#once I noticed it in two separate miyazaki films I couldn't let it go

[myimaginationplain]

I wanna talk about the "niece x evil or otherwise unsavory distant uncle" trope, because it's something I've noticed to be surprisingly common (or at least it feels common, because once I saw it I couldn't stop seeing it.) As far as I've seen, the trope usually comes as a result of the uncle attempting to marry his niece in order to gain access to whatever power or wealth she is the rightful heir to.

Content warning for discussion of fictional incest, forced marriage, and grooming below the cut.

I've recognized this trope in:

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro ( Count Cagliostro attempts to marry his niece, Princess Clarrise, in order to reunify their sides of the family and steal "Cagliostro's lost treasure.")

Laputa: Castle In The Sky ( At some point I remember Colonel Muska implying that he would marry Sheeta, his distant relative and heir to Laputa and it's magic, if he had to. Although admittedly I don't remember the exact line, and it wasn't half as big a plot point as him capturing and eventually trying to kill her was. I'll have to revisit it. He definitely does make an unwarranted remark about her being pretty, though.)

A Series of Unfortunate Events (Count Olaf tries to marry Violet for the kids' inheritance. Thinking back this was probably the first time I was even consciously exposed to the trope.)

And a complicated, slightly off-kilter version of the trope can be found in A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones with Sansa Stark and Petyr Baelish. Now, although these two aren't blood related, he was a childhood friend of Sansa's mother Catelyn, who often described him as "like a brother" to her. And Petyr does legally become Sansa's uncle through his marriage to her aunt, Lysa. Like the previous three examples, Petyr is also aiming for access to some material gain (Sansa's claim to the North, a potential future claim the Vale, and most likely an eventual stake for the Iron Throne.) However, there's also an added sexual/romantic element, as Petyr projects his childhood infatuation with Catelyn onto Sansa, and is actively grooming her.

And now on the complete opposite side of the spectrum, I want to make an honorable mention of Mirabel and Bruno in Encanto. Now before anyone gets mad at me, I know; Bruno wasn't actually evil, he didn't want anything of Mirabel (least of all anything material,) and most importantly—they're not romantic in canon. They're perfectly platonic and familial within the film itself. But the reason I bring it up is because I wonder if part of the reason some read romance in their interactions is because of the shades of the trope these two have. The pieces are superficially there: an uncle who Mirabel is initially led to believe is wicked, a niece who has access to whatever it is said uncle wants (in Bruno's case, rather than anything material, what he really wants is to be welcomed back into the family.) Maybe, subconsciously, you could recognize the pattern and put said pieces together, even if they weren't meant to be. It's like an opposite side of the coin version of this trope.

Anyways, there are probably several other examples of this trope that I've either never seen, or simply can't remember. I'd like to know if this trope has a name, or if anyone can think of more examples.