History Main / ConvenientlyAnOrphan

* The protagonist of ''Film/{{Predestination}}'' is a DoorstopBaby devoid of history, and this is why they are recruited for the TimePolice. [[spoiler:Taken UpToEleven with TheReveal that the protagonist has--thanks to a sex change and TimeTravelRomance--[[ScrewYourself conceived themself]]. Their entire life is a StableTimeLoop making them the perfect Temporal Agent.]]

* The protagonist of ''Film/{{Predestination}}'' is a DoorstopBaby devoid of history, and this is why they are recruited for the TimePolice. [[spoiler:Taken UpToEleven with TheReveal that the protagonist has--thanks to a sex change and time travel--[[ScrewYourself conceived themself]]. Their entire life is a StableTimeLoop making them the perfect Temporal Agent.]]

* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'': Done plausibly, as the Social Welfare Agency only selects girls for its secret killer cyborg program who don't have extended families who would be concerned about them. As a victim of child sex trafficking, Triela's background is unknown even to the Agency. Henrietta's entire family was murdered, and Angelica's parents are in prison. Petra's family is too poor to travel from Russia to see their daughter, which is just as well as her appearance has been altered completely. It's eventually revealed that they were told she had died. As Rico is one of the few cyborgs who retains memories of her previous life, the occasional visit from her estranged parents is no doubt enough to reassure them that their IllGirl is receiving the best of care; the Agency would have no trouble getting Rico to play along.

* ''Franchise/DocSavage'' lost his father in his very first adventure, ''The Man of Bronze'', and his mother had died at some point prior to that. Which begs the question, if you're full grown when your parents die, are you still an orphan?

* Franchise/{{Batman}} is quite famously an orphan, as are the first two Robins. For years [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim Drake]] was unusual among the Batclan in having a living parent, but eventually the temptations of orphanhood overcame the writers.

* [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] Franchise/{{Superman}} is orphaned by both his biological ''and'' adoptive parents. Other versions have Martha and sometimes Jonathan alive as well. Superman's [[KidSidekick Teen Sidekick]] ComicBook/JimmyOlsen is also sometimes written as parentless.
* [[Franchise/GreenLantern Hal Jordan and John Stewart's]] parents are all dead.
* The debut issue of ''[[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk The Incredible Hulk]]'' makes it clear up front that Rick Jones (Bruce Banner's newly-acquired teenage sidekick) is an orphan. Much later, we learn that Bruce is also an orphan; Bruce's mother was killed by his father when he was a child, and Bruce (accidentally?) killed his father shortly before the explosion that made him the Hulk.
* Comicbook/IronFist loses both of his parents at the age of nine, while on his way to [[TheShangriLa K'un-Lun]].

* Orphans were extremely common in Golden and Silver Age Creator/MarvelComics, in addition to those already mentioned for example ComicBook/SubMariner, ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, ComicBook/{{Bucky|Barnes}}, the ComicBook/FantasticFour ([[ComicBook/MisterFantastic Reed Richards]]' father reappeared in the 1980s, though), Alicia Masters, ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} (although Creator/FrankMiller would eventually change that, revealing that his mother had actually become a nun), ComicBook/IronMan, ComicBook/AntMan and ComicBook/TheWasp, ComicBook/BlackWidow, ComicBook/ProfessorX, and ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}. Angel became one before long.

* Franchise/SpiderMan has his beloved aunt, and his uncle [[DeathByOriginStory lived long enough]] to [[AesopCollateralDamage say the thing that has shaped most of Spidey's career]]. Also, more than a few members of the supporting cast have lost one (ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson, Harry Osborn, John Jameson) or both (Betty Brant, Gwen Stacy) parents.

* Several mutant characters from Marvel's [[Franchise/XMen X-Books]] are orphans; sometimes by abandonment, sometimes by death, by murder, or by parents becoming a demon bear... [[DoubleTake Wait]], ''what'' was that last one?! [[spoiler: Danielle Moonstar, known as the illusion-casting Mirage before ''ComicBook/HouseOfM,'' lost her parents to the 'demon bear' and knew it would come for her. After her big confrontation with it, it turns out that they ''were'' the bear and she was able to free them. No, they haven't been properly killed off since... yet. This makes her one of the exceedingly few X-characters to have both parents, despite having a standard-issue dead parent origin when we met her!]]

