History Main / RoyalBastard

* ''Literature/TheSunEater'': The Solan Imperial family has direct lineage to the GodEmperor. The GodEmperor had only one child, a son by his mistress. Since the GodEmperor is the [[OneHundredPercentAdorationRating legendary hero who saved humanity]] from A.I. overlords gone rogue and he's been given supernatural powers including prophetic vision, [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers he can easily legitimize any potential heir]].

* ''Literature/TheSunEater'': The Solan Imperial family has direct lineage to the GodEmperor. The GodEmperor had only one child, a son by his mistress. Since the GodEmperor is the [[OneHundredPercentAdorationRate legendary hero who saved humanity]] from A.I. overlords gone rogue and he's been given supernatural powers including prophetic vision, [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers he can easily legitimize any potential heir]].

* ''Literature/OldKingdom'': Touchstone was the bastard son of the Queen and a nobleman, though he ends up taking the throne after a HumanPopsicle situation leaves him as the only royal left alive anywhere.

* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': It's a longstanding tradition that TheEmperor of Xing takes a girl from each of the nation's fifty clans to be his concubine. In the present time, two of these harem girls would become the mothers of WarriorPrince Ling and [[PrettyPrincessPowerhouse Princess May]].

** Because of [[HeirClubForMen his failure to have a legitimate son]], UsefulNotes/HenryVIII fully acknowledged and gave favor to his illegitimate son [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_FitzRoy,_Duke_of_Richmond_and_Somerset Henry Fitzroy]]. Unfortunately for Henry, he died young, shortly before a legitimate Tudor son was born. The Tudors themselves only had a claim to the throne because of being descended from a legitimized bastard line of John of Gaunt and his mistress; the Beauforts.
** [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfHanover William IV]] is the last British monarch known to have illegitimate children in the [=FitzClarence=] line (though there have been some rumors about [[TheCasanova Edward VII]]). Unlike most examples, they were from a monogamous relationship, but societal reasons preventing him from marrying their mom and the two would separate anyway. Eventually, he had legitimate kids, but they sadly died as infants.

* Due to a good number of bastards but a lack of legitimate descendants, UsefulNotes/LouisXIV attempted to make his bastards legitimate in his will until his will was quashed by the Parlement (the NonIndicativeName of a law court of the Ancien Régime).

* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/720657/chapters/1336087 The Most Precious of Treasures]]'': Frodo is the illegitimate son of Thorin (Dwarven King Under the Mountain) and [[GenderFlip Bilbo Baggins]], a Hobbit. Frodo's acceptance into Dwarven society is aided by the fact that he's [[{{Reincarnation}} Durin reborn]].

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'': Ramza and his sister Alma are mentioned to have a commoner mother by their noble father but he treated them as though they were legitimate. [[HeroicBastard They are the only good members of the Beoulve family]] compared to their half-brothers.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'':
** Lord Haurchefant Greystone is the result of Edmont de Fortemps', the count of House Fortemps of Ishgard, affair with another woman. Despite being the eldest son by birth, Edmont cannot recognize Haurchefant as such, employing him instead as a knight of the house. For his part, Haurchefant has no issues with this arrangement and serves House Fortemps dutifully as a KnightInShiningArmor. [[spoiler:It's only after Haurchefant's death that Edmont breaks down and finally calls Haurchefant his son.]]
** The latter half of ''Heavensward'' reveals that [[spoiler:Ser Aymeric is in fact the illegitimate son of Archbishop Thordan, who is supposed to be sworn to celibacy as the supreme religious authority in Ishgard. This is revealed to all of Ishgard as part of Aymeric's efforts to end the country's ForeverWar, drawing ire from the opposition for essentially ordering the Warrior of Light to help him commit patricide.]]

* ''Manga/TheLegendOfZelda'': The first manga implies that Link is the son of [[spoiler:Queen Zelda and her lover]] when she was married.

** Emperor Koutoku Ren had two illegitimate children, Kouha and Kougyoku, with a concubine and a prostitute respectively.

** Leontes Van de Montague is the illegitimate son of [[spoiler:a Capulet man and a prostitute]].
** Tybalt Volumnia de Capulet is the illegitimate son of [[spoiler:Leontes Van de Montague and Volumnia Capulet.]]

* ''LightNovel/TheBrideOfAdarshan'': Alec is an illegitimate prince.

* ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'': Mordred is a homunculus created by Altria's sister Morgan, making her King Arthur's illegitimate child. After being rapidly raised to adulthood over a few years, Mordred is excited to learn that she is the child of the King of Knights, only to be badly rebuffed when she reveals this to her "father" and denied the love and acceptance she craved. Mordred's rage at being denied at what she thought was rightfully hers leads her to start the rebellion that upends Camelot and ends in both Arthur's and Mordred's deaths.

* ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'':
** Keith was the son of a minor noble and a prostitute and was often bullied by his half-brothers for [[SonOfAWhore his origins]], though his parentage is irrelevant in the story proper due to him having been adopted into the Claes family to serve as heir.
** Anne was born to a baron and one of his maids who had briefly served as his mistress. Her mother had hoped to give her a better life and raised her to always defer to authority in the hopes that she would either be named her father's heiress or be given a good husband. Unfortunately, a house fire killed her mother shortly before she turned 15 and left her with a massive scar on her back (arm in the anime), leading her father to disown her since she could no longer be used in a political marriage.
** [[spoiler:Rafael]] was the child of a [[spoiler:marquis]] and one of his maids, [[ChildByRape a union that is all but stated to have been non-consensual]], but remained unaware of their father's identity or heritage until the plot reared its ugly head.
** Subverted with Maria. Most people assume that the reason she can use magic is that [[MistakenForCheating her mother had an affair with a nobleman]], but the truth of the matter is that she's a MageBornOfMuggles.

** Alain is (supposedly) the son of a servant and either a merchant, a count, an elven shade (don't ask), his grandfather or some completely unknown man. This is a major plot point in the series - until he stops caring about it.

* ''Literature/{{Farseer}}'' trilogy: Protagonist Fitz is the illegitimate offspring of crown prince Chivalry. His becoming public knowledge causes his father to abdicate his position as heir, causing political chaos. Fitz's narrative notes that, if he did nothing else in his life, he's still managed to change the course of the kingdom's history just by being born.
* ''Literature/TheGrishaTrilogy'' and ''Literature/TheNikolaiDuology'': Nikolai is officially the son of the king and queen of Ravka. However, it is widely rumored that he is actually illegitimate since the queen wasn't very faithful to her husband. The fact that, unlike his brother, Nikolai doesn't look anything like the king certainly doesn't help either. [[spoiler:His mother eventually tells him that he was indeed born from an affair she had with Magnus Opjer. However, that doesn't stop Nikolai from becoming king after the abdication of 'his father', since his enemies cannot prove it.]]

* ''Literature/PrinceRoger'': The titular prince, [[OverlyLongName Ramius Sergei Alexander Chiang MacClintock]], after he took multiple levels of badass. He also develops into the other type of bastard, the literal meaning already applicable since the Empress had never married his father:

* ''LightNovel/EndoAndKobayashiLiveTheLatestOnTsundereVillainessLieselotte'': [[spoiler:Fiene]] believes that she is a commoner, but eventually she is confirmed to be the illegitimate child of a duke's daughter and a marquis' son.

* In ''VideoGame/TriangleStrategy'': In the wake of Chapter XV, Either [[spoiler:Benedict]] or [[spoiler:the mortally wounded Lord Symon]] eventually tells [[spoiler:Serenoa]] that he is King Regna's illegitimate firstborn son with [[spoiler: Lady Destra, who Lord Symon married in due to political pressure on the King, raising Serenoa as his own while he and Benedict kept the fact a close secret. Serenoa was entrusted with a royal signet ring to prove his heritage, and both Benedict and Serenoa]] agree to keep this secret to avoid upsetting Roland, [[spoiler:who has become King of Glenbrook by this time. If you follow Benedict's plan in the final chapters of the game, Serenoa's heritage is revealed in a dispute that severs the childhood friendship between him and Roland. Once Roland abdicates and leaves Serenoa's party after claiming he never wants to see Serenoa again, Serenoa is made King of Glenbrook, and due to his royal signet ring, few of Glenbrook's nobles challenge Serenoa's claim.]]

* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'': Noblemen often take concubines, so this happens a lot. The first chapter from the point of view of Ferdinand, Myne's mentor at the temple, reveals that he grew up in a noble household because he's the father's bastard son.

* ''Literature/IAmMordred'': Mordred is the bastard son of King Arthur and his half-sister, Morgause and was born from their extramarital tryst. He was prophesied to kill his father, yet Mordred goes out of his way to prevent it from happening.

** Depending on the version, Mordred is Myth/KingArthur's bastard son, Arthur's EvilNephew from Morgana, [[InbredAndEvil or both]].

* ''Literature/{{Kane}}'': Sesi from "Lynortis Reprise" is the daughter of king Masale and Reallis, whom he has taken as his SexSlave.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Verence becomes king after his half-brother [=TomJon=], the child of the last ruler, decides to be an actor. He was made king thanks to the fact that Verence and [=TomJon=] have a strong resemblance to each other and the previous king had a habit of exercising his DroitDuSeigneur. Granny Weatherwax decided this was close enough and made him king. Subverted however in [[spoiler: the previous king's wife had a thing for the previous court jester, Verence's father]].