Notable Stepbrothers and Stepsisters in Fiction
We all know how Cinderella gave stepmothers a bad name, but this fairy tale also gave stepsisters a bad reputation. In most works of fiction, people expect some conflict between stepsiblings when their respective parents remarry. Some stepsiblings cannot get along but there are many others that become each other's greatest friends.
I never had stepsiblings, but I know there are many people that have them in their blended families.
Some stories feature two single parents that remarry and have a new baby, so we have a blended family with a stepchild and a half-sibling. This dynamic may be different compared to the one found between older stepsiblings.
Here I will share some examples of good siblings in blended family movies and TV shows:
FAMILY MOVIES AND TV SHOWS
Labyrinth - Sarah and Toby
A 16-year-old girl (Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly, Best Supporting Actress, A Beautiful Mind, 2001) is given 13 hours to solve a dangerous and wonderful labyrinth and rescue her baby brother when her wish for him to be taken away is granted by the Goblin King (David Bowie).
Sarah lives with her father, stepmother and baby half-brother in a suburban neighborhood. Her parents leave her to babysit little Toby while they go to party, so the plot mostly focuses on the children and Sarah's quest in the Goblin King's fantastic domain.
Stepsister from Planet Weird - Megan, Trevor and Ariel
A teenager (Courtnee Draper) discovers her mother's fiancé and her own future stepsister (Tamara Hope) are actually aliens hiding out on Earth.
Megan and Trevor's human mother falls in love with Ariel's alien father and they become stepsiblings.
Cinderella 2 (Dreams Come True) and 3 (A Twist in Time) - Cinderella and Anastasia
Dreams Come True - Jaq and Gus create a storybook based on three events that happened after the first film. The stories include Cinderella's opposition to the court's strict etiquette, Jaq's becoming human for a day, and Anastasia's redemption through love.
A Twist in Time - When Lady Tremaine steals the Fairy Godmother's wand and changes history, it's up to Cinderella and her mouse friends to restore the timeline and reclaim her prince.
In the first movie, Cinderella starts off oppressed by her wicked stepmother Lady Tremaine and her spoiled stepsisters Anastasia and Druzella. In the sequel movies after Cinderella marries the prince Anastasia has a redemption, and she is able to reconcile with Cinderella after escaping the toxic influence of her own mother and sister.
Disenchanted - Morgan and Sofia
It's been fifteen years since Giselle and Robert wed, but Giselle has grown disillusioned with life in the city. They decide to move their growing family to the sleepy suburban community of Monroeville in search of a more fairy tale life – unfortunately, it isn’t the quick fix she hoped for. Suburbia has a whole new set of rules and a local queen bee, Malvina Monroe, who makes Giselle feel more out of place than ever. Frustrated that her happily ever after hasn’t been easy to find, she turns to the magic of Andalasia for help, accidentally transforming the entire town into a real-life fairy tale, placing her family’s future happiness in jeopardy. Now, Giselle is in a race against time to reverse the spell and determine what happily ever after truly means to her and her family.
At the end of the first movie Enchanted, Morgan's father and Giselle got married and Morgan was an only child. In this sequel they had a new baby daughter, Morgan's half-sister Sofia.
Over the Moon - Fei Fei and Chin
An adventurous girl builds a rocket ship to meet a mythical goddess on the moon.
Fei Fei's dad and Chin's mom fall in love and the two children go on a journey to the moon to find the moon goddess.
Rugrats - Chuckie and Kimi
In the long-running animated series' second feature film, the focus is on the show's perennial second banana, Chuckie (Christine Cavanaugh). Dads Stu (Jack Riley) and Chaz (Michael Bell) are unexpectedly sent to Euro-Reptarland in Paris, where the animatronic dinosaurs they built for the amusement park are malfunctioning, much to the displeasure of manager Coco La Bouche (Susan Sarandon). When the dislikable Coco gets interested in the single Chaz, Chuckie and his friends swing into action.
Chuckie's dad and Kimi's mom fall in love when they meet in Rugrats in Paris: The Movie and the two children become stepsiblings.
Sofia the First - Sofia, Amber and James
A girl (Ariel Winter) must adjust to a life of royalty when her mother marries King Roland II (Travis Willingham) of Enchancia.
