History Main / FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling

* ''Literature/TheSunneInSplendour'': Early in the novel features carousing, fun-loving and womanizing Edward versus stoic, thoughtful and responsible Edmund. Later, their younger brothers have this dynamic with George being a weak-willed, greedy fool and Richard being loyal and responsible.

* In ''VideoGame/RootsOfPacha'', Maeri doesn't like her brother Igrork's pranks and says that he should act his age, like a wise elder like her.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' has Impa and Purah. Impa is a very serious and responsible woman who always helps out and explains things to Link in a straightforward manner, while Purah is a very perky woman who decided to test a newly-designed FountainOfYouth rune [[ProfessorGuineaPig on herself]] without doing any safer preemptive tests first and who frequently treats Link in a very teasing and mischievous manner.

** In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', Dash is the foolish sibling to Violet's responsible sibling. Dash is stubborn, hyperactive, and acts out against having to hide his powers. Violet is quiet, doesn't cause trouble unless provoked, and knows when it's their time to save their parents. Dash plays pranks on his least favorite teacher while Violet doesn't get into trouble at school.

* ''VideoGame/{{Solatorobo}}'' gives us Red and Chocolat. He's somewhat HotBlooded and is the one who actually fights, while she is MissionControl and manages the team's financial issues. In this case, the responsible sibling is only 13, while the foolish one is 17.

** ''VideoGame/TailConcerto'' has a three-way variant in regards to The Pris Sisters, where Stair is placed on the "Responsible" end with Flare being on the "Foolish" end. Meanwhile, their elder sister Alicia flip-flops between both spectrums, as while she is competent enough to singlehandedly keep The Black Cats Gang in business, she can also let her emotions get the better of her, especially around her ChildhoodCrush Waffle.

!!Example subpages:

[[index]]
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling/AnimeAndManga
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling/FanWorks
* [[FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling/AnimatedFilms Films — Animation]]
* [[FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling/{{Film}} Films — Live-Action]]
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling/{{Literature}}
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling/LiveActionTV
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling/VideoGames
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling/VisualNovels
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling/WesternAnimation
[[/index]]

!!Other examples:

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling/{{Webcomics}}

[[folder:Music]]
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* The premise of the song "I'd Rather Have a Bottle in Front of Me Than a Frontal Lobotomy". The irresponsible one is a drunk and the narrator; the responsible one is now a mental patient.
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* A common portrayal of [[HalfIdenticalTwins Rin and Len Kagamine]] of ''Music/{{Vocaloid}}'' fame. Rin is usually the Foolish Sibling and Len is usually the Responsible Sibling.
* In the first opera from ''Theatre/TheRingOfTheNibelung'' cycle, Fasolt and Fafner are this during their first appearance, with Fasolt being the gullible and emotional brother, and Fafner the calculating and rational one. However, the situation quickly slips straight into CainAndAbel.

[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
* Myth/ClassicalMythology: An OlderThanFeudalism example is the Titan brothers Prometheus ("forethought") and Epimetheus ("afterthought"). While the former was clever and rational, the latter was foolish. In Creator/{{Plato}}'s discussion of the myth, Epimetheus completely bolloxed everything when the two brothers were given the job of creating humans and animals. Since he lacked foresight, he came down to humanity last and had nothing more to offer, so Prometheus had to steal fire and give it to humans to prevent our extinction. According to Hesiod's ''Literature/{{Theogony}}'', Epimetheus enthusiastically received Pandora from the gods, despite all of Prometheus's warnings that she would be a blight upon humanity. He was right, [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom she was]]. This is the UrExample in Western Literature.
* Myth/JapaneseMythology: Foolish brothers are the reason why the Japanese pantheon is ruled by [[WomenAreWiser a goddess]]. [[ThePowerOfTheSun Amaterasu]]'s first brother, [[{{Lunacy}} Tsukuyomi]], killed the goddess of food out of disgust at the way she procured the food, so Amaterasu vowed never to speak to him again, hence why [[JustSoStory day and night are always apart]]. Amaterasu's ''other'' brother, [[ShockAndAwe Susanoo]], was a SoreLoser who threw a massive tantrum after he lost a competition with her and was banished to Earth. His descendants initially ruled the world, until Amaterasu ordered her descendant to depose them.

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* In ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'', Elly and Don are both much younger, and thus much less serious, than their brother Ciro. A wedge that's driven even further by Ciro taking on a [[PromotionToParent parental role]] towards them.

[[folder:Theatre]]
* ''Theatre/RabbitHole'': Becca is the responsible wife and mother. Her sister Izzy is a wild child that gets into bar fights after having sex with another woman's boyfriend—and gets knocked up by said other woman's boyfriend.

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/DSBTInsaniT'': Bill is the Foolish Sibling, and Whitney is the Responsible Sibling. Bill is bombastic and will charge right into confrontation. Whitney will try and approach confrontation nice and easy and will TakeAThirdOption if possible.
* In the Website/GoAnimate "Character gets grounded" videos, a lot of the troublemakers have this dynamic with their siblings. It's worth pointing out that these are simply the most common dynamics between these characters in the grounded videos, and some videos have been known to reverse the characters' dynamics or even have both be Foolish:
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample** [[WesternAnimation/{{Caillou}} Caillou (Foolish), Rosie (Responsible).]]
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample** [[WesternAnimation/LittleBill Little Bill (Foolish), April and Bobby (Responsible).]]
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample** David (Foolish), Eric and Ivy (Responsible).
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample** Zara (Foolish), Erika (Responsible).
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample** [[WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}} Arthur (Foolish)]] ([[NiceGuy shockingly]])), [[WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}} D.W (Responsible)]]
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample** Noah (Foolish), Toby (Responsible)
* ''WebAnimation/MoniRobo'': [[https://youtu.be/22wdcpibS5s In this story]], The Professor had a sister named Rika, who wanted to go to college like her. While the Professor focused on her studies, Rika spent her campus time playing around.
* Ichabod and Calamity in ''WebAnimation/NoEvil'', with Ichabod as the studious, neurotic one (Responsible) and Calamity as BrilliantButLazy (Foolish).
* ''WebAnimation/TrickMoon'': Prince is the responsible one, but as he is trapped he has to rely on his foolish siblings Trickshot and Pocket. Despite his obsession with looking "cool", Trickshot takes his job more seriously than Pocket, grabbing her when she stops to save her game after Mage steals the Moonstone.

