History Main / UnbalancedByRivalsKid

* {{Subverted}} in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13425922/8/A-Song-of-Fire-Ice-and-Hearts A Song of Fire, Ice, and Hearts]]'' when [[Series/GameOfThrones Cersei]] meets [[Franchise/KingdomHearts Roxas]]. Everyone outside of a very select group of people is ignorant of Roxas' true origin as Sora's Nobody, so they have all become EntertaininglyWrong in the belief that Roxas is the [[StrongFamilyResemblance Identical Son]] of Ventus, who happened to be [[ClingyJealousGirl Cersei Lannister's]] FirstLove (outside of her brother, of course)

* In the ''WesternAnimation/RocketPower'' episode "Race Across New Zealand", Ray reunites with his rival who beat him in the same competition their children are competing in. When said rival makes the comment "Like father, like son", this causes Ray to [[ParentalFavoritism start blatantly favoring Otto over Reggie]] in the hopes that he can beat his rival's son.

* ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'': Once Usagi returns to his hometown, he freezes for a moment when facing the son of his ChildhoodFriendRomance and childhood rival. [[spoiler:As he finds out in a different story arc, Usagi is actually the father and complies when he's asked to [[YouCantGoHomeAgain leave as not to wreck their family]].]]

* Subverted in ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'', when the Count meets Mercedes' son by Fernand (now the Count de Morcerf) Albert. He organizes Albert's kidnapping by Italian bandits to gauge his character and finds him to be quite courageous (going to sleep in his cell and complaining that he was having such a nice dream when rescued), but this only fuels his drive to get revenge on Fernand by killing the son of which he is so proud (Mercedes puts a stop to that, however). In some versions Albert is actually Dantes' son.

* ''Machinima/LiliumSims2'': Iris is [[BrotherSisterIncest in love with her brother]], but he rejects his feelings and marries a woman his [[ArrangedMarriage dad set him up with]] as children. One day while visiting, Iris meets her niece and [[StrongFamilyResemblance notices that she looks just like her mother]]. This makes Iris jealous so she [[spoiler:[[RevengeByProxy murders her]]]].

* Interesting aversion in ''Manga/MedakaBox'': [[spoiler: Fukuro Tsurubami [[BrotherSisterIncest had the hots for his sister Hato]] but couldn't keep up with her and was put off by her cold attitude, so he set her up with his best friend Kajiki Kurokami, hoping that [[LamarckWasRight Lamarck Would Be Right]], producing a daughter with Hato's looks and Kajiki's AllLovingHero personality -- [[WifeHusbandry so he could marry HER instead]]. While Medaka does indeed fit that description, Fukuro never gets the chance to act on his fantasies.]]

* Not that ''[[Manga/DragonBall Dragon Ball Z]]'' really goes into depth with it, since it's an action comic for young boys, but there is Yamcha having to deal with not only his ex having a son with a former alien enemy, but also having to explain that said son isn't his, because the other characters haven't really kept in touch the last three years... and then the selfsame son comes from the future to save all their lives. Yamcha's not exactly feeling great about the situation, but he's a good sport and is very kind to Future Trunks, seeing as how he's still friends with his mom's family. They're shown spending downtime together, and considering Trunks' own father is rather difficult to him, it's probably awkward for them both. One of the last scenes in the storyline is Yamcha telling Trunks all about how his father was gutted by Trunks' (undone) death.
* Notably ''[[AvertedTrope averted]]'' in ''Manga/ShamanKingFlowers.'' [[spoiler: Tamao Tamamura is [[UnrequitedLoveLastsForever still in love with Yoh]] but is willing to ''raise his son'' (from another woman, her love rival Anna) without any issues and does so lovingly and fairly. However, she is [[DownplayedTrope initially flustered to meet him]] in the epilogue of the original ''Manga/ShamanKing'' manga.]]
* Zigzagged in ''Manga/SpyXFamily'': [[BigSisterAttraction Yuri]]'s attitude towards Anya has shades of this. He can't stand being near the kid of Yor's husband and feels jealous that Anya can spend all day with Yor. He never met Loid until after he and Yor were married, and little does he know that it's a MarriageOfConvenience. He also doesn't know Anya's adopted, though he does know she's not Yor's biological daughter.

* ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'': Once Usagi returns to his hometown, he freezes for a moment when facing the son of his ChildhoodFriendRomance and childhood rival. [[spoiler: As he finds out in a different story arc, Usagi is actually the father and complies when he's asked to [[YouCantGoHomeAgain leave as not to wreck their family]].]]

