165.190.163.203
Since: Dec, 1969
Oct 24th 2010 at 6:03:12 PM
•••
Lale: The fact is, this *IS* a Stock Phrase; it's appropriately listed on that index. If we can't use this wording (which IS used enough in media to qualify as a Stock Phrase trope), what wording can we use? Doesn't that solve the supposed controversy of having another page that describes this type of relationship?
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shimaspawn
MOD
Since: May, 2010
Oct 24th 2010 at 6:13:56 PM
•••
The Stock Phrase is a different trope. If you want to YKTTW it go ahead. It is not this trope however and it was ruled during trope repair where we cleaned things up that those examples don't belong here. This is a trope about the actual relationship. NOT about the stock phrase.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
shimaspawn
MOD
Since: May, 2010
Sep 13th 2010 at 9:18:38 PM
•••
* Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple has a famous and hilarious scene
of Miu giving a frantic response to Kisara's insinuations that Miu is lonely because Kenichi is absent. "He's more like a little brother...
]]
Edited by shimaspawn
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
-Philip K. Dick
The following examples have been removed from the page on the basis that we were unable to determine their validity. If you know their validity to the trope as it is currently defined, please re-add them. Read the definition carefully first.
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Anime and Manga
of Miu giving a frantic response to Kisara's insinuations that Miu is lonely because Kenichi is absent. "He's more like a little brother...- Moemi, from Video Girl Ai, thinks of Yota like a brother, and so she knows she can tell him that she's got a crush on his best friend. Pity he was about to confess his own feelings for her. He gets in a similar situation later, where he admits that he loves Ai, but isn't necessarily in love with her.
- The "Egypt, Greece and Rome" section of Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix series applies this trope in "Greece" and "Rome", particularly odd since the protagonists married in the "Egypt" section.
- In Fruits Basket, Yuki decides Tohru is like a mother to him after he moves on from the Love Triangle.
- This also tends to come off as a huge Wall Banger, along with having a bunch of Unfortunate Implications of Yuki's idea of a mother-son relationship.
- Though Your Mileage May Vary on the Wall Banger part, depending on which side of the shipping war you're on.
- This also tends to come off as a huge Wall Banger, along with having a bunch of Unfortunate Implications of Yuki's idea of a mother-son relationship.
- In one episode of Princess Tutu, a woman suddenly appears who appears to be very close to Fakir—kissing him on the cheek and even getting him to smile. Ahiru and her friends freak out over the idea of Fakir having a girlfriend, but she quickly puts them at ease. She and Fakir were childhood friends, and she became a Big Sister/Mother figure to him after the deaths of his parents.
- Gunslinger Girl. The pairing of handler and cyborg girl is nicknamed "fratello" as they're "like siblings". However due to their conditioning most of the girls (notably Henrietta) have serious romantic crushes on their older male handlers. At one stage a normal girl notices Triela's tendency to Luminescent Blush around her handler Hillshire and calls her on it.
Hillshire: "Say, what did she mean by we should 'talk about love?'"Triela: "I think she's got the wrong idea about us. We don't need to talk about love. We're fratello."
- On the terrorist side there's also Franco and 'Franca'.
- I can't believe Kaede from Shuffle! isn't here yet. In the anime, it's the one-sided veriety, which appears to annoy her to no end. And by that I mean crazy.
- In Eyeshield 21, Mamori, who treats Sena like her son, cheerfully assumes Suzuna feels the brother-sister thing toward Sena. Suzuna indicates that she...doesn't.
-
Negi and Asuna in Mahou Sensei Negima though fall straight into Like Brother And Sister and there is a page in the manga calls out this argument. [[/strike
Comic Books
- DC Comics: Captain Boomerang II and Supergirl.
- This is a weird one, while they both claim that neither felt romantic feelings for one another, when right after saying that she tackle hugs him, puts her face right up close to him and says "You know if anything weird happens and you de-age..." followed by him having a look of great struggle on his face saying "Evil, Evil girl" you start to wonder if it's because they don't see each other that way or if it really IS the age thing
- Let's not forget Dick Grayson (
RobinNightwingBatman?) and Donna Troy (WondergirlDarkstarTroiawhatever).- DC Nation and JLA Watchtower crank this one Up To Eleven. Flashback scene here and here. Worth it to Google a Greek and Rom dictionary.
- DC Nation and JLA Watchtower crank this one Up To Eleven. Flashback scene here
- Justice Society Of America: Atom Smasher and Stargirl were somewhere between this and eventually hooking up for much of the run, but were eventually revealed to be in love with each other. Because of the age difference, Atom Smasher was ultimately coerced by the elder members into announcing this trope verbatim.
