Line #84 Main/NatureVersusNurture


1	->'''Jeff:''' Ah, so you and your mom are both wacked?\
2	'''Hayley:''' I dunno. That's that whole nature versus nurture question, isn't it? Was I born a cute, vindictive, little bitch or... did society make me that way? I go back and forth on that...
3	-->-- ''Film/HardCandy''
4
5	Everyone knows about some of the fundamental questions to life - who are you, what do you want, where did you come from, and where will you go? Those are the "what" questions, but this is the "why". Why did you say that? Why did you do this? Why were you there?
6
7	Innate qualities and personal experiences both play an important part in determining or causing individual differences in physical and behavioral traits, but this raises the question - which was more 'responsible' for such traits? Were these AbusiveParents abused themselves, and take that out on their own kids, or were they always malicious to begin with? Is the concept of free will (i.e. truly independent thought and truly independent decision-making) valid, or are your decisions brain-made "echoes"? Are your personalities [[InTheBlood determined more by genes]], are they influenced by your own experiences, or are they made so that your personality truly is unique? Currently, scientists tend to think they both have about equal influences.
8
9	At any rate, fiction can have a field day with this, and depending on the writer, it can skew to either side of the argument.
10
11	A fairly common angle to this existential conundrum is a by-nature ethically or morally challenged character having decided to be good and posing the question (often to a more goody-two-shoes character) what is better: Being born good, or becoming good through great effort. Of course, since the implication is that the character is trying to turn morality into a competition so that they may lord their "good" status over others, framing themselves as superior to them, a legitimate question at this point may be if they actually really are "good" after all.
12
13	!!Tropes that tend to skew towards "Nature":
14	* AlwaysChaoticEvil
15	* AlwaysLawfulGood
16	* BornLucky
17	* BornUnlucky
18	* BornWinner
19	* GenerationXerox
20	* GeneticMemory
21	* HeroicLineage
22	* HumansAreBastards
23	* HumansKillWantonly
24	* InTheBlood
25	* InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves
26	* LamarckWasRight
27	* SuperpowerfulGenetics
28	* VillainousLineage
29
30	!!Tropes that tend to skew towards "Nurture":
31	* BlankSlate
32	* ConditionedToAcceptHorror
33	* FreudianExcuse
34	* MoreThanMindControl
35	* NurtureOverNature (obviously)
36	* OrcRaisedByElves
37	* RaisedByDudes
38	* RaisedByHumans
39	* RaisedByNatives
40	* RaisedByOrcs
41	* RaisedByWolves
42	* RaiseHimRightThisTime
43	* RousseauWasRight
44	* ThenLetMeBeEvil
45	* UpbringingMakesTheHero
46
47
48	------
49	!!Examples:
50
51	[[foldercontrol]]
52
53	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
54	* ''Manga/ElfenLied'' is deliberately ambiguous whether the diclonii really are inherent malicious or if their cruelty is a byproduct of how they were raised. Lucy appears to be the latter; Mariko appears to be the former. The manga implies that all diclonii are some degree of aggressive toward humans no matter how they're raised.
55	* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has Sasuke, Gaara and Naruto; their personalities and mindsets were influenced by their upbringing, but whereas the former two dealt with it badly, the latter was able to pull through because he was luckier than the others, though he convinced Gaara to change his view on life, and he's trying to do the same to Sasuke.
56	** There's a lot of InTheBlood going around, in that Sasuke's family has a long habit of choosing 'power' over 'strength' that supposedly goes back to the ancient founder of their clan, the elder son of the Sage of the Six Paths. Doujutsu and sociopathy apparently have a causal link, though not an inescapable one.
57	** On the other hand, Gaara apparently had [[spoiler: a very loving mother]] and a cold bastard of a father, and to complicate matters was ''raised'' by an uncle who was very kind and looked just like his mother. And was also ANBU and accepted the mission of [[ProfessionalKiller making a hit]] on the six-year-old boy he'd raised, [[spoiler: in order to test his emotional resilience. The zombie of Gaara's father acknowledges this as a flawed methodology]].
58	** And despite never knowing them, Naruto is just like both his parents.
59	* The ''Manga/{{Akumetsu}}'' are several dozen clones made from an extremely evil guy as part of a project to assure his immortality, all separated as infants and raised in may households across Japan, all under the first name Shou and all but one unaware of the others. They are nothing like their original DNA donor, apart from a possibly-related mad indifference to normality. They are, however, so much like ''one another'' they very nearly have a HiveMind within a weeks or even days of banding together.
60	** I.e., both sides of this trope are being used and abused with reckless abandon.
