History Main / PrincelingRivalry

* Thor as the strong first born, and Loki as the smart, plotting second born in ''Film/{{Thor}}''. Loki tricks Thor into getting himself banished. Thor learns to be less of a JerkJock and retakes his rightful throne from his brother.

* In ''[[Literature/{{Sulien}} The Prize of the Game]]'' by Creator/JoWalton, the three cousins Conal, Darag, and Ferdia are all heirs to the throne of Oriel (they are all nephews of king Conary), and have also been raised together. Conal and Darag have a fierce rivalry, that escalates to the point where the three are sent away to the neighbouring kingdoms for a series of tests to determine who shall be the next king.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'': The Disney adaption makes passing mention that Zeus and Hades are brothers. Zeus rules Olympus while Hades rules the underworld. The central conflict of the story involves Hades' scheme to supplant his brother Zeus, and become supreme ruler of Olympus, Tartarus and all the Earth in between. Zeus is of course the strongest god and older brother[[note]] According to Greek myth, Zeus was actually the youngest of six siblings and Hades was the oldest of the three brothers Hades, Poseidon and Zeus.[[/note]], while Hades is a schemer.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'': The Disney adaption makes passing mention that Zeus and Hades are brothers. Zeus rules Olympus while Hades rules the underworld. The central conflict of the story involves Hades' scheme to supplant his brother Zeus, and become supreme ruler of Olympus, Tartarus and all the Earth in between. Zeus is of course the strongest god and older brother, while Hades is a schemer.

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!Examples

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

* The adaptation by WaltDisney Pictures of the Greek mythology of ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' makes passing mention that Zeus and Hades are brothers. Zeus rules Olympus while Hades rules the underworld. The central conflict of the story involves Hades' scheme to supplant his brother Zeus, and become supreme ruler of Olympus, Tartarus and all the Earth in between. Zeus is of course the strongest god and older brother, while Hades is a schemer.
* Mufasa as the strong first born, and Scar as the smart, plotting second born in ''Film/TheLionKing'' who has been jealous of Mufasa for some time. He doesn't begin his betrayal in earnest until after Mufasa's son is born. Scar murders Mufasa and attempts to kill Simba, Mufasa's child son. Simba lives and leads a charge to defeat Scar in his adult years.
* In Disney's ''RobinHood'', Prince John has his attendant Sir Hiss hypnotize his brother King Richard into embarking on a years-long crusade so that John can rule, at first ostensibly in Richard's name, but as time passes increasingly in his own.

* In the post-apocalyptic world in Creator/RalphBakshi's ''WesternAnimation/{{Wizards}}'', the fairy queen Delia begat twins: Avatar the attractive wizard, and Blackwolf the repulsive wizard. Shortly after Delia's death, the two brothers fought. Blackwolf was defeated, and slunk away to the land called Scortch. There, Blackwolf developed a growing army of mutants and monsters, seeking to vanquish his brother Avatar, and attain mastery over all the Earth.

-> '''Zazu''': As the king's brother, you should've been [[AHeroIsBorn first in line]]!\\
'''Scar''': [[EvilPrince I]] ''was'' [[DoubleMeaning first in line]]. Until the little hairball was born.\\
'''Mufasa''': That hairball is my son, and [[RightfulKingReturns your future king]].
-->--''Film/TheLionKing''

--> '''Zazu''': As the king's brother, you should've been [[AHeroIsBorn first in line!]]
--> '''Scar''': [[EvilPrince I]] ''was'' [[DoubleMeaning first in line.]] Until the little hairball was born.
--> '''Mufasa''': That hairball is my son, and [[RightfulKingReturns your future king.]]

* Disney's RobinHood has prince John send away his brother on a crusade.

* AvatarTheLastAirbender: Appearance-wise Iroh is the larger good hearted brother and Ozai is the plotting evil younger brother who tries to use Iroh's moment of weakness (his only son dying) to persuade their father to pass over him for succession. Some shady business later, their father dies, and his dying wish is exactly what Ozai asked for. Slightly subverted in that though Ozai is a schemer and has a smaller frame, he's at least Iroh's equal in power if not slightly stronger. Apparently being a fan of this trope and MusclesAreMeaningless the creators use the same subversion in other sibling duos below.

* In ''The Prize of the Game'' by Creator/JoWalton, the three cousins Conal, Darag, and Ferdia are all heirs to the throne of Oriel (they are all nephews of king Conary), and have also been raised together. Conal and Darag have a fierce rivalry, that escalates to the point where the three are sent away to the neighbouring kingdoms for a series of tests to determine who shall be the next king.