* This trope is imposed in the ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' fanfic, [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9262641/1/Happy-Ending "Happy Ending"]]. Griffith, who averts the Eclipse from happening and the Hawks survive, is now in the care of Casca, who is [[spoiler: pregnant with Guts' child; Guts left to pursue his journey after the danger to the Hawks was over, but [[DisappearedDad unbeknowingly left a pregnant Casca behind]]]]. Griffith already knows that he's going to hate the kid, as it's the ultimate proof of [[spoiler: Guts and Casca's relationship and will be the one thing that they will love more than him, which in Griffith's eyes is [[EtTuBrute a mark of betrayal]] ([[{{Yandere}} especially in the case of Guts]]).]] Despite this, [[GiveTheBabyAFather Griffith agrees to be the child's surrogate father when it's born.]]

* ''Songs and Swords'' Literature/ForgottenRealms novels:

* Subverted in ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'', when the Count meets Mercedes' son by Fernand (now the Count de Morcerf) Albert. He organizes Albert's kidnapping by Italian bandits to gauge his character and finds him to be quite courageous (going to sleep in his cell and complaining that he was having such a nice dream when rescued), but this only fuels his drive to get revenge on Fernand by killing the son of which he is so proud (Mercedes puts a stop to that, however). In some versions Albert is actually Dantes' son.

* [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in ''VideoGame/FarCry4''; Pagan adores Ajay for being the son of the woman he loved, rather than hating him for being the son of a man he despised. He even considers Ajay a member of his family, referring to himself as Ajay's "uncle." [[spoiler: Ajay's father Mohan, on the other hand, was so infuriated by his wife, Ajay's mother, cheating on him with Pagan that he killed the daughter they had together.]]

* ''Machinima/LiliumSims2'': Iris is [[BrotherSisterIncest in love with her brother]], but he rejects his feelings and marries a woman his [[ArrangedMarriage dad set him up with]] as children. One day while visiting, Iris meets her niece and [[StrongFamilyResemblance notices that she looks just like her mother]]. This makes Iris jealous so she [[spoiler:[[RevengeByProxy murders her]].]]

** Also averted in the ''Cindered Shadows'' DLC of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses''. Despite having loved their mother, Sitri, Aelfric is thrilled to meet [[PlayerCharacter Byleth]] for himself. It's also explained that he had a great deal of respect for their father, Jeralt. The trouble only arises when [[spoiler:Aelfric tries to go as far as to sacrifice four lives just to revive Sitri. And doesn’t seem to understand why Byleth would take issue with this]].

* Notably [[AvertedTrope averted]] in Manga/ShamanKingFlowers. [[spoiler: Tamao Tamamura is [[UnrequitedLoveLastsForever still in love with Yoh]] but is willing to ''raise his son'' (from another woman, her love rival Anna) without any issues and does so lovingly and fairly. However, she is [[DownplayedTrope initially flustered to meet him]] in the epilogue of the original Manga/ShamanKing manga.]]

* Monica Furlong's ''Wise Child'' invokes and averts a rare gender-flipped example. The town witch Juniper takes a mysterious liking to and volunteers to take in the titular Wise Child after her grandmother dies and she's left with a literal case of ParentalAbandonment. Wise Child later discovers that Juniper and her father had been in love, but her VainSorceress mother [[MoreThanMindControl "persuaded"]] him that he loved her instead. Both mother and daughter think that Juniper took Wise Child in and works her to the bone due to this trope. Juniper later assures Wise Child that she bears her no ill-will (though she is understandably frosty about Maeve), that she loves her like a daughter and that she works her hard only because she believes MiseryBuildsCharacter.

* Kirei Kotomine and his relationship with Kiritsugu Emiya and his adopted son Shirou in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' are non-romantic ([[FoeYay more or less]]) variant. He certainly isn't unbalanced by the appearance of Shirou, nor does he particularly care about Kiritsugu's biological child [[spoiler:Illyasviel von Einzbern]]. On the contrary, he's quite happy to realize that [[spoiler:unlike Kiritsugu, who was his {{Foil}} in every respect, Shirou is an empty person like himself]].

If the progeny is of the opposite sex and [[StrongFamilyResemblance resembles the contested person too much]] -- often the case -- it's even worse. Expect a WrongNameOutburst. Not only is it a reminder, one sees the image of the lost love, ''their'' would-be kid, an image of the rival, or a second chance, and so on -- often two or more of these at once. [[AlwaysFemale Usually female]] kid and male ex-rival. Compare AffairBlameTheBastard.