Amber and James's royal father and Sofia's mother fall in love and they become stepsiblings.
Phineas and Ferb - Candace, Phineas and Ferb
Phineas Flynn and his stepbrother, Ferb Fletcher, are determined to make every day of their summer vacation fun. They try building a full-scale roller coaster, becoming musicians, building a backyard beach, and traveling back in time to meet dinosaurs. Their family pet, Perry the Platypus, doubles as a secret agent and battles evil. Meanwhile, older sister Candace is tattling on them to Mom and Dad, though she can never seem to catch them in the act.
Phineas and Candace's mom marries Ferb's dad, and they are stepsiblings.
ADULT MOVIES**
Pan's Labyrinth - Ofelia and Pedro Jr.
In 1944 Spain young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and her ailing pregnant mother (Ariadna Gil) arrive at the post of her mother's new husband (Sergi López), a sadistic army officer who is trying to quell a guerrilla uprising. While exploring an ancient maze, Ofelia encounters the faun Pan, who tells her that she is a legendary lost princess and must complete three dangerous tasks in order to claim immortality.
Ofelia's mother married Captain Vidal, and she died after the birth of baby Pedro Jr.
Lights Out - Rebecca and Martin
When Rebecca left home, she thought she left her childhood fears behind. Growing up, she was never really sure of what was and wasn’t real when the lights went out…and now her little brother, Martin, is experiencing the same unexplained and terrifying events that had once tested her sanity and threatened her safety. A frightening entity with a mysterious attachment to their mother, Sophie, has reemerged. But this time, as Rebecca gets closer to unlocking the truth, there is no denying that all their lives are in danger…once the lights go out.
Rebecca and Martin share one mother and two different fathers. Both fathers were murdered by the same demon that is haunting their mother.
**Both adult movies mentioned above feature dysfunctional, absent or abusive parents, but the stepsiblings share a positive bond and support each other during the plot.
So far, it looks like the most common types of stepsiblings are brother and sister pairs or stepsisters and there are many older stepdaughters with a baby sibling. This list features only a few selected titles, but I am open to including others.
Think about what you see with these stepsiblings. Imagine what types of characters you want to see in future works. Please share your ideas in the comments below.
I never had stepsiblings, but I know there are many people that have them in their blended families.
Some stories feature two single parents that remarry and have a new baby, so we have a blended family with a stepchild and a half-sibling. This dynamic may be different compared to the one found between older stepsiblings.
Here I will share some examples of good siblings in blended family movies and TV shows:
FAMILY MOVIES AND TV SHOWS
Labyrinth - Sarah and Toby
A 16-year-old girl (Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly, Best Supporting Actress, A Beautiful Mind, 2001) is given 13 hours to solve a dangerous and wonderful labyrinth and rescue her baby brother when her wish for him to be taken away is granted by the Goblin King (David Bowie).
Sarah lives with her father, stepmother and baby half-brother in a suburban neighborhood. Her parents leave her to babysit little Toby while they go to party, so the plot mostly focuses on the children and Sarah's quest in the Goblin King's fantastic domain.
Stepsister from Planet Weird - Megan, Trevor and Ariel
A teenager (Courtnee Draper) discovers her mother's fiancé and her own future stepsister (Tamara Hope) are actually aliens hiding out on Earth.
Megan and Trevor's human mother falls in love with Ariel's alien father and they become stepsiblings.
Cinderella 2 (Dreams Come True) and 3 (A Twist in Time) - Cinderella and Anastasia
Dreams Come True - Jaq and Gus create a storybook based on three events that happened after the first film. The stories include Cinderella's opposition to the court's strict etiquette, Jaq's becoming human for a day, and Anastasia's redemption through love.
A Twist in Time - When Lady Tremaine steals the Fairy Godmother's wand and changes history, it's up to Cinderella and her mouse friends to restore the timeline and reclaim her prince.
In the first movie, Cinderella starts off oppressed by her wicked stepmother Lady Tremaine and her spoiled stepsisters Anastasia and Druzella. In the sequel movies after Cinderella marries the prince Anastasia has a redemption, and she is able to reconcile with Cinderella after escaping the toxic influence of her own mother and sister.
