History Main / SelfMadeMan

* The Kingpin is sometimes shown as coming from a poor family in a rough neighbourhood, though that fits for a career criminal.

* ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'': This is the defining positive attribute of Scrooge [=McDuck=], as established by his creator, ''Creator/CarlBarks'': he may be an incredible miser, but he started at the bottom as a shoeshine boy on the streets of Glasgow and worked his way up to become the richest duck in the world through years of struggle, toil and bold adventure, all whilst adhering to a personal creed of being tough-but-fair in his dealings. Thus, he's not just a skinflint, but somebody who actively appreciates what it means to ''work'' for what he has, and who believes others should do the same. He even [[LampshadeHanging acknowledges this fact]] with his favorite saying about himself:

** The Creator/CarlBarks one-shot ''Somethin' Fishy Here'' (remade as ''Something Fishy'') has Scrooge start over and rebuild a small fortune in a single day after being convinced that paper money was now worthless and the economy was being switched over to using ''fish'' as currency instead. It MakesSenseInContext.
** It bears mentioning that this trait is subject to DependingOnTheWriter, especially in European countries that tend to play Scrooge up as a villain. Even in Barks' works, there is an infamous story in which Scrooge is shown to have once behaved like a ruthless robber baron in his past. AscendedFanboy ''[[Creator/DonRosa Keno Dono Rosa]]'' squared this off by depicting that event as [[DarkestHour the culmination of years of Scrooge losing sight of his morals]], and something that formed an almost permanent wedge between Scrooge and the rest of his family when he [[IgnoredEpiphany chose at the last moment to focus on his wealth than on making amends with his revolted siblings]].
** Scrooge's EvilCounterpart Flintheart Glomgold zigzags the trope. Like Scrooge, he also started out from humble beginnings... but ''he'' rose to wealth and power by [[TheUnfettered lying, cheating, stealing, swindling and dirty-dealing]].

* [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]] (DC Comics) and [[Characters/MarvelComicsTheKingpin The Kingpin]] (Marvel) are sometimes shown as coming from poor families in rough neighbourhoods; the Kingpin especially, though that fits for a career criminal.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': An interesting variation occurs with the Green Goblin. While ComicBook/NormanOsborn's family was initially very wealthy, Norman's incompetent, abusive father nearly wiped out the family fortune, until Norman founded Osborn Industries and rebuilt the family wealth from the ground up.

** Seto Kaiba stole his adoptive father's company from him, then rebuilt it from the ground up, leaving his own stamp on it. Regrettably, he just about broke himself in the process, becoming nearly as bad as his father. If what his father says is to be believed, he too was an example of this.

* Referenced with an old Tim Horton's commercial. An old man is speaking to his grandson (or perhaps great-grandson), saying that when he came to [[CanadaEh Canada]] he had only two dollars, but by working hard and saving his money, he was able to provide for his family, and now things were good for them. In turn, he gives his descendant two dollars, to use to make his family proud. Subverted when the child promptly buys a 20-pack of Timbits, though of course, the grandfather is not disappointed with the gift of pastries.

** [[Characters/GravityFallsGrunkleStan Grunkle Stan]] had been kicked out of the house by his father for [[spoiler: accidentally sabotaging his brother's chances of getting into a top university]] with only a car and a bag of clothes to his name. He was pretty much on the verge of poverty until [[spoiler: Ford finally contacted him. After Ford's disappearance]] Grunkle Stan rebuilt his lab and turned it into the Mystery Shack, a moderately successful tourist trap.

[[caption-width-right:300:He made it by being smarter than the smarties and tougher than the toughies, and he made it square!]]

* ''ComicBook/IronMan'': Though Tony Stark was born into wealth, it's been taken from him multiple times, causing him to build it back up by himself every time, the most notable being when Stane took his entire company from him and Stark built a new one from the ground up. However, he did retain his education and decades of business experience and contacts.

* ComicBook/LexLuthor (DC Comics) and ComicBook/TheKingpin (Marvel) are sometimes shown as coming from poor families in rough neighbourhoods; the Kingpin especially, though that fits for a career criminal.