%%[[folder:Web Original]]
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* ''Literature/TheQuestportChronicles'' has [[spoiler:The Lord of the Supreme Council]] as the responsible sibling and [[spoiler:The Queen of Rogues and Robbers]] as the foolish sibling. [[TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry All hell breaks loose when they run into each other.]]
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* The twins in ''Literature/SimpleComplications''. Lyle is the foolish one, while Jake is the responsible one.
%%[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* ''WebVideo/{{Aaron}}'' has two brothers, Chris and Adam. Adam was a drunken wreck in his teen years, making him the Foolish sibling. Chris is well-adjusted and living away from home, making him the Responsible one.
* ''Series/TheCryOfMann'':
** Berry is the responsible sibling, to Jouglat and Jack's foolish sibling. While she works hard trying to keep the family from falling apart and tries to act as a moral compass of sorts, Jouglat goes crazy due to his warr obsession, and Jack spirals out of control due to his obsession with his art.
** While they're not actually blood-related, they're practically sisters, and they share this dynamic. Mabel's the responsible one, who tries to protect both herself and Ashes from the soldiers, whom she doesn't trust or care for. Even after she [[spoiler:falls for Glintz-Terry]], she refuses to take action and thinks of herself as being naive. Ashes is the foolish one, who chooses to flirt with soldier Durkin and shows no fear when dealing with the other soldiers, a mentality that Mabel chastises as being too foolish and dangerous.
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* In ''Franchise/{{Noob}}'', Sparadrap is the foolish sibling while his younger brother [[spoiler:Ystos]] is the responsible one.
* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic and The Other Guy. Also slightly played with, as The Other Guy is proud to reveal that he controls the Critic like a puppet-master. As they do a lot of videos as themselves reviewing modern movies, Doug and Rob will [[AlterEgoActing play]] this dynamic too. Doug's usually the ditzy, slightly crazy WideEyedIdealist, while Rob is more cynical and can smack Doug down when he gets too far.
* ''WebVideo/SuperMarioLogan'':
** In the "Bowser Junior's First Grade!" story arc, Emily Coleman, who is [[OnlySaneMan one of the few students who has some common sense and maturity]], serves as the responsible sibling to her crazy brother, Patrick's foolish sibling.
** In "Chef Pee Pee's Family", Chef Pee Pee and his [[NoNameGiven unnamed]] sister serve as the responsible siblings to their sister, Stacy's foolish sibling. In particular, Stacy spends most of her time cheering the same word: "Queef", much to their annoyance.
** In "The Koopalings! Part 2", Junior, Iggy, Roy, Larry, and Ludwig are the responsible siblings, while Wendy, Morton, and Lemmy are the foolish ones. In particular, Wendy smashed a dish over a spot she missed, and later cut the couch in half with a chainsaw [[spoiler:which led to Mario and Bowser getting evicted from their apartment]], Lemmy [[CallBack broke a table with a cannonball from Bowser's clown car]], and Morton smashed another table with a hammer, with Junior trying to stop them all the while.
* ''WebVideo/CreamHeroes'': Dodo is the Foolish, having jumped atop Claire's kitchen cabinets despite the dangers and has eaten soil, silicone and paper. This stands in contrast to his brother Toto, who tends to be calmer and more responsible, acting as a defender from the robot vacuum and the zombie hand massager. Notably, if Dodo doesn't go to DD or Nana for comfort when he's upset, he will seek out Toto.
* ''WebVideo/{{Petscop}}'': According to their descriptions, Roneth is the responsible to Toneth's foolish because he learns from the latter's mistakes and doesn't need to be watched all the time (implying that Toneth does need to be watched all the time).

In this trope there will be one sibling who is foolish, usually acting melodramatically and prone to doing irresponsible and impulsive things. They may be louder, more outgoing and usually more popular (or at least ''[[CoolLoser try]]'' to be), and desiring attention, especially from the opposite sex. Usually, they don't have outright bad intentions, they just don't understand that anything they do can have consequences for themselves or other people. Alternatively, they may just be a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter and get involved with the wrong people on a regular basis; they refuse to believe their "friends" could be anything but pure of heart, despite obvious evidence to the contrary. Their antics will be their undoing, getting them into trouble for which there is no one but themselves to blame. The Foolish Sibling may be a BrattyTeenageDaughter, AlphaBitch, FilleFatale, ChildishOlderSibling, AnnoyingYoungerSibling, TheCasanova, {{Manchild}}, {{NEET}}, DumbassTeenageSon, or TheIngenue.

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling/WebComics

[[folder:Web Original]]

* In ''{{WebVideo/Petscop}}'': according to their descriptions, Roneth is the responsible to Toneth's foolish because he learns from the latter's mistakes and doesn't need to be watched all the time (implying Toneth does need to be watched all the time).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Video]]

* [[FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling/AnimatedFilms
* [[FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling/{{Film}}

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling/AnimatedFilms
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling/{{Film}}

A subtrope of SiblingYinYang. Usually involves AnAesop about the right way to act, that is to say, be more like the responsible sibling and not the foolish sibling (although the responsible sibling may learn a lesson about "loosening up" and "having fun"). And while the responsible sibling is usually the elder of the two, the roles can be switched, with the younger sibling being the responsible one. Another possibility is a middle child being the responsible one to his or her older and younger siblings. However, [[NotSoAboveItAll there are some moments when the responsible sibling can act melodramatic and impulsive]]. Also compare SlobsVersusSnobs, RedOniBlueOni, RightWayWrongWayPair, AllWorkVsAllPlay, TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry, and CainAndAbel.

!!Example Subpages:

!!Other Examples:

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* Will's decision to skip school and go swimming, compared to Hope who winds up doing most of the chores in ''Fanfic/AnAstralDropInHeatherfield''.
* Played with in ''Characters/CaelumAcademyOfTheArcane'' With Arashi being the foolish to Inferuno's responsible. Unless Inferuno's pissed. Unfortunately, Inferuno is pissed almost all the time.
* ''Fanfic/CheatingDeathThoseThatLived'': In the 58th Games, Yohan Fairbane was the Foolish, carefree electric guitarist brother to Meryl's Responsible, talented, award-winning sister. Throughout their training, Meryl spent her entire time learning new skills to survive the arena, and got a training score of 10, while Yohan slacked off playing his electric guitar and only got a 3. [[spoiler:When Yohan accidentally ends up [[AccidentalMurder running over his sister in a jeep]] in the arena, [[ItsAllMyFault he blames himself entirely for her death]].]]
* ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'' has [[ADungeonIsYou Keeper]] [[Manga/SailorMoon Mercury]] acting as the responsible sibling to her new HappilyAdopted foolish sibling, [[ThePrankster Tiger]].
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample** Subverted with Virion (Responsible) and Jugger (Foolish) but they aren't really brothers.
* In ''FanFic/TheFledglingYear'', Corin is the straitlaced, responsible twin and Cor is the impulsive, insensitive one (tendencies which were hinted at in the [[Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia original canon]], and are [[CharacterDevelopment explored and developed in much more depth]] in this fic).
* Played with ''Fanfic/HighlyQuestionableDecisions'' and Satsuki and her two younger sisters, Ryuuko and Nui. By the account of being older, Satsuki tends to more responsible and is the OnlySaneWoman when it comes to dealing with the latter two, especially Ryuuko with {{Jerkass}} and reckless tendencies and Nui with her innocence. However, at times, she did demonstrate herself to be NotSoAboveItAll (if Ragyo listing of dos and don'ts is a clue).
* We have this in ''Webcomic/KillLaKillAU'' with Satsuki and her sisters, Ryuuko and Nui. Satsuki tends to be the more responsible one, often trying to steer her sisters in the right direction, regardless if they like her to or not, and it upsets her when they don't listen to her, while the latter two tends to do what they want, whenever they want to and sometimes it comes back to bite them.
* ''Fanfic/MiraculousThePhoenixRises'' has Max as the StraightMan of the group, the ego of the FreudianTrio, and practically the OnlySaneMan of Team Arctic. His younger sister Haley on the other hand is shown to be dorky, childish, short of attention span and is one of the more idealistic of the main characters confidants.
* ''Fanfic/PrehistoricEarth'' has the Denham siblings, with the reasonable and serious Alice being the responsible sibling to her thrill seeking and incredibly excitable younger brother Jack as the foolish sibling. This dynamic is repeated between them when they appear in subsequent ContinuityReboot ''Fanfic/PrehistoricParkReimagined''.
* ''Fanfic/TheRoseAndTheCrown'' has the Gerard siblings: dour, dutiful, upright and responsible Etienne and foolish, feckless, debt-ridden but charming and funny Lucien.
* A played with example in ''Secret Sunshine'', where Ryuuko is the responsible sibling to Satsuki's foolish, as the latter left her child to be raised by Ryuuko, forcing her to be more responsible to care for her niece, while Satsuki, for some reason, didn't want to deal with the responsibilities. To really emphasize this, Satsuki was mentioned to be living her life "like normal" (going out with friends, for example), while Ryuuko was mostly left to stay at home with Kiko. Not surprisingly, Ryuuko is pretty resentful towards Satsuki for that.
* ''Fanfic/TalesOfTheUndiscoveredSwords'':
** Kasen may be blatantly playing favorites with his brothers, but it's not that his concern for [[EmotionlessBoy Sasanoyuki]] doesn't have ground – the latter robotically follows objectives at the expense of his own well-being more than once, leading Kasen to ''use his captain authority'' to ''order'' him to take care of himself at one point.
** From the get-go, Hinata is painted as a LeeroyJenkins who [[IJustWantToBeSpecial is very insecure about being]] TheGenericGuy, while his older brother Juzumaru is more firm, grounded and worries about his safety.
* ''FanFic/TotalDramaLegacy'': Marissa and Marlin. The impulsive and [[GenkiGirl obnoxious]] Marissa is the Foolish Sibling, while the level-headed and [[MellowFellow relaxed]] Marlin is the Responsible Sibling.
* ''Fanfic/LearningHowToBeAWitch'': Lucila is more responsible and down to earth then her sister Luz. However, there have been cases where the two switched their roles. The most notable is in 'Adventures in the Elements'', where Luz tells her to be nice to the Blight Twins, who she's still mad at, and to give Edric another chance after she rebukes his offer to talk. She even lampshaded this trope.
-->'''Luz:''' You gotta give him a chance, hermana! You're the responsible one, right? You talk things through with people like responsible people would.
-->'''Lucila:''' ... Arggh, I hate it when you're right.

