History Main / EvenBadMenloveTheirMamas

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-->'''Wade''': ''[Whirls round, knocks back his captors, and grabs Byron from behind, holding a knife to his throat]'' I've always liked you Byron, but you never know when to shut up. ''Even bad men love their mommas''. ''[hurls him over the cliff edge]''

Yes, even the toughest BadAss around can still have a soft spot for dear old Mom. Sure, you have killed scores of men using only your right thigh, a roll of twine, and pure gumption, but ''she'' held you for nine months and took care of you when you were sick!

Yes, even the toughest BadAss around can still have a soft spot for dear old Mom. Sure, you've killed scores of men using only your right thigh, a roll of twine, and pure gumption, but ''she'' held you for nine months and took care of you when you were sick!

A subtrope of PetTheDog, this is when a tough or intimidating character is made more endearing via a loving relationship with their mother. It's usually just used for a quick punchline, but occasionally the concept is a bit more fleshed-out.

[[TropeNamer Named]] after [[RussellCrowe Ben Wade]]'s line in the remake of ''[=~3:10 to Yuma~=]''.

* This concept is explored some in ''YuYuHakusho'' when Kurama, a fox-spirit, possessed the body of a human baby to continue his existence after being killed. He planned to leave and continue his criminal ways once he regained his demonic powers, but found that he had come to love his human mother (Shiori) too much to abandon her, and was even willing to give up his life to save her from an illness.
** [[PapaWolf He's willing to give up your life, too]], if you threaten her safety in any way.
* Hehhehheh. HayaoMiyazaki's ''{{Castle in the Sky}}'': Mother lovin' sky pirates. A whole band of them.
** And the ''mother'' is the most BadAss of all!
* Lelouch Lamperouge aka Lelouch Vi Brittania, the MagnificentBastard from ''CodeGeass'', has as one of his motives to uncover the truth behind the ''really'' messy death of Marianne "The Flash" Lamperouge aka Marianne Vi Britannia, his beloved mother. [[spoiler: Episode 21 of the second season subverts this... because Marianne was actually ''not'' the loving, gentle mother he remembered, but a KnightTemplarParent.]]
** Also, the [[ActionGirl Bad Chick]] Kallen finds a soft spot for her racially discriminated against, drug-addicted mother. A happy life with her becomes her motivation for the rebellion (well, second only to the massive BodyguardCrush).
* It's worth noting that in ''JojosBizarreAdventure'', Jotaro travels all the way to Egypt, enduring constant attacks by enemy Stand users, and then faces off with a time-stopping vampire, all to save his mother. Jotaro's JerkWithAHeartOfGold personality prevents him from ever really admitting that he loves his mother, but his actions speak volumes to her, as she has always has had faith in his inner kindness, and in the end, she was right.
** Dio Brando himself arguably applies to this trope. As it's shown in Part 1 that Dio Brando harbors a fierce anger towards his father because according to Dio in his own words he "made mother suffer". More likely, his mother would be his only MoralityPet, thus when she died, Dio is free to become a CompleteMonster extraordinary, which he does with gusto.
* Female version in ''InuYasha''. Youkai leaderess Abi-hime's main motivation to strike a deal with BigBad Naraku was to get the human blood she needed to save the life of her mother, Queen Tekkei, who was not only old but also was poisoned after defeating and eating an ogre. Granted, she's not portrayed as sympathetic and the mother is a giant bird youkai, but Abi's devotion to her mother is still noticeable.
** Not to mention Inu-Yasha himself has some serious mommy issues. You do NOT insult the late Princess Izayoi to his face and expect to live (unless you're Sesshoumaru or something).
*** No, but Sesshoumaru does end up getting his arm cut off. That was one of only ''two'' times Inuyasha won a clean victory against him, the second being after a very successful and critically accurate use of the Wind Scar.

* Vanilla, the gruff and short tempered sheriff from ''{{Kaiba}}'' is revealed to have been struggling to earn enough money to buy a new body for his mother [[spoiler:shortly before he dies.]]
** Same for Popo, who pretty much has to take over the world in order to see his mother again. But then her memory chip accidentally gets destroyed...

