Definitely invoked by this Troper's family. I'm the middle child between the OnlyGirl and the Intellectually Gifted/Emotionally Stunted younger son. From being ganged up on and blamed for every misdeed in the house by my siblings from the age of four, to being ignored in favour of the gorgeous little girl and constantly reminded of how brilliant and gifted my younger sibling is, four years straight of chronic illness and a bout of severe depression couldn't divert attention my way. That said, considering I turned that around to get straight As through my last years of high school, into a top university and a highly competitive course, to be the most athletic, the best looking, the most popular, wordly and socially savvy and adaptable, as well as being singled out as charming, mature and emotionally intelligent - while my older sister is in a second rate school with a small, distant group of friends and has put on twenty kilos and the brilliant younger brother became so lazy he gets praised for merely ''passing'' a course, this troper isn't too disatisfied with how things turned out. Chip on my shoulder? What chip on my shoulder?

Intentionally invoked and then subverted in my family. Our mother was the middle child and very much suffered from this. So when she had children, she identified with her second son as a fellow middle child, even though being 8 years younger than our older brother, who lived mainly with his dad and only visited during the summer and at Christmas, and as our father's first born, he really functioned more as the eldest sibling with our mother's first son being more like a really important cousin as far as our relationship growing up went. But being identified as the middle, our mom always took special pride in his accomplishments and never wasted an opportunity to brag about him. Of course I, being the youngest, the only girl, and the only one of the three to be lucky enough to inherit our mom's tendency towards anxiety and depression was rather spoiled by our dad and always had the closest relationship with our mom.

A very odd version in my family of four. I'm the third and the only girl. My oldest brother has a learning disability that makes him short-tempered and unable to function in certain situations. My younger brother is a lazy slob who needs motivation to put his dishes in the dish washer. My other brother and I are the middles, and are wildly self-sufficient, (packed out own lunches from 1st grade onward, keeping the house clean if our parents cannot, etc.) are straight-A students, generally well-like by our peers, and volunteer. We get ignored mostly because our other brothers NEED more attention. As my mom said, "It's so nice I have two children I never have to worry about."

I'd call that more being ignored out of necessity then actual parental favoritism, so...Pseudo-Win?

Averted with this troper. I'm a well adjusted middle child.

As well-adjusted as you can be and still be trapped in TV Tropes. Middle of five, here.

This Troper has it bad. Every time the grandparents come over! My older sister looks so beautiful and so intelligent and mature, and little brother is just so darn cute and sweet, and I'm... the other one.

This Troper's sister sufferd this with our step-sisters who were young when they came into our family so our mum gave them alot of attention, and myself being disabled and needing to be taken to hospital alot was also paid plenty of attention. Now that our mother is pregnant, my sister fears she'll suffer this again.

This lurker's friends just had their third child. He is currently attempting to teach their second to say 'Marsha! Marsha! Marsha!' (their eldest isn't called Marsha, BTW)

This troper is the oldest, and is the most neglected. Her younger sister, the middle child, is the one pampered to due to mental retardation. Trope averted

In This Troper's family of three kids, the youngest brother seems to be the neglected one, while the middle child is always fawned over for being adorable. Trope averted?

Story of ThisTroper's cousin's life. Older brother plays football, lifts weights, handsome, but gets crappy grades; younger brother runs track, is also handsome, gets good grades, but hangs with a bad crowd and gets in trouble for sneaking out all the time; middle kid gets decent grades, has never done anything worth grounding over, and likes to paint. Between punishing and rewarding the two of them for their accomplishments and failures, his parents are usually too busy with them to notice their middle son, who regularly goes without stuff like meals because whoever was cooking forgot to fix him a plate, hasn't been able to participate in major school functions because there isn't enough money for all three kids to attend, and hasn't had a birthday involving his parents since he was eleven because they typically forget when it is. The rest of the family sees said middle-child cousin as TheWoobie, though, so he makes out like a bandit around the holidays.

This troper has this and she's only in a family of ''two'' kids. I'm the oldest, but my younger brother is pretty much spoiled rotten, and a brat to boot. The 'older sibling' in this case is my cousin, but we're pretty cool with each other. We both get annoyed with my brother, though.

