History Main / AmbiguouslyAbsentParent

* ''Film/AngelsInTheOutfield'': In the 1994 remake, the reason for the absence of Miguel's parents is not revealed whereas his foster brothers Roger and JP have each lost a parent to death (mom and dad, respectively) and were given up to the state by their surviving parents (dad and mom respectively).

The ambiguously absent parent arises when a character has a DisappearedDad and/or a MissingMom but the creator doesn't feel like explaining the specifics of their absence. It applies to parents who aren't mentioned or shown and their absence is notable because the other parent ''is'' regularly present. The absent parent may be addressed through WordOfGod, though in its essence the trope means the story itself won't explain it.

* ''Film/AngelsInTheOutfield'': In the 1994 film, the reason for the absence of Miguel's parents is not revealed whereas his foster brothers Roger and JP have each lost a parent to death and were given up to the state by each surviving parent.

The ambiguously absent parent arises when a character has a DisappearedDad or MissingMom but the creator doesn't feel like explaining the specifics of their absence. It applies to parents who aren't mentioned or shown and their absence is notable because the other parent ''is'' regularly present. The absent parent may be addressed through WordOfGod, though in its essence the trope means the story itself won't explain it.

* ''Film/AngelsInTheOutfield'': In the 1994 film, the reason for the absence of Miguel's parents is not revealed whereas his foster brothers Roger and JP each have lost a parent to death and were given up to the state by each surviving parent.

** Cera's mother also disappears without any explanation after the first movie, and her dad eventually gets a new girlfriend.

* ''Series/Hawkeye2021'': Maya's mother is never seen nor mentioned.

* In the ''Series/BarneyAndFriends'' season 1 episode "My Family's Just Right For Me", Kathy reveals that she lives with her mother and grandmother, but her father's whereabouts are unknown since he isn't mentioned at all.

* ''Film/SummerSchool'': Pam talks about sharing a house with her brother and his wife and kids and her brother and sister-in-law attend the parent-teacher conference at the end, implying Pam's parents aren't in the picture or are busy somewhere.

** Ambiguously absent parents are something of the norm for the protagonists for the anime. Ash's father was mentioned once in the second episode, which was infamously not elaborated on any further, but that's still more than many of his friend's parents. No mention of Dawn or Serena's fathers has been made. Clemont and Bonnie's mother isn't brought up. Misty, as well as Tracey, Cilan and Iris, have neither parental figure ever mentioned. Mallow's mother [[SubvertedTrope was thought to be this as well]], until it was revealed much later on that she had died years earlier and Mallow didn't like talking about it. As for Brock's parents... let's just say the dub introduced a plot hole involving his mother, due to a line in an early episode being contradicted by a later episode. Funnily enough, Max and May are a rare exception for companions: not only do we ''see'' both parents, one episode had as a plot their father being mistaken for cheating on their mother... more information than you get for the rest. Gen 7 and beyond would end up providing the main characters with both parents and occasionally making them important to the plot.

*** [[BoisterousBruiser Snow's]] parents are never shown, [[ConvenientlyAnOrphan nor given explanation for their disappearance]] which led to him founding NORA as a [[FamilyOfChoice substitute family]].
*** [[HideYourLesbians Fang and Vanille's]] families are never brought up, though considering that [[spoiler:they've [[HumanPopsicle spent 500 years frozen]] [[TakenForGranite as crystals]]]], any parents they had are probably dead.

** Protagonist [[TheHero Link]] suffers from this in many games. For instance, in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'' he starts off as a MinorLivingAlone.

* In ''VideoGame/DinerDashAdventures'', Queenie's mother Gladys runs a hotel on her own, and nothing is ever said of her husband/Queenie's father.

* ''Series/SesameStreet'': Karli has to stay with foster parents for a time due to her mother being in rehab for an addiction to an unnamed substance, but her biological father is not seen or mentioned at all.

* ''Literature/TheNorthernCaves'': Marsh's father is an important character, but his mother is never seen or mentioned. Paul wonders about this, but opts not to ask about what could be a sensitive topic.

* ''Literature/FairestOfAll'': Siofra's father is not mentioned at all, making it unclear if he's dead, left her mother, or what.

** The absence of Belle's mother is never brought up in ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast''. Every other adapation, including the 2017 Live-Action remake, has her dead, usually from childbirth if stated at all or, in the case of the 2017 film, plague.