Basic Trope: A lie about a family relationship is revealed.
- Straight:
- Claire's "parents", Alice and Bob, reveal that they are actually her aunt and uncle.
- Dan's adult "sister", Emily, reveals that she is not his sister but his mother from her Teen Pregnancy. Dan's "parents" are therefore his maternal grandparents.
- Dan's "uncle" is revealed to be unrelated.
- Exaggerated: Every main character has at least one relative who has been lying about their relation.
- Downplayed:
- Dan's mother, Emily, is or looks young enough to be his sister. She tells a stranger that she is his sister, and reveals the lie when they meet again three years later. She never uses this lie on anyone else.
- Promoted to Parent
- Justified:
- Alice and Bob did not want Claire to know that she is an orphan; the lie was meant to spare Claire's feelings.
- Emily was only 16 years old when she gave birth to Dan. The family came up with the lie months before Dan was born, in order to keep Emily's Teen Pregnancy (possibly by rape) a secret.
- In the case of exaggerations of this trope, Troperville could be a Quirky Town where lies such as this are commonplace.
- Inverted: Dan has no real evidence to assume Emily is actually his mom, but nonetheless treats her as such much to Emily's confusion.
- Subverted: The Reveal turns out to be a lie.
- Double Subverted: But so was the original claim.
- Parodied: Emily tells Dan that she is his mother, and suddenly no one is sure of their relation to anyone else. This throws the town into a panic.
- Zig Zagged: Emily keeps changing her story. First, she is Dan's sister, then his mother, and then his aunt. Finally, it turns out that she is just a family friend. Dan (who lives with his real mother, Martha) knew the truth all along.
- Averted:
- Any lies about family relationships are never revealed.
- All characters tell the truth about their positions on their family trees.
- None of the characters have any relatives.
- Enforced: "Life isn't all good, you know. We really need a Dysfunctional Family or two on our show." "Hey, I know. Let's make it so Emily is Dan's Absurdly Youthful Mother, but was claiming to be his sister."
- Lampshaded: "So, you're Dan's sister?" "No, actually, I'm his mother, but he grew up thinking I was his sister."
- Invoked: Emily and her mother, Fiona, both get pregnant. Emily is ashamed about her Teen Pregnancy but believes that Good Girls Avoid Abortion, so Fiona agrees to pretend that she has twins.
- Exploited: Emperor Evulz reveals that Emily is Dan's true mother to gain an upper hand in battle.
- Defied:
- Emily considers lying to her child, but she changes her mind while still pregnant, and ultimately tells the truth.
- Emily keeps Dan believing the lie for life.
- Discussed: "Dan's mother looks so young. Do you think she's really his sister?"
- Conversed: "This show is sick! What kind of family raises children on lies like that?" "A Dysfunctional Family, of course."
- Implied: Emily and her best friend, Giselle, decide to share their deepest secrets. Emily reveals to Giselle (and the audience) that her newborn "brother", Dan, is actually her son. While The Reveal is not shown, it is almost certain that it will occur some years later.
- Deconstructed: Long before Emily even considers telling Dan the truth, he figures out that she is really his mother.
- Reconstructed: Emily hides all evidence that she is really Dan's mother, and keeps him believing the lie until she feels that he's old enough to know.
- Played For Laughs: People keep forgetting whether Emily is Dan's mother or sister. As a Running Gag, she constantly has to remind everyone in her life (except her own family) about The Reveal.
- Played For Drama: The lie was used to hide a case of Brother–Sister Incest.
If you're looking for my broth- uh, dad, then head back to Family Relationship Switcheroo
