History Main / WickedStepmother

* Played with in ''Film/NannyMcPhee''. Lily says that she does not want a stepmother because of all the wicked stepmothers she has read about in books. [[spoiler:Selma Quickly]] would indeed have become a very nasty stepmother to the kids... [[spoiler:had she married Mr. Brown]].

Subtrope of EvilMatriarch. Note that the MagicalNanny often becomes a stepmother via MarryTheNanny, but never a wicked one. DepartmentOfChildDisservices is a modern organized variation. Usually, SocialServicesDoesNotExist in stories with a Wicked Stepmother. Contrast GoodStepmother for the trope's logical antithesis. Often a staple of the CinderellaPlot. These stepparents can also be TheExsNewJerkass if the children's other parent is still alive. While close to an AlwaysFemale trope, there are occasional Wicked Stepfathers.

* ''AudioPlay/TheMorgueFiles'': Frank can be described as every bad adjective in the book. He's horribly abusive to his oldest stepdaughter Millie, and he regularly physically abuses Tobias.

** ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': Queen Alicent Hightower channels the energy of this trope as an older adult but is also a more nuanced examination of it. On the surface, she is bitter, spiteful, paranoid and petty towards her stepdaughter, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. However, it is not so simple because her suspicions about Rhaenyra not telling her the truth are correct. Alicent is increasingly unhappy and lovelorn in her relationship with King Viserys, but is still devoted to him, fussing over him and bearing him four trueborn children. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra (her BestFriend before Alicent's marriage) has been lying to her, to her father, and to the realm constantly for ten years, bearing three obvious bastards and having the gall to insult everyone's intelligence by calling them legitimate Velaryons. When Alicent brings the matter to her husband, he tells her essentially to shut up, never speak of it again, and that to do so would be treason. By the time she confides in Larys Strong that she wants — no, needs - her father Lord Otto Hightower back in his old job as Hand of the King, it looks less like a Wicked Stepmother and more like a put-upon wife who [[CassandraTruth needs someone, anyone to believe her when she tells the truth]]. Even before that, her trust in Rhaenyra was shattered when they were both still young adults by discovering she had lied to her about trysts with Daemon Targaryen and Criston Cole, which makes Alicent less inclined to trust that Rhaenyra won't act to remove Alicent's children with Viserys (her half-siblings) as potential threats to her power if she ascends the throne.

* The ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "[[Recap/SupernaturalS03E05BedtimeStories Bedtime Stories]]" involves the Winchester brothers investigating a series of murders that resemble fairy tales. Fittingly, the spirit causing the murders is that of a comatose girl who'd been poisoned by her stepmother.

** ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': Queen Alicent Hightower channels the energy of this trope as an older adult but is also a more nuanced examination of it. On the surface, she is bitter, spiteful, paranoid and petty towards her stepdaughter, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. However, it is not so simple because her suspicions about Rhaenyra not telling her the truth are correct. Alicent is increasingly unhappy and lovelorn in her relationship with King Viserys, but is still devoted to him, fussing over him and bearing him four trueborn children. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra (her BestFriend before Alicent's marriage) has been lying to her, to her father, and to the realm constantly for ten years, bearing three obvious bastards and having the gall to insult everyone's intelligence by calling them legitimate Velaryons. When she brings the matter to her husband, he tells her essentially to shut up, never speak of it again, and that to do so would be treason. By the time she confides in Larys Strong that she wants — no, needs her father back as Hand of the King, it looks less like a Wicked Stepmother and more like a put-upon wife who [[CassandraTruth needs someone, anyone to believe her when she tells the truth]]. Even before that, her trust in Rhaenyra was shattered when they were both still young adults by discovering she had lied to her about trysts with Daemon Targaryen and Criston Cole, which makes Alicent less inclined to trust that Rhaenyra won't act to remove Alicent's children with Viserys (her half-siblings) as potential threats to her power if she ascends the throne.

** ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': Alicent Hightower channels the energy of this trope as an older adult but is also a more nuanced examination of it. On the surface, she is bitter, spiteful, paranoid and petty towards her stepdaughter, Rhaenyra Targaryen. However, it is not so simple because her suspicions about Rhaenyra not telling her the truth are correct. Alicent is increasingly unhappy and lovelorn in her relationship with Viserys, but is still devoted to him, fussing over him and bearing him four trueborn children. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra (her BestFriend before Alicent's marriage) has been lying to her, to her father, and to the realm constantly for ten years, bearing three obvious bastards and having the gall to insult everyone's intelligence by calling them legitimate Velaryons. When she brings the matter to her husband, he tells her essentially to shut up, never speak of it again, and that to do so would be treason. By the time she confides in Larys Strong that she wants — no, needs her father back as Hand of the King, it looks less like a Wicked Stepmother and more like a put-upon wife who [[CassandraTruth needs someone, anyone to believe her when she tells the truth]]. Even before that, her trust in Rhaenyra was shattered when they were both still young adults by discovering she had lied to her about trysts with Daemon Targaryen and Criston Cole, which makes Alicent less inclined to trust that Rhaenyra won't act to remove Alicent's children with Viserys (her half-siblings) as potential threats to her power if she ascends the throne.

* ''Series/TheStoryteller'' episode "The Three Ravens" (based on "Literature/TheSixSwans" by the Creator/BrothersGrimm) makes the common fairy tale trope even worse for the princess, as her father is finally poisoned by his second wife, who then remarries another king, a prince's father. The poor princess marries said prince, and discovers that her former stepmother is now [[FromBadToWorse her]] [[ObnoxiousInLaws mother-in-law]].

** The ''second'' version of Cinderella, a major character in season 7, had an evil stepmother who plays much more of a role in the series. Due to [[FracturedFairyTale a very twisted chain of events]] she's also [[spoiler: Rapunzel]]! Mother Gothel kidnapped Rapunzel when she was already a mother of two daughters, Anastasia and Drizella. Rapunzel eventually escaped and got back to her family, but was so twisted by Gothel's treatment of her that she secretly curses the girls' GoodStepmother Cecelia in order to get back with her husband Marcus - the Curse of the Poisoned Heart, which prevents two people who love each other from being near each other without dying, forcing Cecelia to flee to Wonderland for her family's safety. Then after Anastasia drowns while trying to save Ella from falling through a crack in the ice, Rapunzel proceeds to be very cruel to not only Ella, her stepdaughter, but also to TheUnfavorite daughter Drizella, whom she thinks doesn't remember or love her, and has her husband killed because he managed to rescue Ella but not Anastasia.

** In "Literature/TheRoseTree", the stepmother kills her stepdaughter out of pure jealousy of her beauty, [[ImAHumanitarian cooks the body]], and serves the dish to her husband. This is the same story as the Grimms' "The Juniper Tree," just with the child [[GenderFlip changed to a girl]] and tree undergoing an AdaptationalSpeciesChange. In most versions, the child [[UnexplainedRecovery gets better.]] (The half-sibling in both this story and "The Juniper Tree" is invariably on good terms with the stepchild.)

* A downplayed GenderFlipped example in ''Fanfic/BastardHarryPotter''. Even though Jonathan Alien was understandably unhappy with the birth of his stepson Gil (after his wife’s brief affair with [[Literature/HarryPotter Gilderoy Lockhart]]), he brings him up properly, pays for his education, and gives him a dangerous but interesting and well-paid job. Then it gets subverted when Gil gets stuck in another time without a hope of return – and guess [[RealMenHateAffection which member of his family]] he misses most.

* ''Fanfic/DannyPhantomStranded'' {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Jean-Luc Bevier has a very strained relationship with his stepdaughter, Star Strong, who resents him for seducing her mother Stella while the latter was married to her father. While Jean-Luc himself seems to be indifferent to Star and tolerates her for her mother's sake, he is not abusive to Star nor goes out of his way to make her miserable, seemingly being content with staying out of her way. He's also willing to punish his daughter, Colette, when she goes too far with her bullying of Star.

