Line #17 PlayingWith/MiddleChildSyndrome


1	'''Basic Trope''': The middle child is favoured the least.
2	* '''Straight''': AliceAndBob have three children from the oldest: Charlie, Daniel and Ethan. Daniel gets the least attention.
3	* '''Exaggerated''':
4	** Alice and Bob have seven children from the oldest: Charlie, Daniel, Ethan, [[UnfortunateNames Flower]], Gerald, Hillary and Igor. Flower gets the least attention and even receives AllOfTheOtherReindeer treatment from her ''entire'' family.
5	** Same as above, except ''only'' Charlie and Igor get attention. (Igor could be a MagicalSeventhSon.)
6	** Alice and Bob have [[MassiveNumberedSiblings many children]]. The one ''right in the middle of the birth order'' is completely neglected.
7	* '''Downplayed''': Alice and Bob have three children from the oldest: Charlie, Daniel and Ethan. They treat them with love and care; just that Charlie and Ethan get more attention than Daniel.
8	* '''Justified''':
9	** As the oldest, Charlie will be taking on Bob's legacy. As the youngest, Ethan gets to be pampered and babied. Daniel is neither, so naturally, he is neglected the most.
10	** Daniel is [[RidiculouslyAverageGuy average]] but Charlie and Ethan have some combination of:\
11	A) Charlie and Ethan have learning difficulties.\
12	B) Charlie and Ethan are physically disabled.\
13	C) One of each.\
14	D) Some other combination that logically results in a necessity of parental attention skewed away from Daniel.\
15	It's not unfairness -- just a fact of life.
16	* '''Inverted''': Daniel is pampered and supported the most, while Charlie and Ethan are neglected.
17	* '''Subverted''': Daniel complains about this and the counselor confronts his parents about it. Alice and Bob claim otherwise.
18	* '''Double Subverted''': Because as far as they're concerned, they only have two children.
19	* '''Parodied''': Daniel is ''one minute'' younger than Charlie or one minute older than Ethan (as the older/younger sibling of a pair of twins), and yet is still neglected the most.
20	* '''Zig-Zagged''': Alice and Bob have seven children from the oldest: Charlie, Daniel, Ethan, Flower, Gerald, Hillary and Igor. Charlie, Flower, and Igor get attention, while the other four are neglected.
21	* '''Averted''':
22	** All three children are treated equally; that is, they are all either supported or neglected.
23	** No characters have more than one sibling.
24	* '''Enforced''': The middle child is the main/viewpoint character and it's [[RuleOfDrama more dramatic]] and/or [[RuleOfFunny funnier]] if he's [[TheWoobie the fall guy]].
25	* '''Lampshaded''': "Sometimes I like being the middle child. I can get away with stuff."
26	* '''Invoked''': Daniel makes an effort not to draw attention to himself.
27	* '''Exploited''': Daniel misbehaves behind Alice and Bob's back, knowing they wouldn't care about what he is doing anyway.
28	* '''Defied''':
29	** Alice and Bob both make sure to treat all of their children equally.
30	** Charlie picks up on the lack of attention to Daniel after Ethan is born, and BigBrotherInstinct drives him to call it out before it becomes a problem.
31	* '''Discussed''': "No, my parents don't abuse or neglect me just become I'm the second child of three! What a silly notion."
32	* '''Conversed''': "There they go again, leaving Daniel out because he's the middle child."
33	* '''Implied''': Alice and Bob are shown buying toys and candy for Charlie and Ethan, but never for Daniel.
34	* '''Deconstructed''': Daniel gets short shrift growing up, which gives him serious psychological issues later in life.
35	* '''Reconstructed''':
36	** Daniel has a heart-to-heart with his parents and they make it up to him.
37	** As the next generation of parents, Daniel's experiences teach him how to avoid this mentality once he becomes a father.
38	* '''Played for Laughs''': Alice tells a friend, "We're a pretty normal family of four -- I mean, five."
39	* '''Played for Drama''': Daniel dies of neglect, while Alice and Bob [[KarmaHoudini aren't arrested]] because they (supposedly) didn't know he existed. [[note]] [[SincerityMode It is actually possible for a baby to die from being severely neglected.]] [[/note]]
40	----
41	Back to MiddleChildSyndrome, and... wait, where's Daniel?
42	----
43	%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:

Context PlayingWith / MiddleChildSyndrome