* The entire reason the homonculus do what they do in ''FullmetalAlchemist'' is because they love their father. Of course Father being a CompleteMonster just uses them for his goal, as their love makes them loyal to the end. Pride finally figures out that it was [[spoiler:Mrs. Bradley]] who was the person that was giving him the love that they crave.
** Of course, Envy mostly liked the power and chances to be an asshole that came with working for Father, Lust seems to have shared that as well as just being in the habit of living her life the way she did, Gluttony was a moron and also had a closer relationship with Lust than with Father (though he did worry about making Father mad when he ate Ed), Wrath's whole life and identity depended on Father's conspiracy and he took pride in what he was, and Greed saw right through the old man and scarpered. Twice. Before Greelin's HeelFaceTurn he did what Father said on about the same terms Lust had. Only Pride showed much sign of a parent complex.
** Since he's the oldest and the most like Father, it's quite possible Beard Guy unloaded his remaining parent issues re: Hohenheim onto him back at the beginning, since the old pseudo-affection seems to have totally vanished by the modern day.
** In the same series, an argument could be made for this in the relationship between Roy and Madame Christmas.
* ''{{Death Note}}'''s Teru Mikami is a notable inversion- he sees his mother as almost condoning the actions of evildoers by telling him that some things cannot be changed. When she is killed, he inwardly celebrates the death.
** Well, the manga states that he cried initially, so he ''was'' upset about her demise at one point. Light himself plays this straight, demonstrating love for his parents and sister long after he sinks to the point where he'd kill absolutely anyone else without a second thought.
*** Well, sorta. [[spoiler:When Sayu was kidnapped, he was open to the possibility of killing her if he thought he had to, even if he didn't like the idea.]]
*** In fact, though he didn't ''like'' the idea, his position in the first volume was already 'if I'm found out...Kira will have to kill his own family.' [[spoiler: He takes Souichiro's death lightly, too; his main concern at the time is convincing his dad to kill Mello before he dies, and he freaks over this failing and blames it on being upset about his dad dying.]]
*** In the live-action movies, he [[spoiler: actually does attempt to kill his father, not knowing that the Death Note he's using at the time is a fake.]]

* Aya Mikage's evil cousin Kagami in ''AyashiNoCeres'' is shown visiting his insane mother in one episode. It's one of the few PetTheDog instances he gets in the entire series between backstabbing and [[{{XanatosGambit}} Xanatosing]] everyone else.
** Also, the {{Yandere}} [[spoiler:Miyori Sahara's]] FreudianExcuse was her beloved mother's murder [[spoiler: at the hand of Ceres, during her first rampage.]]
* Pretty much the whole reason why [[spoiler:Kaioh]] from ''FistOfTheNorthStar'' went AxCrazy in the first place. [[spoiler:His hatred for the main Hokuto family comes from the fact that his mother died while protecting a young Hyoh and Kenshiro.]]
** Devil Rebirth, a huge monstrous convicted criminal was quite fond of his mother, who defended him despite the fact that he killed 700 people. Surprisingly she looked like a gentle old woman.

* In ''LordHavok and the Extremists'', this is the motivation behind Lord Havok's turn to villainy. Born horribly deformed, his father, the Czar of Russia, rejected him while the Czarina harbored him and paid for his education overseas. When he receives word that the Czar killed his mother, the only person who ever cared for him, he returns to Russia to attend the funeral, kill his father, and utterly obliterate his home country as his revenge.
-->''You see, father,'' I ''can take, too''.
** Havok is an AlternateCompanyEquivalent to Doom; his backstory has all the elements of Doom's turned up to eleven.
* One issue of a Dutch comic, Agent 327, has the villain defeated by one of his own mooks, after said mook heard the song "Always think kindly of your mother" being used to torture the hero.

* The first sign of Spidey and FantasticFour villain Sandman's eventual HeelFaceTurn was a Christmas story where he broke out of jail to visit his elderly mom, who had no idea he was a villain. It's later established that he changed his name so his mother wouldn't know he was a crook.
* Bork, a misguided, mutated criminal, in TheDCU. Committing robberies to cover for his ailing mother's medical bills, he surrendered only after Batman assured him that she would be taken care of.

* Walter in ''TheMask'' Dark Horse comics universe - we never learn anything about this mysterious mute killer in the series other than that he has a "<3 MOTHER" tattoo on his right shoulder.
* Brutally subverted in ''Comicbook/MsMarvel''. After Ms. Marvel defeats Moonstone, she ripped away the latter's power source, leaving her to die in 3 days unless she can find it again. Ms. Marvel then puts it on Moonstone's mother's tomb, hoping that this trope would apply and Moonstone pulls a HeelFaceTurn after apologizing to her deceased mother for what she has done. Turns out EvilCannotComprehendGood, so Moonstone reclaimed her power source... and smashed her mother's tomb.
** [[spoiler:Moonstone ''killed'' her own mother and thought she was a weak failure.]] [[CompleteMonster She never loved her mother or anyone else except herself.]]