* A GenderFlipped example with Dean from ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService''. He has no problem threatening Eggsy, making good on said threats, or saying lewd things about Eggsy's mother to his face.

* In ''Film/{{Rags}}'', Charlie's stepfather Arthur is a GenderFlipped version of the archetypal stepmother. Not only does he mistreat Charlie for the sake of his own sons, but he seemingly has no respect for Charlie's dead mother either, selling her piano to buy a karaoke machine and then planning to sell her restaurant as well.

* ''Literature/TheOgreDownstairs'': [[GenderInvertedTrope Gender-Inverted]] with the "Ogre", as the children call their new stepfather. Also zig-zagged; while he and his wife have [[ParentsAsPeople realistic relationship issues and shortcomings as parents]], some of his alleged nastiness is hinted to be a [[DeadpanSnarker dry sense of humour]] that the children [[SarcasmBlind mistook for literal statements]], and he succeeds in improving his relationship with the kids after having a minor JerkassRealization.

** Gender Flipped with Zelena. Her adoptive mother is shown to have been a nice and caring woman, while the father was the drunkard who abused her.

* ''Fanfic/DannyPhantomStranded'' {{Downplayed|Trope}} and {{GenderInverted|Trope}}. Jean Luc Bevier has a very strained relationship with his stepdaughter Star Strong. Star resents Jean for seducing her mom Stella while she was married to her father. While Jean himself seems to be indifferent to Star and tolerates her for her mother's sake. However, Jean is not abusive to Star and does not go out of his way to make her miserable, seemingly his contempt at staying out of her way.

* A variation in ''Film/NotCinderellasType'', where both foster parents fit the bill, although the foster mom is the one who does most of the abuse. For bonus points, Indy's full name is "Cindy Ella Zimmerman", and her would-be boyfriend points out how appropriate it is, given her aunt and cousins' behaviors. In the end, it's also revealed that her aunt and uncle have ripped her off by appropriating the life insurance payout on her mother's fatal car accident, then also made Indy sell off everything she owned in order to "pay for the funeral costs" and then spent years making her feel like she was a burden on them, when, in fact, they were the ones profiting from her being in their "care". Fortunately, since this is a modern version, SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome when her would-be boyfriend's father (the school's shrink) finds out and informs Child Services. While the family hires a pricey attorney, there's way too much evidence for them to slide on everything they've put Indy through. The father then adopts Indy himself (she isn't squicked out by dating her new foster brother, though), and she [[HappilyAdopted finally learns what a real family is]], while her aunt and uncle are forced to pay her back everything they have stolen from her, plus extra.

* In ''Film/MirrorMirror'', Snow White's evil stepmother (played by [[PlayingAgainstType Julia Roberts]] of all people) is a semi-immortal being who seems to have murdered Snow White's father to gain control of the kingdom. [[spoiler:He's not dead - which, for Creator/SeanBean, is an accomplishment - and returns before the end of the film.]]

* Chet in the ''Series/{{Creepshow}}'' episode [[Recap/CreepshowS1E3ByTheSilverWaterOfLakeChamplain “By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain”]] is a ''very'' horrible stepfather to Rose and Joseph Phillips. He becomes the boyfriend of Leigh (Rose and Joseph’s widowed mother) and moves into their house solely to drink away the insurance payout she received when William (Leigh’s husband and [[DisappearedDad Rose and Joseph’s biological father]]) died, helped spread the rumours that Rose's late father William (who he callously mocks) was crazy, and treats the family like absolute crap. If that isn't enough, the audio commentary for the episode even implies that he harbors a sexual attraction to his teenage stepdaughter. Considering the style in which the story's author's [[Creator/StephenKing father]] wrote abusive parents, that last option is entirely possible.