[[folder:Films — Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'', Hiro is the Foolish sibling to Tadashi's Responsible. Hiro would rather spend his time bot-fighting since he graduated from high school early, while Tadashi regularly attends college and wishs Hiro would do something more productive with his intelligence. At the beginning of the film, Tadashi rescues Hiro when Yama and his goons were going to beat him up.
* Soraya and Parvana from ''WesternAnimation/TheBreadwinner''. The first we see of Parvana is her moping over her family needing to sell her nice dress, and the first we see of Soraya is her criticizing Parvana for slacking in her chores. Later on, Parvana disguises herself as a boy to support her family, walks through a possibly mined tank graveyard, gets punched for trying to bribe a prison guard, and hits [[ItsPersonal the Talib who had her father taken away]] in the face with a brick. Soraya, meanwhile, [[StayInTheKitchen cooks, cleans, and helps take care of her toddler brother]], as well as emotionally supporting her mother and grudgingly accepting her ArrangedMarriage.
* ''{{Franchise/Frozen}}'':
** Played with in [[WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}} the first film]]. At the start of the story, Anna is the Foolish sibling, being a sheltered princess who is willing to marry Prince Hans, a man she's only just met, while Elsa is the Responsible future queen. This sort of dynamic is explored in the "A Sister More Like Me" picture book, which also shows the sisters accepting each other's differences. As the film goes on, though, Elsa's determination to isolate herself makes her come off as more foolish, while Anna ends up becoming more responsible as she braves danger to get Elsa back.
** In ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'', Anna and Elsa's dynamic from "WesternAnimation/FrozenFever" is carried over with Elsa continuing to be overconfident and reckless and Anna acting as her voice of reason and caution.
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* In Land Before Time Stone it is revealed that Petrie's mother had a brother with a few pride issues and is the main antagonist of the story.
* ''Franchise/TheIncredibles'':
** In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', Dash is the foolish sibling to Violet's responsible sibling. Dash is stubborn, hyperactive, and acts out against having to hide his powers. Violet is quiet, doesn't cause trouble unless provoked, and knows when it's their time to save their parents. Dash plays pranks on his least favorite teacher while Violet doesn't get into trouble at school.
** Played with in ''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2''. Evelyn seems like the Responsible to Winston's Foolish, as Evelyn's the one who comes up with the means to implement Winston's ideas. She also softly scolds him for his over-enthusiasm and childlike tendencies, and keeps business conversations on track from his tendency to get sidetracked. These roles are reversed once Evelyn is revealed as the Screenslaver, when her misplaced anger and bitterness towards superheroes (who she blames for their parents' tragic deaths) causes her to endanger lives to ensure they stay illegal. However, Winston is in turn responsible enough to go back and try to help save the innocent people caught up in Evelyn's scheme.
* Lilo and Nani of ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch''. Lilo is a wild, irresponsible kid who constantly causes trouble, while Nani is a hard-working person who wants Lilo to grow up happy and safe. This is slightly deconstructed -- 19-year-old Nani acts responsibly because she was forced to grow up fast after their parents died and she was [[PromotionToParent promoted to parent]]; while Lilo is only six, still suffers from residual trauma caused by the parents' death, and some of her antics are a result of being bullied by other children since she doesn't fit in. Lilo is also almost taken away by social services because of several unfortunate events caused by her (and Stitch's) antics.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'': This dynamic between [[PsychopathicManchild dangerously childish]] Scar and [[TheGoodKing wise and just]] Mufasa [[CainAndAbel escalating]] [[SiblingMurder badly]] is what kicks off TheHerosJourney.
* The first part of ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'' showed this dynamic, with Ramses as the responsible sibling and Moses the foolish one. Future Pharaoh Rameses is terrified of disappointing his father, while Moses tries to get him to lighten up.
-->'''Moses:''' You know what your problem is, Rameses?\\
'''Rameses:''' What?\\
'''Moses:''' You care too much.\\
'''Rameses:''' ''(smiling)'' And your problem is, you don't care at all.
** Conversely, though, Moses also shows enough responsibility to recognize when his antics have gone too far, and to stick up for his brother.
** This then gets reversed in the second half. Moses takes responsibility for being God's instrument and freeing the Hebrews, while Rameses defies God's will even as Egypt is suffering a divine beatdown.
* Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood1973'' gives Prince John and King Richard this respective dynamic. While John is an arrogant, impatient and petty ManChild who wants to fuel his power through stealing from the poor, Richard is a kind, mature and sensible leader who rules the country professionally and doesn't look down on anyone below his status.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'', Jefferson Davis (Miles' father), and his younger brother Aaron. They used to "tag" buildings in their youth but drifted apart when Jefferson became a police officer, while Aaron stayed the way he was [[spoiler:and at some point went to work for the Kingpin as The Prowler]].

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/TwentySevenDresses'', Jane is the elder, responsible sister and her younger sister Tess is foolish.
* In ''Film/{{Brother}}'', this is more or less the dynamic between the Bagrov brothers. Danila is the responsible one, Viktor is the foolish one (despite Viktor being older).
* ''Film/CriesAndWhispers'': Karin is the eldest sister, more prompt in helping the dying Agnes and has her mind on settling the affairs of the house. Maria is the youngest who cowers in the face of Agnes' suffering and is shown to be fairly hedonistic, going as far as attempting to fool around with the doctor who's come to visit his terminal patient. Agnes, the middle sister, is too ill to be anything but passive.
* In ''Film/DoubleHarness'', Valerie is irresponsible, callous, and selfish while Joan is level headed, frank, and reasonable.
* ''Film/FatherOfTheBride2022'': Sisters Cora (Foolish) and Sofia (Responsible). Sofia is a polished law school graduate, while Cora is a rebellious college dropout. Even Sofia even lovingly calls her sister "a mess". It's telling that Billy is glowingly proud of Sofia's lawyering, but resists giving Cora her college fund to start her own business.
* In ''Film/FourBrothers'', Jeremiah and Jack are far more responsible and rational than their more impulsive and hot-headed brothers, Bobby and Angel.
* Played straight and is the main plot point in ''Film/JasonsLyric'', besides the love story. Jason is the serious, responsible and dutiful son, while Joshua is the [[HotBlooded short-tempered]] and troublemaker son to their mom, Gloria.
* ''Film/AGuideToRecognizingYourSaints'' downplays it. Antonio may be a {{Jerkass}} but he's protective and the more functional responsible sibling. His younger brother Giuseppe is terrible with people and TheFriendNobodyLikes because of it.
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* ''Film/MarthaMarcyMayMarlene'' suggests that this dynamic exists between Lucy and Marlene.
* ''Film/MarvinsRoom'':
** After Marvin had his first stroke, his younger daughter Lee decided to move far away and avoid the responsibility of taking care of both him and Ruth. His older daughter Bessie decided to take care of them, at the expense of putting her life on hold for twenty years, but she tells Lee and Hank that she doesn't regret it.
** Lee, however, thinks it's the other way around. She points out that she couldn't take care of Marvin and Ruth because she raised Hank and Charlie all by herself. She then accuses Bessie of being the Foolish Sibling for not caring about her nephews, as she never sent them a birthday present or a Christmas card, and she didn't attend their christenings, despite Lee inviting her.
* In ''Film/Sisters2015'' Kate and Maura perfectly fit this trope. It's shown that this is a problem for both though; Kate is constantly getting fired and her own daughter doesn't want to live with her, while Maura never gets to enjoy anything because she was worried about everyone else.
* In ''Film/SuckerPunch'' it's not known if Sweet Pea and Rocket are related in real life - but they are sisters in Baby Doll's fantasy world. Sweet Pea is the forward-thinking responsible older sibling, while Rocket is said to have been the foolish one who had trouble at home with their parents.
* ''Film/SunshineCleaning'': Rose is the hard-working, responsible older sister. Norah is the lazy, rebellious younger sister.
* ''Film/{{Thor}}'': Before shit gets real, Loki and Thor. Loki- though younger- was the bookish, reasonable, responsible brother who was implied to regularly attempt to talk sense to Thor, who was childish, reckless, and volatile. However, it's [[PlayingWithATrope played with]] in that as the movie progresses, the brothers switch places. Thor's time on Midgard as a mortal mellows him out and he matures into TheWisePrince, while Loki's insecurities (and the discovery of several painful truths about his heritage) lead him to attempt a plot that backfires horribly on him and begins his path to self-destruction and villainy.
* ''{{Film/Troy}}'': Hector is TheDutifulSon and HappilyMarried to Andromache; Paris is more impulsive and has no wish to settle down with one woman before he meets Helen.
* ''Film/TuffTurf'' has Morgan Hiller, who's constantly getting into trouble and has been kicked out of multiple prep schools, and his older brother Brian, a responsible student on track to become a lawyer.
* ''Film/{{W}}'' portrays UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush as the foolish sibling to his more responsible younger brother [[TheAce Jeb]]. As a result, Bush falls under the impression that [[ParentalFavoritism his parents favor Jeb over him]] and spends much of his adult life trying to gain [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush his father's]] [[WellDoneSonGuy respect]].
* ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': Scott is the rebel of the Summers brothers, while Alex, being older, is the more responsible one.
* ''Film/{{xXx}}'': Kolya is Yorgi's younger brother. He's also lot more immature than the reserved and sinister Yorgi, such as proudly fanboying over meeting Xander Cage and being super-giddy at the castle orgy scene, at least compared to Yorgi.

