History Main / NotActuallyHisChild

* ''Series/TheMick'': In Season 2, his mom reveals that Chip his dad isn't his birth father. Both of them react poorly to the revelation. [[spoiler:This is {{subverted}} when it turns out the other guy wasn't actually Chip's father. It turns out he's a different man whom his mom had sex with back then.]]

Due to this often being used as a {{plot twist}}, beware of '''unmarked spoilers''.

* In Maurice Level's short story "The Father," a young man receives a letter written to him by his dying mother, in which she reveals that he is not the son of the man who raised him, but of a rich man with whom she had an affair, and that his biological father is interested in establishing a relationship (which would also make him rich). After some intense BastardAngst, he burns the letter and gives the father who raised him a big hug.

* In ''VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'', it's hinted in the episode 8 manga that [[spoiler:Battler's mother Asumu]] eventually figured out she wasn't actually the biological mother of her son, since her husband actually performed a baby switch with his mistress' after their own child was stillborn. She seemed to have decided to love him as her own regardless.

* Rick Grimes of television's ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' learns that his wife, Lori, has had an affair with his best friend and co-worker, Shane; Lori later gives birth to a daughter, Judith. Rick mentions to another character that Shane is Judith's father. (Paternity testing is likely a low priority in the zombie apocalypse, however.)

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'': Between seasons one and two, it is revealed that [[spoiler: Kaldur is the son of Black Manta, having spent most of his life believing his mother's husband -- Calvin Durham -- was his father. Kaldur's mother, stepfather, and Aquaman concealed the truth from him and everyone else in an attempt to protect him. The reveal of this and Tula's death led to his defection]] [[spoiler: ...except that was just used as justification for him to be a FakeDefector.]]

Compare to ChocolateBaby when it's obvious by the child's looks, MamasBabyPapasMaybe for when it's ambiguous, and IAmNotYourFather for when the dad reveals this to the child. Reverse to ObliviousAdoption, when it's the child that is out of the loop while the parent knows. See also YourSonAllAlong, YouAreNotMyFather, and NotBloodSiblings. Not to be mistaken for NotHisBlood, which involves a character literally being splattered with blood that isn't their own. Compare and contrast LukeIAmYourFather and LukeYouAreMyFather, where a person previously thought unrelated is revealed to be another character's parent or child.

* ''Series/TheMick'': In Season 2, his mom reveals that Chip his dad isn't his birth father. Both of them react poorly to the revelation. [[spoiler:This is {{subverted}} when it turns out the other guy wasn't actually Chip's father.]]

A character's father raised their child believing that they were biologically theirs, however a sudden [[TheReveal reveal]] causes them to learn that they're not. This often doubles as a reveal of a {{Cuckold}}, when the significant other wasn't aware of any straying. Another explanation is that the child was SwitchedAtBirth or a {{changeling|Tale}}.

* In ''Fanfic/TheNewRetcons'', it's eventually revealed that John ''isn't'' the biological father of [[spoiler:Micheal]]; they were the result of [[spoiler:a failed attempt at TheBabyTrap]]. Once this truth has come out, John starts treating them ''far worse''.

* ''Film/TheCountOfMonteCristo2002'': Supremely jealous, Fernand Mondego does quite a bit of backstabbing to have his best friend Edmond Dantes unjustly imprisoned for treason against the Crown. By the time Dantes escapes, Fernand has married Dantes' fiancee, Mercedes, and the two have a sixteen-year-old son, Albert, together. Albert doesn't look much like his father, having jet black hair and striking blue eyes like his mother. But as Dantes' revenge plan falls into place and Fernand's life is falling apart, Mercedes reveals that Albert actually ''does'' take after his father... Edmond Dantes. Mercedes only married Fernand because the unwed, pregnant lover of a condemned traitor had very few other options in the early 1800s.

-->'''Fernand:''' ''(slowly, in realization)''...Premature... Well, aren't you a piece of work? So, he's the bastard son of a dead traitor. He always was disappointing.

* ''Film/RedRidingHood'': [[spoiler:Cesaire]] discovered [[spoiler:Lucie]] is not actually his child by blood. He killed her in a rage but expresses remorse about it later.

* In ''Film/{{Titanic|1953}}'' (1953), Julia reveals to her husband Richard that her 10-year-old son Norman was the result of a one-night stand. Her husband immediately becomes distant towards Norman and brushes him (and Julia) off the entire movie. [[spoiler:In the end, Richard stops his aloofness and confesses his love for his son, just as they wait to die together on the sinking Titanic]].

