History Main / AdoptionDiss

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': Damian Wayne, the fifth Robin and Bruce's biological son regularly insults on his adoptive brothers [[ComicBook/RedHood Jason Todd]] and [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim Drake]], the second and third Robins, by calling them adopted and himself real. In fact, it's his ''go to'' insult for Tim, and he's used it pretty much any time he's in the same room as him. Noticeably, he has ''never'' used it on [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick Grayson]], the first Robin, whom he has a ''much'' better relationship with. He's actually acknowledged Dick as his brother too.

* Played briefly on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' when they watch ''Film/SantaClausConquersTheMartians''. In one scene, a Martian robot captures the children and Voldar orders it to crush them. Crow quips "You were adopted."
* In ''Series/PleaseLikeMe'' while teasing each other Josh jokingly calls Arnold an "orphan" for being adopted, and everyone, especially Arnold’s non-adopted brother, [[DudeNotFunny find it distasteful]], the only exception being Arnold himself.

* In ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold,'' the class is participating in competitions for Parents' Weekend, with [[LovingBully Helga]] and her father and [[OnlySaneMan Arnold]] and his [[RaisedByGrandparents grandparents]] dominating the competition. At one point, a frustrated [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Bob]] yells at Helga that he doesn't plan to lose to "Orphan Boy," which visibly upsets Arnold and leads to a [[TellMeAboutMyFather Tell Me About My Parents]] scene later. (Helga, for her part, was ticked off enough that she throws the very last competition the next day.)

A character refers to another character as being adopted as a put-down, often with heavy implications of "this is why your birth family gave you up" or to call out the lack of blood relation between themselves and their adopted family. This can be played dramatically, especially if it's a case of ObliviousAdoption. In that case, expect TellMeAboutMyFather to occur.

* In ''LightNovel/{{Bakemonogatari}}'', the fact that Tsubasa Hanekawa isn't actually related to either of her legal guardians (who are, respectively, her stepfather's second wife and the man she in turn married when her first stepfather died) is a huge part of why they're so abusive to her, including not allowing her to have her own room so she has to keep all of her belongings and her bed in the hallway and at least one occasion where her stepfather punched her in the face until she bled. And it turns out that her step-parents don't even like each other, and are planning to divorce once she reaches the legal age to avoid the scandal of abandoning an orphan. They're also implied to verbally abuse her because of [[SonOfAWhore her biological mother's promiscuity]], which means she has no idea who her biological father is.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

[[/folder]]

'''Loki:''' [[BlatantLies I've never met this man in my life]].\\

* Yami does this to Kaiba in ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'', which clearly hits a nerve. Kaiba also assumes that Joey is doing this when they compete for third place at Battle City, but Joey was actually going to call him a jerk.

->"He's not even a real kid. He's adopted."

* The ''WesternAnimation/BackToTheFuture'' episode "Go Fly a Kite" has this kickstart the plot. Jules, who doesn't get along well with his younger brother, tells Verne that given that he doesn't resemble Doc, Clara, or Jules (especially in personality), it's clear he's adopted. This is an unusual case in that the insulting remark isn't true -- Verne ''is'' Doc and Clara's biological son -- but the idea obsesses him to the point that he runs away to look for his real father. Of course, Doc and Clara are ''very'' displeased with their eldest son. This may also count as ValuesDissonance, given that the episode was aired in the 1990s; a hero implying there's something wrong with being adopted might go over much worse today than perhaps it did then.

* From ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'', there's Damian Wayne, the fifth Robin. Even being a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, he's not above using this insult on his adoptive brothers Jason Todd and [[ComicBook/RedRobin Tim Drake]], the second and third Robins, respectively. In fact, it's his ''go to'' insult for Tim, and he's used it pretty much any time he's in the same room as him. Noticeably, he has ''never'' used it on [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick Grayson]], the first Robin, whom he has a ''much'' better relationship with. He's actually acknowledged Dick as his brother too.

* In ''{{LightNovel/Bakemonogatari}}'', the fact that Tsubasa Hanekawa isn't actually related to either of her legal guardians (who are, respectively, her stepfather's second wife and the man she in turn married when her first stepfather died) is a huge part of why they're so abusive to her, including not allowing her to have her own room so she has to keep all of her belongings and her bed in the hallway and at least one occasion where her stepfather punched her in the face until she bled. And it turns out that her step-parents don't even like each other, and are planning to divorce once she reaches the legal age to avoid the scandal of abandoning an orphan. They're also implied to verbally abuse her because of [[SonOfAWhore her biological mother's promiscuity]], which means she has no idea who her biological father is.

* The Bollywood movie ''Bollywood/KabhiKushiKabhieGham'' has this as the catalyst of the story. Rahul breaks off his engagement with a woman his adopted father, Yash, [[ArrangedMarriage arranged]] for him to marry Anjali, who [[UptownGirl came from a lower class background]]. In a fit of rage, Yash disowns him by explicitly bringing up his background as an adopted child.