Disenchanted - Morgan and Sofia
It's been fifteen years since Giselle and Robert wed, but Giselle has grown disillusioned with life in the city. They decide to move their growing family to the sleepy suburban community of Monroeville in search of a more fairy tale life – unfortunately, it isn’t the quick fix she hoped for. Suburbia has a whole new set of rules and a local queen bee, Malvina Monroe, who makes Giselle feel more out of place than ever. Frustrated that her happily ever after hasn’t been easy to find, she turns to the magic of Andalasia for help, accidentally transforming the entire town into a real-life fairy tale, placing her family’s future happiness in jeopardy. Now, Giselle is in a race against time to reverse the spell and determine what happily ever after truly means to her and her family.
At the end of the first movie Enchanted, Morgan's father and Giselle got married and Morgan was an only child. In this sequel they had a new baby daughter, Morgan's half-sister Sofia.
Over the Moon - Fei Fei and Chin
An adventurous girl builds a rocket ship to meet a mythical goddess on the moon.
Fei Fei's dad and Chin's mom fall in love and the two children go on a journey to the moon to find the moon goddess.
Rugrats - Chuckie and Kimi
In the long-running animated series' second feature film, the focus is on the show's perennial second banana, Chuckie (Christine Cavanaugh). Dads Stu (Jack Riley) and Chaz (Michael Bell) are unexpectedly sent to Euro-Reptarland in Paris, where the animatronic dinosaurs they built for the amusement park are malfunctioning, much to the displeasure of manager Coco La Bouche (Susan Sarandon). When the dislikable Coco gets interested in the single Chaz, Chuckie and his friends swing into action.
Chuckie's dad and Kimi's mom fall in love when they meet in Rugrats in Paris: The Movie and the two children become stepsiblings.
Sofia the First - Sofia, Amber and James
A girl (Ariel Winter) must adjust to a life of royalty when her mother marries King Roland II (Travis Willingham) of Enchancia.
Amber and James's royal father and Sofia's mother fall in love and they become stepsiblings.
Phineas and Ferb - Candace, Phineas and Ferb
Phineas Flynn and his stepbrother, Ferb Fletcher, are determined to make every day of their summer vacation fun. They try building a full-scale roller coaster, becoming musicians, building a backyard beach, and traveling back in time to meet dinosaurs. Their family pet, Perry the Platypus, doubles as a secret agent and battles evil. Meanwhile, older sister Candace is tattling on them to Mom and Dad, though she can never seem to catch them in the act.
Phineas and Candace's mom marries Ferb's dad, and they are stepsiblings.
ADULT MOVIES**
Pan's Labyrinth - Ofelia and Pedro Jr.
In 1944 Spain young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and her ailing pregnant mother (Ariadna Gil) arrive at the post of her mother's new husband (Sergi López), a sadistic army officer who is trying to quell a guerrilla uprising. While exploring an ancient maze, Ofelia encounters the faun Pan, who tells her that she is a legendary lost princess and must complete three dangerous tasks in order to claim immortality.
Ofelia's mother married Captain Vidal, and she died after the birth of baby Pedro Jr.
Lights Out - Rebecca and Martin
When Rebecca left home, she thought she left her childhood fears behind. Growing up, she was never really sure of what was and wasn’t real when the lights went out…and now her little brother, Martin, is experiencing the same unexplained and terrifying events that had once tested her sanity and threatened her safety. A frightening entity with a mysterious attachment to their mother, Sophie, has reemerged. But this time, as Rebecca gets closer to unlocking the truth, there is no denying that all their lives are in danger…once the lights go out.
Rebecca and Martin share one mother and two different fathers. Both fathers were murdered by the same demon that is haunting their mother.
**Both adult movies mentioned above feature dysfunctional, absent or abusive parents, but the stepsiblings share a positive bond and support each other during the plot.
So far, it looks like the most common types of stepsiblings are brother and sister pairs or stepsisters and there are many older stepdaughters with a baby sibling. This list features only a few selected titles, but I am open to including others.
Think about what you see with these stepsiblings. Imagine what types of characters you want to see in future works. Please share your ideas in the comments below.
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