* [[LuckyLuke Joe, William, Jack and Averell Dalton]] love their [[RetiredOutlaw Ma]], and not just because she sends them... iron-enriched... cakes in prison.

* The TropeNamer is the 2007 remake of ''[[ThreeTenToYuma 3:10 To Yuma]]''. After a member of the posse transporting him to the titular prison train insults his mother, shackled MagnificentBastard Ben Wade promptly throws him into a ravine, and utters this line to justify it.

* As quoted above, James Cagney as Cody Jarrett in ''WhiteHeat''. Brush up on your classics, people.
** Subverted in that she's just as bad as he is.
* Female example: The HeelFaceTurn of [[FemmeFatale Eve Teschmacher]] from ''Film/{{Superman}}'' is prompted by the threat of her mother becoming collateral damage.
** She's all about being a vampy supervillian before that, too, with the [[SuperheroesWearCapes big cape]] and the [[MostCommonSuperpower bigger boobies]] and everything else the job entails.
* In ''TheNakedGun 33 1/3'', Rocco [[spoiler:sees his mother fall off a stage, presumably dead, and shouts down to her, "I'm coming, Ma!"]] -- possibly the most devoted mama's boy on this list. Of course, it is parody.
* One of the major themes of ''TheProposition'' is that Even VERY VERY Bad Men Love Their Brothers. Especially their mentally-handicapped kid brothers.
* Jet Li's portrayal of the Chinese hero Fong Sai Yuk definitely qualifies as this. In the second Fong Sai Yuk movie, when the bad guys kidnap his mom, Fong goes through hell and high water to get her back, including [[http://youtube.com/watch?v=vSLgstEbe1s this scene]], qualifying as one of Jet Li's greatest fights, where he uses an arsenal of katanas to tear apart an alley full of mooks standing between him and where the bad guys have taken her. While blindfolded.
** Understandable, since his mother may be even more BadAss than he is. When he is defeated by his prospective mother-in-law in the first movie, it's his mum who goes and restores the family honour (disguised as his brother).

** Oh ho, we can't forget about Walter of the video game series. In ''{{Silent Hill 4}}'', Walter Sullivan [[spoiler:went on a ritualistic murder spree]] because he believed it would reunite him with his mother. He's convinced, by the way, that his mother is an apartment.
* [[StarWars Darth Vader]]. Granted, she was dead by the time he turned fully evil, but her death filled him with [[BerserkButton murderous rage]].

* Ronnie from ''{{Little Children}}'' is a convicted pedophile who loves his mother more than life itself, and is fully aware that she is probably the only person in the world who loves him. [[spoiler: The film is notable for making a pedophile into TheWoobie upon her [[TearJerker death.]]]]
* Though he's not exactly "bad" (more like a {{Jerkass}}) for the first half of the movie, the only way to make [[TheSpock Spock]] react in the 2009 ''Film/StarTrek'' movie is to insult his mother or imply he doesn't love her. You do ''not'' want to do that unless you want the shit beaten out of you.
** [[spoiler:So of course they kill her off.]]

* ''FourBrothers'' combines this with RoaringRampageOfRevenge.

* In {{Brick}}, [[spoiler:the Pin, a drug lord, lives with his mom.]] His mom even goes so far as to serve snacks during his business meetings.
* In {{Sin City}}, {{Badass Normal}} Marv has the crap beaten out of him by crooked cops trying to get him to sign a confession. Marv spits blood at every paper they wave at him, until a slimy District Attorney shows up and threatens to kill Marv's beloved mother. Marv signs the confession immediately, but not before braking the DA's arm in several places.
* In TheGodfather II, After Michael Corleone [[ItWasHisSled learns of Fredo's treachery,]] he orders that nothing will happen to him while their mother is still alive. Of course, once we see that shot of Mama Corleone in that casket...
* In {{JCVD}}, The bank robbers get in multiple heated arguments over the brutal treatment of the hostages - Two of them are AffablyEvil, star-struck fanboys, who'd rather get Van Damme to show off his moves than extort the hostages, while the other one is a CompleteMonster who opens fire on the cops multiple times, and shoots an escaping hostage in the leg. The arguments become more heated as the film progresses, but they manage to keep it all together. [[spoiler: Until the Complete Monster insults another robber's mother. A point-blank headshot is the response from the other robber. His reasoning?]] "We agreed. Nothing about our mothers."

