History Main / CainAndAbel

* After the death of Inca emperor Huayna Capac from a smallpox epidemic, two of his sons, Huáscar and Atahualpa contested the other's claim to the throne, and they fought a war that left the empire in shambles. Their inability to form a unified front exposed the brothers into being exploited and pitted against each other by the Francisco Pizarro and his conquistadors. Even while they were both in Spanish captivity, Atahualpa arranged for Huáscar to be murdered to secure a larger ransom, which was then used by Pizarro as a pretense to execute him.

* After the death of Inca emperor Huayna Capac from a smallpox epidemic, two of his sons, Huáscar and Atahualpa contested the other's claim to the throne, and they fought a war that left the empire in shambles. Their inability to form a unified front exposed the brothers into being exploited and pitted against each other by the Francisco Pizarro and his conquistadors. Even while they were both in Spanish captivity, Atahualpa arranged for Huáscar to be murdered to secure a larger ransom, which was then used by Pizarro as a pretense to execute him.

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* OlderThanDirt: Set and Osiris from Myth/EgyptianMythology. Set murdered his brother Osiris and took over Egypt, and later when Osiris' wife Isis tried to resurrect him, Set tore Osiris' body apart. This later caused Osiris' son to [[YouKilledMyFather seek vengeance against Set]] after he grew up. This is also a case of UnbuiltTrope, as originally Osiris had not only usurped Ra, whom Set was a sworn defender of, but had drunkenly raped Set's wife Nephthys. Sure, Set killed Osiris, but he was hardly the saint that later retellings would paint him as.

* Some ''WebOriginal/JennyEverywhere'' media depict Jenny Nowhere as Jenny Everywhere's evil older sister, although in other versions they aren't related (to the point of depicting Nowhere as [[VillainousCrush having a one-sided romantic interest in Everywhere]].

** ''Literature/BookOfGenesis'': The {{Trope Namer}}s is in chapter 4. Cain was a farmer, Abel was a shepherd. God wants a sacrifice, so Cain brings the produce of his farm and Abel brings some sheep. God preferred Abel's offering and rebuked Cain for being mad about it whereupon Cain lured Abel into a field and killed him.

* OlderThanDirt: Set and Osiris from Myth/EgyptianMythology. Set murdered his brother Osiris and took over Egypt, and later when Osiris' wife Isis tried to resurrect him, Set tore Osiris' body apart. This later caused Osiris' son to [[YouKilledMyFather seek vengeance against Set]] after he grew up.

For whatever reason, [[BigBrotherBully the older sibling is almost always the villainous one]]. Probably because being younger and less experienced makes the [[YoungestChildWins younger sibling]] the underdog, whom we are supposed to root for. And because the AloofBigBrother always looks eviler. The major exception is the case of TheEvilPrince, who is usually the [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling younger]] of two princes, and who will do anything to make sure ''he'' succeeds their father instead of his brother (or in the case of the prince being the ''king'''s brother, to take the throne for himself directly).

* ''Film/Aquaman2018'' is largely a story of the conflict between Aquaman and his half-brother Orm. What makes it interesting is that it is kind of difficult to tell who is the Cain; both men are paragons of their respective father's culture and neither is flawless or unsympathetic and no matter how you cut it, Aquaman's birthright claim to the throne of Atlantis is dodgy at best. [[spoiler: The ending also hints that the two will eventually reconcile.]]

** After [[WhamEpisode the season 7 finale]] and [[spoiler:TheReveal that Dr. Venture and The Monarch are half-brothers, it's safe to say they also have this dynamic]].

** [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012 The 2012 cartoon versions]] of Hamato Yoshi and Oroku Saki were raised as brothers and rivals before becoming Splinter and Shredder, which would be further complicated by their shared love of Tang Shen and Saki's discovery of his birth family having died to the Hamato clan. After Tang Shen dies in a final battle between the adopted brothers and Yoshi goes missing, Saki adopted Shen and Yoshi's daughter Miwa and raised him to be this show's version of Karai as revenge for having Tang Shen taken from him. When he finds out that Yoshi is still alive and in New York as Splinter, Saki reignited their rivalry as the Shredder. [[spoiler:After Karai finds out the truth and defects to her father's side, Shredder's hatred becomes so intense that he doesn't care if the world ends as long as he is able to kill Splinter. This is literally what happens! After those events are undone by TimeTravel, Shredder is once again able to kill Spinter, this time for good, only for Leonardo to return the favor.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:[[TropeNamers The brothers,]] "ironing" out their differences.[[note]]Image from Art/TheGhentAltarpiece by brothers HubertAndJanVanEyck[[/note]]]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'':

* Alan Willett is an example that also combines with OffingTheOffspring. In 1993, Willet assaulted his 3 children, 17 year old Ruby, 13 year old Eric, 8 year old John, and his intellectually disabled brother, 43 year old Roger, under his care with a window weight. Eric and Roger were killed in the attack, while [[BigSisterInstinct Ruby managed to drag John and herself to the safety of a neighbor's house.]] Willett was sentenced to death for the murders of his son and brother, and executed in 1999.

* In ''Film/SirArthhurConandoylesSherlockHolmes'', [[spoiler:the BigBad is ultimately reveled to be Sherlock's older brother Thorpe.]]