The Difference Between the Golden Child and the Hero (Common Misunderstandings)

A common mistake in understanding the Narcissistic (or Alcoholic) family roles is confounding the Hero and Golden Child roles. While in smaller families, they tend to be the same child, in larger families there is room for different children to have different roles.

The Hero is the child that the parent idolises for their talent, though this will expand as the Narcissist will ensure that they are a winner in all aspects of their life. Usually that talent is something that the Narcissist also has pride in and is never anything that the Narcissist envies or can't relate to. Thus a parent who is proudest of their sporting achievement will promote the sportiest child. Alternatively, a parent threatened by intelligence will reject intelligent children until the children learn to hide it. Usually the Narcissist lives vicariously through the ACHIEVEMENTS of the Hero but also gets supply in how their successes reflect on them.

The Hero is the child that the Narcissist will (physically) do the most for and invest the most in, even cannibalising (or stealing) resources from other children to help them succeed (in the most extreme cases). The Hero Child is, by most accounts, often not aware of how much they were favouritised, and tend to assume that all children had the same opportunities, resources and chances to build confidence as they did.

The Golden Child is the EMOTIONAL extension of the Narcissist. This is the child who only has to whimper at how unfair something is, or how hard done by they are, or how hard something is, or how much another child is annoying them for the Narcissist (and those around the Narcissist) to come running to the rescue to help them and take away away pain or threat. The Golden Child is the Narcissistic parent's chance to redo their own life as they felt they deserved it and make it all better. The Narcissist gives the Golden Child everything they emotionally wanted, which can also be gifts, holidays etc if these things are valued as an expression of love and emotion, as opposed to the Hero who is given what they need - such as sporting equipment, training camps and educational expenses - to achieve.

The Narcissist over-identifies with the Golden Child, often living vicariously through the EMOTIONAL experiences of the child. They become enmeshed, unable to see the boundaries between each other (particularly the Narcissist). Thus, they cheat, favouritise, bully and move the goalposts to protect the emotions of the Golden Child. The Golden Child becomes entitled, sub-conciously believing that they are more important than everyone else, and will resent any attention going to others. This may often, (covertly or passive-aggressively), pit the Golden Child against the Hero, though not to the same extent as all children will exclude or will attack the Scapegoat.

Providing what the children need or protecting them emotionally is of course what parents DO, but the marker or warning sign in Narcissistic families is the difference in how these are provided to different children, and often not at all to some children. Thus, everyone will rally around the Golden Child when sick or in crisis to provide an emotional buffer from the world. The Narcissist will recruit all children to come to their aid. However, if the Caregiver, Scapegoat or Lost Child need help, they are abandoned and rejected. Often the thought of them needing help creates a feeling of resentment or even ridicule in family members. (Unless people are watching), there is no phone around for support or rallying cry, or their plight is minimised or excuses found as to why their problems are their fault. Under normal circumstances, the majority of empathy and care is reserved for the Golden Child. 

There will be cases. such as serious illness, weddings or the birth of a child, where that attention and care goes to one of the other (adult) children, particularly if the Narcissist uses (medical) drama as a source of Narcissistic Supply. This usually creates incredible amounts of friction and jealousy, especially in the Golden Child.

Similarly, the majority of family resources go to helping the Hero Child succeed. The rallying cry will be more along the lines of compulsory attendance at their sporting events, although that child, (or anyone else), rarely attends events important to other children. In the case of the Caregiver, Scapegoat or Lost Child, they may have noone attend their events, such as competitions, sporting events, exhibitions, graduations or award nights. Moreover, any success they have - unless credit can be given to the Narcissist - is usually silenced. They are not allowed to talk about shields they won, awards they have, their talents or skills or marks they got, as it not only draws attention from the successes of the Hero, but it threatens the emotions of the jealous and fragile Golden Child. The Caregiver, Scapegoat or Lost Child will often attend graduations and award nights by themselves if the Narcissist can avoid them without looking bad. Often, they will avoid them anyway, such as the bitter parent who won't come to the wedding of a child as the child is getting so much attention. And when they do attend, the Narcissist will often discount the child's success, act up or appear put out.