* Played with brutally in the sequel to TheLionKing. Nuka was treated even more cruelly than his brothers by his [[AbusiveParents abusive mother]] Zira. Later in the movie, when Kovu refused to take part in Zira's assault on the pridelands, Nuka tried to take charge to win her favour, [[spoiler:but dies in the process]]. Instead of wishing she had raised Nuka differently, [[KickTheDog she blamed ALL of this on Kovu]].

* Lestat in AnneRice's ''VampireChronicles'' is a ''daddy's boy''; he becomes his father's caretaker after he goes blind, bringing him to America with him and taking care of him for decades, all the while [[{{Masquerade}} keeping him from knowing he's become a vampire]], and never attempts to turn him into one.
** Though Lestat is more than fond of his mother, Gabrielle - he ''did'' turn her into a vampire.
*** [[OedipusRex Oh, trust me, honey, that's not the ''only'' sign that he's fond of his mother.]]
** And this is a very new developement for the two of them--Lestat and his father did ''not'' get along when Lestat was still human--he was patently his mother's favorite, and vice versa.
** Lestat is categorically a mama's boy. He adores Gabrielle, revels in being her favorite son, and still resents every second she's not paying attention to him. He hates his father and takes care of him at the end of the man's life only because Marius told him to do it. He interacts with the Marquis in a series of mood swings from cloying sweetness to brat-tastic rages, foists him on Louis half the time, and has Louis kill him when the slaves revolt because it's the most expedient thing to do. Not exactly a loving relationship.

* Subverted in ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}''; the Lilywhite boys greatly respect their deceased mother, but it's more out of quivering fear than love.
** At the same time, though, they only turn on Mr. Teatime after he snaps and goes, "To hell with your mam!"

* The last word of the mad god Torak in the ''{{Belgariad}}'' is '''''"Mother!"''''' It's identified by Belgarath as a cry to the one thing in the universe Torak thought loved him. (Granted, as a god, Torak's mother ''is'' the universe - long story.) [[spoiler:He was right - for a split second after Torak's death, everything ''stops'', as the universe mourns her lost child.]]

* Fëanor, in TheSilmarillion. Don't you 'dare'' thay Serindë.
** Also applies to [[AntiHero Túrin]]. Insulting his mother, Morwen, is [[BerserkButton not a very good idea]].

** That would sound more like a subtle application of the trope. Nothing breaks a mother's heart worse than learning of her children's death.
*** Yes, but Edmund clearly thinks his mother ''already'' believes him dead, and he doesn't care.
*** Besides which, this letter would only be sent if he ''was'' dead, and so she'll be learning of his actual death too.
* Beautifully inverted by Bernard in ''{{Black Books}}''. Whilst filling out his tax form: "Mother's maiden name... Christ, what's her first name? I just knew her as ma! That'll have to do. Ma. (Beat) Possibly deceased."
** Later in the same episode, while procastinating on his taxes, he actually calls his mother, cue '11 seconds later'. Bernard: "I know... I am... yeah, I know... yes, yes... yep.. YES I know, GOODBYE, I HAVE TO DO MY TAXES!".

** Brutally subverted by Judith, which is a song by A perfect circle, written by Maynard. I'll let it speak for itself.

-->My mother was a [[FreudianSlip STUPID BITCH]]... caring lady\\

She never let me SLUT down\\

* Mythological example: The hero Perseus of Greek mythology was very protective of his HotShounenMom Danae, and King Polydectes's motive for sending him on the quest to kill Medusa was to get him out of the way so he could get at her. When Perseus returns with Medusa's head and [[BerserkButton finds out that his mother got messed with in his absence]], he promptly uses Medusa's head to [[TakenForGranite turn Polydectes and his court to stone]] before leaving the throne to the guy's brother ''and'' Perseus's former caretaker, Dictys.
** I really don’t think Perseus can be classified in this Trope at all, as he was one of the few decent males heroes in Greek Mythology, a loving and faithful husband; an incredible rarity his Greek Mythology and some myths and mythografers; Robert Graves included; agree that he was an extreme PapaWolf to the people he ruled over in adulthood to the point that actually battled Dionysus for his people. In fact, he mostly considered the poster – boy NiceGuy amoung the Greek Heroes

-->'''Yazoo:''' I will NOT have you refer to Mother that way!