* ''Fanfic/SOE2LoneHeirOfKrypton'': Asuka was conceived by donor sperm. Her mother's husband hated her for it, and when Kyoko died, he remarried and abandoned Asuka, who then devoted her life to piloting mechas to try to overcome her abandonment issues. She never knew who her biological father was, but she always assumed he was someone extraordinary. Ten years later when she starts to manifest strange, formidable powers, she realizes she was very, very right, and her father was ''[[Franchise/{{Superman}} an alien of planet Krypton]]''. So she became ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'' to try to become the hero her deceased biological father was destined to be.

* Catherine, VillainProtagonist in ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'' is an orphan. She never knew her parents and grew up in an orphanage. When adventure and the chance to change things come a-knocking in the person of the Black Knight, she doesn't look back. Her unclear parentage leaves other characters wondering about her heritage (a popular myth is her being the daughter of the aforementioned Black Knight who was raised and trained in secret). In an universe running on stories, being an orphan can also help with other things: While in Arcadia Resplendant, the land of the [[TheFairFolk fey]], Catherine finnagles her way into a story of her being the lost daughter of a duke, prophesized to kill him -- all to gain an advantage in a duell against him and eventually inherit his title and powers.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': This was Sonic's American backstory throughout most of the 1990s. The ''Script/SonicTheHedgehogBible'' has his parents dying and a later bio says he was an orphan raised amongst WoodlandCreatures. Since ''Adventure'', however, it's unknown if Sonic is still an orphan. His parents aren't mentioned at all. ''No one's'' parents are (except for Cream's mother).
** Knuckles, being LastOfHisKind, is obviously one.

* Likely a requirement to be part of the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', because what sort of parents would let their children put their lives on the line in weekly superheroics? And sure enough, the only living parent to any of the Titans ever seen in the series is not a very [[{{Satan}} nice guy]]:

** Robin's parents are dead as always, but this incarnation heavily implies that he even ditched his "father" Franchise/{{Batman}} so he could move on. (And ended up gathering a bunch of friends around him instead, but no adults. The closest thing to a parent he has is [[BigBad Slade]] purring about what a great apprentice he could be...)

** And as of [[spoiler: 2/19, all of the kids are orphans in both the traditional and technical sense. [[FunnyAneurysmMoment Damn]]]].

* Discussed in ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'', where an artifical intelligence concludes that the continuing appeal of Literature/AnneOfGreenGables is because Anne has no family ties, no psychological damage from her loss, and is an intelligent and amusing person who requires minimal effort to raise.

* ''Anime/CombattlerV'': Hyoma Aoi, the captain of Combattler team, lived in an orphanage after his parents' deaths. Seeing someone killing the parents of a child -or even an animal cub- is one of his {{Berserk Button}}s. His {{Love Interest|s}}, Chizuru Nanbara not only was an orphan girl but also her only grandfather died shortly after the beginning of the series.

* ''Anime/KotetsuJeeg'': Hiroshi's father dies in the first episode.
* ''Anime/MazingerZ'': Kouji and Shiro's parents died in a lab experiment gone wrong [[spoiler:or so they were told. In reality, only their mother died. Their father would die for real at the end of ''Anime/GreatMazinger'', though]]. Sayaka also lost her mother before the beginning of the series.
** ''Anime/GreatMazinger'': Both Tetsuya and Jun are orphan kids, taken in by [[spoiler:Prof. Kabuto.]] And the end of the series his adoptive father [[spoiler:would also die]].
** ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'': All relatives from Duke [[spoiler:and Maria]] got brutally murdered before the start of the series.
* ''Manga/BlackButler'': The loss of his parents trigger Ciel Phantomhive's motives and lead to the plot.
%%* In ''Manga/{{Kanon|ByChihoSaito}}'', triggers the whole plot.
%%* ''[[LightNovel/SorcererStabberOrphen Orphen]]''.
* Applies to most of the main characters in ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'':
** Rosette and Joshua's parents died in a ship wreck when they were young children, and after that they spent most of their life in an orphanage--until Joshua is taken by Aion (and the orphanage is [[DoomedHometown destroyed in the process]]), which causes Rosette to join the Order to try to find her brother again.
** Azmaria's parents either abandoned her because of her powers, or were killed during the war, depending on which version you're following.
** Satella's parents were killed by a demon when she was a child. Her sister was also kidnapped by the demon--leading her on a journey similar to Rosette's. However, since her parents' deaths ''are'' such a turning point for Satella in her backstory, she leans closer to OrphansOrdeal instead.

*** Riza's mother died when she was a little girl, leaving her to be raised by her MadScientist father, who died of a lingering illness not long after his alchemy apprentice - Roy - left to join the military. With both parents gone and no other relatives of whom she's aware, there was nothing to stop her from following Roy, which she's done ever since.

