History Main / StepServant

* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'': PlayedWith. A rare LaserGuidedKarma example mixed with BlackComedy. ''The Opal Deception'', the villainess Opal is flying from the LEP when she crashes into the plantation of an old Italian woman, and manages to use the last of her remaining magic to hypnotize the woman into thinking that Opal is her daughter Belinda, a trick she'd once used on a rich man who spoiled her rotten. Instead, the old woman immediately treats Opal as her slave, forcing to do all the chores on the farm under the threat of locking her up without food, and telling her to not make faces because MiseryBuildsCharacter. When the LEP found Opal, her hands were completely ruined from working on the woman's vineyard, doing all the laundry, cleaning the pig pen and peeling uncountable piles of potatoes, and she was practically ''begging'' them to take her to jail.

* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'': PlayedWith. A rare LaserGuidedKarma example mixed with BlackComedy. ''The Opal Deception'', the villainess Opal is flying from the LEP when she crashes into the plantation of an old Italian woman. Having a pineal gland implanted on herself to become human (though still small as a pixie), she uses her last magic to hypnotize the woman into thinking that Opal is her daughter Belinda. Since Opal once used that trick with a rich man who spoiled her rotten, she thinks that history will repeat. Instead, the old woman immediately treats Opal as her slave, forcing to do all the choirs (with tools too big for her)under the threat of locking her up without food. And telling her to not make faces because MiseryBuildsCharacter. This is just for the first day. When the LEP found Opal, her hands were completely ruined by working on the woman's vinedo, doing all the laundry, cleaning the pig pan and peeling uncountable piles of potatoes.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'', the orphaned Harry was adopted by his aunt and uncle but is essentially treated like a servant rather than a son. While the Dursleys endlessly spoil their biological son, they force Harry to do endless chores, wear only hand-me-downs, eat substandard food, and live in a cupboard. In "Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets," for example, they force him to spend all day (on his birthday!) cleaning the house and mowing the lawn in preparation for a dinner party, only to lock him in his room during the actual party. Fortunately, the Dursleys suffered the karma for their actions, with the party ruined. Later in the series, the Dursleys lose their power over Harry as he gains guardians and friends who care for him. By book 5, "Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix" " the Dursleys were threatened by Harry's new friends and family not to mistreat him, which they fearfully complied with. When Dumbledore pays them a visit in Book 6, "Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince," he delivers a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to the Dursleys outlining what terrible guardians they were.

* This is Hana Morenos' situation at the start of ''Anime/MichikoAndHatchin'', a.k.a. ''Finding Paradiso''. She lives with a foster family who are nothing but assholes to her, and not only has to endure bullying from both her foster brother and her foster sister but is also made to do all the chores by the parents, including one [[KickTheDog asshole moment]] where Johanna, the foster mother, dumps the omelette that Hana cooked for her on the floor with the rest of her plate because she'd burned the underside of it and orders her not only to cook another one but also to ''clean up the mess the mother just made''! Johanna also forces the poor girl to “take out the trash” which turns out to be a bag tied up with the family’s pet cat, then blames her when the brother worriedly searches for the cat. And when Michiko, who becomes one half of the BadassAndChildDuo of the series, kidnaps Hana, the father decides to [[spoiler:try to out and out ''murder her'' for the insurance money]].

* This is Hana Morenos' situation at the start of ''Anime/MichikoAndHatchin'', a.k.a. ''Finding Paradiso''. She lives with a foster family who are nothing but assholes to her, and not only has to endure bullying from both her foster brother and her foster sister but is also made to do all the chores by the parents, including one [[KickTheDog asshole moment]] where the foster father dumps the omelette that Hana cooked for her on the floor with the rest of her plate because she'd burned the underside of it and orders her not only to cook another one but also to ''clean up the mess the father just made''! A bitch moment from the mother herself is when she forces the poor girl to “take out the trash” which turns out to be a bag tied up with the family’s pet cat, then blames her when the brother worriedly searches for the cat! And when Michiko, who becomes one half of the BadassAndChildDuo of the series, kidnaps Hana, the father decides to [[spoiler:try to out and out ''murder her'' for the insurance money]].

