History Main / RoyaltiesHeir

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' has an episode where Marco inexplicably has $650. It's revealed several episodes later that his actions of leading a rebellion of princesses at [[BoardingSchoolOfHorrors St. Olga's school]] while dressed as a princess himself resulted in merchandise being made of "Princess Marco", which he gets a royalty check of $650 every month for. This exact amount of money being needed for certain things becomes a RunningGag of sorts.

Someone, usually a supporting main character but not always, has to be obscenely rich for the sake of the plot. How did they get that way, if they aren't portrayed as especially hard-working or clever? One solution is to have them be an heir to the fortune of an InventorOfTheMundane, who earns royalties from something they came up with that's really popular and makes a lot of money. Perhaps their mother's uncle-in-law invented hole punchers, or their great-grandfather invented spark plugs, or their grandmother wrote one of the most popular novels of all time. Or maybe [[Film/MeanGirls their father invented Toaster Strudel]]. Whatever the case, they're set for life without having to work. On one hand, this trope can include forms of intellectual property such as books or songs, and not just practical inventions as is usually the case with InventorOfTheMundane. On the other hand it allows the characters' competence to be even less related to their wealth, since the RoyaltiesHeir didn't even have to work their brain by coming up with the thing and enjoys the benefits merely by being related to its creator.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] [[HeirClubForMen the heir]] [[RoyaltyAndNobilityTropes of royalty]]. Although it's worth noting that inheriting a noble title ([[ImpoverishedPatrician usually]]) means inheriting a chunk of land that goes with it, and the monthly rent cheques from the people farming it for you. ([[LandPoor Which may or may not be all that large...]])

* ''Literature/WaxAndWayne'' has a variant. Near the end of book 2, Wayne stumbles across a young girl who has invented the electric light bulb and invests a large chunk of his limited funds in her work. One TimeSkip later, much of the city is electrified and Wayne is the fourth-richest person on the planet.

* Marcus from ''Literature/AboutABoy'' doesn't need to work because he lives off the royalties of a Christmas song that his father wrote.

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* In ''FanFic/{{Coyote}}'', one of Riley Coyote's ancestors bought up the stock and intellectual property for several American publishing houses, comic companies, and video rental places during the Collapse following the emergence of Quirks. A hundred years later, the Coyote family maintain a comfortable living on the royalties from their ancestor's purchases.
* Nathaniel's father Roy Corbin in ''Fanfic/MarcBeingInAGangRights'' is the owner of Corbin Weapons Manufacturing, making him the same economic class as Adrien and Chloe. The reason why he's so different from them is that he only ever interacts with his father a few times every few months ''at least''.

* In the ''Franchise/NancyDrew'' graphic novel "The Fake Heir", the millionaires central to the action made their fortune designing fax paper.

* In ''Literature/GoodOmens'', one of Anathema Device's ancestors invented... the device. (Which is a part of clocks.)

-->"And every person there thinks he's better than you because his great-great-great-grandfather made a water-clock or something."

* An early draft of ''Film/TheBigLebowski'' explains that the only reason [[LoserProtagonist The Dude]] has any money is because he's related to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernő_Rubik Erno Rubik]].

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* ''VideoGame/SonsOfTheForest'': [[spoiler:Virginia]] can inherit ''half a trillion dollars'' from her father, the CEO of an international megacorporation... ''if'' she survives the eldritch nightmare that killed him.

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* In ''Literature/GoodOmens'', one of Anathema Device's ancestor invented... the device. (Which is a part of clocks.)

* Roxy from ''Series/DeadLikeMe'' invented leg warmers. Unfortunately, her jealous roommate killed her and stole the idea, so she never got a chance to get rich or to have kids to pass the wealth on to. The murderous roommate, on the other hand, is now living the high life.

* ''Series/MillionYenWomen'': [[spoiler:Hitomi]] is the daughter of deceased famous author whose books are still selling. She's apparently making enough to be able to live comfortably without working.

* Taken advantage of by Lorraine Williams, the former CEO of [[Creator/{{TSR}} TSR, inc.]], the company that published ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. As one of the company's side projects, she devoted massive time and resources towards creating and promoting ''TabletopGame/BuckRogersXXVC'', including sourcebooks and computer games, despite the fact that the market for such a game was just on the plus side of nil. Naturally, the owners of the ''ComicStrip/BuckRogers'' trademarks would receive royalties for each such supplement sold. However, it just so happened that Williams herself was the heiress to those properties, which is just about as conflict-y as conflicts of interests get.

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* Downplayed with the title character of ''VisualNovel/{{Melody}}''. Amy and Arnold (separately) reveal that Melody is entitled to a certain percentage of Melissa’s and Amy’s business, money from Melissa’s estate, and a share of proceeds from selling the house when Arnold does this. While this doesn’t make Melody rich, it allows her and the protagonist to put up a down payment for a house even if Melody’s career doesn’t take off.

* From Creator/LarryNiven's ''Literature/KnownSpace'' stories, professional thrillseeker Gregory "[[BiggusDickus Elephant]]" Pelton is a billionaire because his grandmother invented the transfer booth.

* Subverted with the protagonist of the ''Literature/KikiStrike'' novels: her great grandfather invented control-top panty hose, but her family can't spend it because it is locked away in a trust fund that can only be spent on education fees.

-->"And every person there thinks he's better than you because his great-great-great grandfather made a water-clock or something."