Brothers and sisters are wonderful things. Really. Even in a Family of Choice.
You have the Cool Big Sis, who tends to be world-wise and often street-smart, looking out for those in her care.
You have Big Brother Instinct, who protects those who are younger and often weaker than you.
You have The Baby of the Bunch, who is usually The Cutie and often the sweet, innocent one.
But, let's face it, siblings fight. And when they do, be it Sibling Rivalry, or The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry, it can get ugly.
For that reason, we often have the Sibling Mediator to step in. Their place in the birth order is unimportant. It could be the eldest, the middle child, or the youngest, their job is to try to put an end to the fighting, or at least make sure that the bloodshed is kept to a minimum and that both parties part shaking hands and burying the hatchet... preferably somewhere other than their siblings' skulls.
They tend to be the more patient and understanding of the siblings in a group, often kindly and caring. They do tend a bit toward naivete, which keeps them from being the Cool Big Sis, and usually, since this is among siblings, there isn't a Team Mom, just a real Mom who would like peace in her house.
They might have some overlap with a Third-Party Peacekeeper, except that a Sibling Mediator is just as likely to be involved in or affected by things that caused their brothers and sisters to fight in the first place. Indeed, they might be the subject of or cause of the fight. Could be a Mature Younger Sibling.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Ah! My Goddess: Urd tries to be the Cool Big Sis, but her archnemesis seems to be none other than her Bratty Half-Pint half-sister, Skuld (though the fact that they're half-siblings never seems to be the cause of the friction). The chaos caused by the two of them is kept to a minimum by the middle sister, Belldandy, who is a Friend to All Living Things, and she often advocates for peaceful resolutions to the fighting, albeit sometimes that's by suggesting a contest to let them vent their frustrations in a more constructive way. Bell also took this position during a fight between Skuld and Keiichi's sister, Megumi (who, for all intents and purposes is Bell's sister-in-law, in fact if not in actual deed yet).
- Lucky Star: There are four sisters in the Hiiragi family. The story usually focuses mostly on the interactions of twin sisters Kagami and Tsukasa. Though twins, Tsukasa is often treated as The Baby of the Bunch and Kagami is the reliable sister. However, Kagami often fights with her college-aged sister, Matsuri. On one occasion, Matsuri sent a message to Tsukasa and Kagami, asking them to pick up ingredients for dinner, but Kagami didn't get the message. Matsuri tears into her sisters, and Kagami storms out to get the ingredients. Their eldest sister, Inori, chides Matsuri, saying, "Well, you could have handled that better!" Matsuri can only offer a dejected "I know." She clearly took it to heart, as when their parents return home, Matsuri shares credit for the meal with Kagami, saying she was the one who got the necessary ingredients.
- One Piece: Concerning the ASL Sworn Brothers: After the happy-go-lucky Determinator Luffy finally wins his way into stubborn, brooding Ace's heart, the bright-eyed but sensible Sabo, who had been Ace's best friend first, helps to balance the pair of them out. Ace and Sabo are both three years older, with Ace older by two months, making Sabo the middle sibling. Appropriately, he appears to have more good sense than the other two put together.
Film — Animated
- Brother Bear: Sitka is shown to be this to his younger brothers, Denahi and Kenai. Kenai, the youngest, likes to do things simply for fun or to mess with his brothers. Denahi, the middle child, often finds himself the butt of Kenai's jokes and isn't above teasing him (sometimes cruelly). Sitka, the oldest, is the most responsible of the three and is the one to break up their fights, not to mention being the sibling both Kenai and Denahi feel they can talk to. When he's killed, Tanana states that he left too soon, as neither of the younger brothers know what to do without him.
Literature
- The Belgariad: Belgarath and his daughter Polgara often quarrel with each other. In the prequel novels, it's revealed that Polgara had a twin sister, Beldaran, who would settle the conflicts between father and daughter, but Beldaran was only a mortal and died in childbirth, and without her, the rift between Belgarath and Polgara got wider.
- Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi: The kind and gentle Jiang Yanli is often the mediator between her hot-tempered younger brother, Jiang Cheng, and mischievous younger martial brother, Wei Wuxian (who is not officially adopted into the family, but she views as a brother nonetheless). In one instance, the two begin bickering over the courtesy name Wei Wuxian chose for their yet-to-be-born nephew. Jiang Yanli steps in, telling Wei Wuxian that Jiang Cheng had been the one to give her the idea of having Wei Wuxian pick in the first place. Their relationship is completely destroyed by Jiang Yanli's death, for which Jiang Cheng blames Wei Wuxian.
- Scrapped Princess: Of the Casull siblings, Shannon and Pacifica regularly get into spats over their clashing personalities, leaving it up to their eldest sister Raquel to mediate between them and to restore harmony in the trio.
- A Song of Ice and Fire: The three Lannister siblings are Cersei, Jaime, and Tyrion. Cersei and Tyrion hate each other. Jaime loves them both dearly, has a close bond with each (a little too close of a bond in Cersei's case), and tries to keep them from killing each other.
- A Wrinkle in Time: In the book, the Murry family has four children: Meg, her twin brothers Sandy and Dennys, and Charles Wallace. Meg has numerous problems at school due to her being too intelligent for the course material and being considered ugly/unattractive by others. The twins don't help much, stating that she should just ignore the insults (despite their not fully understanding what she's going through). Charles Wallace is the only sibling to encourage Meg to be herself and offer true advice, despite being the subject of as much ridicule as the rest of the family.