** I don't know...I think Kadaj got ''lots'' of sympathy points for that deluded and desperate motivation of his.
** "Hey, your mom's cool...what the hell am I saying?"
*** Well, the Remnants of Sephiroth all embody the surviving aspects of Sephiroth without the direct influence of Jenova Cells. It's saying something about Sephiroth when ALL three aspects are essentially Bad Boys that Love their Mama enough to destroy the World. And no amount of Supplementary Materials and Rough Analysing is going to get rid of the OBVIOUS fact that Sephiroth has Mother Issues.
*** Sephiroth, in fact, may be the MostTriumphantExample. Or, the most badass Mama's boy ever.

* ''SamAndMax Season 1 Episode 3: The Mole, The Mob, and the Meatball'' has a professional card shark who is very fond of his late mother. When he gets on the protagonists' bad side and decides to withhold information, they decide to [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment interrogate him]] with '[[YourMom Yo Mama]]' jokes.
* Subverted on ''GrandTheftAuto 3'' - if you listen to the Chatterbox radio station, eventually you'll hear Tony (the local Mafia boss) call in and complain bitterly about being smothered by his 'ma'.

--> Umberto : "I love women chico. I LOVE MY MOTHER!"

** One could also make a case for [[spoiler:Porky]] in ''{{Mother 3}}''. His favorite restaurant is staffed with robots in his mother's likeness. Sure, it's creepy, but that's about as close to love as he gets.
* In ''{{Fallout}} 3'', your character can be a living, walking embodiment of good or satan's favorite mortal. Either way, you'll goes through hell and high water just to find your dad. Of course, this being Fallout 3, you have the choice of why. At one point in the game, you also can, if you choose, express explosive anger over your mother [[DeathByChildbirth dying in childbirth]].
* Kanji From ''{{Persona}} 4'' is an odd example. He loves his mom. He feels sorry for her for all the stuff he puts her through. To make up for it he beats up an entire biker gang that kept her up at night.
* Warden, the ManBehindTheMan in ''HouseOfTheDead: Overkill'', has an [[{{Squick}} unsettlingly carnal]] relationship with his aging mother, and developed the zombie virus in an effort to keep her alive.
* The Sniper from ''TeamFortress2''.
** The Scout too, by the way. He's a major JerkAss, a HeroicSociopath and perhaps insane too, but gets majorly pissed off when he finds out that the enemy spy is having sexual relationships with his mother. Further in-game quotes also suggest he loves his mother very much.
*** Although [[spoiler: that freakin' Scout was the Spy, that would probably have been the Scout's reaction to seeing the pictures anyway.]]
** And the Demoman bought a mansion for his mother, and makes her tea.
* Dante from ''{{Devil May Cry}}'' keeps a photograph of Mommy at his house/devil-hunting shop. Plus, in the first ''Devil May Cry'', he falls for this demon created to look ''exactly'' like his mother.
** While wanting to obtain his father's power and become a full demon, ''[[=DMC=] 3'' hints that Vergil also loved his mother dearly. [[CainAndAbel That's probably the only thing he and Dante agree on]].
* [[DeadOrAlive Ayane]], generally a cold and bitter girl as a result of her upbringing and the prejudice against her for the circumstances of her birth nonetheless lets the armor crack and the tears slip when she's forced to kill her adoptive father(and the only person that ever showed her concern growing up besides Kasumi and Hayate), Genra, after DOATEC transforms him into the demonic Omega.

* [[Left4Dead Left 4 Dead's]] resident BadassBiker Francis, when he isn't [[ScreamsLikeALittleGirl screaming like a little girl]], sometimes calls out for his mama when he gets killed.
* In ''AceAttorney: Trials and Tribulations'' [[spoiler: it's completely subverted. Dahlia wants to kill Maya for personal reasons, not so her mother's plan to make Pearl master of Kurain can succeed.]]

* [[AxCrazy Walter]] in ''SilentHill4'' became a [[SerialKillers Serial Killer]] precisely for a ritual he was [[BlatantLies told would allow him to be reunited with his mother]]. Then again, [[spoiler: he ''thinks'' his mother is the room he was born in, having been abandoned by his actual one not long after]].
* In a side quest in {{Tales of the Abyss}}, [[spoiler:[[EvilCounterpart Asch]] [[GuestStarPartyMember temporarily joins the party]] to get a mushroom that will cure an [[IllGirl illness that his mother]] ([[CloningBlues and Luke's]]) has been afflicted with.]]