61	** Note that they did start swapping important memories around pretty early, though not many. To a certain extent they all imprinted on the Shou who inspired the whole Akumetsu project, but even before that they were so alike it's creepy, and honestly Shou is less like the others than any of them.
62	* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' is vague on whether homunculi are naturally malicious or if they're simply not raised well.
63	* This is one of the fundamental themes of ''Manga/OnePiece'', primarily in the case of the protagonist Luffy and his brother Ace. The question of whether or not the blood in your veins determines who you are -- somewhat played with in that Luffy and Ace ''did'' end up as criminals like their parents, but in their case it was their only hope of survival, seeing as the World Government is firmly on the "nature" side, deeming them to be evil just because of their parents' crimes and would've killed them immediately had they been aware of their existences earlier. Also played with in that despite taking after his father, Ace more or less disavowed him and considered Whitebeard his real father. Luffy himself was not influenced by his parents seeing as he never knew he ''had'' them. The issue is even further muddled by the fact that the World Government is blatantly evil, making Luffy and Ace downright heroic in comparison.
64	** This is arguable in the case of Donquixote Doflamingo once we see more of his past. Was he born evil like Rosinante suggested and incapable of veering off of his dark path? Or was it a combination of the mistakes of their father, Homing, whose actions caused the death of their mother, mixed with the influence of the executives, who provided him with his Devil Fruit and his signature flintlock? The latter created a conflicting message between Homing wanting Doflamingo to be humble and the executives who would burn down a city if Doflamingo tripped on its sidewalk, suggesting that while Doflamingo always had some darkness in him, it was the executives (particularly an 18-year old Trebol) who egged him on and pushed him over the edge.
65	** A prominent theme in the [[Recap/OnePieceWholeCakeIslandArc Whole Cake Island]] arc. Both [[spoiler:Sanji]] and [[spoiler:Big Mom]] were shown to have some very troubling pasts, yet the people they are today was the result of different circumstances. [[spoiler:Sanji]] was bullied horrifically as a kid by his father and brothers and locked away to rot. But thanks to the actions of his mother, his sister Reiju, and later [[spoiler:Zeff]], he became a kind hearted person who became strong enough to be one of the toughest pirates around and defend those he cares about. In contrast, [[spoiler:Big Mom]] was abandoned by her parents due to her abnormal strength; the woman who took her in was nothing more than a BitchInSheepsClothing using her for her own ends; and the man who raised her after that just saw her as a meal ticket, with both parental figures encouraging her destructive behavior and turning [[spoiler:Big Mom]] into a literal monster. What's more, these are traits [[spoiler:Big Mom]] showcases to her own family, some of whom would sooner stab each other in the back then help one another unless [[spoiler:Big Mom]] commands it. [[spoiler:Pudding]] is more or less the middle ground with this: like [[spoiler:Sanji]], she was bullied as a kid and Big Mom didn't do anything to deter it, so she became evil as a result. However, when actually shown true kindness, this causes a breakdown because ''no one'' showed real compassion to her before, leaving her in a state of confusion at a critical moment, and she later makes a HeelFaceTurn.
66	* It is all but stated in ''Franchise/DragonBall'' that Saiyans are naturally ruthless {{Blood Knight}}s who care about little except for fighting. When Goku hit his head and forgot his Saiyan memories, he was raised to be the good person we know by the kind senior Gohan. However, with supplemental material we have seen that there were good Saiyans and Goku's mother was one of them, it brings into question if Goku's goodness is genetic as well as nurture.
67	** ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly'' delves into this theme again showing that the Saiyan civilization is a lot more stable than we were lead to believe. And while many Saiyans are AffablyEvil at best? It is shown they aren't necessarily inherently cruel. As shown with the Saiyan Beets who clearly isn't a combative Saiyan and is rather meek. This is further expanded with Broly himself having been raised by a father out for the blood of Vegeta via SinsOfTheFather after the King banished them. In spite of basically being raised to be a weapon for revenge, Broly is a very kind and empathetic individual; compared to his AxCrazy BloodKnight counterpart from the {{Non Serial Movie}}s.
68	* This is kind of explored, perhaps unintentionally, in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' with [[spoiler:Eren and Zeke, with regards to their father, Grisha]]. The latter was [[spoiler:brainwashed by his parents into believing that he was the hero who was going to save his people, and fed a bunch of propaganda from a young age about his parents' beliefs. Zeke ends up turning his parents into the authorities for being part of LaResistance.]] Meanwhile, the former, [[spoiler:was given a hands-off experience by Grisha, and not told anything about the world. Nevertheless, Eren ends up wanting to join the Survey Corps and help defeat titans and save people.]] Their differences in upbringing, despite [[spoiler:the same father]], is a point of content for [[spoiler:Zeke]], who refuses to believe that [[spoiler:Eren]] wasn't also brainwashed like he was, and can't understand that [[spoiler:Eren]] is acting on his own free will.
