History Main / ObnoxiousInLaws

** However, Selma thanks Homer for helping her get Ling (her Chinese adopted baby), and Marge's mother didn't really get angry and actually said that Patty and Selma were evil.

-->-- '''Kaname Chidori''' (regarding Commander Mardukeus), ''{{Full Metal Panic}}? Fumoffu''

* One story told during the GossipyHens episode of ''ParanoiaAgent'' concerns a woman whose life is ''hell'' due to her overbearing mother-in-law. [[spoiler:When the mother-in-law uses the woman's ''birthday'' to demand rice balls, she snaps and tries to kill her - at which point Shonen Bat intervenes and kills the mother-in-law.]]

* In one episode of ''{{Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog}}, Robotnik is about to marry the guest character of the week. His mother crashes the wedding and instantly starts a room-destroying fist fight with the bride, for no apparent reason.

--> ''Like a mother in law in a bad sitcom...''
-->-- '''Kaname Chidori''' regarding Commander Mardukeus, ''FullMetalPanic Fumoffu''

--> ''The only enemies at a wedding, Klump, are the in-laws.''

Such in laws can also be a BitchInSheepsClothing or DevilInPlainSight if their relative is oblivious to their jerkishness, or insists that they aren't so bad. See also EvilMatriarch, AnimeInLaws.

!!Examples:

[[folder:Fan Fic]]
* Women aren't immune to this trope either, as the title character of ''[[TroperWorks/UltimateSpiderWoman Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With The Light]]'' will tell you. Ben Reilly's parents both hate Mary Jane Watson and are fairly open about it, especially when Andrew becomes an OverprotectiveDad and outright ''threatens'' Mary Jane if she doesn't stop dating his son. When he finds out about it, Ben is not amused.

[[folder:Film]]

---> '''Gus, holding a gun to Mrs. Chasseur's head:''' Nobody move or I'll shoot!
---> '''Connie:''' Go ahead, kill her.
** Plus, even though the main couple played by Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis get the SympatheticPOV, it's clear that ''they'' could just as easily be considered obnoxious in-laws themselves.

* Robert De Niro's character in MeetTheParents is this to the Nth degree, trying everything to ruin the life of his daughter's latest fiance. It gets to the point that you wonder why she doesn't say or do anything to stop it, particularly when its mentioned he does this with every boy she brings home.
* An offscreen example in GetSmart. Dalip, TheBrute working for KAOS, has a hellish sister-in-law who's constantly undermining his relationship with his wife and trying to break them up, which causes him endless grief at home. Max manages to keep Dalip from killing him by giving him advice on how to keep his wife and her sister from spending too much time together without looking like the bad guy.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* There's a Greek sitcom called "Seven Deadly Mother in Laws" running with much success for over three seasons; the author believes the theme is clear. They originally took stereotypical mother in laws from various regions of Greece, but it soon extended far beyond the original seven. The show REALLY jumped the shark with the Mother-in-Law from Space...
* On {{Scrubs}}, Carla believes her brother can only speak Spanish, but he learned English some time ago. He deliberately only speaks English in front of Turk, so that Turk will look like an asshole when protesting he knows the language. After Turk manages to trick him into revealing he's bilingual, he gets no reprimand from his sister. Even after he punches her boyfriend in the face directly in front of her. Similarly, whenever Turk says something bad about Carla's mom, she makes him go to her grave and beg for forgiveness (he often comes back and says "She still hates me").

* [[TheNiles Niles Crane]] from ''{{Frasier}}'' was like this with Lillith in the first season, [[DisproportionateRetribution because Lillith sniggered at Maris' wedding vows.]] Considering how much worse Maris proved to be, this would make Niles a bit of a hypocrite.

* All of Samantha's family in {{Bewitched}}. [[ButtMonkey Poor Darin is often on the recieving end of some curse.]]
* Both sets of parents on ''DharmaAndGreg'' tended to be intrusive, but Kitty (Greg's RichBitch mother) was the one who really fit the stereotype.
* On HowIMetYourMother, Marshall's mother hates Lily. It probably has something to do with the way Lily ran off on Marshall a couple of months before their wedding. They eventually made it up, but it would appear Marshall's mother never forgot.

[[folder:{{Music}}]]

* New Orleans R&B guy Ernie K. Doe's big hit - "Mother-In-Law".
* SpikeJones's ''William Tell Overture'' racehorse routine: "Mother-in-Law nagging in the rear!" "Aaaaah-aaaah-aaaah!!" This is clearly after Fiedelbaum leaves his position [[StealthPun well behind]] the rear of the pack.

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* Inverted in ''FoxTrot'' - Andy herself dreads her mother's visits because the whole family absolutely adores her and she feels pushed to the sides.
* {{Cathy}}'s in-laws are absolutely annoying.