* In ''Manga/IsKichijojiTheOnlyPlaceToLive'' Miyako and Tomiko's parents died in a car crash a few years earlier, which lead to them taking over their real estate business and sparking the story.
* In ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'', Zelgadis and Gourry both have no parents (Zelgadis's great-grandfather [[AffablyEvil Rezo]] killed his, and Gourry's were killed during a [[BigScrewedUpFamily family feud]]), and Sylphiel, Filia, Pokota, Amelia, and [[spoiler:Naga]] only have one parent each (a father, actually); in Sylphiel's case, she falls under this trope when her father is KilledOffForReal in the third {{Light Novel|s}}/late first season of the anime in a [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill town-wide explosion]]. Ironically, the main protagonist's (Lina) parents are both alive and well. And the status of the parents of Lina's later allies in the novels (Luke and Milina) is unknown.

** [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Kamille Bidan]] starts off his story with both parents alive and well, but quickly loses them within a few episodes. His mother is loaded into a transparent capsule by the [[StateSEc Titans]] and chucked out into space in front of Kamille as bait so that Jerid will have a clear shot at him - except Jerid, having been falsely briefed that the capsule contains a bomb instead of a person, shoots the capsule instead of Kamille in an attempt to catch Kamille in the nonexistent bomb's explosion and wonders what the heck is going on when there's no explosion but there ''is'' one royally pissed Kamille screaming bloody murder at him. Kamille's father is also taken into custody by the Titans and told that he'll be let free if he infiltrates the Argama; unfortunately for him, his attempt to hijack a mobile suit and escape back to the Titans is [[SelfMadeOrphan cut short by Kamille]]. Aside from allowing him to work full-time for AEUG without having any relative the Titans can go after, his mother's death in particular [[ItsPersonal sets up]] the CycleOfRevenge between Kamille and Jerid that kills several other people down the line on both sides of the conflict, ending with Jerid himself.

* Almost everyone in ''Manga/SaintSeiyaTheLostCanvas'', justified since it's set in the 18th century Europe.

* This trope played so straight in ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'' that ''almost no named character'' has living parents. Even Teppei (who at least is very close to his grandfather) never said who his father is, despite the presence of only 3 people in the story who have his family trademark hair. And at least Jirou (Teppei's grandpa) and Midora are [[RaisedByWolves adopted by animals]] before Acacia found them.
* Simon of ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' lost his parents in an earthquake before the start of the series, so when his {{blood brother|s}} Kamina decides they're going to the surface, he doesn't have anything holding him back. In a twist, Gimmy and Darry are chosen to be exiled to the surface explicitly because they don't have family who will mourn their departure.