69	* Explored with Gon and Killua in ''Manga/HunterXHunter''. Gon was raised to be a good kid who cares about others and helps people, while Killua was raised to be the next patriarch of the Zoldyck Family, an elite family of assassins. They fit in their roles well, but as the series progresses, Gon's naturally selfish attitude and BlueAndOrangeMorality begin to show, while Killua is shown to [[IJustWantToBeNormal want to be a normal kid.]]
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Comic Books]]
73	* Brought up in most depictions of ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': Superman is [[HumanAliens Kryptonian]], but was raised by kindly old adoptive parents. In older stories, it was usually implied that his superior Kryptonian heritage and abilities were the cause of his strict moral compass, but in latter stories (especially after other, villainous Kryptonians, were introduced), it's outright stated that Superman's upbringing is responsible for creating who he is.
74	** During his DarkerAndEdgier interpretation, ''ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'' was all about this trope. Superboy is a clone created by human DNA that was altered and/or combined with Superman's DNA (DependingOnTheWriter). In the earliest years, his "daddy" was Paul Westfield and later, it was {{retcon}}ned to be ComicBook/LexLuthor instead. Neither of them are very nice people. So, Superboy constantly questioned whether he was destined to become good or evil based on the genes provided by Superman or his human father.
75	** In his ''ComicBook/New52'' incarnation, Superboy starts flat out amoral. The group that cloned him outright questions whether his lack of human empathy is due to [[CloneAngst being a clone]], being half alien, or lacking Superman's overall upbringing. He slowly starts to learn empathy and compassion.
76	** The entire plot of ''Comicbook/JusticeLeague3000'' (which sees the [[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]] "resurrected" in the 31st century) hinges on this. Superman lacks the guiding hand of the Kents and is thus a JerkJock with a massive ego, Batman never suffered the loss of his parents and ''[[IJustWantToBeNormal doesn't even wanna be Batman]]'', Wonder Woman is a violent BloodKnight constantly looking for someone to kill, and so on.
77	* Some ''ComicBook/XMen'' fans have considered this debate when comparing the characters of Cable and Nate Grey, as each are essentially the same character in terms of their genetic heritage- being the 'child' of Scott Summers and Jean Grey, even if Nate was created in a lab using DNA samples stolen from his 'parents' while Cable was the naturally-conceived child of Scott Summers with Jean's clone- but experienced vastly different upbringings, with Cable a soldier dedicated to his chosen mission while Nate was intended as a weapon and resent others' attempts to use him. There are notable differences (Cable tends to be a bit more grounded), but they're surprisingly similar. The general rule of thumb is that Nate's a bit more heart on his sleeve than Cable is, and if he's playing Mutant Messiah, it's not always part of a scheme.
78	* This is a theme of ''ComicBook/NewGods'', most notably involved in the child-swap that kicks off most of the events of the series. Mister Miracle represents good nature (he's the son of the kind, wise, heroic Izaya the Highfather) and bad nurture (he was raised in a re-education facility on a DeathWorld and fed endless propaganda about tyranny and repression), while Orion represents bad nature (he's the son of the murderous, fascistic GodOfEvil Darkseid) and good nurture (he was raised as a prince and a warrior on an idyllic world, immersed in philosophies of freedom and love). Surprisingly, the apparent answer ends up being "both"; Mister Miracle refuses to have his spirit broken and escapes Apokolips to live on Earth with an officer he redeemed and rescued, while Orion, though prone to fits of rage and GoodIsNotNice moments, remains a valiant warrior who has no greater goal than to [[ArchnemesisDad defeat his father]].
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Fan Works]]
82	* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4816968/9/Do-Not-Meddle-In-The-Affairs-Of-Wizards Do Not Meddle In The Affairs Of Wizards]]'', [[Franchise/HarryPotter Harry]]'s lawyer argues that the reason Dumbledore forced Harry to stay with the Dursleys was because he wanted to prove that it was nature, and not nurture, that drove an individual, and thus prove to himself that Tom Riddle would have gone bad, no matter what he did.
83	* [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4292940/1/The-Power-He-Knows-Not The Power He Knows Not]] specifically states this as Dumbledore’s motive for sticking Harry with the Dursleys, trying to find out if it was his fault that the future Voldemort went bad or that Tom was bad to begin with. The experiment goes out the windows, however, when the spirit of Harry’s mother reveals herself to him on his fifth birthday, not that Dumbledore is aware of this, of course...