These roles however, like all roles in the Narcissistic family, are not set. At different times, different children may be the Hero or the Golden Child. However, as the over-identification/ Enmeshment and favouritism/ reward aspect are similar in both children, (and the opposite of other roles which involve abandonment/ neglect and punishment/ rejection), more often than not these roles will alternate between the same two children. In smaller families, they are collapsed into the same role. Occasionally though, the Hero may be the person going through final exams, or having a child etc, as they have the most chance of bringing drama and glory to the Narcissist.

Where the roles are more stable over time, the general difference you will notice is the emotional health of the Hero compared to that of the Golden Child. The Hero child will have had all of their physical needs met and will have received support, encouragement and praise when they succeeded or worked hard. This child is generally the most emotionally healthy of all the children of this family. They will still have issues, such as a driving need to succeed or prove themselves, or fear of failure, but generally they avoid the emotional abuse dished out to the Scapegoat and Golden Child, or the abandonment of the Caregiver/ Martyr or Lost Child.

The Golden Child, on the other hand, is highly enmeshed with the Narcissistic Parent on an emotional level. They are not allowed to succeed to the same extent as the Hero to restrict competition to that child, but also to keep the Golden Child close and malleable or available. Their emotions are buffered to such a degree that they develop a warped sense of the world and everyone in it. They do not get the opportunity to fail, or struggle and then overcome, or the independence and confidence that comes from this. Thus they are highly anxious and fearful, and look externally to get many of their needs met, often feeling helpless and then abandoned when others don't fix things for them. This usually creates feelings of resentment for the abandonment, often aimed at the Caregiver for not fixing things, the Scapegoat because everything is their fault, the Hero for getting so much attention and help or the Narcissist for not making their life perfect as they come to expect. (though of course, this resentment is usually expressed behind these people's backs as Golden Children are often highly manipulative and always work the system). In addition to resentment, they often use pity to get attention and resources, which the Narcissist overreacts to and thus rewards because they 'feel' their pain, even when the reality of the Golden Child's life is far from requiring pity.

The Golden Child learns to focus outwards instead of developing introspection as they lose their own feeling of control or agency, being so controlled by the Narcissist. They may resent the other children's (often forced) independence. They are spoilt and overprotected to the extent that they feel entitled to more than other children get, and demand attention and signs of affection that should be shared equally. This may make them Narcissistic themselves, which in turn makes them highly over-competitive and jealous. 

In addition, this molly-coddling binds them to the family, the only place where they are treated as they come to expect or demand. The rest of the world does not treat them so well and so they often become frightened or resentful of the way people outside the family treat them. They usually complain about other people incessantly. They often have to find friendships within the family, including with the Narcissistic parent who has the same problems with the rest of the world. Thus, they continue to lose independence from the family, unlike the Hero who has been given the confidence and resources they need to succeed and represent the family in the best light possible.

The 'How It's All Your Fault' Flowchart for Scapegoats

I forgot to add that reacting at all makes you 'over-sensitive', so that means everything is your fault too.

Relational Abuse and Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)

 'Relational aggression is a form of behavior intended to damage the victim's social status or interpersonal relationships through the use of purposeful interpersonal manipulation or social exclusion (Archer & Coyne, 2005).'

The links between NPD and Relational Aggression are strong and are observed from an early age. The victims are usually the partner of the Narcissist, or a Scapegoated Child. In the case of the Narcissistic Golden Child, it will be even more likely to be the Scapegoated Child, who the GC has been taught, (directly and indirectly, through favouritism and competition), to hate, blame and compete with by the Narcissistic parent. 

Conditional Love

The Narcissist limits the amount of love and affection available to the children, making their love conditional on playing the Narcissist's games and serving their interests. This is especially the case in Abandoning type Narcissists (as opposed to Engulfing). They create the illusion that there is so much love available, so it seems that other children are getting that love and attention. This makes all of the children jealous, so they 'fight' for the scraps of love available. That competition makes the parent feel loved and wanted, so they keep starting competitions and keep up the favouritism. 

