History Main / AdoptedIntoRoyalty

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Princess Cadance, the eventual ruler of the Crystal Empire and the third alicorn introduced is not blood-related to her aunts Luna and Celestia. As revealed in ''Literature/TwilightSparkleAndTheCrystalHeartSpell'', Princess Celestia [[{{Nephewism}} adopted]] her niece Cadance as a foal after witnessing her ascension to alicornhood. This explains Cadance's origin, as Celestia's only sibling has been trapped in the moon for a millennium.

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** The Julio-Claudian Dynasty: Julius Caesar was JustTheFirstCitizen but his adopted heir Augustus named himself the first Imperator. Augustus was succeeded by his stepson Tiberius and Tiberius adopted his great-nephew Caligula. The Praetorian Guard killed Caligula's entire family save for his uncle Claudius, whom they installed as Emperor. Claudius named his stepson Nero heir until his natural son came of age, but Nero's mother assassinated the boy before that could happen.

* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'': As the protagonist is born a commoner in an extremely stratified society, this trope is what allows the rise in social position that gets her past the point where she's she only allowed to do a job usually given to unwanted children of nobility because of a major labor shortage.

* In ''Anime/TenchiMuyoGXP'' the protagonist, Seina Yamada, an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent, gets adopted into the royal Jurai family after bonding with the HumongousMecha holding at its heart the seed of [[BondCreatures Juraian Royal Tree]] -- this is actually the one and only way Juraian royalty is made, as per their ancient pact with [[PhysicalGod Tsunami]]. The royals' relatives just have a privilege in bonding. Later on, his ChildhoodFriend and LoveInterest Kiriko Masaki, a very distant relative of the royal family, gets an official bonding and adoption ceremony because it was decided to be [[ThePlan politically expedient]]. Ironically, all this happened while the ''heir'' of the clan, [[TheWisePrince Tenchi Masaki]], Seina's another ChildhoodFriend, was still a nobody, because his grandfather and the formal Crown Prince, Yosho, was still considered officially missing.

* ''Manga/{{Ooku}}'': When the shogun Iemetsu dies of the red pox without descendants, his nurse/surrogate mother/regent Kasuga sends for the ChildByRape he'd produced several years before, raising her in Iemetsu's place until she can produce an heir and continue the Tokugawa bloodline. As the red pox continues to ravage Japan until one man in five is lucky to reach adulthood, the pretense of a male shogun is eventually lifted and women openly occupy government positions, while the shogun's harem is exclusively men there to guard her and father children.

* ''Literature/ShadesOfMagic'': Kell was adopted by the Mareshes, the Royal family of Red London, due to being an Antari, an extremely powerful magician, so that they might manage him and use his abilities for their own gain.

* ''Film/TheTenCommandments'' depicts Moses this way, adopted by Princess Bithia and being treated as a son by Pharaoh Seti. Unlike in ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'', however, Moses and Rameses ''really'' don't get along, at least partly because Moses is actually a contender to be Seti's heir and is frequently shown to be far more competent than Rameses, further threatening the latter's perceived birthright.

* Three of the first five Roman Emperors, and four of the "five good Emperors", were adopted as adults by their predecessors, explicitly to name them as successors.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_XIV_John_of_Sweden Charles XIV John of Sweden]] was actually a French general of common birth named Jean Bernadotte who rose through the ranks of the armies of [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution Revolutionary France]], eventually becoming a member of UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte's inner circle. When the Swedish royal house found itself without heirs around that time, Bernadotte was adopted into the Swedish nobility and was shortly thereafter elected the heir to the throne. Ironically, Napoleon at one point considered adopting Bernadotte himself as heir to the French Empire (rather than trying to establish a hereditary Bonaparte monarchy), but decided against it. (To heap irony upon ironies, one of the first things Charles XIV did upon taking the Swedish throne was join the War of the Sixth Coalition against his homeland and former commander and comrade-in-arms.)
* [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Badin Gustav Badin]] was a slave taken from the Caribbean and was eventually gifted to Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden when he was ten years old. The Queen took an instant liking to the boy and decided to take him in as her son rather than a slave. She couldn't legally adopt him, but she cared for him just as much as her own children, taught him how to speak, write, and read swedish on her own, and even had him baptized in the royal palace's chapel. He grew up with the same rights as his foster siblings and became their closest most trusted friend. When he became an adult he worked a page for the Queen, as to repay her for raising him and even managed to reunite her with her first born son shortly before she died. He came to the country intended to be a slave but lived as a nobleman for the rest of his days.

* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'': As the protagonist is born a commoner in an extremely stratified society, this trope is what allows her rise in social position to get past the point where she's she only allowed to do a job usually given to unwanted children of nobility because of a major labor shortage.

* This is seen in the GoldenEnding of ''VideoGame/CuteKnight''. [[spoiler:The player character is the long-lost daughter of the king and queen, so for her it's a ReallyRoyaltyReveal. However, when she disappeared, they quietly adopted the peasant boy Kirelan, letting the kingdom believe the queen had given birth to a boy instead of a girl, so the trope applies to him. Rather than let the truth get out (because they love Kirelan and don't want to disinherit him), they instead betroth their adopted son to their newly restored daughter, so they can someday rule together.]]

