History Main / AntiNepotism

A DefiedTrope form of {{Nepotism}}. See also WellDoneSonGuy. Compare LimitedAdvancementOpportunities, where out-of-universe concerns prevent a character from getting deserved promotions.

* In ''Series/BeautyAndTheBeast1987'' episode "Promises of Someday", Devin Wells, who grew up in the tunnels with Vincent, was the UnFavorite of Father, who filled the paternal role for almost all the tunnel children. It turns out Devin was his biological son, and he'd been trying to avoid showing favoritism towards him but overshot the mark considerably.

* ''Series/{{Mahabharata}}'': In BR Chopra’s television adaptation of the original epic, Ashwathama is upset that his father Dronacharya the royal combat instructor is devoting a lot of attention to the prince Arjun instead of his own son. Dronacharya tells him that in their house, as his son, Ashwathama has Dronacharya’s undivided attention, but at the school, the best pupil must receive all the special attention. Ashwathama demands a chance to prove his skill at archery, which leads to Dronacharya setting up the famous “spot the toy bird in the tree” test. Which everyone except Arjun, fail.

* In ''Series/BeautyAndTheBeast1987'' episode "Promises of Someday" Devon Wells, who grew up in the tunnels with Vincent, was the UnFavorite of Father, who filled the paternal role for almost all the tunnel children. It turns out Devon was his son, and he'd been trying to avoid showing favoritism towards him but overshot the mark considerably.

* ''Videogame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'': In the setting of Fodlan, the noble classes are born with "crests", which the Church of Seiros teaches are blessings from the goddess Sothis that grant powerful magical abilities. Those born without crests are considered beneath those who are born with them. [[spoiler:Edelgard, the heir to the Adrestian Empire, was captured as a child and underwent torturous experiments to give her ''two'' crests, at the cost of a [[CastFromLifespan drastically-reduced lifespan]]. Her traumatic experience thus motivates her to start a war against the Church of Seiros, which is revealed to be a false religion and the crests were in fact ''not'' "blessings" but power stolen from an ancient race called the Nabateans by the ancestors of Fodlan's ruling class. Edelgard's ultimate goal is to destroy the Crest system and abolish a system where birth determines one's class, instead creating a nation of "pure merit".]]

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13545968/32/Wilhuff-Tarkin-Hero-of-the-Rebellion Wilhuff Tarkin, Hero of the Rebellion]]'', the narration mentions that admiral Motti, commander in chief of the Imperial Navy and an in-law to Grand Moff Tarkin, got his post for valor in battle, and the only help he ever had by Tarkin, command of a gunship during the Clone Wars, was because they were short on officers for a battle and ''a trusted captain had vouched for him''.

* ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'': The 20th Cavalry Regiment is headed by a colonel whose son is also in the regiment, and is punished for just about every single thing he says by the colonel to avoid any accusations of nepotism. The son finally snaps back at the colonel, who is stunned that his son is finally a man. Of course, old habits are hard to break, and at the end of the story, the son is punished for speaking out of turn (that is, saying "Goodbye, Luke" without asking PermissionToSpeakFreely).

* In the Literature/{{Discworld}} of Creator/AAPessimal, the Guild of Assassins is stuck in a dilemma. It genuinely wants the best talent it can find. It's opened up the School to a lot more prospective students than would have been the case a generation before. It understands "anti-nepotism" is probably the best way to find really talented people. But on the other hand, it still has to provide an Education to families of Nobility and it never turns down Royalty. So the children of noble families still automatically get places. Even if they are, well, duffers. [[/folder]]

[[/folder]]

* PlayedForLaughs in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12404080/6/Anyone-Can-Become-A-Hero Anyone Can Become A Hero]]'' when Gyro finds out [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure Johnny Joestar]] didn't vote for his as class president.

--> ''"Some folks are gonna say I'm doin' all this so I can sit up in the hereafter and look down on a park named after me, or that I was disappointed in you, didn't want you to get all that money. But the real reason, Becky, is because I love you, and I want you and some young man to have what I had, because all the gold in the United States Treasury and all the harp music in heaven can't equal what happens between a man and a woman with all that growin' together. I can't explain it any better than that.''"

* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'': An actual, noted-in-universe character flaw for Michelle 'Mike' Henke, who stands very close to the royal succession[[note]]she's the Queen of Manticore's first cousin[[/note]]. She is noted ''in her personnel jacket'' as psychologically unable to accept accelerated promotion for her actions because she'll perceive it as nepotism. After the title character -- who also happens to be her best friend -- more or less reads her the riot act about this, she pretty much gets over it and subsequently shoots from Captain to Rear Admiral in less than two years.
* ''Literature/TheHandsOfTheEmperor'': Cliopher Mdang, head of the imperial bureaucracy is absolutely incorruptible and would never favor his family or home province. He sometimes over-does it: he is especially stern when dealing with his nephew Gaudy who is also in the civil service and initially ignores a problem that his family tells him about in his home-province until it nearly boils over – after all, if he learnt it through his family and not through any official channels and other provinces don’t have that possibility.

* In the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'', Miles Vorkosigan is an agent of Imperial Security with a public persona as a low-ranking military officer assigned to courier duties. When people ask why he has such a low rank when his father is the Emperor's most trusted advisor, he tells them that it's ''because'' his father is the Emperor's most trusted advisor and also a rigidly honorable man who bends over backwards to avoid the appearance of favoritism.
*** At the same time, Miles frequently claims to be the beneficiary of nepotism to explain how he got his cover-position in Imperial Security.

* In later seasons of ''Series/BlueBloods'', Jamie Reagan starts to feel increasingly that his father, Police Commissioner Frank Reagan, is making life difficult for him in an attempt to avoid the appearance of nepotism, noting that most of his academy classmates have already made detective while he's still a (increasingly decorated) beat cop.

* ''Series/BarRescue:'' Rita Cappovici, owner of Club Platinum, swore to make this an EnforcedTrope toward her hospitality-trained daughter. In the end, when it went from being marked a "gentleman's club" to a "gentlemen's club," she agreed to having her on board.
* ''Series/{{Mahabharata}}'': In BR Chopra’s television adaptation of the original epic, Ashwathama is upset that his father Dronacharya the royal combat instructor is devoting a lot of attention to the prince Arjun instead of his own son. Dronacharya tells him that in their house, as his son, Ashwathama has Dronacharya’s undivided attention, but at the school, the best pupil must receive all the special attention. Ashwathama demands a chance to prove his skill at archery, which leads to Dronacharya setting up the famous “spot the toy bird in the tree” test. Which everyone except Arjun, fail.

* In ''Film/KnivesOut'', Harlan Thrombey (a SelfMadeMan and best-seller author) decides to leave absolutely nothing of his massive inheritance to his family and instead leaves it all leaves all to his nurse. While he believed, very deep in his heart, that it was him giving them one final bit of ToughLove and telling them to make their own fortunes, the truth of the matter is that calling them "layabouts" is being kind [[spoiler:and an understatement, considering that one of said crappy children was the orchestrator of Harlan's murder and kills the maid later on in the film [[HeKnowsTooMuch when she figures out who did it]] [[BlackmailBackfire and tries to profit from it]]]].

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* In ''Film/KnivesOut'', Harlan Thrombey (a SelfMadeMan and best-seller author) decides to leave absolutely nothing of his massive inheritance to his family and instead leaves it all leaves all to his nurse. While he believed, very deep in his heart, that it was him giving them one final bit of ToughLove and telling them to make their own fortunes, the truth of the matter is that calling them "layabouts" is being kind [[spoiler:and an understatement, considering that one of said crappy children was the orchestrator of Harlan's murder]].