* [[Myth/GreekMythology Hera]] sort of personified this trope. Hercules/Heracles is already mentioned, but Zeus's other godly and demi-god offspring, who were [[AnythingThatMoves quite numerous]], tended to face similar treatment. Her actions ranged from simple murder to transforming the children into mindless beasts and driving them and those around them into madness. The fact that Zeus is Hera's brother also makes her an Evil Aunt to all these children.

* Chet in the ''Series/{{Creepshow}} episode [[Recap/CreepshowS1E3ByTheSilverWaterOfLakeChamplain “By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain”]] is a ''very'' horrible stepfather to Rose and Joseph Phillips. He becomes the boyfriend of Leigh (Rose and Joseph’s widowed mother) and moves into their house solely to drink away the insurance payout she received when William (Leigh’s husband and [[DisappearedDad Rose and Joseph’s biological father]]) died, helped spread the rumours that Rose's late father William (who he callously mocks) was crazy, and treats the family like absolute crap. If that isn't enough, the audio commentary for the episode even implies that he harbors a sexual attraction to his teenage stepdaughter. Considering the style in which the story's author's [[Creator/StephenKing father]] wrote abusive parents, that last option is entirely possible.

* Chet in the ''Series/{{Creepshow}} episode “[[Recap/CreepshowS1E3ByTheSilverWaterOfLakeChamplain By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain]]” is a ''very'' horrible stepfather to Rose and Joseph Phillips. He becomes the boyfriend of Leigh (Rose and Joseph’s widowed mother) and moves into their house solely to drink away the insurance payout she received when William (Leigh’s husband and [[DisappearedDad Rose and Joseph’s biological father]]) died, helped spread the rumours that Rose's late father William (who he callously mocks) was crazy, and treats the family like absolute crap. If that isn't enough, the audio commentary for the episode even implies that he harbors a sexual attraction to his teenage stepdaughter. Considering the style in which the story's author's [[Creator/StephenKing father]] wrote abusive parents, that last option is entirely possible.

Subtrope of EvilMatriarch. Note that the MagicalNanny often becomes a stepmother via MarryTheNanny, but never a wicked one. DepartmentOfChildDisservices is a modern organized variation. Usually, SocialServicesDoesNotExist in stories with a WickedStepmother. Contrast GoodStepmother for the trope's logical antithesis. Often a staple of the CinderellaPlot. These stepparents can also be TheExsNewJerkass if the children's other parent is still alive. While close to an AlwaysFemale trope, there are occasional Wicked Stepfathers.

** That is not to say the figure of the WickedStepmother is foreign to Japanese folklore. The tale of [[https://justanimeforum.net/threads/japanese-culture-princess-hachikatsugi.5389/ Hachikazuki (the princess who had to wear a wooden bowl on her head)]] has the heroine driven from home by one after years of abuse.

** The Japanese folktale of "The White Bird Sister" has a DoubleSubversion. A feudal lord with a son and daughter remarries after his wife dies. The new stepmother turns out to be a loving mother to the children, despite having a daughter from her dead husband, and the family seems happy together. When the daughter is arranged to marry a neighboring lord, however, she cooks and murders the girl, sends her own daughter to take her place, and gives the son away as a slave to the other lord, revealing herself to be a WickedStepmother all along.

* ZigZagged in ''Film/{{Enchanted}}:'' the villain, Nerissa, is a WickedStepmother; but oddly her target is not her stepson, Prince Edward, but his betrothed, Giselle. Edward has spent years gallivanting around like a KnightErrant while Nerissa runs the kingdom, but now she's worried about him settling down. There's also a scene where Morgan complains about her father planning to marry Nancy because of this trope (given that [[MythologyGag Nancy's surname is]] "[[{{WesternAnimation/Cinderella}} Tremaine]]," that's understandable). Giselle, however, assures her that plenty of stepmothers subvert this trope. [[spoiler: Giselle herself becomes an aversion, as she ends up as Morgan's stepmother by the end.]]

