComicBook/XMan Nate Grey]] and {{ComicBook/Cable}} - while they look more like their father and inherit his [[TheChessmaster chessmaster tendencies]], their powers and most fundamental personalities come from their mother. |
| 83 | ** {{Invoked|Trope}} by the Facility with another X-Men character, Laura Kinney, a.k.a. ComicBook/{{X 23}}. She's an OppositeSexClone of ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} deliberately created to continue the Weapon X experiments, and therefore shares his mutation. [[TheUglyGuysHotDaughter She got her looks from her mother.]] |
| 84 | * ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'': |
| 85 | ** Young Avengers' member, Hulkling is a complicated case. He's the biological son of the deceased Kree superhero ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}} and the (also deceased) Skrull Princess Anelle. Both sides of the Kree-Skrull war claim that the parent of their race is more important in determining Hulkling's role in life. Kl'rt the Super Skrull goes to desperate lengths to convince Hulkling to make a play at reuniting the Skrull Empire. A Kree officer also tries to conscript Hulkling into the Kree army by saying that because his father was Kree, he is Kree. Hulkling eventually rejects both roles since he understandably doesn't want to have any part in the insane genocidal conflict and already has a life on Earth. Power-wise, his parents are equally important: the combination of SuperStrength from his father and ShapeShifting from his mother is what helps him look like a Hulk LegacyHero even though he's not really a Gamma mutate. |
| 86 | ** Inverted by Billy Kaplan, as his powers explicitly come from and mirror the ComicBook/ScarletWitch. |
| 87 | [[/folder]] |
| 88 | |
| 89 | [[folder:Fairy Tales]] |
| 90 | * Zigzagged in tale type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children", of the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index: in the vast majority of the variants, the father of the wonder children is of noble or royal lineage, like a king or a prince, and through him the children obtain their royal/noble status. However, the wonder children only acquire their status of ''wonder'' children through their mother, who is the youngest of three poor sisters of marriageable age: the woman knows ''beforehand'' the qualities her children will bear (astral birthmarks, hair of literal gold or literal silver), and announces them to her sisters (and to her future husband, who just happens to be eavesdropping on their conversation): |
| 91 | ** ''[[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/7128/7128-h/7128-h.htm#The_Boy_who_had_a_Moon_on_his_Forehead_and_a_Star_on_his_Chin The Boy who had a moon on his forehead and a star on his chin]]'' (Bengal, India) - the gardener's daughter promises to have a son with a moon on the forehead and a star on the chin. |
| 92 | ** ''Literature/TheDancingWaterTheSingingAppleAndTheSpeakingBird'' (Sicily, Italy) - the third sister promises to have two sons with apples on their hands and a daughter with a star on her forehead. |
| 93 | ** ''[[http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/056.htm The Boys with the Golden Stars]]'' (Romania) - Laptitza, the third sister, promises to have twin sons, each with a golden star on the front. |
| 94 | ** ''[[https://www.surlalunefairytales.com/book.php?id=37&tale=1053 Ancilotto, King of Provino]]'' (Italy) - the third sister promises three children with hair of gold, a golden chain around their necks, and each with a star on the forehead. |
| 95 | ** ''[[https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/64807/pg64807-images.html#THE_GOLDEN-HAIRED_CHILDREN The Golden-Haired Children]]'' (Turkey) - the third sister promises golden-haired twins, a boy with a half-moon on the front, and a girl with a bright star on the temples. |
| 96 | ** ''[[http://www.albanianliterature.net/folktales/tale_05.html The Youth and the Maiden with Stars on their Foreheads and Crescents on their Breasts]]'' (Albania) - the third sister promises to bear twins, a boy and a girl with stars on the front and crescent moons on their breasts. |
| 97 | ** ''[[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015050917049&view=1up&seq=62&skin=2021 The Children With the Golden Locks]]'' (Georgia) - the third sister promises to bear twins, a boy and a girl with golden locks. |
| 98 | ** ''[[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44536/44536-h/44536-h.htm#ch1.2 The Three Sisters and Their Stepmother]]'' (Georgia) - the third sister promises to bear two golden-haired boys. |
| 99 | ** ''[[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hwm4xw&view=1up&seq=249 The Boys with the Golden Stars]]'' (Germany) - the third sister wants to marry the count and bear him twin boys with golden stars on their breasts. |
| 100 | [[/folder]] |
| 101 | |
| 102 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 103 | * ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': The newborn Manda's father was the [[spoiler:protector of Mu]] and an old friend to Godzilla, [[spoiler:and his corpse, which still rests on the East China Sea floor, gets infested by the Many]]. Conversely, next to nothing is known about Manda's birth mother. |
| 104 | * ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'': PlayedWith. The immediately obvious connection is between Harry and his father, and the first book is about him exploring his relationship with his father, that heritage, and the consequences... except that the most crucial connection is actually to his mother. This is built on in the second book, with Harry's favoured powers (both his PsychicPowers and inclination towards [[PlayingWithFire fire magic]]) both coming from his mother, an increasingly noted resemblance to her in personality and mannerisms, and the main legacies that come back to haunt him actually relating to her. |
| 105 | * In ''Fanfic/SonOfTheDesert'' this is inverted, it is a big deal in Ishval to be descended from a batsheva, the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter who will make their own family name when married. So it's a big deal that that Edward is ''Trisha's'' eldest son as she is where he gets his Ishvalan heritage and his personality from. |
| 106 | * ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'': Downplayed. [[spoiler:Ash's father]] has sired [[ReallyGetsAround hundreds (possibly thousands) of children]] all over the Pokémon World, all of which have manifested his Power Dominion Bloodline. This also awakened the [[RecessiveSuperGenes dormant Bloodlines]] carried by their mothers. |
| 107 | * Downplayed by ''Fanfic/BornOfHellsKitchen''; if Peter certainly inherited much of his looks and personality from his father, his mother's legacy is the one coming back to haunt him, and his superpowers are a mix of both parents. |
| 108 | * Subverted in ''Fanfic/TheBridge'' as Godzilla III a.k.a Junior is the ''adopted'' son of the second Godzilla, Senior. He did grow up to have the same powers to an even stronger degree, but he sees this quite negatively. It takes his adoptive mother, Azusa, convincing him the similarities can make him his own person without disrespecting his father's memory that Junior stops thinking of this as the case and sees his traits fully as his own and not just his father's legacy. |
| 109 | * Subverted in ''Fanfic/TheTwilightMan'', where it's revealed that [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood Jonathan Joestar]] inherited both his immense height and his star-shaped birthmark from his late mother, Mary Joestar. [[spoiler:Become zigzagged when it turns out Mary got those traits from her Nightman (The name for the [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Pillar Men]]'s race) father]]. |
| 110 | * Subverted in ''Harry Potter and the Wand of Uru''. To wizards, that Harry is the son of the pureblood James Potter is more important than his mother since the Potters are a very old pureblood family of notable wealth. But to beings of higher power, such as the Asgardians, it's Lily who is more notable, to the point the Asgardians call Harry "Lilyson" rather than the traditional "Jamesson", to show how important she is in comparison. |
| 111 | * ''Fanfic/MomentaryWeakness'': Played with. Rex has three children with three different women (and [[ExtraParentConception they're all biologically the children of all four of them]]); Rex is the legendary Master Driver and Paragon of the world, and two of his wives are the legendary Aegises, the Master Blades who control all others. But most of the plot revolves around what the children have inherited from the third wife, who is "merely" a powerful Blade who ended up queen because of a legal loophole that meant she was the only one who already had a noble title. The entire family uses the queen's surname, Rex and the other wives are prince and princesses rather than king and queens, and the kids explicitly inherited their authority from her. They did receive plenty of advantages from their other parents, it's just that all their legal advantages flow from the queen. |
| 112 | |
| 113 | [[/folder]] |
| 114 | |
| 115 | [[folder:Films -- Animated]] |
| 116 | * ''WesternAnimation/ArthurChristmas'': The position of Santa Claus is hereditary and has apparently passed down the line from father to son since the first Santa Claus, St. Nicholas. |
| 117 | * ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'': Apparently, [[Characters/BigHero6BigHero6 Fred]] gets his inclination toward the superhero life from his father. |
| 118 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', this is inverted. Mei's ability to turn into a red panda came from her mother's side, and the blessing only passes on to female descendants of Sun Yee, her ancestor, meaning the blessing/ability is passed on from mother to daughter, and not to sons. |
| 119 | [[/folder]] |
| 120 | |
| 121 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 122 | * ''Film/FastColor'': Gender-inverted. Ruth's family's superpowers are passed from mother to daughter. |
| 123 | * ''Franchise/MonsterVerse'': |
| 124 | ** ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': GenderInverted. The [[Film/{{Mothra}} Shobijin]] are adapted as the Chen family, and they're humans from China whose ancestors worshipped Mothra in ancient times. Monarch scientist Dr. Ilene Chen shows Mark a family photo which contains her, her twin sister, their twin mother and aunt, another set of older twins, and Ilene's twin girls, but there are no male relatives at all. |
| 125 | ** ''WesternAnimation/SkullIsland2023'': PlayedStraight with Dog. His father is briefly seen as a corpse, and his fight with Annie's father ending in a MutualKill is what led to Annie and Dog [[AGirlAndHerX banding together and becoming close]], whereas nothing is known about Dog's mother (if he even has one, considering that most if not all Titans are an ultraterrestrial form of life originating from the HollowEarth). |
