History Main / OnlyChildSyndrome

* Aside from the {{Simpsons}} family, The Flanders', Apu and Manjula, the Hibberts and Sherrie and Terri's family the rest of the couples have one child only. With the exception of the above, most of the kids from the elementary school are only child.

* On {{Zoey 101}}, Zoey is the only one of the main characters to have a sibling, her brother Dustin. Lola mentions a younger sister in passing (season three's "Surprise") who is never mentioned again and never seen, and none of the other characters seem to have siblings at all.

Some stories use PrettyFreeloaders / UnwantedHarem situations to replace the character's lack of a family. [[BigBrotherComplex Fans may convert a sibling complex onto characters]], since siblings are so damn rare. Either for that reason or to explain away attachments for {{Shipping}}'s sake; the unwanted girl doesn't ''always'' have to [[DieForOurShip die for the ship]].

* Apparently [[AvertedTrope averted]] on ''TotalDrama''--of the twenty-four contestants, half are stated to have at least one sibling, while only [[DoggedNiceGuy Cody]] and [[{{Geek}} Beth]] are explicitly stated to be only children. Bonus points to [[InsufferableGenius Noah]] for being [[MassiveNumberedSiblings the youngest of nine]].

* On ''HeyArnold'' [[BlackBestFriend Gerald]] has [[AloofBigBrother two]] [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling sibling]] and [[JerkassWoobie Helga]] has [[ParodySue a sister]], but otherwise all the kids seem to be only children.

** Groups such as the Klan and Nazis, om which the Death Eaters are based, off greatly encouraged women to have atleast three or four children (seeing as they feel that they blood-superior and surrounded by inferiors who use larger numbers to suppress their greatness). Instead, Death Eaters only have one child if any--just enough to satisfy plot needs: Nott, Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle.

* ''PhineasAndFerb'' seem to play this halfway--there's the title characters and their sister [[UnknownRival Candace]], [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan Jeremy]]/[[EnfantTerrible Susie]] and [[LoonyFan Irving]]/[[AloofBigBrother Albert]] as siblings, but [[TheChick Isabella]], [[BollywoodNerd Baljeet]], [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Buford]], [[AsianAirhead Stacy]] and [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Vanessa]] all get lots of screen time and give no indication of having a sibling. (Ferb also counts in a [[HappilyAdopted strictly biological sense]].) Adults having siblings seems to be more common--Lawrence presumably has at least one (since Ferb has a Scottish cousin), Linda has Tiana and [[MadScientist Doofenshmirtz]] has Roger.

* Apparently [[AvertedTrope averted]] on ''TotalDrama''--of the twenty-four contestants, half are stated to have at least one sibling, while only [[DoggedNiceGuy Cody]] and [[{{Geek}} Beth]] are explicitly stated to be only children. Bonus points to [[InsufferableGenius Noah]] for having MassiveNumberedSiblings.

* Apparently [[AvertedTrope averted]] on ''TotalDrama''--of the twenty-four contestants, half are stated to have at least one sibling, while only [[DoggedNiceGuy Cody]] and [[{{Geek}} Beth]] are explicitly stated to be only children. Bonus points to [[InsufferableGenius Noah]] for having MassivelyNumberedSiblings.

* ''PhineasAndFerb'' seem to play this halfway--there's the title characters and their sister [[UnknownRival Candace]], [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan Jeremy]]/[[EnfantTerrible Susie]] and [[LoonyFan Irving]]/[[AloofBigBrother Albert]] as siblings, but [[TheChick Isabella]], [[BollywoodNerd Baljeet]], [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Buford]], [[AsianAirhead Stacy]] and [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Vanessa]] all get lots of screen time and give no indication of having a sibling. (Ferb also counts in a [[HappilyAdopted strictly biological sense]].) Adults having siblings seems to be more common--Linda has Tiana, Lawrence presumably has at least one (since Ferb has a Scottish cousin) and [[MadScientist Doofenshmirtz]] has Roger.

* {{Superman}} was either an only child or the favorite.
** Although it's not like the Jor-Els didn't want to have another child, it's just that Superman was the only one they had before, [[EarthShatteringKaboom you know]].

<<|SiblingTropes|>>

** In Polgara the Sorceress, it's [[{{Retcon}} stated several times]] that the line of hidden kings frequently had multiple children. Polgara presumably was only concerned with the eldest male child.

* In {{One Piece}}, Boa Hancock is the only major character known to have biological siblings. There are a few minor siblings like the Nyaban Brothers, the Decalvan brothers, Hotori and Kotori etc. The series does much to say that {{Nakama it's not necessarily your blood that makes you family}}, though.

* In the ''{{Belgariad}}'', Riva Iron-Grip's family has a tendency to produce only children, due to [[BecauseDestinySaysSo divine intervention]]. Garion, at least, is only alone because his parents were killed when he was an infant. (It's implied at the end of the ''Malloreon'' that he'll break the tendency - by having one son and ''legions'' of daughters. After all, the Prophecy stated the Rivan King would have only one son. St said nothing of daughters...) ''Belgarath the Sorcerer'' lampshades this.

* In the ''{{Belgariad}}'', Riva Iron-Grip's family has a tendency to produce only children, due to [[BecauseDestinySaysSo divine intervention]]. Garion, at least, is only alone because his parents were killed when he was an infant. (It's implied at the end of the ''Malloreon'' that he'll break the tendency - by having one son and ''legions'' of daughters.) ''Belgarath the Sorcerer'' lampshades this.

* In {{One Piece}}, Boa Hancock is the only major character known to have biological siblings. There are a few minor siblings like the Nyaban Brothers, the Decalvan brothers, Hotori and Kotori etc. The series does much to say that [[Nakama it's not necessarily your blood that makes you family]], though.

** Negi has Nekane, though it is revealed she is actually his cousin. This does imply Nagi had one though, most likely an elder brother.

** Andrew is particularly interesting: his brother was a [[MonsterOfTheWeek one-off villain]], and Andrew was introduced as the friend of two other formerly-one-off villains (Warren and Jonathan). People recognize the others, but on the first few occasions Andrew has to introduce himself through his insignificant sibling. SoYeah.

* Aside from the {{Simpsons}} family, The Flanders', Apu and Manjula, and Sherrie and Terri's family the rest of the couples have one child only.