-->'''Hilda:''' '''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck DIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRKK!!!]]''' [[spoiler:('''Dirk:''' Uh-oh)]] Kidnapped?... ''My'' Daphne, kidnapped again?!! Idiot! ''Dun-kof!'' You! Better! Find! My! Daughter! OR! ELSE! (throws a crate full of chickens at Dirk) COWARD!!! DIRK! FIND HER [[{{Mondegreen}} (something that sounds like "you bloody idiot")]]! Did I raise my Princess to marry a ''frog''!?! Dirk! Hold still! You can run boy! But you cannot hide!
** The level ends with Dirk's mother in-law hitting a giant snake (that, earlier on, was attacking Dirk), and telling it to "Shut up!".

* Patty and Selma from ''TheSimpsons'' (And their mother to a lesser extent) hate Homer so much they've nonchalantly reacted to his heart attack then proceeded to find her a man despite the fact he hadn't died, bought a tombstone with "Homer J. Simpson. We are richer for having lost him.", tried to get him kicked out of town, and kidnap/torture him during his renewal of his vows with Marge. This doesn't even include the verbal insults.
** However, Selma thanks Homer for helping her get Ling(her Chinese adopted baby), and Marge's mother didn't really get angry and actually said that Patty and Selma were evil.

* Cotton Hill from ''KingOfTheHill''
** Minh's father isn't too fond of Kahn.
* In ''FamilyGuy'', Peter Griffin's father, [[spoiler: who reveals that he's not Peter's biological father]].

* In SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries, Mary Jane's aunt Anna has nothing but bad things to say about Peter in spite of the fact that Peter was never anything but courteous towards her. She sets out to find fault in every little thing he says/does.
* In AmericanDad, Francine's Chinese adoptive parents don't have any bad feelings for Stan, however whenever they show up they tend to take over the place.
-> '''Stan:''' ''They're loud, they're pushy, they make me feel like a guest in my own house!''

* In one episode of AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog, Robotnik is about to marry the guest character of the week, his mother crashes the wedding and instantly starts a room-destroying fist fight with the bride, for no apparent reason.

[[folder:Theatre]]
* The whole reason behind RomeoAndJuliet, making this one OlderThanSteam.

[[folder:Truth In Television]]
* In most cultures, a man cannot even speak to his wife's parents. This trope is the Western form of this.
* The tired comedy cliche that a man's wife's mother is a bitch towards him is quite baffling, considering that in real life it's ''far'' more common for the husband's mother to [[MyBelovedSmother conflict with his wife]]. Might be a result of a DoubleStandard, "meh, women are always arguing with each other, but what did ''I'' do?"
[[/folder]]

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A HappilyMarried couple faces various problems, but none quite like the sitcom In Law. A member of one of the couple's family (often the wife's) has an obvious animosity towards their relative's spouse. They hate the person their daughter/sister/son/brother is married to and aren't shy about reaffirming it. While the object of this hate always tries to be nice to them (begrudgingly. Their partner always insists upon it.), the in laws pull out all the stops to ridicule, abuse and undermine their target, and [[TheCyrano even try to set up their relative with somebody else]], in spite of being married, and their spouse still living. Most of the time, they hate the poor guy for no reason [[WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent other than not being a millionaire.]] Occasionally the hate stems from a [[DisproportionateRetribution past incident that the hero/heroine has long since made up for.]] Or it could just be some people are... [[JerkAss just jerks.]]

* One of the [[CrowningMomentOfFunny funniest]] examples is in ''DragonsLair II: Time Warp''. The ''entire'' first level has Dirk trying to escape Daphne's mother (who resembles [[BrawnHilda a retired opera star]]). She starts chasing Dirk with a rolling pin after she finds out that he let Daphne get kidnapped again. If the player presses the wrong button, Dirk can actually get ''killed'' by her! Dirk runs away from her on a horse, but she starts following him on an ''ox'', trying to bash the living daylights out of him while telling him to go rescue Daphne.
-->'''Daphne's Mother:''' (Yelling at Dirk) '''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck DIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRKK!!!]]''' Kidnapped?... ''My'' Daphne, kidnapped again?!! Idiot! ''Dun-kof!'' You! Better! Find! My! Daughter! OR! ELSE! (throws a crate full of chickens at Dirk) COWARD!!! DIRK! FIND HER [[Mondegreen (something that sounds like "you bloody idiot")]]! Did I raise my Princess to marry a ''frog''!?! Dirk! Hold still! You can run boy! But you can't hide!