| 126 | * ''Film/MortalKombat2021'' averts this. It's said a descendant of Hanzo Hasashi / Scorpion will help turn the tide for Earthrealm's champions contest against the Outworld invaders. Hanzo's son however was murdered on the same day Hanzo was condemned to Netherrelm, meaning Cole Young's tether to his legendary ancestor instead comes from Hanzo's daughter. |
| 127 | * Sadako Yamamura from ''Literature/TheRing'' averts this at first, as her powers are stated to be a genetic inheritance from her psychic mother, Shizuko. In ''Ring 0: Birthday'', however, Sadako's adoptive father confirms that Sadako also inherited "something" from her biological father, who may have been some kind of [[LordOfTheOcean a sea god]]. The implication is that her harmless ESP powers came from Shizuko, but her eldritch killing-people-in-seven-days curse came from her father. |
| 128 | * ''Franchise/StarWars'': |
| 129 | ** It seems to be played straight with the ever-present concern that Luke will end up [[InTheBlood like his father before him]]. Looking at the prequels and the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'', it becomes clear that in terms of personality, he's more like his mother--he has that same unshakable belief in the core goodness of Vader, and (though he ''can'' certainly get dangerous when there's call for that) he tries diplomacy first. Late-set books actually voice the opinion that he's become passive and reactionary instead of proactive. How much of this can be attributed to genetics versus his upbringing is debatable, but he's more like his mother than he initially seems. Leia, on the other hand, takes after Anakin, though she isn't happy about it. She is way more proactive and stubborn than her brother, and she isn't ''nearly'' as forgiving of Vader's sins. The Noghri call her "Lady Vader" for a good reason. However, as of the Sequel Trilogy, this trope seems to be fully GenderInverted, as a focus of the trilogy is on Kylo Ren's fixation on claiming the Skywalker legacy for himself, deriving from the fact that he is Leia's son, and not once is his status as a true Skywalker heir questioned on the grounds that it comes from his mother. |
| 130 | ** In the ''Legends'' EU, are the three Jedi Anakin Solo, Jaina Solo and Jacen Solo (but later he is a Sith). They are the children of Han Solo and Leia Organa, and have their special powers due to her. |
| 131 | [[/folder]] |
| 132 | |
| 133 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 134 | * In ''Literature/ApparatusInfernum'', society tends to believe this, which creates a plot-relevant blind spot that hinders the protagonists. They'd like to track down descendants of a certain noble House, but the official records only concern themselves with the patrilineal line — and because that line came to an end, the House is considered extinct. In fact, if you count descent from women of the House in question who married into other Houses, descendants are still quite present — just under other names. |
| 135 | * Zigzagged in Creator/MikhailAkhmanov's ''Literature/ArrivalsFromTheDark'' with the so-called "Corcoran line". Paul Richard Corcoran is born at the end of the first book as a HalfHumanHybrid (his human mother was implanted with the seed of a [[HumanAlien Faata]] male in order to test compatibility). He is named after his mother's dead boyfriend Richard Corcoran (officially, he is Richard's son) and his godfather Pavel Litvin. The sequel reveals that Paul never had any sons, immediately subverting this trope. His two daughters ended up continuing his line as well as passing the Faata genes to his descendants. A later novel ''appears'' to follow this trope with the protagonist of a novel (Marc Valdez) being the son of Sergey Valdez, the protagonist of the previous novel. However, while the next novel once against follows Marc, the one after that follows a descendant of his sister instead; Marc only has one child, a daughter, while his sister has three of her own (from two different men) plus three adopted. The ''Trevelyan's Mission'' spin-off series follows a character who is eventually revealed to be also descended from Marc's sister (about 500 years removed). By that point, a significant percentage of humans are Corcoran's descendants, but the Faata genes have become so diluted that hardly anyone exhibits their PsychicPowers or longevity. |
| 136 | * In ''Series/BabylonFive'' ExpandedUniverse ''Psi Corps'' trilogy, it is revealed that [[PsychicPowers telepaths]], especially families who have been in the Corps many generations, track their lineage through their mothers and keep their mother's last name. This is due to the discovery that telepathy is passed on only through mitochondrial [=DNA=]. The notable lineage in the books is the Alexander line, of which only women are shown. This, however, begs the question of why it is important for the father to be a strong telepath if his genes for the ability aren't passed on to the offspring. |
| 137 | * ''Literature/TheBible'': |
| 138 | ** Played with with Jesus' lineage. Jewish society played this trope straight, so how could {{God}} have Jesus be both biological descendant and legal heir of King David when he has no biological human father? A popular interpretation is that the genealogy presented in Luke is actually through Mary (with the different fathers listed for Joseph being justified as Heli being his father-in-law), meaning both Joseph and Mary can claim to be descendants of the royal line of Judah, making Jesus both a biological descendant of the royal line via Mary and its legal heir via his adoptive father Joseph, who is a direct male descendant of the royal line. |
| 139 | ** In the Torah, a lot of lineages are (in painful detail and length) detailed--but usually only on the male line. Sometimes the mothers along the way are also mentioned, but they're never recursed onto like the men. Interestingly, despite ''naming'' lineages by the men, one's "Jewishness" was passed through the ''mother''. Hence a ShiksaGoddess is considered to be a more serious temptation than a non-Jewish man: if a woman marries outside the faith, her children are still Jewish by birth, but if a man does it, the children are not. |
| 140 | * ''[[Creator/SidneySheldon Bloodline]]'': Elizabeth Roffe and her female cousins inherited their shares of Roffe and Sons Pharmaceuticals from their respective fathers and, in fact, the death of the last of those fathers ended the male line of Roffes. The trope is inverted with Elizabeth's male cousin Sir Alec Nichols, who inherited his shares of the company from his mother. |
| 141 | * ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' takes place in a world ruled by women. A court case involving inheritance comes up, and the three families jockeying for the title each have similarly dubious claims, one being that they're descended from one of the deceased family's men. Here's what's said on an unrelated character's birth certificate. |
| 142 | -->Kai Whistler, male child born to Bliss Whistler and fathered by husband Tullen Beadwater from Bowling Green. Grandchild of Nida Whistler and husband Alannon (ancestry documented but uncertified). Great-grandchild of Kei Whistler and Order of the Sword [[SexSlave crib captive]] Gerard, #458. Great-great grandchild of Allysen Whistler and Order of the Sword crib captive Kyle, number unknown. |
| 143 | ** Alannon and his [[RoyalBlood uncertified ancestry]] do end up being important, but lineage does not pass down through him. |
| 144 | * ''Literature/TheCampHalfBloodSeries'': |
| 145 | ** Zigzagged with demigods, who can either have a divine father or a divine mother. Percy Jackson, upon finding out that his powers came from his divine father, Poseidon, asks Annabeth Chase who her father is. She responds by saying that her father is a college professor in San Francisco, while her mother is the goddess Athena. |
| 146 | ** Frank Zhang also zigzags this. Although his father is a god, his mom had powers of her own (and could count several heroes and demigods among her ancestors), and Frank has definitely inherited some things from her side of the family. Such as [[spoiler:the power to transform into animals]]. |
| 147 | * ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'': Downplayed. Men trace their ancestry through their father's line, but women trace theirs through their mother's. This is reflected in their patronymic and matronymic naming schemes; characters in the story include Llonio son of Llonwen, Math son of Mathonwy, and Princess Eilonwy daughter of Angharad daughter of Regat of the Royal House of Llyr. |
| 148 | * ''Literature/TheCourtshipOfPrincessLeia'': {{Inverted}} for the Hapans and Dathomiri. As matriarchal societies, both don't count males for inheritance. Thus Isolder is Crown Prince through his mother, but cannot become king, although his wife will succeed her as queen. Very similarly, Teneniel's mother is the queen of the Singing Mountain Clan and she's also the heir (her father is not mentioned at all). Dathomiri Force sensitivity is also a solely female trait, as no one had ever seen a "male witch" until Luke, although they heard of them. |
| 149 | * Played straight in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. All of the [[RoyallyScrewedUp royal family of]] [[EmotionEater White Court vampires]] were born from human mothers and got the vampirism from Lord Raith. Inverted for the main character himself, whose mother has so far been more important to the story than his father. This is because magic is almost always passed along matrilineal lines (it has to do with exposure to magic prior to birth — a child whose father has a talent for magic might have the genes for it, but they'll probably be dormant). Though since Harry's mother died in childbirth, his father Malcolm's kind and naïve nature was a major influence on Harry's personality. |
| 150 | * In ''Literature/TheFirebringerTrilogy'', Valedweller unicorn foals tend to resemble their fathers more than their mothers. [[spoiler:This leads to Tek's first inkling that she's ''not'' Teki's biological daughter...and note also that the tendency is ''less'' pronounced in [[RagsToRoyalty the direct line of Halla]].]] |
| 151 | * This is a running undercurrent in ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi'' as the novel explores how this affects succession and expectations of LikeFatherLikeSon, since in ImperialChina, sons are expected to inherit from fathers and continue their lineage. This causes Jiang Cheng to feel like an InadequateInheritor because he doesn't act as the ideal leader of the Jiang Clan like his father, acting and behaving more like his quick-tempered mother. Wei Wuxian is constantly gossiped about and looked down upon because he is the son of a servant, despite the fact that his mother is also a powerful and famous cultivator. |