* Sousuke Sagara of ''Lightnovel/FullMetalPanic'' being rendered an orphan helps justify why he can keep risking his life with no regard for consequences. Although his mother dying for his sake and her dramatic LastWords telling him he must "live," "never give up," and "fight!" does have the other purpose of making him the CrazySurvivalist he is today, it mainly seems to serve as a plot device to allow the readers to realize he simply has no one waiting for him.
* At one point in ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', during the [[ActionFilmQuietDramaScene Quiet Drama Scene]], while discussing Seras's, progress Alucard asks Walter how they covered up her death and how her family is taking it. When Walter replies that she has none and is an orphan, Alucard sardonically replies, "Of ''course'' she is". However, since Seras was already an adult by the time she died, the circumstances and consequences of her parents' deaths are shown to be a major part of her character; given that the series veers into CrapsackWorld territory and runs on BlackAndGrayMorality, it's a justified trope.
* Son Goku of ''Franchise/DragonBall''. Some time before the series began, he accidentally killed his adoptive grandfather after transforming into a giant were-ape. As for blood relatives, ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' reveals that his ''race'' was wiped out along with their home planet.
** For that matter, Raditz himself is an orphan, but unlike Son Goku, their father Bardock was alive by the time their planet was obliterated, yet he took little interest in the well being of his sons. Raditz himself failed to earn respect from any of his fellow Saiyan survivors. However, a recent {{Retcon}} has their parents send Goku to Earth in order to ensure his survival.
** Vegeta himself is also an orphan who was in turn was adopted by the tyrant that killed his father and ended his race.
*** Most, if not all Z warriors have no parents whatsoever; Yamcha is introduced as a teenage desert thief with no parents or guardians mentioned; Krillin was raised by a monastic order on where he was bullied; Tien Shin-Han and Chaotzu seem to have been raised by Crane Hermit; Yajirobe was introduced as a teenage wanderer without mentioned family.
** The unnamed Namekian (the original Namekian survivor that later divided himself into Piccolo and Kami) is himself an orphan who is mentioned to be the son of an individual named Kattas. He spent a great deal of his youth waiting for his parents (or parent, for that matter) to no avail. After he becomes whole once again, he becomes disinterested in his past and even keeps a distance from the remaining survivors of his race.
* ''Manga/KimbaTheWhiteLion'': Played straight with [[LoveInterests Lyra]] who is able to play and go on adventures with Kimba, but the trope is {{deconstructed|Trope}} with Kimba due to his WellDoneSonGuy relationship he has with his father who [[DeathByOriginStory was killed off before Kimba was born.]]
* In ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', Red is the only Dex Holder to have no family even alluded to, leaving him free to travel the world where ever and whenever he wants.
* In ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' Kenshin, Kaoru, and Yahiko are all orphans. Kenshin being an orphan leads him to be trained in the Hiten Mitsarugi style of swordsmanship by his master. Kaoru being an orphan leads her to letting her open her dojo for Kenshin to stay in. Yahiko being an orphan lead to him meeting both Kaoru and Kenshin. Not to mention other side characters they meet that are orphaned as well such as Yutaro, Eiji, Misao, and others.
* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'': Done plausibly, as the Social Welfare Agency only selects girls for its secret killer cyborg program who don't have extended families who would be concerned about them. As a victim of child sex trafficking, Triela's background is unknown even to the Agency. Henrietta's entire family was murdered, and Angelica's parents are in prison. Petra's family is too poor to travel from Russia to see their daughter, which is just as well as her appearance has been altered completely. It's eventually revealed that they were told she had died. As Rico is one of the few cyborgs who retains memories of her previous life, the occasional visit from her estranged parents is no doubt enough to reassure them that their IllGirl is receiving the best of care; the Agency would have no trouble getting Rico to play along.
* In ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', all of the main cast have ParentalAbandonment issues, but Griffith is the only one who has absolutely no mention of any sort of guardianship in his early life. This makes it quite convenient for him to up and decide that he's going to become a king someday and that to get there, he needs to start a [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits ragtag bunch of misfit mercenaries]].
* In ''Franchise/SailorMoon'', both Mamoru and Makoto's parents are dead, long before the start of the series. In the [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]] it's used to handwave why they live alone, but in the [[Anime/SailorMoon anime]] any mention is quickly swept under the rug.
* ''Manga/HappyLesson'': Chitose's orphan-ness serves as the paper-thin justification of the ExcusePlot, namely, that five of his teachers think he needs a mother in his life and all move in with him; HilarityEnsues.
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'':
** Having a dead mother is practically a prerequisite to pilot the titular Evangelions (and for good reason: [[spoiler: the souls of each pilot's mother has been incorporated into the machine as to weaponize their [[MamaBear maternal instincts]]]])
** Of the rest of the NERV staff, Misato lost her father, Ritsuko her mother, and Kaji (at least in the manga) grew up in an orphanage/refugee camp.
** Given that the Second Impact killed ''two thirds'' of the world's population, non-orphaned people are probably the exception rather than the rule.
* In ''Manga/MissionYozakuraFamily,'' Taiyo lost his parents and younger brother in a car accident that left him the SoleSurvivor. Not only does this bring him closer to Mutsumi as the only person he can confide in without having a nervous breakdown, it also lets him marry into her family without worrying about pesky things like parental consent.

* [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] Franchise/{{Superman}} is orphaned by both his biological ''and'' adoptive parents. Other versions have Martha and sometimes Jonathan alive as well. Superman's [[KidSidekick Teen Sidekick]] ComicBook/JimmyOlsen is also sometimes written as parentless.
%%* ComicBook/IronMan

* Franchise/SpiderMan has his beloved aunt, and his uncle [[DeathByOriginStory lived long enough]] to [[AesopCollateralDamage say the thing that has shaped most of Spidey's career]]. Also, more than a few members of the supporting cast have lost one (ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson, Harry Osborn, John Jameson) or both (Betty Brant, Gwen Stacy) parents.

* Several mutant characters from Marvel's [[Franchise/XMen X-Books]] are orphans; sometimes by abandonment, sometimes by death, by murder, or by parents becoming a demon bear... [[DoubleTake Wait]], ''what'' was that last one?! [[spoiler: Danielle Moonstar, known as the illusion-casting Mirage before ''ComicBook/HouseOfM,'' lost her parents to the 'demon bear' and knew it would come for her. After her big confrontation with it, it turns out that they ''were'' the bear and she was able to free them. No, they haven't been properly killed off since... yet. This makes her one of the exceedingly few X-characters to have both parents, despite having a standard-issue dead parent origin when we met her!]]