* {{Defied}} in ''Literature/AGameOfThrones'' regarding [[spoiler:Robert and Cersei's children, all of whom were born of {{Twincest}} between Cersei and her brother Jaime. [[KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade Jon Arryn was poisoned shortly after discovering the affair]] (by going through historical descriptions of past Baratheon-Lannister children, discovering that [[StrongFamilyResemblance they normally had Baratheon looks, especially black hair instead of blond]]). Ned Stark discovers it later after replacing Arryn as Hand of the King, but Robert is mortally wounded by a boar and Ned can't bring himself to reveal the affair to his old friend on his deathbed.]]
* At the beginning of ''Literature/TheMayorOfCasterbridge'', the eponymous character gets drunk and sells his wife Susan, and their infant daughter Elizabeth-Jane to a passing sailor. She returns with Elizabeth-Jane many years later, him having sobered himself up out of remorse and turned his life around (although remaining a {{jerkass}}). After his wife passes away, he learns that [[spoiler: the Elizabeth-Jane who returned with his wife is the daughter of the Sailor; named in honour of the daughter he sold along with his wife, who died soon after.]]

* ''Series/TheAliens'': It turns out that Lewis' father is not biologically related to him, as his mother had an affair. Later he meets his biological father, who had been in prison for years.
* ''Series/BetterThings'': In Season 4 Sam learns her maternal grandfather was not the man she had thought he was biologically. He'd actually been [[CheatingWithTheMilkman a milkman]] who'd lived near her mom's childhood home in England. Phil, her mom, is flippantly indifferent, saying they're all dead anyway so who cares?

* ''Series/RoswellNewMexico'': It turns out that Rosa isn't Arturo's biological child, as his wife had an affair with Jim Valenti, who's Rosa's biological father.

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'': Between seasons one and two, it is revealed that [[spoiler: Kaldur is the son of Black Manta, having spent most of his life believing his mother's husband -- Calvin Durham -- was his father. Kaldur's mother, stepfather, and Aquaman concealed the truth from him and everyone else in an attempt to protect him. The reveal of this and Tula's death led to his defection]] [[spoiler: ...except that was that was just used as justification for him to be a FakeDefector.]]

-->'''Fernand:''' ''(slowly, in realization)''...premature... Well aren't you a piece of work? So, he's the bastard son of a dead traitor. He always was disappointing.

* ''Film/TheCountOfMonteCristo2002'': Supremely jealous, Fernand Mondego does quite a bit of backstabbing to have his best friend Edmond Dantes unjustly imprisoned for treason against the Crown. By the time Dantes escapes, Fernand has married Dantes' fiancee, Mercedes, and the two have a sixteen-year-old son, Albert, together. Albert doesn't look much like his father, having jet black hair and striking blue eyes like his mother. But as Dantes' revenge plan falls into place and Fernand's life is falling apart, Mercedes reveals that Albert actually '''does''' take after his father... Edmond Dantes. Mercedes only married Fernand because the unwed, pregnant lover of a condemned traitor had very few other options in the early 1800s.

* ''Film/TheCountOfMonteCristo2002'': Supremely jealous, Fernand Mondego does quite a bit of backstabbing to have his best friend Edmond Dantes unjustly imprisoned for treason against the Crown. By the time Dantes escapes, Fernand has married Dantes' fiancee, Mercedes, and the two have a sixteen-year-old son, Albert, together. Albert has jet black hair and striking blue eyes, clearly taking after his mother. But as Dantes' revenge plan falls into place and Fernand's life is falling apart, Mercedes reveals that Albert actually takes after his father... Edmond Dantes. Mercedes only married Fernand because the unwed, pregnant lover of a condemned traitor had very few other options in the early 1800s.

* ''Film/ThreeGenerations'': It turns out that the reason Craig left Ray and Maggie is because he'd realized he really wasn't Ray's father as a result of Maggie's cheating with his brother.

* ''TheCountOfMonteCristo2002'': Supremely jealous, Fernand Mondego does quite a bit of backstabbing to have his best friend Edmond Dantes unjustly imprisoned for treason against the Crown. By the time Dantes escapes, Fernand has married Dantes' fiancee, Mercedes, and the two have a sixteen-year-old son, Albert, together. Albert has jet black hair and striking blue eyes, clearly taking after his mother. But as Dantes' revenge plan falls into place and Fernand's life is falling apart, Mercedes reveals that Albert actually takes after his father... Edmond Dantes. Mercedes only married Fernand because the unwed, pregnant lover of a condemned traitor had very few other options in the early 1800s.

Compare to ChocolateBaby when it's obvious by the child's looks, MamasBabyPapasMaybe for when its ambiguous, and IAmNotYourFather for when the dad reveals this to the child. Reverse to ObliviousAdoption, when it's the child that is out of the loop while the parent knows. See also YourSonAllAlong, YouAreNotMyFather, and NotBloodSiblings. Not to be mistaken for NotHisBlood, which involves a character literally being splattered with blood that isn't their own. Compare and contrast LukeIAmYourFather and LukeYouAreMyFather, where a person previously thought unrelated is revealed to be another character's parent or child.