Live-Action TV
- Charmed (1998):
- In the first three seasons, middle sister Piper was the mediator between proud Prue and free-spirited Phoebe. Piper even invited Phoebe back to the Manor behind Prue's back upon Grams' death in the first episode because, while she knew Prue wouldn't approve, Phoebe needed to be back home and they needed to be together. While Phoebe found the Book of Shadows, the Charmed Ones may have never come together without Piper's mediation. She was even told when they were children that one of the things that makes her special is her ability to keep Prue and Phoebe from killing each other.
Piper: Please don't put me in the middle.
Prue: I'm not. You were born in the middle. - In Season 4, compassionate Phoebe acts as something of the mediator between Piper and Paige, since Piper, now more determined and less patient since stepping up as the eldest sister in the wake of Prue's death, is skeptical of having another sister, while Paige grew up an only child and is not used to dealing with sisters or magic. Phoebe is happy to have another sister and helps Piper accept Paige as one of them. This isn't as pronounced as with Piper in earlier seasons and doesn't last quite as long.
- In the first three seasons, middle sister Piper was the mediator between proud Prue and free-spirited Phoebe. Piper even invited Phoebe back to the Manor behind Prue's back upon Grams' death in the first episode because, while she knew Prue wouldn't approve, Phoebe needed to be back home and they needed to be together. While Phoebe found the Book of Shadows, the Charmed Ones may have never come together without Piper's mediation. She was even told when they were children that one of the things that makes her special is her ability to keep Prue and Phoebe from killing each other.
- Yellowstone: Lee Dutton, the eldest Dutton son, was the glue that kept the other Dutton progeny together, as he was respected by all of them (and more importantly, was respected by patriarch John.) His death in the first episode leads to the siblings fracturing, with Kayce forced to step in and try to bring them back together.
Visual Novels
- The Pirate's Fate: Queen Nakhta's plot is to resolve the Succession Crisis between her and her elder sister Bilba using a cursed crown that turns the wearer into her younger sister, but in some paths it's possible for a third party to wear it instead. If Morgana wears the crown she's able to mediate between her retroactive sisters, Roarkie, not so much.
Web Video
- The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Jane Bennet is the gentle eldest sister of three. Because she is admired by both Lizzie and Lydia, tries to see the good in everyone, and is a good listener, she is often the one who asks each sister to be more fair to the other when they argue. Most notably, she is the one who convinces Lizzie to finally watch Lydia's vlogs, which leads to a better understanding between them.
Jane: Lydia listens to you, to both of us. But sometimes I think that we forget to listen to her. You two have always been so alike.
Lizzie: What world are you living in?
Jane: One where I have two wonderful stubborn sisters who spend more time talking to thousands of people they've never met than to each other.
Western Animation
- Daria: Daria attempts to invoke this when her mother and her Aunt Rita begin fighting, Rita being the oldest child and favorite of Grandma Barksdale who got whatever she wanted from their mother and Helen being the middle child who became an overachiever in a desperate attempt to get some of the attention on her. Daria tries to call her Aunt Amy, the youngest sister who she admires and respects, to quell the fighting, little realizing or understanding until too late that all she'd done was pour gas on the fire. Amy herself usually avoids getting involved in her sisters' fights because she recognizes that she's really Not So Above It All. In the end, it is Daria and Quinn who end the fighting, by doing a spot-on imitation of the adult's childish behavior. It is noteworthy that Quinn decides to become this to herself and Daria, offering an olive branch after deciding that she didn't want her future relationship with Daria to be as ugly and vicious as their mother with her siblings. Daria notices and appreciates the effort, saying that the only weapon she'll use against Quinn will be her winning personality, and the only weapon Quinn can use is her devastating silent treatment. Quinn notes that she doesn't have a silent treatment, then realizes what Daria is getting at, and agrees to the terms.
- Family Guy: In "Seahorse Seashell Party", Meg's role as the Butt-Monkey in her family is shown to be necessary as when she stops putting up with their abuse, they start taking it out on each other, thus resetting the Status Quo by the end of the episode.
- The Loud House:
- Sometimes, Lincoln Loud tries to stop his sisters' fights — in "Space Invader", he makes it his mission to resolve Lynn and Lucy's quarrel, he solves a fight between the twins in "Baby Steps", and in fact, in "Brawl in the Family" he even takes his desire to solve his sisters' fights too far, with him accidentally making them worse and learning An Aesop about how sometimes when people are fighting, you should just leave them alone.
- In "The Boss Maybe", Leni is put in charge of her siblings, and so she has several newfound responsibilities, including resolving arguments between them.
- Steven Universe: Garnet mediates essentially every conflict in her Found Family. Especially between Amethyst and Pearl.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012): Leonardo, being the oldest and calmest of his brothers, is usually the one to settle disputes on missions... and also the one to remind Raphael to keep his anger in check. He's not above getting involved in arguments himself, but he's typically the one to end the argument or suggest a compromise.
- In Rise, Michelangelo becomes this due to his status on the team as The Heart. He hates seeing his family argue and always tries to find a way to make everyone happy again.