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->''The thought of me dead gives you an ERECTION?!''
-->--'''Malory Archer''', ''{{Archer}}''
This is a much darker take on the usual MommasBoy story.
The villain is a [[VillainByDefault basement-dwelling, creepy, perverted sociopath]] with nothing but contempt for his chosen target villain group ([[HeManWomanHater almost always women]]). Rather than give the character just any FreudianExcuse, the creators have decided to give the character a mother who is unstable, cruel, [[MyBelovedSmother demanding, possessive, controlling]], and sometimes outright insane. She isn't the EvilMatriarch... she isn't a true villain in her own right. But she's twisted her son's psyche from birth through years and years of psychological and physical abuse. Bonus points if [[ParentalIncest the relationship is incestuous]].
While it is rare, having the Mommy Issues actually be Daddy Issues is just as possible. Usually this is reserved for female characters, however.
Sadly, this is sometimes TruthInTelevision. A subtrope of FreudianExcuse, almost always reserved for characters who are sexual deviants of one stripe or another, or else {{Serial Killer}}s.
Compare EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas. For the other type of Mommy or Daddy Issues, see WellDoneSonGuy.
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In ''FruitsBasket'' (the manga, at least; the anime didn't get this far), Akito's issues stem from the fact that [[spoiler: her mother insisted that she be raised as a boy out of insane jealousy.]]
* Seishirou's relationship with his mother in ''{{X1999}}''. This would be the incestuous kind.
* The manga version of ''ChronoCrusade'' reveals towards the end that Aion's StartOfDarkness was when he learned the AwfulTruth that Pandaemonium, the mother of all demons is actually the corpse of a human woman who was kidnapped by demons and grafted onto what was left of the former demon queen--oh, and she was pregnant with twins, who would grow up to be him and his brother, Chrono. This is foreshadowed earlier on in the manga by the fact that he's obviously quite obsessed with and terrified of Pandaemonium.
* [[{{Loveless}} Ritsuka's]] mother has been an abusive version of TheOphelia ever since her older son died and her younger son "went strange" and no one, including her husband and Ritsuka's teacher [[SocialServicesDoesNotExist can stop it]]. At one point she ties him to a chair so she could go shopping, and it's very briefly mentioned she has her own FreudianExcuse too.
* Ritsuko. But then, [[DysfunctionJunction everyone]] in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' has so many ParentalIssues it's not even funny. Asuka's the other big one for Mommy Issues; her mother rejected her after getting her soul ripped out and put in EVA-02 and believed that a doll was her daughter. After this had been going on for some time, she committed suicide... and Asuka found the body.
** Shinji's Mother apparently put her soul into a Biomechanical Giant Robot created directly from the Angel that is also the Mother of Mankind. Shinji's reliance on his mother and his subsequent hatred of his father then springs from...ironically enough, his "angelic" mother. So both his parents are apparently off the deep end in terms of being half-way efficient in any given way, aside from traumatizing him into the justified breakdown he has at the end of EndOfEvangelion.
* Although not his actual mother, [[Manga/HayateTheCombatButler Athena]] inflicted this training on young Hayate, shown in a flashback which included kicking him in the stomach while teaching him that he had to be financially able to care for a girl before he could have a girlfriend. Those lessons have still stuck with him to present (10 years later) and considering he's currently carrying a 150 million yen debt, he doesn't think he can be anyone's boyfriend. Ignoring, of course, that most of his UnwantedHarem could sit on their hands and make more in a day than he could if he spent the rest of his life working.
** Hayate's actual mother and father are responsible for the 150 million yen debt and tried to sell him to the yakuza to pay it off. Hayate never seems bitter about this despite spending most of his life paying off his parent's debts and consistently getting stolen from (Hayate is only 16!).
*** His current debt is his own and self incurred. [[PaperThinDisguise Mask the Money]] paid off the debt from his parents, in full.
* Oskar von Reuentahl from ''LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' is an interesting subversion in that he lacks the typical traits associated with the trope - he's not even a villain but a sort of TragicHero. He is, however, a bitter misogynist who never refuses women's advances but inevitably ends up breaking their heart when he gets bored of them. Later on he becomes involved in an unhealthy and abusive relationship with a woman whom he indirectly compares to his mother. The reason is his mother thinking his brown eye an omen about her brown-eyed lover and trying to gouge it out with a knife when he was just a baby. When she didn't succeed she went insane and eventually killed herself, driving Reuentahl's father to alcohol and emotional abuse.
* The entirety of ''BrainPowerd''. Every episode of it. In particular, Yuu and Johnathan.
* Guts from ''{{Berserk}}''. When he was growing up in a mercenary camp he lived for the approval and love of Gambino the leader of the mercenaries. Sadly, that love was not reciprocated since Gambino blamed Guts for the death of his lover Shisu (who rescued Guts as an infant) of plague, believing the boy to be bad luck. Gambino ''sold Guts to a pedophiliac soldier'' for three silver coins, then later tried to kill him after he got drunk. Guts killed him in self-defense, and ever since he had issues with being touched and had trouble forming emotional bonds. Guts was on the verge of getting over his Daddy Issues thanks to his time with the Hawks (Casca in particular), but then the Eclipse went down and gave him even ''worse'' issues.
* In [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]] of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', [[spoiler:Envy]] is eventually revealed to be driven by daddy issues from his biological father, [[spoiler:Hohenheim]], abandoning him. On the flip side, his relationship with his mother [[spoiler:Dante]] appears to be more cordial, despite her being the one who abuses, controls and manipulates him like a chess piece -- of course, it's 'more cordial' in the sense that he only despises her to the level that she's not worth killing until after he's settled things with daddy [[spoiler:[[CainAndAbel and his half-brothers]]]].
* The BigBad in ''Maranosuke'' '''clearly''' has these problems UpToEleven as he 1. Is built like (and same temperment as) [[Manga/DragonBall Broly,]] 2. [[Really700YearsOld over 1000 years old,]] 3. A PhysicalGod or at least some kind of Demigod given he's the son of Yao Bikuni, 4. leader of a supernatural ninja clan and 5. the title character's ShadowArchetype and apparent [[TheUnFavorite unfavorite]] [[FreudWasRight because he either didn't get to have sex with their mom like Mara did or did, but didn't get enough.]] His method of "grieving:" [[OutWithABang fucking girls to death]] and harvesting their bodily fluids for immortality fuel while [[PsychopathicManchild crying about missing his mom]] until he sense her return and... [[StillbornFranchise the series abruptly ends.]]
* This is the reason why [[CuteAndPsycho Minat]][[AxCrazy suki]] of ''DeadmanWonderland'' is so messed up. During the Great Tokyo Earthquake, her mother abandoned her in favor of rescuing a plant that had fallen down beside her.
* Kanzaki from the ''{{Area 88}}'' manga [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas loved his late mother]], but he was deeply traumatized by her suicide. Kanzaki's mother drove her car off a cliff (with Kanzaki inside) when he was a little boy, and the first thing he saw when he regained consciousness was his mother's dead body. We learn later in the manga that [[spoiler: she was responsible for the deaths of Shin's parents]], which motivates some of the things Kanzaki does to Shin.
** Kanzaki remarks that Ryoko resembles his mother, then proposes a {{scarpia ultimatum}} to Ryoko several pages later. [[FreudWasRight Paging Dr. Freud!]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comicbooks]]
* Franchise/{{Batman}}:
** Scarecrow, one of Batman's villains, was abused by his grandmother (father, in ComicBook/{{New 52}}) as a child. This isn't the sole reason why he became a psychotic who enjoyed instilling fear in others... but it certainly added to the problem.
** Another Batman villain, Humpty Dumpty, was also abused by his grandmother. It was just one factor in a completely [[CrapsackWorld Crapsack childhood]] that drove him over the edge into insanity.
* Rorschach from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' had a mother who was an abusive prostitute, and this shaped his damaged psyche and [[DoesNotLikeWomen negative attitude towards women]] to the point where he can't really function like a normal person.
* You'd think {{Wolverine}}'s son {{Daken}} would have Daddy Issues, but WordOfGod says otherwise. Daken's mother was killed before he was born (he was cut out of her body and survived only due to his inherited HealingFactor). It's very telling that as an award to himself for conquering the criminal underworld, Daken buys a painting depicting a baby suckling at the bare breast of its mother.
* Reverse-Flash, in ComicBook/{{New 52}}, became a villain thanks to his Daddy Issues. He's actually [[spoiler:Daniel West, Iris West's younger brother]]. Both of them were physically abused by their father, but [[spoiler:Daniel]] took most of the heat because his father [[MaternalDeathBlameTheChild blamed him for his mother's death]], since she died in childbirth. He eventually ran away from home and was cut off from the rest of the family, including the one person he loved, his sister; that also led him into the path that turned him into a small-time crook, arrested a mere days after attaining the age of majority. As soon as he got his Speed Force powers, he decided to go back in time and kill his father in order to fix his life.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films]]
* Raoul Silva from ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' views his former superior, M, as a mother figure and his StartOfDarkness was realizing that she had sold him out to the Chinese in exchange for the release of other agents. Hammered home when [[spoiler:when he finally confronts M alone at the end of the movie and devolves into a whimpering child. Judging from Bond's reaction to M's death, he probably felt the same way about her.]]
* The classic (cinematic) example is Norman Bates, the mother-fixated killer of ''Film/{{Psycho}}''.
** Another [[Creator/AlfredHitchcock Hitchcock]] example: Bruno Anthony in ''Film/StrangersOnATrain''.
* ''Film/CitizenKane''. While neither a sexual pervert nor a serial killer, one could argue that Kane's extreme hubris and mistreatment of women stem from him being unable to reconcile himself with his mother [[ParentalAbandonment sending him away]] when he feels he did nothing wrong. His extreme materialism seems to be his way to telling himself that he deserves to be loved, when really, trying harder to reconcile with his mother before she died would have allowed him to live a much happier life without becoming a ManipulativeBastard.
* In ''Film/RaisingArizona'', the BigBad has a tattoo that reads, "Mama didn't love me."
* Both {{Big Bad}}s in the two ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' movies have been driven mainly by parental abandonment and being {{Well Done Son Guy}}s. Not to let the bad guys get all the [[ThereAreNoTherapists psychological issues]], both Tigress and Po additionally have underlying issues involving their own parents too with both being orphans. This is to the point that a track for the score of the second movie is titled "Daddy Issues".