** Grunkle Stan had been kicked out of the house by his father for [[spoiler: accidentally sabotaging his brother's chances of getting into a top university]] with only a car and a bag of clothes to his name. He was pretty much on the verge of poverty until [[spoiler: Ford finally contacted him. After Ford's disappearance]] Grunkle Stan rebuilt his lab and turned it into the Mystery Shack, a moderately successful tourist trap.
** [[spoiler: Ford, while only being able to attend a third rate school, was able to complete his [=PhD=] and get a research grant. ''Three years ahead of time'']].

** EccentricMillionaire Varrick was a poor seal hunter's son who built up a global shipping business from a single canoe.

* Rarity from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is one of these. From what we get from her [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E5SisterhoovesSocial parents]], she didn't exactly grow up wealthy and refined. She got that way by working hard to improve her skills (she made [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E14SuitedForSuccess five elaborate costumes]] using a sewing machine at the pony equivalent of 11 or 12), getting her own shop in Ponyville, and now sells clothes across all of Equestria. It isn't until Season 6 that she starts opening other stores and even then she helps start them up.

** Parodied with Mr. Burns, who declares himself a self-made man, but Mr. Smithers responds by pointing out that Monty inherited his money. When Burns glares at him, he hastily adds, "NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat." Of course, since Burns wrote on a medical form that the "Cause of Parents' Deaths" was "Got in my way", he [[SelfMadeOrphan still counts]]. He apparently had many older siblings who all died under "unfortunate" circumstances, mostly poisoned potatoes, leaving him the sole heir. He did, however, gain his entire fortune back in the course of one episode after it was taken away from him. He did this, of course, by recycling, which he still managed to make evil.

* Eugene Krabs, of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' fame, was born poor, but thanks to the power of the Krabby Patty now owns a relatively small, but very profitable, restaurant in the Krusty Krab, which he converted from a failing retirement home originally named the ''Rusty'' Krab. His impoverished background partially explains his MoneyFetish.

* Surprisingly relevant in the role-playing game ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}''. The setting of Alpha Complex is a grinding dystopia, but it has no hereditary aristocracy (due to having no hereditary ' anything'' in a society made up of ExpendableClones); even the most powerful of Ultraviolet High Programmers started his/her existence as an anonymous drugged-up Infrared drone. On the other hand, they probably reached their current position not by being a good programmer or even a good citizen, but via lying, bootlicking, bribery, blackmail and backstabbing treachery.

[[quoteright:330:[[ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/selfmade_duck.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:330:[[ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck Young Scrooge McDuck]] sets the record straight with [[AmoralAfrikaner Flintheart Glomgold]].]]

-->--''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E15OhBrotherWhereArtThou O Brother, Where Art Thou?]]"

* Franchise/{{Batman}}'s ancestor Solomon Wayne. He arrived in Gotham with nothing but a law degree and a Bible and worked as a judge. He then started a number of businesses and quickly became the wealthiest person in town. Down the line, that money became the now enormous Wayne fortune.
* In ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'', this is the defining positive attribute of Scrooge [=McDuck=], as established by his creator, ''Creator/CarlBarks'': he may be an incredible miser, but he started at the bottom as a shoeshine boy on the streets of Glasgow and worked his way up to become the richest duck in the world through years of struggle, toil and bold adventure, all whilst adhering to a personal creed of being tough-but-fair in his dealings. Thus, he's not just a skinflint, but somebody who actively appreciates what it means to ''work'' for what he has, and who believes others should do the same. He even [[LampshadeHanging acknowledges this fact]] with his favorite saying about himself:

* In ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'', [[PresidentEvil Martin]] [[TheStarscream Sinfield]] is proud of the fact that he wasn't cloned or fast-tracked to the top, but instead worked his way up from the bottom. The fraud, bribery, and criminality were completely for the good of the city. Absolutely.