| 152 | %%* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': |
| 153 | %%** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'' people believe that Harry is the Heir of Slytherin through his pureblood father. He isn't. [[spoiler:Voldemort is through his pureblood mother. His mother's maiden name was "Gaunt" instead of "Slytherin" so it probably passed through a daughter at least one other time]]. |
| 154 | %%** ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]'' reveals that [[spoiler:Harry is descended from Ignotus Peverell, who created the Invisibility Cloak]]. It comes from his father's side, but since the family is "extinct in the male line" he still follows the trope. |
| 155 | %%** Dumbledore's protection spell only works because Harry has living family on his ''mother's'' side. |
| 156 | %%** On the other hand, read anything at all about Harry's mother and you'll realize that he inherited a heck of a lot of her personality, for all that he looks like his dad. People constantly note that he has Lily's eyes, as well. |
| 157 | %%** The half-giant Hagrid also inverted this trope. He is the child of a magician and a giantess, and has his superhuman powers of his mother. |
| 158 | %%** In the fourth book, Fleur inverts this because she is a quarter-Veela from her mother's side (her mother was a half-Veela and her grandmother a pure Veela). |
| 159 | * In ''Literature/HushHush'', the only reason Nora's important is because her dad's side of the family was descended from Patch's Nephil slave, making her a suitable sacrifice to make him human. [[spoiler:This is doubly so in the later books, where it's revealed that her dad wasn't actual her biological father. Her biological father not only was the Nephil slave she could be sacrificed to kill, but he was also the leader of a Nephilim army and wants her to be his successor. This, in turn, is the main reason she's important in ''Finale'' - the army wants her to lead them to victory]]. |
| 160 | * Subverted in ''Literature/{{Impossible}}'', where the Scarborough family curse is specifically made so that the afflicted woman only has a daughter, ensuring that each new girl who attempts the impossible tasks inherited it from her mother. The fathers of the girls seem to be either one-night stands or, in certain cases (like Lucy's), [[RapeAsDrama rape]]. |
| 161 | * In ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'', this trope is inverted for the elves who call themselves "the children of Arin", while giving less reverence to her husband. This is also the case in more recent history with Kallen and Annala carrying on their mothers' legacies. |
| 162 | * Subverted in the ''Literature/KnightAndRogueSeries''. While it's still a male dominant society, magic can only be inherited from women. |
| 163 | * ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'' series: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]]; Terre d'Ange's monarchy passes patrilineally, but the king at the time of the books has one granddaughter, who proceeds to have two daughters of her own. Meanwhile, in Alba, inheritance passes from uncle to nephew, although this is later revealed to be motivated by [[spoiler:the male rulers not trusting that their wives' sons are actually theirs, and preserving the lineage through their sisters]]. Meanwhile Imriel's significant lineage comes from both sides of his family. |
| 164 | * Even Baum's ''Literature/LandOfOz'' has a tendency to run with this. Coo-Eh-Oh was descended from a line of "witches", and Ozma herself has the throne because she is the daughter (or matrilineal descendant) of Lurline, the first Fairy Queen of Oz. |
| 165 | * In Creator/JaneAusten's ''Literature/LoveAndFreindship'', Philander and Gustavus insist that their lineage comes from their mothers. |
| 166 | -->''[[WhosYourDaddy Our Mothers could neither of them exactly ascertain who were our Fathers]], though it is generally believed that Philander is the son of one Philip Jones, a Bricklayer, and that my Father was Gregory Staves, a Staymaker of Edinburgh. This is, however, of little consequence, for as our Mothers were certainly never married to either of them, it reflects no Dishonour on our Blood, which is of [[BlueBlood a most ancient and unpolluted kind]]''. |
| 167 | * In the ''Literature/{{Mahabharata}}'',Draupadi is married to all five of the Pandavas, but they have rules in their relationship because of this trope. Each of her husbands gets a year with her on a cyclic basis, and only he is allowed to be with her for that year. If any of the others "intrude" on her, he's to be exiled for a year. As a result, she has 5 sons (one by each of the Pandavas), and it is known ''exactly'' whose son is whose. |
| 168 | * Played interestingly in ''Literature/TheOldKingdom''. [[BadPowersGoodPeople Sabriel]] inherited her looks, her skill as a {{necromancer}} and the office of the Abhorsen from her father, while her mother's influence is much more minor. However, [[HeroicBastard Touchstone]] inherited his royal bloodline from his mother and knows very little of his father. Ultimately, each character inherited their "specialness" from their opposite-gender parent. |
| 169 | * Somewhat justified for [[PowerNullifier Preternaturals]] in ''Literature/TheParasolProtectorate''. They are stated to breed true, but can only reproduce through male lines because the females cannot carry a child to term [[spoiler:unless the father is a vampire or werewolf. This results in a ''Meta''natural child with PowerCopying abilities derived from both parents]]. |
| 170 | * In Creator/AnneRice's ''Literature/QueenOfTheDamned'', [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Maharet]] tracks the Great Family of her human daughter only through females based on an ancient tradition. This is implied to be due to women in those days being highly promiscuous, and, therefore, no man knew for sure that his wife's children were his. These days we have reliable paternity tests. It is also implied that only women of that line can have PsychicPowers. |
| 171 | * PlayedWith in ''Literature/RainOfTheGhosts'': Rain inherited her MementoMacGuffin from Sebastian, her mom's father. In the second book, she discovers that she's TheChosenOne because she has important ancestry on ''both'' sides of her family, with the implication that destiny was waiting for the lines to intersect. |
| 172 | * ''Literature/RedQueen'' plays this straight. The Silvers' powers are always inherited from the father, even if the mother is also a Silver. |
| 173 | * ''Literature/TheScholomance'': Played with. While El's strong moral character comes from her mother, the person she physically resembles the most is her father. [[spoiler:In addition, most of her motivations and desires are inherited from Arjun, who had dreamed of restoring the Golden Enclaves since he was a child. El is the literal embodiment of that dream, thanks to Arjun voicing it to the universe in hopes of making it a reality, and the universe granting his wish by allowing his daughter to be conceived and gifted with the power to build the Golden Enclaves in his place. The payment it took in return was Arjun's life, which he freely gave to save El and her mother from Patience on the day of his graduation from the Scholomance]]. |
| 174 | * GenderInverted in ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'', where the only relevant lineage for princesses is the female one and the male line is not considered relevant. |
| 175 | * ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': |
| 176 | ** Westerosi inheritance law plays HeirClubForMen dead straight, though other societies (notably Dorne) have variations on the rule -- see that trope for details. Lineage Comes From The Father is frequently played straight by characters as well, with famous ancestors and prophesied descendants almost always being men. However, this society-wide focus on the male line of descent obscures some interesting {{subtext}} hidden [[AllThereInTheManual in the infamous family trees]]. Many major houses have historically [[StandardHeroReward married the daughters]] of defeated enemies, and when these defeated enemies have names like [[TheTimeOfMyths "the Warg King"]], we start to see hints for where families like the Starks and Targaryens get their magical abilities from -- if a couple of fairytales [[AllMythsAreTrue are true]], the Starks may even have the blood of the Others in their veins. Just like magic itself, which is poorly understood because the maesters don't like to keep records of it, magical bloodlines may be overlooked because nobody's been keeping track of the ''daughters''. |
| 177 | ** There is one notable aversion, however. The only reason Robert Baratheon is king at the start of the series, and his brothers Stannis and Renly are candidates for the Iron Throne, is because their paternal grand''mother'' was a Targaryen princess (Rhaelle). The maesters justified Robert's Rebellion on this basis alone, since Aerys II wasn't technically deposed but "replaced" by another Targaryen descendant. The fact that Robert's "legitimate children", Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen, were actually conceived by his wife Cersei out of wedlock means that they should automatically lose their birthright, because they are not part-Targaryen - so she and her family maintain that this is slander, of course. This is also the reason why Robb Stark chooses to TakeAThirdOption and declare himself King in the North as an independent territory, since as a vassal of the crown he wouldn't be allowed to contest the Iron Throne and would have to support either Joffrey (who had Robb's father unjustly executed), Stannis (the elder of Robert's two younger brothers; the next legitimate heir but with the smallest army) or Renly (Robert's youngest brother; with a much larger force than Stannis's but no right to the throne other than just plain wanting it). |
| 178 | ** In general this is subverted with the regime in King's Landing under Joffrey, since although his surname is Baratheon it is his mother's House, the Lannisters, who are firmly in control, with his grandfather Lord Tywin as TheManBehindTheMan. They don't make much secret of it either, strewing Lannister colors and banners all over the place with secondary importance given to the heraldry of Joffrey's (ostensible) father's House. Of course, as his biological father is [[{{Twincest}} Queen Cersei's twin brother Ser Jaime]], Joffrey is pure Lannister, but even Joffrey isn't supposed to know that. |