** Ditto Mom, of Mom's Friendly Robot Company on ''{{Futurama}}''.
* Spoofed in the LooneyTunes short ''Deduce, You Say '', in which the little old flower seller Dorlock Holmes [Daffy] harasses turns out to be the hulking Shropshire Slasher's beloved Mother. After the ensuing melee dies down, they head off down the street: "I told the nice gen'lman I'd give meself up now, mother." "You always was a good boy, Slasher."
* Subverted in ''TheSimpsons'' with the Springfield Mafia:

* Shredder from the ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' was revealed to have a still-living mother on the show, whom he presumably loved but who REALLY cramped his style. Possibly a subversion to the trope above: by the end of the episode he teleports her out of the Technodrome and back to her retirement home, then laughs triumphantly and with great relief.
** In the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 2003 series]], the NightmareFuel[=/=]TearJerker episode "Insane in the Membrane" focuses heavily on Baxter Stockman's loving memories of his dead mother.

* Disney's ''RobinHood'' has a RunningGag of the evil Prince John remembering his mother and going sucking his thumb because he was TheUnFavorite, compared to his brother King Richard. He even does it while attacking his snake right-hand man. And remember, Prince John is voice by Peter Ustinov.
** Also an {{Historical Injoke}}, Richard really was Eleanor of Aquitaine's favorite child.
* Female version from ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'': [[spoiler: A big part of [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bitch]] Azula's VillainousBreakdown in the GrandFinale is represented by her hallucinations involving her MissingMom, Princess Ursa. Azula, who had only mentioned in passing how she felt she was her mom's unfavorite, is shown screaming and crying at that.]]
** To be more specific [[spoiler: Azula is screaming about how trust and love are worthless and that only fear is useful to keeping others loyal to her, while accusing her mother of fearing her. Azula's ''hallucination'' of her mother assures her that she ''does'' love her, which is basically Azula realising that she was deprived of her mother's unconditional love, and had to settle for he father's approval that had to be earned, which is shown to be something that is easily withdrawn. That realisation (combined with how she had driven away everyone around her) is what causes her to [[VillainousBreakdown breakdown crying]].]]
** The series also has an aversion. Yon Rha ([[spoiler:the man who killed Katara's mother]]) is not very fond of his abusive hag of a mother, at one point suggesting that [[spoiler:Katara]] '''''kill his mother so as to PayEvilUntoEvil.''''' He is very obviously excited by this prospect.
* In Disney's ''PeterPan'', when Wendy is singing "Your Mother and Mine" to her brothers and The Lost Boys, Captain Hook and the other pirates overhear her. AntiVillain Smee gets emotional, as he lifts up his shirt - and displays the "MOTHER" tattoo.

** One of the most common instances of this trope is the stereotypical image of a large, imposing, angry [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels biker]] sporting a large tattoo of a heart with "MOM" written in it on his shoulder. One would assume it's not a chest tattoo like Smee's because the giant ZZ Top beard they all seem to have have would cover it up.
* Not considered a bad MAN, but Sperg from TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy has gotten upset when Mandy has called his mother a 'respected and worthy person of the community' (which is bad in Sperg language) and in another episode where Billy makes fun of his mother and made her cry.

* According to the book ''KillingForSport:InsideTheMindsOfSerialKillers'', by Pat Brown, the majority of serial killers, contrary to the stereotype, were not abused by their mothers. In fact, they tend to have been closest to their mothers (as the rest of the family is more likely to accept that something is 'off' about the killer.)

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[[{{Fridaythe13th}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/081451d4.jpg]]
[[caption-width:340:[[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming And how.]]]]

->''"Made it, Ma! Top of the world!"''
-->-- the last words of Cody Jarrett (James Cagney) in ''WhiteHeat''

->''"Strong mother fixations tend to be a big plus, so remember mom well."''
-->-- ''[[http://www.bored.com/findcliches/horrormovie.htm Bored.com's List of Horror Movie Cliches]]''

* The death of [[{{Disgaea}} Laharl's]] mother is one of the main reasons he's so emotionally messed up.

