To-do list:
- Consensus was to keep the Royal Bastard name and clarify the description so that trope applies to all inherited authority/status positions. The description is being updated using the Sandbox.Royal Bastard sandbox; it needs to be swapped in before the thread can close.
Original post:
I saw this on the Tropes Needing TRS page and decided to take a swing at it.The trope description is very focused on a "child of a royal and a non-royal" definition, specifically. The main themes it focuses on are angst about heritage due to coming from different social classes, alienation from both the upper and lower classes, getting in the middle of a Succession Crisis occurs, attempts at legitimization by heirless parents, scheming by Bastard Bastards out for power, and a Rich Sibling, Poor Sibling dynamic with legitimate children.
The second paragraph is vaguer about this and uses non-royal nobility terms ("out of the succession and sometimes ostracized, yet too much of a noble to get along with their commoner side" and "If both sides are nobility, expect the scandal to be ten times greater.") but generally the wording sticks to very specifically royal terms.
The examples, however, have a large percentage of nobility-and-commoner bastards, and some nobility-and-nobility also, with no royal involvement:
(For reference, I will be classifying examples by the rank of their highest-ranking parent, so a royal-and-noble bastard would count as just a royal bastard. I'm also going to treat kings/queens, emperors and princes as a single class of royalty for simplicity.)
Examples:
Anime & Manga
- Astra Lost in Space: Royal clones.
- Attack on Titan: Noble bastards.
- Berserk: Noble bastard.
- Black Clover: Noble bastard.
- Bokura no Kiseki: Noble bastard.
- The Bride Of Adarshan: Royal bastard.
- Candy♡Candy: Noble bastard.
- Code Geass: Noble bastard.
- Digimon Data Squad: Noble bastard.
- Dragon Ball: Royal bastard.
- Endo And Kobayashi Live The Latest On Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte: Noble bastard.
- Fate Apocrypha: Royal bastard.
- Freezing: Noble bastard.
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Royal bastard.
- The Legend of Zelda: Royal bastard.
- Magi: Labyrinth of Magic: Royal bastards.
- My Next Life As A Villainess All Routes Lead To Doom: Noble bastards.
- PandoraHearts: Noble bastard.
- Princess Jellyfish: Politician's bastard.
- Queen's Blade: Noble bastard.
- Romeo × Juliet: Aristocrats' bastards.
- Sound of the Sky: Royal bastard
Comedy
- Noble bastard.
Comic Books
- Aquaman: Royal bastard.
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Royal bastard.
- Red Sonja : Royal bastard.
- Young Avengers: Royal bastard.
Fan Works
- The Arrangement: Royal bastard.
- Bait and Switch (STO): Senator's bastard.
- The Bastard of Kosigan: Noble bastard.
- A Brief History of Equestria: Noble bastard.
- Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron: Noble bastard.
- A Crown of Stars: Royal bastard.
- Dreamland University Redux: Royal bastard.
- Earth-27: Royal bastard.
- The Most Precious of Treasures: Royal bastard.
- The Palaververse: Noble bastard.
- What About Witch Queen?: Royal bastard.
Films — Live-Action
- Aquaman (2018): Royal bastard.
- Beowulf (1999): Royal bastard.
- King Ralph: Noble bastard, becomes king.
- Princess of Thieves: Royal bastard.
Literature
- 1632: Noble bastard.
- The Accursed Kings: Royal bastards.
- Ascendance Of A Bookworm: Noble bastard.
- Blood Books: Royal bastard.
- Books of Swords: Royal bastard.
- Captive Prince: Royal bastard.
- The Century Trilogy: Noble bastard.
- The Chronicles of Amber: Royal bastard.
- Codex Alera: Royal bastard.
- Counselors and Kings: Royal bastard.
- Crown of Stars: Royal and noble bastards.
- The Dark Wizard Of Donkerk: Royal bastard.
- Discworld: Royal bastard.
- Doc Sidhe: Royal bastard.
- The Dresden Files: Royal bastard.
- The Elenium: Noble bastard.