While the Hero and Golden Child get most of the favouritism, it is always conditional on towing the line - acting in a way that the Narcissist wants them to. And while the roles are relatively stable over time, who sits in those roles day-to-day (or hour to hour) can change on a dime, meaning that the privilege and 'love' can go with it.

The effect this has on all children, is that it creates shame and deep insecurity - that deep down the children don't feel good enough to be loved unconditionally. After all, if your parent(s) can't even love you, what does that say about you? And needing to feel safe and loved, and being able to predict and rely on that love being there tomorrow, or even in the next hour, is a basic human drive and need.

In addition, the Narcissist points out every real or perceived flaw in the child to excuse the Narcissist's withdrawal of love, at the same time 'rewarding' their competitors with 'love' thus showing them to be deserving. In fact, Narcissistic parents are often the most affectionate and generous when angry at another child. They make a big show of the love attention they are giving to the children who are towing the line, to reward their compliance and punish the child currently under attack. They may yell at the Scapegoat and then send them to their room, but then decide, (uncharacteristically), to have a games night, order out pizza or let the other children eat icecream etc. Often, the most attention the other children get is when the Narcissist is raging at the Scapegoat.

This combination of behaviours, (withdrawal of love/conditional love and evidence of love being given to others), compounds this sense of shame and insecurity. It cuts deep with all children (but less with the Hero as they are given a more simple formula to avoid this abandonment - work harder, achieve more). It also creates a profound and deep conditioned response, where the other children associate the most affection and attention with the punishment and exclusion of the 'bad child'.

The Golden Child

There are particular problems in this for the Golden Child. When the Golden Child also has NPD,  they are hyper-competitive as well as believe they are better and more worthy than others. This is created or reinforced by the preferential treatment and favouritism they receive. This creates extreme incongruence between their core belief about themselves (that they are superior, flawless, entitled, special) and the way the Narcissistic parent makes them feel (inferior, flawed, undeserving of unconditional love), which causes them very real cognitive and emotional trauma. It creates an unresolvable cognitive dissonance and fracturing of self, felt at the deepest emotional levels. 

To resolve two differing concepts of self, they spend most of their time trying to find peace, balance and understanding by trying to get the Narcissistic parent to see them as the superior person they believe themselves to be. In another way, trying to get the Narcissist to act in a way (unconditionally loving, giving) that is in line with how they taught them they deserve to be treated (ostensibly like a prince or princess). This is the only way that the Golden Child can make sense of the world.

The problem is that it is impossible for them to ever be able to balance these two opposing beliefs. As much as the Narcissist tells them they are the best and deserve everything the Narcissist would have wanted, the Narcissist is still, well...a Narcissist. They will still put their own needs first every time. So that divide between expectation and reality is bigger for the Golden Child than the other children because of their expectation of more and better. The other children, especially those in 'service' roles like the Scapegoat, Caregiver/ Martyr or Lost Child, have learnt not to ever expect better and have internalised the message that they don't deserve better.

This means that the Narcissistic Golden Child needs more than their fair share of the 'love' and attention. They perceive others as a direct threat to getting this. They spend a lot of time in surveillance mode - checking, watching, judging and raging if anyone else gets anything they want or feel entitled to. They knock down threats to them getting 'love' and attention, and noone more than the family Scapegoat, (the family bullying victim, the one blamed for everything), just as the Narcissist taught them. This is partly because of that association that they have made between getting extra affection and attention and the punishment and exclusion of the Scapegoat.

Enter the Scapegoat

The reason the Narcissist needs a Scapegoat is because the Narcissist is NEVER wrong and can be never held to account for their own actions. The Narcissist therefore will blame anyone else, particularly anyone vulnerable or anyone capable who threatens their sense of superiority. Over time, this child is worn down, doesn't argue and takes all the blame automatically. their own sense of self is shaped by the parent, so they believe they deserve it or believe that they are flawed and a burden on the parent.

The Golden Child will copy the Narcissist's example and bully the Scapegoat too. If they also have NPD, this, over time, will also come out of their own personal need to blame someone other than themselves, on top of raging at the Scapegoat for the Narcissistic parent's failings.