* JosefStalin. For her part, his mother is alleged to have said he should have become a priest instead. Supposedly, he was so ''scared'' of his mother (Georgian women are ''tough'') that his oppression of the Georgian Orthodox Church was less thorough than elsewhere in the Soviet Union. She is also the only person to whom he regularly

* Inverted and subverted in {{Battlestar Galactica}}. [[spoiler: Cavil]] refuses to acknowledge that he loves [[spoiler: Ellen as his mother]] but is implied to have loved her all along and sought their approval, only to believe that [[spoiler: Ellen]] never loved him back. [[spoiler: Ellen]] insists she always cared for [[spoiler: Cavil]] but she can't convince him because she never shared his more morally-grey beliefs and philosophies. The result of those differences make their relationship a supremely messed up one.

* Played with brutally in the sequel to TheLionKing. Nuka was treated even more cruelly than his brothers by his AbusiveMother Zira. Later in the movie, when Kovu refused to take part in Zira's assault on the pridelands, Nuka tried to take charge to win her favour, [[spoiler:but dies in the process]]. Instead of wishing she had raised Nuka differently, [[KickTheDog she blamed ALL of this on Kovu]].

* There's a quick example in MahouSenseiNegima. When Nodoka is being attacked by Bounty Hunters, she uses her artifact to read their minds...only to find that in spite of their threatening, inhuman appearance, they're actually very typical guys. [[http://www.onemanga.com/Mahou_Sensei_Negima%21/218/08/ One of whom is mainly concerned about sending a portion of his money for the job to his mother, and wonders idly how she's doing.]]

* Oliver Sykes, the {{Deathcore}} band {{Bring Me The Horizon}}'s infamous vocalist, is a mama's boy.

* ''IronMan'' baddie Blacklash, after hearing of a vigilante targeting supervillains, went on a mad robbing spree in an attempt to amass enough money to take care of his mom once he's killed.

** Rorschach was a bad guy?

[[TropeNamer Named]] after [[RussellCrowe Ben Wade]]'s line in the remake of ''[[{{ptitlezcbnnfc7}} 3:10 to Yuma]]''.

* Female version. [[spoiler: [[DarkMagicalGirl Nao Yuuki]] ]] from ''{{Mai-HiME}}'' is said to have been very close to her mother, [[spoiler: having become a cynical "lone wolf" and child prostitute of sorts as a twisted revenge after said mother was seriously injured by thugs]]. This is brought up twice: when Natsuki [[spoiler: (whom she has attacked and kidnapped)]] once accuses her of being selfish and cruel in her pursuits, causing a pissed off Nao to go into a MotiveRant and explain her backstory, and when [[spoiler:Shizuru attacks Nao in retaliation for her attacking and kidnapping Natsuki (twice), killing Nao's CHILD * and* Mrs. Yuuki]], which sends the girl into a heartbreaking VillainousBreakdown in which she screams and cries for her mother. [[spoiler: Who fortunately gets better when Mashiro intervenes in the GrandFinale, though, letting Nao start all over.]].
* WholesomeCrossdresser version. In {{Rose of Versailles}}, [[FemaleCrossdresser Oscar]], a normally cool, passive, obedient {{Bifauxnen}} of a royal guard, becomes quite outraged when [[TheVamp Madame Du Barry]], the mistress of the king, drags her mother into her high-stakes court battle against the then-dauphine {{Marie Antoinette}}. Oscar storms into Du Barry's private quarters and threatens her ''at swordpoint'' [mind, Du Barry is the favourite of the king, and needless to say threatening of any manner should have been punished by death], her sudden display of bloodlust frightening Du Barry such that she gave up the entire scheme despite having the king's protection. Although the very passionate Oscar has and would go on to [[BerserkButton lose his temper and do stupid/reckless/etc. things]] over other morally-charged conflicts [[spoiler:-such as the murder of a child-]] this would remain by far the angriest and the stupidest, suggesting that she is a mama's girl above all else.
* In the manga version of ''ChronoCrusade'', [[spoiler:Aion's]] partial motivation for his evil plan is that his mother was killed [[spoiler:and turned into the demon's HiveQueen while pregnant with him and his twin brother]]. Towards the end of the manga, he's shown speaking fondly to her corpse, [[spoiler: [[EldritchAbomination Pandaemonium]]. He even ''carries her head around''..]].

* Vanilla, the gruff and short tempered sheriff from ''{{Kaiba}}'' is revealed to have been struggling to earn enough money to buy a new body for his mother [[spoiler:shortly before he dies]].