* In "Literature/HarryPotter", the orphaned Harry was adopted by his aunt and uncle but is essentially treated like a servant rather than a son. While the Dursleys endlessly spoil their biological son, they force Harry to do endless chores, wear only hand-me-downs, eat substandard food, and live in a cupboard. In "Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets," for example, they force him to spend all day (on his birthday!) cleaning the house and mowing the lawn in preparation for a dinner party, only to lock him in his room during the actual party. Fortunately, the Dursleys suffered the karma for their actions, with the party ruined. Later in the series, the Dursleys lose their power over Harry as he gains guardians and friends who care for him. By book 5, "Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix" " the Dursleys were threatened by Harry's new friends and family not to mistreat him, which they fearfully complied with. When Dumbledore pays them a visit in Book 6, "Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince," he delivers a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to the Dursleys outlining what terrible guardians they were.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'', the orphaned Harry was adopted by his aunt and uncle but is essentially treated like a servant rather than a son. While the Dursleys endlessly spoil their biological son, they force Harry to do endless chores, wear only hand-me-downs, eat substandard food, and live in a cupboard. In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'', for example, they force him to spend all day (on his birthday!) cleaning the house and mowing the lawn in preparation for a dinner party, only to lock him in his room during the actual party. When Dumbledore pays them a visit in Book 6, he delivers a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to the Dursleys outlining what terrible guardians they were.

* Fanny Price of Creator/JaneAusten's ''Literature/MansfieldPark'' is, ironically, sent to live with her rich uncle and aunts because they could logically offer her a better life than her parents could. Her aunt [[NamesTheSame Mrs. Norris]] turns out to be a WickedStepmother in all but name, and even though her uncle and other aunt show her kindness, Mrs. Norris never allows Fanny to forget that she is a charity case.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' is set in a pseudo-medieval world where highborn men having acknowledged bastard children is a normal, if rocky, part of their society. If these children are brought into their fathers' homes after any fashion, it's usually in a servant role.
** Falia Flowers, the bastard daughter of Lord Humfrey Hewett, was raised in her father's castle but was made a servant while her legitimate half-sisters lived in luxury. When the Ironborn pirates conquer the Shield Islands, Falia sides with them and [[TheDogBitesBack gets revenge on her stepmother and half-sisters]] by making them strip off their gowns and serve the pirates while naked.

SisterTrope to MadeASlave, when characters are sold in the black market, and KidsHateChores. May overlap with CinderellaPlot. Compare with RichesToRags, a more specific example for when a character who was once rich becomes poor. Their identity as family can be part of TheReveal in many a murder mystery when it's revealed that a member of the household staff is the illegitimate child of the head of the household.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''Literature/MyHappyMarriage'': Miyo, the oldest daughter of the Saimori family, is deemed to be worthless because [[MuggleBornOfMages she doesn't have a "gift"]], and is forced to work as a lowly servant for her father, stepmother, and half-sister. When she's old enough to marry Miyo's betrothed to Kiyoka Kudo, a powerful gifted military officer known for chasing away any fiancees, both to finally get her out of the Saimori household, and [[spoiler: to keep the powerful Kudo family from gaining even more power]].

[[folder: Theater]]