* Subverted in ''HenryPortraitOfASerialKiller.'' Henry tells of how he killed his abusive mother in self-defense, but he tells it in a bizarre, disjointed fashion, and occasionally forgets exactly how he killed her. It's then you realize that his terrible past is used to make him ''creepier,'' as you realize how disturbed and dangerous a person with such a past must have turned out to be.
* Peter Foley, from the movie ''Copycat''. He eventually killed his mom and set fire to her house.
* The BigBad's mother in ''Film/KindergartenCop'' is one of these. She even shoots ''Arnold'' at one time.
* Frank Zito from ''Film/{{Maniac}}'' has severe mother issues, and he is compelled to decorate mannequins to look like her(using the scalps of women he murdered) and carries on conversations with them as if they were his mother.
* ''Film/TheAviator'' implies that this was one of the reasons (and there were a couple) that Howard Hughes had so many "eccentricities" in his adult life.
* After the serial killing rapist in ''Film/{{Gothika}}'' is unveiled, Dr. Grey speculates that the killer[[spoiler:'s accomplice]] grew up with an absent father and an over-dependent relationship with his mother which turned into sexual desire, got pleasure from torturing small animals as a kid, and is confused about his sexuality as an adult. [[spoiler:Sherrif Ryan only disputes the part that he enjoyed killing animals.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Two of the lesser villains (meaning, those who aren't [[TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]]) in Thomas Harris's series of thrillers have this background:
** The childhood of Jame Gumb (from ''SilenceOfTheLambs'') was never fully explained, but we do know that his mother was an absentee porn star.
** Frances Dolarhyde (from ''Literature/RedDragon'') fairly takes the cake: raised by a sadistic grandmother who regularly threatened to castrate him for things as trivial as wetting the bed (he was around five years old at the time). In the 2002 [[TheFilmOfTheBook movie version]], Edward Norton's character even uses this as a BerserkButton to distract Dolarhyde during a fight.
* The [[SerialKiller Red Rose Killer]] in Robert B. Parker's ''Crimson Joy'', who killed women and left red roses at each scene, was abused by his mother, Rose Black.
* John Dread, from Tad Williams's ''Literature/{{Otherland}}'' series, is a monster because his mother abused him while he was growing up. She specifically ''wanted'' her son to grow up to be a monster, and it worked. None of this makes him any less horrifying.
* Ben Ladradun of ''[[Literature/CircleOfMagic Cold Fire]]'' was berated and abused by his mother for basically his entire life; he got respect and attention for the first time when he became a firefighting expert. And then promptly devolved into a {{pyromaniac}} SerialKiller by way of a WellIntentionedExtremist when his methods caused such a drop in fires that people stopped listening to his advice to prepare for them. He also eventually murdered his mother in what is implied to be a fairly horrifying way.
* ''InDeath'': Well, this trope has popped up a number of times! Just check out ''Glory In Death'', ''Vengeance In Death'', ''Visions In Death'', ''Born In Death'', and ''New York To Dallas''.
* All the Orkney boys in ''Literature/TheOnceAndFutureKing'' are deeply affected by their twisted upbringing with Morgause: Gawain, though technically a good guy, is the only knight of the Round Table to have killed a woman in one of his uncontrollable rages; Agravaine is cruel and possessive to the point of ''killing'' their mother after he catches her sleeping with another, much younger knight, who he also kills; Gaheris has no mind and will of his own; Gareth takes it upon himself to resolve conflict and make everyone happy, even when they abuse him; and Mordred, though professing his deep hatred for their mother, begins adopting her attitude, habits, and mannerisms.
* Emperor Ikurei Xerius from ''Literature/SecondApocalypse'' was incited by his mother to kill his father, and has an [[ParentalIncest incestuous relationship]] with her going back to his childhood. As an adult, he is constantly torn between hating his mother and an intense sexual desire toward her.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Sylar from ''Series/{{Heroes}}''. His mother was completely obsessed with him being ''special''... so it bled over into him and drove him nuts.
** In Volume Three, Arthur and Angela exploit his MommyIssues in order to get him to work for each of them. Naturally, when he finds out about this, let's just say "violent rage" is too broad to describe his reaction.
* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryAsylum'' has [[spoiler:Dr. Oliver Thredson, also known as the psychopathic SerialKiller Bloody Face]].
* An episode of ''LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' featured a mother who brainwashed her two sons to believe the world outside their apartment door was unspeakably hellish, and that being placed in a foster home was AFateWorseThanDeath. She mistreated them in other ways as well, and when it looked like they (surprise!) were going to be placed with foster parents, the older son killed his younger brother so he wouldn't have to experience those horrors(the gun jamming was the only thing keeping him from killing himself as well). Never mind that her ''eldest'' son had gone through foster care and was apparently normal, he was dead to her (literally - it was like a zombie was in the room).
** Another episode featured a BTK-style killer whose mom had locked him in a closet while she went out to watch movies.
--> "[[LampshadeHanging Please, with you people its always the mother!]]"
** Still another features a woman who was accused of molesting a murdering one of her young, female piano students. She later confesses to the crime and tells the psychiatrist that her father molested her. Eventually it comes out that her mother had sexually abused her until well into her teens (and was still abusing her younger sister.)
* The ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'' episode "The Saint" featured Creator/StephenColbert (years before ''Series/TheColbertReport'', when he was still primarily a voice actor and ''Series/TheDailyShow'' correspondent) as a master forger who was trying to discredit a soon-to-be canonized priest because his mother used the guy's charity to literally steal his childhood -- he had on average about a day to enjoy anything he bought or was given before his mother whisked it away, sold it, and gave the money to the charity. She actually calls him "ungrateful" to his face, when he finally breaks down and complains about his treatment at the end of the episode.
** Another episode, "Diamond Dogs", features a heroin-addicted mother who intentionally hooked her own son on the drug, just so he'd always be dependent upon her and would assist her in the armed robberies that she undertook to support her own drug habit.
* In ''Series/TheSopranos'', many of Tony's psychological problems can be traced back to a lifetime of manipulation and abuse inflicted on him by his mother, Livia, a woman with a borderline personality (or, to put it in ordinary language, a ManipulativeBitch). She even manipulates her brother-in-law Junior into putting a hit out on Tony.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** The vampire Zachary Kralik definitely qualifies; he talked about his mother's abusing him, and he was obsessed enough to target Buffy's mother Joyce. Kralik (as mentioned in the page quote) killed and ate his mother ''before'' becoming a vampire.
--> "I have a problem with mothers. I'm aware of that."
** Spike has been revealed to have mommy issues of a kind, in a story that involves incest but still makes both Spike and his mother sympathetic. Faith's mother (who spent her time "enjoying the drinking and passing out parts of life") isn't particularly [[{{Squick}} squicky]], so it's more of a straight FreudianExcuse than this trope; however, Faith taking Joyce hostage in This Year's Girl is clearly motivated by Mommy Issues.
** Buffy had these with Joyce, because she had to keep the slayer thing secret. Then her mother becomes more supportive of her.
** Halfrek has them according to Anya.
* Jacob and the Man in Black's "Mother" (who isn't, really) on ''Series/{{Lost}}''. Her determination to keep the Man in Black from leaving the island causes him to dedicate his whole life (and well beyond) to doing just that.
* Bree from ''DesperateHousewives'' is a bit two dimensional because of the creator basing her on his own mother.
** Fortunately, she went through CharacterDevelopment.
* The ''Series/ColdCase'' episode "Blackout" featured a woman, who back in the days seduced her ''[[ParentalIncest own 13-year old son]]''. To make it even worse she later tried to do the same thing to her equally young [[{{Squick}} grandson]]. [[spoiler: Averted. The son grew into a decent man. It was her daughter who finally flipped and drowned the oedipal man-eater. [[SympatheticMurderer And you can't blame her for it.]] ]]
** Another episode had two brothers whose mother was an abusive prostitute (no, they did not become [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} vigilantes]]), and when one discovered that the other was with a prostitute... [[spoiler: she was a friend and he was just trying to learn how to be sociable.]]
** Lilly is menaced by a serial killer/rapist (I missed most of that arc) who believed he witnessed his abusive mother being raped when he was a child, but the truth is much worse [[spoiler: his mother ''gave her son to the rapist to save herself'']].
* An episode of ''Series/{{CSI}}'' featured a powerful man who was into roleplaying as an infant, even hiding a woman's baby so she'd provide him with breast milk. The woman tells the detectives that boss man-baby said he gave her baby to his mother, but that goes nowhere as said mother is hospitalized, has no knowledge of the baby or her estranged son, and is probably the least maternal person in Nevada (hence his need for all that maternal attention).
* On ''Series/{{Community}}'' [[spoiler: Dr. Rich]] is revealed to have an abusive mother that blames him for the death of his brother. [[StepfordSmiler He does a great job of hiding how messed up he is though]].
* ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'''s Alan and Charlie Harper hate their mother with a burning passion, even going so far as comparing her to the Antichrist. [[ParentalNeglect It's not really unjustified]].
** Sometimes PlayedForLaughs, sometimes not.
-->'''Rose:''' I thought your father died of food poisoning?
-->'''Charlie:''' Yeah, some people do. But I'm pretty sure he knew the fish was bad and [[DrivenToSuicide kept on eating it anyway...]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Music]]
* Music/JohnLennon, of Music/TheBeatles, was raised by his aunt Mimi and was just starting to know his birth mother Julia (who taught him how to play Music/BuddyHolly's "That'll Be The Day" on the banjo, among other things, and which started or helped John into his career in music...either way: "Thank you, Julia!") when she was hit by a drunk-driving off-duty police officer; both his personal life and his professional/musical career were affected by this, with songs such as "Julia" (which is also about Music/YokoOno) from the White Album, the heart-wrenching "Mother" from his first solo Plastic Ono Band album, and even naming his first son "Julian". He also attached on to Yoko specifically in this manner, referring to her as "Mother" (or "Madam") in "an off-hand way" (according to his final interview in Playboy).