[[folder:Music]]
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* The premise of the song "I'd Rather Have a Bottle in Front of Me Than a Frontal Lobotomy". The irresponsible one is a drunk and the narrator; the responsible one is now a mental patient.
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* A common portrayal of [[HalfIdenticalTwins Rin and Len Kagamine]] of ''Music/{{Vocaloid}}'' fame. Rin is usually the Foolish Sibling and Len is usually the Responsible Sibling.
* In the first opera from ''Theatre/TheRingOfTheNibelung'' cycle, Fasolt and Fafner are this during their first appearance, with Fasolt being the gullible and emotional brother, and Fafner the calculating and rational one. However, the situation quickly slips straight into CainAndAbel.

[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
* Myth/ClassicalMythology: An OlderThanFeudalism example is the Titan brothers Prometheus ("forethought") and Epimetheus ("afterthought"). While the former was clever and rational, the latter was foolish. In Creator/{{Plato}}'s discussion of the myth, Epimetheus completely bolloxed everything when the two brothers were given the job of creating humans and animals. Since he lacked foresight, he came down to humanity last and had nothing more to offer, so Prometheus had to steal fire and give it to humans to prevent our extinction. According to Hesiod's ''Literature/{{Theogony}}'', Epimetheus enthusiastically received Pandora from the gods, despite all of Prometheus's warnings that she would be a blight upon humanity. He was right, [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom she was]]. This is the UrExample in Western Literature.
* Myth/JapaneseMythology: Foolish brothers are the reason why the Japanese pantheon is ruled by [[WomenAreWiser a goddess]]. [[ThePowerOfTheSun Amaterasu]]'s first brother, [[{{Lunacy}} Tsukuyomi]], killed the goddess of food out of disgust at the way she procured the food, so Amaterasu vowed never to speak to him again, hence why [[JustSoStory day and night are always apart]]. Amaterasu's ''other'' brother, [[ShockAndAwe Susanoo]], was a SoreLoser who threw a massive tantrum after he lost a competition with her and was banished to Earth. His descendants initially ruled the world, until Amaterasu ordered her descendant to depose them.

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* In ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'', Elly and Don are both much younger, and thus much less serious, than their brother Ciro. A wedge that's driven even further by Ciro taking on a [[PromotionToParent parental role]] towards them.

