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The kind of story I would be thinking of is a version of "Cinderella," in which the newly crowned princess is asked by the prince to act as the "fairy godmother" to some other downtrodden young lady. Or Dorothy, after having been given the ability to move between the land of Oz and Kansas (and other powers), is asked to return to the land of Oz to take over for the old and dying (good) witch of the North.

The closest thing I can think of is the "Princess Diaries," where the 16-year old daughter of an American mother (Anne Hathaway) is asked to take over her deceased father's Monaco-like country of Genovia, and step into the shoes of the old queen mother (Julie Andrews).

Is there a "standard" story line of this kind, and if so, what would it be called?

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  • Another (more subtle) example could be the Hunger Games, where winners train subsequent tributes.
    – Mac Cooper
    Commented Oct 10, 2015 at 19:11
  • Or Star Wars, where a padawan becomes a Jedi master and takes on a padawan of his/her own (e.g. Obi-Wan Kenobi)
    – y0mbo
    Commented Oct 11, 2015 at 15:32

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If I got your question correctly, you're talking about a Circular Story structure.

It's common and very "effective".

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    In my screenplay, the hero is responsible for the heroine's Cinderella-like (corporate) rise. Then he asks her to act like a "fairy godmother" to someone else.
    – Tom Au
    Commented Oct 18, 2015 at 19:25

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