* In ''Webcomic/{{Alice|1999}}'', Alice hates her father's new girlfriend, who ends up in this role in Alice's ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes-esque fantasy sequences. In actuality, the girlfriend is a fine woman (if soppy), while the normally amiable Alice is being a complete dick to her. Alice does have a FreudianExcuse for reacting in such a way; [[spoiler:Alice's birth mother divorced her father when she was young and her first stepmother, a GoodStepmother, died in a car crash, so Alice lost not one but ''two'' mothers]]. Learning to accept that Joan is not a WickedStepmother is part of Alice's CharacterDevelopment.

* Fitting if not the letter of the trope then definitely the spirit is the mother's boyfriend in ''Literature/You DontKnowMe''. In addition to the regular beatings, he heaps on the psychological abuse in droves. [[spoiler: If the boyfriend hadn't put John in the hospital, the mother would have married him, making him a full-fledged example.]]

* Fitting if not the letter of the trope then definitely the spirit is the mother's boyfriend in ''You Don't Know Me''. In addition to the regular beatings, he heaps on the psychological abuse in droves. [[spoiler: If the boyfriend hadn't put John in the hospital, the mother would have married him, making him a full-fledged example.]]

* ''Film/ATaleOfTwoSisters'' gives a [[DoubleSubvertedTrope double-subverted]] case, which is not made clear until TheReveal at the end. Eun-joo, the stepmother to Su-mi and Su-yeon, is initially presented as this because she clearly loathes them, treats them like annoyances, and at one point beats and locks Su-yeon in a wardrobe for supposedly killing her pet birds. [[spoiler:In reality, the Eun-joo seen throughout most of the film was Su-mi acting out her SplitPersonality of what she believes Eun-joo to be and Su-yeon was DeadAllAlong. The real Eun-joo seems to be a subversion, as she shows up to help Su-mi's father Moo-hyeon take her back to the institution and promises to visit her, but it is later revealed in flashbacks that Eun-joo was Moo-hyeon's mistress while he was still married, causing Su-mi and Su-yeon's mother to hang herself in a wardrobe, and when that same wardrobe crushed Su-yeon to death, Eun-joo [[MurderByInaction knowingly let her die]] to spite Su-mi for insulting her.]]

* ''WebAnimation/MangaWaido'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMlFSTNeIrM Rena]] became abusive towards her stepdaughter Yuuka after marrying Shinichi, even to the point of [[spoiler:locking her out of the house whenever her lover showed up.]]

** ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': Alicent Hightower channels the energy of this trope as an older adult but is also a more nuanced examination of it. On the surface, she is bitter, spiteful, paranoid and petty towards her stepdaughter, Rhaenyra Targaryen. However, it is not so simple because her suspicions about Rhaenyra not telling her the truth are correct. She is increasingly unhappy and lovelorn in her relationship with Viserys, but is still devoted to him, fussing over him and bearing him four trueborn children. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra (her BestFriend before Alicent's marriage) has been lying to her, to her father, and to the realm constantly for ten years, bearing three obvious bastards and having the gall to insult everyone's intelligence by calling them legitimate Velaryons. When she brings the matter to her husband, he tells her essentially to shut up, never speak of it again, and that to do so would be treason. By the time she confides in Larys Strong that she wants — no, needs her father back as Hand of the King, it looks less like a Wicked Stepmother and more like a put-upon wife who [[CassandraTruth needs someone, anyone to believe her when she tells the truth]]. Even before that, her trust in Rhaenyra was shattered when they were both still young adults by discovering she had lied to her about trysts with Daemon Targaryen and Criston Cole, which makes Alicent less inclined to trust that Rhaenyra won't act to remove Alicent's children with Viserys (her half-siblings) as potential threats to her power if she ascends the throne.

