History Main / MiddleChildSyndrome

* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'': The eponymous Malcolm had this trope in spades.
** Except that Lois mistreats ''all'' her children, Malcolm just got it the worst because she actually ''cares'' about his future, due to his high IQ.
** Also played with, as of Jamie's birth, Reese and Dewey are middle children too, even though only Malcolm gets this treatment.

** Yakko is the oldest and is often TheLeader of the siblings (it's him who becomes King of Anvilania). Dot likewise is the only girl and gets a lot of attention as TheCutie. Wakko meanwhile is the {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, with an [[UnexplainedAccent inexplicable British accent]] (something his brother and sister don't have), who usually just goes along with what the other two do -- although it's he who is the instigator of the BigDamnMovie (named "Wakko's Wish" too). The trope is alluded to in one episode when Wakko tries to walk down an upward-moving escalator.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBuzzOnMaggie'': Maggie Pesky is the tween middle child to a JerkJock BigBrotherBully, an [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling annoying younger brother]], and an attention-hogging baby sister. Maggie herself is a rebellious LoserProtagonist with dreams of becoming a famous rockstar.

** This one is rather complicated by two factors: First, Cecily had ''eight'' sons [[note]]she outlived all of them[[/note]], of whom George was the sixth, as well as four daughters. Second, George's oppression is largely [[BourgeoisBumpkin in his own head]]. In the series, he is shown receiving and acquiring giant helpings of land and money even after betraying his family twice (the second time re-opening the succession war and killing several thousand people), yet [[EntitledBastard still complains]] that he doesn't get even more! By the end of his life, he seemingly goes completely insane, suspecting his brothers and the Woodvilles of [[WindmillPolitical plotting against him]], even though they've really been [[EasilyForgiven extremely forgiving]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Lampshaded by Lisa: "Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday overlooked middle child, happy birthday to me." Which is strange because a lot of episodes show she's a likely candidate as Homer's favorite (He takes her places she likes that he finds boring, helped out with her soccer team, stuff like that). For him, Maggie is more this trope, since there are times he even forgets she exists. In general, however, Lisa has to deal with the fact that Bart and Maggie both require closer parenting than her, Bart because he's constantly in trouble and Maggie because she's a baby, meaning that she's the one most likely to get left to her own devices.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Lampshaded by Lisa: "Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday overlooked middle child, happy birthday to me." Which is strange because a lot of episodes show she's a likely candidate as Homer's favorite (He takes her places she likes that he finds boring, helped out with her soccer team, stuff like that). For him, Maggie is more this trope, since there are times he even forgets she exists.

* One ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' {{Fanfic}} offers an [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation alternate interpretation]]. Rather than making Blossom the Eldest, she is the ''Middle Child'', and her acting more mature and claiming of the leader role is her attempt to compensate for her fear of being overlooked. Buttercup is the Youngest, and her extreme attitude is her way of rebelling against any notion of labeling her the "baby", and Bubbles is the Eldest and simply doesn't care about whatever role she "should" fill, given that all the girls are extremely young ''anyway'' and her sisters are more willing to fill those stereotypes.

* While ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' are triplets and, thus, the same age, Buttercup still falls right into Middle Child Syndrome by being noticeably more cynical and snarky than Blossom and Bubbles, who in turn behave like an Oldest and Youngest Child respectively. According to the DVDCommentary for TheMovie, this is because while Blossom and Bubbles got {{Meaningful Name}}s, Buttercup got saddled with her name just for the sake of AlliterativeFamily.

* ''Literature/BridgeToTerabithia'': Protagonist Jess Aarons, being the third out of five and [[OutnumberedSibling the only boy with four sisters]], two elder and two younger than him.

* ''Literature/BridgeToTerabithia'': Protagonist Jess Aarons, being the third out of five and the only boy with four sisters, two elder and two younger than him.

* In ''[[Literature/RamonaQuimby Ramona Forever]]'', Ramona has misgivings about gaining [[InfantSiblingJealousy a new baby sibling]], because it means she'll lose her attention-getting status as TheBabyOfTheBunch and become the middle child. She especially feels this way when, after baby Roberta is born, she has to sit in the waiting room while her father and Beezus go to see the baby because children under 12 aren't allowed in the maternity ward.

** ''Manga/SaintSeiyaTheLostCanvas'' is even worse. The only Silver Saint we know is Yuzuriha, nobody else is mentioned or play any important role. It doesn't help that this series focuses a LOT on the Golds (given that they were EnsembleDarkHorse in the classic series), and gives what other spotlight to [[TheHero Tenma]] and [[TheLancer Yato]]. It's hard not to feel sorry for the Silvers.\

* ''Series/BetterThings'': Frankie starts to show this during Season 2 as a rebellious BlackSheep DeadpanSnarker (who's possibly trans but at the very least is very gender nonconforming) and this is taken UpToEleven in Season 3 when [[spoiler: her frustration at Sam's refusal to explain why she left Xander and raised the girls alone prompts her to run away.]]

