History Main / PlayingTheFamilyCard

Pretty much every culture in the world believes in the importance of family ties. Sadly, there a number of people, both in [[TruthInTelevision real life]] and fiction, who just ''love'' to pull the family card as a tactic to [[ManipulativeBastard manipulate]] and guilt-trip family members into [[EasilyForgiven forgiving them]], [[KarmaHoudini allowing them to escape the consequences of their actions]], letting themselves be exploited, or helping them in their wrongdoing.

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'': "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS1E6And7TheEnemyBelow The Enemy Below]]" has Lord Orm conspire to usurp Aquaman as King of Atlantis and destroy the surface world, which leads to him to attempt murder on Aquaman and his infant son by attempting to plunge them into a volcano, forcing Aquaman to cut off his hand to save his son. When confronting Orm at the polar ice caps, Orm attempts to kill Aquaman telling him he's not fit for the throne, only for the ice to break under him and forcing him to hold onto the ledge for dear life. Orm begs Aquaman for help and calls him "brother" despite all that he's done to him, but Aquaman [[RefuseToRescueTheDisliked instead just takes back his trident and lets Orm fall into the abyss]], seeing through the obvious insincerity and knowing that Orm will likely try to kill him again if he does save him (which is supported by a FreezeFrameBonus of [[WoundedGazelleGambit Orm smirking when Aquaman seemingly reaches for his hand]]).

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'': King Vangelis, the seemingly benevolent ruler of Shintaro who tries to keep his daughter from going into the mines out of apparent concern for her safety, reveals himself to be the Skull Sorcerer enslaving the Munce and Geckles. After sending Wu and Cole down a trap door, [[IHaveNoSon Vangelis threatens to disown Vania as his daughter if she chooses to go to their rescue and oppose him]], making good on that threat when she chooses to do the right thing. After Cole defeats him, Vangelis tries to appeal to Vania and justify his actions by calling her his daughter, but [[TheDogBitesBack Vania isn't having any of it and orders his arrest]].

* In ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'', back in the 1970s, the team was briefly taken captive and held on "[[JokerJury trial]]" by known supervillain Grim Reaper/Eric Williams, who was trying to ascertain which of the two Avengers- the Vision or Wonder Man- was his younger brother Simon. Upon going into a VillainousBreakdown upon finding that Simon ''is'' Wonder Man- but he's not [[EnergyBeing human]] anymore- he electrocutes the entire team except for Simon unconscious. Brother then fights brother as Eric tries justifying his actions by stating that everything he did was to get his beloved little brother BackFromTheDead, and not the "robotic imposter". Simon calls Eric out on his SelfServingMemory, reminding his big brother that he [[BigBrotherBully used to beat him up when they were children]], and now he's become insane and far more dangerous. Panicking as his brother advances on him, powering through all the blasts fired from his ArmCannon, Eric tries [[DontMakeMeDestroyYou warning Simon away]] from his still-rotating scythe, only for it to break against Simon's chest, enabling Wonder Man to finally knock his brother unconscious with a pulled punch. Despite dismay at the murderous madman Eric has become, Simon still [[ApologeticAttacker apologizes to his brother]] after the punch, and ends the story by asking the rest of the Avengers to leave him alone with Eric for a while
* [[Characters/{{Batgirl}} Stephanie Brown]] ''usually'' doesn't go for this one when it comes to her dad Cluemaster, but she made an exception in the lead-up to ''[[ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand No Man's Land]]'', letting him escape rather than leaving him to face the ComicBook/{{Huntress}} and her kill-on-sight policy.
* In one ''Franchise/{{Wolverine}}'' comic, Logan gets pulled into a feud between a {{Yakuza}} family who keep killing one another's members. One such member, a FatBastard named Gon, is confronted in his office by his armed brother, whom he desperately tries pacifying by reminding him of their family ties, only for his brother to dispatch him with a [[BoomHeadshot headshot]] and say, [[BondOneLiner "Don't remind me. I don't need another reason to kill you."]]

See also HeritageFaceTurn. Blood-related examples are essentially attempting to exploit the ThickerThanWater trope. Compare FamilyHonor, which characters who play the family card might cite as justification. Overlaps with BegTheDog and CrossingTheBurntBridge if a character uses this tactic to beg someone who they hurt or cut ties with, EntitledBastard if a family member feels entitled to someone's help, BecauseISaidSo if a parent, older sibling, or older family in general uses their position to justify bossing offspring or younger relatives around, OnlyCaresAboutInheritance if a character uses family ties to try and get a deceased relative's inheritance, or TakingAdvantageOfGenerosity if someone uses family as an excuse to mooch off of a relative. Compare/Contrast ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections, which sometimes involves a character using their family ties to get out of trouble. Contrast HonorThyAbuser, in which the narrative portrays forgiving the abuser as a good thing.