The trope gets played with by this troper's family. The middle child is the one with the most mental problems and can't go to college and is on Social Security Income, so he gets a bit of attention and usually can't be left alone due to the need for assurance that the voices in his head are full of it. He also gets to go on vacations quite a bit with Mom. However, the oldest brother was a screw-up who ended up getting thrown out of the house after pulling too much crap on our parents (leaving the middle more of the oldest child) and this troper... okay, so the YoungestChildWins in this case, since she is attending a top research university, which is coincidentally why she can't usually go on the vacations her Mom takes her brother on; she is too busy studying for a science degree. (Mom still takes the troper out on vacation once in a while, and is planning something big and awesome when she graduates from university.)

Second of four here. A quiet artist, video game nerd and one-day IT programmer, stuck between two sisters who can't get enough of fashion and make-up (and who I believe will one day kill each other; they're too similar for their own good) and a littlest sis who's addicted to teh cute and actually gets along with me pretty well.

Sandwiched between two brothers, this tropette frequently gets hand-me-downs, can't have yearbooks or go on school trips, and frequently has to help out the slower sibling. Being in a family that prioritizes in the eldest son doesn't help, either.

Between a dead older brother, and an autistic younger sister, this quiet, sneaky, and manipulative troper is often overlooked. This suites her just fine, and aids her in her plans to take over the world.

Subverted with this troper. Although I'm the middle child, I'm much more mature and responsible than my older brother, and I get better grades. I've even been told, by both my parents and people outside my family, that my older brother looks up to me. So I'm kind of like the honorary oldest child.

This troper is the middle child. Older sis is fat lazy slob who's been divorced four times; has no money to pay her bills but has all the money in the world for tattoos, [=DVDs=], and eyebrow waxing; and is obsessed with professional wrestling. Younger sister is a size one on a fat day, has a child and a good job and lots of friends and admirers. Then there is the middle child, me. I'm just sort of.....there.

This troper's best friend is a victim of this. As the middle child of three girls, she is sandwiched between a know-it all older-sister who recently got into her top college, and a loud and obnoxious younger sister who steals their single mother's attention. She was just reunited with her father, though, and because of all the time she's spending with him, she seems to be much happier. The Troper in question is the eldest of another set of three girls, with a twelve-year difference between me and the youngest. The middle child, (troper's first sister) is a brilliant little girl with wicked math and reasoning skills. She's at the top of her class, but usually all parental attention goes to the youngest one, who is slightly hyperactive, and more than a little accident-prone. So I get PromotedToParent, and I make sure I don't ever favor one over the other, in order to avoid this trope.

Averted with me I'm the middle child in my family but I had a lot of health problems as a child, so I had to have more attention, these days we're treated somewhat equally, but my older sister and younger brother are generally talked about more but I'm okay with that as I don't like being the center of attention.

Averted in my family because the middle child is the only boy.

Same in my family.

This troper is the oldest in her family, and as such doesn't get this at home. But when she played the middle child in a play and as such was the middle child in the cast, the director kept forgetting to block her. It became a bit of a running gag among the cast.

This troper has this bad. I am the middle child of three girls. The oldest recieved quite a bit of attention, praise, and freedom, the last of which resulted in her wild high school days and subsequent dating issues that have netted her more attention. The youngest is the fashionista and drama queen who demands quite a bit of attention as well. Being rather quiet and self-sufficient, I often wound up neglected. I got fed up one day and walked into the middle of everyone and screamed. No one noticed. Story of my life.

*hugs*

This troper and his sister are both the middle grandchildren on her side of the family, with pretty much the same effects typically associated with being the middle children. They did try to hide it, but if you paid attention, it was pretty obvious they where less thrilled by my achievements than that of my other cousins.

This troper suffers from it despite being the ''eldest.'' The actual middle child is only a year younger than her, and we're both in our late teens so the age difference is pretty much negligible. This troper is BrilliantButLazy, and her parents are disappointed she doesn't have more drive to achieve. Her brothers (the middle child and the youngest) on the other hand, are just brilliant, and are the pride and joy of the family.

Played with in this troper's family. I am the middle child in my family, with an older sister and a younger brother. Since I have the mental disorder, I get the most physical attention from my parents. However, I also have the least mental attention. What I mean is that my parents try and avert this by trying as hard as possible to treat us the same. However, they haven't compensated for my mental disorder in doing this, so what works on my siblings doesn't work on me, but they don't seem to get that. At least I'm a better math and science student than my siblings...