* The Franchise/EvilliousChronicles' characters [[CreepyTwins Hansel and Gretel]] have this, mainly due to their foster mother kidnapping them as babies and then murdering their real mother. After that, when they got older, ''she left them out into the forest to die.'' Their reincarnations [[spoiler: [[WellDoneSonGuy Ney]]]] and [[EnfanteTerrible Lemy]] don't get any better: [[spoiler: Ney's]] mother [[PlayingWithSyringes gave her up for the Big Bad to experiment on]], making her pretty damn AxCrazy; while it's heavily implied that Lemy's parents were killed by his surrogate mother, [[{{Immortality}} the same]] BigBad, who brainwashed him into becoming a SerialKiller. [[DysfunctionJunction It's that kind of series.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Theatre]]
* CyranoDeBergerac: In what is perhaps the most awesome subversion of this trope, Cyrano does not hate women, but he has a nose so big and ugly that he is utterly terrified of any women mocking him if they talk about love. The nose is only an excuse; his problems come from his childhood. His tragedy is that his MommyIssues and his [[MartyrdomCulture cultural views]] have ruined his life completely: He is a talented poet, duelist, soldier, philosopher, physicist, musician, playwright, and novelist who will never accomplish anything because of those traumas. The whole point of the play is that Cyrano could have won Roxane's (or any other woman's) heart any time he wanted, but he never did because of his self-loathing. (FromACertainPointOfView, he is a serial killer, only he chases [[AssholeVictim jerks]]). In the final act of the play, Cyrano, trying to comfort Roxane, lampshades this trope:
--> '''Cyrano''':You blessed my life! \\
Never on me had rested woman's love. \\
''My mother even could not find me fair: \\
I had no sister; and, when grown a man, \\
I feared the mistress who would mock at me.'' \\
But I have had your friendship—grace to you \\
A woman's charm has passed across my path.
* In ''The Beauty Queen of Leenane'' by Creator/MartinMcDonagh, Maureen has serious issues with her mother Mag. Mag is manipulative, emotionally abusive, passive aggressive, and selfish; Maureen is delusional, physically abusive, and [[spoiler:eventually murders her mother]]. Charming pair.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Videogames]]
* Curtis, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Phantasmagoria 2}}''. As a 6-year old kid, he endured extremely [[ColdBloodedTorture cruel, painful, and humiliating torture]] at the hands of his AxCrazy mom, which his dad chose to ignore. She gave him [[ElectricTorture electric shocks]], [[KnifeNut sliced him with knives]], and [[{{Crossdresser}} forcibly dressed him up as a girl]] ([[YouMonster while calling him a "Monster"]]) before hanging herself, and he found her afterwards. His dad was killed in front of their house soon after. Later in the game, it's revealed that [[spoiler:Curtis's mom [[GoMadFromTheRevelation went mad]] / was DrivenToSuicide because "Curtis" was actually an alien clone of her real son. Curtis's dad was also [[YouKilledMyFather murdered in cold blood]] by Paul Allen Warner because of this. Curtis eventually reconciles with a mental projection of her at the end.]]
* Sephiroth from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. Oh so very much. You have to be "quite" messed up to want to try a smash a Meteor into the Planet so you could eat up all the Lifestream to become a God. Apparently, it's cause Mommy did that thousands of years before, and now he wants to be a good son and make her proud by doing the same!
** Then there's the Remnants of Sephiroth in ''AdventChildren''. Keep in mind each of them is basically the Aspects of Sephiroth's Personality divided and eliminated of any direct influence from Jenova. They now mention "Mother" even MORE then Sephiroth himself....all THREE of them!
* While not a villain, it's revealed in ''MetalGearSolid2'' that Otacon had an incestuous relationship with his stepmother, which accounts for much of his social awkwardness and problems with intimacy.
* ''Franchise/DragonAge'': [[BlackMagicianGirl Morrigan's]] problems with her mother probably stem from being raised as a [[spoiler: body for her mother to possess.]]
** To a lesser degree in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', assuming you interpret Merrill (an orphan) and Merithari (her mentor who is certainly old enough to be her mother) this way.
* Isaac in ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'' spends a cutscene after each level crying to himself about the traumatic things his mother put him through, even before she started hearing the voice of God telling her to kill him.
* ''VideoGame/{{Paranoiac}}'' has much more than MommyIssues with Miki and her mother. Both are mentally ill, but Miki's mother is willing to support her depressed daughter nor was she will [[spoiler:to support her mentally ill sister.]] Even when he daughter called and asked to come home after three nights of being chased by [[spoiler:her dead aunt,]] she claims that her aunt's house is now her daughter's and to not come back.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Butch from ''ChoppingBlock''. His mother ''still'' [[http://choppingblock.keenspot.com/d/20120725.html verbally abuses him]] despite [[Film/{{Psycho}} being dead]].
* Madam Principal Abigail Mars in ''HowToRaiseYourTeenageDragon'' goes full tilt [[Disney/{{RobinHood}} Prince John thumb sucker]] when she's reminded of what her father would think of her petty need for revenge.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Originals]]
* This trope is [[GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse Doctor XX's]] whole reason for supervillainy, though in her case its Daddy Issues.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Azula in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Interpretations]] of [[MamaBear Ursa]] vary: the only time she appears, it's from Zuko's perspective of past events and, therefore, likely idealized and slightly unreliable. Azula, with her mind twisted by [[FreudianExcuse Ozai's]] emotionally abusive and violent tendencies, could only fixate on her belief that 'Mother loved Zuko best' and that 'my own mother thought I was a monster'. [[LampshadeHanging She points it out herself]], but it's very clear she was always yearning for her mother's approval and love -- and just as clear that Ursa was concerned for her. Fortunately, none of this is pertinent because the only thing you really need for Mommy Issues is the perception of an uncaring mother.
** Looks like at least some of her issues may be resolved in the upcoming sequel to ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderThePromise, subtitled ''The Search''. It revolves around Zuko and Azula's search for Ursa.
*** It seems like Azula's Mommy Issues have gotten even ''worse''. [[spoiler:Azula only recovered from her breakdown by believing that Ursa orchestrated a conspiracy to bring her down. The reason she's helping Zuko in his search is so she can ''kill'' Ursa.]]
** As for Zuko, he has his own paternal issues, what with the [[WellDoneSonGuy need for retribution in his father's eyes]] and all.
* See NinetiesAntiHero for TheTick parody
* Gazpacho from ''{{Chowder}}''
* [[MoralOrel Clay Puppington]] has an upsetting Oedipus complex, which is too bad considering he accidentally killed his mother.
* ''{{Archer}}''. The title character certainly has issues with his mother. Made clear in the first episode where he [[spoiler:gets an erection when the man threatening his mother's life describes her dead in the gutter.]]
-->'''Malory''': The thought me ''dead'' gives you an ''erection''?
-->'''Archer''': Just... half of one. The other half would really miss you.
* ''{{Metalocalypse}}'': Skwisgaar Skwigelf has a few problems with his [[SonOfAWhore mom]].
* Luanne's mother from WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill was very abusive to her father causing him to flee, and is implied to have neglected her in the past. When she comes back she is okay as long as she doesn't have any alcohol; when she does she's borderline psychotic and will attack anyone who provokes her in the slightest. According to her, she views Luanne more as a sister than her daughter.
* Grimes' mother on ''UglyAmericans'' pulls a VisualPun (with being a literal mummy) ''definitely'' falls into this trope, as she doesn't approve of his (fake) demon girlfriend, Callie, and even tries to one-up her by showing how to ''really'' [[{{Squick}} kiss her little boy.]]
* Kyle has this in the first few seasons of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', ''especially'' in [[WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut the movie]].
* It's heavily implied that Dan from ''DanVs'' has these. WordOfGod says the show would have explored them more if it continued into a fourth season.
* Pretty much everyone in WesternAnimation/AdventureTime to the point where the show [[FavoriteTrope loves this trope a lot.]] [[spoiler: Finn's possible dad was a JerkAss]], Marcy's dad ate her fries, Joshua seemed like he thought Finn was a whiney baby and made Jake feel bad about his strength, [[spoiler: They both got better]], and LSP's parents made her run away. [[spoiler: she got better also.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Real Life]]
* Unfortunately, abusive or neglectful parenting situations do make it more likely that the child will have mental or behavior issues when they become adults, so this is TruthInTelevision.
* Augusta Gein, mother of EdGein. It's questionable who was more unstable.
* According to [[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/tick/victims_1.html this]], it is one of the top reasons for serial killing. Although often ''there is no reason'', resulting in RealityIsUnrealistic since a FreudianExcuse reads more true in fiction than it actually is.
* Implied with Adam Lanza, who murdered his mother in her sleep before snuffing out the lives of 26 others at Sandy Hook Elementary.
* The reason Freud believed in this so strongly was because it actually applied to him. He really did have incestuous feelings for his mother. However, one critic pointed out a reason for this. Since Freud had a wet nurse, he instead recognized ''her'' as his "mother", and recognized his biological mother as just an attractive woman who cared very deeply for him.
** Similarly, many Freud biographers say there is evidence he was sexually or at least physically abused by his father, meaning he has a, [[IncrediblyLamePun well]], FreudianExcuse for both halves of the Oedipus Complex that's so bizarrely prominent in his theories.
[[/folder]]
----
-->--'''Malory Archer''', ''{{Archer}}''
This is a much darker take on the usual MommasBoy story.
The villain is a [[VillainByDefault basement-dwelling, creepy, perverted sociopath]] with nothing but contempt for his chosen target villain group ([[HeManWomanHater almost always women]]). Rather than give the character just any FreudianExcuse, the creators have decided to give the character a mother who is unstable, cruel, [[MyBelovedSmother demanding, possessive, controlling]], and sometimes outright insane. She isn't the EvilMatriarch... she isn't a true villain in her own right. But she's twisted her son's psyche from birth through years and years of psychological and physical abuse. Bonus points if [[ParentalIncest the relationship is incestuous]].
While it is rare, having the Mommy Issues actually be Daddy Issues is just as possible. Usually this is reserved for female characters, however.
Sadly, this is sometimes TruthInTelevision. A subtrope of FreudianExcuse, almost always reserved for characters who are sexual deviants of one stripe or another, or else {{Serial Killer}}s.
Compare EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas. For the other type of Mommy or Daddy Issues, see WellDoneSonGuy.
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In ''FruitsBasket'' (the manga, at least; the anime didn't get this far), Akito's issues stem from the fact that [[spoiler: her mother insisted that she be raised as a boy out of insane jealousy.]]
* Seishirou's relationship with his mother in ''{{X1999}}''. This would be the incestuous kind.
* The manga version of ''ChronoCrusade'' reveals towards the end that Aion's StartOfDarkness was when he learned the AwfulTruth that Pandaemonium, the mother of all demons is actually the corpse of a human woman who was kidnapped by demons and grafted onto what was left of the former demon queen--oh, and she was pregnant with twins, who would grow up to be him and his brother, Chrono. This is foreshadowed earlier on in the manga by the fact that he's obviously quite obsessed with and terrified of Pandaemonium.
