History Main / Nephewism

* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': Peggy's niece Luanne lives with the Hills during the beginning of the series, due to her mother being an abusive alcoholic and her father hiding out in an oil rig[[note]]later retconned to being a cover story for being in prison[[/note]]. Hank and Peggy are the closest things to parental figures in her life (even if Hank doesn't see it that way) and she acts as a CoolBigSis to her cousin Bobby.

* From about the early-1980s until 2015/2016, Froot Loops mascot Toucan Sam had three nephews by his side, who at first made only two appearances in the 1980s, but became regular recurring characters starting in 1994. The nephews were dropped in 2016 when Froot Loops instead shifted to the short-lived 'Whatever Froots Your Loops!' ad campaign which lasted for three years with Toucan Sam only appearing in them, usually with a new batch of characters. As of 2021, following Toucan Sam's permanent redesign for the USA and Canada, the nephews have never been seen again since.

* Link, in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', lives with his uncle. As it's eventually explained, they are all that remains of the bloodline of the Hylian Knights. The [[Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaAkiraHimekawa manga]] gives a backstory to the absence of Link's parents.

* ''ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse'': Much like with Donald (see above) it is established in Italian Disney comics, that Mickey was raised by his aunt Melinda. Much like with Donald, ''why'' is aunt had to take care of him was never revealed. Mickey's parents are never shown or mentioned.

* Richard of ''Literature/TheCaseFilesOfJewelerRichard'' was raised almost entirely by his aunt and uncle after his parents' divorce as a young child and both his parents were largely incompetent and disinterested in raising a child.

* Played with in ''ComicStrip/{{Luann}}''. Brad and Toni aren't technically Shannon's legal guardians, as she still has a father. But he's always off doing his own thing (and hasn't even appeared in the strip in years) and she is ''always'' staying with them, to the point where if they want to do anything as a couple they first need to find a sitter for Shannon. It's Nephewism in practice, just not in name.

* ''Fanfic/ShesMineThen'' has Pepa decided to adopt Mirabel as her daughter after her mother Alma decided to send her niece away for having no gift and Julieta being unable to defend her.

* Anthony Horowitz's ''Literature/AlexRider'' series, does this... ''twice''. First, when Alex's parents die, he gets sent to live with his Uncle, Ian Rider, and when ''he'' dies, he gets to live with Jack Starbright, who isn't actually family, subverting the trope, the second time.
* In the ''Samantha'' series of the ''Literature/AmericanGirlsCollection'' after spending five years being [[RaisedByGrandparents raised by her grandmother]] since her parents' deaths in a boating accident, Samantha moves to the BigApplesauce to live with her Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia.

* In ''Literature/{{Another}}'', Kouichi Sakakibara lives in Yomiyama with his maternal aunt Reiko shortly after being hospitalized, since his father's away on business and [[MissingMom his mother is dead]]. [[spoiler:At the end of the story, we learn that his aunt is actually [[DeadAllAlong the Extra]].]] The other protagonist, Mei, is in a similar situation. When she was two, her family was struggling financially, so she was adopted by her aunt, who had been suffering from depression after suffering a stillbirth around the time Mei was born.

* A common plot in the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' series was for the protagonist to be palmed off with an aunt and uncle while the parents made a flimsy excuse to disappear -- usually just long enough for the protagonist to encounter the ghost/vampire/werewolf/mummy/whatever horror made up the subject of the book. The best (or worst) example is probably ''Werewolf Skin'', where Alex apparently has to live with his aunt and uncle indefinitely (his parents have been called out of the country on business). He even starts going to the local school.

* ''Literature/LesVoyageursSansSouci'' begins when Sébastien arrives at his aunt Ursule's home in Saint-Isidore. It is not explained why he is moving with his aunt or what has happened to his father (Ursule mentions his mother is dead), and his parents are not even mentioned after the first chapter.

* In ''Literature/{{Pollyanna}}'' (yes, [[ThePollyanna that Pollyanna]]), the orphaned title character is sent to live with her Aunt Polly, the namesake of the first part of her name.

* ''Series/{{Columbo}}'': In "No Time to Die", Columbo's niece-in-law is kidnapped on their wedding night. The fact that Columbo's nephew seems closer to Columbo than his own father, barely mentions his parents, and is quirky enough to sing "I'm a Jolly Good Fellow" at the hotel (before going to bed with his new wife) makes him seem more like Columbo's son instead.

* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': Paul, the Victim of the Week in season 9's "White Gold," was raised by his uncle after his parents were killed in a car crash when he was nine. The uncle referred to him to the detectives as "my boy" and "my Paulie."

