History Main / TopWife

* ''ComicBook/XMen'': In ''ComicBook/XTremeXMen'', the alien overlord Khan has an harem of concubines from all the worlds he had conquered and when he sets his sights on Earth, he [[VillainousCrush falls in love]] with ComicBook/{{Storm}} so much that he intends to make her his queen. Though Storm seemingly goes along with this (she is actually trying to undermine Khan's invasion from within), his other brides don't take kindly to this - since Khan shared them equally without playing favorites - and [[MurderTheHypotenuse try to assassinate her]].

->'''Maou:''' I'll take the bed, and you take the floor. \\
'''Knight:''' And Hero? \\
'''Maou:''' The bed, of course. \\

* ''Literature/Overlord2012'': Albedo and Shalltear are competing over who will become Momonga/Ainz's "legal wife" since it's only natural for an EvilOverlord to have multiple wives. Never mind that Ainz is an animated skeleton who wouldn't be ''able'' to sleep with them, not to mention that as the NPCs created by his friends, he thinks of them as their children.

** Zoroastrians, most unreformed pagans, tribal Christians, and followers of the Indian religions can take three concubines in addition to their wife; the concubines don't compete with each other or with the wife, but they can be set aside at any time and their children face minor social stigma.

* ''Literature/Overlord2012'': Albedo and Shalltear are competing over who will become Momonga/Ainz's "legal wife" since it's only natural for an EvilOverlord to have multiple wives.

* ''[[Franchise/XMen X-Treme X-Men]]'': The alien overlord Khan has an harem of concubines from all the worlds he had conquered and when he sets his sights on Earth, he [[VillainousCrush falls in love]] with ComicBook/{{Storm}} so much that he intends to make her his queen. Though Storm seemingly goes along with this (she is actually trying to undermine Khan's invasion from within), his other brides don't take kindly to this - since Khan shared them equally without playing favorites - and [[MurderTheHypotenuse try to assassinate her]].

In [[{{polyamory}} polygamous]] cultures, it's common to see one spouse ([[AlwaysFemale usually a wife]]) emerge as the leader and/or "favorite" of all others. In some societies, this status is automatically bestowed upon the first spouse or the spouse which conceives the first heir. In others, it's determined by who yields the most influence or holds the most sway over the shared spouse. And in still others, it's the spouse with the highest social status who gets to hold the highest rank.

* ''Videogame/{{Catherine}}'': In the "True Chaos Ending", Vincent decides to marry the succubus Catherine and travel with her back to the underworld. In TheStinger, we see that Vincent has [[HellHasNewManagement conquered the entire underworld]], with Catherine as his queen and several [[SuccubiAndIncubi succubi]] as his concubines. Catherine is the only one who shares his throne.

* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': This trope is in effect in the Murgo royal court. Urgit's mother doesn't mind at all that Silk killed Taur Urgas' eldest son, because he was the son of the "first wife" (who used to boast that she would have her son order the execution of all the lesser wives as soon as he took the throne). Later in the ''Malloreon'', when the marriage arrangements between Urgit and Prala are being arranged, one line in the contract states that Prala will have the permanent rank of most favored wife.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'': It's plot point that King Garon had many concubines due to having taken the MarryThemAll route, but also a legitimate wife. The first one, Katerina, was adored by the concubines. She died and got replaced by Arete, who was viewed as a ReplacementScrappy and greatly disliked.

* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': The 2-part episode "Stan of Arabia" has Stan defect from the USA and convert to Islam, whereupon he takes a second wife for himself whom he nicknames "Thundercat." Thundercat makes it very clear that she plans to usurp Francine's position as "#1 wife", and does as much as she can to butter up Stan while undermining Francine. At one point, Stan starts a "point system" to needle Francine.

* ''LightNovel/HybridXHeartMagiasAcademyAtaraxia'': [[ZigZaggingTrope Zigzagged]]. While Aine is [[OfficialCouple canonically acknowledged]] as Kizuna's favorite among the [[BattleHarem Hybrid Heart Gears]], her position seems tenuous to her and the fandom, because the one he spends most of his time with is [[spoiler: ''[[BrotherSisterIncest his big sister]]'', Reiri]]. Which causes Aine and the rest of the harem to complain that [[spoiler: Reiri]] is monopolizing Kizuna, because he has a responsibility to perform [[DeusSexMachina Climax Hybrid]] sessions ''with them'' too.

* ''LightNovel/InAnotherWorldWithMySmartphone'': Invoked trope by Yumina, the first girl to propose to Touya. When she learns that the other girls in their group love Touya, she's happy about it and [[HaremSeeker deliberately makes arrangements]] for all of them to become brides. When Touya does indeed MarryThemAll later, Yumina become the chairman of the "Bride Conference". Furthermore, Yumina becomes [[NotSoAboveItAll absolutely livid]] when another girl steals Touya's SacredFirstKiss, shouting "Even ''I'' haven't done that!", and all of the girls still compete for Touya's immediate attention in more light-hearted fashion. Further, Yumina later tells Touya that she doesn't care if he has a handful or dozens of concubines--but he had better take care of and love all of them.
* ''LightNovel/IsekaiCheatMagician'': Discussed early in the series, when Sumella [[AllAmazonsWantHercules is defeated by Taichi]] and immediately proposes that he take her as his wife. She also states that if he is spoken for, then she would gladly accept the position of concubine, but still wants at least three children out of him.