* [[{{Loveless}} Ritsuka's]] mother has been an abusive version of TheOphelia ever since her older son died and her younger son "went strange" and no one, including her husband and Ritsuka's teacher [[SocialServicesDoesNotExist can stop it]]. At one point she ties him to a chair so she could go shopping, and it's very briefly mentioned she has her own FreudianExcuse too.
* Ritsuko. But then, [[DysfunctionJunction everyone]] in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' has so many ParentalIssues it's not even funny. Asuka's the other big one for Mommy Issues; her mother rejected her after getting her soul ripped out and put in EVA-02 and believed that a doll was her daughter. After this had been going on for some time, she committed suicide... and Asuka found the body.
** Shinji's Mother apparently put her soul into a Biomechanical Giant Robot created directly from the Angel that is also the Mother of Mankind. Shinji's reliance on his mother and his subsequent hatred of his father then springs from...ironically enough, his "angelic" mother. So both his parents are apparently off the deep end in terms of being half-way efficient in any given way, aside from traumatizing him into the justified breakdown he has at the end of EndOfEvangelion.
* Although not his actual mother, [[Manga/HayateTheCombatButler Athena]] inflicted this training on young Hayate, shown in a flashback which included kicking him in the stomach while teaching him that he had to be financially able to care for a girl before he could have a girlfriend. Those lessons have still stuck with him to present (10 years later) and considering he's currently carrying a 150 million yen debt, he doesn't think he can be anyone's boyfriend. Ignoring, of course, that most of his UnwantedHarem could sit on their hands and make more in a day than he could if he spent the rest of his life working.
** Hayate's actual mother and father are responsible for the 150 million yen debt and tried to sell him to the yakuza to pay it off. Hayate never seems bitter about this despite spending most of his life paying off his parent's debts and consistently getting stolen from (Hayate is only 16!).
*** His current debt is his own and self incurred. [[PaperThinDisguise Mask the Money]] paid off the debt from his parents, in full.
* Oskar von Reuentahl from ''LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' is an interesting subversion in that he lacks the typical traits associated with the trope - he's not even a villain but a sort of TragicHero. He is, however, a bitter misogynist who never refuses women's advances but inevitably ends up breaking their heart when he gets bored of them. Later on he becomes involved in an unhealthy and abusive relationship with a woman whom he indirectly compares to his mother. The reason is his mother thinking his brown eye an omen about her brown-eyed lover and trying to gouge it out with a knife when he was just a baby. When she didn't succeed she went insane and eventually killed herself, driving Reuentahl's father to alcohol and emotional abuse.
* The entirety of ''BrainPowerd''. Every episode of it. In particular, Yuu and Johnathan.
* Guts from ''{{Berserk}}''. When he was growing up in a mercenary camp he lived for the approval and love of Gambino the leader of the mercenaries. Sadly, that love was not reciprocated since Gambino blamed Guts for the death of his lover Shisu (who rescued Guts as an infant) of plague, believing the boy to be bad luck. Gambino ''sold Guts to a pedophiliac soldier'' for three silver coins, then later tried to kill him after he got drunk. Guts killed him in self-defense, and ever since he had issues with being touched and had trouble forming emotional bonds. Guts was on the verge of getting over his Daddy Issues thanks to his time with the Hawks (Casca in particular), but then the Eclipse went down and gave him even ''worse'' issues.
* In [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]] of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', [[spoiler:Envy]] is eventually revealed to be driven by daddy issues from his biological father, [[spoiler:Hohenheim]], abandoning him. On the flip side, his relationship with his mother [[spoiler:Dante]] appears to be more cordial, despite her being the one who abuses, controls and manipulates him like a chess piece -- of course, it's 'more cordial' in the sense that he only despises her to the level that she's not worth killing until after he's settled things with daddy [[spoiler:[[CainAndAbel and his half-brothers]]]].
* The BigBad in ''Maranosuke'' '''clearly''' has these problems UpToEleven as he 1. Is built like (and same temperment as) [[Manga/DragonBall Broly,]] 2. [[Really700YearsOld over 1000 years old,]] 3. A PhysicalGod or at least some kind of Demigod given he's the son of Yao Bikuni, 4. leader of a supernatural ninja clan and 5. the title character's ShadowArchetype and apparent [[TheUnFavorite unfavorite]] [[FreudWasRight because he either didn't get to have sex with their mom like Mara did or did, but didn't get enough.]] His method of "grieving:" [[OutWithABang fucking girls to death]] and harvesting their bodily fluids for immortality fuel while [[PsychopathicManchild crying about missing his mom]] until he sense her return and... [[StillbornFranchise the series abruptly ends.]]
* This is the reason why [[CuteAndPsycho Minat]][[AxCrazy suki]] of ''DeadmanWonderland'' is so messed up. During the Great Tokyo Earthquake, her mother abandoned her in favor of rescuing a plant that had fallen down beside her.
* Kanzaki from the ''{{Area 88}}'' manga [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas loved his late mother]], but he was deeply traumatized by her suicide. Kanzaki's mother drove her car off a cliff (with Kanzaki inside) when he was a little boy, and the first thing he saw when he regained consciousness was his mother's dead body. We learn later in the manga that [[spoiler: she was responsible for the deaths of Shin's parents]], which motivates some of the things Kanzaki does to Shin.
** Kanzaki remarks that Ryoko resembles his mother, then proposes a {{scarpia ultimatum}} to Ryoko several pages later. [[FreudWasRight Paging Dr. Freud!]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comicbooks]]
* Franchise/{{Batman}}:
** Scarecrow, one of Batman's villains, was abused by his grandmother (father, in ComicBook/{{New 52}}) as a child. This isn't the sole reason why he became a psychotic who enjoyed instilling fear in others... but it certainly added to the problem.
** Another Batman villain, Humpty Dumpty, was also abused by his grandmother. It was just one factor in a completely [[CrapsackWorld Crapsack childhood]] that drove him over the edge into insanity.
* Rorschach from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' had a mother who was an abusive prostitute, and this shaped his damaged psyche and [[DoesNotLikeWomen negative attitude towards women]] to the point where he can't really function like a normal person.
* You'd think {{Wolverine}}'s son {{Daken}} would have Daddy Issues, but WordOfGod says otherwise. Daken's mother was killed before he was born (he was cut out of her body and survived only due to his inherited HealingFactor). It's very telling that as an award to himself for conquering the criminal underworld, Daken buys a painting depicting a baby suckling at the bare breast of its mother.
* Reverse-Flash, in ComicBook/{{New 52}}, became a villain thanks to his Daddy Issues. He's actually [[spoiler:Daniel West, Iris West's younger brother]]. Both of them were physically abused by their father, but [[spoiler:Daniel]] took most of the heat because his father [[MaternalDeathBlameTheChild blamed him for his mother's death]], since she died in childbirth. He eventually ran away from home and was cut off from the rest of the family, including the one person he loved, his sister; that also led him into the path that turned him into a small-time crook, arrested a mere days after attaining the age of majority. As soon as he got his Speed Force powers, he decided to go back in time and kill his father in order to fix his life.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films]]
* Raoul Silva from ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' views his former superior, M, as a mother figure and his StartOfDarkness was realizing that she had sold him out to the Chinese in exchange for the release of other agents. Hammered home when [[spoiler:when he finally confronts M alone at the end of the movie and devolves into a whimpering child. Judging from Bond's reaction to M's death, he probably felt the same way about her.]]
* The classic (cinematic) example is Norman Bates, the mother-fixated killer of ''Film/{{Psycho}}''.
** Another [[Creator/AlfredHitchcock Hitchcock]] example: Bruno Anthony in ''Film/StrangersOnATrain''.
* ''Film/CitizenKane''. While neither a sexual pervert nor a serial killer, one could argue that Kane's extreme hubris and mistreatment of women stem from him being unable to reconcile himself with his mother [[ParentalAbandonment sending him away]] when he feels he did nothing wrong. His extreme materialism seems to be his way to telling himself that he deserves to be loved, when really, trying harder to reconcile with his mother before she died would have allowed him to live a much happier life without becoming a ManipulativeBastard.
* In ''Film/RaisingArizona'', the BigBad has a tattoo that reads, "Mama didn't love me."
* Both {{Big Bad}}s in the two ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' movies have been driven mainly by parental abandonment and being {{Well Done Son Guy}}s. Not to let the bad guys get all the [[ThereAreNoTherapists psychological issues]], both Tigress and Po additionally have underlying issues involving their own parents too with both being orphans. This is to the point that a track for the score of the second movie is titled "Daddy Issues".
* Subverted in ''HenryPortraitOfASerialKiller.'' Henry tells of how he killed his abusive mother in self-defense, but he tells it in a bizarre, disjointed fashion, and occasionally forgets exactly how he killed her. It's then you realize that his terrible past is used to make him ''creepier,'' as you realize how disturbed and dangerous a person with such a past must have turned out to be.
* Peter Foley, from the movie ''Copycat''. He eventually killed his mom and set fire to her house.
* The BigBad's mother in ''Film/KindergartenCop'' is one of these. She even shoots ''Arnold'' at one time.
* Frank Zito from ''Film/{{Maniac}}'' has severe mother issues, and he is compelled to decorate mannequins to look like her(using the scalps of women he murdered) and carries on conversations with them as if they were his mother.
* ''Film/TheAviator'' implies that this was one of the reasons (and there were a couple) that Howard Hughes had so many "eccentricities" in his adult life.
* After the serial killing rapist in ''Film/{{Gothika}}'' is unveiled, Dr. Grey speculates that the killer[[spoiler:'s accomplice]] grew up with an absent father and an over-dependent relationship with his mother which turned into sexual desire, got pleasure from torturing small animals as a kid, and is confused about his sexuality as an adult. [[spoiler:Sherrif Ryan only disputes the part that he enjoyed killing animals.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Two of the lesser villains (meaning, those who aren't [[TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]]) in Thomas Harris's series of thrillers have this background:
** The childhood of Jame Gumb (from ''SilenceOfTheLambs'') was never fully explained, but we do know that his mother was an absentee porn star.
