History Main / RichSiblingPoorSibling

* ''WebOriginal/FluffyPony'': One common theme is bad mother fluffies, who have a litter of foals and consider one the best, who they spoil and who often ends up as evil as their mother, and one the worst, who they treat badly.

Exactly how the characters end up in this situation is flexible. It may be a trigger for a PrinceAndPauper type situation, or due to being raised by a WickedStepmother, or the siblings may have never met and SeparatedAtBirth -- it's common for one to have been adopted -- whether [[HappilyAdopted happily]] or [[AdoptionAngst unhappily]] by wealthy people, and their sibling grows up in the foster system. This may also have occurred due to someone trying to TakeAThirdOption on OneTwinMustDie. Sometimes it's because they are TheUnfavorite. In certain cases, they will be forced into literal service of their sibling, perhaps as part of a CinderellaPlot. May also have occurred in a SwitchedAtBirth situation where some siblings are raised in a wealthy family (alongside an "imposter" from a poor family), and vice versa. Almost a given in any situation with a HiddenBackupPrince.

* ''The Vicomte of Bragelonne'', a novel featuring the ManInTheIronMask, was written by Creator/AlexandreDumas, based on the speculation of Voltaire that a nameless masked prisoner at the time was an illegitimate son born of Anne of Austria, and sired by Cardinal Mazarin. This would make him a bastard half-brother to Louis [=XIV=] of France. The book chronicles the efforts of the musketeers to replace the incompetent and narcissistic Louis with his half-brother Phillippe. The latter at the outset is being held prisoner on the Isle de Sainte Marguerite, France's version of Alcatraz Island.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. This causes problems for Oliver Queen in Season 7 because--unknown to him--he has a half-sister Emiko from an affair his father had, who bitterly resents having to grow up in poverty while seeing Oliver living the life of a billionaire playboy. The resentment doesn't go away just because Oliver has lost his fortune and become the Arrow.

* Keith's backstory in ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'' involved this trope. He's the son of a minor noble related to the Claes family and a prostitute. After he was sent back to his birth father's house at three, he was practically treated as TheUnfavorite at best, and at the worst, he wasn't treated as a family member--he wasn't even allowed to call his parents "father" and "mother," and he wasn't allowed to dine at the same table with the rest of family. His half-brothers [[BigBrotherBully bullied him]], with apparent parental authority.

* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'':

* ''Film/TwinSisters'': When fraternal twins Lotte and Anna are orphaned at age six, they wind up separated, each raised by a different set of distant relatives. Anna is adopted by German pig farmers and winds up little more than a slave. Lotte is adapted by Dutch relatives and lives in a mansion, playing piano and going to university.

[[folder: Fairytales]]

[[folder: FanWorks]]

* ''Film/Scream3'': Roman sees this as having occurred between him and his [[spoiler:half sister Sidney, which is why he stalked her, encouraged Billy and Stu's killing spree, and went on one of his own]] because he was a ChildByRape who was given up to the foster system and rejected by [[spoiler:Maureen, his and Sidney's mother.]] It's a case of an InformedAttribute and InformedPoverty as Roman is a successful film director in the present.
* ''Film/WhateverHappenedToBabyJane'' has several reversals through a DeconReconSwitch that is at the heart of the story. First, Jane is the spoiled sister, as the beloved child star and vaudeville act while her sister Blanche is shy and reserved. Then, after Jane's act falls out of favor, she becomes TheAlcoholic and Blanche becomes an acclaimed prestige actress who leaves Jane totally in her shadow. ''Then'' it gets deconstructed after Blanche's car accident, when she is dependent on Jane, which Jane uses to torture Blanche and get her revenge.

* ''Literature/AliBabaAndTheFortyThieves'': Ali Baba and Kassim are sons of a merchant but while Kassim grew up to be a greedy merchant with a wealthy wife, Ali Baba is a woodcutter and marries a poor wife. However, when Ali Baba struck luck of finding a thieves' hideout and took some of the wealth, Kassim demand the location of the hideout. This ended up getting him killed when the thieves found him in their hideout.

** Having this happen is built into how noble society works. Children who are born with low {{Mana}} compared to what is expected in their family are made servants in their own household, adopted into a lower-status family or sent to the temple. All three of those options mean a lower status and less income compared to any siblings who are raised by their parents.