84	* One of the major plot points in the ''Fanfic/AftermathOfTheGames'' universe is that Twilight ends up in charge of raising a filly version of Starlight Glimmer because [[spoiler: unlike her canon counterpart, Starlight [[RedemptionRejection refused to surrender and atone for her actions]] during "The Cutie Re-Mark", so Twilight [[ShootTheDog was left with no choice]] but to [[{{Retgone}} wipe her out of existence]] by convincing the nine-year-old Starlight to run away from her OrphanageOfFear and become her apprentice]]. Twilight and everybody in the know about the filly's origins agrees that part of the reason why the original Starlight became a major psychopath was because spending her entire foal hood in an abusive orphanage prevented her from learning how to connect properly with other ponies, so they take extra care to raise her in a loving environment and build her a large support network of ponies that she's able to trust so she gets on the right path. However, because mental illnesses are a mix of both genetics and upbringing, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Starlight demonstrates early warning signs of her older self's fanatical behavior]] during ''Integration'', and Twilight fears the possibility that nothing she can do will make a difference.
85	* A subject in Godzilla Junior's character arc in ''Fanfic/TheBridge''. Junior is the third [[LegacyCharacter "Godzilla"]] behaves ''very'' different from his predecessors, being a heroic soul who's saved millions of human lives by acting as their protector from malign kaiju. However there is a fear the things that are similar between him and his father and grandfather, such as a sense of revenge and a temper, which could cause him to TurnOutLikeHisFather. Junior himself is aware of this and is scared by the prospect he might be destined to go down that path. [[spoiler: Ultimately though, nurture wins because of Junior's close tie to his [[RaisedByHumans mother]], Dr. Azusa Gojo; who points out that some similarities doesn't put him on a predetermined path and he has plenty of differences that make him who he is. It's clear when Junior learns to forgive a former enemy rather than seek revenge, he takes more after Azusa than Godzilla Senior.]]
86	* "[[https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-20099/grundy+Shaking+The+Cycle.htm Shaking the Cycle]]" features this being the subject of some thought by Dawn Thrace- Dawn Summers (''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'') dimensionally relocated to Caprica (''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'') to become Kara Thrace's sister- when she witnesses the various Cylon models, as she starts wondering if the personalities are all the same as well as their appearances or if something "assigns" each individual Cylon a personality. The idea of the Cylons all being the same is reinforced when Leoben tells Dawn that she can only consider herself 'safe' around others of his model, although he notes that some Fours and Eights might be receptive to letting her go based on their histories.
87	* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' Zig-Zags the trope, with the answer coming out somewhere in between. Some personality traits seeming to be InTheBlood (Harry being HotBlooded, for instance, and Hermione's 'tone of detached ruthlessness' that Harry notes sounds exactly like her grandfather, Magneto). However, [[UpbringingMakesTheHero upbringing]] is strongly emphasised in the classical case of Clark Kent, and in the two examples where characters are SplitAtBirth ([[spoiler: Jean]] and [[spoiler: Maddie]], and [[spoiler: Scott]] and [[spoiler: Remy - though Remy's a clone]]) it's made clear that there are definite and fundamental personality differences that come from their respective upbringings.
88	* ''Fanfic/CodeGeassPaladinsOfVoltron'': Lelouch is a unique case where both elements have roughly equal influence on his character. [[spoiler: Lelouch is Krolia's grandson, yet had a ridiculously abusive childhood, which would imply his heroism is in his Nature. However, there's also the fact that he's a member of the Britannian Royal Family yet actively works against them due to witnessing how their actions harm others, indicating his heroism is a product of Nurture. These two assumptions open up the possibility that Lelouch's character is a product of both Nature AND Nurture - he had innate inclinations toward being a hero that was solidified by his upbringing.]]
89	* In ''Fanfic/ForgivenessIsTheAttributeOfTheStrong'', a My Hero Academia fanfiction, an eleven-year-old All for One travels forward in the time to the present. Whether young Hisashi is destined to become a villain is a theme of the story.
90	* In ''Fanfic/TheNewRetcons'' all [[spoiler:three]] of [[ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse Elly Patterson's]] daughters wonder if they will eventually go mad like she had, or if their different upbringings and choices in life will help avoid that, as part of the reason she snapped was from her DarkAndTroubledPast [[spoiler:like giving Claire up for adoption after having a TeenPregnancy, or lying about Michael's biological father, or that the hell she suffered being a mom may be a SelfInflictedHell instead.]] What's worse, a letter from Aunt Phyllis hints [[spoiler:the madness is genetic, as there were other women with mental issues in Elly's mother's side of the family.]]
