Basic Trope: A character values familial ties above all else.
- Straight: Alice stands by her twin brother Bob, no matter what he does, because he's her brother.
- Exaggerated: Bob is Alice's second cousin, and she still stands by him because he's still family of a sort.
- Downplayed: Alice is loyal to Bob, but only to a certain degree. After his Moral Event Horizon, she cuts all ties with him.
- Justified:
- Alice and Bob are very close. They're a team.
- Even if Alice personally dislikes Bob, she is from a society where it is commonly understood and accepted that loyalty towards your own family must come before everything else.
- Inverted:
- Alice abandons her loving family for her "friends" who treat her poorly.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family
- Cain and Abel
- Subverted: Alice claims she'll stand by her brother no matter what, but then breaks her word.
- Double Subverted: ...but goes back to his side in the 11th hour.
- Parodied: Alice is very picky with boyfriends and friends — and constantly dumps them over very minor things — but will forgive Bob no matter what he does.
- Zig Zagged: You can never be sure when Alice will stand with her brother and when she's turned against him.
- Averted: Alice is willing to see the faults in anyone, including her family.
- Enforced: The author is dedicating this book to a family member.
- Lampshaded: "Bob's my brother, no matter what he does."
- Invoked: Bob gets a false DNA test, claiming that he's also related to Alice, in order to get her undying loyalty.
- Exploited:
- Bob is constantly pulling crazy stunts, knowing Alice will fix it for him.
- Bob manipulates Alice into doing his bidding by Playing the Family Card.
- Defied: Bob pleads for his sister's help and plays the family card, but Alice says that she owes Bob nothing more than she owes her friends.
- Discussed: "Alice would never betray Bob — she's his sister!"
- Conversed: "Hey, why do families on TV have this weird loyalty thing?"
"I dunno, I mean, they'd never do that for their friends." - Implied: Bob's sister Alice stands by and supports him, though her reasons for doing so are never stated.
- Deconstructed: Alice supports Bob because she feels she has to support her brother, even though he is unmistakably evil.
Back to this page's inseparable relation with Thicker Than Water.