| 179 | ** Subverted tragically with Quentyn Martell. After being spurned by Daenerys Targaryen, he comes to a realization that since he is descended from a Targaryen princess ([[OneSteveLimit also named Daenerys]]), he might have inherited their control over dragons. So he enters the dragonpit to steal Rhaegal and Viserion. [[KillItWithFire Bad mistake]]. |
| 180 | * Tristan in ''Literature/{{Stardust}}'' inverts several of these tropes. He gets his royal and supernatural parentage from his mother, and is raised by his {{muggle}} father, thinking that his stepmother is his biological mother. The fact that his sister is six months younger than he is should have been a clue. |
| 181 | * Played with in the novellette [[Webcomic/FeliciaSorceressOfKatara "The Tailcutter's Curse"]]: Felicia is initially dismissive of the curse because she knows that the Tailcutter's bloodline ended centuries ago and that the supposedly cursed lord cannot be a true descendant. [[spoiler:It turns out they only recorded the ''male'' line of descent and the lord's wife is a descendant whom the curse still applies to.]] |
| 182 | * The [=DeMarian=] royal line in Fiona Patton's ''Literature/TalesOfTheBranionRealm'' passes through the firstborn, [[GenderIsNoObject regardless of gender]]. So do other noble families; the senior surname is invariably used. |
| 183 | * In Creator/JRRTolkien's Middle-Earth works (''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', etc) both exists. Familial traits are often followed through the male line, but that is partly a side-effect of following a patriarchal dynasty over generations, but characters are nonetheless described as having traits inherited or instilled by their mothers. |
| 184 | ** It is notable that there are no half-elves with a male elf/female human pairing in their ancestry, quite different from the usual Nephilim-type race where the supernatural parent is inevitably male. |
| 185 | ** Played with the royal house of Númenor; Elendil, who led the Faithful and founded the realms in exile, was descended from the eldest child of one of the kings, who happened to be a daughter (Silmariën), and the succession law at the time instead favoured her younger brother. ''His'' descendants went on to oversee Númenor's fall to evil and destruction, while Elendil's line better represented the spirit of the original kings. |
| 186 | ** It's overall played with the Noldorin Elves in Middle-Earth, as all the direct-male heirs of both Fingolfin (King of Noldor in Middle-Earth) and Finarfin (King of Noldor in Aman) have been killed by the end of the Second Age, many without ever having had children. Fingolfin is succeeded by Elrond (grandson of his granddaughter Idril) and Finarfin by his daughter, Galadriel. Neither press their claim for King of the Noldor in Middle-Earth. |
| 187 | ** Played with in ''Literature/TheHobbit'' as well. Thorin Oakenshield, who is a direct descendant of Durin the Deathless and the rightful King Under the Mountain, never marries and has no children of his own lineage. However, he does have a younger sister, Dís. ''She'' has two sons, Fíli and Kíli. As Thorin's nephews and closest living relatives, Fíli and Kíli are deemed his official heirs [[spoiler:(though as they died on the same day as their uncle, the crown actually ended up passing to their distant cousin Dain)]]. Considering the gender imbalance of dwarves (only one-third of them are female) and how few of them are known to marry or reproduce, it's not surprising that many would have to look to female or distant relatives for blood-related heirs. |
| 188 | * {{Inverted}} in ''Literature/ThisIsNotAWerewolfStory:'' apparently, [[OurWerebeastsAreDifferent shapeshifting]] comes from mitochondrial DNA and thus only passes from mother to child. |
| 189 | * ''Literature/TortallUniverse'': This trope is played with in the ''Literature/TrickstersDuet''. Luarin kings follow HeirClubForMen, but the native raka royalty runs through the mother's line and they explicitly have queens instead of kings. Aly, TheProtagonist for this series, is clearly her father's daughter because she is a GuileHero spy like him instead of an ActionHero knight like her mother. |
| 190 | * ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'': |
| 191 | ** Zigzagged with the Quileute shapeshifting gene, which can pass through both men and women, but men are assumed to be the only ones to exhibit it. Until ''Eclipse'', it's not even thought to be ''possible'' for women to become shapeshifters, but then Leah Clearwater comes along. She and her brother, Seth, got the shapeshifting gene from their mother, while the rest of the shapeshifter pack got theirs from their fathers. |
| 192 | ** Female vampires are barren, while their male counterparts are not. This means that all human-vampire hybrids shown in the series got their supernatural traits from their fathers. |
| 193 | ** In ''Literature/{{Midnight Sun|2020}}'', it appears to be that Bella inherited her "private mind" from her father, as Edward has some difficulty reading Chief Swan's mind. |
| 194 | * Both played straight and gender-inverted in Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga''. Inheritance among the Vor is passed along the male bloodline, i.e., father to son, or elder brother to younger brother if the elder had only daughters as of his death, or out to the closest male relatives. [[TheEmperor Emperor Dorca Vorbarra]] claimed the throne of [[FeudalFuture Barrayar]] through his mother's father's blood; and later on, [[{{Cincinnatus}} Aral Vorkosigan]] and his son [[GuileHero Miles]] are considered prime candidates for the throne should anything happen to the current Emperor, due to the fact that Aral's mother was the granddaughter of Dorca. |
| 195 | * Subverted in ''Literature/WaxAndWayne'', at least in regards to Wax. Lord Waxillium Ladrian most obviously inherited his noble title and surname from his ancestor Edgard "Breeze" Ladrian, but he definitely got his rebellious streak from Breeze's wife [[RebelliousPrincess Allrianne Cett]], and his disdain for noble pretentions from Allrianne's father Ashweather. |
| 196 | * ''Literature/TheWickedYears'': GenderInverted. The throne of Oz appears to be passed by matrilineal succession, and [[spoiler:Liir]] ends up picking up where his mother left off with his father barely a passing mention. It may be strong enough to be an outright ''inversion'', especially considering that Melena Thropp's oldest daughter was not [[ChildByRape fathered by her husband]], and her younger daughter Nessarose and son Shell ''might'' have been, but no one cared. Melena's children inherit the title of Eminent Thropp from her. Their legal father was an always-broke itinerant preacher. Glinda introduces herself by her mother's clan, with her surname only being revealed [[CanonImmigrant after the musical gave her a surname]]. |
| 197 | [[/folder]] |
| 198 | |
| 199 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 200 | * ''Series/GameOfThrones'': |
| 201 | ** Since Jon's mother is [[MissingMom missing]] and her identity is totally unknown by most people (including him), a great deal more emphasis is put on Jon's Stark lineage because despite being the illegitimate son of Ned Stark, he's the kid [[LikeFatherLikeSon who echoes Ned the most]] and looks the most like him, he spent his life in the North entrenched by its ways and customs, and is the least influenced by Catelyn's southern ways since he's her unfavourite. This is even a plot point by the end of Season 6 when the Northern lords are willing to overlook his illegitimacy and name him as the King in the North because Jon is the last surviving son of Ned Stark (as far most people know), the living embodiment of a Northern warrior, and the one who can lead them [[ZombieApocalypse in the true war to come]]. However, it's revealed that he is the biological ''nephew'' of Ned Stark, since we learn he is the son of Ned's sister Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, and Jon's Stark lineage comes from his ''mother''. |
| 202 | ** To make things even more complicated, the Season Seven finale revealed that not only were Rhaegar and Lyanna in love, they were ''married'', with Rhaegar even going as far as to annul his original marriage to Elia Martell to make it happen. Not only does that mean that Jon was never a bastard, his father's lineage makes him '''''the rightful heir to the Iron Throne'''''. That revelation has a massive effect on the events of Season Eight. |
| 203 | * ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': |
| 204 | ** King Viserys is desperate to have a male heir at the beginning of the series. After losing yet another baby boy and following his beloved wife's DeathByChildbirth, he decides to go against the HeirClubForMen and makes their only surviving child Rhaenyra his heir to the throne. |
| 205 | ** The Velaryons find themselves in a difficult situation with the "death" ([[FakingTheDead disappearance, not that they know it]]) of Laenor and the death of Vaemond, now having no male heir with Velaryon blood (since the three children Rhaenyra had with "Laenor" are actually Strong bastards). Rhaenyra finds an alternative and proposes to marry Jacaerys and Lucerys to Rhaena and Baela, which Rhaenys accepts, thus also going against the trope. |
| 206 | * ''{{Series/Jekyll}}'': The BBC miniseries subverts this. It's part of a one-two punch [[TheReveal reveal]]. Everyone assumes that since Dr. Jekyll had no descendants, Jackman is a clone. When it's revealed that he ''is'' a descendant via Mr. Hyde sleeping around in 1800's Scotland, the connection is through his mom, not his dad. |
| 207 | * ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Implied with the royal family of Khazad-dum. King Durin the III specifies that each dwarven king receives all the combined experiences of his predecessors in his mind, and indeed all the previous monarchs were males. Disa herself wants to make sure that her husband, and not his brother, gets to pass the tradition further. |
| 208 | * ''Series/MotherlandFortSalem'': {{Inverted}}. Due to only women passing down magical ability, witches measure ancestry through their mothers, which they call the "matriline". |
| 209 | * GenderInverted in ''Series/TheMunsters'', Eddie has all the characteristics from his mother's side of the family including lychantropy and some vampiric behaviors, not having anything (as far as we can see) from his father. |
| 210 | * In ''Series/TheShannaraChronicles'' this trope is played very strong. The young half-elf Will is the son of a male elf and a human female. When he experienced his adventures, he hears again and again that his father was a powerful wizard and a great hero who has achieved much good. Constantly he is prompted as to be a hero, as his father was one. From his mother you do not hear much after the first episode. You do not even learn her name. Later in the story, there is also another half-elf, a young girl who also had an elf as father and a human as mother. |