*** Well, sorta. [[spoiler: When Sayu was kidnapped, he was open to the possibility of killing her if he thought he had to, even if he didn't like the idea.]]

** Also, the {{Yandere}} [[spoiler: Miyori Sahara]]'s FreudianExcuse was her beloved mother's murder [[spoiler: at the hand of Ceres, during her first rampage]]

* In ''{{Bleach}}'', the Espada Tia Harribel has an all-female Fracción. The three girls (Apache, Mila Rose and Sun Sun) fight all the time between themselves, but they're very devoted to their mistress and she also cares for them. [[spoiler: When they lose and die against Yamamoto, even after creating a ''fearsome'' Chimerae by mutilating themselves, Harribel [[TranquilFury quietly and coldly]] goes MamaBear on her current opponent, Hitsugaya.]]

* Played for laughs in [[Series/DesertPunk Desert Punk]], where a the leader of a gang ends up "[[TheIncredibleHulk Hulking Out]]" because it was implied that his mother had a fat ''belly button.''
* There's a quick example in MahouSenseiNegima. When Nodoka is being attacked by Bounty Hunters, she uses her artifact to read their minds... Only to find that in spite of their threatening, inhuman appearance, they're actually very typical guys. [[http://www.onemanga.com/Mahou_Sensei_Negima%21/218/08/ One of whom is mainly concerned about sending a portion of his money for the job to his mother, and wonders idly how she's doing.]]

* Female example: The HeelFaceTurn of [[FemmeFatale Eve Teschmacher]] from ''{{Superman}}'' is prompted by the threat of her mother becoming collateral damage.
** She's all about being a vampy supervillian before that, too, with the [[SuperheroesWearCapes big cape]] and the [[MostCommonSuperpower bigger boobies]] and everything else the job entails.

* In ''TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'', Scrooge McDuck is driven to the breaking point by a villain making fun of his dead mother. [[spoiler: He brings down a whole steamboat with his bare hands.]]

** [[spoiler: Moonstone ''killed'' her own mother and thought she was a weak failure.]] [[CompleteMonster She never loved her mother or anyone else except herself]].
* In WonderWoman, when [[JerkAss Heracles]] was changed from a god back to a demigod, he wasn't mad about his reduced power, he was glad to have his mother's blood back in his veins.

* In the ''[[Film/SilentHill Silent Hill]]'' movie, after the terrible and bloody vengeance that Alessa Gillespie unleashed on Christabella and the whole town that burned her alive for being born out of wedlock many years ago, the only survivors are ActionMom Rose, her daughter Sharon and Dahlia, Alessa's mother. When Dahlia ask Rose why is she the lone survivor out of all the Silent Hill inhabitants, Rose tells her "Mother is God in the eyes of a child."
** Oh ho, we can't forget about Walter of [[SilentHill the video game series]]. In ''{{Silent Hill 4}}'', Walter Sullivan [[spoiler:went on a ritualistic murder spree]] because he believed it would reunite him with his mother. He's convinced, by the way, that his mother is an apartment.

* In the crossover movie ''[[ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy]] vs. [[FridayTheThirteenth Jason]]'', Jason comes back to life because his mother tells him to. Of course, the "mother" was a image made by Freddy Krueger in order to start a killing spree on Elm Street. That kind of obedience can't be faked.
** Jason respects his mother in the FridayThe13th series. In fact, during part II [[spoiler: he makes a little shrine for his mother's decapitated head.]]

* Though he's not exactly "bad" (more like a {{Jerkass}}) for the first half of the movie, the only way to make [[TheSpock Spock]] react in the 2009 ''[[{{Film/StarTrek}} Star Trek]]'' movie is to insult his mother or imply he doesn't love her. You do ''not'' want to do that unless you want the shit beaten out of you.

* In {{Brick}}, [[spoiler: the Pin, a drug lord, lives with his mom]]. His mom even goes so far as to serve snacks during his business meetings.

* In ''{{Scream}}'' after being informed by Sidney that she's called the police Stu (whose already bleeding to death) pathetically breaks down and cries "My mom and dad are gonna be so mad!"

[[caption-width:358:[[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming And how.]]]]

* In ''{{Fallout}} 3'', your character can be a living, walking embodiment of good or satan's favorite mortal. Either way, you'll goes through hell and high water just to find your dad. Of course, this being Fallout 3, you have the choice of why.