** Frances Dolarhyde (from ''Literature/RedDragon'') fairly takes the cake: raised by a sadistic grandmother who regularly threatened to castrate him for things as trivial as wetting the bed (he was around five years old at the time). In the 2002 [[TheFilmOfTheBook movie version]], Edward Norton's character even uses this as a BerserkButton to distract Dolarhyde during a fight.
* The [[SerialKiller Red Rose Killer]] in Robert B. Parker's ''Crimson Joy'', who killed women and left red roses at each scene, was abused by his mother, Rose Black.
* John Dread, from Tad Williams's ''Literature/{{Otherland}}'' series, is a monster because his mother abused him while he was growing up. She specifically ''wanted'' her son to grow up to be a monster, and it worked. None of this makes him any less horrifying.
* Ben Ladradun of ''[[Literature/CircleOfMagic Cold Fire]]'' was berated and abused by his mother for basically his entire life; he got respect and attention for the first time when he became a firefighting expert. And then promptly devolved into a {{pyromaniac}} SerialKiller by way of a WellIntentionedExtremist when his methods caused such a drop in fires that people stopped listening to his advice to prepare for them. He also eventually murdered his mother in what is implied to be a fairly horrifying way.
* ''InDeath'': Well, this trope has popped up a number of times! Just check out ''Glory In Death'', ''Vengeance In Death'', ''Visions In Death'', ''Born In Death'', and ''New York To Dallas''.
* All the Orkney boys in ''Literature/TheOnceAndFutureKing'' are deeply affected by their twisted upbringing with Morgause: Gawain, though technically a good guy, is the only knight of the Round Table to have killed a woman in one of his uncontrollable rages; Agravaine is cruel and possessive to the point of ''killing'' their mother after he catches her sleeping with another, much younger knight, who he also kills; Gaheris has no mind and will of his own; Gareth takes it upon himself to resolve conflict and make everyone happy, even when they abuse him; and Mordred, though professing his deep hatred for their mother, begins adopting her attitude, habits, and mannerisms.
* Emperor Ikurei Xerius from ''Literature/SecondApocalypse'' was incited by his mother to kill his father, and has an [[ParentalIncest incestuous relationship]] with her going back to his childhood. As an adult, he is constantly torn between hating his mother and an intense sexual desire toward her.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Sylar from ''Series/{{Heroes}}''. His mother was completely obsessed with him being ''special''... so it bled over into him and drove him nuts.
** In Volume Three, Arthur and Angela exploit his MommyIssues in order to get him to work for each of them. Naturally, when he finds out about this, let's just say "violent rage" is too broad to describe his reaction.
* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryAsylum'' has [[spoiler:Dr. Oliver Thredson, also known as the psychopathic SerialKiller Bloody Face]].
* An episode of ''LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' featured a mother who brainwashed her two sons to believe the world outside their apartment door was unspeakably hellish, and that being placed in a foster home was AFateWorseThanDeath. She mistreated them in other ways as well, and when it looked like they (surprise!) were going to be placed with foster parents, the older son killed his younger brother so he wouldn't have to experience those horrors(the gun jamming was the only thing keeping him from killing himself as well). Never mind that her ''eldest'' son had gone through foster care and was apparently normal, he was dead to her (literally - it was like a zombie was in the room).
** Another episode featured a BTK-style killer whose mom had locked him in a closet while she went out to watch movies.
--> "[[LampshadeHanging Please, with you people its always the mother!]]"
** Still another features a woman who was accused of molesting a murdering one of her young, female piano students. She later confesses to the crime and tells the psychiatrist that her father molested her. Eventually it comes out that her mother had sexually abused her until well into her teens (and was still abusing her younger sister.)
* The ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'' episode "The Saint" featured Creator/StephenColbert (years before ''Series/TheColbertReport'', when he was still primarily a voice actor and ''Series/TheDailyShow'' correspondent) as a master forger who was trying to discredit a soon-to-be canonized priest because his mother used the guy's charity to literally steal his childhood -- he had on average about a day to enjoy anything he bought or was given before his mother whisked it away, sold it, and gave the money to the charity. She actually calls him "ungrateful" to his face, when he finally breaks down and complains about his treatment at the end of the episode.
** Another episode, "Diamond Dogs", features a heroin-addicted mother who intentionally hooked her own son on the drug, just so he'd always be dependent upon her and would assist her in the armed robberies that she undertook to support her own drug habit.
* In ''Series/TheSopranos'', many of Tony's psychological problems can be traced back to a lifetime of manipulation and abuse inflicted on him by his mother, Livia, a woman with a borderline personality (or, to put it in ordinary language, a ManipulativeBitch). She even manipulates her brother-in-law Junior into putting a hit out on Tony.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** The vampire Zachary Kralik definitely qualifies; he talked about his mother's abusing him, and he was obsessed enough to target Buffy's mother Joyce. Kralik (as mentioned in the page quote) killed and ate his mother ''before'' becoming a vampire.
--> "I have a problem with mothers. I'm aware of that."
** Spike has been revealed to have mommy issues of a kind, in a story that involves incest but still makes both Spike and his mother sympathetic. Faith's mother (who spent her time "enjoying the drinking and passing out parts of life") isn't particularly [[{{Squick}} squicky]], so it's more of a straight FreudianExcuse than this trope; however, Faith taking Joyce hostage in This Year's Girl is clearly motivated by Mommy Issues.
** Buffy had these with Joyce, because she had to keep the slayer thing secret. Then her mother becomes more supportive of her.
** Halfrek has them according to Anya.
* Jacob and the Man in Black's "Mother" (who isn't, really) on ''Series/{{Lost}}''. Her determination to keep the Man in Black from leaving the island causes him to dedicate his whole life (and well beyond) to doing just that.
* Bree from ''DesperateHousewives'' is a bit two dimensional because of the creator basing her on his own mother.
** Fortunately, she went through CharacterDevelopment.
* The ''Series/ColdCase'' episode "Blackout" featured a woman, who back in the days seduced her ''[[ParentalIncest own 13-year old son]]''. To make it even worse she later tried to do the same thing to her equally young [[{{Squick}} grandson]]. [[spoiler: Averted. The son grew into a decent man. It was her daughter who finally flipped and drowned the oedipal man-eater. [[SympatheticMurderer And you can't blame her for it.]] ]]
** Another episode had two brothers whose mother was an abusive prostitute (no, they did not become [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} vigilantes]]), and when one discovered that the other was with a prostitute... [[spoiler: she was a friend and he was just trying to learn how to be sociable.]]
** Lilly is menaced by a serial killer/rapist (I missed most of that arc) who believed he witnessed his abusive mother being raped when he was a child, but the truth is much worse [[spoiler: his mother ''gave her son to the rapist to save herself'']].
* An episode of ''Series/{{CSI}}'' featured a powerful man who was into roleplaying as an infant, even hiding a woman's baby so she'd provide him with breast milk. The woman tells the detectives that boss man-baby said he gave her baby to his mother, but that goes nowhere as said mother is hospitalized, has no knowledge of the baby or her estranged son, and is probably the least maternal person in Nevada (hence his need for all that maternal attention).
* On ''Series/{{Community}}'' [[spoiler: Dr. Rich]] is revealed to have an abusive mother that blames him for the death of his brother. [[StepfordSmiler He does a great job of hiding how messed up he is though]].
* ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'''s Alan and Charlie Harper hate their mother with a burning passion, even going so far as comparing her to the Antichrist. [[ParentalNeglect It's not really unjustified]].
** Sometimes PlayedForLaughs, sometimes not.
-->'''Rose:''' I thought your father died of food poisoning?
-->'''Charlie:''' Yeah, some people do. But I'm pretty sure he knew the fish was bad and [[DrivenToSuicide kept on eating it anyway...]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Music]]
* Music/JohnLennon, of Music/TheBeatles, was raised by his aunt Mimi and was just starting to know his birth mother Julia (who taught him how to play Music/BuddyHolly's "That'll Be The Day" on the banjo, among other things, and which started or helped John into his career in music...either way: "Thank you, Julia!") when she was hit by a drunk-driving off-duty police officer; both his personal life and his professional/musical career were affected by this, with songs such as "Julia" (which is also about Music/YokoOno) from the White Album, the heart-wrenching "Mother" from his first solo Plastic Ono Band album, and even naming his first son "Julian". He also attached on to Yoko specifically in this manner, referring to her as "Mother" (or "Madam") in "an off-hand way" (according to his final interview in Playboy).
* The Franchise/EvilliousChronicles' characters [[CreepyTwins Hansel and Gretel]] have this, mainly due to their foster mother kidnapping them as babies and then murdering their real mother. After that, when they got older, ''she left them out into the forest to die.'' Their reincarnations [[spoiler: [[WellDoneSonGuy Ney]]]] and [[EnfanteTerrible Lemy]] don't get any better: [[spoiler: Ney's]] mother [[PlayingWithSyringes gave her up for the Big Bad to experiment on]], making her pretty damn AxCrazy; while it's heavily implied that Lemy's parents were killed by his surrogate mother, [[{{Immortality}} the same]] BigBad, who brainwashed him into becoming a SerialKiller. [[DysfunctionJunction It's that kind of series.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Theatre]]
* CyranoDeBergerac: In what is perhaps the most awesome subversion of this trope, Cyrano does not hate women, but he has a nose so big and ugly that he is utterly terrified of any women mocking him if they talk about love. The nose is only an excuse; his problems come from his childhood. His tragedy is that his MommyIssues and his [[MartyrdomCulture cultural views]] have ruined his life completely: He is a talented poet, duelist, soldier, philosopher, physicist, musician, playwright, and novelist who will never accomplish anything because of those traumas. The whole point of the play is that Cyrano could have won Roxane's (or any other woman's) heart any time he wanted, but he never did because of his self-loathing. (FromACertainPointOfView, he is a serial killer, only he chases [[AssholeVictim jerks]]). In the final act of the play, Cyrano, trying to comfort Roxane, lampshades this trope:
--> '''Cyrano''':You blessed my life! \\
Never on me had rested woman's love. \\
''My mother even could not find me fair: \\
I had no sister; and, when grown a man, \\
I feared the mistress who would mock at me.'' \\
But I have had your friendship—grace to you \\
A woman's charm has passed across my path.
