History Main / IllegalGuardian

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* Richard III... maybe.

[[/folder]]

* Count Olaf throughout ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents''

* In ''Literature/LesMiserables'', Fantine leaves her daughter, Cosette, in the care of the corner-cutting Innkeepers Thenardier who work Cosette as a servant.

* Mime from Creator/RichardWagner's ''[[Theatre/DerRingDesNibelungen Siegfried]]''. A DirtyCoward who tends to be (wrongly) made into The Woobie in modern productions.

* Sylvester Sneekly from ''WesternAnimation/ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop''

* A movie for ''The Littles'' focused on Tom and Lucy befriending an orphan boy who's abused and locked up by his uncle, who only took him in for the access to boy's inheritance. Later the boy finds a letter from his father saying that his uncle was ''never'' meant to adopt him, someone else was.

* ''Theatre/RichardIII'', making another one for TheZerothLawOfTropeExamples

* Sylvester Sneekly from ''ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop''

* In ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' Barnaby was raised by his parents' friend and business partner following his parents' murder. It turns out Maverick [[spoilers: used his super power- a type of MindRape - to control Barnaby and make him believe the murder was someone other than Maverick himself, while using him as a means of raising the profile of HeroTV, the superhero tv show Barnaby works for.]] All while staging many of the the crimes Barnaby and his coworkers stop, directly against the wishes of his Baranby's parents.

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[[AC:{{Film}}]]

* In ''Film/TheGlassHouse'' (2001), the childless couple Erin (Diane Lane) and Terry (Stellan Skarsgård) Glass take in 16-year-old Ruby (Leelee Sobieski) and 11-year-old Rhett (Trevor Morgan) after their parents are killed in an auto accident. Ruby eventually learns that the Glasses are after the children's $4 million trust fund. Terry is in hock to loan sharks, and Erin uses drugs. They also may have been involved in the accident.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:{{Theater}}]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

[[AC:RealLife]]

* EscapeToWitchMountain: Tony and Tia are orphaned siblings with an assortment of intriguing PsychicPowers. A corrupt rich guy, Mr. Bolt, gets his [[TheDragon Dragon]] Lucas Deranian to forge papers making himself out to be the kids' uncle, so Deranian can take custody of the kids and deliver them to Bolt.
* In ''The Glass House'' (2001), the childless couple Erin (Diane Lane) and Terry (Stellan Skarsgård) Glass take in 16-year-old Ruby (Leelee Sobieski) and 11-year-old Rhett (Trevor Morgan) after their parents are killed in an auto accident. Ruby eventually learns that the Glasses are after the children's $4 million trust fund. Terry is in hock to loan sharks, and Erin uses drugs. They also may have been involved in the accident.

* Tony and Tia are orphaned siblings with an assortment of intriguing PsychicPowers. A corrupt rich guy, Mr. Bolt, gets his [[TheDragon Dragon]] Lucas Deranian to forge papers making himself out to be the kids' uncle, so Deranian can take custody of the kids and deliver them to Bolt.

* Subverted by ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha''. Hayate's guardian is [[spoiler: Admiral Gil Graham of the TSAB]], who set her up in a nice house, paid all her bills for her, and generally gave her the comfiest life a crippled preteen could ask for. Then he put her through a HeroicBSOD and DemonicPossession and nearly had her sealed away between the dimensions for the rest of eternity. The subversion comes about because [[spoiler: Graham]] ''genuinely'' wanted Hayate to have a good life before he did this, and he viewed his actions as being [[ShootTheDog regrettable but necessary]] in order to save billions of lives from the ArtifactOfDoom possessing Hayate.

* The butler in ''Disney/TheAristocats''

* In ''Anime/MichikoToHatchin'', Hana is adopted by a priest after her mother is arrested. The entire family is abusive, and the priest's main motivation for keeping Hana around is for the welfare payments.

* In ''Anime/MichikotoHatchin'', Hana is adopted by a priest after her mother is arrested. The entire family is abusive, and the priest's main motivation for keeping Hana around is for the welfare payments.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* The abusive foster parents in the ''Comicbook/TheSandman'' volume "The Doll's House".
* Beast Boy's legal guardian; from the original ''Comicbook/DoomPatrol'' series and referenced in ComicBook/TeenTitans

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* Mr. Koerner from The ''PerilsOfPauline''
* The premise of the thriller movie ''The Glass House''
* Mother Gothel from ''Disney/{{Tangled}}''
* Prince Char's EvilUncle Sir Edgar in ''Film/EllaEnchanted''
* Babydoll's stepfather in ''SuckerPunch''
* Harry Powell from ''NightOfTheHunter''
* Uncle Charlie from ''Stoker''

* Creator/RoaldDahl's ''Literature/{{Matilda}}'' features the terrifying Agatha Trunchbull, evil aunt to the angelic Miss Honey, who fits this trope to a tee. Not only did she force Miss Honey to do all the housework as a child, she also [[spoiler:mistreated her, leaving her a nervous wreck]]. All this ''after'' she had [[spoiler:killed her brother-in-law in order to get her hands on Magnus' house and money by forcing the emotionally battered Miss Honey to forfeit all rights to her inheritance]].

* Count Olaf throughout ''ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents''

[[AC:RealLife]]
* Richard III... maybe.

* Uncle Barnaby in ''BabesInToyland'' (though not the 1934 or 1961 film adaptations).

* The butler in ''TheAristocats''

* In ''LesMiserables'', Fantine leaves her daughter, Cosette, in the care of the corner-cutting Innkeepers Thenardier who work Cosette as a servant.

* In ''HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'', Harry believed his Uncle and his Aunt would have stolen his father's fortune if they knew about it. Given [[CinderellaCircumstances how they treated him]], it's a reasonable fear.