The Scapegoat will also get the blame, anger and misdirected sadness from all of the other family members too. All children, (and often the partner), have been raged at from a young age by the Narcissist if they haven't towed the line or have ever questioned them, and so all, deep down, are scared of the Narcissist's wrath and their social exclusion tactics. All the pain and hate in this toxic, unhealthy and abusive environment needs to go somewhere. But, they cannot direct their anger or talk about the injustices, hurt and abandonment they feel to the Narcissist because of terror. Instead, all the children, (and partner). instead learn to direct their rage at the Scapegoat, rather than the Narcissist where that rage actually belongs. 

For the children in this family dynamic, this happens quite early in life. It becomes ingrained behaviour - 'just the way it is.' The children will start to see all of the problems and ills being due to the 'difficult', 'problematic', 'outsider', 'trouble-making', 'strange' Scapegoat, when the reality of the situation is that the Scapegoat is a CHILD. And it happens at an age when the Narcissistic parent who is telling them that this child is to blame, is the person most in charge of that child's very survival. The children are utterly dependent on this broken parent and so are forced to accept their rules and reality. this means that the child believes it, lives it and learns (for their own sake), to never question this family 'reality'.

In other words, the children in this family learn, (before they can think critically), to NEVER direct those feelings to the powerful PARENT who failed them and abused them, and instead direct it at the powerless CHILD who was just trying to survive the abuse (the true meaning of the Scapegoat or sacrificial goat). The mistakes a child (or teen) would ordinarily make because they are so young become 'proof' that they deserve that treatment, and that they are creating the toxic environment in the family, when in fact it is of course the adult parent.

The Stage is Set

So here we have a situation where noone's emotional needs are being met, but the ILLUSION is created so that people will compete. This creates shame or a feeling of unworthiness compared to others, that they must do better or be more lovable. This is especially the case for favoured children who on one hand are taught they deserve everything, and on the other hand, don't get their needs met by the Narcissist. On top of that, the anger and sadness everyone feels about this situation needs to go somewhere, and the Narcissist has set up a 'fall guy' to divert attention away from themselves as the cause of all this family pain. The rest seems inevitable.

Add to this that one child has been emotionally molly-coddled, not allowed to share the slightest tear. The Golden Child is the child the Narcissist has over-protected from any emotional pain as they over-identify with them. They feel any slight to the Golden Child as a slight to themselves and respond disproportionately to the 'attacker' (who may be anyone with reason to call out the Golden Child's behaviour). 

And this child is in intense emotional pain, having been taught that they deserve more than the others, but not receiving the real emotional connection they need. 

It's a bad equation - intense emotional pain that they MUST NOT direct at the source (the Narcissist), but an inability to deal with emotional pain as they have not been allowed to have the experience of it and were not given the tools. The Narcissist has tried to protect them from emotional pain and has always fought battles for them, so they have little skill or resilience themselves. This is the same recipe that is often found in studies of bullying. 

True to form, the Narcissistic Golden Child will bully the Scapegoat to ease their pain, blame someone else, let out their anger, bring down a perceived competitor for love and attention, (despite the reality that the Scapegoat already receives far less of either), and to attempt to fix that divide between the love they think they deserve and the love they will get from a self-absorbed Narcissist.

Mobbing, Alliances and Othering

The Narcissists in the family form an emotional alliance based on need, mutual understanding and over-identification between the Narcissistic parent and the Golden Child (Enmeshment). Having a minion also makes the Narcissist feel important. 

Conversely, the Golden Child is over-invested in being in the parent's good graces both for power and to ease that inner shame-pride dynamic. In addition, the child's boundaries have been walked over by the Narcissist so often that the line between parent and child becomes cloudy with the enmeshed Golden Child.

The Narcissist Parent never punishes or calls out the Golden Child's bullying of the Scapegoat as it suits them to watch the competition, or to have someone keep the Scapegoat in the victim role. The Golden Child will automatically provide an alibi, or a justification, or 'evidence' for the Narcissist when they are raging at, bullying or excluding the Scapegoat, and vice versa. The Golden Child is forming an alliance with the strongest person in the room, and knows they will be rewarded for siding with the Narcissist no matter what. Thus they will actually work together in their bullying and aggression.