* In the ''ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse'' story "Once Upon a Time in America", this is revealed to be true of many of Mickey's ancestors, who, for whatever reason, abandon the wealth left them by their ancestors only to become wealthy on their own efforts. The best example is Mickey's own father, who had lost his wealth due a scam and, after loaning some money from his future wife, became one of the richest men in America (he later sold his economic empire when he realized that he had become a jerk and almost a villain, and gave most of his money to charity during TheGreatDepression).
* ComicBook/MoonKnight was a knight of fortune that uses the bottomless pit of blood money he earned over the years as mercenary to protect the travellers of the night. He is also a successful treasure hunter, as the treasures of Khonshu now belongs to him.
* An interesting variation occurs with the Green Goblin, Franchise/SpiderMan's archenemy. While ComicBook/NormanOsborn's family was initially very wealthy, Norman's incompetent, abusive father nearly wiped out the family fortune, until Norman founded Osborn Industries and rebuilt the family wealth from the ground up.
* Ozymandias from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' gave away all his money to charity at a young age to prove that he could get to the top without any help. Being the smartest man on Earth with a drive to match, he pulled it off, becoming both a superhero and super-wealthy.

* Surprisingly relevant in the role-playing game ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}''. The setting of Alpha Complex is a grinding dystopia, but it has no hereditary aristocracy (due to having [[CloningBlues no hereditary]] ''[[CloningBlues anything]]''); even the most powerful of Ultraviolet High Programmers started his/her existence as an anonymous drugged-up Infrared drone. On the other hand, they probably reached their current position not by being a good programmer or even a good citizen, but via lying, bootlicking, bribery, blackmail and backstabbing treachery.

[[caption-width-right:330:[[ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck Young Scrooge McDuck]] sets the record straight with [[Amoral Afrikaner Flintheart Glomgold]] .]]

[[caption-width-right:330:[[ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck Young Scrooge McDuck]] sets the record straight with [[Amoral Afrikaner Flintheart Glomgold]].]]

[[caption-width-right:330:[[ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck Young Scrooge McDuck]] sets the record straight with Flintheart Glomgold.]]

->''"A self-made man, who worships his creator."''
-->-- '''John Bright''' on '''UsefulNotes/BenjaminDisraeli''' (and many other people on many other people)

[[quoteright:355:[[ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SelfMadeDuck.JPG]]]]
[[caption-width-right:355:[[ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck Young Scrooge McDuck]] sets the record straight with Flintheart Glomgold.]]

* Xanatos in ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' likes to call himself a self-made man, but does [[WriteBackToTheFuture abusing a time trip and leaving himself a note]] really count as "self-made?" It does when it's a ''self-made'' [[StableTimeLoop causality loop]]. He turned a tenth-century coin that he sold for $20,000 into a multi-billion dollar company all on his own. He could have sent back future financial information on stock, commodity, real estate, and currency markets, but that would be too easy. Xanatos sent himself a coin ''that he earned for services rendered in the past'', maximizing his bragging rights. [[MagnificentBastard That's just how he rolls]]. He drags his father into the loop [[WellDoneSonGuy specifically because he wants to prove to him]] that he's a Self-Made Man. His dad isn't impressed and gives him a penny as a wedding present.

* Surprisingly relevant in the role-playing game ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}''; the setting of Alpha Complex is a grinding dystopia, but it has no heredity aristocracy, and even the most powerful of Ultraviolet High Programmers started his/her existence as an anonymous drugged-up Infrared drone. On the other hand, they probably reached their current position not by being a good programmer, but via lying, bootlicking, bribery, blackmail and backstabbing treachery.

* ''Fanfic/TwentyFiveMDistanceBetweenUs'': Pauline grew up poor with Italian ImmigrantParents in New Donk City. She began working as a showgirl but dreamed of more, so she eventually worked her way up the political ladder until she became mayor of NDC.
* ''Fanfic/DaughterOfFireAndSteel'': Lex Luthor founded Lex Corp on his own when he was just 19 years old.

[[folder:Film]]

* This is the backstory of the Rivera family in ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}''; After Imelda's husband abandoned her ([[spoiler:or so everybody thought]]), she taught herself shoemaking in order to support herself and her young daughter. The family business has been successful enough to support her living descendants for four generations and counting. Ernesto De La Cruz also came from humble origins and became rich and famous thanks to his songs. [[spoiler:It turns out he actually [[PlagiarismInFiction stole the songs]] from Imelda's husband Héctor and killed him.]]