# [[{{Hypocrite}} Hypocritical]] characters might deny someone as being family for one reason or another (such as disownment or a lack of blood relation) but have no problem calling that same person family when it's convenient.

See also HeritageFaceTurn. Blood-related examples are essentially attempting to exploit the ThickerThanWater trope. Compare FamilyHonor, which characters who play the family card might cite as justification. Overlaps with BegTheDog and CrossingTheBurntBridge if a character uses this tactic to beg someone who they hurt or cut ties with, EntitledBastard if a family member feels entitled to someone's help, BecauseISaidSo if a parent, older sibling, or older family in general uses their position to justify bossing offspring or younger relatives around, or TakingAdvantageOfGenerosity if someone uses family as an excuse to mooch off of a relative. Compare/Contrast ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections, which sometimes involves a character using their family ties to get out of trouble. Contrast HonorThyAbuser, in which the narrative portrays forgiving the abuser as a good thing.

* ''WebAnimation/{{Monirobo}}'': In every story involving toxic relatives, said relatives will always play the family card whenever they need the protagonist, who they mistreated, exploited, abused, or disowned, to assist them, which the protagonist will always refuse.

* This appears to be continually done by patriarch Tywin Lannister in ''Series/GameOfThrones''. In his own search to maintain and expand his power as an ''eminence gris'' manipulating the Seven Kingdoms from the shadows, he browbeats and manipulates his children Cersei, Jaime, and especially Tyrion. Trouble begins when Tyrion proves increasingly resistant to being intimidated and manipulated. [[spoiler:He eventually murders his father after Tywin goes too far.]]

# A villain who's related to a hero might use the family card to convince the hero to [[VillainsWantMercy show mercy]], [[WeCanRuleTogether join them]] or let them get away.

# If someone is related to a powerful and/or influential person, they will probably demand that their powerful relative to use their power for their benefit.

# In a conflict between biological and non-biological relatives, the bio-relatives might use blood-relations in order to convince someone to side with them.

# [[{{Hypocrite}} Hypocritical]] characters might deny someone as being family for one reason or another (such as disownment or a lack of blood-relation), but have no problem calling that same person family when it's convenient.

See also HeritageFaceTurn. Blood-related examples are essentially attempting to exploit the ThickerThanWater trope. Compare FamilyHonor, which characters who play the family card might cite as justification. Overlaps with BegTheDog and CrossingTheBurntBridge if a character are uses this tactic to beg someone who they hurt or cut ties with, EntitledBastard if a family member feels entitled to someone's help, BecauseISaidSo if a parent, older sibling, or older family in general uses their position to justify bossing offspring or younger relatives around, or TakingAdvantageOfGenerosity if someone uses family as an excuse to mooch off of a relative. Compare/Contrast ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections, which sometimes involves a character using their family ties to get out of trouble. Contrast HonorThyAbuser, in which the narrative portrays forgiving the abuser as a good thing.

* In ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'', back in the 1970's, the team was briefly taken captive and held on "[[JokerJury trial]]" by known supervillain Grim Reaper/Eric Williams, who was trying to ascertain which of the two Avengers- the Vision or Wonder Man- was his younger brother Simon. Upon going into a VillainousBreakdown upon finding that Simon ''is'' Wonder Man- but he's not [[EnergyBeing human]] anymore- he electrocutes the entire team except for Simon unconscious. Brother then fights brother as Eric tries justifying his actions by stating that everything he did was to get his beloved little brother BackFromTheDead, and not the "robotic imposter". Simon calls Eric out on his SelfServingMemory, reminding his big brother that he [[BigBrotherBully used to beat him up when they were children]], and now he's become insane and far more dangerous. Panicking as his brother advances on him, powering through all the blasts fired from his ArmCannon, Eric tries [[DontMakeMeDestroyYou warning Simon away]] from his still-rotating scythe, only for it to break against Simon's chest, enabling Wonder Man to finally knock his brother unconscious with a pulled punch. Despite dismay at the murderous madman Eric has become, Simon still [[ApologeticAttacker apologizes to his brother]] after the punch, and ends the story by asking the rest of the Avengers to leave him alone with Eric for a while

