History Main / InTheBlood

** In "Chapter 22", Charles expresses his concern that his telepathic ability might be passed down to his infant son, knowing full well how isolating and dangerous it can be.
--->'''Charles''': What if I pass it on to him? And he ends up like me?

* In ''AfterTheGoldenAge'' [[spoiler:supervillainy seems to be hereditary, since, though Mayor Paulson never met his father (Dr. Simon Sito, a.k.a. [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Destructor]]) or knew of their relationship, he still ends up emulating many of his megalomaniacal tendencies. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] since Simon Sito became evil after some radiation messed up the wiring in his brain, and the condition appears to extend to the genetic level.]]

** David Haller inherited a lot of traits from his biological father Charles Xavier: they're both incredibly powerful telepaths, they share a SweetTooth (which includes a mutual fondness for cherry pie, and in "Chapter 26", David serves his father knowledge in the form of a cake slice knowing that Charles would be tempted to eat it), they both enjoy stargazing, and they're both brown-haired {{Pretty Boy}}s who are of the exact same height (their actors, Creator/DanStevens and Creator/HarryLloyd, are 183 cm / 6'0"). Like David, Charles also fell in love with a troubled woman while they were institutionalized at a psychiatric facility. David lampshades this in "Chapter 22."

--->'''Gabrielle''': My grandmother had the sickness. Spells, moods, she spoke in tongues. I remember her eyes. Miserable and giddy, like a happy death. My mother was 16 when the sickness hit her. In the witching hour, she woke up laughing. Didn't stop for 14 days.\\

** David Haller inherited a lot of traits from his biological father Charles Xavier: they're both incredibly powerful telepaths, they both have mental health issues, they share a SweetTooth (which includes a mutual fondness for cherry pie, and in "Chapter 26", David serves his father knowledge in the form of a cake slice knowing that Charles would be tempted to eat it), they both enjoy stargazing, and they're both brown-haired {{Pretty Boy}}s who are of the exact same height (their actors, Creator/DanStevens and Creator/HarryLloyd, are 183 cm / 6'0"). Like David, Charles also fell in love with a troubled woman while they were institutionalized at a psychiatric facility. David lampshades this in "Chapter 22."

** In "Chapter 22", Charles expresses his concern that his infant son David might inherit his telepathic ability, knowing full well how isolating and dangerous it can be.

* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''

'''Syd''': It's so odd. I never thought of that. It's hereditary, what's wrong with [David]. Why he's like this.

* ''VideoGame/MyChildLebensborn'': One of the reasons given for the community's rejection for the child is many people believing that the child will inevitably grow up to betray Norway because their father is a (long-departed) soldier from UsefulNotes/NaziGermany's occupation forces and their mother a local woman who was in a relationship with him.

* Creator/AgathaChristie was a big fan of this trope, often referring to families having a "taint" in their bloodline. But as she was one of the first mystery authors to consider the impact of psychology on a person's mind, [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny she gets something of a pass]]. It's also partly [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in that many of her novels feature the British upper class; marriage between relatives (ranging from distant to first/second cousins)in that class was somewhat common to keep the bloodline "pure," and mental instability/illness is a proven side effect of closely-related people marrying and having children, as there's simply not enough genetic diversity to defend against mutation.

* [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Arthurian literature]]:
** Mordred, the [[BrotherSisterIncest born-by-incest]], [[FallenHero sometimes-tragic]] nephew-son of [[MessianicArchetype the King]], is a villain ''because'' his parents consummated in sin. This is often the reason for the fall of Camelot as well. In the Vulgate and Mallory, Mordred is a conventionally noble knight of the Round Table, until he's hit with his illegitimate and incestuous birth and foredoomed treason by a prophetic hermit and suffers an instantaneous BSOD and HeelFaceTurn. Can you say "self-fulfilling prophecy"?
** Merlin himself is alternately an example and an aversion of this trope. In some medieval texts, he inherits his incubus father's powers ''and'' his evil or amoral nature; in others, he inherits the powers but not the evil, and he receives some powers from God as well.