* In the fifth installment of the ''VideoGame/DarkParables'' series, the character Katherine has this as her backstory. A small side story within the game explains that after their parents' deaths, she and her stepsister Cyrilla were left in the care of an EvilUncle who forced them to basically work as unpaid domestic servants. This is particularly fitting since Katherine is the title character of the game - ''The Final Cinderella''.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Falia Flowers, the bastard daughter of Lord Humfrey Hewett, was raised in her father's castle but was made a servant while her legitimate half-sisters lived in luxury. When the Ironborn pirates conquer the Shield Islands, Falia sides with them and [[TheDogBitesBack gets revenge on her stepmother and half-sisters]] by making them strip off their gowns and serve the pirates while naked.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGarfieldShow'': PlayedForLaughs in ''Farm Fresh Feline''. Jon drags Garfield to go with him and Odie to help his brother with the farm. They ask Dr Whipple to mesmerize Garfield into becoming enthusiastic about work, so he'll do all the chores while Jon, his brother, the doctor, and Odie have lunch and watch TV. The hypnosis effect ends when Garfield falls from a ladder and he gets revenge by hypnotizing the four into mimicking whatever happens on TV.

* This is Hana Morenos' situation at the start of ''Anime/MichikoAndHatchin'', a.k.a. ''Finding Paradiso''. She lives with a foster family who are nothing but assholes to her, and not only has to endure bullying from both her foster brother and her foster sister but is also made to do all the chores by the parents, including one [[KickTheDog asshole moment]] where the foster mother dumps the omelette that Hana cooked for her on the floor with the rest of her plate because she'd burned the underside of it and orders her not only to cook another one but also to ''clean up the mess the mother just made''! And when Michiko, who becomes one half of the BadassAndChildDuo of the series, kidnaps Hana, the father decides to [[spoiler:try to out and out ''murder her'' for the insurance money]].

* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': [[StrugglingSingleMother Carole's]] stepmother forced her to give up her dreams of being a pianist, instead forcing her to go beauty school and to do domestic chores (installing a StayInTheKitchen mindset into her, claiming that was all she was good for). Poor [[TheChewToy Carole]] hasn't managed to escape this fate even in adulthood, despite no longer living with her stepmother (and being homeless) as in "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireSe5MumsAndDads Mums and Dads]]" she forces her to clean her house, whilst taking her two daughters to a grand ball.

* In ''[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/frogking/stories/wellworld.html The Well of the World's End]]'', heavy housework again culminated in an ImpossibleTask.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': In "A Tattler's Tale", Lola listens in on her siblings sharing their secrets, and threatens to rat them out to their parents. She blackmails them by making them do many things (like take the marshmallows out of her cereal [[SweetTooth so she can only eat them]], and making them sing Old [=McDonald=].)

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Nico Robin's childhood was dominated by being forced to work by her Aunt, cleaning the house for reward of little food and even less warmth. She was even excluded from family outings..then things got worse.
* In one story in ''Manga/PetShopOfHorrors: Tokyo'', a young woman who was formerly a hostess from the Philippines ends up HappilyMarried to a [[MayDecemberRomance much older man]] and has a child with him. For some time, she and her son enjoy a life of blissful luxury, until her husband has a stroke and is unable to remember any of his family or care for himself. His other children (who are all as old as the woman is) nearly turn her and her son out, but ultimately keep her as a servant, while considering her child to be inferior because of his mixed nationality. Even when offered a chance to leave though, the woman refuses to abandon her husband. [[spoiler:In the end, her husband dies and leaves a note in his will that his dementia was faked and, impressed by the woman's devotion to him, he leaves her one half of his vast estate, with the other half to be divided amongst his other squabbling children.]]
* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul[=:re=]'', BattleButler SobriquetSexSwitch Kanae von Rosewald (Karren) went from the youngest child of an extremely wealthy German family... to a servant in the household of her own uncle. Unlike most examples of the trope, she's treated well by everyone there... but there's still something troubling about making your orphaned ten-year-old niece a servant to her only surviving relatives.

* ''Literature/{{Cinderella}}'', including such variants as ''Literature/YehShen'',''[[Literature/TamCam The Story of Tam and Cam]]'', ''[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/sheep.html The Sharp Grey Sheep]]'', and ''[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/rushen.html Rushen Coatie]]''. All these stories are about a girl who is forced into servitude by her family. Most stories about people becoming servants to their family will usually be references to Cinderella, and many are covered in CinderellaPlot.