91	* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10785555/14/Shadow-the-Hedgehog-First-Class Shadow the Hedgehog: First - Class]]'', Gerald Robotnik explains that it's in the nature of members of the Robotnik family to be intelligent and wise. Brutus and Eggman, Gerald's illegitimate son and grandson respectively, turned out the way they did (the former is implied to be an alcoholic who died driving drunk while the latter is an EvilGenius) due to nurture, specifically bad childhoods.
92	* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13738443/3/Phantom-and-the-Knight Phantom and the Knight]]'' reveals that Danny himself is the result of just one of ''many'' [[SwitchedAtBirth Baby Switches]] committed by a MadDoctor in a misguided attempt at testing Nature vs. Nurture.
93	[[/folder]]
94
95	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
96	* The entire plot of ''Film/TradingPlaces'' begins when the Duke brothers place a bet on whether success in life is InTheBlood or a product of a good environment. The movie makes a case for ''circumstances'' being more important than ''genes''. Despite his upper-class background, hitting RockBottom turns Winthorpe into a gun-toting maniac and WrongSideOfTheTracks Valentine becomes a charming commodities broker who provides his own street smarts.
97	* [[OlderThanTheyThink Long before]] ''Trading Places'', two businessmen tested this on Film/TheThreeStooges in "Hoi Polloi".
98	* In ''Film/ManOfSteel'', Zod is a destructive KnightTemplar but he was bred and raised to be a soldier through [[InTheBlood bloodline]] and [[DesignerBabies genetic]] manipulation and the workings of Kryptonian society. Clark is descended from Kryptonian scientists, but he had a natural conception and birth and was raised by Kansas farmers. Though the film hints at Clark being geeky as a child, he chooses a different career in life which would have been impossible on Krypton.
99	* This exchange from ''Film/HardCandy'':
100	-->'''Jeff Kohlver''': Ah, so you and your mom are both wacked?\
101	'''Hayley Stark''': I dunno. There's that whole nature versus nurture question, isn't it? Was I born a cute, vindictive, little bitch or... did society make me that way? I go back and forth on that...
102	* ''Film/{{Pearl\|2022}}'': Does [[spoiler:Ruth (Pearl's mother)]] correctly identify that there is something intrinsically wrong with [[spoiler:Pearl]] since birth, thereby necessitating [[spoiler:her to keep Pearl within the boundaries of the farm]] as much as possible? Does [[spoiler:Ruth]]'s constant put-downs of [[spoiler:Pearl]]'s dreams, which at least partially stems from the former's bitterness over [[spoiler:her]] own unrealized full and vibrant life, manage to infect the latter with [[spoiler:generational]] trauma/ill thoughts, only [[spoiler:fatal]] to others on top? Or is [[spoiler:Pearl]]'s transformation from slightly odd [[spoiler:young woman]] to full-blown [[spoiler:unrepentant serial killer]] a function of both inputs?
103	* ''Film/Twins1988'': Discussed. The scientists responsible for Julius and Vincent's creation were firmly on the side of Nature, to the point that they were willing to go through with some extremely unethical experiments to prove their point. Julius, on the other hand, [[CallingTheOldManOut calls the whole idea bullshit]], pointing out that Vincent (the "reject batch") was left to his own devices but still managed to survive and thrive in an environment that would have killed any of them, and could probably, given the opportunity to learn something other than con artistry, theft and cheating, have been the greatest of them all.
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Literature]]
107	* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': Taylor the human was a cruel AlphaBitch. The Yeerk infesting her is a merciless TortureTechnician. When Tobias morphs into Taylor, he finds that her instinct has none of the cunning and hate he associates with her, just gentleness and joy by default, and fear of the real Taylor. Tobias concludes that Taylor was once an average girl, [[TraumaCongaLine before high school, a house fire, and Yeerk infestation]] molded her into what she is today.
108	* ''Literature/WeNeedToTalkAboutKevin'' is based around the nature/nurture debate -- did Kevin grow into a murderer because mummy didn't love him enough, or was he a psychopath from the word "go"? Basically, it weighs up blaming the mother when her child grows into someone diabolical, against the disturbing idea of being ''born'' evil.
109	* ''Literature/{{Worldwar}}'' features aliens raising humans, and humans raising aliens, in order to see how close they can make each species to their own.
110	* Roose Bolton in talking with Theon during ''Literature/ADanceWithDragons'' openly wonders this about the relationship between his bastard son Ramsay and the first Reek, as Roose doesn't know if Ramsay's depravities were present before he sent Reek to serve him.
111	-->'''Roose:''' Did Reek make Ramsay, or did Ramsay make Reek?