* Many of the families in Creator/EdwardRutherfurd's multi-generational HistoricalFiction Doorstoppers pass on not only telltale physical traits, like a skunk stripe or an embarrassingly-long nose, but also ''personality'' traits like loyalty, ferocious temper, stubbornness or scheming. These behavioral traits persist, or at least recur, in the same bloodlines for hundreds or even thousands of years.

* Christian and Tasha Ozera from ''Literature/VampireAcademy'', are thought to be tainted due to Lucas and Moira Ozera being Strigoi. They were respectively Christian's parents and Tasha's brother and sister-in-law. [[spoiler:Tasha turns out to be a villain after all.]]
* In his 20 novel long magnum opus examining the life of a coal mining family during the Second Empire, Creator/EmileZola gave free rein to his simplistic personal theories on genetics, and included pie charts in his notes with each character's propensity for laziness, alcoholism, etc.

* Many of the families in Creator/EdwardRutherfurd's multi-generational HistoricalFiction Doorstoppers pass on not only telltale physical traits, like a SkunkStripe or an embarrassingly-long nose, but also ''personality'' traits like loyalty, ferocious temper, stubbornness or scheming. These behavioral traits persist, or at least recur, in the same bloodlines for hundreds or even thousands of years.

* ''Fanfic/ChilkdfTheStorm'':

** Orion has deposed Darkseid and taken over Apokolips. He tried to institute a democracy and positive change, but the people just elected him dictator and didn't participate in changing anything, so he's ruling hell and says that "all men eventually become their fathers." He seems resigned to being Darkseid, only without the universe-conquering ambitions.
** Scott and Barda are working among the groundlings, trying to raise awareness and instill morality. Superman gets them to come build a superpower-proof gulag in the nuked remains of what used to be Kansas. In a nod to Orion, Scott now resembles a younger version of ''his'' birth father, only while Orion wears a white version of Darkseid's clothing, Scott dresses as High Father but in black.

* Used in ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'' and ''ComicBook/SpiderGirl'', with the "Osborn Legacy" ending up twisting three generations of Osborns. There's no evidence that any of them were evil before Norman, and if his formula affected his genes, Harry was already a teen at that point. Harry's son Normie, however, turns out to be an IneffectualSympatheticVillain, and gets better ''real'' quick.

** ''ComicBook/SuperboyNew52'': This series' version of ComicBook/{{Superboy}} shares Superman's instinctual affection for farms in rural Kansas. Accompanied by him completely ignoring someone in a burning building. Red wonders if this means that he has a "deeply pathological, megalomaniacal narcissist, the likes of which the world has never known" as a donor. However, albeit Lex Luthor is one of his donors, Superboy was aware that the people in the fire were just part of a simulation, and he was giving them the same concern that [[VideogameCrueltyPotential most people give random NPCs.]]

** Subverted in ''ComicBook/TheLastDaysOfSuperman''. Brainiac 5 declines to help his fellow Legionnaires fulfill Superman's pending tasks and shuts himself in his lab. His teammates -- including his own girlfriend, who should know better -- start wondering if he will not be a Superman-hating criminal as his ancestor after all. Finally, Supergirl confronts him, and Querl Dox reveals he has been working on a cure for Superman's illness.

* In ''Manga/InuYasha'', Half-demons are usually avoided by both humans and [[{{Youkai}} youkai]]. [[HalfBreedDiscrimination While the demons believe that half-demons are too weak, humans believe that half-demons are just as vicious monsters as pure demons]]. But almost all naturally born hanyou in the series were benign. However, it should also be mentioned that there are many benign demons, and the half-demons in the series have a benign demon as a parent.

* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'':
** When [[TheOjou Victoria Dahlgrun]] of ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaVivid'' goes to battle, Sein notes that it's weird that a person claiming to be descended from the [[ShockAndAwe Thunder]] [[WarriorPrince Emperor]] could act in such a refined way. Turns out, she was right. While Victoria will fight like a LadyOfWar at first, [[TheBerserker she will show the ferocity of the Thunder Emperor once she gets annoyed enough]], and will, for example, proceed to spam [[OneManArmy Anti-Army attacks]] [[NoKillLikeOverkill in a competitive duel]].