* [[Franchise/GreenLantern Hal Jordan and John Stewart's]] parents are all dead.
%%* Mace and Whip of ''Webcomic/{{Dreamkeepers}}''.
* The Plutonian of ''Comicbook/{{Irredeemable}}'' is yet another convenient superhero orphan. The series actually deconstructs this Trope, examining the effect it can really have on a little boy with superpowers. The Plutonian was also abandoned by his subsequent foster parents, after he accidentally crippled their biological son. They even devoted themselves to ''never speaking again'' just so he wouldn't pick up their voices by superhearing.
* ComicBook/TomStrong was orphaned at around age 8, after being raised in a gravity chamber by his parents.

** One reason Hergé abandoned JoZetteEtJocko - suggested by his editor, who wanted a series about a regular family - was that it became difficult to come up with stories where the two main character always had to be separated from their parents in time for their adventures.

* ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'': In every continuity, Billy, Mary, and Freddy are orphans. Sometimes, they have foster parents; other times, they'll live on their own, and Billy will use [[OlderAlterEgo his Captain Marvel form]] to pose as their guardian.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Divinity}}'', one of the reasons Abram was selected for Russia's secret deep-space exploration program was that he had neither biological nor adopted parents, and thus the government reasoned that nobody would miss him if he went off into space for a few decades.
* Somewhat deconstructed in ''ComicBook/RelativeHeroes''. The kids would never have taken up superheroics or been able to travel across the US and have adventures on their own if their parents weren't dead. However, their entire driving motivation is reviving their parents and the reason they have to do so much traveling is that they're being chased by Social Services and Government Agencies that deal with meta-humans due to their runaway orphan status.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWomanWarbringer'': Jason would never have been able to make his plans, travel, and experiment with his abilities if his parents hadn't died, which, once the full extent of Jason's plans come to light, makes their "accident" [[SelfMadeOrphan rather suspect]].
* In ''ComicBook/BratPack'', the {{kid sidekick}}s all lose their parents just before becoming superheroes. This is because [[spoiler:the adult superheroes killed their parents to make the kids more dependent on them]].
* ''ComicBook/{{Pyrenee}}'': The titular character's mother dies in the same earthquake that enables the bear to escape from the circus, meaning that nobody is looking for Pyrénée when the bear takes her up into the mountains.
* Comicbook/IronFist loses both of his parents at the age of nine, while on his way to [[TheShangriLa K'un-Lun]].

* ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'': Shinji, Asuka, Rei, [[spoiler:Touji and Hikari]] are motherless. They are also giant robot pilots and fight cosmic horrors.
* ''Fanfic/DoingItRightThisTime'': In the original timeline Shinji and Asuka spent a long time mourning their deceased mothers as they fought space aliens. Ironically they - and Rei - now know that their mothers were always with them.

* Red from ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBirdsMovie''; as the beginning of the movie shows, his egg was left unattended in a lost and found room when he hatched.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'': It's ''very'' convenient for Vlad and Dmitri - in Dmitri's own words, it's "perfect" - that Anya grew up in an orphanage and has no memory of who she was before she was taken there. It means they can pass her off to the Dowager Empress as the Grand Duchess Anastasia, in order to collect the six million rubles she promised as a reward for her grandchild's safe return, and there will be no one who can contest the identity. Of course, what the audience knows (but none of the characters do) is that Anya really ''is'' the Grand Duchess Anastasia.

* A great many of the main characters in ''Franchise/StarWars'' are orphans. Anakin Skywalker is technically not an orphan because his mother survives until ''Film/AttackOfTheClones,'' but he is taken from her at age nine to become a Jedi and doesn't see her again until she dies in his arms ten years later. Han Solo is an orphan, and Luke and Leia ''think'' they're orphans until the [[LukeIAmYourFather truth]] is revealed (and both get orphaned a second time when the Empire kills their respective guardians). Jedi younglings are taken from their parents to become Jedi as very young children, and First Order Stormtroopers such as Finn are similarly taken from their families, though more forcefully. Finally, Rey is left by her parents on Jakku to fend for herself, believing they will one day return for her [[spoiler: before learning the AwfulTruth, and later, an even ''[[FromBadToWorse worse]]'' truth: that her parents were filthy junk traders who sold her for drinking money, and that she is actually the granddaughter of ''Emperor Palpatine'']].