| 211 | * In ''Franchise/StarTrek'', you'd hardly guess simply from looking at him (or speaking to him) that Spock's mother was human; he seems all-Vulcan in most aspects, clearly getting almost everything from his father's side. |
| 212 | * In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' it first looks as if this trope is played straight. Dean and Sam Winchester are two hunters of the supernatural, presumably because their father their father raised them that way. But later it turns out that it is actually a subverted trope. In actuality, their mother's side of the family produced generations of [[DemonSlaying Hunters]], while there father's side, with the exception of John, Sam, and Dean, themselves, produced scholars of the supernatural world, who called themselves "Men of Letters". Hunters and Men of Letters worked together to control the things that go bump in the night, making Sam and Dean the perfect amalgamation of the two. |
| 213 | * ''Series/TinMan'' follows the Oz books in inverting the trope, at least in regard to the royal family. The Queen holds the authority, and it's passed along to her daughters. [[spoiler:Ahamo, the Queen's consort and girls' father, was a carny that lucked out and landed in Oz when his balloon went off course in a storm]]. It's unknown whether this extends to commoner families like the Cains. |
| 214 | * In ''Series/TheXFiles'', there is a teenager named Dylan Lokensgard, who this trope inverted. He is a hybrid, because his father was a human, and his mother was an "insect-human mutant". He has the same powers as her, and uses them to take revenge on his classmates, and a girl to win over, in which he is in love. |
| 215 | [[/folder]] |
| 216 | |
| 217 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 218 | * In the TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms setting of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', drow are matrilineal. Even their names are inherited this way. |
| 219 | * GenderInverted in ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}''; the Realm traces descent through the line of the (Dragon Blooded) mother, and most of the Great Houses derive their legitimacy from their descent from the Scarlet Empress (often with the House founders being her daughters). |
| 220 | * In ''TabletopGame/{{Ironclaw}}'', the major houses of Calabria are all patrilineal and patriarchal, but the Phelan tribes are matrilineal and egalitarian. It's noteworthy that House Bisclavret was once a tribe whose chief thought that the Calabrese way was better. |
| 221 | [[/folder]] |
| 222 | |
| 223 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 224 | * ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': |
| 225 | ** Spirit channeling abilities are passed down through the female line and only to women. Men are basically just mechanisms to make more babies, which explains the high divorce rate in Kurain. |
| 226 | ** Not to mention [[spoiler:Apollo's Perceive abilities, which come from his mother, who got it from her father. Trucy, Apollo's half-sister, also has the ability from their mother, but hers is weaker and she had to train herself.]] |
| 227 | * ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'': Inverted. Bayonetta is the daughter of the Lumen Sage Balder and the Umbra Witch Rosa. She looks identical to her mother and, even though her mixed heritage made her an outcast, identifies purely as one of her mother's people. |
| 228 | * Played with in ''VideoGame/BlazeUnion''. Gulcasa and Emilia inherited their demon blood from their (dead and eternally offscreen) father, whose only other major contribution to anything was having been a [[AbusiveParents terrible excuse for a human being]]. Gulcasa's inherent scythe skills and combat ability are implied to come from his mother. However, his gentle personality, sense of humanity, and all his other positive traits come from his childhood friend (and [[ParentalSubstitute surrogate mama]]) Siskier. |
| 229 | * ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': |
| 230 | ** GenderInverted. The divine magic of the royal family is passed down from mother to daughter, allowing multiple Princess Zeldas to take the spotlight at different points in the timelines. |
| 231 | ** GenderInverted in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', where Tetra's OrphansPlotTrinket comes from her mother. |
| 232 | * GenderInverted in ''Videogame/{{Fable}}'', where the Hero of Oakvale's mother is his claim to power. The hero of Bowerstone never knew his/her parents, and the hero of Brightwall is the former's child. If the hero of Bowerstone is a woman, there is no hero in the series stated to have inherited their powers from their father. Also of note is sister Hannah, whose father most certainly is not a hero. |
| 233 | * Played with in ''Franchise/MassEffect''. The asari are a monogendered race, and though they can (and often do) reproduce with other species, the resulting child is always asari. However, many asari are also judged based on their father's species, with the lowest tier being those who were fathered by other asari. The game goes back and forth in general: Ashley Williams joined the military in part because of her grandfather's legacy though she also mentions a great-grandmother who was in the military; Commander Shepard, if the Spacer background is chosen, speaks with his/her mother, who is also a military officer; Miranda Lawson ''has'' no mother, being a genetically modified clone of her father with a few bits thrown in; and many krogan proudly claim descent from Shiagur, a female krogan warlord. |
| 234 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Farmville}}'', patterns on sheep and pigs are passed from father to offspring. |
| 235 | * Numerous forms in ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'', depending on specific inheritance laws. For the purposes of continuing the game by bloodline, it's pure male-line. In vanilla, women cannot inherit but under Semisalic inheritance laws, the son of a king's first daughter will inherit over son of a younger son. The sequel takes some measures to avert this, introducing succession laws that allow females to inherit titles under specific circumstances as well as matrilineal marriages, in which the children are considered part of the mother's dynasty rather than the father's. |
| 236 | * In ''VideoGame/ImperiumNova'' players have the choice between making their house patrilineal or matrilineal at creation, this influences which dynastic characters can inherit house leadership and {{Arranged Marriage}}s. |
| 237 | * Played with due to having more generations in between, and gender-inverted in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'': Satele Shan is the descendant of Bastila and Revan, but she mainly takes on the traits of her great-great-etc.-mother Bastila. She also bears Bastila's last name. Then again, we never learn Revan's (if he even had one). Besides, Bastila raised their son Vaner (note the anagram name) alone, as Revan had to leave for the Unknown Regions and never came back. Satele's secret son Theron also bears her last name, but that's partly due to his father Colonel Jace Malcom not knowing of his existence until later. |
| 238 | * Inverted in ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', where species comes from the mother. Egg moves[[note]]Moves that are learned via breeding.[[/note]], on the other hand, are passed down from the father. |
| 239 | * In ''Franchise/DragonAge'', played with a few different ways: |
| 240 | ** Dwarves play this straight 50% of the time, with the recognized lineage and caste of a child being determined by that of their same-sex parent. This means that you could have opposite sex full siblings of completely different castes. |
| 241 | ** In the [[AllThereInTheManual novels]] this is inverted by (eventual) King Maric, whose mother Queen Moira Theirin was an unparalleled badass both on the field and behind the scenes. Maric's biggest struggle is living up to her legacy. Maric's father by comparison gets very little focus and was mostly important because he was related to the Teyrn of Gwaren. Moira was also Queen Regnant in relation to her husband, the Prince Consort. Played straight by Maric's own offspring, though. |
| 242 | ** The City Elf is said to take more after their willful mother than their father. |
| 243 | ** Inverted and... uh... played straight in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII''? Considering Hawke's father sort of created his own legacy (and we don't even know his past too well before he ever met Leandra, but it's implied to be not very pleasant) by aiding the Wardens, that's the straight part. The inversion would stem from Leandra's side of the family, the Amell lineage, which is noble. |
| 244 | ** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', this is the reason which Grand Duke Gaspard blames for the fact that his cousin Celene, the youngest of Emperor Judicael I's six grandchildren, was able to take the throne of Orlais. Judicael's three eldest grandchildren died in their youth, and Gaspard (the only surviving grandson) was raised with the expectation that he would one day be Emperor; however, his royal parent is his mother, Princess Melisande. Celene, on the other hand, is Judicael's granddaughter through her father, Prince Reynaud. There were other factors involved in Celene taking the throne, but this trope was likely a contributor. |
| 245 | ** Inverted in the case of [[CrystalDragonJesus Andraste's]] theorized descendants. Andraste had two daughters, and the younger one had many daughters herself, who then married into various Tevinter families, which use patrilineal naming traditions. Unfortunately, the records of these and subsequent marriages were lost in the second Blight. The Chantry believes that Andraste's bloodline is only capable of producing daughters, so a man, or anyone claiming to be descended from Andraste through their father's side, is automatically disqualified. |
| 246 | * Inverted in ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia''. [[spoiler:Jude's father is an Elympion, but he keeps the spirit channeling ability of his Rieze Maxian mother. This is probably for the best, since otherwise he may have had a very rough, very confusing time on his own planet.]] |
| 247 | * The ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series features three (thus far) games with parent-child mechanics, all of them fairly similar despite the radically different approaches to all of them. It plays with this trope in various ways: |