[[folder:Theatre]]
* ''Theatre/RabbitHole'': Becca is the responsible wife and mother. Her sister Izzy is a wild child that gets into bar fights after having sex with another woman's boyfriend—and gets knocked up by said other woman's boyfriend.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot:'' Crash, the resident CloudCuckoolander, is the foolish older brother to Coco, who's smarter and has more common sense (although not without a few antics of her own).
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' has a very complicated case of this with Dante and Vergil. At the first glance, you can assume that Dante with his devil-may-care attitude cares only about entertaining himself, barely taking responsibility for anything in his life, while the calm and composed Vergil is the responsible twin that takes everything seriously. However, their actions under pressure can testify otherwise: Dante becomes a bit more serious when things get tough, while Vergil shows cracks in his persona, easily becoming irritated when something doesn't go his way. Dante surprisingly also displayed a lot of maturity in his teens, saving up enough money to buy space for his shop and intending to become a Devil Hunter, while Vergil ran around the world in pursuit of power, even [[spoiler: fathering Nero during a one-night stand]], which shows that despite his cold and calcutaing facade, the older brother can still be prone to impulsive decisions.
* Lyndon and Edlin of ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' were close brothers who chose different paths when they grew up. Lyndon became a scoundrel and started running with the Thieves' Guild more to amuse himself than anything. Edlin became a city guard with a wife and children.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'': Meena is dutiful, commited and circumspect. Her sister Maya is a lot less serious and loves to gamble.
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'':
*** Parry is reckless and a bit of an airhead whereas his sister Madchen tends to take her role as a princess more seriously.
*** Prince Harry was initially the foolish sibling to Wilbur's responsible sibling. Ironically, after his character development, Harry has become much more competent and responsible than Wilbur has.
* In ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'', the Aoi twins seem like a clear-cut case of this, with Hinata being a hyper-enthusiastic, PerpetualSmiler GenkiBoy and Yuuta being much more thoughtful and reserved, but it's twisted a little in that Hinata is much more into their idol duties and so is sometimes the one pushing Yuuta (who worries about being defined entirely by his brother) into practicing more.
* Artoirel and Emmanellain de Fortemps from the Heavensward expansion of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' are Responsible and Foolish, respectively. Both of them show signs of childish behavior, but Artoirel is the heir to the noble Fortemps family legacy and thus TheDutifulSon, while [[ItsAllAboutMe self-centered Emmanellain]] is more or less a LazyBum UpperClassTwit.
* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', Lucina, who's Chrom's KidFromTheFuture, is a serious and mature girl compared to any of the second generation units who can wind up as her siblings- Male Morgan, Cynthia, Kjelle, Brady, or Inigo[[note]]Respectively the children of the Female Avatar, Sumia, Sully, Maribelle and Olivia, any of whom can marry Chrom[[/note]]- with each of them being significantly more eccentric in their own ways.
** Felicia and Flora from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' are Foolish and Responsible, respectively. Felicia is Foolish in that she's quite incompetent as a maid, being clumsy and terrible at cooking. Flora is Responsible, being the much more competent maid and cook.
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'', Delthea is the foolish sibling to her older brother Luthier's responsible sibling, being BrilliantButLazy where he is hardworking.
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', Hilda is a rather lazy young noblewoman, while her older brother Holst is an accomplished warrior and commander who is responsible for defending the Leicester Alliance from Almyra. It's played with a bit in that part of the reason why Hilda is lazy lies in her belief that she'll never measure up to Holst.
* Despite being equally talented at fighting, Kim Dong-Hwan and Kim Jae-Hoon, Kim Kaphwan's sons from ''[[VideoGame/FatalFury Garou: Mark of the Wolves]]'', are this, with Dong-Hwan being the Foolish one (a lazy slacker who prefers the Korean nightlife to strict training) and Jae-Hoon being the Responsible one (taking more after his dad in both looks and dedication, to the point of actually inheriting his Hou'ou Kyaku).
* Technically, they're cousins, but ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV''[='s=] Roman Bellic plays foolish gambling addict to Niko's responsible contract killer.
* ''Videogame/InfamousSecondSon'': Delsin (Foolish) and Reggie (Responsible) Rowe. Delsin is an unemployed delinquent, and Reggie is the country Sheriff who expresses much embarrassment at having to keep arresting his younger brother. Though Delsin starts becoming more responsible after unlocking his Conduit abilities.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' has Impa and Purah. Impa is a very serious and responsible woman who always helps out and explains things to Link in a straightforward manner, while Purah is a very perky woman who decided to test a newly-designed FountainOfYouth rune [[ProfessorGuineaPig on herself]] without doing any safer preemptive tests first and who frequently treats Link in a very teasing and mischievous manner.
* While not exactly foolish, Daniel from ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange2'' is considerably more carefree and reckless than his older brother Sean. Which is not ideal, considering how Daniel is the one with telekinesis.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' has the foolish sibling be Lan/Netto Hikari, who likes to sleep in and neglect his studies, and [[spoiler: [=MegaMan/Rockman.EXE=] a.k.a. Hub/Saito as the responsible sibling who has to be his brother's alarm clock and personal nanny at times]].
* Claus and Lucas from ''VideoGame/MOTHER3''. The former is the foolish one, and the latter the responsible one, which shows the most strongly in how they react to [[spoiler: their mother's death]]. Claus goes off to get revenge, while Lucas obediently remains at home and indirectly spills the beans on where his brother went via a SuspiciouslySpecificDenial.
* Subverted with Kannon and Seishi Bosatsu from ''VideoGame/NamuAmidaButsuUtena'' – they bear the personalities associated with this trope with Kannon a kind but strict TeamMom and Seishi a ManChild who engages in BigBrotherWorship, but Kannon spoils Seishi ''rotten'' and Seishi is nice and sweet enough to never take advantage of his brother's trust or become a spoiled brat.
* Miwako (responsible) and Yumi (foolish) Shimizu from the ''VideoGame/NancyDrew'' game ''Shadow at the Water's Edge''. Though also a bit of an inversion-- Miwako's prudence renders her very apprehensive and unwilling to help Nancy with the mystery, instead attempting to discourage her from continuing, while [[spoiler: Yumi is actively helping her, albeit in a very cryptic, indirect manner]].
* Dōjo and Oguna in ''VideoGame/{{Onmyoji}}''. Dōjo is a SpoiledBrat who doesn't hesitate to insult even her older brother when he tries to reason with her, even though he always puts up with it. According to Oguna's in-game autobiography, there was a time when Dōjo was lost ''eight'' times in a single month.
* The Stamatin twins in ''VideoGame/{{Pathologic}}''. Petr is a co-dependent alcoholic shut-in, and Andrei (while spending most of his time in the twyrine den coming up with ways to screw with people, and therefore not responsible in any traditional sense of the word) is a dangerous man with a strong force of will, and considers it his personal mission in life to protect his brother from the outside world. In particular, professionally. They work together as architects - Petr designs avant-garde buildings that break the laws of reality and Andrei does the civil engineering necessary to erect them.
* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'':
** Partially lampshaded in ''VideoGame/Persona3''. When [[AdorablyPrecociousChild Ken Amada]] joins the team, Junpei assumes a BigBrotherMentor role. Yukari mentions something to the effect that Junpei's is like the foolish sibling, while Ken's the responsible and mature one.
** In ''VideoGame/Persona4'', Ryotaro Dojima was apparently the foolish sibling to the main character's mother, since [[FormerTeenRebel he's implied to have been a bit of a troublemaker when he was young]], such as earning himself a thrashing from his father by riding around on a bike.
** ''VideoGame/Persona5'':
*** Eiko and her brother. Eiko is a somewhat poor student who ends up falling in love with a manipulative host and nearly getting sold off if not for Makoto's intervention. Meanwhile, her brother is apparently quite talented, and that fact, along with their [[ParentalFavoritism parents' favoring]] him helps cause Eiko's issues.
*** Youji Isshiki and his sister Wakaba. Wakaba was highly eccentric but was also an exceptional cognitive psience researcher and a loving mother to Futaba. Meanwhile, Youji is fairly wasteful with money, thus causing him to [[spoiler:extort money out of Sojiro, who'd taken Futaba in after hearing about Youji abusing her]].
*** Kazuya Makigami, a petty thief and Mementos target, and his more studious younger brother Naoya, whom [[BigBrotherBully Kazuya bullies]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Solatorobo}}'' gives us Red and Chocolat. He's somewhat HotBlooded and is the one who actually fights, while she is MissionControl and manages the team's financial issues. In this case, the responsible sibling is only 13, while the foolish one is 17.
* In ''VideoGame/StardewValley'', Haley is the Foolish to Emily's Responsible. Despite her outgoing attitude, Emily is the more mature of the two and works part-time in Gus' bar, while Haley seems very childish for her age, throwing tantrums at the thought of being forced to do household chores and mostly just loitering about.
* Played with Mario and Luigi in ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' While Mario is characterized as impulsive and Luigi is described as the more level-headed one, the contrast rarely comes into play in the games or is often reversed. Mario can become focused on the task at hand and Luigi can make foolish decisions due to his cowardice.