- Farseer: Royal bastard.
- The Grisha Trilogy: Royal bastard.
- I Am Mordred: Royal bastard.
- Kane: Royal bastard.
- Mahabharata: Royal bastard.
- Malediction Trilogy: Royal bastard.
- Old Kingdom: Royal bastard.
- Orkneyinga Saga: Noble bastard.
- Prince Roger: Royal bastard.
- The Princess Diaries: Royal bastard.
- Realm of the Elderlings: Unspecified bastard.
- The Reluctant King: Noble bastard.
- The Riftwar Cycle: Noble bastards.
- Rigante: Royal bastard.
- Scars: Noble bastard.
- Seraphina: Royal bastard.
- The Serpent & Dove Trilogy: Royal bastard.
- Sherlock Holmes: Noble bastard.
- A Song of Ice and Fire: Royal and noble bastards.
- The Traitor Son Cycle: Royal bastard.
- War and Peace: Noble bastard.
- White as Snow: Royal bastard.
Live-Action TV
- Blackadder: Royal bastard.
- Blood Ties (2007): Royal bastard.
- Chuck: Royal bastard.
- Grimm: Royal bastard.
- Kaamelott: Royal bastard.
- Merlin (2008): Royal bastard.
- Midsomer Murders: Noble bastard.
- Once Upon a Time in Wonderland: Royal bastard.
- Reign: Royal bastard.
Mythology & Religion
- Arthurian Legend: Royal and noble bastards.
- Battle of Clavijo: Royal bastard.
Radio
- Big Finish Doctor Who: Royal bastard.
Tabletop Games
- BattleTech: Royal bastard.
- Forgotten Realms: Royal bastard.
- Warhammer 40,000: Royal bastard.
Theatre
- King John: Noble bastard.
- Much Ado About Nothing: Royal bastard.
- The Ring of the Nibelung: Royal bastard.
Video Games
- Crusader Kings: Royal and noble bastards.
- Dishonored: Royal bastards.
- Dishonored 2: Royal bastard.
- Dragon Age: Origins: Royal bastard.
- Dragon Quest VIII: Noble bastard.
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Royal bastard.
- Final Fantasy Tactics: Noble bastard.
- Final Fantasy XIV: Noble bastard and arcbishop's bastard.
- Fire Emblem Gaiden: Noble bastard.
- Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War: Noble bastards.
- Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade: Royal bastard.
- Fire Emblem: Awakening: Subverted unspecified bastard.
- Golden Sun: Dark Dawn: Royal bastard.
- Guenevere: Royal bastard.
- Heroes of Might and Magic: Noble bastard.
- Persona 5: Politician's bastard.
- Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box: Noble bastard.
- Shadow Hearts: Covenant: Royal bastard.
- Trails Series: Royal bastard.
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Royal bastard.
Visual Novels
- Sunrider: Royal bastards.
Webcomics
- Blindsprings: Royal bastard.
- Dragon Sanctuary: Royal bastard.
- Sister Claire: Royal bastard.
- Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic: Noble bastard.
Web Original
- Twig: Noble bastard.
Web Videos
- Critical Role: Noble bastard.
Results:
- Royal bastards: 88/129 (68.2%)
- Noble bastards: 47/129 (36.4)
- Other (non-titled aristocrats, politicians, ranking clergy, etc.) bastards: 5/129 (3.9)
- Unspecified bastards: 2/129 (1.6)
About 40% of the examples do not involve royalty of any sort.
It's been suggested that the Noble Bastard redirect may be the cause of this confusion. I am absolutely certain that this is not the case for three reasons:
- One, that redirect is currently seeing no use outside of two Administrivia/Sandbox pages, so evidently it has a rather low wiki footprint.
- Two, it's only about a month old whereas the page has been around for a year (as it so happens, I requested the redirect myself, because of how many non-royal examples were present, just two days before this issue was first brought up last month).
- Three, it also so happens that the large presence of non-royal bastards has been a thing since the page was created. Below is a wick check of the page's original appearance when it was launched from TLP on September 25th, 2021:
Anime & Manga
- Astra Lost in Space: Royal clones.
