History Main / WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent

* Live-action ''Film/SpiderMan1'' played up how much EvilGenius Norman Osborn would have preferred to have Peter Parker as a son to Harry, who is thoroughly unremarkable and defined by the wealth Norman built up and then reared him in. It's in the dialogue and called back in the climax. [[spoiler:Ironically, Norman only starts to show more interest in Harry when the Goblin Serum starts to drive him mad.]] Of course, in this version, Norman is simply a neglectful parent who is not that bad a guy. The comic-book Norman...

* In the book ''Literature/BootCamp'' by Todd Strasser, children are sent to an extremely dangerous and abusive boot camp called Lake Harmony to be "reprogrammed" into the children their parents want them to be. The main character, Garrett, is sent because he embarrassed his parent by having a relationship with his [[HotForTeacher teacher]]. Pauly was sent there because his dad wanted a manly football player for a son and his parents [[MistakenForGay thought he was gay]] because he wasn't tough, and Sarah was sent because she disagrees with her parents' Mormon faith.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI'': Clive gets along very well with his father, Duke Elwin Rosfield, and his little brother, Joshua. On the other hand, his mother, Anabella, treats him very coldly and harshly, due to the fact that he was not born to be the Dominant of the Duchy's eikon, Phoenix. Conversely, Anabella dotes on Joshua, who was born as Phoenix's Dominant and, as such, is declared the Duchy's riteful heir. As it turns out, the reasons for the differences in how she treats her sons is entirely self-centered: she married Duke Elwin to advance her station in life, and having a firstborn son who did not have a claim to the Duchy's throne reflected quite poorly on her among the Duchy's court, hence her cruel treatment of Clive. [[spoiler:She later is revealed to [[FantasticRacism hold magic users -- including Bearers and Dominants -- in disdain. After Joshua was seemingly killed after she sold the Duchy out to the Empire, she married the Empire's ruler and had a child with him who possessed no magic abilities at all compared to the Emperor's first son and Bahamut's Dominant, Dion. The revelation that this child is actually an avatar of [[BigBad Ultima]] drives her mad and leads to her [[DrivenToSuicide killing herself]].]]

* In the book ''Literature/BootCamp'' by Todd Strasser, children are sent to an extremely dangerous and abusive boot camp called Lake Harmony to be "reprogrammed" into the children their parents want them to be. The main character, Garret, is sent because he embarrassed his parent by having a relationship with his [[HotForTeacher teacher]]. Pauly was sent there because his dad wanted a manly football player for a son and his parents [[MistakenForGay thought he was gay]] because he wasn't tough, and Sarah was sent because she disagrees with her parents' Mormon faith.

* While the family was together, ''ComicBook/{{Finder}}'s'' Brigham Grosvenor adored his daughters Rachel and Marcie, but didn't have much use for the middle child, his son Lynne, who ends up being raised as a girl. As if he wasn't confused enough, [[spoiler:he develops breasts, just like all the males of his mother's clan.]]
* Mary Prosa in ''Webcomic/{{Henchgirl}}'' has this problem with her parents. [[spoiler: Her family are famed superheroes, but because Mary never developed any flashy powers other then partial super strength (Like being about to lift the back end of a car then completely). It's heavily implied they largely neglected her through most of her life and doted on their younger daughter, Paige, who got time stopping powers and allowed her to join in on their superhero escapades to keep up their image. A telling sign is when they release an autobiography about their adventure, there's ''no'' mention of Mary in the slightest, not even in the acknowledgements that they claim was "Because of the editors" (Which even the most naive of Mary's roommates, Tina, calls bull on). Paige, at the very least, is aware of her parents playing favorites and tries to be a good sister to Mary.]]
* Fanny of ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' was born into a tribal society where only women could receive the blessings of the spirits; in order to fool the spirits into accepting the young boy as a shaman, his grandmother cut a slash in his upper thigh to fake a menstrual period. By the time the series takes place, Fanny is a transvestite call-girl.

* All ComicBook/RasAlGhul wants is a competent [[HeirClubForMen male heir]].[[note]]Well, that, immortality and the destruction of 90% of humanity.[[/note]] Unfortunately, he keeps getting daughters and incompetent sons. For a long time he hoped to accomplish this by having his WorthyOpponent, Comicbook/{{Batman}}, [[FaceHeelTurn change sides]] and marry [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter his beautiful]] daughter ComicBook/TaliaAlGhul; eventually, he gets his wish when Talia and Bruce have a son, [[EnfantTerrible Damian]], instead. Then [[HeelFaceTurn Damian switches sides]] and becomes the new Comicbook/{{Robin}}. Never mind.
* ''ComicBook/{{Robin|1993}}'': Tim's father doesn't spend much time with him or really know him but he does make it very clear that he wishes his son was interested in American Football and completely ignores any mentions of Tim's actual hobbies of photography and skateboarding.
* Chase of ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' has a similar backstory, though unlike Cyborg he's not actually very intelligent. ''ComicBook/AvengersArena'' established that, for instance, his father flipped his lid when he failed out of AP Science, but didn't care one bit that he broke a middle school receiving record just a few days later.
* In ''ComicBook/StrontiumDog'', Johnny's father was the leader of a National Front-like party that seeks to purge New Britain of all mutants. Naturally, he's mortified that his own son is a mutant. When Johnny was a kid, he was forces to wear sunglasses at all times to hide his mutant eyes, and was told they were too sensitive to ever be exposed.
* In ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'', General Sam Lane was always more than vocal about the fact that he wanted a boy, but instead had Lois and Lucy. He even went so far as to treat them as such. While it did lead to Lois' tough-as-nails demeanor, it also caused her to have a very bitter resentment towards her father.
* This is part of ComicBook/{{Cyborg}}'s backstory, going back to his time with the ''New Comicbook/TeenTitans''; he was an extremely gifted athlete with genius scientist parents who saw no value in his athletic accomplishments and successes. They refused to attend his meets and games, and often simply ignored him at home.

* ''ComicBook/XMen'' villain Graydon Creed has a FreudianExcuse for hating mutants -- he's the [[MuggleBornOfMages non-mutant]] son of ComicBook/{{Mystique}} and ComicBook/{{Sabretooth}}, who gave him up for adoption because neither wanted a human child.