The Golden Child may even 'set them up' for the Narcissist to 'knock over', bullying the Scapegoat until they react, so the Narcissist can rage at the Scapegoat and get out their frustration, blame them for all things bad and prove how they 'don't want to get on with the family' or 'aren't part of the family.' The Scapegoat learns that there is no justice, that the Narcissist will never side with them even when the bullying is obvious, and so withdraws to prevent being further hurt. Which again, is used as 'proof' that they 'don't want to be part of the family' and will excuse further social isolation on the part of the Narcissists.

The Scapegoat is locked into a 'no-win' scenario, as both Narcissists are powerful singularly but moreso together. And they HAVE to win as losing threatens their very sense of self.

Other family members will get used by the Narcissist and Narcissistic Golden Child as pawns just to bring down the Scapegoat - to mob them, hate them too or just to have that sense of 'us' and 'you', where the Scapegoat is actively excluded from the family. This is known as 'Othering', where the victim of bullying is made out to be 'different', 'not one of us', 'an Outsider', 'weird', 'dangerous', 'not belonging' or, the worst one, 'not wanting to belong or be part of us' meaning that they will lose themselves trying to prove that they want to belong and 'earning' the right to belong. This is the essence of Relational Aggression.

This is why relational aggression is so damaging. Not only is it in the victim's home, (the one place where they should feel safe and secure, above all others), or even that it affects them growing up so affects every core belief about themselves in an environment where they should be learning about love, self-confidence and belonging. It is the Othering which makes it more than being the victim of one bully. It is the alliances and lack of another voice to tell the bully that it is wrong, and the tell the victim that they deserve better. THIS is the most damaging legacy of this abuse. The victim internalises the message that they deserve this, that they are less than the others, that they are difficult, different, an Outsider, problematic and more than anything, that they are not wanted and are alone. In some sense then, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. They internalise these messages, they withdraw to prevent being hurt more, except to perhaps work harder to show they belong or care until they realise this is futile, as things will never change. 

Outside of the house, they have been trained to be a victim of bullying, as they have no core belief to tell them that they don't deserve this treatment. In fact, quite the opposite. More than that, they have never been given the skills and have even been actively punished for standing up for themselves against the Narcissist or Golden Child. They actually FEAR standing up for themselves, and may even physically shut down when under attack, as the punishment for responding was often worse than the original bullying. And so a widening sphere of people at school, in sports and so on REINFORCE the incorrect, toxic, abusive and damaging core beliefs of unworthiness and otherness that the Narcissistic family have instilled. It is an incredibly painful experience for the Scapegoat, and possibly the worst form of emotional abuse. 

And it won't stop at just the family, as both the Narcissist and/or the Narcissistic Golden Child will actively recruit new family members or friends to their side. They will work to whisper in your friend's ear, pull you down in front of them, instill doubt in your new partner's mind, white ant your relationships, ridicule you in front of your children and change other people's perception of you. It never stops, even into adulthood. It just gets more subtle and manipulative, though the Othering, blaming, disempowering and put downs will continue to keep you in your 'place.' This is the reason most Scapegoats leave the family (called going 'No Contact') or live a long way away, in order to save themselves. This will be used as 'proof' that they didn't want to be part of the family, because no matter what a Scapegoat does, they are never right.

To understand relational aggression within any family though is to understand this. If you survived it, you are amazing. You are strong beyond compare. And there is nothing wrong with you. Your human (childhood) imperfections weren't the cause of all this misery. It isn't all your fault. Your parent is broken. The Narcissistic Golden Child is broken. And you were a child or a teenager trying to learn and you deserved to be loved unconditionally and cared for equally, as much as other children. And, it was your home, and your family. You deserved to feel like you belonged. This was the time you should have been getting a stable and loving foundation and sense of self-worth, and not having that as a child is not your fault. You deserved so much better.