* In ''Film/ExMachina'', Caleb's parents died in a car accident when he was fifteen. [[spoiler:Which is one of the reasons why Nathan chose him for the experiment as he wouldn't have anyone looking for him. Caleb even brings it up during his final confrontation with Nathan.]]
* ''Film/{{Dredd}}''. Like all orphans in Megacity One, Cassandra Anderson is given a Judge Aptitude Test at age nine, though in her case she was rated unsuitable and only let in because of her abilities as a telepath. It's not stated why the Hall of Justice prefers orphans as Judges, but the job has an extremely HighTurnoverRate and requires a [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner ruthless detachment]] that Cassandra lacks, [[TookALevelInBadass at least at first]]. Cassandra's family is shown to be a motivating factor for her decision to be a Judge -- her introductory scene shows her holding a well-worn picture of her parents and smiling at the associated memories.
* ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'':
** Since Jen's parents were killed by the Skeksis, he was raised as an orphan.
** Kira was also orphaned in the same Gelfling purge that killed Jen's parents, although she was then HappilyAdopted by the Podlings.

* In ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'', it's a plot point that Taran does not have parents, nor a name or title of his own, and his master Dallben will tell him nothing of his history. He is eventually known as "Taran Wanderer," when he spends the fourth book on a quest to find his heritage. It's not until the very end of the last book, however, that the truth is revealed. [[spoiler:Or rather, [[TheUnreveal unrevealed]]. Taran really is an orphan, but even Dallben doesn't know who his parents were - he found a baby alone near a battlefield where there were no survivors. Having no family meant that he fit the parameters of the Book of Three's prophecy that Prydain would be ruled by a great king who had no origins, so Dallben took the baby home and raised him in the hopes that this was the great king. It was.]]

* Rincewind from the Literature/{{Discworld}} novels has no idea who his parents are/were.

* Creator/StephenRDonaldson has stated that family is such a complex and messy issue that it's hard to keep it from taking over the story if it's brought in, which is why his characters rarely seem to have parents unless the story is in some way ''about'' their family. Thus, for example, Brew in the ''The Man Who...'' series is haunted by the fact that he accidentally killed his brother, but nothing is said about their parents' reaction to the incident; likewise, [[Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant Thomas Covenant]] apparently had no parents to appeal to for help as his leprosy made him increasingly isolated. Equally often, characters have dead parents, in which case the memory of them haunts the character either as [[InadequateInheritor an impossible example to live up to]] or as a spectre of [[ParentalAbuse abuse and emotional scars]] - Linden Avery had her father commit suicide before her eyes and years later had to MercyKill her mother, [[Literature/TheGapCycle Morn Hyland]] had her mother killed by pirates and her father raise her to devote her life to hunting pirates as revenge (and then ''he'' got killed by a pirate at the start of the series). And the less said about Angus Thermopylae's family tree the better.

* ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'': None of the major demigods have any sort of family to go back to, unless it's a sibling. The only exceptions are Percy, Piper, and Annabeth, and even the latter two don't have the best relationship with their muggle parent - Annabeth [[TheRunaway ran away]] from her father and stepmom while Piper's father is [[ParentalNeglect neglectful]], although he tries his best. Percy's the only one with GoodParents waiting at home.

* Catherine, VillainProtagonist in ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'' is an orphan. She never knew her parents and grew up in an orphanage. When adventure and the chance to change things come a-knocking in the person of the Black Knight, she doesn't look back. Her unclear parentage leaves other characters wondering about her heritage (a popular myth is her being the daughter of the aforementioned Black Knight who was raised and trained in secret). In an universe running on stories, being an orphan can also help with other things: While in Arcadia Resplendant, the land of the [[TheFairFolk fey]], Catherine finnagles her way into a story of her being the lost daughter of a duke, prophesized to kill him - all to gain an advantage in a duell against him and eventually inherit his title and powers.

** Companions in the classic series are often orphans — sometimes with DeathByOriginStory, or else have ParentalAbandonment. Companions in the new series have parents. Oh man, [[MyBelovedSmother do they have parents]].

* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', Dean and Sam become hunters after their [[YouKilledMyFather mother dies]], and the series starts with their [[DisappearedDad father]] missing, forcing them to [[TakingUpTheMantle take up the mantle]]. [[spoiler: They become ''bona fide'' orphans at the start of season two.]]