* Played for a one-off gag in the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Stanley S. [=SquarePants=]". Mr. Krabs reveals he has three nephews who solve mysteries, whom he tells to go solve the mystery of [[{{Nepotism}} why they didn't get hired at the Krusty Krab]].

* Ashley of ''VideoGame/AnotherCode'' gets raised by her aunt due to her dad's perpetual absence.

* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' was a case of this, with Arnold being raised by his paternal grandparents. We learn in the final episodes of the show that his parents were explorers that went missing when exploring some ruins in South America, and in ''[[WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheJungleMovie The Jungle Movie]]'' over a decade later, [[spoiler:we learn that they're still alive, but have been trapped in an endless sleep alongside an entire lost civilization. He breaks the curse, and the movie ends with this trope subverted, as his parents are now present in his life]].

** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'': The [[MultipleChoicePast City Elf]] [[PlayerCharacter Warden]] was raised alongside their cousins Shianni and Soris. Shianni never knew her father and lost her mother to a fever at a young age, while Soris lost both of his parents in an epidemic, so both were taken in and raised by their mutual uncle Cyrion.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': After Claudia's [[DeathByChildbirth mother died giving birth to her]] and she was [[DisappearedDad abandoned by her father]], she was raised by her aunt.

** In the ''ComicBook/DisneyDuckComicUniverse'' Scrooge [=McDuck=] is uncle to WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck, who is uncle to Huey, Dewey, & Louie. Not a parent among 'em. Scrooge's sister Hortense and husband Quackmore Duck are eventually revealed to be the parents of Donald and Della Duck, the mother of Huey, Dewey, and Louie. They were first depicted long after the other characters were, and, in any case, are obscure enough to have made no appearances outside of Disney Comics.

** In the ''ComicBook/DisneyDuckComicsUniverse'' Scrooge [=McDuck=] is uncle to WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck, who is uncle to Huey, Dewey, & Louie. Not a parent among 'em. Scrooge's sister Hortense and husband Quackmore Duck are eventually revealed to be the parents of Donald and Della Duck, the mother of Huey, Dewey, and Louie. They were first depicted long after the other characters were, and, in any case, are obscure enough to have made no appearances outside of Disney Comics.

** It's a trend -- Disney prefers niblings to children. WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse has two nephews, Morty and Ferdie, WesternAnimation/MinnieMouse has two nieces, Millie and Melody, and even WesternAnimation/Pete has two nephews, Pierino and Pieretto. WesternAnimation/DaisyDuck meanwhile has three nieces, named April, May, and June. WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} has an InsufferableGenius nephew named Gilbert[[note]] While Goofy has a son, George Goof or Max Goof, in both the WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts and ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'', such a character doesn't exist in the comic universe. [[/note]]. In the comics, Gyro Gearloose, Gladstone Gander, Fethry Duck and Gus Goose also have a nephew each. The Beagle Boys have both a set of three nephews and three nieces, while the Phantom Blot has only three nephews. Magica De Spell has various nieces, DependingOnTheWriter.

* ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Duck:
** Scrooge [=McDuck=] is uncle to WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck, who is uncle to Huey, Dewey, & Louie. Not a parent among 'em. Scrooge's sister Hortense and husband Quackmore Duck are eventually revealed to be the parents of Donald and Della Duck, the mother of Huey, Dewey, and Louie. They were first depicted long after the other characters were, and, in any case, are obscure enough to have made no appearances outside of Disney Comics.

** It's a trend -- Disney prefers niblings to children. WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse has two nephews, Morty and Ferdie, WesternAnimation/MinnieMouse has two nieces, Millie and Melody, and even Pete has two nephews, Pierino and Pieretto. WesternAnimation/DaisyDuck meanwhile has three nieces, named April, May, and June. WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} has an InsufferableGenius nephew named Gilbert. In the comics, Gyro Gearloose, Gladstone Gander, and Fethry Duck also have a nephew each. The Beagle Boys have both a set of three nephews and three nieces, while the Phantom Blot has only three nephews.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'':

* ''Literature/AuntieMame'' starts with the titular character taking custody of her nephew Patrick.

** Scrooge [=McDuck=] is uncle to Franchise/DonaldDuck, who is uncle to Huey, Dewey, & Louie. Not a parent among 'em. Scrooge's sister Hortense and husband Quackmore Duck are eventually revealed to be the parents of Donald and Della Duck, the mother of Huey, Dewey, and Louie. They were first depicted long after the other characters were, and, in any case, are obscure enough to have made no appearances outside of Disney Comics.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':