* In ''Series/GenerationKill'', Ray Person takes a jab at his team leader Sgt. Brad Colbert by mentioning the fact that he was adopted. Colbert cooly unleashes an eloquent stream of insults.

* During the first ''Film/ProblemChild'', Lucy Henderson, the little girl at the birthday party Junior is taken to, is a complete jerk to Junior, and at one point says to her friends, "He's not even a real kid. He's adopted."

* In ''Series/GenerationKill'', Ray Person takes a jab at his team leader Sgt. Brad Colbert by mentioning the fact that he was adopted. Colbert cooly unleashes an eloquent stream of insults.

----

** PlayedForDrama in ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld''. During his trial, Loki attempts to appeal to his birthright as a son of the king and Odin retorts that his birthright (as an abandoned child whom Odin adopted) was to die.

* In ''Animation/LeafieAHenIntoTheWild'' Greenie was teased as a duckling for being adopted by a hen.

* In ''Film/CheaperByTheDozen'' Mark is nicknamed "[=FedEx=]" by his siblings, who say that the Fed-Ex truck dropped him off at the house to imply this trope (with no evidence that he actually ''was'' adopted, mind you). It's this nickname getting used one too many times after a TraumaCongaLine that ultimately causes Mark to try and run away.

** [=GLaDOS=] insults Chell by saying she's adopted during the {{Boss Battle}} (right after saying she's loved by nobody, too). By ''Videogame/Portal2'', it becomes one of her favorite ways to insult Chell (along with [[YouAreFat passive aggressive comments about her weight]]).

* In ''VideoGame/Borderlands1'' Marcus' [[LemonyNarrator lemony voiceovers]] in "The Zombie Island of Doctor Ned" brings this up with the child who keeps asking questions about the story and interrupting.

* Attempted by [=PamJee=]'s classmate in ''Webcomic/{{Something Positive}}'', shut down when [=PamJee=] points out that adoption isn’t an easy thing, and that her parents adopted her PROVES they wanted her.

-->'''Tuuri:'''I heard your parents say that one of you is adopted and they don't love that one as much as the other two.

* ''WebOriginal/LOLCats'' has Surprise Adoption Cat, a picture of a cat jumping out of a cakc with a banner saying "You're Adopted!" in front of a crying girl.

[[/folder]]
----

* The ''WesternAnimation/BackToTheFuture'' episode "Go Fly a Kite" has this kickstart the plot. Jules, who doesn't get along well with his younger brother, tells Verne that given that he doesn't resemble Doc, Clara, or Jules (especially in personality), it's clear he's adopted. This is an unusual case in that the insulting remark isn't true -- Verne ''is'' Doc and Clara's biological son -- but the idea obsesses him to the point that he runs away to look for his real father. Of course, Doc and Clara are ''very'' displeased with their eldest son. This may also count as ValuesDissonance, given that the episode was aired in the 1990s; a hero implying there's something wrong with being adopted might go over much worse today than perhaps it did then.
* Inverted on ''WesternAnimation/CampCandy''. In one episode, Vanessa reads a note from her parents which seems to reveal she was adopted. (She wasn't. She only got to read part of the note which actually said her parents adopted a puppy.) After she runs away, Nurse Molly explains that she should be happy to have been adopted since it means that her parents picked her out themselves. Upon hearing this, Iggy laments that his parents were stuck with him.
* In "Homer's Triple Bypass" from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Homer, before undergoing heart surgery, tells his children some encouraging words in case he dies. However, he's no good at speeches, so the kids themselves help him out. Bart takes advantage of this by tricking Homer into telling Lisa, "You're adopted, and I don't like you."

* In ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold,'' the class is participating in competitions for Parents' Weekend, with [[LovingBully Helga]] and her father and [[OnlySaneMan Arnold]] and his [[RaisedByGrandparents grandparents]] dominating the competition. At one point, a frustrated [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Bob]] yells at Helga that he doesn't plan to lose to "Orphan Boy," which visibly upsets Arnold and leads to a [[TellMeAboutMyFather Tell Me About My Parents]] scene later. (Helga, for her part, was ticked off enough that she throws the very last competition the next day.)

* ''Series/ER''. Inverted in a series of stories that follow Doug and Carol's life after they move to Seattle. It's their adopted daughter who dislikes the son they have after adopting her.

-->'''Animatronic Strong Bad:''' Dad loves me more!\\
'''Grape Nuts Robot:''' [[AC:You're adopted.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' Marcus' [[LemonyNarrator lemony voiceovers]] in "The Zombie Island of Doctor Ned" brings this up with the child who keeps asking questions about the story and interrupting.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* In ''Fanfic/KnowledgeIsPower'' Bellatrix Lestrange kidnaps Harry and Hermione's adopted daughter.