This troper was told by an apparently GenreSavvy friend that this was why Troper thought she had depression. Of course, she also ignored the statement about how I felt like my friends (especially the aforementioned friend) didn't want me around, so her take on this probably isn't valid.

This troper knows a girl who says she has this. But her parents have tried again and again to reach out to her, but she just complains about how her parents don't care about her and how she hates them. It's all kinds of silly.

This troper's family inverts this: she's actually her parents' favorite despite being the middle child. My older stepsister and younger sister have both disappointed my parents in various ways (older one by marrying a douchebag who has forced her to abandon her former dreams and most of her old friends, younger one by embracing a rather rigid strain of Christian fundamentalism and becoming very judgmental toward the rest of us who don't agree). Since I'm the only one who hasn't made a mess of her life and still has a good head on her shoulders (according to them - not sure if I agree on that one) I tend to get the privileged treatment.

I have an extremely loving family, so whenever they bring this up, it's almost always for comedy. My older brother and younger sister never did very well in school. When I was younger, I told my mom that some of my classmates got money from their parents if they got A's. My mom said that was ridiculous, and that I didn't need to be rewarded for good grades because getting A's was like breathing. Then my sister, after a series of particularly bad grades, got a few B's on her report card. When we got home from school, there was a bouquet of roses on the table, a dinner celebration and wrapped presents for her. She looked very taken aback and glanced at me for help. I asked my mom why I, in all my years of getting straight A's, never got any celebration for it. In what sounded like very genuine defense, my mom pointed at a small box on the table and said, "But I bought you soap!" To be fair, the soap did smell like blueberries, which was delightful. And my sister and I still repeat that line when we need a laugh.

Played with in this troper's family. He is the middle child, but seeing as both other children were girls, he gained ''some'' distinction as the only son in the family. He's still the misfit of the family.

This troper feels like this sometimes with her two best friends, despite being the youngest and the tallest. Anytime I go anywhere with them, people look at them, not me. Beautiful, blonde, shy Alicia, quiet, tomboyish, gorgeous Amanda (who is the actual "middle-child"). I'm just... there. With my other two friends (who are actually sisters), I'm the eldest and the shortest and overlooked. Both of them are spectacular artists, though, but only the eldest is really known, and everyone loves her. She's a pretty tomboy who pulls of skinny jeans and a flannel shirt beautifully, while her sister is equally pretty and the eccentric girly half of their SiblingYinYang, who also draws a LOT. And then there's me. It happens anytime I'm with a group of friends: I get overlooked. On an intriguing note, I'm actually also the middle child (and only girl) in my family. I have a half-brother (who doesn't live with us and I've only met once) and a younger full-brother. And of course, guess who is favorited?

This troper is filled with this trope. I think the world hates me. Which made me decide I hate the world.

This troperette, the middle of three, is ''constantly'' criticized, and she can't seem to do anything without it being wrong, including having a no-second-chances policy regarding her ex who was constantly trying to make her give up her waiting-till-marriage philosophy. Her older sister? Does everything right. Her younger sister? Same. This troper has actually told her parents that she feels like she has this and was basically told that it was a myth and that she was being an overreactive bitch.

This troper has two sisters. His older sister gets good grades, is very good at drawing, and has many admirers while his younger sister is the sunshine of the family, and every bit the drama queen. He's just... there. In the corner. Probably doing something wrong again.

Let's see, this troper is a middle child, who has a "Princess" little sister, and an Only Boy!older Brother. She is almost always reminded that nothing she's done is as good as her older brother ), and that her little sister has all the talent in the family. It can get pretty annoying, and hurtful. Also, She's the [[UnFavorite in the family, her parents have "Forgotten" about her when she was out, and just never came to pick her up...even after three hours of waiting in the rain for them. No matter how many times this troper points this out, she just gets told that she's just a jealous bitch, and to get over herself.

You and I both need a hug.

This troper is a middle of four, but sometimes it feels like I'm a full middle child. I'm the least like the rest of my siblings, with them all being sporty and artsy and me, well. Luckily, it's a subversion, because her dad is too smart to let me fly under the radar

This troper's older brother is a charismatic TeenGenius, and her younger sister is mentally ill, which naturally draws everyone's attention to her. And this troper is... just there. Although I know I have nothing to complain about.

