To begin with, it's a subtrope of Rags to Royalty, right? I wonder if movement from there would be appropriate, or if it should just be merged.
Would probably also help to also put in some references in other related tropes. Really Royalty Reveal, Secret Legacy, Rightful King Returns, and Noble Fugitive would probably be relevant.
Check out my fanfiction!That's kinda what I was thinking. I mean, it's one of those tropes we've seen a million times, especially in classical tales. And there are many variations of the theme.
Which is the problem I'm having with it, as it's not that distinctly written. Is it only about royal babies being raised by commoners, or does it count when the switch is made as a child? Toaru Hikuushi E No Koiuta springs to mind, where the prince was give away in secret at around 5 or so (though considering the revolution there wasn't really a throne to grow up to). Does he have to come back (or try to), or is it enough to just be the legitimate heir?
Or is it just enough that it's a legitimate heir raised by commoners?
As far as the types on Rags to Royalty are written, it seems like a mix of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, which really only seem to differ in the knowledge of being the heir or not. Or are those two about a child who went into hiding, while this is strictly about a baby being given away?
Check out my fanfiction!Generally this isn't about the baby being given away or put into hiding or swapped. Generally this plot is, something happens to kill baby's parents either an accident or an assassination or something. Baby is found by unknowing parents, generally with a birthmark or item or something that they're raised with. Baby grows up and discovers somehow that they're really a long lost heir to the throne.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. DickI vote to send this orphan back to YKTTW where it will receive the loving care it deserves. We'll nurture it till it's ready to play with the other tropes. lol
This looks identical in intent to Moses in the Bullrushes. Someone made it without knowing about that other trope, since it doesn't even reference it.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"But that's exactly what Moses in the Bullrushes is. It's not a more specific trope if it's the exact same trope.
edited 6th May '14 2:03:02 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
With only 4 inbounds?
Although I personally think this name is better, since the Trope Namer is more of an inversion of the trope itself.
Hmm ... Moses in the Bullrushes isn't about royalty specifically. It's about:
The hero may be of royal birth but that is not part of that trope.
An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.

This is (dare I say) one orphaned prince of a trope we have here. Heck, the only reason I even found it, all alone and confused as it happens, is because I specifically went searching for it.
How can we give this one a good home? It Happens All The Time, yet the description's only a single paragraph long and links to only one article, I can count in-page examples on one hand, and it's linked only by a grand total of four pages (one of them being an index, and only a high-level index at that).
edited 3rd May '14 1:11:38 PM by Stratadrake
An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.