%%* ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}'': Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain sometimes get this treatment from Batman because of their parents being supervillains. [[DependingOnTheWriter It depends on the writer]]. While Cassandra occasionally struggled with this thinking early on due [[DarkAndTroubledPast to some issues she had]], Stephanie never has, likely because the impetus for her superheroics was to spoil her father's criminal ambitions.
* Emma Washburne, daughter of Zoe and Hoban Washburne in ''ComicBook/FireflyBrandNewVerse'' is a pilot and semi-leader on ''Serenity'' (Zoe is captain and no word where Mal went) just like Wash was its pilot. She also seems to like bright shirts with patterns like her dad. But she has her mom’s warrior side and stubborn streak leading to some butting of heads between her and Zoe.

%%* [[Comicbook/{{Batgirl2009}} Stephanie Brown]] and, to a lesser extent, [[Comicbook/{{Batgirl2000}} Cassandra Cain]] sometimes get this treatment from Batman because of their parents being supervillains. [[DependingOnTheWriter It depends on the writer]]. While Cassandra occasionally struggled with this thinking early on due [[DarkAndTroubledPast to some issues she had]], Stephanie never has, likely because the impetus for her superheroics was to spoil her father's criminal ambitions.

* ''Series/NCIS''

* In ''Manga/InuYasha'', Half-demons are usually avoided by both humans and [[{{Youkai}} youkai]]. [[HalfBreedDiscrimination While the demons believe that half-demons are too weak, humans believe that half-demons are just as vicious monsters as pure demons]]. But almost all naturally born hanyou in the series were benign. However, it should also be mentioned that there are many benign demons, and the half-demons in the series have [[HumanMomNonHumanDad a benign demon as a parent]].

* ''Anime/PrincessTutu'': Fakir [[spoiler: is a descendant of Drosselmeyer. It follows that he has the same story-spinning powers as Drosselmeyer, and this ends up being crucial to the plot.]]

** Bart Allen --better known as Impulse/Kid Flash/Flash-- doesn't give a second thought to their villainous ancestry. It's common knowledge that he's the grandson of the Silver Age Flash. What ''isn't'' common knowledge is that he's also descended from Barry's psychotic EvilCounterpart, Professor Zoom. He's known this fact since ''Impulse #25'', but doesn't really think about it, let alone talk about it, unless someone explicitly brings it up, and more-or-less laughs off Zoom's accusation of "[[FeudingFamilies bloodline betrayal]]":

* ''Film/AHistoryOfViolence'' uses this when Tom's son, upon discovering his father [[spoiler: was a brutal hitman]], abandons his earlier pacifist stance and brutally beats up a bully (who he'd previously handled with wit), having [[LamarckWasRight "inherited"]] his father's [[TookALevelInBadass violent fighting style]].

* In ''Film/RepoTheGeneticOpera'', this is used in a more literal sense -- Marni died from a rare blood disease, which her daughter, Shilo, inherited. 'Genetic Emancipation' is also based on this trope, [[spoiler: Shilo sings it after realising that she hasn't inherited her mother's disease after all, but that her father was keeping her sick.]]
** Also played with in a figurative sense when [[spoiler: Rotti is trying to get Shilo to kill her father. She claims she's not a murderer to which Rotti responds, "But you share your dad's genetics. What if he passed this to you?" Making reference to his murderous occupation.]]

* A different and literal take in the movie ''Film/{{Twins}}''. An experiment was conducted where a machine was used to filter positive and negative genetic traits from 10 different men and impregnate a woman. However the experiment failed: rather than making one genetically perfect baby they had twins-- one who had the best traits of all his parents (Arnold Schwarzenegger) while his twin brother (Danny [=DeVito=]) got all the undesirable ones, literally being made of 'genetic garbage'.

* Inverted in Mark Billingham's novel "Bloodline", in which the descendants of a notorious serial killer's victims are being killed off one by one, then later played straight when it is revealed that [[spoiler: the illegitimate son of the original killer is committing the murders, after discovering his father's identity.]]
* Played straight with Jerin in ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', who resembles his grandfather [[spoiler: who was a royal prince]] in looks and behaviour. Discussed with [[spoiler: Neddie Whistler, who is adopted into the Whistler clan despite her family being villains. The Whistlers obviously don't believe in this trope.]]