* The protagonist of ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' is raised by Gorion the sage, and at the start of the game does not know who his/her real parents were. [[spoiler:It turns out that both are dead, and that the PC's father was the deity of murder, Bhaal. The trope is subverted, since the latter part of the game, and the sequel, are about the consequences of Bhaal's attempts to avoid his coming death - which among other things resulted in the PC's birth and special heritage.]]

** ''VideoGame/CuteKnight1'': She's grown up in an orphanage and is now, having come of age, trying to make her way in the world. This leaves her free to pursue any of the possible story paths without having to worry about a family. One story path results in her being HappilyAdopted, although only the GoldenEnding reveals that [[spoiler:she's not an orphan at all - she's the kingdom's long-lost princess]].
** ''VideoGame/CuteKnightKingdom'': She was HappilyAdopted as a baby by the local candlemaker and her husband. They're quite content to let her pursue whichever story path makes her happy, however. The 'true' ending reveals that [[spoiler:she's not an orphan either. Instead, she's a princess from ''outer space'' - with multiple mothers and fathers!]]

*** The trend continues for some of the Inquisitor's companions. It's particularly a plot point for the elf Sera, who was orphaned young (she doesn't seem to remember her birth parents) and was adopted by a human noblewoman, who has also since died. Cassandra's backstory is an especially tragic example, as she lost both of her parents when she was a child; they were executed for attempting to overthrow the king, and then when she was twelve her adored older brother was also murdered. It's not mentioned explicitly in the game, but this is also Cullen's backstory, as his home village of Honnleath was besieged by darkspawn during the Fifth Blight and both of his parents were killed - meaning that he left home for Templar training at the age of thirteen and never saw them again.

** This trope is mostly absent from the two earlier games, with the only cases of [[ParentalAbandonment parental loss]] coming from ''{{VideoGame/Persona 2}}'': [[IntrepidReporter Maya]]'s father, a war journalist, died on the field, and [[spoiler: [[CulturedBadass Jun]]'s parents, who are both dead by the end of ''Innocent Sin'', [[ZigZaggingTrope but are resurrected when Philemon resets time]]]]. This trope also ''looks'' like it's in effect for [[IneffectualLoner Tatsuya]] and [[FairCop Katsuya Suou]], but turns out to be entirely averted for them--their father (and indeed, [[MissingMom their mother]]) is mysteriously absent from ''Innocent Sin'', a game in which every other major character's father makes an appearance, but he later shows up in the UpdatedReRelease of ''Eternal Punishment'', and their mother has been confirmed to be alive via the guide books (albeit a passive figure in her sons' lives).

* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' has a cast that either consists of this or of characters with one parent. Barry Burton himself subverts this; ''he's'' a married parent with two daughters, and canonically, he survives the events of [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil1 the first game]]. How Chris, Claire, and Leon lost their folks is [[AllThereInTheManual put out there in guidebooks and novels]], and it's implied that Jill is also this (something is amiss with her father). Sherry loses ''both'' of her parents during the events of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' (her mother is shot and her father [[OneWingedAngel transforms into a tooth-covered, virus-riddled abomination]] and is eventually put down), and Steve Burnside loses his father to the T-Virus during ''Code Veronica.'' There's also [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil6 Jake Muller]] - his mother died of an illness, [[spoiler:and his father turns out to be the recently-killed-during-''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5''-Albert Wesker]].

* The main character in ''Webcomic/FindChaos'', Arthur, and his sister Tristan are both orphans by Arthur's doing (possible accident?).
* The protagonist in ''WebComic/HolidayWars'' is one, which can be seen [[http://www.holiday-wars.com/blog/2010/07/26/episode-11/ in this episode.]]
%%* Characters from ''Webcomic/GoldCoinComics'', such as Lance and Theo.
* Jordan from ''Webcomic/{{Skins}}''. Apparently there's been no mention of her family at all - the supernatural agency called the Coven took her in as a child.

* Hanna of ''Webcomic/HannaIsNotABoysName'' never mentions his family, but it's implied that he has no immediate relatives in the city.

* Jade Harley from ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', who was raised by her pet dog after her grandfather died. [[spoiler: Technically speaking, John is an orphan too: both his and Jade's biological parents are long dead. He is raised by his 'father', who is technically his half-brother. Oh, and his and Jade's biological parents are John's grandmother and Jade's grandfather. [[MindScrew Confused yet?]]]]
** And as of [[spoiler: 2/19, all of the kids are orphans in both the traditional and technical sense. [[FunnyAneurysmMoment Damn]]]].
** Troll society is entirely like this, as the adults go off to conquer the universe while they leave the planet in the hands of the youth for the most part, leaving them to be RaisedByWolves. At least until events cause all of said Wolves to die, but they remained as their sprites. [[spoiler: Until Jack Noir killed them all over again.]]
** In the Alpha universe, [[spoiler: Roxy and Dirk]]. Even more so once it's revealed [[spoiler:that the two of them exist on Earth 400 years in the future, and their parents have been dead for centuries and left caches of food and supplies for them]].