''Literature/{{Tatterhood}}'': The Queen has an adopted daughter whose friendship with the beggar woman's daughter leads the queen to meet the beggar woman and learn how to have children. She's forgotten after Tatterhood and her twin are born.

* ''Literature/TheSagaOfTheJomsvikings'': To hush up an incestuous affair, Jarl Arnfinn of Saxony abandons his newborn son in a forest so it will be found by king Gorm of Denmark. Gorm, who at once infers from the costly garments and the gold found along with him that the boy is of noble birth, has him raised like a son and eventually names him his heir. The boy, Knut, becomes king and gives his name to the royal house of Knytlings.

* A HappilyAdopted case with Cecil Harvey of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' as he was adopted as an orphan by the king of Baron after he found Cecil as a newborn, [[spoiler:abandoned by his older brother Theodor due to Zemus' influence]]. The position he was in growing up led to him becoming childhood friends with Kain Harvey and future LoveInterest Rosa Joanna Farrell. [[spoiler:This eventually leads to him becoming the king of Baron as the former king had no actual heir when he died, leaving him essentially heir by default.]]

* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/12280782/chapters/27913491 Yu-Gi-Oh Ressurrection: One Light]]'': [[spoiler:Bakura]] was adopted as a child by Pharaoh Aknamkanon after the destruction of [[spoiler:Kul Elna]].

* Suggested but defied in ''Taran Wanderer'', the fourth installment of the ''Literature/ChroniclesOfPrydain''. King Smoit, who is a childless widower, offers to adopt Taran as his son and make him heir to the throne of Cadiffor. Taran is truly grateful but is determined to continue his quest to find out who he really is and who his parents were.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_XIV_John_of_Sweden Charles XIV John of Sweden]] was actually a French general of common birth named Jean Bernadotte who rose through the ranks of the armies of [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution Revolutionary France]], eventually becoming a member of UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte's inner circle. When the Swedish royal house found itself without heirs around that time, Bernadotte was adopted into the Swedish nobility and was shortly thereafter elected the heir to the throne. Ironically, Napoleon at one point considered adopting Bernadotte himself as heir to the French Empire (rather than trying to establish a dynasty himself), but decided against it. (To heap irony upon ironies, one of the first things Charles XIV did upon taking the Swedish throne was join the War of the Sixth Coalition against his homeland and former commander and comrade-in-arms.)

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_XIV_John_of_Sweden Charles XIV of Sweden]] was actually adopted into the Swedish nobility and eventually was elected the heir to the throne.

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* Dastan, a street urchin in ''Film/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime'' is adopted by King Sharaman after showing courage.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'': As shown in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', Leia Amidala Skywalker was adopted by Alderaanian Viceroy Bail Organa and his wife, Queen Breha. Leia's birth mother Padmé actually ''had'' been the Queen of Naboo, but that's an elected position. In the novel ''Literature/LeiaPrincessOfAlderaan'', it's shown that Leia being adopted is no barricade to her inheriting the throne and that there is even a variant of the traditional Day of Demand ceremony specifically for adopted heirs, meaning she was not the first adopted Crown Princess or Prince of Alderaan.

** The Julio-Claudian Dynasty: Julius Caesar was JustTheFirstCitizen but his adopted heir Augustus named himself the first Imperator. Augustus was succeeded by his stepson Tiberius and Tiberius adopted his great-nephew Caligula. The Praetorian Guard killed Caligula's entire family save for his uncle Claudius, whom they installed as Emperor. Claudius named his stepson Nero heir until his natural son came of age but Nero's mother assassinated him before that could happen.

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Maybe you got a father who was lucky enough to marry a queen, maybe you reported and helped stop a coup attempt and the royal family saw adopting you as a way of thanking you, maybe you're already of some position and are adopted into the family as a political fodder, or maybe you just befriended a prince and he liked you enough that he came to his father and [[SiblingsWanted begged]] him (if not outright [[RoyalBrat demanded]]) you get adopted into the royal family so you and he could spend more time together. This gets an extra layer of drama when this overlaps with ObliviousAdoption - TheReveal or InternalReveal that they are merely adopted into royalty (depending on the timing) would be a big twist for the adoptee, which will lead to many complications. However it happened, you're suddenly now at the top of the food chain of society, we hope you're comfortable (and you likely will be.)

* In ''Anime/TenchiMuyoGXP'' the protagonist, Seina Yamada, an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent, gets adopted into the royal Jurai family after bonding with the HumongousMecha holding at its heart the seed of [[BondCreatures Juraian Royal Tree]] -- this is actually the one and only way Juraian royalty is made, as per their ancient pact with [[PhysicalGod Tsunami]]. The royals' relatives just have a privilege in bonding. Later on, his ChildhoodFriend and LoveInterest, Kiriko Masaki, a very distant relative of the royal family, gets an official bonding and adoption ceremony because it was decided to be [[ThePlan politically expedient]]. Ironically, all this happened while the ''heir'' of the clan, [[TheWisePrince Tenchi Masaki]], Seina's another ChildhoodFriend, was still a nobody, because his grandfather and the formal Crown Prince, Yosho, was still considered officially missing.