* In ''Film/{{Titanic|1953}}'' (1953), Julia reveals to her husband Richard that her 10-year-old son Norman was the result of a one-night stand. Her husband immediately becomes distant towards Norman and brushes him (and Julia) off the entire movie. [[spoiler:In the end, Richard stops his aloofness and confesses his love for his son, just as they wait to die together on the sinking Titanic]].

* In ''Film/{{Yellowbeard}}'', Betty ends up telling her son that his father is not the Lord Lambourn, but is instead the son of infamous pirate Yellowbeard. When Lambourn finds out, he takes it very well on account of him being completely drunk at the time.
* ''Film/RedRidingHood'': [[spoiler:Cesaire]] discovered [[spoiler:Lucie]] is not actually his child by blood. He killed her in a rage but expresses remorse about it later.

* ''Film/ThreeGenerations'': It turns out that the reason Craig left Ray and Maggie is because he'd realized he really wasn't Ray's father as a result of Maggie's cheating with his brother.

* At the beginning of ''Literature/TheMayorOfCasterbridge'', the eponymous character gets drunk and sells his wife Susan, and their infant daughter Elizabeth-Jane to a passing sailor. She returns with Elizabeth-Jane many years later, him having sobered himself up out of remorse and turned his life around (although remaining a {{jerkass}}). After his wife passes away, he learns that [[spoiler: the Elizabeth-Jane who returned with his wife is the daughter of the Sailor; named in honour of the daughter he sold along with his wife, who died soon after.]]

* Rick Grimes of television's ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' learns that his wife, Lori, has had an affair with his best friend and co-worker, Shane; Lori later gives birth to a daughter, Judith. Rick mentions to another character that Shane is Judith's father. (Paternity testing is likely a low priority in the zombie apocalypse, however.)

* The season two finale of ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' has Frank Reynolds finding out, while out to dinner with his ex-wife Barbara, that Dennis and Dee aren't actually his children and Barbara had an affair with a man named Bruce Mathis during their marriage, then tricked Frank into raising the twins anyway. This inevitably leads to a Frank meltdown in the middle of the restaurant, where he's told to not make a scene but ends up asking random strangers if they had "banged his whore wife" and then has a stroke.
* ''Series/WarOfTheWorlds2019'': Sarah tells Bill that she cheated on her husband in the past, and due to this Emily was really fathered by another man. Though he still loved Emily since, Jonathan never entirely forgave Sarah.
* ''Series/TheFamily2016'': This is {{invoked}} by Willa to explain why Ben's DNA doesn't match John, claiming he's the result of an affair which Claire had. It isn't true though.
* In ''Series/{{Cursed}}'', it's revealed that Jonah abandoned Nimue after he learned that she wasn't biologically his daughter (his wife had a relationship with another man shortly before their marriage), and also because he was afraid of her powers. Nimue later figures out her real father is [[spoiler:Merlin]].
* ''Series/TheAliens'': It turns out that Lewis' father is not biologically related to him, as his mother had an affair. Later he meets his biological father, who had been in prison for years.

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* In ''VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'' it's hinted in the episode 8 manga that [[spoiler:Battler's mother Asumu]] eventually figured out she wasn't actually the biological mother of her son, since her husband actually performed a baby switch with his mistress' after their own child was stillborn. She seemed to have decided to love him as her own regardless.
[[/folder]]

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', where it's painfully obvious that Dale's son Joseph is actually the lovechild of his wife Nancy and her Native American healer John Redcorn, yet Dale never even suspects. The only other person not to realize this is Peggy, and when she does and tries to tell Dale, Hank advises against it, as Dale is not the most emotionally stable person. Dale eventually does figure out that Joseph is not his son, but thinks that it's because Nancy was inseminated by aliens, and never even suspects Redcorn (who at one point muses that he's taking the fun out of cheating with Nancy).
* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'': Between seasons one and two, it is revealed that [[spoiler: Kaldur is the son of Black Manta, having spent most of his life believing his mother's husband - Calvin Durham - was his father. Kaldur's mother, stepfather, and Aquaman concealed the truth from him and everyone else in an attempt to protect him. The reveal of this and Tula's death led to his defection]] [[spoiler: ...except that was that was just used as justification for him to be a FakeDefector.]]

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' takes this trope and squeezes it nearly dry almost exactly before the end of the fourth chapter; your character, the Avatar, is revealed to not be the child of King Garon of Nohr, but rather that of King Sumeragi of Hoshido. [[spoiler: Actually, Sumeragi isn't your father either, but that's beside the point.]] During the rest of the game, you struggle with the fact that Garon's kingdom and family are at war with that of your home nation and REAL family.

* In ''VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'' it's hinted that [[spoiler:Battler's mother Asumu]] eventually figured out she wasn't actually the biological mother of her son, since her husband actually performed a baby switch with his mistress' after their own child was stillborn.