History Main / BlueBlood

[[quoteright:308:[[Creator/EdmundLeighton https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/LeightonCallToArms.JPG]]]]

While there are often gradations in rank between them, the common trait of aristocrats is that, unlike the monarch, they are surrounded by their equals and if there is no monarch some form of power-sharing will be in effect with plenty of intrigue. Prone to MoralMyopia, Blue Bloods often regard only their class as important, which often leads to AristocratsAreEvil. Insults between aristocrats result in ThrowingDownTheGauntlet, or the GloveSlap, and a DuelToTheDeath, but an insult from a commoner results in the aristocrat's servants thrashing him, and an insult to a commoner hardly counts anyway. (As a consequence, they are prone to underestimating the PowderKegCrowd and setting it off.)

* ''Fanfic/LittleHandsBigAttitude'': Blaze is the last descendant of the Royal House of Sol, but this doesn't do her any good as the land her family was rulling was [[ApocalypseHow reduced down to a lave and ash-filled wasteland]] before she was born. She grew up orphaned in the ruins scavanging for food. Despite this, she still tries her best to maintain the elegant manners and poise of royalty, she is aware of a fair bit of her lands history (courtesy of the caretaker she had when she was really young), and in the new world she shows an interest in history and politics. Despite her backstory, she remains a PricessClassic. She doesn't really advertise her royal heritage - as it's not relevant to anything - but she doesn't hesitate to admit it when directly asked.

* ''Anime/HelloSandybell'': Marc is the son of the Countess of Wellington. Unfortu ately, due to his idiotic fatheer squandering all their money, the Wellingtons are left destitute, and his father forces him to [[ArrangedMarriage marry a woman]] [[GoldDigger he hates]] to survive.

* ''Anime/VoltesV'': Prince Heinel mentions that Katherine Rii is from a noble family, and [[Literature/RoboRomanAnimeClimaxSelection supplementary material]] reveals that they had ties to the Boazanian aristocracy as well.

* In the ''Literature/{{Spaceforce}}'' novels, the powerful Taysan Empire is ruled by an absolute monarch with the backup of Imperial and Noble Castes. And one of the series' main characters, Jez, is a rare surviving member of the nobility of her homeworld, who governed the planet before her whole species was overthrown in a genocidal civil war.

* ''LetsPlay/RatsSMP'': El the "Diplo-rat" of the group hails from a family of "aristo-rats" who own three alleyways and two garbage bins, one of which she inherited at birth. However, she has since left that life behind because she thought it wasn't right for her family to treat commoner rats poorly and leave them to go hungry.

** By contrast, Twilight Sparkle and her brother, Shining Armor, earned their way into the top tier of Equestrian nobility with Twilight being the personal protege of Princess Celestia and Shining being Captain of the Royal Guard, the Prince Consort of Princess Cadence and Co-Governor of the Crystal Empire. By the end of Season 3, [[spoiler:Twilight becomes an Alicorn Princess.]]

* While Film/JamesBond is hinted as being this in the films (such as in ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService''), ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' reveals that he's the son of Scottish nobility, owning a large if rather dilapidated estate.

* Class struggles (of the StarCrossedLovers variety) are fairly important in ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'', in which the nobility is largely (but not entirely) defined by being able to use magic.

Normal feature of the StandardRoyalCourt and DecadentCourt. Endemic in HistoricalFiction, HighFantasy, and FeudalFuture. Oddly enough, often characters who have been MadeASlave have former nobility as their BackStory. The OfficerAndAGentleman is also often a BlueBlood, particularly if the ''noble'' code emphasizes [[TheMenFirst the duties and responsibilities]] that come with noble birth. Even in peacetime, they may regard readiness for war a duty; hence, TheTourney. As with Royalty, the ErmineCapeEffect can apply, so many should be expected to [[PimpedOutDress wear extremely fancy clothes]] if possible. If culturally foreign from their subjects, can be a ForeignRulingClass. Related character tropes are the EvilChancellor, GentlemanSnarker, RegentForLife, RoyalBrat, UpperClassTwit, ProperLady, SilkHidingSteel, and GrandeDame.

* In one of the oldest surviving Myth/RobinHood tales, Robin carefully inquires of the sorrowful knight whether he was a newly created one, finding out he is of BlueBlood before he helps him. Robin himself is a yeoman then and for centuries after, but in the Elizabethan to Victorian times, he became, often, a disinherited earl. Maid Marian, likewise for centuries a shepherdess, also became a frequent noblewoman then. In the 20th century, Robin went back to yeoman, for a RagsToRiches rise, but Marian still is often noble.

* ''Roleplay/FireEmblemOnForums'': Many, many, ''many'' player characters and non-player characters are royalty or nobility. Justified, considering the usual HighFantasy setting of these roleplays; the number of games that aren't set in HighFantasy settings can be counted on one hand and even those have BlueBlood characters most of the time.

* ''TabletopGame/AnimaBeyondFantasy'' allows to choose as one advantage to be BlueBlood (and this in turn gives stuff such as money, gear, and the possibility of purchasing rare equipment.)

* ''TabletopGame/WolsungSteamPulpFantasy'' assumes that all player characters are BlueBlood.

* The nobility in the RealLife is usually divided into ''untitled nobility'' (i.e. noblemen whose status implies servant status to either a superior noble or to state), including gentlemen, esquires, knights and baronets, and ''titled nobility'', also known as "peerage", i.e. land-owning nobility. Those would be barons, earls, viscounts, marquesses, counts and princes. The highest ranks of the nobility, such as Dukes, Grand Princes and Grand Dukes, would imply RoyalBlood instead of just BlueBlood.

* In the Literature/{{Child Ballad|s}} ''Literature/YoungBeichan'', some variants note his high birth before recounting his imprisonment.

The heriditary nobility. The ruling and military elite in the MiddleAges and the perceived elite afterwards.

Whether or not they have a [[RoyalBlood sovereign]] whom they are subordinate to, these characters have commoners who are subordinate to them. Their position is hereditary, often legally enforced, although occasionally simply socially accepted to the same effect. Usually, the longer the family and its heritage have been known the better. In some periods and countries, it can carry the taint of being not quite noble yet if only one's parents were ennobled. Thus, nobles are often quite proud of the length of their lineage, which makes them the natural {{foil}} of the SelfMadeMan.

For the same reason young aristocrats are often quite powerless in the hands of ThePatriarch who rules the family, making the threat of PassedOverInheritance quite powerful.