| 248 | ** For ''Genealogy'', mothers have two children each, all with fixed classes, and their skill sets, weapons and Holy Blood can change depending on who their father is. Because of the fixed classes and limited amount of first gen units with holy blood, the second generation can either be a small army of horrendously broken {{Game Breaker}}s or incredibly weak. The exceptions to this rule are [[WideEyedIdealist Seliph]] (son of first-gen Lord Sigurd and Dierdre), siblings Altenna and Leif (the children of Cuan and Ethlyn), Julia (daughter of [[spoiler:half-siblings Arvis and Dierdre]]), and Ares (son of OptionalBoss Eldigan and his NPC wife Grahnye), as they are the product of fixed pairings, although Julia's abilities are drawn from her mother. The Sniper Faval is a prominent example, as he inherits his major Ulir blood, and the holy bow Yewfelle, from his mother Briggid. |
| 249 | ** ''Awakening'' has said kids tied to mothers again. Both parents lend one reclassing option each and one skill each, with the father lending their hair color to the kids this time. The exceptions are Lucina (daughter of Chrom) and a female Morgan (daughter of a male Avatar). Due to the inflated stat caps, customizable growths, and the potential to pass down gender-exclusive skills to the children, the second generation in this game is arguably an even ''bigger'' GameBreaker than ''Genealogy''. |
| 250 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' plays this straight: while the mechanics for children are the same as ''Awakening'' for the most part, the children are all tied to their fathers this time, with the exceptions being a male Kana (son of a female Avatar) and Shigure (son of Azura). While unique class combinations can be passed down (namely the Avatar's Nohr Prince/Princess class and its promotions), this game's second generation is more on par with the first due to a lack of gender-exclusive skills and the children actually having their own growths that are only subtly influenced by whatever mother is chosen for each kid. |
| 251 | * Mothers don't appear ''at all'' (and are barely mentioned) in the ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'' games, and as such this trope is in full effect. |
| 252 | ** Ashelin is Baron Praxis' daughter, and takes over as ruler of Haven City when he dies. |
| 253 | ** Jak is descended from the ancient hero Mar through his father, who also happens to be [[spoiler:the great warrior Damas, former ruler of Haven]]. |
| 254 | ** Rayn is the daughter of the crime boss Krew, and stands to take over his criminal empire... which she only just learned was a thing. [[spoiler:Except not really. She was in on his plot to eliminate their rival crime family the whole time]]. |
| 255 | ** Even minor characters Ximon and Mizo have this to an extent: Ximon works for his father in the pest control business (which has been in the family since his great-grandfather founded it), and Mizo got into racing because of his father's obsession with it. |
| 256 | * Zigzagged in ''VideoGame/{{Boktai}}'' with Django. At first he's presented as nothing more than a complete chip off the old block like his father Ringo. [[spoiler:You find out later his mother was Mani, a member of ''the immortals'', and that he inherited numerous passive traits from her such as his resistance to Klorofolun (which should turn any living thing it touches undead, but merely harms him) and his ability to become a half-vampire when bitten by his now-vampiric father.]] |
| 257 | * Played with in ''VideoGame/FarCry4'', since while [[LaResistance The Golden Path]] repeatedly emphasizes that protagonist Ajay is the son of their deceased leader Mohan Ghale and refer to him as such, [[TheCaligula Pagan Min]] clearly cares more about the fact that Ajay is his mother Ishwari's son and seemingly doesn't care at all about Mohan being his father despite the fact that the two men were enemies. At the end of the game it's revealed [[spoiler:Pagan has actually named Ajay his heir since Ishwari was the closest thing he had to a queen, and Min's own daughter with Ishwari, Lakshmana, was murdered as a baby by Mohan]]. |
| 258 | * In ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' Chief Engineer Lily Shen owes a good chunk of her characterisation and motives to being the daughter of Raymond Shen, the Chief Engineer in the previous game. Her mother isn't mentioned at all. In the "Shen's Last Gift" DLC, [[spoiler:the AI Julian looks down on Lily for having a mother at all, and considers itself the "undiluted" son of its designer, Raymond Shen. In that case, however, it's played more as evidence of insanity and meglomania.]] |
| 259 | * GenderInverted, subverted, or played straight, depending on the character, in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': |
| 260 | ** Inverted to the point to subversion with Aerith Gainsborough; it's revealed through the course of the story that though her biological father was a normal human, her birth mother, Ifalna, was a [[TheAncients Cetra]]...yet it's ''Aerith'', not Ifalna, who is considered the [[LastOfHisKind Last Of the Cetra]]. She even inherited some of her mother's Cetra abilities, such as the [[ISeeDeadPeople ability to communicate with people in the Lifestream]]. Her father isn't completely irrelevant to the story, but his role in Aerith's life or abilities is pretty minute; heck, he didn't even wind up lending her his ''last name'', thanks to her adoption by Elmyra Gainsborough. |
| 261 | ** Subverted, in a strangely zig-zag fashion, with Sephiroth; Hojo claims him as his son, but it's not necessarily clear that Sephiroth realizes he was (and there's even a bit of debate in the fandom as to whether this is referring to biological paternity or Hojo simply claiming Sephiroth as His Greatest Creation). Sephiroth speculates somewhat on his paternity during a flashback segment, but fixates primarily on his absent mother figure...which turns out to be disastrous, as having been told by someone at some point that his mother's name is "Jenova" leads him to claim the alien Calamity From the Skies as his "Mother", in the process [[DoomedHometown destroying Nibelheim]] and setting him on the path to [[BigBad try and destroy the rest of the world a few years later]]. In fact, Jenova may not be his birth mother (that would be a human scientist named Lucretia Crescent), but she ''did'' contribute some DNA via [[MadScientist Hojo's Jenova Project]], which is indicated as being responsible for a lot of his [[SuperSoldier enhancements]]. Sephiroth would definitely consider Mother, by which he means Jenova, to be his most important parent/lineage, and given Hojo's obsession with Jenova the world's maddest scientist might not disagree. |
| 262 | ** Played somewhat straight with Tifa Lockhart who is basically depicted as "the Mayor's daughter" in Nibelheim. Her mother ''is'' mentioned, but only in reference to her death and Tifa's reaction to it. |
| 263 | ** Played straight with Vincent Valentine. We have no idea who his mother even was, but we have a name, character design and even a profession (former member of the Science Department) for Grimoire Valentine...who looks a hell of a lot like Vincent and even shares his Gothy fashion sense. |
| 264 | ** Played ''extremely'' straight with the Shinra family. President Shinra's son, Rufus, inherits his father's world-spanning megacorp upon his father's death...his mother? We don't even know her name, let alone what she looks or looked like. The prequel game ''Crisis Core'' arguably continues this trend with the Shinras, with an illegitimate son of President Shinra plotting against him basically for the crime of pretending he doesn't exist. In other words, his most important goal is getting revenge on his biological father for cutting him out of the formally-recognized Shinra family tree. In the English translation of the game, he even adopted a last name referencing the Shinra name, albeit [[BilingualBonus very subtly]]. |
| 265 | * ''Franchise/{{Tekken}}'': |
| 266 | ** Zigzagged with Jin Kazama. Despite inheriting his mother's surname, his paternal Mishima lineage is far more emphasized on; he inherited Kazuya's Devil Gene, while seemingly not inheriting Jun's spiritual qualities. His initial movelist in his debut game is also 90% Mishima Karate, although he does have a handful of Kazama moves. This is played up in ''VideoGame/Tekken8'', where Jin's struggle to reconcile his Mishima and Kazama bloodlines is a major plot point in the story. [[spoiler:It is revealed that Jin actually ''does'' have the Kazama's purification powers, although they are buried deep within his mind, thanks to the Devil Gene.]] |
| 267 | ** Subverted with the Devil Gene. While Jin got it from his father, in both times it was introduced to the Mishima family, they were through women: [[spoiler:Kazumi Hachijo (Kazuya's mother), and Reina's unnamed mother]]. |
| 268 | ** Lars Alexandersson's background as Heihachi's son takes precedence over his maternal Swedish parentage to the point that we do not even know his mother's name, even though [[PhenotypeStereotype his blond hair and blue eyes presumably came from her]]. |
| 269 | ** Averted with Kunimitsu II as she gets most of her techniques and traits from her mother whereas what she gained from her father is barely touched upon despite him also being a fellow ninja. |
| 270 | [[/folder]] |
| 271 | |
| 272 | [[folder:Web Comics]] |
| 273 | * ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': |
| 274 | ** An aversion with Tarvek, who claims to be the Storm King's heir from his mother. "[[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090227 If the stories are true]], ''[[ReallyGetsAround half of Europa]]''..." -- the catch is that he's a descendant with ''[[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060106 traceable]]'' genealogy whom other royals will recognize as such. ''And'' indirectly confirmed by having more MadScientist talent than his father who himself was "[[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20050930 a major player]]" in this department. |
| 275 | ** Then there's Agatha herself, the last living descendant (so far as we know, anyway) of a powerful family of Sparks. Her family's [[GeniusLoci castle]] wants her to set about [[IWantGrandkids producing some heirs]], so we know that the line can proceed matrilineally. |
| 276 | * The drow of ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'' are a complete inversion as Drow society is both matriarchal and matrilineal, and while some fathers do still live with the children, including Zala'ess' mate Sabbror, it seems that most noble kids have no contact with their fathers, and it's more common for fathers to live with the family in lower-class families. Noble titles especially are exclusively passed through the mother, as are inheritance. There is one known exception: the Tions Sarghress line is carried from Rosof (a male) through his son Ein, to his granddaughter Nei'kalsa. That's two generations where the male line is actually important, but this is a special case and it's likely that the Tions line will now be carried on by Nei'kalsa and her daughters. It's likewise implied that the Illhar'dro clan still ''officially'' only cares about the mother's line, but that they'll teach children who their fathers are for political purposes, since that's how the Illhar'dro do business. |