* In ''The Beauty Queen of Leenane'' by Creator/MartinMcDonagh, Maureen has serious issues with her mother Mag. Mag is manipulative, emotionally abusive, passive aggressive, and selfish; Maureen is delusional, physically abusive, and [[spoiler:eventually murders her mother]]. Charming pair.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Videogames]]
* Curtis, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Phantasmagoria 2}}''. As a 6-year old kid, he endured extremely [[ColdBloodedTorture cruel, painful, and humiliating torture]] at the hands of his AxCrazy mom, which his dad chose to ignore. She gave him [[ElectricTorture electric shocks]], [[KnifeNut sliced him with knives]], and [[{{Crossdresser}} forcibly dressed him up as a girl]] ([[YouMonster while calling him a "Monster"]]) before hanging herself, and he found her afterwards. His dad was killed in front of their house soon after. Later in the game, it's revealed that [[spoiler:Curtis's mom [[GoMadFromTheRevelation went mad]] / was DrivenToSuicide because "Curtis" was actually an alien clone of her real son. Curtis's dad was also [[YouKilledMyFather murdered in cold blood]] by Paul Allen Warner because of this. Curtis eventually reconciles with a mental projection of her at the end.]]
* Sephiroth from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. Oh so very much. You have to be "quite" messed up to want to try a smash a Meteor into the Planet so you could eat up all the Lifestream to become a God. Apparently, it's cause Mommy did that thousands of years before, and now he wants to be a good son and make her proud by doing the same!
** Then there's the Remnants of Sephiroth in ''AdventChildren''. Keep in mind each of them is basically the Aspects of Sephiroth's Personality divided and eliminated of any direct influence from Jenova. They now mention "Mother" even MORE then Sephiroth himself....all THREE of them!
* While not a villain, it's revealed in ''MetalGearSolid2'' that Otacon had an incestuous relationship with his stepmother, which accounts for much of his social awkwardness and problems with intimacy.
* ''Franchise/DragonAge'': [[BlackMagicianGirl Morrigan's]] problems with her mother probably stem from being raised as a [[spoiler: body for her mother to possess.]]
** To a lesser degree in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', assuming you interpret Merrill (an orphan) and Merithari (her mentor who is certainly old enough to be her mother) this way.
* Isaac in ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'' spends a cutscene after each level crying to himself about the traumatic things his mother put him through, even before she started hearing the voice of God telling her to kill him.
* ''VideoGame/{{Paranoiac}}'' has much more than MommyIssues with Miki and her mother. Both are mentally ill, but Miki's mother is willing to support her depressed daughter nor was she will [[spoiler:to support her mentally ill sister.]] Even when he daughter called and asked to come home after three nights of being chased by [[spoiler:her dead aunt,]] she claims that her aunt's house is now her daughter's and to not come back.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Butch from ''ChoppingBlock''. His mother ''still'' [[http://choppingblock.keenspot.com/d/20120725.html verbally abuses him]] despite [[Film/{{Psycho}} being dead]].
* Madam Principal Abigail Mars in ''HowToRaiseYourTeenageDragon'' goes full tilt [[Disney/{{RobinHood}} Prince John thumb sucker]] when she's reminded of what her father would think of her petty need for revenge.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Originals]]
* This trope is [[GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse Doctor XX's]] whole reason for supervillainy, though in her case its Daddy Issues.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Azula in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Interpretations]] of [[MamaBear Ursa]] vary: the only time she appears, it's from Zuko's perspective of past events and, therefore, likely idealized and slightly unreliable. Azula, with her mind twisted by [[FreudianExcuse Ozai's]] emotionally abusive and violent tendencies, could only fixate on her belief that 'Mother loved Zuko best' and that 'my own mother thought I was a monster'. [[LampshadeHanging She points it out herself]], but it's very clear she was always yearning for her mother's approval and love -- and just as clear that Ursa was concerned for her. Fortunately, none of this is pertinent because the only thing you really need for Mommy Issues is the perception of an uncaring mother.
** Looks like at least some of her issues may be resolved in the upcoming sequel to ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderThePromise, subtitled ''The Search''. It revolves around Zuko and Azula's search for Ursa.
*** It seems like Azula's Mommy Issues have gotten even ''worse''. [[spoiler:Azula only recovered from her breakdown by believing that Ursa orchestrated a conspiracy to bring her down. The reason she's helping Zuko in his search is so she can ''kill'' Ursa.]]
** As for Zuko, he has his own paternal issues, what with the [[WellDoneSonGuy need for retribution in his father's eyes]] and all.
* See NinetiesAntiHero for TheTick parody
* Gazpacho from ''{{Chowder}}''
* [[MoralOrel Clay Puppington]] has an upsetting Oedipus complex, which is too bad considering he accidentally killed his mother.
* ''{{Archer}}''. The title character certainly has issues with his mother. Made clear in the first episode where he [[spoiler:gets an erection when the man threatening his mother's life describes her dead in the gutter.]]
-->'''Malory''': The thought me ''dead'' gives you an ''erection''?
-->'''Archer''': Just... half of one. The other half would really miss you.
* ''{{Metalocalypse}}'': Skwisgaar Skwigelf has a few problems with his [[SonOfAWhore mom]].
* Luanne's mother from WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill was very abusive to her father causing him to flee, and is implied to have neglected her in the past. When she comes back she is okay as long as she doesn't have any alcohol; when she does she's borderline psychotic and will attack anyone who provokes her in the slightest. According to her, she views Luanne more as a sister than her daughter.
* Grimes' mother on ''UglyAmericans'' pulls a VisualPun (with being a literal mummy) ''definitely'' falls into this trope, as she doesn't approve of his (fake) demon girlfriend, Callie, and even tries to one-up her by showing how to ''really'' [[{{Squick}} kiss her little boy.]]
* Kyle has this in the first few seasons of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', ''especially'' in [[WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut the movie]].
* It's heavily implied that Dan from ''DanVs'' has these. WordOfGod says the show would have explored them more if it continued into a fourth season.
* Pretty much everyone in WesternAnimation/AdventureTime to the point where the show [[FavoriteTrope loves this trope a lot.]] [[spoiler: Finn's possible dad was a JerkAss]], Marcy's dad ate her fries, Joshua seemed like he thought Finn was a whiney baby and made Jake feel bad about his strength, [[spoiler: They both got better]], and LSP's parents made her run away. [[spoiler: she got better also.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Real Life]]
* Unfortunately, abusive or neglectful parenting situations do make it more likely that the child will have mental or behavior issues when they become adults, so this is TruthInTelevision.
* Augusta Gein, mother of EdGein. It's questionable who was more unstable.
* According to [[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/tick/victims_1.html this]], it is one of the top reasons for serial killing. Although often ''there is no reason'', resulting in RealityIsUnrealistic since a FreudianExcuse reads more true in fiction than it actually is.
* Implied with Adam Lanza, who murdered his mother in her sleep before snuffing out the lives of 26 others at Sandy Hook Elementary.
* The reason Freud believed in this so strongly was because it actually applied to him. He really did have incestuous feelings for his mother. However, one critic pointed out a reason for this. Since Freud had a wet nurse, he instead recognized ''her'' as his "mother", and recognized his biological mother as just an attractive woman who cared very deeply for him.
** Similarly, many Freud biographers say there is evidence he was sexually or at least physically abused by his father, meaning he has a, [[IncrediblyLamePun well]], FreudianExcuse for both halves of the Oedipus Complex that's so bizarrely prominent in his theories.
[[/folder]]
----
to:
-->--'''Malory Archer''', ''{{Archer}}''
This is a much darker take on the usual MommasBoy story.
The villain is a [[VillainByDefault basement-dwelling, creepy, perverted sociopath]] with nothing but contempt for his chosen target villain group ([[HeManWomanHater almost always women]]). Rather than give the character just any FreudianExcuse, the creators have decided to give the character a mother who is unstable, cruel, [[MyBelovedSmother demanding, possessive, controlling]], and sometimes outright insane. She isn't the EvilMatriarch... she isn't a true villain in her own right. But she's twisted her son's psyche from birth through years and years of psychological and physical abuse. Bonus points if [[ParentalIncest the relationship is incestuous]].
While it is rare, having the Mommy Issues actually be Daddy Issues is just as possible. Usually this is reserved for female characters, however.
Sadly, this is sometimes TruthInTelevision. A subtrope of FreudianExcuse, almost always reserved for characters who are sexual deviants of one stripe or another, or else {{Serial Killer}}s.
Compare EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas. For the other type of Mommy or Daddy Issues, see WellDoneSonGuy.
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In ''FruitsBasket'' (the manga, at least; the anime didn't get this far), Akito's issues stem from the fact that [[spoiler: her mother insisted that she be raised as a boy out of insane jealousy.]]
* Seishirou's relationship with his mother in ''{{X1999}}''. This would be the incestuous kind.
* The manga version of ''ChronoCrusade'' reveals towards the end that Aion's StartOfDarkness was when he learned the AwfulTruth that Pandaemonium, the mother of all demons is actually the corpse of a human woman who was kidnapped by demons and grafted onto what was left of the former demon queen--oh, and she was pregnant with twins, who would grow up to be him and his brother, Chrono. This is foreshadowed earlier on in the manga by the fact that he's obviously quite obsessed with and terrified of Pandaemonium.
* [[{{Loveless}} Ritsuka's]] mother has been an abusive version of TheOphelia ever since her older son died and her younger son "went strange" and no one, including her husband and Ritsuka's teacher [[SocialServicesDoesNotExist can stop it]]. At one point she ties him to a chair so she could go shopping, and it's very briefly mentioned she has her own FreudianExcuse too.
* Ritsuko. But then, [[DysfunctionJunction everyone]] in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' has so many ParentalIssues it's not even funny. Asuka's the other big one for Mommy Issues; her mother rejected her after getting her soul ripped out and put in EVA-02 and believed that a doll was her daughter. After this had been going on for some time, she committed suicide... and Asuka found the body.
** Shinji's Mother apparently put her soul into a Biomechanical Giant Robot created directly from the Angel that is also the Mother of Mankind. Shinji's reliance on his mother and his subsequent hatred of his father then springs from...ironically enough, his "angelic" mother. So both his parents are apparently off the deep end in terms of being half-way efficient in any given way, aside from traumatizing him into the justified breakdown he has at the end of EndOfEvangelion.
* Although not his actual mother, [[Manga/HayateTheCombatButler Athena]] inflicted this training on young Hayate, shown in a flashback which included kicking him in the stomach while teaching him that he had to be financially able to care for a girl before he could have a girlfriend. Those lessons have still stuck with him to present (10 years later) and considering he's currently carrying a 150 million yen debt, he doesn't think he can be anyone's boyfriend. Ignoring, of course, that most of his UnwantedHarem could sit on their hands and make more in a day than he could if he spent the rest of his life working.