Your father has remarried, and you hope you will have it as good as UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln and have a just and caring new stepmother. Sadly, that ends up not being the case and instead you have become an out and out servant, if not an out and out slave, to your stepmother and any "relatives" she deems better than you. You have become a '''Step Servant'''

When this trope is used in the context of a CinderellaPlot, it can overlap with RichSiblingPoorSibling, with the impoverished peoples situation making them the Poor Sibling, while their sibling or step-sibling is spoiled and pampered by the cruel parent. While this is usually due to having a WickedStepmother, simply being unfairly made a serf to the rest of the family fulfills the requirements to be this trope.

SisterTrope to MadeASlave, when characters are sold in the black market, and KidsHateChores. May overlap with CinderellaPlot. Compare with RichesToRags, a more specific example for when a character who was once rich becomes poor. Their identity as family can be part of TheReveal in many a murder mystery, when it's revealed that a member of the household staff is the illegitimate child of the head of the household.

* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul[=:re=]'', BattleButler SobriquetSexSwitch Kanae von Rosewald (Karren) went from the youngest child of an extremely wealthy German family... to a servant in the household of her own uncle. Unlike most examples of the trope, she's treated well by everyone there... but there's still something troubling about making your orphaned ten year old niece a servant to her only surviving relatives.

* In ''[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/asbjornsenmoe/katiewoodencloak.html Katie Woodencloak]]'', the stepmother turned Katie out to tend the cows. When she finds that a dun cow is magically helping her, she set out to have the cow killed. Katie ran away and found a job working in the kitchen.

* In ''One Eye, Two Eyes, Three Eyes'', a witch has 3 daughters, each having one more eye than the other. Because the middle child was common as others, as she had two eyes, [[MiddleChildSyndrome she was mistreated, only given food scraps to eat, and forced to walk the goat everyday]].

* ''Fanfic/WhoseWoodsTheseAreIThinkIKnow'' is a "Cinderella" AU, so of course, this trope applies. Adrien's mother died, but his father is still alive during the story. In fact, he's [[AbusiveParent even worse]] than Adrien's WickedStepmother, in a sense. Shortly after remarrying to Audrey, Gabriel disowned Adrien and promised his inheritance to his stepsister instead, and actually watches and allows Audrey to abuse Adrien and treat him like a servant. It's a rare example where the biological parent is the one directly responsible for the child's misery instead of the WickedStepmother figure.

* ''Film/BeautyAndTheBeast1946'': Even before their father becoming poor, Belle is shown slaving away while her sisters and brother do nothing, without explanation. After Belle comes back from Beast's castle, her sisters initially treat her fairly out of self-serving interest, but after they convince her to stay they start abusing her verbally again and pushing back on her the chores they were forced to do in her absence.
* ''{{Film/Blancanieves}}'': Carmen is raised by her loving grandmother after her father [[MaternalDeathBlameTheChild shunned her out of grief because her mother died at childbirth]]. After he becomes quadriplegic in a bullfighting accident, he marries his nurse Encarna, but the woman reveals to be a sadistic monster. When Carmen has to live with them because her grandmother died, Encarna [[TraumaticHaircut crops her shoulder-length locks]], turns her into a slave and forbids her from seeing her father. When she discovers that the little girl is disobeying her, she has Carmen's rooster pet killed and served as dinner.

* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'': PlayedWith. A rare LaserGuidedKarma example mixed with BlackComedy. ''The Opal Deception'', the villainess Opal is flying from the LEP when she crashes into the plantation of an old Italian woman. Having a pineal gland implanted on herself to become human (though still small as a pixie), she uses her last magic to hypnotize the woman into thinking that Opal is her daughter Belinda. Since Opal once used that trick with a rich man who spoiled her rotten, she thinks that history will repeat. Instead, the old woman immediately treats Opal as her slave, forcing to do all the choirs (with tools too big for her)under the threat of locking her up without food. And telling her to not make faces because MiseryBuildsCharacter. This just for the first day. When the LEP found Opal, her hands were completely ruined by working on the woman's vinedo, doing all the laundry, cleaning the pig pan and peeling uncountable piles of potatoes.