112	* A recurring theme in Creator/JackLondon's ''Literature/WhiteFang'' is whether the clay one is shaped from or the way in which they are shaped is a more significant part of what makes a man or dog.
113	* ''Literature/TheMysteriousBenedictSociety'' books practically compel the reader to consider the question, with the case of Nicholas Benedict and Ledroptha Curtain, who are identical twins, but turned out very differently. How much of Mr. Curtain's wicked behavior is simply his nature, and how much can be put down to the circumstances of his life? And ''The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict'' shows how very different things might have turned out for Benedict had he not found the help of some kind-hearted adults in his youth.
114	* A more mundane of this and the InTheBlood trope happens in a poem titled, ''In the Blood'', where the subject wonders if she was born cruel and aggressive or if she learned to be those things.
115	* In the Franchise/SherlockHolmes spin-off novel "The Spider's Web" by Philip Purser-Hallard, Holmes and Watson find out that this issue was part of the plan behind the apparent abandonment (really abduction) of the young Ernest Moncrieff (''Theatre/TheImportanceOfBeingEarnest''); [[spoiler:a sergeant with a vendetta against Colonel Moncrieff attempted to abduct the infant Ernest and switch him with the sergeant's own son, intending to reveal the switch later on in life to prove that family history didn't define nobility. However, it is unclear if the sergeant actually carried out the switch as planned, as all Holmes knows for certain is that the sergeant was killed in an accident near the train station where "Jack Worthing" was originally found in the handbag. The sergeant's son at least grew up ''believing'' that he was the "real" Ernest Moncrieff, but by the time Holmes has deduced this part of the sergeant's conspiracy the son has been killed as part of another scheme, and Holmes and Watson conclude that it isn't worth trying to work out if the man currently known as Ernest Moncrieff is the "original" Ernest or the sergeant's son, as nobody would benefit from such a revelation]].
116	* One of the themes in ''Literature/SurvivorDogs'' is whether Fierce Dogs are [[AngryGuardDog naturally violent]] or whether this is learned behavior. There are arguments on both sides. It's mentioned that the Fierce Dogs were [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals beaten]] into being so cruel, but at the same time TokenHeroicOrc Storm is still a BloodKnight despite being HappilyAdopted at a few weeks old (mentally the equivalent of a 4-7 year old).
117	* ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'': Frankenstein believes the monster is naturally evil, but the monster believes that he became evil due to Frankenstein's immediate abandonment of him (and he's shown to be right).
118	* ''Literature/InCryptid'': A major theme in the books focusing on [[OrcRaisedByElves Sarah]] and her [[BewareTheMindReader species]]. For most of her life, Sarah thought that she and her mother were the only non-sociopathic [[BackstoryInvader Johrlac]]. Then she met [[spoiler:Mark]], who despite still having the GhostMemory that "normal" cuckoos get at their first instar, managed to turn out pretty okay (Sarah's mother had telepathically removed hers, and was herself born without it). They argue about the merits of leaving the Johrlac children with their latent GhostMemory, or removing it like what Angela did with Sarah. [[spoiler:It ends up being a moot point when Sarah deletes all their cultural memory packets to free up space for the HiveMind to use for the FormulaicMagic to get them all back to Earth.]]
119	* ''Literature/ThereIsNoEpicLootHereOnlyPuns'': Referenced in the chapter titled [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/there-is-no-epic-loot-here-only-puns-dungeon.590739/page-30#post-42123139 "Nature Vs Nurture"]].
120	* In the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' book ''Onestar's Confession'', Onestar wonders several times whether Darktail turned out evil because of his abandonment of him, or because he was evil all along. By the end of the book, he sees true madness in Darktail's eyes and suspects that the darkness was inside his son all along.
121	[[/folder]]
122
123	[[folder:Live Action Television]]
124	* Frequently debated in ''Series/LawAndOrder'', to the point where [[TheShrink Dr. Olivet]] said in one episode that she didn't want to rehash the "nature versus nurture wars", saying that both sides were equally right and wrong.
125	* On ''Series/{{CSI}}'', when Catherine Willows argued that people were shaped by their experiences as much as by their genetics, Gil Grissom agreed, saying, "Your DNA is what you are, not who you are."
126	* The entire point of the experiment with the clones in ''Series/OrphanBlack'' seems to be to explore this. The clones were placed into different environments and were observed by "monitors" who reported their every move.
127	* Discussed in ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' episode "Scion". [[spoiler: Clark is worried that Conner (who is a hybrid clone of him and Lex), will embrace the dark side, and he seems to do under the influence of red kryptonite courtesy of Lionel. Once he's free from it, he chooses to side with Clark. At the end of the episode, Clark tells Conner that everyone has a shadow inside, but it doesn't mean you have to embrace it. Lois then comments "Seems to me that Clark Kent's nature ''and'' nurture won out in the end."]]
