Troperville
Editing Help
Tools
Toys
|
alt title(s): Aloof Older Brother 
Byakuya Kuchiki: So aloof he won't even look at his sister.
He's smarter, stronger, faster, more talented and more refined than the shonen hero, and — just to add insult to injury — he's probably more of a Bishonen, too. His only problem seems to be moving his face out of that expression of bored, dignified disdain. And he just happens to be the elder brother of one of the main cast, which often gives them a raging inferiority complex.
Will most likely double as the Ineffectual Loner and Noble Demon, thereby running the risk of becoming an Ensemble Darkhorse. May or may not be evil, strictly speaking, but is almost guaranteed to fight against the protagonists at one point, and spout off Cryptic Conversation to prove how much better informed they are. May or may not be a Stealth Mentor. Often an integral part of an Evil Organisation.
Compare to The Minnesota Fats, who is also often an older brother, and Big Brother Mentor, where the brother is more open as well as a leader. A subtrope of The Stoic.
Examples
Anime and Manga
- In Angel Sanctuary Michael's Aloof Big Brother is Lucifer. Though most if this is told in the backstory and we only get to see the aftereffects.
- The ur-example would be Raoh, Kenshiro's older brother from Fist Of The North Star. He was even the Big Bad for most of the series, but eventually did a Heel Face Turn.
- Hyoh, Kenshiro's actual elder brother from the Sequel Series, is a bit of a subversion. While a strong fighter by his own right, he is actually stated to be weaker than both, Kenshiro and his former training partner Kaioh (who just happens to be Raoh's true elder brother).
- Itachi Uchiha from Naruto. Kishimoto probably read the page and designed him to match it rather perfectly.
- Neji Hyuga starts out as an Aloof Older Cousin of Hinata's, but has a Heel Face Turn. Hinata even addresses him as she would an older brother (appending "-nii-san" to his name).
- Genetically speaking, the children of identical twins are half-siblings, so addressing each other as brother and sister is technically correct in their case.
- Ibiki Morino is shown to be one toward his significantly younger brother Idate Morino in the Land of Tea filler arc, whom he believes fails to understand trusting and helping other people enough to be a ninja.
- And Kakashi provides a fairly good example as well, which makes his breakdown as Obito dies such a Tear Jerker. Except he is, you know, not his brother.
- After the Time Skip, Sasuke's relationship with Naruto is...kind of like this. Sasuke is a morally ambiguous Ineffectual Loner who won't time of day to Naruto, who wants to save him from his life of loneliness and bring him home. Sasuke gives Naruto a raging inferiority complex, which motivates him to get stronger. And Sasuke's even a part of an Evil Organization now! So Yeah.
- Sesshoumaru from Inu Yasha.
- Kuchiki Byakuya from Bleach, pictured above, because of a certain Pillars Of Moral Character situation (That line under his picture is not an exaggeration. He did not, at any point, look directly at his sister until the end of the Soul Society arc). He becomes noticeably less aloof after being just barely beaten by Ichigo and understanding that rules can occasionally be broken to protect the ones you love.
- Ulquiorra Schiffer who also treats Ichigo in much the same manner as Byakuya. Not only beating the living shit out of him on the first encounter, but also ends up getting his ass handed to him by his Superpowered Evil Side that recently Took A Level In Badass.
- Leonard Testarossa from Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid, though more expressive than most.
- Touga Kiryuu from Revolutionary Girl Utena.
- Seto Kaiba from Yu-Gi-Oh. Ryo Marufuji of Yu-Gi-Oh GX as well; in fact, Judai thought at some point that he was abusive to Sho.
- Though in Seto's defense he's aloof to everybody except his brother.
- Aoyagi Seimei from Loveless.
- Ralph Werec from Soukou No Strain was also the Big Bad.
- Tsubasa Ohgami (to Sohma) from Kannazuki No Miko.
- Aoshi Shinomori (to Makimachi Misao) from Rurouni Kenshin.
- Thanks to his sister Sayu, Light Yagami can be considered one, since he is too busy killing criminals to help her do her homework.
- Zechs Marquise (a.k.a. Milliardo Peacecraft) from Gundam Wing is so aloof that he concealed his identity completely from his sister Relena even as he maneuvered events to push her into accepting their family's legacy. She eventually learns of their relationship from his love interest, Lt. Noin, rather than from him directly.
- Except Relena is rather useless and therefore it's easy to surpass her. Also he is not so much aloof but rather a loner among other things.