This troper has gotten the shaft because of this. I'm the middle child and also the elder son. My sister is the super-intelligent, 3.98 GPA college grad while my brother is also very smart, better looking than me, and has just recently surpassed me in height as well. I'm a slightly above average student, who, by virtue of being the first born son, is expected to act years beyond my age (19) while simultaneously being told that I'm the low man on the totem pole (yes, below my brother) and the family disappointment. Thanks to some lowish grades that have come at bad times (when my siblings have gotten great grades at the same time), I've been pressured to go to two colleges in two years. Now, for my third year, I'm going to a different school far away from home just to get away from it all.

Inverted for This Troper, who is the eldest child but feels very overshadowed by his younger brother; who is more physically active, frequently seems to achieve something (to the extent that when we went out initially aiming to celebrate the completion of a two-year project by me, it ended up as celebrating another of his), and mere days after I got my degree result I saw ''his picture on the back of a bus''. And he's nearly as tall as me, too. Somewhat one sided in that Mum and Dad say they don't favour one over the other, and I know they're telling the truth, but it's still pretty damn difficult for me ''not'' to feel that I'm second best most of the time.

This troper has this one in spades. Third of five children with huge gaps between the other two sets of kids (older two are five and four years older respectively, younger two are five and a half and seven years younger respectively, so I never really connected with either duo that well.) First kid was the snarky, sour, cynical, bullying, annoying one-but he was smart, the oldest and all, so it was okay for him to act that way. Second brother was the popular, athletic one that all the girls liked-he was quite rude and mean as well. Fourth sibling is the only girl in the family, was sweet and pretty and a social butterfly (eventually got into drugs and drinking and is now a bitch to msot everyone but me, fortunately). Youngest sibling was the baby with the learning disability and the hyperactivity and the need for all kinds of counseling and medication and such (he's gone from being chubby to rail thin to obese in just a few years, once picked all the hair off his head and his eyelashes as well). That left me, the fat, quiet, shy nerd who always did well in school-my academics were about the only thing that singled me out. I was teased mercilessly by my older brothers (and the grandmother that lived with us-she hated me for some reason I was never able to understand, and my parents never believed me until age 10, when they caught her swearing at me and calling me a waste of space. She calmed down considerably after that as she was dying slowly and painfully, which made me feel really sorry for her. I helped her out a ton afterwards until she died six years later, and she eventually apologized in the end. Still love her, just wish I could understand why she treated em that way.) My younger siblings were more or less my responsibility, not my brothers-they were able to go out with their friends and such whenever they wanted, while I had to look after my sister and little brother after school all the time (I had few friends myself, as I'm not that social and my brothers mocked me and whatever my friends got up to pretty much all the time, so I gradually grew more and more distant from others as a result.) I was forgotten at church several times by my mother, my birthday was forgotten by my father a few times (and at least three times he swiped my birthday money from my other grandparents to buy cigarettes), and if I needed to be picked up somewhere or dropped off, my parents would take all the time in world with me, leaving me sitting at my high school job for two and a half hours once (as opposed to the other four, who would be taken somewhere immediately, and were taken seriously in such matters.) My brothers and I shared a huge room, of which I was relegated to my dumpy little bed in the corner and the few books and toys that I owned on top of my dresser-they got the video game systems, the couch and recliner, the computers and the desks and all the shelving stuff and closet space to themselves. They had tons of clothes, I had ragged hand me downs and at one point owned a grand total of maybe two pairs of pants with holes in them and one nice pair for church (the others all had massive dressers spilling clothes everywhere, big piles of them.) My mother forgot to get me new shoes for two years in a row once when I was a kid-I'd gone from size 8 to size 11, and though I complained about how much my feet were hurting, she ignored me. The list goes on and on...Yeah, I have plenty of stories on this one, could keep going for hours but this has become a huge wall of text-suffice it to say, I am quite easily forgiving and love my family immensely, who all kind of realize what jerkasses they were now and usually treat me kindly now-helps that I'm the only one to have a kid of my own...

This troper is the only guy sandwiched between two girls, with each sibling spaced three years apart. The older one is a cheerleader in her last trimester of college, and the younger one is in her high school's soccer team. It's not being the middle child that bugs me, but the fact that I'm the only guy, even if that is what sets me apart. Of course, my good grades also set me apart from the two, and in some ways I behave better than them. When we were growing up, our parents treated us more or less equally, anyway. Trope averted, I guess.