128	* ''Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy2019'': Having known a kinder version of Ben in his timeline, Luther tells [[spoiler:the {{Jerkass}} Ben from the new timeline]] that he's genetically the same but just raised in a different environment, and that some version of Luther's Ben must still exist in him. It's even called the "nature versus nurture debate".
129	[[/folder]]
130
131	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
132	* Basically the main conflict (besides the iconic "nature versus technology") between the colours Green and Blue in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''. Green, [[{{Pun}} naturally]], favors Nature, believing in genetic fatalism and predestination. Blue's entire philosophy relies on the concept of ''[[BlankSlate tabula rasa]]'', and therefore it sides with nurture.
133	[[/folder]]
134
135	[[folder:Video Games]]
136	* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': Exactly how much [[HalfHumanHybrid asari with a non-asari parent]] get from genetics, and how much from upbringing, gets a lot of flip-flopping. The asari claim that mating with non-asari just scrambles the daughter's genes a bit, but the daughter frequently develops traits of the non-asari parent. Matriarch Aethyta had a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy krogan]] father and is kind of a [[GrumpyOldMan Grumpy Old Lady]], but she ''was'' raised by both parents. Another minor asari in the second game had a batarian[[labelnote:*]]The batarians are kind of the TokenEvilTeammate of the local races, a totalitarian state that still practices slavery.[[/labelnote]] father and acts rather amoral and mercenary. Then there's Mordin's off-hand remark [[TheCastShowoff in his patter song]] that asari-vorcha offspring have dairy allergies.
137	* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'': A recurring theme in the series, Specifically in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', Raiden is contrasted with Solid Snake and his clone brothers. Whereas the Snakes are genetically altered clones of Big Boss, Raiden is a child soldier who was raised by Solidus (one of the Snakes) and then subjected into the [=S3=] Plan, a simulation program meant to train a soldier in Solid Snake's image.
138	* The idea is present in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''. Zidane decides to try to rescue Kuja at the end of the game, stating that had things turned out differently, he could have ended up like him. Both of them were created and manipulated by Garland, but Zidane was abandoned on Gaia unaware of his true heritage, while Kuja learned the truth of things and went on a mad rampage. Players of the game are left to wonder if Zidane, who lives by the motto "you don't need a reason to help people," could have ever been like Kuja, given his apparent nature.
139	-->'''Eiko''': Come on, Zidane! Why are you doing this!?
140	-->'''Zidane''': Because... Because I might've done the same thing if I were in his shoes. I probably would've fought against you guys and wreaked havoc in Gaia like he did... I know it sounds crazy... ...but I know, deep down inside, I have to do this.
141	* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': Played with during the "Saber Wars 2" event centering around Space Ishtar. The original Space Ishtar was a goddess split into two halves, her "good" and "evil" halves. These were sealed in the form of infant girls, but when Space Tokiomi found them, he decided to leave one sealed and raise the other as his daughter. The one he left sealed is stolen by an evil organization and raised to be their leader. The catch: [[spoiler:Space Tokiomi raised the ''evil'' half as his daughter, while the ''good'' half was stolen by the evil organization. This leads to some interesting characterization, as the "evil" half turns out to be a heroic individual thanks to her upbringing (with her only evil traits being a bit of greed and that she enjoys embarrassing people a little too much), while the good half tries to be an intimidating villain like her organization wants, but [[PokeThePoodle kind of sucks at it]]. Tokiomi decided to raise the evil half because he was curious if evil was inherent to her nature, and figured that if he could curb any evil tendencies, then both halves might be good in the end.]]
142	* ''VideoGame/RaveHeart'': The Draconians are known for being power-hungry darwinists and Farians are known for resorting to crime, but it's implied that these traits are due less to inherent racial attributes and more because Niredia and Kardel have very unforgiving environments, since Zazir displays none of the negative traits of Draconians despite having their DNA and the Farians of Opalius Village live peacefully with Kunians.
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Web Animation]]
146	* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' plays with this with the characters of Qrow and Raven Brawnwen, with them representing Nature and Nurture respectively. Both were raised by a tribe of bandits, and later joined regular society to study at Beacon Academy. They had been pretty obviously separated from society at large, as evidenced by the fact that Taiyang was able to trick Qrow into wearing a skirt by telling him it was a kilt.