* PlayedWith in the Creator/DanielleSteel novel ''Fairytale'' is a WholePlotReference to Literature/{{Cinderella}}, with the GenderFlip of two wicked step'''brothers'''. While she never has to become a servant to them and her WickedStepmother, the woman does banish her to the servants quarters of ''her'' house after her father's death during the ensuing legal battle of who gets the property.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'', the orphaned Harry was adopted by his aunt and uncle, but is essentially treated like a servant rather than a son. While the Dursleys endlessly spoil their biological son, they force Harry to do endless chores, wear only hand-me-downs, eat substandard food, and live in a cupboard. In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'', for example, they force him to spend all day (on his birthday!) cleaning the house and mowing the lawn in preparation for a dinner party, only to lock him in his room during the actual party. When Dumbledore pays them a visit in Book 6, he delivers a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to the Dursleys outlining what terrible guardians they were.

* ''Literature/ALittleBushMaid'': Tommy goes from living with her wealthy Aunt Margaret in Paris, to being an unpaid governess and maid in her step-mother's home.

* Fanny Price of Creator/JaneAusten's ''Literature/MansfieldPark'' is, ironically, sent to live with her rich uncle and aunts because they could logically offer her a better life than her parents could. Her aunt, [[NamesTheSame Mrs. Norris]], turns out to be a WickedStepmother in all but name, and even though her uncle and other aunt show her kindness, Mrs. Norris never allows Fanny to forget that she is a charity case.

* ''Literature/MyHappyMarriage'': Miyo, the oldest daughter of the Saimori family, is deemed to be worthless because [[MuggleBornOfMages she doesn't have a "gift"]], and is forced to work as lowly servant for her father, stepmother and half-sister. When she's old enough to marry Miyo's betrothed to Kiyoka Kudo, a powerful gifted military officer known for chasing away any fiancees, both to finally get her out of the Saimori household, and [[spoiler: to keep the powerful Kudo family from gaining even more power]].
* ''Literature/TheMugAndSpoon'': The princess was forced to work like a slave by her stepmother. [[spoiler:Ultimately subverted. This is just a cover story to explain why the "princesses" is so skilled in household chores]].
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Falia Flowers, the bastard daughter of Lord Humfrey Hewett, was raised in her father's castle, but was made a servant while her legitimate half-sisters lived in luxury. When the Ironborn pirates conquer the Shield Islands, Falia sides with them and gets revenge on her stepmother and half-sisters by making them strip off their gowns and serve the pirates while naked.

* ''Series/EerieIndiana'': In the episode "Who's Who", Sarah Bob was a virtual slave who had to cook and clean and mend the clothes of her brothers and father despite being about 12-years-old.
* ''Series/OpenAllHours'': Its all but stated that [[HonestJohnsDealership Arkwright]] adopting his nephew [[ButtMonkey Granville]] following his sisters death was less out of familial love and more an excuse for a cheap source of labour, with him having Granville work for him in his corner shop since he was fourteen and Granville still working for him as an errand boy well into adulthood.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGarfieldShow'': PlayedForLaughs in ''Farm Fresh Feline''. Jon drags Garfield to go with him and Odie to help his brother with the farm. They ask Dr Whipple to mesmerize Garfield into becoming enthusiastic about work, so he'll do all the chores while Jon, his brother, the doctor and Odie have lunch and watch tv. The hypnosis effect ends when Garfield falls from a ladder and he gets revenge by hypnotizing the four into mimicking whatever happens on TV.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePiedPiper'': The children of Hamelin have to make all the housework that adults were supposed to be doing. The Pied Piper lures them away, taking the kids to a magic place inside a mountain where they are free to play.

Indexes: [[AlliterativeName/TropesSToZ Alliterative Name]], DysfunctionalFamilyIndex, ServantTropes