- In UltimateSpider-Man, after Gwen Stacy found out that Peter is really Spider-Man she sat down with Mary-Jane and reassured her that Peter was like "My little super hero brother" and MJ had nothing to fear about Gwen getting between them (this was a deliberate subversion of the famous Peter/Gwen/MJ love triangle from the original which ended when Gwen was killed by the Green Goblin). Gwen is then immediately eaten by Carnage.
- Then things happened, MJ dumped Peter and now Gwen and Peter are dating.
Film
- Disco Pigs. Runt wants to stay friends, so Pig gets violent.
- Used literally in the original Star Wars trilogy.
- In Zack And Miri Make A Porno, Zack and Miri have one of these kinds of friendships — until their crushing poverty leads them to decide to try and make a porno together...
- Possibly subverted in Ronja the Robber's Daughter, based on a book by Astrid Lindgren. The possible subversion since Ronja and Birk are only around 10 years old so there's no romance... yet. Lampshaded by Birk's mother in one scene:
Undis: What do you have in cahoots with her?Birk: She is my sister.Undis: Sister? (snickers) Well you know how that's going to turn out in a few years.
- Inverted in the movie Kissing Jessica Stein where the titular Jessica gets smitten over a personal ad, discovers that the author is a bisexual woman and attempts a romantic relationship, only to discover that they make better best-friends than they do lovers.
- Spoofed in Love And Death, where Boris says of his actual brother, Ivan: "Don't get me wrong, I love him like a brother. Just not one of mine."
- Johnny Depp, when speaking about the relationship between Alice and the Hatter in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, invoked this trope. Doesn't stop the shippers.
- It doesn't help that the pairing was apparently canon in the original script.
Literature
- Demon Ted and DeMonica from Piers Anthony's Xanth series tend to act like siblings. However, this may not last, considering that the author has paired up every other character in the series and people have been matchmaking for them since they were three. (Not fanshipping. Actual book characters have done this.)
- Ted and Monica seem more like they're headed the route of Victorious Childhood Friend.
- Harry Potter: Harry assures Ron in the seventh book that he only loves Hermione like a sister, after... well, that would be telling.
- Though it was clearly more about Harry's inexplicable need to appease Ron no matter what than about any actual feelings.
- "Inexplicable"? Did you forget that Ron had just seen a vision of Harry and Hermione as a couple, obviously meant to make him turn against Harry?
- Either way, it was still more about Harry and Ron's relationship than Harry and Hermione's.
- If Harry and Hermione are siblings then where is the sibling rivalry?
- Not all siblings fight or treat each other like crap.
- "Inexplicable"? Did you forget that Ron had just seen a vision of Harry and Hermione as a couple, obviously meant to make him turn against Harry?
- Interestingly, one of the more persistent rumours around the internet was that the "next book" (first Half-Blood Prince, then Deathly Hallows) would be called "Harry Potter and the Pillar of Storge". J.K. Rowling was scathing.
- Though it was clearly more about Harry's inexplicable need to appease Ron no matter what than about any actual feelings.
- Should be mentioned just for completeness sake: Completely and utterly inverted in The Egyptian. When Sinuhe calls someone "my sister" that means he is heads over heels in love (as was the egyptian custom) it also means that said woman is about to die very soon but that's a different matter.
- In the Circle Of Magic series, this is the explanation for why none of the main characters are sexually interested in each other. They call each other foster siblings.
- At the beginning of Mansfield Park, Sir Thomas Bertram is reluctant to adopt his niece for fear of Kissing Cousins. His meddling sister-in-law Mrs. Norris believes raising them like brother and sister will actually be their greatest protection against that trope. She's wrong.
- It's amazing — you can actually hear Mr. Knightley's heart break when Emma gives him this line when they're about to dance in Emma. *
- In Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson novels, Mercy's love triangle with Samuel and Adam is resolved when Samuel, a werewolf, is forced to admit that his wolf side sees Mercy this way, not as a potential mate.]]
- There's a bizarre, amusing variant mentioned in the Doctor Who Expanded Universe novel EarthWorld: Anji considers the Doctor to be like a sister to her. No, he hasn't regenerated into a woman, but he's the Eighth, who's just shy of Camp Bisexual, at least in the novels. She considers him to be quite nice to look at but not her type, and he very rarely seems to fancy anyone. He does kiss her on the lips later in the book, but that's because he acts as if he were Raised by Wolves and has No Sense of Personal Space. And he opens up to her emotionally perhaps a bit more than he does to his Also-Not-Exactly-Heterosexual Life Partner, Fitz.