* Downplayed with PolarOppositeTwins Jade and Floyd in ''VideoGame/TwistedWonderland''. While initial character profiles and in-game introductions establish Jade as calm and mature and Floyd as a BrilliantButLazy hedonist, it soon becomes clear that Jade enjoys chaos and their SlasherSmile CreepyTwins shtick as much as Floyd does, and indulges much of Floyd's behaviour due to wanting his twin's happiness more than anything.
* Played with in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', where Papyrus appears to be an ambition-minded skeleton dedicated to serving the royal guard, while Sans only seems interested in pranks and [[LazyBum loafing]]. The reality is that Papyrus' attempts to be serious and mature makes him come across as quite (unintentionally) goofy and, as it turns out, he doesn't have a single [[{{Pun}} mean bone]] in his body, and as such he's incapable of actually hurting anyone, meaning he is not really cut out for bodyguard work. Meanwhile, Sans secretly spends a lot of his time trying to keep his brother happy and is quite [[SadClown cynical and melancholic beneath his goofy surface]], and he hides his own problems to not worry his brother. [[spoiler:And if the player behaves evilly enough, he is eventually driven to attempt to kill them, and unlike his brother he will not show any mercy.]]
* In the prologue of ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'', Beth is strongly implied to be the responsible sibling, compared to her twin sister Hannah whom Beth calls "naive", even to her older brother Josh, who was seen passed out drunk.
* Played with in ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' with Voermann twins--the responsible Therese and the foolish Jeanette. And by "played with", we mean that [[spoiler:they are actually two extremely split personalities inhabiting the same body; they are actually Malkavians and this is how their madness manifests itself]].
* In ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'', Beat and [[spoiler:his little sister Rhyme]]. The former is a hothead who isn't terribly bright, resulting in him making unwise decisions and his parents giving up on him. The latter is mature for her age, [[spoiler:serving as the voice of reason as Beat's partner]] and never gave up on Beat. This is emphasized when you acquire their bookbags as secret pieces of equipment; Beat's is beaten up, while [[spoiler:Rhyme]]'s is in pristine condition.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''Franchise/AceAttorney''
** The Fey sisters in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney''. Maya is the Foolish sibling, being a rather childish 17-year-old with a voracious appetite for ramen/burgers(depending on the version). Mia is the Responsible sibling, being a successful defense attorney who left her village to find her mother and prevent any disputes between herself and her sister over who would succeed the family name. It helps that at the time of Mia's death, [[PracticallyDifferentGenerations she was 27 and Maya was 17]].
** Played with in ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'' with the Gavin brothers. Kristoph is a defense attorney known as "The Coolest Defense in the West" for his calm demeanor, has an excellent win record, and is generally unflappable. Younger brother Klavier is a wild-card prosecutor who flirts while in the courtroom and is the lead singer of his very own rock band outside it. [[spoiler:Kristoph is also the BigBad of the game, and Klavier one of your best allies in bringing him to justice.]]
* In ''VisualNovel/BeyondEden'', Oscar Edenic is the [[TheReliableOne dutiful first son]] responsible for managing his family's household and fortunes, while Edward Edenic is the wild third son who was expelled from school for an [[NoodleIncident unknown incident]] and seems content to spend his days gambling and practicing shooting. Their conflicts are manipulated and exploited by VillainProtagonist Alex Wake in multiple routes.
* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'' has Mondo and Daiya Owada. While calling a biker gang leader "responsible" would be a bit of a stretch, Daiya was the glue that kept the Crazy Diamonds together, [[spoiler:and ultimately sacrificed himself to save his brother, entrusting him with the gang]]. Mondo, for all his HotBlooded and manly attitude, was deeply insecure, [[spoiler:which was why he challenged his brother to a race, leading to Daiya's death, and why he later killed Chihiro in a fit of rage]], making him come off as the foolish one.
* In ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert'', Lainie was [[spoiler:naive and too quick to trust people]], and Cecilia is a shrewd manipulator.
* Zigzagged with the protagonist, Johanna, and Tamara in ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework''. Before the story, Tamara was the responsible one while the protagonist and Johanna were less so; by the beginning of the story proper, Johanna is responsible while Tamara has lost her sense of responsibility and the protagonist is completely reactive; Tamara regains some responsibility when she gets a job, but still acts immature; the protagonist develops his sense of responsibility throughout the story; and Tamara [[spoiler:starts a business]] (one of the ultimate forms of responsibility) while Johanna is still responsible, and the protagonist would drift were it not for the people in his life.
* In ''VisualNovel/MarcoAndTheGalaxyDragon'', Tera Isezaki is eccentric, proud, and fond of flaunting her family’s vast wealth in various ways. Her younger sister Rakka, by contrast, is humble, down-to-earth, and acts as the family’s self-appointed Minister of Finance to keep Tera from blowing their money on dubious purchases from Galaxy Auction.
* Possible in ''VisualNovel/{{Melody}}''. Isabella does have a “real job” while Tim doesn’t...but it is notable that Tim owns a house, and Isabella is a guest there.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/DSBTInsaniT'': Bill is the Foolish Sibling, and Whitney is the Responsible Sibling. Bill is bombastic and will charge right into confrontation. Whitney will try and approach confrontation nice and easy and will TakeAThirdOption if possible.
* In the Website/GoAnimate "Character gets grounded" videos, a lot of the troublemakers have this dynamic with their siblings. It's worth pointing out that these are simply the most common dynamics between these characters in the grounded videos, and some videos have been known to reverse the characters' dynamics or even have both be Foolish:
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample** [[WesternAnimation/{{Caillou}} Caillou (Foolish), Rosie (Responsible).]]
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample** [[WesternAnimation/LittleBill Little Bill (Foolish), April and Bobby (Responsible).]]
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample** David (Foolish), Eric and Ivy (Responsible).
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample** Zara (Foolish), Erika (Responsible).
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample** [[WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}} Arthur (Foolish)]] ([[NiceGuy shockingly]])), [[WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}} D.W (Responsible)]]
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample** Noah (Foolish), Toby (Responsible)
* Ichabod and Calamity in ''WebAnimation/NoEvil'', with Ichabod as the studious, neurotic one (Responsible) and Calamity as BrilliantButLazy (Foolish).
* ''WebAnimation/TrickMoon'': Prince is the responsible one, but as he is trapped he has to rely on his foolish siblings Trickshot and Pocket. Despite his obsession with looking "cool", Trickshot takes his job more seriously than Pocket, grabbing her when she stops to save her game after Mage steals the Moonstone.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/{{Adventurers}}'' has Karashi (responsible) and Mizuna (foolish). Both were trained as ninjas, and Mizuna was actually a ''prodigy'', but she misunderstood all the favorable comparisons to Karashi, fled, and joined [[BigBad Khrima]]. When the sisters duel, Mizuna throws a sudden childish fit upon realizing that Karashi broke one of her earrings, with the comic's title sarcastically urging the reader to guess which one was the older sister. Upon her HeelFaceTurn, Mizuna is shown to still be impatient while training.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Concerned}}'', there's the Frohman brothers. Gordon Frohman is the Foolish sibling, with the misadventures resulting from his spectacular idiocy driving the plot of the webcomic. His twin brother Norman is the Responsible one, having saved Gordon's life many times since they were children, only for Gordon to [[UngratefulBastard not understand that Norman was saving him.]]
* ''Webcomic/CucumberQuest'' has the BrotherSisterTeam of Cucumber and Almond. Cucumber is a bookworm who would rather hide the ArtifactOfDoom and end the quest to save the world before it's even necessary. Almond is so excited for said quest that she [[InvokedTrope invokes]] YouCantThwartStageOne.
* Elon and Myari of ''Webcomic/EarsForElves'', oh so much; they fit the opening paragraphs of this page to a T. [[BigBrotherInstinct Older brother]] Elon is cautious and methodical where GenkiGirl Myari is impulsive and excitable.
* ''Webcomic/GeneralProtectionFault''
** The Barker brothers. Jason "Fooker" Barker's the Foolish one, being TheSlacker, and [[TheAlcoholic a recovering alcoholic]] who barely got into college and got held back several times. Justin Barker went to a military academy and was an aspiring secret agent until [[SweetAndSourGrapes Jason unwittingly ended up taking the opportunity from him]].
** The Oshiro siblings also qualify, as Ki is mature and responsible, while Yoshi is extremely intelligent, but also an InsufferableGenius with a knack for getting himself into trouble, making him the Foolish sibling despite his high IQ.
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* In ''Webcomic/TheMansionOfE'', Sylvester is responsible and Mortimer is foolish. [[spoiler:At least until Mortimer learns that he is an unknowing wizard.]]
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* ''Webcomic/{{Matchu}}'' has the older Chu as the foolish sibling and the younger Matchu as the responsible sibling.