| 277 | * On ''Webcomic/IrregularElis'' both parents are specials, but the powers of their sons come from Luk, the father. |
| 278 | * In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', Antimony Carver's father is missing by the start of the story and her mother has just passed away, and as the story unfolds and we learn more about her parents it becomes obvious that [[GenderInverted Antimony got the really important things from her mother]], [[spoiler:including, it turns out, her fire elemental ancestry and her LifeEnergy, which is passed from mother to child]]. |
| 279 | [[/folder]] |
| 280 | |
| 281 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 282 | * In ''VideoGame/ImperiumNova'' your house has a choice between patrilineal and matrilineal succession at creation. Which one you choose has a major influence on the ArrangedMarriage mechanic. |
| 283 | [[/folder]] |
| 284 | |
| 285 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 286 | * Inverted with ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong''. Jake and his younger sister Haley's dragon abilities come from their mother's side of the family tree, while their father is a normal human that has [[LockedOutOfTheLoop no knowledge of this or the magical world in general]]. |
| 287 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': It's revealed that King Andrias is the son and successor of Amphibia's previous ruler King Aldrich, who groomed Andrias to be the person he is today. [[spoiler:Andrias and Aldrich are the two latest in a long line of evil despots who ruled Amphibia's old multiversal empire in the name of [[MindHive the Core]] (a mechanical monster containing the digitized consciousnesses of all the previous rulers), acting as the Core's PuppetKing in life before having their minds uploaded into its collective upon their natural passing -- the late Aldrich is still watching over Andrias from within the Core in the present day]]. Almost nothing is known about Andrias' mother, who is never mentioned. |
| 288 | * ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': In general, Avatar and its successor ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' do a lot to subvert this trope, with characters taking a lot of traits from both parents. An Inversion would be [[DaChief Chief]] [[LadyOfWar Lin Beifong]], who takes ''very'' strongly after her [[BadassAdorable mother]] (and we don't even know who her father was). |
| 289 | ** The Beifong family in general. Book Three reveals that Toph's younger daughter, Lin's half-sister Suyin, would go on to found an ''entire city'', on the foundation of metalbending. To top it off, it's outright stated that it is THE most prosperous city in the Earth Kingdom, serving as beacon of progression to most of the world. All of Su's children are successful in their own rights, including her daughter Opal, a nonbender who gained airbending as a result of Harmonic Convergence. And just like Lin, Su doesn't know her father either, all but stating that the two are {{Heroic Bastard}}s. |
| 290 | ** In the original series, Zuko is a titch obsessed with living up to his role as 'Prince of the Fire Nation', and his place in the grand lineage of Firelords. In the episode "The Avatar and the Firelord", he's confused that the story he's told about the titular pair of friends-become-rivals doesn't reveal the promised secrets about his great-grandfather, until Iroh [[LukeIAmYourFather reveals]] that the great-grandfather in question was not Firelord Sozin, but ''Avatar Roku'', on his mother's side. |
| 291 | ** By the time of ''The Legend of Korra'', Zuko's own daughter, Firelord Izumi (who's probably an only child), has inherited the throne from him. Her son, the crown prince Iroh II , shows up a handful of times throughout LOK so he will inevitably subvert this trope. Izumi was confirmed to have a daughter as well via supplemental material but she's never once seen or mentioned in the series itself. It's not explicitly clear but Izumi's daughter is probably just younger than her son and wasn't passed over for being next in line for being a girl. |
| 292 | ** Aang and Katara's children play with this. Bumi is a nonbender (only becoming an airbender later on), but Kya is a waterbender like her mother and Tenzin is an airbender like his father. Tenzin also has a personally much closer to his mother, being overly serious and quick to anger. |
| 293 | * Inverted with Tom from ''WesternAnimation/DragonsTheNineRealms'' where Tom [[spoiler:is related to Hiccup and Astrid]] through his mother[[note]]Her great-grandfather was [[spoiler:a Haddock]][[/note]]. |
| 294 | * ''WesternAnimation/NextAvengersHeroesOfTomorrow'' deals with five kids who are the children of the now-deceased Avengers. For three of them, the mother's identity is not even stated[[note]]Though WordOfGod says that Francis' mom is Mockingbird, while fans assume that Azani's mom is Storm, due to his [[ShockAndAwe electrical powers]]. Her exclusion can possibly be blamed on [[ExiledFromContinuity legal issues]].[[/note]]; we know that James' mom was Black Widow, but a lot more focus is put on his father, Captain America. The only {{Aversion}} is Pym: he became a LegacyCharacter for his mom, the Wasp, though we do know that his dad was Giant-Man ([[spoiler:and he has both parents' powers]]). |
| 295 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Invincible|2021}}'': Omni-Man notes that his DNA is almost entirely Viltrumite even though only one of his parents is, attributing Mark's powers to the strength of Viltrumite DNA. |
| 296 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': |
| 297 | ** The episode "Lisa The Simpson" reveals that the Simpson men have a "gene" that causes a large decrease in intelligence, while the women are smart and successful. |
| 298 | ** In the episode "The Color Yellow," while making a family tree for school, Lisa is horrified that she can't find a single good ancestor, and that she comes from "a long line of horse thieves, deadbeats, [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs horse beats, dead thieves."]] However she only looks at her father's side of the family. Despite her desperation to find a "decent ancestor," she doesn't seem to have looked at her mother's family at all. |
| 299 | * Inverted in ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'', the Butterfly Family is matrilineal and matriarchal, with the throne of Mewni passing from mother to daughter. While Star's father is also royalty (and she inherits much of her personality from his side, rather than the Butterfly side), her Butterfly lineage is far more important both to the show and to her identity. |
| 300 | * {{Inverted}} on ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse''--[[KidHero Steven]] has a {{Muggle}} father while his mother, [[PosthumousCharacter Rose Quartz]], was an [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot alien crystal]] MagicalGirlWarrior; having inherited her powers, he's currently living and training with her old teammates. Rose's back story fuels a good chunk of the plot, and it's repeatedly noted that Steven inherited [[AllLovingHero many]] [[FriendToAllLivingThings personality]] [[BigGood traits]] from her as well. As time has gone by, and the viewers have seen more of Rose Quartz, it's become apparent that Steven takes personality traits from both of them. More than that, his nature as a ChildOfTwoWorlds has become more and more important, with his human upbringing acting as a counter to gem society, making both of his parents equally important. |
| 301 | * Inverted in ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'', where Elyon Brown's power as the Heart/Light of Meridian is said to be passed down to women only, and that same power makes her the rightful queen of her people rather than her older brother, Phobos. |
| 302 | [[/folder]] |
| 303 | |
| 304 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 305 | * Surnames are usually inherited patrilineally (at least in Western countries). That fact, plus the prevalence of this trope and its relatives, may be why so many things about ancestry are counterintuitive — people think in terms of a SingleLineOfDescent. NomDeMom is pretty rare as a result. Following that, in European heraldry the right to use a particular coat of arms is passed from father to son. A woman can use the same coat of arms as her father, but her children can't (instead, they'll inherit the right to use their father's coat of arms). Subverted, however, with the creation of some mechanisms to come up with a new coat of arms based on the father's and the mother's ones (quartering, partitioning and dimidiating are the most common methods). |
| 306 | * Enforced even more strongly in China than in the West. The Chinese patrilineal system is ancient and rigid, and Chinese surnames are strictly passed in the male line. So strong is this influence that Chinese women do not take their husbands' surnames on marriage, as that would disrespect their fathers. Also, Chinese genealogical records are very detailed in the male line because the Chinese incest taboo is stronger for relatives sharing patrilineal descent (that is, sharing male ancestors in the male line) than other variants, but not so much for the female line. The male-line descendants of Creator/{{Confucius}} are still known through this record-keeping (if you trust the records, but there's not as much reason to doubt them as you might think, since genetic testing has shown this to be plausible), but descent in the female line is much harder to find. |
| 307 | * According to Balkan traditions, a child had the same ethnicity as the father, and the mother's was irrelevant. So, a son born to a Croat man and Serb woman would be a Croat. This meant that while all three major ethnic groups (Croats, Bosniaks, and Serbs) were all trying to wipe each other out during UsefulNotes/TheYugoslavWars, they were also setting up 'rape camps' for women of other ethnicities (the Bosnian Serbs were by far the worst perpetrators), where, for example, Serb soldiers would rape Bosniak women, with the intent of producing more 'Serbs,' and to physically and mentally destroy the women. For more information, see [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_in_the_Bosnian_War The Other Wiki]]. Genetically, these ethnic groups are fairly identical, so the differences were cultural/religious to begin with (they traditionally divide themselves based on religious affiliation). |