** Hayate's actual mother and father are responsible for the 150 million yen debt and tried to sell him to the yakuza to pay it off. Hayate never seems bitter about this despite spending most of his life paying off his parent's debts and consistently getting stolen from (Hayate is only 16!).
*** His current debt is his own and self incurred. [[PaperThinDisguise Mask the Money]] paid off the debt from his parents, in full.
* Oskar von Reuentahl from ''LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' is an interesting subversion in that he lacks the typical traits associated with the trope - he's not even a villain but a sort of TragicHero. He is, however, a bitter misogynist who never refuses women's advances but inevitably ends up breaking their heart when he gets bored of them. Later on he becomes involved in an unhealthy and abusive relationship with a woman whom he indirectly compares to his mother. The reason is his mother thinking his brown eye an omen about her brown-eyed lover and trying to gouge it out with a knife when he was just a baby. When she didn't succeed she went insane and eventually killed herself, driving Reuentahl's father to alcohol and emotional abuse.
* The entirety of ''BrainPowerd''. Every episode of it. In particular, Yuu and Johnathan.
* Guts from ''{{Berserk}}''. When he was growing up in a mercenary camp he lived for the approval and love of Gambino the leader of the mercenaries. Sadly, that love was not reciprocated since Gambino blamed Guts for the death of his lover Shisu (who rescued Guts as an infant) of plague, believing the boy to be bad luck. Gambino ''sold Guts to a pedophiliac soldier'' for three silver coins, then later tried to kill him after he got drunk. Guts killed him in self-defense, and ever since he had issues with being touched and had trouble forming emotional bonds. Guts was on the verge of getting over his Daddy Issues thanks to his time with the Hawks (Casca in particular), but then the Eclipse went down and gave him even ''worse'' issues.
* In [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]] of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', [[spoiler:Envy]] is eventually revealed to be driven by daddy issues from his biological father, [[spoiler:Hohenheim]], abandoning him. On the flip side, his relationship with his mother [[spoiler:Dante]] appears to be more cordial, despite her being the one who abuses, controls and manipulates him like a chess piece -- of course, it's 'more cordial' in the sense that he only despises her to the level that she's not worth killing until after he's settled things with daddy [[spoiler:[[CainAndAbel and his half-brothers]]]].
* The BigBad in ''Maranosuke'' '''clearly''' has these problems UpToEleven as he 1. Is built like (and same temperment as) [[Manga/DragonBall Broly,]] 2. [[Really700YearsOld over 1000 years old,]] 3. A PhysicalGod or at least some kind of Demigod given he's the son of Yao Bikuni, 4. leader of a supernatural ninja clan and 5. the title character's ShadowArchetype and apparent [[TheUnFavorite unfavorite]] [[FreudWasRight because he either didn't get to have sex with their mom like Mara did or did, but didn't get enough.]] His method of "grieving:" [[OutWithABang fucking girls to death]] and harvesting their bodily fluids for immortality fuel while [[PsychopathicManchild crying about missing his mom]] until he sense her return and... [[StillbornFranchise the series abruptly ends.]]
* This is the reason why [[CuteAndPsycho Minat]][[AxCrazy suki]] of ''DeadmanWonderland'' is so messed up. During the Great Tokyo Earthquake, her mother abandoned her in favor of rescuing a plant that had fallen down beside her.
* Kanzaki from the ''{{Area 88}}'' manga [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas loved his late mother]], but he was deeply traumatized by her suicide. Kanzaki's mother drove her car off a cliff (with Kanzaki inside) when he was a little boy, and the first thing he saw when he regained consciousness was his mother's dead body. We learn later in the manga that [[spoiler: she was responsible for the deaths of Shin's parents]], which motivates some of the things Kanzaki does to Shin.
** Kanzaki remarks that Ryoko resembles his mother, then proposes a {{scarpia ultimatum}} to Ryoko several pages later. [[FreudWasRight Paging Dr. Freud!]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comicbooks]]
* Franchise/{{Batman}}:
** Scarecrow, one of Batman's villains, was abused by his grandmother (father, in ComicBook/{{New 52}}) as a child. This isn't the sole reason why he became a psychotic who enjoyed instilling fear in others... but it certainly added to the problem.
** Another Batman villain, Humpty Dumpty, was also abused by his grandmother. It was just one factor in a completely [[CrapsackWorld Crapsack childhood]] that drove him over the edge into insanity.
* Rorschach from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' had a mother who was an abusive prostitute, and this shaped his damaged psyche and [[DoesNotLikeWomen negative attitude towards women]] to the point where he can't really function like a normal person.
* You'd think {{Wolverine}}'s son {{Daken}} would have Daddy Issues, but WordOfGod says otherwise. Daken's mother was killed before he was born (he was cut out of her body and survived only due to his inherited HealingFactor). It's very telling that as an award to himself for conquering the criminal underworld, Daken buys a painting depicting a baby suckling at the bare breast of its mother.
* Reverse-Flash, in ComicBook/{{New 52}}, became a villain thanks to his Daddy Issues. He's actually [[spoiler:Daniel West, Iris West's younger brother]]. Both of them were physically abused by their father, but [[spoiler:Daniel]] took most of the heat because his father [[MaternalDeathBlameTheChild blamed him for his mother's death]], since she died in childbirth. He eventually ran away from home and was cut off from the rest of the family, including the one person he loved, his sister; that also led him into the path that turned him into a small-time crook, arrested a mere days after attaining the age of majority. As soon as he got his Speed Force powers, he decided to go back in time and kill his father in order to fix his life.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films]]
* Raoul Silva from ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' views his former superior, M, as a mother figure and his StartOfDarkness was realizing that she had sold him out to the Chinese in exchange for the release of other agents. Hammered home when [[spoiler:when he finally confronts M alone at the end of the movie and devolves into a whimpering child. Judging from Bond's reaction to M's death, he probably felt the same way about her.]]
* The classic (cinematic) example is Norman Bates, the mother-fixated killer of ''Film/{{Psycho}}''.
** Another [[Creator/AlfredHitchcock Hitchcock]] example: Bruno Anthony in ''Film/StrangersOnATrain''.
* ''Film/CitizenKane''. While neither a sexual pervert nor a serial killer, one could argue that Kane's extreme hubris and mistreatment of women stem from him being unable to reconcile himself with his mother [[ParentalAbandonment sending him away]] when he feels he did nothing wrong. His extreme materialism seems to be his way to telling himself that he deserves to be loved, when really, trying harder to reconcile with his mother before she died would have allowed him to live a much happier life without becoming a ManipulativeBastard.
* In ''Film/RaisingArizona'', the BigBad has a tattoo that reads, "Mama didn't love me."
* Both {{Big Bad}}s in the two ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' movies have been driven mainly by parental abandonment and being {{Well Done Son Guy}}s. Not to let the bad guys get all the [[ThereAreNoTherapists psychological issues]], both Tigress and Po additionally have underlying issues involving their own parents too with both being orphans. This is to the point that a track for the score of the second movie is titled "Daddy Issues".
* Subverted in ''HenryPortraitOfASerialKiller.'' Henry tells of how he killed his abusive mother in self-defense, but he tells it in a bizarre, disjointed fashion, and occasionally forgets exactly how he killed her. It's then you realize that his terrible past is used to make him ''creepier,'' as you realize how disturbed and dangerous a person with such a past must have turned out to be.
* Peter Foley, from the movie ''Copycat''. He eventually killed his mom and set fire to her house.
* The BigBad's mother in ''Film/KindergartenCop'' is one of these. She even shoots ''Arnold'' at one time.
* Frank Zito from ''Film/{{Maniac}}'' has severe mother issues, and he is compelled to decorate mannequins to look like her(using the scalps of women he murdered) and carries on conversations with them as if they were his mother.
* ''Film/TheAviator'' implies that this was one of the reasons (and there were a couple) that Howard Hughes had so many "eccentricities" in his adult life.
* After the serial killing rapist in ''Film/{{Gothika}}'' is unveiled, Dr. Grey speculates that the killer[[spoiler:'s accomplice]] grew up with an absent father and an over-dependent relationship with his mother which turned into sexual desire, got pleasure from torturing small animals as a kid, and is confused about his sexuality as an adult. [[spoiler:Sherrif Ryan only disputes the part that he enjoyed killing animals.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Two of the lesser villains (meaning, those who aren't [[TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]]) in Thomas Harris's series of thrillers have this background:
** The childhood of Jame Gumb (from ''SilenceOfTheLambs'') was never fully explained, but we do know that his mother was an absentee porn star.
** Frances Dolarhyde (from ''Literature/RedDragon'') fairly takes the cake: raised by a sadistic grandmother who regularly threatened to castrate him for things as trivial as wetting the bed (he was around five years old at the time). In the 2002 [[TheFilmOfTheBook movie version]], Edward Norton's character even uses this as a BerserkButton to distract Dolarhyde during a fight.
* The [[SerialKiller Red Rose Killer]] in Robert B. Parker's ''Crimson Joy'', who killed women and left red roses at each scene, was abused by his mother, Rose Black.
* John Dread, from Tad Williams's ''Literature/{{Otherland}}'' series, is a monster because his mother abused him while he was growing up. She specifically ''wanted'' her son to grow up to be a monster, and it worked. None of this makes him any less horrifying.
* Ben Ladradun of ''[[Literature/CircleOfMagic Cold Fire]]'' was berated and abused by his mother for basically his entire life; he got respect and attention for the first time when he became a firefighting expert. And then promptly devolved into a {{pyromaniac}} SerialKiller by way of a WellIntentionedExtremist when his methods caused such a drop in fires that people stopped listening to his advice to prepare for them. He also eventually murdered his mother in what is implied to be a fairly horrifying way.
* ''InDeath'': Well, this trope has popped up a number of times! Just check out ''Glory In Death'', ''Vengeance In Death'', ''Visions In Death'', ''Born In Death'', and ''New York To Dallas''.
* All the Orkney boys in ''Literature/TheOnceAndFutureKing'' are deeply affected by their twisted upbringing with Morgause: Gawain, though technically a good guy, is the only knight of the Round Table to have killed a woman in one of his uncontrollable rages; Agravaine is cruel and possessive to the point of ''killing'' their mother after he catches her sleeping with another, much younger knight, who he also kills; Gaheris has no mind and will of his own; Gareth takes it upon himself to resolve conflict and make everyone happy, even when they abuse him; and Mordred, though professing his deep hatred for their mother, begins adopting her attitude, habits, and mannerisms.
