History Main / HiredHelpAsFamily

This can be a link between two adults; for example, if a [[FireForgedFriends lord and his footman fought in a war together]] and now they consider the other to be [[BloodBrothers more like his brother than his actual brothers]]. Or perhaps a young aristocrat has known one of their family's servants since early childhood and thus views them as a kind of [[ParentalSubstitute surrogate parent]]. Or a young lady chooses her maid as her friend and confidante and [[OneeSama eventually starts treating her like a sister]]. This one can overlap with MaidAndMaiden, where the maid has BigSisterInstinct for her younger charge.

This can be a link between two adults, for example if a [[FireForgedFriends lord and his footman fought in a war together]] and now they consider the other to be [[BloodBrothers more like his brother than his actual brothers]]. Or perhaps a young aristocrat has known one of their family's servants since early childhood and thus views them as a kind of [[ParentalSubstitute surrogate parent]]. Or a young lady chooses her maid as her friend and confidante and [[OneeSama eventually starts treating her like a sister]]. This one can overlap with MaidAndMaiden, where the maid has BigSisterInstinct for her younger charge.

* ''Anime/KillLaKill'': Satsuki's butler is treated as a personal friend of hers and the closet thing to a ParentalSubstitute she has considering [[spoiler: her mother is an utter tyrant siding with a parasitic alien life that's trying to take over Earth.]] Through the entirety of the series, he stays with her through thick and thin, and both respect the other in kind. The fact his nephew likewise helps in her operations doesn't hurt either.

* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'': Edwin Jarvis, the butler of the [[ComicBook/IronMan Stark]] family, is treated with a great respect by the Avengers. Tony Stark personally treats him like a close friend and almost like a family member.

* ''Literature/JaneEyre'': Bessie is a maid at Gateshead. She's the only person in Jane's early childhood who treats her kindly. She's hot-tempered and impatient, and behaves rather inconsistently to Jane (being affectionate, bringing her little treats, telling her stories or singing her songs, but also smacking her for no particular reason or forgetting her completely), but she's the closest thing Jane has to a mother figure or an ally while she lives with her abusive aunt Mrs. Reed and her jerk cousins. Bessie's only a maid so her authority is not great, and she also feels loyalty to the Reeds. But Jane is fond of Bessie both as a child and an adult, and she's always very happy to be reunited with her. Jane -- who is very independent and rather proud of her mind and accomplishments -- is secretly pleased that Bessie praises her education and calls her 'quite a lady'.

* ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'': Late Mr Darcy (Mr Darcy's father) liked and respected his steward Wickham a great deal, and he loved Wickham's son George almost like his own. He was his godfather, supported him in school to give him a gentleman's education and meant to promote him in life as best as he could. Too bad George Wickham turns out to be a scoundrel.

* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'': Despite his snark and the occasional tiffs considering salary, Geffory is considered as much as family to the Banks family and has helped him, so much so in two cases where he quit, the family goes out of their way to get him back. He in turn has helped them without having to be ordered, offering advice and aid where needed. By the series finale, they're more than sadden to have to part with him (he having decided to move back to London to be with his son) to which Hillary gives him a portrait of her with a sound clip calling for him and, in a final gesture, he helps Hillary load up her bags in the car despite her joking about needing his help.

** The Starks are a major noble house in Westeros and their ancestors were Kings in the North. Their house has the best attitude in taking care of their common folks, fulfilling their NoblesseOblige, and they feel strong attachment to their servants both from other noble houses or mere commoners.

* ''Franchise/DragonAge'': Empress Celene was raised alongside her [[EnslavedElves elven servant]], Brialla since the two were children. Despite Celene being a spoiled, entitled brat who saw Elves as lower-class, she developed a RaceFetish for Briala and the two of them became secret lovers. Although Celene would swiftly cast Briala aside if it appeared someone was catching on and mistreated Briala with all manner of DomesticAbuse, the two of them maintained this relationship until Celene ordered the slaughter of 3,000 Elven citizens to put down a minor rebellion simply to prove that she is not "soft on Elves" as her dissenters rumor. This event causes Briala and Celene to be bitter enemies in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', which the player can exploit in numerous ways to have one defeat the other, both being crushed by a third party, or the two reconciling and resuming their relationship.

* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'': Princess Kitana was raised alongside fellow Edenian Jade, who became her bodyguard, devoted follower, and best friend. In reality, however, Jade had been secretly trained as a child to spy on Kitana, prevent her from snooping where Khan doesn't want her to, and also eliminate her if necessary. However, the two became as close as sisters during these years, so that when Jade [[ConflictingLoyalty has to choose between loyalty to her friend or to her Emperor]], Jade chooses her friend without hesitation. In ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'', Kitana even tells Jade that she considers her more of a sister than [[EvilKnockoff Mileena]], and the feeling is quite mutual.

->"You're like a sister to me. A surly sister who I pay to clean, but a sister nonetheless."
--->'''Genevieve Delatour''', ''Series/DeviousMaids''

->"You're like a sister to me. A surly sister who I pay to clean, but a sister nevertheless."
--->'''Genevieve''', ''Series/DeviousMaids''

->"You're like a sister to me. A surly sister who I pay to clean, but a sister nonetheless."

* In ''LightNovel/VioletEvergarden'', Princess Charlotte is very attached to her elderly lady-in-waiting Alberta, because ever since Charlotte's mother died soon after giving birth to her, Alberta has been the sole maternal figure in her life.

* Catarina from ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'' has the PastLifeMemories of an ordinary Japanese {{Otaku}} and doesn't really consider herself to be nobility. As a result of this, she tends to treat everyone as if they were her social equal. This is most prominently seen with her personal maid Anne, who she views as somewhere between [[CoolBigSis an older sister and close friend]]. Her late grandfather is stated to have been the same way (minus the PastLifeMemories) and is established in a side story as having been best friends with the family's head gardener.

* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'': Hayasaka's family has a long-running LegacyOfService with the Shinomiya family, and she in particular is shown to have a close sisterly bond with Kaguya despite technically being her valet. Both of her parents are also implied to be surrogate parental figures for Kaguya (her father in particular is Kaguya's godfather).

* ''Literature/SecretSanta1007'': While not stated in so many words, Mindy Yee and her family's housekeeper Carmela have this dynamic in the third book, ''Spring Fling.'' Carmela is usually joking, concerned, or encouraging whenever she's talking to Mindy. She doesn't hesitate to caution her about her bad choice in friends to her face, and Mindy never gets angry or indignant when Carmela talks to her that way.

* ''Literature/EccentricNeighborhoods'': * HiredHelpAsFamily: Miña Besosa starts as baby Clarissa's wet nurse. In addition to eventually nursing all of Clarissa's siblings and serving as housekeeper to the Rivas de Santillana family, she often advises or rebukes Clarissa as an older sister or beloved aunt would. Miña tells her that ''all'' women should have the right to vote, not just the educated ones&mdas; and Clarissa listens. When Clarissa gets cold feet the night before marrying Aurelio, she is the one to soothe her nerves.

* Saikawa from ''Manga/GakuenBabysitters'' serves as a butler/secretary to the Morinomiya, but is treated as a family member by the household. Ryuuichi sees him as a parental figure (along with the Chairwoman), as he [[TeamMom takes care of most of the family's household needs]]. The Chairwoman herself explicitly calls him a family after she gets a cold after taking care of him while he was sick.

* ''Literature/{{Emma}}'': Miss Taylor was hired as a governess to work for the Woodhouse family after Emma and Isabella's mother died. The narrator says she has fallen 'little short of a mother in affection' and that she was less a governess than a friend. She's like another beloved daughter to Mr Woodhouse and something between a sister, mother, and close friend to Emma.