| 308 | * GenderInverted in Judaism: traditionally, anyone with a Jewish mother is considered Jewish from birth. People with a Jewish father but Gentile mother, however, are Gentiles unless they convert. This is {{averted|Trope}} in denominations like Reform/Liberal Judaism, however, which allow anyone with Jewish descent to join. |
| 309 | ** Historically tribal status has passed patrilineally, however; today this is most relevant for Levites and Kohenim. This is backed by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-chromosomal_Aaron actual genetic evidence]]. |
| 310 | ** Also played straight in that in the lists of descendants listed in the Bible (most noticeably in the Book of Genesis) almost no women are mentioned, and it is a relatively new thing in Judaism to honor the Matriarchs (Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah) as well as the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) in prayers. |
| 311 | ** This trope is also one reason why Jews typically argue that UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} can't be the Messiah: if he was actually born of a virgin, how is he a patrilineal descendant of King David? Christians argue that he inherited this from Mary and/or adoption by Joseph, but Jews don't see this as a legitimate fulfillment of Messianic prophecy. |
| 312 | * Preformationism, a defunct theory of reproductive science, held that one sex provided the child and the other only nurtured/triggered its development. Two rival preformationist schools of thought existed: one where Lineage Comes From The Father because men's sperm were actually miniature babies, and one where Lineage Comes From The Mother because women were born with miniature babies inside their uteri. Presumably, the miniature babies [[RecursiveReality included ultra-miniature babies for the next generation]].... Modern biology, of course, has shown that the embryo is formed by DNA from ''both'' parents, meaning each view [[TakeAThirdOption was partially correct]]. |
| 313 | * Mitochondrial genetic inheritance comes exclusively from females to offspring, whereas the Y chromosome of mammals is passed solely from father to son. This makes it ''extremely'' useful for tracking migrations of people over thousands of years: since the only way that the mitochondrial DNA or Y chromosome can change is through mutation, men with the same mutation in the Y chromosome have a common male ancestor in direct paternal line (they share a father's father's father's father's...father), and people with the same mutation in the mitochondrial DNA have a common female ancestor in direct maternal line (they share a mother's mother's mother's...mother). By identifying major mutations, you identify groups of genetically related people, including where and when different groups split off from others. See Website/TheOtherWiki's articles on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Y-chromosome_DNA_haplogroup human Y-chromosome DNA]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_mitochondrial_DNA_haplogroup mitochondrial DNA haplogroups]]. However, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE9WnROTSQs a recent discovery has revealed that you can inherit mitochondria DNA from both parents]], effectively making this [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zagged]]. |
| 314 | * Inverted for the Ijaws of southern Nigeria, where membership in a War Canoe House (and thus land inheritance) is matrilineal. Only if the groom's family sponsors a (traditionally expensive and religiously ominous) Second Wedding ceremony can the children claim to belong to their father's House (which is usually their father's mother's House). It was not uncommon in the old days for very rich men to perform Second Wedding ceremonies for women married to other men. The Big Shot gained no sexual rights, but hey, if there was a war, all her sons would fight under his House's banner. |
| 315 | * Inverted in many West African cultures, which believed that all of a person's blood came from his or her mother. |
| 316 | * Inverted by the Iroquois, who were matrilineal. |
| 317 | * Also inverted by the Seminole in a sense. A Seminole person belongs to the clan of his or her mother. |
| 318 | * Downplayed by the Aztecs. Hereditary leadership was passed on via the mother (who the father was could often be uncertain). Upon a leader's death, the title would pass on to his brother, and then on to his sister's sons. |
| 319 | * Agnatic primogeniture, sometimes referred to as 'Salic Law' after the Salian Franks who codified it, excludes women from the line of succession and under the stricter interpretations prevents inheritance through a female relative. One example comes from the succession of UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfHanover, which held both the British throne and the throne of the Elector/King of Hanover. In 1837, William IV died with no legitimate descendants of his own. The British throne passed to the next available heir, his niece [[UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria Victoria]]. But the Hanoverian succession was bound by Salic Law and passed to the senior male heir, William's younger brother Ernest Augustus I. |
| 320 | * Inverted by the Egyptians, where descent was through the mother due to the potential for uncertainty about the father. However, unless there was no other option, only the sons (or the son of a second wife) would become pharaoh. To be sure, Pharaohs often [[BrotherSisterIncest combined the two types of lineage]]. |
| 321 | * Patrilineal descent (this trope) is more common in traditional agricultural societies than matrilineal descent ([[DistaffCounterpart the inverse of this trope]]). Meanwhile, modern industrial societies (as well as hunter-gatherer societies) have a tendency towards bilateral kinship, i.e. they consider mother and father roughly equally important and are more concerned about kinship networks than about lineages. For more information, consult [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinship#Descent The Other Wiki]] or anthropological research on kinship and descent. |
| 322 | * The Ottoman dynasty had a rather different system of producing heirs than Christian rulers in Europe, where having a noble mother and being born within wedlock was very important in order to be considered a legitimate succession candidate. The sultans would make celibate marriages with foreign princesses for purely political reasons, and have sex with their concubines in order to actually produce children since they didn't want royal heirs being raised or influenced by a wife who was from foreign nobility. Many of these concubines were of low birth, but it didn't matter because the Ottomans believed that everything important comes from the father, and thus their children were just as eligible to become sultan as one born to the sultan's legal wife would have been. Ideally the sultan would cease relations with a concubine after she produced her first son, the idea being that she would concentrate on taking care of that one son instead of having her attention divided between several. As long as multiple concubines produced sons there would still be plenty of potential heirs. Suleiman the Magnificent precipitated the breakdown of this system by marrying his concubine Hurrem Sultan and having multiple children with her, which is said to have increased the influence that royal mothers had over the court. |
| 323 | * According to Islam, a child's religion should default to the father's. This is presumably why Muslim men are allowed to marry non-Muslim women (as long as they're [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_of_the_Book People of the Book]]), but not the other way around. |
| 324 | ** In Muslim culture, the honorific title ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayyid Sayyid]]'' is applied to men who can trace patrilineal descent from UsefulNotes/TheProphetMuhammad (well, as patrilineal as possible--his only grandchildren were through his daughter Fatimah). |
| 325 | * In almost all human traditions throughout history, status and material inheritance is determined by the father (or the husband once a girl is married). |
| 326 | * In some cultures, there is a concept of ExtraParentConception, where if a [[ReallyGetsAround woman sleeps with multiple men]] around the time she gets pregnant, or while she is pregnant, each of those men are considered to be the father. They all acknowledge the child as their own, there's rarely (if ever) any squabbles over who is "more" the father, and they all act as provider and mentor to that child. (And presumably the child can inherit wealth/titles/etc. from multiple dads). |
| 327 | * This concept is arguably the cause of the Japanese Imperial Succession Debate. The Chrysanthemum Throne has passed in an unbroken patrilineal line for over 2000 years and the desire to preserve this among Japanese tradtionalists means that women are forbidden from inheriting the throne and are forced to relinquish imperial status if they marry a commoner and cannot start new branches of the imperial family like their male counterparts. These same traditionalists are resistant to changing the rules in any way that could led to the throne passig to anyone outside the patrilineal lineage. This means that as of October 2021, there are only ''two'' people in line for the throne and only one under the age of 50. |
| 328 | * Played with in [[HornyVikings Late Iron Age and Early Middle Ages Scandinavia]]. Until early modern times everyone was named after their parent, so Erik's son Leif would be Leif Eriksson and Leif's daughter Ingrid would be Ingrid Leifsdottir. Through patronymic names were the norm, the ancient Scandinavians used a system of bilateral descent which meant the linage of both parents were important, so if the linage of the mother happened to be more impressive the child would technically have a matronymic name instead. This was a pretty rare occurrence, but a notable example is the legendary Danish king Sigurd Snake-in-the-eye who was known as Sigurd Áslaugsson. |
| 329 | * Some countries apply this trope in their citizenship laws, meaning a child's citizenship is determined by the father (so as to avoid dual citizenship), so a child born to a local mother and a foreign father will have to apply for citizenship in the mother's country, especially if the child isn't born there. One example is Malaysia, where lawmakers are trying to amend the constitution to allow Malaysian mothers to pass on their citizenship to their foreign born children. |
| 330 | [[/folder]] |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext Main / LineageComesFromTheFather
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