* ''Webcomic/{{Nebula}}'' has older sister Earth as a naive GenkiGirl, with her younger sister Venus being a pragmatic and more mature DeadpanSnarker.
* Julie is mostly the responsible sibling and Angelika is mostly the foolish sibling in ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure''.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Pacificators}}'', we have [[SiblingTeam Larima and Taffe]]. It's not quite so straightforward, though; Larima is TheDitz and GenkiGirl who loves being a Pacificator, and [[{{Ambadassador}} takes her duty seriously]]. Taffe is TheStoic and TheLancer, [[spoiler: but she never wanted to be a Pacificator in the first place]].
* Rowan Fitzpatrick in ''Webcomic/{{Rhapsodies}}'' is much more grounded than her manic, hyperactive, DitzyGenius brother, Brian. This is the main reason she's the office manager in their financial consulting firm.
* ''Webcomic/{{Rosebuds}}'': Maria ends up being the foolish sibling practically all the time, while Maricela and Rosa often share the responsible spot.
* Anna and Susan from ''Webcomic/{{Sire}}'' make up both halves of the Jekyll & Hyde-Child, thusly one sister is rational, calm and reasonable and the other is completely and utterly without inhibition.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Suihira}}'', Hadima, the protagonist's elder sister, is the responsible future queen in a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage. The protagonist, Wahida, acts like a RoyalBrat before running away on a MissionFromGod, which is conveniently bestowed on her days before her own wedding.
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* In ''Webcomic/{{Sunstone}}'', Mike and Lisa fill the foolish and responsible roles respectively, interestingly despite the fact that Lisa is the younger and the one leading a double life.
* In ''Webcomic/TheVeligent'', Kade is the more laid back sibling, while his brother is the more serious and responsible one.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* ''Literature/TheQuestportChronicles'' has [[spoiler:The Lord of the Supreme Council]] as the responsible sibling and [[spoiler:The Queen of Rogues and Robbers]] as the foolish sibling. [[TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry All hell breaks loose when they run into each other.]]
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* The twins in ''Literature/SimpleComplications''. Lyle is the foolish one, while Jake is the responsible one.
* In ''{{WebVideo/Petscop}}'': according to their descriptions, Roneth is the responsible to Toneth's foolish because he learns from the latter's mistakes and doesn't need to be watched all the time (implying Toneth does need to be watched all the time).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Video]]
* ''WebVideo/{{Aaron}}'' has two brothers, Chris and Adam. Adam was a drunken wreck in his teen years, making him the Foolish sibling. Chris is well-adjusted and living away from home, making him the Responsible one.
* ''Series/TheCryOfMann'':
** Berry is the responsible sibling, to Jouglat and Jack's foolish sibling. While she works hard trying to keep the family from falling apart and tries to act as a moral compass of sorts, Jouglat goes crazy due to his warr obsession, and Jack spirals out of control due to his obsession with his art.
** While they're not actually blood-related, they're practically sisters, and they share this dynamic. Mabel's the responsible one, who tries to protect both herself and Ashes from the soldiers, whom she doesn't trust or care for. Even after she [[spoiler:falls for Glintz-Terry]], she refuses to take action and thinks of herself as being naive. Ashes is the foolish one, who chooses to flirt with soldier Durkin and shows no fear when dealing with the other soldiers, a mentality that Mabel chastises as being too foolish and dangerous.
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* In ''Franchise/{{Noob}}'', Sparadrap is the foolish sibling while his younger brother [[spoiler:Ystos]] is the responsible one.
* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic and The Other Guy. Also slightly played with, as The Other Guy is proud to reveal that he controls the Critic like a puppet-master. As they do a lot of videos as themselves reviewing modern movies, Doug and Rob will [[AlterEgoActing play]] this dynamic too. Doug's usually the ditzy, slightly crazy WideEyedIdealist, while Rob is more cynical and can smack Doug down when he gets too far.
* ''WebVideo/SuperMarioLogan'':
** In the "Bowser Junior's First Grade!" story arc, Emily Coleman, who is [[OnlySaneMan one of the few students who has some common sense and maturity]], serves as the responsible sibling to her crazy brother, Patrick's foolish sibling.
** In "Chef Pee Pee's Family", Chef Pee Pee and his [[NoNameGiven unnamed]] sister serve as the responsible siblings to their sister, Stacy's foolish sibling. In particular, Stacy spends most of her time cheering the same word: "Queef", much to their annoyance.
** In "The Koopalings! Part 2", Junior, Iggy, Roy, Larry, and Ludwig are the responsible siblings, while Wendy, Morton, and Lemmy are the foolish ones. In particular, Wendy smashed a dish over a spot she missed, and later cut the couch in half with a chainsaw [[spoiler:which led to Mario and Bowser getting evicted from their apartment]], Lemmy [[CallBack broke a table with a cannonball from Bowser's clown car]], and Morton smashed another table with a hammer, with Junior trying to stop them all the while.
* ''WebVideo/CreamHeroes'': Dodo is the Foolish, having jumped atop Claire's kitchen cabinets despite the dangers and has eaten soil, silicone and paper. This stands in contrast to his brother Toto, who tends to be calmer and more responsible, acting as a defender from the robot vacuum and the zombie hand massager. Notably, if Dodo doesn't go to DD or Nana for comfort when he's upset, he will seek out Toto.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Inverted in ''Manga/{{Aruosumente}}''. It's flamboyant, chatty and seemingly carefree Lante who takes responsibility when the serious, quiet Dante acts on an impulse and goes off the hook, sometimes even attacking people at random.
* ''Manga/AsteroidInLove'': Mira Kinohata is an energetic GenkiGirl who is known to be [[TheDitz not particularly intelligent]], while her sister Misa is a composed CoolBigSis who has a TeenGenius reputation.
* ''Manga/BloomIntoYou'' has the Nanami sisters, Touko and Mio. At the time of Mio's death, Mio was a highly respected StudentCouncilPresident, while Touko was a shy girl with mediocre grades and few friends, making them come off as a downplayed version. [[spoiler:In fact, it's the opposite. While Touko strived to improve herself and eventually achieved all the success Mio had, she learned that Mio was a slacker who delegated most of the work to her fellow student council members, including having them do her summer homework.]]
* Rowdy, underachieving delinquent Romio and strict, no-nonsense prefect Airu from ''Manga/BoardingSchoolJuliet''.
* In ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'', Daichi's uncle Kengo is the responsible sibling while Daichi's father is the foolish one. The latter disappeared, leaving his young children to fend for themselves, while the former is a businessman who employs Daichi and offered to take in the four kids.
* In ''Manga/Brave10'', Yukimura is the foolish sibling to Nobuyuki's responsible one, as Nobuyuki is very orthodox and straightforward, while Yukimura is the lazy, playful [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]].
* In ''Anime/{{Charlotte}}'', there's the Kurobane sisters. Misa, the eldest sister, was the Foolish sibling, since her reckless thrill-seeking ways got herself killed, and she remembers causing problems for her parents. Yusa, the younger sister, is the Responsible, being an IdolSinger who's far nicer and more level-headed, causing Misa to say that Yusa was quite unlike her in that regard.
* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': Goten is nice, but carefree and naive, while his older brother Gohan is intelligent and responsible. Justified by the age gap between them and Gohan's murderous childhood before Goten was born.
* ''Manga/DrStone'': Ginro is the foolish to Kinro's responsible. Ginro is the brother most likely to slack off or try and find the easiest way out, while Kinro's catchphrase is "rules are rules".
* ''Manga/EbisuSanAndHoteiSan'' has the two Ebisu sisters, the younger of which is half of the eponymous couple. The elder sister is the foolish one, being quite lazy when it comes to cleaning and even forcing Mayo to take care of Hana. The younger sister, on the other hand, is responsible, being a highly efficient worker who balances her job with caring for her niece.
* ''Manga/FlyMeToTheMoon'' has two pairs of sisters.
** The Arisugawa sisters. Kaname, the younger sister, is a responsible and hard-working girl who does most of the work around the bathhouse and is the OnlySaneMan of the family, while her older sister Aya is rather lazy and immature.
** Tsukasa and her adoptive sister Chitose. Tsukasa is a hard-working levelheaded housewife to Nasa, while Chitose is a ClingyJealousGirl who seems to have nothing better to do than to try to break Tsukasa and Nasa up.
* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'': Played with in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'', where Judau is usually seen skipping school and doing things with his friends while his younger sister Leina is bugging him to get an education. However, it's actually reversed: the things Judau is doing with his friends is hard work in the junkyard, and he skips school to keep up this job so that he can save enough money for Leina to get a good education. Leina tends to ignore this and focus on the present, while Judau's thinking long-term.
* ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'':
** Kagome isn't flighty per se, but often forgets to bring her homework to class, only for Sota to pick up the slack. Then again, considering she's spending most of her time in the Feudal Era, she can hardly be blamed for losing focus on her supposed off days.
** The titular Inuyasha and Sesshomaru also exhibit this. While Inuyasha is brash, crude, and free of responsibilities, Sesshomaru is calculating and elegant.
* In ''Manga/ItsToughBeingNeeko'', there's the Niito sisters. Nemuko, aka Neeko, is the Foolish sibling, being a {{NEET}} with crippling social anxiety. Her much younger sister Imoko is a high schooler who's willing and able to work part time having gotten a job at a place that rejected Neeko.