- Attack on Titan: Noble bastard.
- Berserk: Noble bastard.
- Black Clover: Noble bastard.
- Bokura no Kiseki: Noble bastard.
- The Bride Of Adarshan: Royal bastard.
- Candy♡Candy: Noble bastard.
- Code Geass: Noble bastard.
- Digimon Savers: Noble bastard.
- Dragon Ball: Royal bastard.
- Fate Apocrypha: Royal bastard.
- Freezing: Noble bastard.
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Royal bastard.
- The Legend of Zelda: Royal bastard.
- Magi: Labyrinth of Magic: Royal bastards.
- My Next Life As A Villainess All Routes Lead To Doom: Noble bastards.
- PandoraHearts: Noble bastard.
- Princess Jellyfish: Politician's bastard.
- Queen's Blade: Noble bastard.
- Romeo × Juliet: Aristocrats' bastards.
- Sound of the Sky: Royal bastard.
Comedy
- Noble bastard.
Comic Books
- Aquaman: Royal bastard.
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Royal bastard.
- ''Red Sonja: Royal bastard.
- Young Avengers: Royal bastard.
Fan Works
- The Arrangement: Royal bastard.
- Bait and Switch (STO): Politician's bastard.
- The Bastard of Kosigan: Noble bastard.
- A Brief History of Equestria: Noble bastard.
- Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron: Noble bastard.
- A Crown of Stars: Royal bastard.
- Dreamland University Redux: Royal bastard.
- [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/720657/chapters/1336087 The Most Precious of Treasures: Royal bastard.
- The Palaververse: Noble bastard.
- What About Witch Queen?: Royal bastard.
Films — Live-Action
- Aquaman (2018): Royal bastard.
- Beowulf (1999): Royal bastard.
- King Ralph: Noble bastard.
- Princess of Thieves: Royal bastard.
Literature
- 1632: Noble bastard.
- The Accursed Kings: Royal bastard.
- Blood Books: Royal bastard.
- Books of Swords: Royal bastard.
- Captive Prince: Royal bastard.
- The Century Trilogy: Noble bastard.
- The Chronicles of Amber: Royal bastard.
- Codex Alera: Royal bastard.
- Counselors and Kings: Royal bastard.
- Crown of Stars: Royal and noble bastards.
- The Dark Wizard Of Donkerk: Royal bastard.
- Discworld: Royal bastard.
- Doc Sidhe: Royal bastard.
- The Dresden Files: Royal bastard.
- ''The Elenium: Noble bastard.
- The Farseer Trilogy: Royal bastard.
- The Grisha Trilogy: Royal bastard.
- I Am Mordred: Royal bastard.
- Mahabharata: Royal bastard.
- Malediction Trilogy: Royal bastard.
- Old Kingdom: Royal bastard.
- Orkneyinga Saga: Noble bastard.
- Prince Roger: Royal bastard.
- The Princess Diaries: Royal bastard.
- Realm of the Elderlings: Unspecified bastard.
- The Reluctant King: Noble bastard.
- The Riftwar Cycle: Noble bastards.
- Rigante: Royal bastard.
- Scars: Noble bastard.
- Seraphina: Royal bastard.
- The Serpent & Dove Trilogy: Royal bastard.
- Sherlock Holmes: Noble bastard.
- A Song of Ice and Fire: Royal and noble bastards.
- The Traitor Son Cycle: Noble bastard.
- War and Peace: Noble bastard.
- White as Snow: Noble bastard.
Live-Action TV
- Blackadder: Royal bastard.
- Blood Ties: Royal bastard.
- Chuck: Royal bastard.
- Grimm: Royal bastard.
- Kaamelott: Royal bastard.
- Merlin (2008): Royal bastard.
- Midsomer Murders: Noble bastard.
- Once Upon a Time in Wonderland: Royal bastard.
- Reign: Royal bastard.
Mythology & Religion
- Arthurian Legend: Royal and noble bastards.