* ''Literature/TheFrenchLieutenantsWoman'': Mrs Tranter is a kindly and very affectionate spinster (Mrs is an honorary title) who must love someone. She has her niece Ernestina to love, but she only comes to stay with her aunt once a year. The narrator says that Mrs Tranter is very motherly to her servant girl Mary and notes that it would be considered extremely inappropriate by other upper-class Victorians.
* ''Literature/JaneEyre'': Bessie is a maid at Gateshead. She's the only person in Jane's early childhood who treats her kindly. She's hot-tempered and impatient, and behaves rather inconsistently to Jane (being affectionate, bringing her little treats, telling her stories or singing her songs, but also smacking her for no particular reason or forgetting her completely), but she's the closest thing Jane has to a mother figure or an ally while she lives with her abusive aunt Mrs Reed and her jerk cousins. Bessie's only a maid so her authority is not great, and she also feels loyalty to the Reeds. But Jane is fond of Bessie both as a child and an adult, and she's always very happy to be reunited with her. Jane -- who is very independent and rather proud of her mind and accomplishments -- is secretly pleased that Bessie praises her education and calls her 'quite a lady'.

* Saikawa from ''Manga/GakuenBabysitters'' serves as a butler/secretary to the Morinomiya, but is treated as a family member by the household. Ryuuichi sees him as a parental figure (along with the Chairwoman), as he [[TeamMom takes care of most of the family's household needs]]. The Chairwoman herself explicitly calls him a family after she gets a cold after taking care of him while he was sick.

* ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'': Late Mr Darcy (Mr Darcy's father) liked and respected his steward Wickham a great deal, and he loved Wickham's son George almost like his own. He was his godfather, supported him in school to give him a gentleman's education and meant to promote him in life as best as he could. Too bad George Wickham turns out to be a scoundrel.

* ''Literature/DavidCopperfield'': Clara Peggotty is Mrs Copperfield's housekeeper and David's nurse. She is absolutely devoted and loyal to both of them. Peggotty never leaves the family even when David's young widowed mother marries Mr Murdstone, and the Murdstones want to get Peggotty out of the house. David is grateful for her friendship and devotion. (Peggotty is so loyal, self-sacrificing, and utterly selfless that she comes off as a stereotype: the ideal of what a rich gentleman would want his servants to be, a model of a working-class woman in classist and class-segmented society).

* In ''Literature/EverythingEverything'', Madeleine's nurse Carla is seen by her as a member of the family, but SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome after her mother finds out Carla has allowed Olly to come and visit Madeleine. She fires her and replaces her with another nurse who is most definitely ''not'' considered a family member. [[spoiler: Carla is rehired later as a form of bribery to get Madeleine to toe the line, and is the person she turns to when she and Olly try to run off together.]]
* ''Literature/TheFrenchLieutenantsWoman'': Mrs Tranter is a kindly and very affectionate spinster (Mrs is an honorary title) who must love someone. She has her niece Ernestina to love, but she only comes to stay with her aunt once a year. The narrator says that Mrs Tranter is very motherly to her servant girl Mary and notes that it would be considered extremely inappropriate by other upper-class Victorians.
* ''Literature/JudgeDee'': Sergeant Hoong was the Dee family's steward and took good care of their son Jen-Tchieh, even following him as his manservant for more than thirty years (being named tribunal sergeant in the various cities his master was sent to) and eventually [[spoiler:dying in the judge's service]]. He's mentioned to have had a son, but it's not mentioned if Hoong's family travels along with him.

* ''Literature/AlexRider'': Alex and Jack's relationship. Several years prior to the start of the series, Jack came to London as a student and was employed by Alex's uncle as a housekeeper and as a babysitter for Alex. She went on to become Alex's close friend and big sister figure. After the death of his uncle, she also becomes his legal guardian.

* In ''Literature/EverythingEverything'', Madeleine's nurse Carla is seen by her as a member of the family, but RealityEnsues after her mother finds out Carla has allowed Olly to come and visit Madeleine. She fires her and replaces her with another nurse who is most definitely ''not'' considered a family member. [[spoiler: Carla is rehired later as a form of bribery to get Madeleine to toe the line, and is the person she turns to when she and Olly try to run off together.]]

However, other nobles, especially snobs, might sneer at their choice of companions, or consider their overly intimate relationships with their employees unprofessional. It also isn't unusual for employers to ''claim'' to feel this way but fail to practice it.