* ''LightNovel/{{Kanokon}}'': The end of the series establishes [[spoiler:Chizuru as the OfficialCouple and girl that will marry Kouta. TheStinger, however, has Nozomu return and state that she'll settle for being TheMistress and Chizuru agrees to it.]]

* ''LightNovel/TheMasterOfRagnarokAndBlesserOfEinherjar'': Yuuto eventually brings Mitsuki back to Yggdrasil with him, but states he'll only do so if she marries him. She does. Later, the other women in his harem all becomes his concubines, but Mitsuki remains his number one and also bears his first child.

* ''Literature/TheJoyLuckClub'': An-Mei's mother was raped and forced to marry a wealthy man, becoming his fourth wife. In that household, An-Mei observes that it's actually the second wife who has sway because she's the one who bore the husband a son. Eventually it's revealed that the son is actually An-Mei's half-brother and, after their mother's suicide, the husband is shamed into raising An-Mei and his son with the honor accorded to the children of a first wife. The second wife, meanwhile, loses her status within the family and is reported to have aged quickly afterwards.

* ''LightNovel/TheMasterOfRagnarokAndBlesserOfEinherjar'': Yuuto eventually brings Mitsuki back to Yggdrasil with him, but states he'll only do so if she marries him. [[TheyDo She does.]] Later, the other women in his harem all becomes his concubines, but Mitsuki remains his number one and also bears his first child.

* ''Literature/JoyLuckClub'': An-Mei's mother was raped and forced to marry a wealthy man, becoming his fourth wife. In that household, An-Mei observes that it's actually the second wife who has sway because she's the one who bore the husband a son. Eventually it's revealed that the son is actually An-Mei's half-brother and, after their mother's suicide, the husband is shamed into raising An-Mei and his son with the honor accorded to the children of a first wife. The second wife, meanwhile, loses her status within the family and is reported to have aged quickly afterwards.

* ''Videogame/{{Catherine}}'': Pictured is the "True Chaos Ending", in which Vincent decides to marry the succubus Catherine and travel with her back to the underworld. In TheStinger, we see that Vincent has [[HellHasNewManagement conquered the entire underworld]], with Catherine as his queen and several [[SuccubiAndIncubi succubi]] as his concubines. Catherine is the only one who shares his throne.

* In ''Fanfic/IzukusProHeroHaremLife'', for as large as their [[HaremGenre pool of lovers gets]], Ochako makes it abundantly clear that she's not willing to compromise on the position of being Izuku's "favorite" even though he comes to feel an equal amount of adoration for all the girls the more he spends time with them. She also manages to hold the most sway over him of all the harem members and will convene with him most often on whatever decisions need to be made. And then there's how the harem is also [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer just as much hers as it is his]]. [[TheRival Rumi]] tries to steal the position from her often, but [[RunningGag never with any success]].

->'''Maou''': I'll take the bed, and you take the floor. \\
'''Knight''': And Hero? \\
'''Maou''': The bed, of course. \\
'''Knight''': That's not even remotely fair!

* ''LightNovel/{{Campione}}'': Erica sees it as a ForegoneConclusion that she and Godou are destined to be together, and early on tells him that she doesn't mind him having ''one'' mistress and ''only'' one. Unfortunately for her, Godou turns out to be a ChickMagnet. Further, as his harem grows and the girls compete over who will become Godou's "legal wife" (especially since Godou has never stated he intends to romance all of them--or, in fact, ''any'' of them), Erica begins to lose some of her confidence and questions if a harem is a good idea. She does feel better about it again, later.

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'':

* ''LightNovel/Overlord2012'': Albedo and Shalltear are competing over who will become Momonga/Ainz's "legal wife" since it's only natural for an EvilOverlord to have multiple wives.

* ''LightNovel/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'': Once all the principal love interests are established, the women reluctantly resign themselves to the fact that they must share Lux between each other. That doesn't mean they don't want to be his favorite, or seek to gain some sort of advantage/claim over the other (such as Lux being their fiance, knight, master, etc.).

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* ''Literature/HowARealistHeroRebuiltTheKingdom'': Liscia Elfrieden is Souma's first love, one of his closest confidants, eventually the mother of his heir, and an accomplished warrior and competent administrator. As the Crown Princess of Elfrieden, she's also the highest of his wives in social rank [[spoiler:until Maria Euphoria]] and the source of his legitimacy as king. As a result, she claims the title of first primary queen, as well as veto power over further marriages. None of his other wives contest her on this, viewing her as somewhat of a big sister. She's also the one who put the hard limit on Souma having no more than eight wives.

* ''Literature/HowARealistHeroRebuiltTheKingdom'': Liscia Elfrieden is Souma's first love, one of his closest confidants, eventually the mother of his heir, and an accomplished warrior and competent administrator. As the Crown Princess of Elfrieden, she's also the highest of his wives in social rank [[spoiler:until Maria Euphoria]] and the source of his legitimacy as king. As a result, she claims the title of first primary queen, as well as veto power over further marriages. None of his other wives contest her on this, viewing her as somewhat of a big sister.

* Compare and Contrast to the HaremNanny who is, usually, an unromantic counterpart in harems whose situation has yet to be resolved.