-
In Charles Dickens' David Copperfield, the titular character resigns himself to the fact that he and his childhood crush Agnes are destined to only love each other like siblings rather than like lovers or, heaven forbid, like husband and wife. Their friendship continues even after his marriage to someone else. However, they do eventually end up marrying, after the death of his wife,making this ultimately a case of Just Friends.
Live Action TV
- 7th Heaven: When Annie tries to reassure Eric that Robbie and Lucy would never get together since they're like brother and sister (because Robbie's been staying with them like one of the family), Eric sadly reminds her that they technically aren't brother and sister... but suggests adopting Robbie to secure that loophole. Then, however, there would be the possibility of Not Blood Siblings.
- Wallace and Veronica on Veronica Mars are best friends, and never even hint at the desire for a romantic relationship. At one point her father and his mother begin dating, which causes a few awkward moments. However, this clears up soon and they begin joking about who gets the top bunk should their parents marry.
- The title character on Hannah Montana made a comment like this to her friend Oliver. "I love you like a brother, or a pet goldfish. I'd cry if I had to flush you down the toilet, but I don't wanna kiss you."
- Also parodied in one episode where Jackson pretends to be dating Hannah because he enjoys the perks of publicity. In the end, he finally admits, "I do love Hannah Montana, but...more like a sister."
- This trope is one facet of the relationship between Kara Thrace and Lee Adama in Battlestar Galactica. Like siblings, they bicker, argue, and even fistfight. (Unlike siblings, there's also a definite sexual/romantic dynamic.) Their strong love and care for each other go largely unspoken, but are never in doubt; this connection seems to be even deeper than friendship. Kara's relationships with Lee's family add to the siblingesque factor. Pre-series, Kara was engaged to Zak, Lee's (now-deceased) younger brother; their father, Admiral William Adama, has stated on numerous occasions that Kara is like a daughter to him.
-
In the first season of Angel The Series, Angel several times says things to the effect of "she's not my girlfriend, she's family" about Cordelia. Oddly enough, two seasons later they were the Official Couple.-
Later invoked by Wesley, referring to Fred, after she had gotten together with Gunn.Wes: Charles, if you ever do anything to harm her...Gunn: What are you, her brother?Wes: (Despondently) Apparently.-
They, too, got together. Joss is a strange man.
-
-
Xander and Dawn got together in Season 8. Justified in Dawn's case has she always had a crush on Xander, but Xander's attitude toward her was generally that of a older brother. Joss is REALLY a strange man.
-
- This is also the relationship of Xander and Buffy on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, though one-sided for the first two seasons (Xander's in love with Buffy during this time).
- Xander and Willow are like this for the first two seasons. They become attracted to another in Season Three, then go back to being this forever.
- From Xander's POV, yes, as he never returned Willow's feelings until season 3, though he was aware of them. From Willow's POV, she goes from hopeless crush on Xander to Like Brother and Sister after she starts her relationship with Oz, then to feeling romantically attracted to both Xander and Oz, and then finally choosing Oz after it all blows up in their faces.
- Xander and Willow are like this for the first two seasons. They become attracted to another in Season Three, then go back to being this forever.
- The Middleman features this relationship between the titular Middleman and heroine Wendy—unusually, they have no UST—and the Official Couple is the Middleman and Wendy's roommate Lacey. Wendy picks up a boyfriend of her own in the last four or five episodes of season 1.
- In the first episode of Reno 911!, Weigel describes the relationship between her and Dangle as "like a brother and sister, except a brother and sister that have sex."
- Smallville. Primarily between Clark and Lana. It frequently wavers between this and a real relationship, often in a blatant attempt to toy with those who have their hearts set on the Fan Preferred Favorite match-up.
- Another example is Clark and Lois, who, up until the Season 8 Retool, seemed to regard each other as the barely tolerable sibling who you'd come through for but couldn't stand to be around. In fact, Word of God has them deliberately written this way...and then you remember how Clark Kent and Lois Lane end up...
- Most people interpret the relationship between Tony and Kate in NCIS as this - while Tony is aware of Kate's attractiveness, he never seemed one tenth as interested in her as he is in Ziva. Of course, Your Mileage May Vary.
- Apart from imagining her naked, but then again he does that to everyone.