- Battle of Clavijo: Royal bastard.
Radio
- Big Finish Doctor Who: Royal bastard.
Tabletop Games
- Dungeons & Dragons: Royal bastards.
- Warhammer 40,000: Royal bastards.
Theatre
- King John: Noble bastard.
- King Lear: Noble bastard.
- Much Ado About Nothing: Royal bastard.
- The Ring of the Nibelung: Royal bastard.
Video Games
- Crusader Kings: Royal and noble bastards.
- Dishonored: Royal bastards.
- Dishonored 2: Royal bastard.
- Dragon Age: Origins: Royal bastard.
- Dragon Quest VIII: Noble bastard.
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Royal bastard.
- Final Fantasy Tactics: Noble bastard.
- Final Fantasy XIV: Noble bastard and arcbishop's bastard.
- Fire Emblem Gaiden: Noble bastard.
- Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War: Noble bastards.
- Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade: Royal bastard.
- Fire Emblem: Awakening: Subverted unspecified bastard.
- Golden Sun: Dark Dawn: Royal bastard.
- Guenevere: Royal bastard.
- Heroes of Might and Magic: Noble bastard.
- Persona 5: Politician's bastard.
- Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box: Noble bastard.
- Shadow Hearts: Covenant: Royal bastard.
- Trails Series: Royal bastard.
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Royal bastard.
Visual Novels
- Sunrider: Royal bastards.
Webcomics
- Blindsprings: Royal bastard.
- Dragon Sanctuary: Royal bastard.
- Sister Claire: Royal bastard.
- Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic: Noble bastard.
Web Original
- Twig: Noble bastard.
Web Videos
- Critical Role: Noble bastard.
Results:
- Royal bastards: 74/121 (61.1%)
- Noble bastards: 45/121 (37.2)
- Other (non-titled aristocrats, politicians, bishops, etc.) bastards: 5/121 (4.1)
- Unspecified bastards: 2/121 (1.7)
The ratio is basically the same — if anything, the non-royal examples are about a percent higher.
(Incidentally, not sure how relevant it is here, the laconic on the TLP was "An illegitimate child of royalty or nobility." The launched page laconic, unaltered since launch, is "An illegitimate child whose parent(s) are of royal/noble birth.")
I elected not to perform an inbound wick check because, since the page is only about nine months old, I do not expect that the inbound and on-page wicks will have had time to deviate from each other very much.
My suggestion is to broaden the description's wording and find a broader title, for three reasons:
- One, there's been no example drift — the page's current focus is basically the same as the one it had at launch. The original sponsor mainly just picked a bad title.
- Two, I do not really see a great deal of benefit to be drawn from diving royal from non-royal noble bastards. The basic narrative tropes in play are the same in both cases — the feelings of alienation, the character occupying a position halfway between social classes, problems over inheritance, hostility from legitimate siblings and/or stepparents, etc. The basic meat of this concept's narrative identity, the way in which this character's basic existence screws around with in-universe assumptions about inheritance, class and legitimacy and nobody knows where they fit, are basically the same regardless of whether they're a king's by-blow, a duke's or even a powerful politician's. I don't see a good reason to make overly granular distinctions about specific ranks of aristocracy here; it just isn't a narratively significant distinction.
- However, in light of that, the current title is overly narrow and misleading. Evidently it's already caused confusion as to what this trope means, and it's also the likely reason why noble bastards are significantly outnumbered by royal ones despite the original concept allowing for both.
Regarding a new title, I see two options. One, move the page to Noble Bastard and keep Royal Bastard as a redirect, because I think that people would be likelier to think of royalty is a special case of nobility than the other way around. Two, find a new, more generic title (and I would also keep the other two as redirects, myself).
Edited by GastonRabbit on Jun 28th 2022 at 12:28:58 PM
Crown Description:
Royal Bastard is supposed to involve members of royalty, but it attracts examples related to non-royal nobility as well. What should be done with Royal Bastard?
Screw it, I don't see the need to wait that long, so I swapped it in. Locking up.
Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.