- Tiger from Monster Rancher is a particularly tragic example as he’s one of the primary good guys, a tough, experienced bandit attempting to rescue his kidnapped younger brother Greywolf. Over the course of the series flashbacks reveal that they had exactly this kind of relationship, and though Tiger’s intentions were good (Well... he thought his brother was a wimp and tried to beat it out of him) he finds to his horror that Greywolf has joined the bad guys, pretty much for the sole purpose of being able to beat the shit out of his arrogant, aloof older brother.
- This is made worse by the fact that Greywolf has indeed got stronger, to the point where Tiger is forced to go for a fatal blow in order to win the fight. A grinning Greywolf notes that it’s ‘typical of him’ before slumping to the ground, leaving Tiger standing over the body of the very reason he joined the fight in the first place. Interestingly Tiger makes a point of not angsting overly about this however, considering his brother to have died bravely.
- Kurama from Yu Yu Hakusho. Hiei from the same show could also be seen as an example, though his sibling is Yukina and he cares a lot about her.
- Shizuru Kuwabara would qualify as an Aloof Big Sister.
- Yue from Cardcaptor Sakura.
- Ryō Kanzato from Persona -Trinity Soul-.
- Kekkaishi's Masamori.
- Reito is Mikoto's Aloof Big Brother in Mai-HiME, although she doesn't know it's him for a good while.
- Matt/Yamato from Digimon Adventure is an odd example of the trope, as he seems to try to be more typical of it, but gets flustered and angry so easily that he may as well kiss the "Aloof" part (which he pulls more from being a loner) good-bye.
- This trope perfectly describes Neeba of The Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk, who plays the literal Aloof Big Brother to Idiot Hero Jil.
- Pride from the Fullmetal Alchemist manga, the oldest of the Homonculi siblings, and always willing to tell his brothers how much they screwed up.
- He's also willing to eat them as well.
- Reiji aka Reggie from Pokemon
averts inverts this by being a hell of a lot nicer than his ruthless younger brother, local Jerk Ass Shinji aka Paul.
- Johan from Monster could be seen as a subverted example of an Aloof Big Brother (not only to his twin sister Nina) as he is indeed an aloof older brother to a main character that happens to be a Bishonen with a perpetually bored, dignified expression. Subverted in that his aloofness stems from an extreme intelligence and more importantly, complete and utter sociopathy with a habit of manipulating, corrupting and killing nearly everyone he encounters, and his bored, dignified expression is simply the very definition of Dissonant Serenity.
- Lelouch vi Britannia of Code Geass is initially an aversion, being warm and caring towards his little sister Nunnaly, but later on he dons a cold Jerkass Facade for the sake of world peace. Poor Nunnally only learns his motives when he's dying.
- For bonus points, Lelouch himself has an even more aloof older brother, Schneizel.
- And for the grand prize, both Lelouch and Schneizel are the way they are thanks to the machinations of their aloof father.
- A little off since he IS the main character and very caring for his sister. He might be aloof towards others but (almost) never towards Nunnally.
- Cicada from Last Exile, Maestro Delphine's Dragon and Battle Butler, arguably fulfills this in regards to Luciola, the Battle Butler to Delphine's younger brother Dio. However, they look nothing alike, are only revealed to be brothers in a throwaway line by Delphine, and are only seen onscreen together when Luciola kills him to get to Delphine and save Dio.
- Although he's shown to be a loving big brother in flashbacks, Folken Fanel from Vision Of Escaflowne is the typical Aloof Big Brother by the time the series begin, due to trauma and bitterness. And when he drops the act, it's Redemption Equals Death time
- Played with surprisingly well and dramatically (considering the series) in G Gundam. It seems Kyouji Kasshu is a textbook and VERY cruel version of this... but by the end of the series we see that he never truly was. His original personality was closer to a Big Brother Mentor, but he was forcefully turned into an Aloof Big Brother Big Bad due to the brainwashing given to him by the Devil Gundam and its DG Cells. He still uses his last bits of strength and sanity to create a clone of himself with some more DG Cells and the dead body of the original Schwarz Bruder (whom the Devil Gundam fought and killed); said clone becomes Domon's Big Brother Mentor, the second Schwarz Bruder.
- Kurei from Flame Of Recca is Recca's EXTREMELY Aloof Big Brother (well, half-brother), which very much stems from the bad past he has gone through, and getting on the wrong person to raise him.
- Subverted to hell and back by Clari Net of Violinist Of Hameln. In his introduction he's set up to be this type of character—bishounen (ridiculously so), glasses, Bad Ass, haughty, serious, et cetera—and it becomes plucky lad Trom Bone's great ambition to earn Clari's respect. However... then we're introduced to Clari's actual little sister. To say that he fawns over her is a gross understatement. The other characters are left gobsmacked and so is the audience.
- Neeba from The Tower Of Druaga is a textbook example.