- Although Handsome Lech Tony comes onto Kate a good deal, towards the end of the second season it's obvious through comments he's made that Tony has no serious expectation of sleeping with her and their relationship has taken on a sibling aspect, e.g. the "Are not!" "Are too!" banter between them in "SWAK".
- NCIS' parent show, JAG, used this as well. Harm and Mac are a classic case of Everyone Can See It (even them), but if you ask Harm, he's like her brother. Mac is a little more honest, and admits that they're not Like Brother and Sister, but then again he's also Not Her Boyfriend.
- Chiana and Crichton, at least from his point of view. She does come on to him - more than once - but in fairness it's hard to think of a crewmember she doesn't come on to at one point or another.
- Purportedly the actors in Fringe for Olivia Dunham and Peter Bishop are acting with this trope in mind, in the desperate attempt to forestall writers from pairing them off romantically.
- It doesn't appear to be working.
- Invoked by some areas of Stargate SG-1 fandom about the non-canon Daniel Jackson and Samantha Carter pairing, which they refer to as "incest."
- In a Freaks And Geeks episode, Cindy Sanders invokes the one-sided version to Sam, adding to the blow by characterizing him as the "sister".
- Morgan and Garcia have this kind of deep affection on Criminal Minds.
- Doctor Who: After having Martha, Rose and Grace as companions, each of whom fancied the Doctor, he ended up with this type of relationship with Donna Noble. He did have to specify this at the beginning of their official travels, as he had been trying for this with Martha but unfortunately, ended up leading her on.
- "So you're together, but you're not 'Together'?" "No, we're not even the same species, there's probably laws against it."
- Rose's relationship was complicated, as she had a substitute-father relationship with the Ninth Doctor, but when he regenerated into the Tenth Doctor it became one of the only near-literal cases of star crossed lovers. Then she was Put on a Bus to another dimension.
- Ted and Melody were like this on Hey Dude.
Music
- The singer of Blue Öyster Cult's Eyes on Fire laments that the woman he USTs for sees him like this, and not, as the refrain goes, with "hungry eyes, burning with love and desire."
Video Games
- Legend of Dragoon's Dart and Shana. In fact, Dart says it so many times, he's a bit oblivious to the fact that Shana wants him, even after 3 disks into the game! To his credit, he does manage to figure out that he loves her romantically sometime after she gets kidnapped the second time. This is made clear towards the end of the second disc, where he actually states that he no longer thinks of her as a little sister.
- The kiss they share at the very end of the disc kinda solidifies Dart's new mindset, too.
- Mega Man and Roll in Mega Man Legends (compared to the original Mega Man and Roll, who actually are brother and sister, and their .EXE counterparts, who are usually a case of Will They or Won't They?). It may be a little one-sided, though, as Megs seems to enjoy peeping at Roll in the bath...
- This appears to be the most canonical interpretation of Jonathan and Charlotte's relationship in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. Could be taken either way, really, but you'd think if they really loved each other romantically, Jonathan wouldn't tease Charlotte by calling her a kid, or at least she wouldn't get as angry at him about it as she does.
- Surprisingly, used in the original To Heart Eroge, with the Official Couple, no less! After finally getting Akari into his bed, Hiroyuki is mortified to discover that he can't get it up, because he sees her more as a little sister than as an actual woman. Can ultimately be subverted, as the choice of whether or not to get over this hang-up lies with the player. But not until after Hiroyuki spends three days moping over his... condition.
- In To Heart 2, Takaki sees Konomi and Tamaki as his little and big sisters, respectively. Initially.
- Star Ocean: Till the End of Time's Fayt Leingod and Sophia Esteed were raised together, to the point that neither could even think of having a relationship with each other - Sophia takes note of it in an optional conversation on more than one occasion.
- Well, until near the of the game, where one event can and will shoot that idea down- and neatly locks them in as a couple. (Alternatively, it'd shoot the couple in the foot if Sophia's Relationship Value for Fayt is low enough.)
- Vaan and Penelo from Final Fantasy XII. Their relationship evolves slowly after the game's conclusion, as they eventually become partners in
crimesky pirating, and they eventually kiss in the secret ending of Revenant Wings - Senel and Shirley in Tales Of Legendia. Aside from a minor (and quite temporary) subversion, the writers pretty much followed the dusty old recipe for this trope to the letter.
- Shiki and Akiha, except they really are (adoptive) siblings. It's only really applicable on Shiki's side of things and he points it out quite explicitly in Kohaku's route, where she tries and fails, because she is scary as hell.
- The main character and Imoen fulfill this role in the first Baldur's Gate. In the second, they're half-siblings—and the fans still made a mod to ship them.