* Grunn's orphanage is one of the settings in ''Webcomic/{{Dreamkeepers}}''. The "convenient" aspect of the trope is played with in that the orphans are one big dysfunctional family, and several of them are important contributors to the plot.

* Parodied and {{defied|Trope}} by ''[[Website/TheHardTimes Hard Drive Magazine]]'' in "[[https://thehardtimes.net/harddrive/anime-mom-struggles-every-day-to-not-die-for-her-childs-tragic-backstory/ Anime Mom Struggles Every Day Not to Die for Her Child's Tragic Backstory]]", which describes the various ways the titular Mom tries to avoid dying in service of the plot and the protagonist's journey. Such methods include learning karate and removing her MotherlySidePlait.

** Link is often an orphan, or at least has no relatives shown in most installments. This leaves him with no family to be tied to on his journey.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. After the Queen's Gambit sinks, Robert Queen shoots himself and another man on the life raft so his son Oliver will have enough food and water to survive. This has a profound affect on Oliver as he spends the rest of his life trying to make his father's death meaningful via his own actions as the Arrow.

* The two assassin protagonists in ''Brotherhood of the Rose'', by David Morrell, initially meet in an orphanage from which they're recruited by CIA chief Elliot, who presents himself as a [[ParentalSubstitute surrogate father figure]]. They later discover that Elliot (and other members of his worldwide conspiracy) have done the same thing with other orphans, in order to create a team of EliteMooks who will have UndyingLoyalty and obey their orders without question.

* [[ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist Iron Fist]] loses both of his parents at the age of nine, while on his way to [[TheShangriLa K'un-Lun]].

* In ''Fanfic/TheRivalPrefectsTrilogy'', Thomas was abandoned by his parents and raised in a Muggle orphanage. [[spoiler:This explains why no one from outside Hogwarts comes looking for him after he is turned to stone and why he reluctantly accepts his fate.]]

** Winry's parents were killed in the war when she was a little girl, and as a result she was raised by her grandmother.

** Lightning, Serah, and Snow in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII''. Presumably Fang and Vanille as well, since they [[spoiler:were in crystal stasis for several hundred years]]. Only Hope is the exception, and both his parents are seen during the course of the game, though his mother dies less than an hour in. Though this is averted with the BigBad. [[spoiler: It's unclear if, as a {{Mechanical Lifeform|s}}, it really has parents, but the game is fond of related symbolism in regards to it, and at the very least it was abandoned by the gods who created it. Unlike the heroes, it took the [[OrphansOrdeal trauma]] of this situation rather badly. [[SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum very badly]] actually.]] Unfortunately the heroes never [[NotSoDifferent discuss this]].

* All three leads in ''VideoGameWildArms1'' are this by the end of the first act. Rudy is already an orphan, with his adopted grandfather dead by the time the story begins, Jack's family [[spoiler: most likely died in the attack on Arctica]] and Cecilia's mother is already dead at the start of the game with her father [[spoiler: dying after the demons attack Adlehyde.]]

* ''Manga/FruitsBasket'''s Tohru Honda wouldn't have been living in a tent for the Sohma boys to discover if her mother hadn't died.

[[/folder]]

* The player character of ''VideoGame/CuteKnight'' has grown up in an orphanage and is now, having come of age, trying to make her way in the world. This leaves her free to pursue any of the possible story paths without having to worry about a family. One story path results in her being HappilyAdopted, although only the GoldenEnding reveals that [[spoiler:she's not an orphan at all - she's the kingdom's long-lost princess]].
** The player character in ''VideoGame/CuteKnightKingdom'' is also this trope, although she was HappilyAdopted as a baby by the local candlemaker and her husband. They're quite content to let her pursue whichever story path makes her happy, however. The 'true' ending reveals that [[spoiler:she's not an orphan either. Instead, she's a princess from ''outer space'' - with multiple mothers and fathers!]]

* Of the seven party members in ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'', only one of them has a living parent, five are stated to be orphans, and the last's parents are never mentioned. [[spoiler: The orphan total becomes six later thanks to the parent performing a HeroicSacrifice.]]