My lead characters are sisters and I definatly think they fit into the "hero worship" camp.
The younger sister is very shy and introverted, looking up to the older sister as this strong paragon that she aspires to be like, though that dynamic is shifted lately.
As the older sibling to a large family (3 younger siblings) I feel like I have a tendency to write older siblings as protective but also teasing occasionally.

Agree. Not much from sibling unless what you've said, or leaning toward cons (which is... kinda unhealthy).

Five is many! I only have one and it's already too much for me. Bet you guys are lively!

I do love to see more sibling stories (or just brotherly/sisterly relationship). Not everything has to be romance anyway

Bratty little siblings and jerk older siblings are probably because during childhood (and maybe continued to adulthood) this is what we feel.

One aspect I want to touch in sibling relationship is some inferiority or superiority complex as one of the effect of one parent "favoring" one over another, among other. I am trying to have a range of interactions, from a relationship that is supportive, in-between, to antagonistic. Lastly there are also featured siblings with unclear or no blood bond.

Now that you mention it, it IS weird how seldom siblings are utilized in fiction...my guess is because:
1. No shipping potential
2. It means not everyone in the story gets a "unique" origin; which takes a little bit of the fun out of making a new character. ^^;

I'm also guilty of ignoring siblings a lot of the time...many of my MC's do have them, but they're usually supporting characters or background characters. The only time I've given a pair of siblings a starring role in recent years was in LADYBIRD:

And even then, Maeve (older) and Nell have been estranged for years, and have to spend time getting reacquainted. ^^; As far as the plot is concerned, they might as well not be related...it's only really relevant in character interactions, where I can show that they share certain tastes and habits, and that they are especially driven to protect each other, willing to rush into deadly situations without hesitation. I guess that's the fun part about writing close siblings; being able to add little details to show they share a special bond. ^^

Well, I think at least in medieval-style fantasy stories, the evil sibling trope is something that comes out of the history of upper-class families in many societies, where brothers in particular were often at each others' throats for inheritance rights. That dynamic gets deliberately injected into foundational books of the genre and then trickles down into books influenced by those classics.

I think dynamics like that are really interesting if the siblings also love each other. Loving each other and being consciously in competition with one another is an interesting relationship to mine. In the novel I'm posting now, my MC had two cousins who are really his siblings in all but name, and they love each other but have relationships that grow increasingly strained because their goals are at odds.

But I'm also in the middle of writing a novel about a royal succession where the main character is an adviser to one of a set of brothers all vying for the throne. They are constantly scheming, plotting, and backstabbing, and it's fun as hell tbh.

Irl, I have two siblings I'm very close to, and I would never frame one for embezzlement in order to secure my own inheritance (only partially because the inheritance I would be backstabbing them over is primarily a storage building full of broken furniture my mom erroneously insists are priceless antiques).

My story consists of 3 brothers! 2 brothers as twins and 1 younger brother.

While having a story where one of the siblings turned out to be evil is a good story plot, I portrayed a more realistic dynamic between them. They fight and bicker all the time, but they also help each other when needed. They all have different personalities and ways of coping with their strict parents.
Maybe I picked up from my experience regarding their siblings' dynamic (since I have 2 siblings myself).

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I think they're underutilized in fiction because your characters are meant to be by themselves. When learning about the Heroic Journey, two of the most common pieces of fiction references is Harry Potter and Star Wars. Luke and Harry both start out their stories as orphaned only children who are forced away from their aunt and uncle who raised them. They are both later "rewarded" with families at the end of their stories. You see the same trope repeated a lot in stories - bad home life which forces them to leave home and then are rewarded with a shiny new family at the end of the series.

But aside from trying to pair your characters off and making one big "family" at the end, there really is no need to add siblings. Siblings in American TV are written as plot devices for male characters and are used to humanize female characters. For every other function that a family member could do, that's where another character in your main cast steps in.

In my opinion, the best way to write good characters is to let them exist. In my main series, my MC discovers she has a twin brother, a Luke and Leia type situation. Aside from them both being sensitive to abandonment, their mutual love of technology, and a shared mysterious family history - they're two characters living in the same world.

Hm, while there are a few Niji Chikara characters with siblings, most of them end up being minor characters who don't really have much impact on the plot. It's just not the type of story that really cares much about sibling dynamics, I guess.

I've written all sorts of sibling dynamics in other stories though. Siblings who care deeply for each other, sibling rivalries, long lost siblings... like any other relationship between characters, it can come in all sorts of flavors, and can be lots of fun to explore. Agree with what's been said above though that sometimes it just doesn't really add anything to the story, so sometimes it's just better to let siblings remain as minor characters and/or let everyone be an only child.

Despite growing up with 2 brothers, I have never felt the need to give my characters siblings. Generally I think it's because I don't really have a use for them in the story, as cruel as that may sound. The one time I had a sibling dynamic of any kind, was when I was working on a story about a royal/imperial family. Which then off course involved a battle for the throne, so not really a wholesome healthy sibling relationship haha.

I do think that the way me and my brothers interact with eachother has an effect on how I write my character interactions though. I think, for example, how Kyara and Zack jokingly tease each other. The dynamic between Kyara and her Scrapper crew (shown in the short story) is also an example of my own sibling dynamic bleeding into the dialogue.

Try some Enid Blyton books. She always had great sibling dynamics in most of her books.

I feel like a lot of the reason a lack of siblings exists in writing is for the same reason a lot of media “kills” off parents or just doesn't even introduce them if the characters do have them. They get in the way of the story unless they play a specific role like you mentioned or the writer just doesn’t have a use for them. Which is strange because both siblings and parental figures are a presence almost everyone has, even if they’re not biological, so I do think this is a pretty interesting recognition.

I'll admit I'm also very guilty of "killing off the parents" mainly because they otherwise would get in the way of me telling an adventure story feature young adults haha. I do try to make the death/absense of these parent revelant to the characters and their personality. But I do fall into that trope

I did ironically feel the need to add a parental structure though in the form of Nan's orphanage.

My main characters Bobbie and David are brothers. I try to write them as realistically as possible, considering I have 2 siblings myself

David played a huge role in raising Bobbie though, so their dynamic is a mix of siblings and parental. It's interesting to write for sure.

For anyone who wants to check out my comic about these brothers

https://m.tapas.io/series/signs-point-to-bobbie/info

I grew up with a lot of siblings. I think that is why a lot of my characters have at least one sibling. As well as dynamics like, sister-in-law and adopted sibling. Even in the case with Ken, an only child, there is sort of a brother dynamic with his foster cousin.

I guess the weird thing is that I have little desire to make a character with a lot of siblings, similar to my own family. Tho in an earlier version of Frostpeak West, Ace had like 4 or 5 half-brothers but I ended up changing his backstory. I guess it's easier to keep track of 1 sister. In earlier concepts, Ken was Ace's younger brother.

My story has two important characters who are siblings and their dynamic is an important part of the story.

My story has a protagonist, who saves his sibling from fae hands They are both positive characters (even if overall the novel has a very dark mood).

I'm so sorry you went through that 🫂 deportation as a whole is a cruel industry, I hope you've been able to reunite and are safe.

I can totally see why in cases like that the older sibling steps up into a parent role despite it not being fair on them, and the parents letting it happen despite probably not wanting to have to put the kids through that.

My comic has sibling pairs, with one of them being a pretty big spoiler, and the other being Hugo and his sister. The spoiler siblings are pretty dysfunctional, but Hugo and his sister are pretty fine with eachother even if they’re not exactly best friends.