* In [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Arthurian literature]], Mordred, the [[BrotherSisterIncest born-by-incest]], [[FallenHero sometimes-tragic]] nephew-son of [[MessianicArchetype the King]], is a villain ''because'' his parents consummated in sin. This is often the reason for the fall of Camelot as well. In the Vulgate and Mallory, Mordred is a conventionally noble knight of the Round Table, until he's hit with his illegitimate and incestuous birth and foredoomed treason by a prophetic hermit and suffers an instantaneous BSOD and HeelFaceTurn. Can you say 'Self Fulfilling Prophecy'?
* All over the place in ''Literature/TheKiteRunner'', as: Hassan's son is said to be very much like him, which plays this straight. [[spoiler: Seemingly subverted with Amir and Baba, as Amir believes Baba hates him for not being the image of a man as he was, but played straight and [[LampshadeHanging noted]] by Amir when his hatred of him may have stemmed his guilt from how Baba was Hassan's actual father with an affair with Hassan's mother, and they both had past shames. Averted with Hassan, as he is a much more kindly person than his biological father, and said to be near-impossible to anger as opposed to Baba, which is much like Hassan's perceived father.]]
* Imriel in the ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'' books is the son of the biggest traitors to his country, and despite him being a good-hearted person (and raised by other goodhearted people), everyone around him suspects that someday he might take after his mother. [[spoiler: Later on, a group of people have a psychic prediction that Imriel's son would take after his mother and destroy their nation, and kill his pregnant wife to make sure this doesn't happen.]]

* Merlin himself is alternately an example and an aversion of this trope. In some medieval texts, he inherits his incubus-father's powers ''and'' his evil or amoral nature; in others, he inherits the powers but not the evil, and he receives some powers from God as well.

** The Lannisters who appear in the books share the traits of [[DeadpanSnarker snark]] (in various degrees) and (as an effect of the former) of complete inability to shut their mouths, even at sword-point or [[spoiler:crossbow-point]]. ''Literature/FireAndBlood'' shows that Tywin and Cersei's fondness for looting, pillaging, burning their enemies to the ground and salting anything that remains goes back several generations - Jayne Lannister (nee Westerling) wanted to kill every man, woman and child on the Iron Islands after one raid too many by the Red Kraken. She settled for burning and pillaging, along with abducting one of the Greyjoys, gelding him and turning him into her fool.

* Averted with the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth''. [[spoiler: Richard]] Rahl spends several books explaining that he's nothing like Darken Rahl. It turns out that way back when, the Rahls were some of the champions of order and good, but were corrupted by several thousand years of uncontested rule. [[spoiler: Richard]] takes after the parents who raised him, not his genetic ancestors. However, there are Rahl traits -- like arrogance, determination, cleverness, and absolute ruthlessness, that the character in question develops over time.

* An issue in the ''[[Literature/TheWheelOfTime Wheel of Time]]'': one of the protagonists was adopted, but was assured that he is considered the son of the one who raised him. His genetic family does still take him in, but that probably also has something to do with him being [[spoiler: the Dragon Reborn]].

** [[spoiler: Booth is in a sensitive position; he's both a crack sniper for the government and related to Lincoln assassin John Wilkes-Booth. This is brought up when he (thinks he) proves that one person could've done the JFK assassination. When the others point out that A: he's a professional, B: the experiment was indoors and evidence suggests a cover-up, his confidence in himself and his government almost goes to pieces.]]

* Langston in ''Series/{{CSI}}'' assures [[spoiler: the adopted step-son of SerialKiller Paul Milander that In The Blood doesn't exist (especially since they aren't blood relatives and Milander never acted like a serial killer to his family) and that there is no record of a serial killer's children becoming killers themselves in RealLife. Meanwhile, Langston himself is worried that ''he'' might have inherited a violent streak from his father.]]

** The Targaryen dynasty has always walked a fine line between brilliance and madness, a trait they cannot shake because of their three-hundred year old tradition of incest to keep the "blood of the dragon" pure, which is also believed to be important to their RoyaltySuperpower of connecting with dragons. Aerys Targaryen was insane and he passed this on to Viserys. [[spoiler: As well as Daenerys]].