* In ''Literature/DiePilgerin'', Otfried is pampered by his father who believes in HeirClubForMen while his sister Tilla is ignored by him at best and mistreated, having only a very small allowance. Their father realises his mistake only on his deathbed, when he sees Otfried just waits for him to die ([[spoiler:and ends us participating in his murder]]), while Tilla, who was raised right by her old nurse, doesn't bear any grudge and cares for him.
* ''Literature/DublinMurderSquad'': Feigned by [[spoiler:Rosalind]] in ''In The Woods'' by way of a WoundedGazelleGambit. [[spoiler:She claimed to her boyfriend and TheHeavy, Damian, that she was being raped by her father with her sister Katy's encouragement and that Katy was the much-adored family favorite as a ballet prodigy while Rosalind was forced to take care of the mentally-disabled youngest sister Jessica. Cassie even says that Rosalind gave Damian a Cinderella story. While it seems that her father preferred Katy over Rosalind, this seems to have had more to do with Rosalind's psychopathy.]]

* In ''Literature/LesMiserables'', Cosette is abused by her foster parents the Thénardiers while Eponine and Azelma are doted on by their parents. Gavroche, the son of the couple, is also neglected to the point that, in Paris, he went to live in the streets. Two other sons were rented out to a woman wanting to pass them to Gillenormand as his sons, after the real ones died.

* ''Series/{{Airwolf}}'' is piloted by Stringfellow Hawke, who performs missions for the Firm in exchange for their help in locating his brother, Saint John Hawke. Saint John became Missing In Action during the Vietnam War, and is presumed alive somewhere in Communist territory. The Firm is a "contractor" of the [=CIA=], so they can leverage Stringfellow's covert operations into American intel gathering. Stringfellow normally lives as a recluse in a mountain cabin overlooking a lake, hardly looking destitute. Saint John turns up in the fourth season alive and intact, and [[SheCleansUpNicely he cleaned up nicely]].

* The premise of ''Series/{{Broke}}'': Elizabeth married a rich kid while her sister Jackie is a struggling single mom. In the pilot Liz's husband loses his trust fund and they have to move in with Jackie.

* Twins Sutton and Emma got separated in ''Series/TheLyingGame'', despite both being the daughters of a wealthy couple. Emma ended up in the foster system while Sutton ended up rich and spoIled.
* ''Series/ThePact'': The wealthy Arwel owns the brewery and has a mansion as one of his multiple houses, and his sister Louie is a kleptomaniac who lives in a tiny flat and can't pay the blackmailers £1,000. She says she doesn't mind, [[spoiler:and she's telling the truth, because she knows Arwel got it due to their father's guilt over abusing him in their childhood.]]

** Season 3 briefly introduces Aaron's long lost son [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome Charlie]], who was supported through a trust by some of Aaron's money but still grew up without Logan's opportunities and with a StrugglingSingleMother. He becomes a teacher and tells Logan he has no interest in a relationship with him.

* In ''Theatre/{{Jenufa}}'', the results of such an upbringing have extremely negative consequences for both siblings. Steva is a spoiled, selfish BornLucky playboy, heir to the Buryja mill. His stepbrother Laca has been TheUnfavourite of the family since childhood and is forced to work on said mill to earn his keep, because Grandmother Buryja has pocketed Laca's inheritance; all of this leads to Laca growing into a bitter, resentful and violent man.

* ''Theatre/ThePillowman'': Katurian Katurian's adoring parents spoiled him, while keeping his brother Michal locked up on the other side of his bedroom wall and torturing him. Exaggerated in that they specifically did this ''to'' encourage Katurian to write darker and darker stories.

* In ''WebOriginal/BrigScarletFlamingo'', Baron Simon Canter is rich at practically a FictionFiveHundred level. His illegitimate half-sister Albertina is lower middle-class, and he blackmails her into working as his unpaid housekeeper, threatening the lives of her husband and children. That's because her mother has been given a bit of money by Simon's father, and for Simon, ''any'' decrease of his rightful inheritance is a BerserkButton.