-->'''Daphne's Mother:''' (Yelling at Dirk) Kidnapped!?! ''My'' Daphne, kidnapped again!?! Idiot! ''Dun-kof!'' You! Better! Find! My! Daughter! OR! ELSE! (throws a crate full of chickens at Dirk) Did I raise my Princess to marry a ''frog''!?! Dirk! Hold still! You can run, but you can't hide!

* Almost never occurs in anime and manga. A rare example is in ''OrangeYaneNoChiisanaIe'', where the in-laws of Natchi's ex-husband (who oppose her divorcing him and living with Shoutaro), are [[JerkAss completely barbaric]] in how they treat her when she visits. [[FridgeLogic Somehow they think this will result in Natchi wanting to come back and be part of their family...]]

* ''EverybodyLovesRaymond''

* One of the [[CrowningMomentOfFunny funniest]] examples is in DragonsLair II: Time Warp. The ''entire'' first level has Dirk trying to escape Daphne's mother (who resembles a retired opera star). She starts chasing Dirk with a rolling pin after she finds out that he let Daphne get kidnapped again. If the player presses the wrong button, Dirk can actually get ''killed'' by her! Dirk runs away from her on a horse, but she starts following him on an ''ox'', trying to bash the living daylights out of him while telling him to go rescue Daphne.
** '''Daphne's Mother:''' (Yelling at Dirk) Kidnapped!?! ''My'' Daphne, kidnapped again!?! Idiot! ''Dun-kof!'' You! Better! Find! My! Daughter! OR! ELSE! (throws a crate full of chickens at Dirk) Did I raise my Princess to marry a ''frog''!?! Dirk! Hold still! You can run, but you can't hide!

* New Orleans R&B guy Ernie K. Doe's big hit - "Mother-In-Law".

* Almost never occurs in anime and manga. A rare example is in ''OrangeYaneNoChiisanaIie'', where the in-laws of Natchi's ex-husband (who oppose her divorcing him and living with Shoutaro), are [[JerkAss completely barbaric]] in how they treat her when she visits. [[FridgeLogic Somehow they think this will result in Natchi wanting to come back and be part of their family...]]

* ''EatDrinkManWoman'' has Madam Liang, who spends almost all of her screen time berating her daughters as burdensome and insulting the men they married. She is visibly elated when her daughter in American gets divorced, and vows to mount the divorce papers over the toilet.

One of the [[CrowningMomentOfFunny funniest]] examples is in DragonsLair II: Time Warp. The ''entire'' first level has Dirk trying to escape Daphne's Mother (who resembles a retired opera star). She starts chasing Dirk with a rolling pin after she finds out that he let Daphne get kidnapped again. If the player presses the wrong button, Dirk can actually get ''killed'' by her! Dirk runs away from her on a horse, but she starts following him on an ''ox'', trying to bash the living daylights out of him while telling him to go rescue Daphne.
* '''Daphne's Mother:''' (Yelling at Dirk) Kidnapped!?! ''My'' Daphne, kidnapped again!?! Idiot! ''Dun-kof!'' You! Better! Find! My! Daughter! OR! ELSE! (throws a crate full of chickens at Dirk) Did I raise my Princess to marry a ''frog''!?! Dirk! Hold still! You can run, but you can't hide!
* The level ends with Dirk's mother in-law hitting a giant snake (that, earlier on, was attacking Dirk), and telling it to "Shut up!".
* Just see it for yourself here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vQaztLFRSM

* In SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries, Mary Jane's aunt Anna has nothing but bad things to say about Peter in spite of the fact that Peter was never anything but curtious towards her. She sets out to find fault in every little thing he says/does.

* In ''The Ref'', this is played straight with the mother-in-law from hell Rose Chasseur, but subverted with both of her sons' families. Brother and sister-in-law Gary and Connie Chasseur initially seem like classic obnoxious in-laws, but they become slightly sympathetic characters when it turns out they're as fed up with "Mother Rose" as everybody else.

* Red Forman's mother, Bernice is incredibly obnoxious and rude to everyone, but especially to her daughter-in-law, Kitty. Kitty's own mother is not much better.

** '''Daphne's Mother:''' (Yelling at Dirk) Kidnapped!?! ''My'' Daphne, kidnapped again!?! Idiot! ''Dun-kof!'' You! Better! Find! My! Daughter! OR! ELSE! (throws a crate full of chickens at Dirk) Did I raise my Princess to marry a ''frog''!?! Dirk! Hold still! You can run, but you can't hide!
** The level ends with Dirk's mother in-law hitting a giant snake (that, earlier on, was attacking Dirk), and telling it to "Shut up!".
** Just see it for yourself here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vQaztLFRSM

* This is basically the plot of the 2005 movie ''Monster-In-Law''.