- Racer X and Speed Racer.
- Fruits Basket: Ayame's Back Story is how he treated Yuki like this, as he was ten years older and Yuki was very sick while a child. His current wish to help and support Yuki is, he admits, trying to make up for it.
- Ray Langren in Gun X Sword, ever since his wife was murdered by the Claw.
- As of the 2008 Dragon Ball OVA special, Vegeta can be considered one.
- Hachimaki in ((Planetes)) is one of these to his brother.
- Tomohiko Yamada from Satou Kashi No Dangan Wa Uchinukenai. Despite (or because of) his reclusive tendencies, his family describes him as having: "no need to work, no need to live precariously. You can survive by watching, thinking, and speaking of what you are interested in... it's as though we are secretly rearing a beautiful creature."
Comic Books
- When the tension between them is portrayed from Alex Summers/Havok's point of view, his brother Scott aka Cyclops fits this role to a tee; however, since Cyclops is a much more prominent member of the X-Men, Havok usually comes off looking more like his Annoying Younger Sibling instead.
- Thor was portrayed this way in the Loki miniseries, in marked contrast to his Silver Age portrayal, wherein he couldn't see all of Loki's flaws through his Big Brother Complex.
- Darkdevil to Spider Girl, his cousin-slash-genetic half sister. They have a complicated family tree.
Film
Literature
Live Action TV
- Nathan Petrelli in Heroes.
- Alexis/Alex Meade qualifies as such in Ugly Betty. Before her transition was stablished to be smarter, better looking and more succesful than her brother Daniel, making him feel inferior. Also she acted acted against her father and brother in season one.
- Monk's brother is smarter, better at spotting small details, and more eccentric.
Theater
Video Games
- Sho from Battle Arena Toshinden. He was playing the mentor roll on his younger brother,but then left suddenly. Now he "Goes where the Wind Blows."
- Moritsune from Shinobi.
- Vergil from the Devil May Cry series fits this trope to a tee despite being Dante's twin brother.
- Justified as Vergil is the elder twin.
- Elzam V. Branstein in Super Robot Wars Original Generation.
- That's a bit of a subversion. Elzam puts on an aloof facade as part of the act his whole Necessary Evil facade his organization is portraying. After he drops it he turns out be quite kind and friendly if a bit Stoic.
- Also, Folka Albark is like this towards Fernando Albark. And on the other hand, Altis Tarl is the Aloof Big Brother for Folka.
- With how things goes, it is possible that this trope is now subverted by Axel Almer towards Lamia Loveless. At one point, he mentioned that she never beat him in any sparring matches, and pretty much an all around more efficient soldier in battle, having been around in the Shadow Mirror way longer than she was ever (thus more experience). Then he saved her from certain death, and as things goes, they're now the only remains from the Shadow Mirror. He may not be her brother, but he pretty much fills in the 'Aloof' part to a tee, thus Axel can be considered Lamia's Aloof Senior Captain
- Protoman/Blues in his original Mega Man incarnation.
- Despite no longer being brothers, Blues/Protoman.exe and his operator fill this role in the Megaman Battle Network games, arguably more then the original.
- Dauragon C. Mikato from The Bouncer.
- Kratos from Tales Of Symphonia fits this trope to a tee in regards to Lloyd, despite not being his older brother - their relationship eventually evolving into a wholly different type of familial conflict as the truth comes out.
- Adelheid Bernstein from The King of Fighters, as a contrast to his sister Rose, who does all the talking for him.
- Sephiroth from FFVII certainly has the personality, although much more evil than most, but it's easy to forget that he started off as a legendary war hero and role model for Cloud (and Zack). We'll be seeing more of this side of him in Crisis Core.
- Riku from Kingdom Hearts 2 could be seen as a more expressive example.
- Lloyd from Legend of Dragoon.
- Magus from Chrono Trigger, despite the fact that he is, ironically, a younger brother to an important character of the series.
- Asch and Van from Tales Of The Abyss are both prime examples of this trope; Van is Tear's older brother and Asch is the template Luke was cloned from.
- Lord Uther of Ostia from Fire Emblem 7 is slightly like that towards his Hot Blooded brother Hector.
- Jin of Xenosaga is like this to Shion, though it turns out that he does care a lot about Shion— He just feels that he has to keep his distance.
- Mother 3. Claus starts off as the energetic brother (while Lucas, the main character, is the shy and coddled one), but eventually becomes the Aloof Big Brother after he is killed by the Mecha-Drago trying to avenge their mother's death. His body is found by Pigmasks and (because of his ability to use PK Love) he is mechanically altered into becoming a silent, ruthless servant to the Pig King.
Webcomics
Western Animation
|
|