- In Dragon Age: Origins, a female Mage PC has this relationship with Jowan, who's the player's friend no matter what gender. He even specifically states that he sees you more as a sister.
- He does, however, start saying that if you had maybe shown some interest, something might have happened. This in front of his true love.
- Subverted in Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn. Sothe is said to see Micaiah as a little sister at times... seems to be headed this way, but then again, it's Fire Emblem, a series known for Brother–Sister Incest... and lo-and-behold, keep Sothe and Micaiah's A-support for the entire game, and they'll end up as Victorious Childhood Friends.
- Lucca says this of Crono while mulling over his death.
- Fans of The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess who dislike the pairing of Link with his childhood friend Ilia will often invoke this trope. The game itself leaves it very ambiguous either way.
Webcomics
- Davan and Aubrey in Something Positive. Davan and Peejee's relationship is currently in Just Friends mode. However Word of God (or at least Word of Cat) is that this was just to wind up the people who kept asking if they were going to get together, and they're also Like Brother and Sister. (Davan's father even referred to Pee Jee as his favorite child in one strip.)
- Max and Em from Striptease.
- Petria and Robyn from The Phoenix Requiem.
- In Sluggy Freelance Torg and Gwynn admit to their psychiatrist that they feel this way about each other. Though Torg stumbles over it, because he also admits he thinks Gwynn is hot. The two sound bad said back-to-back.
- Peanut and Grape from Housepets.
- Scott Ramsoomair has said at various times that Leo and Aeris of VG Cats have a relationship akin to stepsiblings, even though they aren't related; however, that hasn't stopped anyone (including Ramsoomair) from putting them together.
Western Animation
- Invoked by the writers of the animated Teen Titans. Which pairing, you may ask? Robin and Raven, Cyborg and Raven, Beast Boy and Raven... All of the above! And then some! (Basically everyone except Robin and Starfire, and Kid Flash and Jinx.) Too late.
- Brandy And Mr Whiskers actually has 'Like Brother and Sister' in the theme song.
- After an initial bit of The Flash and Hawkgirl hitting on each other early season one, she got together with Green Lantern, then there was this whole mess with her turning out to be The Mole, then she left, then she came back and they pretty much settled into this trope - unusally, it seems entirely geniune and NOT just a cover up for UST, not that this stops the shippers.
- Actually it's completely one-sided. Flash was always the one hitting on Hawkgirl and to be honest she never encouraged it and clearly wasn't interested. Regardless, this trope still stands though as they do act this way later on.
- In Harvey Birdman Attorney At Law:
Birdgirl: You realize there's absolutely no chance we'll be kissing, right?Peanut: Yeah, d'uh, of course; you're like my sister. (pause) Which given a little thought could be a very hot concept.
- The "Ember Island Players" episode of Avatar The Last Airbender has a play about the series so far, full of Character Exaggeration and false information. In it, Katara states several times that she loves Aang like a younger brother, and wants to be with Zuko. None of the three are happy about it. A large part of the episode was designed as a Take That! against the then out of control shipping, especially the Zutara pairing. The few fanfics that didn't either kill Aang or make him out to be an immature brat who was "obviously" no good for Katara went with the "brother and sister" angle.
- Shego and Drakken from Kim Possible act like big sister and little brother or a babysitter and child (despite the fact that Drakken is much older). However, they are implied to end the series as a couple.
- Also Kim and Ron for the most part before their Relationship Upgrade. As in the Avatar example above, a number of fan stories use this as their justification for why they shouldn't end up together, usually to make way for their preferred pairing.
- Nightcrawler and Shadowcat in X Men Evolution.
- Totally Spies had this. Sam was disappointed to learn that über-stud David thought the two of them were as close as brother and sister.
- Henry and June of Ka Blam!, though it's implied that June has a crush on Henry.
- Woody and Jessie from Toy Story are this. Not that this stops shippers.
- On The Simpsons
Lisa: I like you too, Milhouse. Just not in that way. You're more like a big sister.Milhouse: Why do people keep saying that?
BlueIce-Tea
Since: Dec, 1969
Jun 26th 2010 at 2:52:17 PM
•••
There is talk about rewriting/reworking this page to clarify the difference between it and The Straight Will And Grace. Contribute to the discussion here.
BlueIce-Tea
Since: Dec, 1969
Personally, I think this quote is slightly better than the current page quote, and probably more recognisable.
Anyone else for swapping it in?
'Crisis or no, nothing should interfere with tea!'