%% Image courtesy of Tropers/{{robusterwiz}}

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** This one is rather complicated by two factors: First, Cecily had ''eight'' sons[[note]]She outlived all of them.[[/note]], of whom George was the sixth, as well as four daughters. Second, George's oppression is largely [[BourgeoisBumpkin in his own head]]. In the series, he is shown receiving and acquiring giant helpings of land and money even after betraying his family twice (the second time re-opening the succession war and killing several thousand people), yet [[EntitledBastard still complains]] that he doesn't get even more! By the end of his life he seemingly goes completely insane, suspecting his brothers and the Woodvilles of [[WindmillPolitical plotting against him]], even though they've really been [[EasilyForgiven extremely forgiving]].

* Downplayed in ''Manga/AhMyGoddess''. Belldandy hardly suffers from being a black sheep or unloved, but she does seem to be somewhat left out, as her nature, elegant and refined, is very different from that of Urd and Skuld, who have much more in common with each other than with her. As a result, she's always on the outside of their antics, so much so that she feels jealous.

** ''Manga/SaintSeiyaTheLostCanvas'' is even worse. The only Silver Saint we know is Yuzuriha, nobody else is mentioned or play any important role. It doesn't help that this series focuses a LOT on the Golds (given that they were EnsembleDarkHorse in the classic series), and gives what other spotlight to [[TheHero Tenma]] and [[TheLancer Yato]]. It's hard not to feel sorry for the Silvers.
* ''Manga/SuperGals'': Inverted with Ran; out of her siblings, she seems to have the most interactions with her parents (especially her father). However, this has less to do with her being a middle child, and more because of her rebellious tendencies.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' focuses on Lincoln, who's not only [[OutnumberedSibling the only boy]] out of [[MassiveNumberedSiblings eleven siblings]], but smack-dab in the middle to boot, with five older and five younger sisters.

* John Shelby in ''Series/PeakyBlinders'' is the third of five siblings and it's often implied he feels overlooked because he doesn't have an outstanding personality trait like his siblings - [[TheBrute Arthur]] is the oldest, [[TheDon Tommy]] is both the smartest and TheLeader of the family, [[WhiteSheep Ada]] is the [[OutnumberedSibling only girl]] and [[TagalongKid Finn]] is TheBabyOfTheBunch. His resentment becomes even more pronounced in Season 3, when their cousin [[LongLostRelative Michael]] is placed in the role of TheConsigliere due to his superior education, making John feel even less valued than he already did.

* ''Literature/BridgeToTerabithia'': Protagonist Jess Aarons combines this with OutnumberedSibling, being the third out of five and the only boy with four sisters, two elder and two younger than him.

* In ''Film/DaddysLittleGirl'', Ellie has a case of this when it comes to her father. He had Andrea, his eldest child whom he doted upon and did his best to keep out of trouble, only for her to be [[OutlivingOnesOffspring violently taken from him]]. Now he has Teddy, his youngest child and only son, who is still in school and similar to Andrea in many ways. Ellie, the middle child, always felt she could never compete with either her older or younger sibling when it comes to her father's affections, especially as unlike them she's not athletic, popular or conventionally attractive.

TruthInTelevision. It's common to blame or demonize the parents, but in most cases, they do not realize the situation and need it brought up to them. There are also times when the parents do see there is a problem but do not know how to handle it.

* {{Invoked|Trope}} in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome''. [[spoiler:[[AllianceOfAlternates The three Spider-Men]] are deliberately portrayed like brothers, with the [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries Webb-verse Spider-Man]] in particular addressing himself as lame compared to the OlderAndWiser [[Film/SpiderManTrilogy Raimi-verse Spider-Man]] and YoungerAndHipper [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse MCU Spider-Man]]. There's RealitySubtext to this, as the Webb-verse films are the least well-received of the three Spider-Man films. Nonetheless, Raimi-verse Spidey reassures him that it is not the case, even calling him [[TitleDrop "amazing"]].]]

* ''Series/TheKidsAreAlright2018'': Timmy Doyle is this.
* Addressed in one episode of ''Series/LifeWithDerek''.

* Present in ''Film/HighAndTight'' where the middle child is the protagonist. Scott Olsen is sandwiched between oldest brother Shane -- who is a parental substitute and breadwinner -- and youngest brother Seth -- who is implied to be a ChildProdigy. Scott is shown to be TheHeart of the family, however.

** Percy Weasley is the third brother in the Weasley clan. He's sort of the ButtMonkey in earlier books before he turns into a full {{Jerkass}}, especially where Fred and George are involved. Everybody admires Bill and Charlie, everybody finds Fred and George fun to be around, Ginny is respected for her ability as a witch (plus she's both the youngest and the only girl of the family) and Ron does get some respect as Harry's best friend and for his later heroics. Percy, on the other hand, doesn't get much attention. It's mostly his older brothers that he comes off poorly in comparison to; since even though his academic achievements are impressive, Bill did just as well while being cooler and moe likeable and Charlie did almost as well and was a sports star on top of it. Even his boss, Barty Crouch, Sr., calls him by the wrong name ''to his face''! Percy is actually set up to be the favourite in book one ''but'' only because he was a prefect. He appears to be Molly's favourite, however the rest of his family don't seem to prefer him.