* ''Fanfic/{{SAPR}}'': Sunset Shimmer was raised by Princess Celestia in this version of her backstory. She doesn't remember her birth parents, or any day at all before she arrived at the palace in Canterlot. Naturally, she comes to consider rejecting Celestia to be one of her biggest failures.
* In the ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' prequel fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7483304/1/Serenity-s-Story Serenity's Story]]'', a young and orphaned Queen Serenity is adopted off the streets into the royal family of Okeanos after it's discovered that she posesses the Sailor Crystal of Theia, Okeanos's star.
* Subverted in ''Webcomic/ATaleOfTwoRulers''. The princess regent Zelda claims that her daughter, Rinku, is adopted. In reality, Rinku's [[spoiler:a ChildByRape with a tutor]]. It's an OpenSecret amongst her court that Rinku is really Zelda's, with the court often complaining behind Zelda's back about Zelda having a [[HeroicBastard bastard]] for a heir.
* In ''Fanfic/TheirBond'', Link was adopted by Hyrule's king as a child after he turned up near the castle, but he refuses any princely recognition. Link sees Zelda as his sister, but he see her advisor Mikal as his adopted father.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': As shown in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', Leia Amidala Skywalker was adopted by Alderaanian Viceroy Bail Organa and his wife, Queen Breha. Leia's birth mother Padmé actually ''had'' been the Queen of Naboo, but that's an elected position. In the novel ''Literature/LeiaPrincessOfAlderaan'', it's shown that Leia being adopted is no barricade to her inheriting the throne, and that there is even a variant of the traditional Day of Demand ceremony specifically for adopted heirs, meaning she was not the first adopted Crown Princess or Prince of Alderaan.

* In the ''Literature/AgeOfFire'' series, [[AntiVillain the Copper]] is adopted into the Imperial Line of the Lavadome as Tyr [=FeHazathant=]'s grandson, a position solidified by marrying the Tyr's granddaughter Halaflora. Despite this, he's so far down the potential line of succession, and is looked down on for his various personality quirks and crippling injuries, that no one ever expects him to become the Tyr himself, instead seeing the adoption as an honorary reward. However, by the end of his focus book, everyone above him in the line is either dead or in exile, allowing him to take the throne.
* Suggested but defied in ''Taran Wanderer'', the fourth installment of the ''Literature/ChroniclesOfPrydain''. King Smoit, who is a childless widower, offers to adopt Taran as his son and make him heir to the throne of Cadiffor. Taran is truly grateful, but is determined to continue his quest to find out who he really is and who his parents were.

* The first ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'' book, ''Off Armageddon Reef'', ends with King Haraahld of Charis dying of a wound incurred TakingTheBullet that a nine year old midshipman had tried to take for ''him''. To honor this act and the king's death, the boy, Hektor Aplyn, is adopted into the royal family by Haraahld's successor, Cayleb and made a Duke in the process. It's noted that Hektor Aplyn-Ahrmahk stands outside the line of succession, but his title and deeds as he grows as a naval officer make sure he can take care of his biological family while being of use to his new step-family.

* This happens in ''VideoGame/LostOdyssey'' when Gongora takes over Uhra after killing (so the Uhrans think) Tolten. Because Tolten had reinstated the monarchy, and had no heir, Gongora was in line and became part of the royal family through a blood ceremony.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Princess Cadance, the eventual ruler of the Crystal Empire and the third alicorn introduced, is not blood-related to her aunts Luna and Celestia. As revealed in ''Literature/TwilightSparkleAndTheCrystalHeartSpell'', Princess Celestia [[{{Nephewism}} adopted]] her niece Cadance as a foal after witnessing her ascension to alicornhood. This explains Cadance's origin, as Celestia's only sibling has been trapped in the moon for a millennium.

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* In the ''Anime/SailorMoon'' prequel fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7483304/1/Serenity-s-Story Serenity's Story]]'', a young and orphaned Queen Serenity is adopted off the streets into the royal family of Okeanos after it's discovered that she posesses the Sailor Crystal of Theia, Okeanos's star.

* In the Anime/SailorMoon prequel fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7483304/1/Serenity-s-Story Serenity's Story]]'', a young and orphaned Queen Serenity is adopted off the streets into the royal family of Okeanos after it's discovered that she posesses the Sailor Crystal of Theia, Okeanos's star.

* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/12280782/chapters/27913491 Yu-Gi-Oh Ressurrection: One Light]]'' reveals that [[spoiler:Bakura]] was adopted as a child by Pharaoh Aknamkanon after the destruction of [[spoiler:Kul Elna]].