* Yui and Ui from ''Manga/KOn'' epitomize this trope. While Yui tends to be [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} irresponsible at best]], Ui cooks, cleans house, and even helps her older sister with her homework.
* ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa'' has the responsible Tiff and the foolish Tuff. Tiff is quite intelligent, while Tuff is not too bright and tends to act before thinking.
* ''Manga/LaidBackCamp''
** Nadeshiko is an energetic [[TheDitz ditz]], while her sister Sakura is a taciturn CoolBigSis.
** Minami and Ryouko Toba. Minami is a hard-drinking SenseiChan, albeit one who sometimes proves to be good at her job as a teacher and truly cares for her students. Her younger sister Ryouko often keeps Minami in check, such as texting her to make sure she isn't drinking too much while driving her students around on the Izu camping trip.
* In ''Manga/LuckyStar'', Kagami is studious and level-headed while Tsukasa is more naive and childish.
* PlayedForDrama in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaReflection'', where Kyrie's inability to be like her more level-headed and responsible older sister Amitie causes her to develop an inferiority complex [[spoiler:and leaves her open to [[FalseFriend Iris']] manipulations]].
* In ''Manga/MonthlyGirlsNozakiKun'', remarkably, Kashima's younger sister Rei manages to turn {{CloudCuckoolander}} Kashima into the ''responsible'' sibling half. Rei being very naive and having a compulsion to publicly and inappropriately ''ship every boy and girl she sees interact with each other'' forces Kashima to play damage control and try to keep her sister's behavior in check.
* In ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'', Mycroft is the responsible CompassionateCritic to his impulsive, irresponsible, childish, and spoiled little brother Sherlock and bears the burden of their ancestor's sins alone in order for Sherlock to be able to live his life freely.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
** People expected the First and Second Hokage to be serious, loyal, responsible people. Only the younger fits this description on a normal day. His older brother instead thinks it's a good idea to teach a toddler how to gamble. Yes, the First was responsible for Tsunade's gambling addiction. It also counts as HilariousInHindsight, since {{Fanon}} usually depicts them in reverse positions. Hashirama was often depicted as the responsible one, and more compassionate than his younger brother, who was often depicted as a playboy who has a notable percentage of descendants ''everywhere''. The only part that stuck in {{Canon}} was Hashirama being the more compassionate one.
** Sakon and Ukon fit, Ukon's favorite phrase even being "wise older brother, foolish younger brother." Ukon seemed to be the more pragmatic of the two, while Sakon was more sadistic in liking to drag things out.
** Kinkaku and Ginkaku, for what little panel time they had, may fit as well. They are half-siblings or fraternal twins. Kinkaku is bigger and seems to be the more observant and pragmatic one in battle. He's also rather stoic in the manga. Ginkaku is the louder of the two, and more prone to smirking and losing his cool. He's the one that ends up being taken down first, and according to Kakuzu, it's not the first time, since Kinkaku is known to rage when it happens.
* ''Manga/NoMatterHowILookAtItItsYouGuysFaultImNotPopular'' has Tomoko and Tomoki. Tomoko is the older sister and tends to laze about and play games. Her younger brother Tomoki is more serious about his studying, calmer and even helps around the house without being asked, even making his own lunch for school. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by their mother, who thinks ''Tomoko'' should be the responsible sibling because she's older.
* ''Manga/NonNonBiyori'': Natsumi is much more carefree and irresponsible than her older sister Komari. Komari is generally more responsible, but has her moments of immaturity (ironic, since she looks younger than Natsumi and wants to be perceived as her actual age).
* Yuuya and Yamato from ''Manga/{{Nukoduke}}'' qualify despite not being siblings. Yuuya is a loafer who frequently runs away from his class chores and causes a lot of trouble for his school mates. Yamato is the student council Vice President who must constantly remind his friend to pull his act together. Other characters regard the two as brothers (as they grew up together) and generally consider Yamato as Yuuya's guardian.
* Siblings in ''Manga/OnePiece'' often have this dynamic even if they aren't biologically related.
** Nojiko and her adoptive sister Nami. Nami frequently got into trouble by stealing, and later became a pariah in the village by joining the Arlong Pirates(although it was to free her village), making her Foolish. Nojiko, however, is far more mature for her age, to the point at which her adoptive mother Bellemere described her as the mature one, and grew up to become a tangerine farmer, making her Responsible.
** Luffy and his brother Ace. For the most part, Ace is much more level-headed and intelligent than Luffy, making him the Responsible sibling to Luffy's Foolish sibling.
** Franky and Iceberg, Tom's two apprentices. Franky was the Foolish sibling, spending his time building battleships in the hopes of using one to take down a Sea King, and his inventions ended up being stolen and used to frame Tom. Iceberg was the Responsible sibling, having worked on the sea train with Tom, united the shipyards of Water 7 under his leadership and deceived the World Government for years, with his more eccentric traits being ObfuscatingStupidity.
** Lola is the Foolish sister to her sister Chiffon's Responsible as fellow children of [[spoiler:Big Mom of the Yonko]]. Lola ran out on an ArrangedMarriage, and was naive enough to think her mother still loved her, which is why she gave Nami [[spoiler:Big Mom]]'s Vivre Card. Chiffon, however, is significantly more intelligent, going along with her marriage to Capone "Gang" Bege while plotting with Bege to [[spoiler:assassinate Big Mom.]]
** Ulti and Page One of the Tobi Roppo. Ulti is significantly more childish and hot-tempered, resulting in Page One having to keep her in line.
* In ''Anime/APlaceFurtherThanTheUniverse'', there's the Tamaki sisters- Mari (aka "Kimari") and Rin. Mari, the older one, can be fairly childish and immature, even going off to Antarctica after forging her mother's signature on the permission form. By contrast, her younger sister Rin is far more serious and responsible and helps talk Kimari into only packing what she needs for her trip.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Omega Ruby Crimson Passion & Pokémon Alpha Sapphire Indigo Wisdom'' is a manga starring PolarOppositeTwins Alpha and Omega. The younger twin Alpha has TsurimeEyes, is more serious, and is more calmer. The older twin Omega has TaremeEyes, is goofier, and is more hot-headed.
* ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' has two examples:
** Zigzagged with Naofumi and his unnamed younger brother. Naofumi was originally the Foolish elder brother due to his poor grades and otaku lifestyle, so his parents forced the younger brother to become the Responsible son. The stress of meeting their expectations drove him to adopt Yankee culture, becoming the Foolish brother, only for Naofumi to play Responsible by helping him blow off the accumulated stress with galge games. Afterward, the younger brother returned to being Responsible while Naofumi became Foolish.
** Heavily Deconstructed with Princesses Malty S. Melromarc and Melty Q. Melromarc. Malty is the older sister who was spoiled as a child, becoming a sociopathic and sadistic woman. Meanwhile, Melty was raised to be a kind and mature young girl who cares for the wellbeing of the Kingdom. Their mother appoints Melty as the heir, which leads to a myriad of problems. Melty is forced to suppress her childishness to become the future Queen, and becomes frustrated by being forced to lose her childhood and chance at friends. Losing her status as the heir despite being the oldest has left Malty bitterly resentful of Melty, to the point she tries to assassinate her to gain the throne to herself.
* In ''Franchise/SailorMoon'', the main character Usagi is ditzy, fun-loving and lazy, while her younger brother Shingo is much smarter and more responsible.
* In ''A Scummy Gap Student With A Hard Life Calls Upon A Lady of the Night'', Makino, the younger of the two Hanabusa sisters, is the foolish one, having failed her college entrance exams and become a {{Ronin}} due to being too lazy to study, leading her to waste money on a lesbian call girl and concoct schemes to get closer to said call girl. Her older sister, however, got into a good school, making her the responsible one.
* ''Manga/SorcererHunters'' has brothers Carrot and Marron. Carrot is a [[CasanovaWannabe shameless skirt-chaser]] who tends to be lazy until the prospect of hooking up with an attractive woman comes along; then he charges headlong into danger. His younger brother, Marron, is thoughtful and considerate and takes his job as a hunter seriously.
%%* In ''Manga/YuGiOh5Ds'', Leo is the foolish one and Luna is the responsible one.
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[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/TheLegendOfXiaoChuo'': Wuguli is the foolish sister to her responsible older sister Hu Nian. Wuguli's foolishness causes a lot of misery for Hu Nian, who's forced to marry Yansage to save Wuguli's life. Yan Yan is somewhere in the middle; not as foolish as Wuguli but not as responsible as Hu Nian.
[[/folder]]

** In "Chef Pee Pee's Family", Chef Pee Pee and his [[NoNameGiven unnamed]] sister serve as the responsible siblings to their sister, Stacy's foolish sibling. In particular, Stacy spends most of her time [[TheCheerleader cheering]] the same word: "Queef", much to their annoyance.

* Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood'' gives Prince John and King Richard this respective dynamic. While John is an arrogant, impatient and petty ManChild who wants to fuel his power through stealing from the poor, Richard is a kind, mature and sensible leader who rules the country professionally and doesn't look down on anyone below his status.

* Played straight and is the main plot point in ''Jason's Lyric'', besides the love story. Jason is the serious, responsible and dutiful son, while Joshua is the [[HotBlooded short-tempered]] and troublemaker son to their mom, Gloria.