* ''Fanfic/ForHisOwnSake'': [[spoiler: When Naru comes to [[CrossingTheBurntBridge crawl back to the family she abandoned]], she tries to convince them to take her back by invoking family ties. Her family don't fall for it, as she not only cut ties with them, Naru also made several hurtful remarks towards them, [[UngratefulBastard despite them trying to help her before]]]].
* In [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14265405/19/The-Snow-Queen-And-Her-Seer The Snow Queen And Her Seer]], a crossover between ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'' [[CrossoverCouple pairing Elsa with Bruno]], Alma (a [[AdaptationalVillainy significantly more evil version than in canon]]) develops an intense [[ObnoxiousInLaws hatred]] of her new daughter-in-law, and tries to murder her by [[AnimalAssassin sneaking a snake into Elsa's bed in the night]]. The snake fails to kill her, and afterwards, Alma appears before them, seemingly contrite, and offering some papaya and grape juice as a peace offering... [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk only for Mirabel to reveal that the juice is poisoned before Elsa can drink it]]. Now no longer making any attempts to hide her hatred, Alma jumps over the MoralEventHorizon by [[ImperiledInPregnancy shooting the pregnant Elsa]] to try killing her baby, and threatening to [[OffingTheOffspring kill Bruno next]]... only for Mirabel to disarm her grandmother and turn the gun on her.
-->'''Alma:''' [[OhCrap Mirabel]]. [[VillainsWantMercy Do not do this]]. You ''wouldn't'' do this. I'm your ''Abuela'', your... [[MoralMyopia your family]].

* ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut'' has a rare positive example; Becky Detweiler spends the film being blackmailed into driving her little brother TJ all over the state to secretly pick up his friends from sleepaway camp, in order to investigate a strange plot at Third Street School. After TJ is kidnapped, TJ's friends beg Becky to help them (through the Floppy Burger drive-thru where she works), but she has already had it up to here, not realizing how serious the threat is, until Mikey reminds her TJ is her little brother. Justified, since TJ is a 10-year-old dealing with a real evil conspiracy, and he ends up giving up his leverage over her by the end of the film.

* ''Series/{{Dickensian}}'': Throughout most of the series, [[Literature/GreatExpectations Arthur Havisham]] has been a ([[ForcedIntoEvil reluctant]], but still) partner-in-crime to Meriwether Compeyson in his scheme to seduce Arthur's sister Amelia into giving him the brewery she inherited from their father and take all the money left to her before abandoning her at the altar. By the finale, however, he finally decides he's had enough, and (with the help of [[Literature/OliverTwist Bill Sykes]] and Mr. Jaggers) coerces Compeyson into revealing his crimes to Amelia, including Arthur's own part in them. Arthur, being something of an EntitledBastard ''and'' a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter, seems to think that despite admitting he was working with a con-man to cheat his sister out of her inheritance, he'll be able to convince her to forgive him and their relationship to go back to how it was before just by reminding her that he's her brother. To no-one's surprise, ''he fails'': furious at her brother's greed and selfishness (and cowardice in not turning on Compeyson sooner), Amelia disowns him, orders him to get out of her house, and then descends into a miserable screaming fit of anguish. And seeing his sister fall into such a HeroicBSOD thoroughly rubs it in how much [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Arthur has let his family down]]: the last time we see him, he's standing on top of a building, drunk and bitter, and it's heavily implied that he'll [[DrivenToSuicide jump]].
* This appears to be continually done by patriarch Tywin Lannister in ''Series/GameOfThrones''. In his own search to maintain and expand his power as an ''eminence gris'' manipulating the Seven Kingdoms from the shadows, he browbeats and manipulates his children, Cersei, Jaime and especially Tyrion. Trouble begins when Tyrion proves increasingly resistant to being intimidated and manipulated. [[spoiler: He eventually murders his father after Tywin goes too far.]]

* Duncan Young, from ''VideoGame/CriminalCasePacificBay'' tries invoking familial ties with his sister Amy, a cop, after she and the player character (also a policeman) discovers that he is the [[SerialKiller Night Walker]], only for it to fail and ends with him behind bars.

** It's revealed in the Dark Knight quest "Original Sins" that Ystride, the crazed woman leading the hunt for Rielle, is none other than [[spoiler:Rielle's mother.]] In "Absolution", the heroes attempts to appeal to Ystride's ties to [[spoiler:her daughter]] to convince Ystride to stop her mad pursuit. Ystride refuses, having disowned [[spoiler:her daughter for being born with her father's heretical blood]]. Ystride then declares that she will ''never'' stop hunting Rielle.