* Kirei Kotomine and his relationship with Kiritsugu Emiya and his adopted son Shirou in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' are non-romantic ([[FoeYay more or less]]) variant. He certainly isn't unbalanced by the appearance of Shirou, nor does he particularly care about Kiritsugu's biological child [[spoiler:Illyasviel von Einzbern]]. On the contrary, he's quite happy to realize that [[spoiler:unlike Kiritsugu, who was his {{Foil}} in every respect, Shirou is an empty person [[NotSoDifferent like himself]]]].

* [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in ''VideoGame/FarCry4''; Pagan adores Ajay for being the son of the woman he loved, rather than hating him for being the son of a man he despised. He even considers Ajay a member of his family, referring to himself as Ajay's "uncle." [[spoiler: Ajay's father Mohan, on the other hand, was so infuriated by his wife, Ajay's mother, cheating on him with Pagan that he killed the daughter they had had together.]]

** This also features heavily into Jon Snow's backstory, though played with in that it's the girl who ''won'' that's resentful. As the illegitimate son of Ned Stark whom fathered him while he was off fighting in Robert's Rebellion, he returned home and brought Jon with him. Ned's wife Catelyn, despite being the woman Ned loved and wanted to be with, resented Jon as a reminder of the woman who apparently tempted Ned away from her. While she's nothing but a good mother to her own children, she's remarkably cruel to Jon, acting like a WickedStepmother towards him, which had a major effect on his character as he grew up constantly being reminded of his status as a bastard as much as Ned tried to raise him with his legitimate children. [[spoiler:If the [[Series/GameOfThrones TV adaptation]] is any prediction of the future for the book series, then this is subverted as Jon isn't actually Ned's child, but his ''nephew'', whom he raised under the guise of his bastard in order to protect him, but the assumption he was led to this trope.]]

* ''Fanfic/QueensOfMewni'': An interesting version, as [[CainAndAbel the love rivals are sisters]]. When they were younger, Nixie had a crush on Roman Fields, but he ended up falling for and marrying her older sister, Hemera. Nixie felt betrayed by her sister and refused to forgive her even years later. Later on, when Nixie’s son, Pyxar, and Hemera and Roman’s daughter, Cosmica, [[KissingCousins fall in love]], Nixie is furious and does everything she can to try and keep them apart.

* Fanfic/Jgss0109sQueensOfMewni: An interesting version, as [[CainAndAbel the love rivals are sisters]]. When they were younger, Nixie had a crush on Roman Fields, but he ended up falling for and marrying her older sister, Hemera. Nixie felt betrayed by her sister and refused to forgive her even years later. Later on, when Nixie’s son, Pyxar, and Hemera and Roman’s daughter, Cosmica, [[KissingCousins fall in love]], Nixie is furious and does everything she can to try and keep them apart.

[[folder: Film]]
* Film/FreakyFriday2003: Inverted. Anna’s literature teacher knew her mother, Tess, in high school. He asked her to the prom, but she turned him down. Now he’s taking it out on her daughter by purposely failing her.

* Film/FreakyFriday: Inverted. Anna’s literature teacher knew her mother, Tess, in high school. He asked her to the prom, but she turned him down. Now he’s taking it out on her daughter by purposely failing her.

* In the miniseries ''Queen'' (the story of Alex Haley's paternal grandmother), the titular character is the result of her white father's (consensual) relationship with one of his female slaves. His wife resents the girl all of her life and when she finally leaves when freed after the Civil War, bitterly tells her husband, "I'm glad she's gone. Because everytime I looked at her, I had to remember that you loved another woman more than me."

* ''Theatre/MissSaigon'': Both Thuy and Ellen respectively when it comes to Tam, Kim and Chris's son.

** Inverted in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' during one possible PreBattleBanter between Cassie Cage and Shang Tsung. Tsung tells Cage that he was [[Film/MortalKombatTheMovie "quite fond" of her mother Sonya Blade]], to which Cassie asks him, "Do you ''practice'' being creepy?"

** Inverted in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' during one possible PreBattleBanter between Cassie Cage and Shang Tsung. Tsung tells Cage that he was [[Film/MortalKombatTheMovie "quite fond" of her mother Sonya Blade]], to which Cassie asks him, "Do you 'practice' being creepy?"

** Inverted in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' during one possible PreBattleBanter between Cassie Cage and Shang Tsung. Tsung tells Cage that he was [[Film/MortalKombatTheMovie "quite fond" of her mother Sonya Blade]], to which Cassie asks him, "Do you *practice* being creepy?"

** Inverted in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' during one possible PreBattleBanter between Cassie Cage and Shang Tsung. Tsung tells Cage that he was [[Film/MortalKombatTheMovie "quite fond" of her mother Sonya Blade]], to which Cassie asks him, "Do you 'practice' being creepy?"