* In ''Girls Made of Snow and Glass'', a retelling of "Literature/SnowWhite", Mina doesn't start out as one -- while somewhat aloof and often busy with her queen duties, she shows her stepdaughter Lynet affection when she has the time and Lynet genuinely admires her -- but when Lynet's father passes on ruling duties of the southern territories from Mina to Lynet, Mina's lifelong insecurities and fears about being discarded when her beauty fades flare up and cause her to veer closer to this trope as she tries increasingly underhanded methods of seizing control of the southern territories back from Lynet. [[spoiler:She ultimately subverts this trope when she [[FaceRealization realizes]] that she really does love Lynet and saves her from being killed by her abusive father.]]
* An interesting spin happens in ''The Golden Bowl'' by Henry James (and the film it inspired of the same name). Maggie, the daughter of wealthy Adam, marries an impoverished prince, Amerigo. Maggie meanwhile thinks it would be a great idea to hook her widowed father up with her best friend Charlotte, thus making her best friend her stepmother. Neither Maggie nor Adam realizes, for a long time, that Amerigo and Charlotte are having an affair.

* Inverted in Denise Skelton's ''A Life of My Own'', where the stepmother, Liz, is the protagonist, and she is mistreated by her husband and tormented by her two ungrateful stepdaughters.

* In the ChivalricRomance ''William of Palerne'', [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent a wolf is really a prince enchanted]] by his Wicked Stepmother. A rare example of the stepmother getting redeemed, as she willingly turns him back by the end.
* In ''Wintergirls'', Jennifer is a more nuanced approach to this trope. She does try to love her stepdaughter Lia but gets snappish with her when she thinks Lia is being even the tiniest bit of a bad influence on her own daughter Emma. This isn't completely unreasonable, given Lia's crippling anorexia and self-harming habit.

* In ''Series/{{Gotham}}'', Oswald Cobblepot finds his biological father, Elijah Van Dahl, soon after losing his mother. The step-family is... less than friendly towards him. (Not helped by the fact that his treatment in Arkham Asylum made him seem... ''special.'') [[spoiler: It's later revealed that they are only after his inheritance, and since Oswald is Elijah's only real child, they (correctly) believe he is going to leave everything to Oswald. They try to get rid of him by revealing his past as a criminal (Oswald already told him ''willingly''), and Elijah's only reaction is that Oswald [[InsultBackfire was too modest about himself.]] Then they try to poison Oswald's drink... and Elijah drinks it instead. After the funeral, they decide to keep him as a maid, and plan to later fake his "suicide". This ends up destroying them, as Oswald finds the poison, snaps out of his brainwashing, murders and [[FamilialCannibalismSurprise cooks his step-siblings, feeds them to his stepmom]], and finally stabs her to death with a kitchen knife.]]

** ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': Alicent Hightower channels the energy of this trope as an older adult but is also a more nuanced examination of it. On the surface, she is bitter, spiteful, paranoid and petty towards her stepdaughter, Rhaenyra Targaryen. However, it is not so simple because her suspicions about Rhaenyra not telling her the truth are correct. She is increasingly unhappy and lovelorn in her relationship with Viserys, but is still devoted to him, fussing over him and bearing him four trueborn children. Meanwhile, her BestFriend and eventual stepdaughter Rhaenyra has been lying to her, to her father, and to the realm constantly for ten years, bearing three obvious bastards and having the gall to insult everyone's intelligence by calling them legitimate Velaryons. When she brings the matter to her husband, he tells her essentially to shut up, never speak of it again, and that to do so would be treason. By the time she confides in Larys Strong that she wants — no, needs her father back as Hand of the King, it looks less like a Wicked Stepmother and more like a put-upon wife who [[CassandraTruth needs someone, anyone to believe her when she tells the truth]]. Even before that, her trust in Rhaenyra was shattered when they were both still young adults by discovering she had lied to her about trysts with Daemon Targaryen and Criston Cole, which makes Alicent less inclined to trust that Rhaenyra won't act to remove Alicent's children with Viserys (her half-siblings) as potential threats to her power if she ascends the throne.