* ''VideoGame/GhostOfTsushima'': Initially, Jin Sakai's uncle/ParentalSubstitute Lord Shimura appears to be a ReasonableAuthorityFigure and noble samurai, but as the story goes on, his [[NobleBigot prejudices]] and [[HonorBeforeReason stubborn insistence on fighting with honor]] gradually begins driving a wedge between him and his nephew. When Lord Shimura tries recapturing his castle from the [[HordesFromTheEast Mongols]] with an army of common soldiers, only to get them blown up thanks to the Mongols using bombs against them, he [[AttackAttackAttack doesn't learn anything from this]], deciding to try again the following morning, because his soldiers are [[WeHaveReserves expendable]], and at least they'll die with honour. Jin, [[AFatherToHisMen furious at his uncle's callous attitude]], decides to use a more pragmatic [[SamuraiShinobi Ghost]] tactic of sneaking into the castle at night and [[TamperingWithFoodAndDrink poisoning the Mongols' airag]] to kill them all, even though Lord Shimura objects to it. When Jin goes through with this tactic, and Lord Shimura arrives to confront him for it, he is '''thoroughly disgusted''' by Jin's actions, and proposes an even-more callous decision to try to spare his nephew from the Shogun's wrath:

* ''VideoGame/SpiderManMilesMorales'': Towards the climax, Miles ends up getting into a confrontation with his estranged Uncle Aaron Davis/The Prowler, who has ended up carrying out a laundry list of manipulations and betrayals of his nephew (manipulating him into joining the Underground so Aaron could use him to spy on [[EvilFormerFriend Phin Mason/The Tinkerer]], selling him and Phin out to [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Simon Krieger]], and currently imprisoning Miles in a subway station. After losing the fight, Aaron acknowledges his mistakes, but reminds Miles that they're family. All this does is prompt Miles to furiously state, "''Family?!'' That didn't stop you from ''manipulating me! Lying to me! '''Fighting me!''''' Being family ''isn't enough anymore!''" Whilst Aaron [[AntiVillain isn't an entirely unsympathetic figure]] (his crimes towards Miles were born out of a desperate attempt to make sure he didn't lose his nephew like he lost his brother), hearing his nephew call him out for his selfishness makes him have a HeelRealization, and by the end of the game, [[spoiler:he switches sides and sells Roxxon out in exchange for a reduced jail sentence]].

* ''WebVideo/AppleTexts'': Pretty much every episode that involves an evil family member will have said family member using familial relations as a means of guilt-triping or demanding the protagonist they abused and/or abandoned to help them. Said protagonist will never fall for it, and respond by cutting ties with them.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': In "[[Recap/AmphibiaS3E05AdventuresInCatsitting Adventures In Catsitting,]]" the Plantars reminisce about at time when their distant "Cousin Stanley" used his apparent ties with them to crash at their place. He was a big freeloader who constantly [[TheThingThatWouldNotLeave took advantage of the Plantar's generosity for months on end]], with it even being implied that he's not even really their cousin. Eventually, the Plantars, understandably, got fed up with Stanley, and forcefully kicked him out of the house without regret.

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'': "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS1E6And7TheEnemyBelow The Enemy Below]]" has Lord Orm conspire to usurp Aquaman as King of Atlantis and destroy the surface world, which leads to him to attempt murder on Aquaman and his infant son by attempting to plunge them into a volcano, forcing Aquaman to cut off his hand to save his son. When confronting Orm at the polar ice caps, Orm attempts to kill Aquaman telling him he's not fit for the throne, only for the ice break under him and forcing him to hold onto the ledge for dear life. Orm begs Aquaman for help and calls him "brother" despite all that he's done to him, but Aquaman [[RefuseToRescueTheDisliked instead just takes back his trident and lets Orm fall into the abyss]], seeing through the obvious insincerity and knowing that Orm will likely try to kill him again if he does save him (which is supported by a FreezeFrameBonus of [[WoundedGazelleGambit Orm smirking when Aquaman seemingly reaches for his hand]]).

[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'': "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS1E6And7TheEnemyBelow The Enemy Below]]" has Lord Orm conspire to usurp Aquaman as King of Atlantis and destroy the surface world, which leads to him attempt murder Aquaman and his infant son by attempting to plunge them into a volcano, forcing Aquaman to cut off his hand to save his son. When confronting Orm at the polar ice caps, Orm attempts to kill Aquaman telling him he's not fit for the throne, only for the ice break under him and forcing him to hold onto the edge for dear life. Orm begs Aquaman for help and calls him "brother" despite all that he's done to him, but Aquaman [[RefuseToRescueTheDisliked instead just takes back his trident and lets Orm fall into the abyss]], seeing through the obvious insincerity and knowing that Orm will likely try to kill him again if he does save him (which is supported by a FreezeFrameBonus of [[WoundedGazelleGambit Orm smirking when Aquaman seemingly reaches for his hand]]).