Exactly how the characters end up in this situation is flexible. It may be a trigger for a PrinceAndPauper type situation, or due to being raised by a WickedStepmother, or the siblings may have never met and SeparatedAtBirth -- it's common for one to have been adopted -- whether [[HappilyAdopted happily]] or [[AdoptionAngst unhappily]] by wealthy people, and their sibling grows up in the foster system. This may also have occurred due to someone trying to TakeAThirdOption on OneTwinMustDie. Sometimes it's because they are TheUnfavorite. In certain cases, they will be forced into literal service of their sibling, perhaps due to CinderellaCircumstances. May also have occurred in a SwitchedAtBirth situation where some siblings are raised in a wealthy family (alongside an "imposter" from a poor family), and vice versa. Almost a given in any situation with a HiddenBackupPrince.

* ''Literature/NightFilm'': In a reference to ''Film/WhateverHappenedToBabyJane'', Marlowe and Olivia have undergone these switches. Marlowe was a highly respected actress while Olivia was a failure. However, after Marlowe got in a car accident, Olivia seduced her fiancé and married into his billions. Marlowe collapsed into alcoholism and plastic surgery addiction, has all failed marriages, and is ultimately broke and being secretly bankrolled by Olivia.

* ''Series/ThePact'': The wealthy Arwel owns the brewery and has a mansion as one of his multiple houses, and his sister Louie is a kleptomaniac who lives in a tiny flat and can't pay the blackmailers £1,000.

* ''Literature/TheManInTheIronMask'' was written by Creator/AlexandreDumas, based on the speculation of Voltaire that a nameless masked prisoner at the time was an illegitimate son born of Anne of Austria, and sired by Cardinal Mazarin. This would make him a bastard half-brother to Louis [=XIV=] of France. The book chronicles the efforts of the musketeers to replace the incompetent and narcissistic Louis with his half-brother Phillippe. The latter at the outset is being held prisoner on the Isle de Sainte Marguerite, France's version of Alcatraz Island.

* Keith's backstory in ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'' involved this trope. He's the son of a minor noble related to the Claes family and a prostitute. After he was sent back to his birth father's house at three, he was practically treated as TheUnfavorite at best, and at the worst, he wasn't treated as a family member--he wasn't even allowed to call his parents "father" and "mother," and he wasn't allowed to dine on the same table with the rest of family. His half-brothers [[BigBrotherBully bullied him]], with apparent parental authority.

* ''Literature/NightFilm'': In a reference to ''Film/WhateverHappenedToBabyJane'', Marlowe and Olivia have undergone these switches. Marlowe was a highly respected actress while Olivia was a failure. However, after Marlowe got in a car accident, Olivia seduced her fiancé and married into his billions. Marlowe collapsed into alcoholism and plastic surgery addiction, has all failed marriages, and is ultimately broke and being secretly bankrolled by Olivia.

[[folder:Television - Live-Action]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/DMCDevilMayCry'': After their mother's death and their father's imprisonment, Dante and Vergil were separated from each other. Vergil was adopted by a rich family while Dante ended up in an OrphanageOfFear and lives in a trailer as an adult.

* The Yorigami Sisters from ''Franchise/TouhouProject''. The older sister Shion is a goddess of poverty, and thanks to her PowerIncontinence is constantly surrounded by curses and bad luck. As such, she barely has any money. Meanwhile the younger sister Joon doesn't have Shion's problems, instead she has the power to expedite another person's financial consumption. Being the magical equivalent of a GoldDigger, she's living a rich and hedonist lifestyle. Their profiles point out that neither of them are actually rich, though, since Joon spends money as fast as she obtains them.
[[/folder]]

->As time went by, the chateau fell into disrepair, for the family fortunes were squandered upon the vain and selfish stepsisters, while Cinderella was abused, humiliated, and finally forced to become a servant in her own house.

-->'''Narrator''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}''

* The Yorigami Sisters from ''Franchise/{{Touhou}}''. The older sister Shion is a goddess of poverty, and thanks to her PowerIncontinence is constantly surrounded by curses and bad luck. As such, she barely has any money. Meanwhile the younger sister Joon doesn't have Shion's problems, instead she has the power to expedite another person's financial consumption. Being the magical equivalent of a GoldDigger, she's living a rich and hedonist lifestyle. Their profiles point out that neither of them are actually rich, though, since Joon spends money as fast as she obtains them.

It's a sibling foil equivalent to RichSuitorPoorSuitor, with which it can overlap in cases of a SiblingTriangle. FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling can overlap with this, but it may be that the poor sibling is feckless (leading to their comparative poverty), or that the richer sibling is a [[BigBrotherBully bully.]]