147	** Qrow, representing Nature, eventually turned his back on the bandit tribe, and is presented as having a deeply-ingrained sense of morality, and has become a loving, if somewhat gruff and extremely blunt, uncle to Ruby and Yang. Treating them with affection, and rescuing them whenever they got out of their depth, such as when Yang put Ruby in a wagon and went looking for her mother, Raven, and nearly got herself and Ruby killed as a result, before Qrow pulled a BigDamnHeroes saved them.
148	** Raven, representing Nurture, fully embraced the tribe's [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinist]] ways. She rejoined them as soon as she could and is implied to even be their leader. She has had basically no contact with her Daughter, Yang, and has explicitly told Qrow that she will not save Yang's life again after saving her once.
149	[[/folder]]
150
151	[[folder:Web Comics]]
152	* A slightly more literal example than usual shows up in [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=933 this strip]] of ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', where Susan receives advice from a GoodAngelBadAngel pair representing her Nature and Nurture. The darker, and more distant Nurture so strongly objects to the bubbly Nature's suggestion that Susan hug Tedd, that she gags Nature to make her shut up. This was one of the clearest illustrations of how much Susan's [[DarkAndTroubledPast difficult past]] affected her.
153	[[/folder]]
154
155	[[folder:Western Animation]]
156	* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': It's left ambiguous if Goliad turned evil because she was made from the D.N.A. of WellIntentionedExtremist Princess Bubblegum, or because of Finn and Jake's rather poorly though out lessons while teaching her how to be a ruler. The show seems to go with nature [[AmbiguouslyEvil (which doesn't look good for PB)]] because Stormo, a similar creature made from [[IncorruptiblePurePureness Finn's]] D.N.A., refused to be tempted by Goliad's [[WeCanRuleTogether offer of ruling together]] and [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificed itself]] to trap the both of them in an [[SealedEvilInADuel equally matched psychic duel]].
157	* ''WesternAnimation/FairlyOddParents: WesternAnimation/SchoolsOutTheMusical'': This is Flappy Bob's conflict. He was born as a clown who wants everyone to laugh and have fun, but his life was dictated by [[FunHatingVillain the Pixies]], who raised him to be a boring businessman whose goal in life is to create a "Learnatorium" that unironically imprisons children. Timmy fails to appeal to him the first time, but Flappy Bob soon learns that the Pixies were just using him, and embraces his roots as a fun-loving clown AND as a shrewd businessman to defeat them.
158	* ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019'': The episode "[[Recap/HarleyQuinn2019S1E5BeingHarleyQuinn Being Harley Quinn]]" delves into [[Characters/HarleyQuinn2019TheCharacter Harley Quinn's]] life before becoming the Joker's henchwoman and brings into question just how much her villainy is a result of nurture. It's all but stated that young Harleen had an unhappy childhood with an extremely dysfunctional family. However, it's heavily implied her AxCrazy impulses are nature. Her attempts at playing with dolls involved a wife murdering a husband for cheating, she stalked her CelebCrush to the point legal actions needed to be taken, and she [[NoodleIncident may have]] killed a girl at her camp for spreading humiliating rumors about her. Harley believed she became a villain only because of the Joker [[spoiler:to the point she convinced herself he pushed her into the bath of chemicals when she had jumped willingly]], but towards the end of the episode, she fully realizes that she always had a choice. At most, one could interpret that the Joker only brought out her dark side to its fullest.
159	* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueAction'', Mr. Mxyzptlk wonders if Superman and Supergirl would actually turn out the same no matter where on Earth they landed, with him creating a timeline where Clark Kent landed on "Kasnia" (read: [[ComicBook/SupermanRedSon Soviet Union]]) and Linda Lee landed on Hollywood. Eventually they both realize that something is wrong, with Superman being the one to trick Mr. Mxyzptlk into saying his name backwards to cancel out all of it.
160	* This was the title of the season one finale of ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan''. It concerns the different upbringings between Peter Parker and Eddie Brock.
161	-->'''Brock:''' Our parents may have died together, but you had your precious aunt and uncle. We had no one, we've always been alone... until now.
162	* Crops up in the episode "Dragon Quest" of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', where [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicSpike Spike]] tries to learn more about being a dragon, but he learns that by nature, dragons are [[AlwaysChaoticEvil destructive and greedy]]. He then learns to embrace being raised by ponies as he has not become like them.
163	* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': [[Characters/RickAndMortyBethSmith Beth Smith]] and [[Characters/RickAndMortyRickSanchez Rick Sanchez]] get into an argument about whether or not Beth's sociopathic behavior as a child was caused by Rick's terrible parenting. Beth believes that she was acting out to get attention and while Rick admits he is a terrible parent he insists that Beth was born evil, and it is left ambiguous who is right.
164	[[/folder]]

Context Main / NatureVersusNurture