[[folder: Films - Animated]]

[[folder: Films - Live-Action]]

* In [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14265405/19/The-Snow-Queen-And-Her-Seer The Snow Queen And Her Seer]], a crossover between ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'' [[CrossoverCouple pairing Elsa with Bruno]], Alma (a [[AdaptationalVillainy significantly more evil version than in canon]]) develops an intense [[ObnoxiousInLaws hatred]] of her new daughter-in-law, and tries to murder her by [[AnimalAssassin sneaking a snake into Elsa's bed in the night]]. The snake fails to kill her, and afterwards, Alma appears before them, seemingly contrite, and offering some papaya and grape juice as a peace offering... [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk only for Mirabel to reveal that the juice is poisoned before Elsa can drink it]]. Now no longer making any attempts to hide her hatred, Alma jumps over the MoralEventHorizon by [[ImperiledInChildbirth shooting the pregnant Elsa]] to try killing her baby, and threatening to [[OffingTheOffspring kill Bruno next]]... only for Mirabel to disarm her grandmother and turn the gun on her.

* [[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/11382671/1/Banishment-actually-isn-t-so-bad Banishment actually isn't so bad]]: Genma and Nodoka try to force Ranma (who they [[IHaveNoSon disowned]]) to divorce his wife Shampoo and marry Akane on the grounds of being Ranma's parents. Genma is especially repugnant in this regard, as despite claiming that children have an obligation to take care of and obey their parents, [[{{Hypocrite}} he never took care of nor listened to his own father]].

* In [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14265405/19/The-Snow-Queen-And-Her-Seer The Snow Queen And Her Seer]], a crossover between ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'' [[CrossoverCouple pairing Elsa with Bruno]], Alma (a [[AdaptationalVillainy significantly more evil version than in canon]]) develops an intense [[ObnoxiousInLaws hatred]] of her new daughter-in-law, and tries to murder her by [[AnimalAssassin sneaking a snake into Elsa's bed in the night]]. The snake fails to kill her, and afterwards, Alma appears before them, seemingly contrite, and offering some papaya and grape juice as a peace offering... [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk only for Mirabel to reveal that the juice is poisoned before Elsa can drink it]]. Now no longer making any attempts to hide her hatred, Alma jumps over the MoralEventHorizon by [[ImperilledInChildbirth shooting the pregnant Elsa]] to try killing her baby, and threatening to [[OffingTheOffspring kill Bruno next]]... only for Mirabel to disarm her grandmother and turn the gun on her.

-->'''Caspian:''' ''[[ShutUpHannibal That does not seem to have stopped]] '''[[ShutUpHannbial you]]!'''''

-->'''Miraz:''' For the same reason ''you'' will pull that trigger. (''he steps forwards,'' ''[[SelfInjuryGambit pressing the tip of Caspian's sword into his neck and drawing blood]]'') ''For our son!''

* This appears to be continually done by patriarch Tywin Lannister in ''Series/GameOfThrones''. In his own search to maintain and expand his power as an ''eminence gris'' manipulating the Seven Kingdoms from the shadows, he browbeats and manipulates his children, Cersei, Jaime and especially Tyrion. Trouble begins when Tyrion proves increasingly resistant to being intimidated and manipulated.[[spoiler: he eventually murders his father after Tywin goes too far.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'': King Vangelis, the seemingly benevolent ruler of Shintaro who tries to keep his daughter from going into the mines out of apparent concern for her safety, reveals himself to be the Skull Sorcerer enslaving the Munce and Geckles. After sending Wu and Cole down a trap door, [[IHaveNoSon Vangelis threatens to disown Vania as his daughter if she chooses to go to their rescue and oppose him]], making good on that threat when she chooses to do the right thing. After Cole defeats him, Vangelis tries to appeal to Vania and justify his actions by calling her his daughter, but [[TheDogBitesBack Vania isn?t having any of it and orders his arrest]].

* This appears to be continually done by patriarch Tywin Lannister in ''Series/GameOfThrones''. In his own search to maintain and expand his power as an ''eminence gris'' manipulating the Seven Kingdoms from the shadows, he browbeats and manipulates his children, Cersei, Jaime and especially Tyrion. Trouble begins when Tyrion proves increasingly resistant to being intimidated and manipulated.[[spoiler: he eventually murders his father after Tyrin goes too far.]]

[[/folder]]

'''Indices'''
* DysfunctionalFamilyIndex
* DirtySocialTricks
* TheJerkIndex
* CynicismTropes
* EntitledToThisIndex