** Also, Olivia went through a very complicated situation where it seemed her fears were coming true... [[spoiler: and not through ''her'', but through her half-brother Simon, who was accused of raping a handicapped woman who later killed herself. He was framed by the victim's sister, though.]]

* There's an episode of the original ''Series/LawAndOrder'' ("Born Bad") where a teenager on trial for murder has his parents put this forward as a legal defense -- due to a unique genetic condition, the teen is predisposed to a life of violence, and thus not wholly responsible for his actions. [[spoiler: This backfires in the most ''spectacular'' way possible, as the teen himself decides to plead guilty after hearing ''his own defense'' talk about how he's destined to be a violent criminal.]]

'''Hyde's Father:''' I don't know--because ''They'' don't want me to know.
* In the two parter "Insanity Genetic," {{Series/Titus}} loses it after his [[AxCrazy mother dies]] and he finds out insanity may be hereditary.

** Very subtle in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', but present nonetheless: One of the most amoral members of the Greil Mercenaries turned out to be [[spoiler: the son of the BigBad from the previous game.]] Possibly averted in that despite being amoral, he is also fiercely loyal ([[HoYay ahem]]) to Ike, and for lack of a conscience of his own, he often follows Ike's.

* A general rule in ''Webcomic/AliceAndTheNightmare'' is that a child of two Suits will be of the same Suit -- eg., two Spades will produce a Spade -- and child of mixed Suits will inherit Suit after one of its parents.

* Invoked, then subverted in ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'' by Jane Mighty; originally from a family of villains, she follows her best friend and joins an AntiVillain team [[JustLikeRobinHood who find stolen items and steal them back for their rightful owners]]. She quit villainy after her friend is killed [[spoiler: by her [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder backstabbing boss]].]]

* This is the whole plot behind ''WebComic/{{Sire}}''. Each character is descended from a literary character. Anna and Susan are descended from [[spoiler: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,]] Emile is descended from [[spoiler: Javert from ''Les Miserables,'']] and more are soon to follow.

* Nadia Van Dyne, the ComicBook/UnstoppableWasp, has plenty in common with her biological father, Hank Pym, the ComicBook/AntMan. On the plus side, she has his knack for science. On the negative side, she has his bipolar disorder. Thankfully, that one is caught before she did any real damage like it did her father.

* Orion, son of ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}. Orion's a good guy, but he inherited Darkseid's inherent rage and bloodlust, and requires a Mother Box to keep his temper in check. However, he was also raised well by the Highfather and aided by his friends to channel that rage become a hero in defense of his adopted home.

* ''ComicBook/NewGods'': Scott Free, Mr. Miracle the escape artist superhero, is the son that the High Father who raised Orion traded to Darkseid in exchange. He was raised with the other children of Apokolips under Granny Goodness, but he and his Apokoliptan girlfriend, Big Barda, broke out. It's hard to say how much of a factor his New God blood was, but that he developed a coherent sense of morality under Granny's regime probably has to be attributed there.

* Played with in ''Fanfic/AtTheFoodCourt''. Ash's father suffered from ADHD and psychosis, but eventually got effective treatment and lived a normal life before he died a hero. Ash did not directly inherit his father's madness, but he did inherit a genetic predisposition to it that would have gone undetected if it hadn't been for the trauma of [[spoiler:being brutally assaulted by Team Rocket]]. This made him develop a [[PsychopathicManchild far worse disorder]] than anything his father suffered.

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'': Robin actually told Raven he admired her ScrewDestiny response to the [[YouCantFightFate prophecy]] she would help her demon father destroy the world.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice,'' as Lian giggles while watching [[DatingCatwoman her parents]] beat up ninjas.

** Subverted in ''ComicBook/TheLastDaysOfSuperman''. Brainiac 5 declines to help his fellow Legionnaires fullfill Superman's pending tasks and shuts himself in his lab. His teammates -including his own girlfriend, who should know better- start wondering if he will not be a Superman-hating criminal as his ancestor after all. Finally, Supergirl confronts him, and Querl Dox reveals he has been working on a cure for Superman's illness.