BonusPoints if the siblings also make a BrainsEvilBrawnGood duo. Usually the first born son as the larger, stronger, heroic archetype. At worst he's a JerkJock but otherwise he's just a [[WarriorPrince symbol of strength]] and is [[TheGoodKing genuinely goodhearted.]] If that's the case then the younger prince is more wiry, smarter, and calculating. He can't beat his older brother in a straight duel, so he plots to have him shamed and banished, or outright killed. [[GoodIsDumb The older brother will typically never see the betrayal coming until it's too late.]]

* AvatarTheLastAirbender: Apperance wise Iroh is the larger good hearted brother and Ozai is the plotting evil younger brother who tries to use Iroh's moment of weakness (his only son dying) to persuade their father to pass over him for succession. Some shady business later, their father dies, and his dying wish is exactly what Ozai asked for. Slightly subverted in that though Ozai is a schemer and has a smaller frame, he's at least Iroh's equal in power if not slightly stronger. Apparently being a fan of this trope and MusclesAreMeaningless the creators use the same subversion in other sibling duos below.

[[AC:Theater]]
* ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''. King Hamlet was the first born who was a warrior king with some implication in the text that he wasn't the most likable guy; Claudius, the second born, is the smart and charming plotter. [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready Claudius murders King Hamlet and Hamlet ends up trying to avenge his father's murder]].
* Also ''King Lear'': on the one hand the three princesses, Goneril, Cordelia and Regan, two of whom are privately pleased the third is unfairly disinherited by Daddy. Then the machinations of the bastard Edgar against his legitimate half-brother, who stands to inherit the lot.
* In ''TheLionInWinter'' Henry's three sons, John, Geoffrey and Richard, all aspire to be king. Queen Eleanor favors their oldest surviving son Prince Richard while King Henry wants John to be the one to inherit his throne.

* ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''. King Hamlet was the first born who was a warrior king with some implication in the text that he wasn't the most likable guy; Claudius, the second born, is the smart and charming plotter. [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready Claudius murders King Hamlet and Hamlet ends up trying to avenge his father's murder]].
* Also ''King Lear'': on the one hand the three princesses, Goneril, Cordelia and Regan, two of whom are privately pleased the third is unfairly disinherited by Daddy. Then the machinations of the bastard Edgar against his legitimate half-brother, who stands to inherit the lot.

* AvatarTheLastAirbender: Apperance wise Iroh is the larger good hearted brother and Ozai is the plotting evil younger brother who tries to use Iroh's moment of weakness (his only son dying) to persuade their father to pass over him for succession. Some shady business later, their father dies, and his dying wish is exactly what Ozai asked for. Slightly subverted in that though Ozai is a schemer and has a smaller frame, he's at least Iroh's equal in power if not slightly stronger.

* ''Literature/{{Hamlet}}''. King Hamlet was the first born who was a warrior king with some implication in the text that he wasn't the most likable guy; Claudius, the second born, is the smart and charming plotter. [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready Claudius murders King Hamlet and Hamlet ends up trying to avenge his father's murder]].

* Subverted in ''Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy''. At the end [[spoiler:Shasta]] just discovers he is really Prince Cor of Archenland and will inherit the throne, being 20 minutes older than his twin Corin. Cor apologizes to him for unexpectedly taking the throne from him, but instead Corin cheers because he ''didn't'' want to be king; as a prince he won't have to worry about responsibility.

* In NeilGaiman's ''{{Literature/Stardust}}'', there are seven princes of Stormhold, all of whom are attempting to bump each other off in order to inherit their father's throne. At the beginning of the story, four are dead already.

--> '''Scar''': [[EvilPrince I ''was'' first]] [[DoubleMeaning in line.]] Until the little hairball was born.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', King Endrin's middle child murdered Trian, his elder brother, and was exiled; Bhelen, the third and youngest child is suspected of having a hand in the murder, which causes a SuccessonCrisis when Endrin allegedly has second thoughts before dying about putting Bhelen on the throne. (The events are seen in more detail in the Dwarf Noble origin, with the PlayerCharacter being the middle child; Bhelen does try to manipulate the PC into killing Trian. Regardless of whether the PC goes along with it, Trian ends up dead, and the PC takes the fall and is exiled.)

** Tonraq as the strong first born, and Unalaq as the smart plotting second born in ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfKorra''. Unalaq tricks Tonraq into getting himself banished.

If the older prince lives, he'll likely start a war to dethrone his brother. If he dies, his child will grow into the cornerstone of a rebellion to overthrow the younger prince, who has turned himself into an EvilOverlord by this point.

See SuccessionCrisis when the conflict becomes much larger than just the siblings' personal animosity towards each other.