* Emperor Ikurei Xerius from ''Literature/SecondApocalypse'' was incited by his mother to kill his father, and has an [[ParentalIncest incestuous relationship]] with her going back to his childhood. As an adult, he is constantly torn between hating his mother and an intense sexual desire toward her.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Sylar from ''Series/{{Heroes}}''. His mother was completely obsessed with him being ''special''... so it bled over into him and drove him nuts.
** In Volume Three, Arthur and Angela exploit his MommyIssues in order to get him to work for each of them. Naturally, when he finds out about this, let's just say "violent rage" is too broad to describe his reaction.
* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryAsylum'' has [[spoiler:Dr. Oliver Thredson, also known as the psychopathic SerialKiller Bloody Face]].
* An episode of ''LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' featured a mother who brainwashed her two sons to believe the world outside their apartment door was unspeakably hellish, and that being placed in a foster home was AFateWorseThanDeath. She mistreated them in other ways as well, and when it looked like they (surprise!) were going to be placed with foster parents, the older son killed his younger brother so he wouldn't have to experience those horrors(the gun jamming was the only thing keeping him from killing himself as well). Never mind that her ''eldest'' son had gone through foster care and was apparently normal, he was dead to her (literally - it was like a zombie was in the room).
** Another episode featured a BTK-style killer whose mom had locked him in a closet while she went out to watch movies.
--> "[[LampshadeHanging Please, with you people its always the mother!]]"
** Still another features a woman who was accused of molesting a murdering one of her young, female piano students. She later confesses to the crime and tells the psychiatrist that her father molested her. Eventually it comes out that her mother had sexually abused her until well into her teens (and was still abusing her younger sister.)
* The ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'' episode "The Saint" featured Creator/StephenColbert (years before ''Series/TheColbertReport'', when he was still primarily a voice actor and ''Series/TheDailyShow'' correspondent) as a master forger who was trying to discredit a soon-to-be canonized priest because his mother used the guy's charity to literally steal his childhood -- he had on average about a day to enjoy anything he bought or was given before his mother whisked it away, sold it, and gave the money to the charity. She actually calls him "ungrateful" to his face, when he finally breaks down and complains about his treatment at the end of the episode.
** Another episode, "Diamond Dogs", features a heroin-addicted mother who intentionally hooked her own son on the drug, just so he'd always be dependent upon her and would assist her in the armed robberies that she undertook to support her own drug habit.
* In ''Series/TheSopranos'', many of Tony's psychological problems can be traced back to a lifetime of manipulation and abuse inflicted on him by his mother, Livia, a woman with a borderline personality (or, to put it in ordinary language, a ManipulativeBitch). She even manipulates her brother-in-law Junior into putting a hit out on Tony.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** The vampire Zachary Kralik definitely qualifies; he talked about his mother's abusing him, and he was obsessed enough to target Buffy's mother Joyce. Kralik (as mentioned in the page quote) killed and ate his mother ''before'' becoming a vampire.
--> "I have a problem with mothers. I'm aware of that."
** Spike has been revealed to have mommy issues of a kind, in a story that involves incest but still makes both Spike and his mother sympathetic. Faith's mother (who spent her time "enjoying the drinking and passing out parts of life") isn't particularly [[{{Squick}} squicky]], so it's more of a straight FreudianExcuse than this trope; however, Faith taking Joyce hostage in This Year's Girl is clearly motivated by Mommy Issues.
** Buffy had these with Joyce, because she had to keep the slayer thing secret. Then her mother becomes more supportive of her.
** Halfrek has them according to Anya.
* Jacob and the Man in Black's "Mother" (who isn't, really) on ''Series/{{Lost}}''. Her determination to keep the Man in Black from leaving the island causes him to dedicate his whole life (and well beyond) to doing just that.
* Bree from ''DesperateHousewives'' is a bit two dimensional because of the creator basing her on his own mother.
** Fortunately, she went through CharacterDevelopment.
* The ''Series/ColdCase'' episode "Blackout" featured a woman, who back in the days seduced her ''[[ParentalIncest own 13-year old son]]''. To make it even worse she later tried to do the same thing to her equally young [[{{Squick}} grandson]]. [[spoiler: Averted. The son grew into a decent man. It was her daughter who finally flipped and drowned the oedipal man-eater. [[SympatheticMurderer And you can't blame her for it.]] ]]
** Another episode had two brothers whose mother was an abusive prostitute (no, they did not become [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} vigilantes]]), and when one discovered that the other was with a prostitute... [[spoiler: she was a friend and he was just trying to learn how to be sociable.]]
** Lilly is menaced by a serial killer/rapist (I missed most of that arc) who believed he witnessed his abusive mother being raped when he was a child, but the truth is much worse [[spoiler: his mother ''gave her son to the rapist to save herself'']].
* An episode of ''Series/{{CSI}}'' featured a powerful man who was into roleplaying as an infant, even hiding a woman's baby so she'd provide him with breast milk. The woman tells the detectives that boss man-baby said he gave her baby to his mother, but that goes nowhere as said mother is hospitalized, has no knowledge of the baby or her estranged son, and is probably the least maternal person in Nevada (hence his need for all that maternal attention).
* On ''Series/{{Community}}'' [[spoiler: Dr. Rich]] is revealed to have an abusive mother that blames him for the death of his brother. [[StepfordSmiler He does a great job of hiding how messed up he is though]].
* ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'''s Alan and Charlie Harper hate their mother with a burning passion, even going so far as comparing her to the Antichrist. [[ParentalNeglect It's not really unjustified]].
** Sometimes PlayedForLaughs, sometimes not.
-->'''Rose:''' I thought your father died of food poisoning?
-->'''Charlie:''' Yeah, some people do. But I'm pretty sure he knew the fish was bad and [[DrivenToSuicide kept on eating it anyway...]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Music]]
* Music/JohnLennon, of Music/TheBeatles, was raised by his aunt Mimi and was just starting to know his birth mother Julia (who taught him how to play Music/BuddyHolly's "That'll Be The Day" on the banjo, among other things, and which started or helped John into his career in music...either way: "Thank you, Julia!") when she was hit by a drunk-driving off-duty police officer; both his personal life and his professional/musical career were affected by this, with songs such as "Julia" (which is also about Music/YokoOno) from the White Album, the heart-wrenching "Mother" from his first solo Plastic Ono Band album, and even naming his first son "Julian". He also attached on to Yoko specifically in this manner, referring to her as "Mother" (or "Madam") in "an off-hand way" (according to his final interview in Playboy).
* The Franchise/EvilliousChronicles' characters [[CreepyTwins Hansel and Gretel]] have this, mainly due to their foster mother kidnapping them as babies and then murdering their real mother. After that, when they got older, ''she left them out into the forest to die.'' Their reincarnations [[spoiler: [[WellDoneSonGuy Ney]]]] and [[EnfanteTerrible Lemy]] don't get any better: [[spoiler: Ney's]] mother [[PlayingWithSyringes gave her up for the Big Bad to experiment on]], making her pretty damn AxCrazy; while it's heavily implied that Lemy's parents were killed by his surrogate mother, [[{{Immortality}} the same]] BigBad, who brainwashed him into becoming a SerialKiller. [[DysfunctionJunction It's that kind of series.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Theatre]]
* CyranoDeBergerac: In what is perhaps the most awesome subversion of this trope, Cyrano does not hate women, but he has a nose so big and ugly that he is utterly terrified of any women mocking him if they talk about love. The nose is only an excuse; his problems come from his childhood. His tragedy is that his MommyIssues and his [[MartyrdomCulture cultural views]] have ruined his life completely: He is a talented poet, duelist, soldier, philosopher, physicist, musician, playwright, and novelist who will never accomplish anything because of those traumas. The whole point of the play is that Cyrano could have won Roxane's (or any other woman's) heart any time he wanted, but he never did because of his self-loathing. (FromACertainPointOfView, he is a serial killer, only he chases [[AssholeVictim jerks]]). In the final act of the play, Cyrano, trying to comfort Roxane, lampshades this trope:
--> '''Cyrano''':You blessed my life! \\
Never on me had rested woman's love. \\
''My mother even could not find me fair: \\
I had no sister; and, when grown a man, \\
I feared the mistress who would mock at me.'' \\
But I have had your friendship—grace to you \\
A woman's charm has passed across my path.
* In ''The Beauty Queen of Leenane'' by Creator/MartinMcDonagh, Maureen has serious issues with her mother Mag. Mag is manipulative, emotionally abusive, passive aggressive, and selfish; Maureen is delusional, physically abusive, and [[spoiler:eventually murders her mother]]. Charming pair.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Videogames]]
* Curtis, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Phantasmagoria 2}}''. As a 6-year old kid, he endured extremely [[ColdBloodedTorture cruel, painful, and humiliating torture]] at the hands of his AxCrazy mom, which his dad chose to ignore. She gave him [[ElectricTorture electric shocks]], [[KnifeNut sliced him with knives]], and [[{{Crossdresser}} forcibly dressed him up as a girl]] ([[YouMonster while calling him a "Monster"]]) before hanging herself, and he found her afterwards. His dad was killed in front of their house soon after. Later in the game, it's revealed that [[spoiler:Curtis's mom [[GoMadFromTheRevelation went mad]] / was DrivenToSuicide because "Curtis" was actually an alien clone of her real son. Curtis's dad was also [[YouKilledMyFather murdered in cold blood]] by Paul Allen Warner because of this. Curtis eventually reconciles with a mental projection of her at the end.]]
* Sephiroth from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. Oh so very much. You have to be "quite" messed up to want to try a smash a Meteor into the Planet so you could eat up all the Lifestream to become a God. Apparently, it's cause Mommy did that thousands of years before, and now he wants to be a good son and make her proud by doing the same!
** Then there's the Remnants of Sephiroth in ''AdventChildren''. Keep in mind each of them is basically the Aspects of Sephiroth's Personality divided and eliminated of any direct influence from Jenova. They now mention "Mother" even MORE then Sephiroth himself....all THREE of them!
* While not a villain, it's revealed in ''MetalGearSolid2'' that Otacon had an incestuous relationship with his stepmother, which accounts for much of his social awkwardness and problems with intimacy.
* ''Franchise/DragonAge'': [[BlackMagicianGirl Morrigan's]] problems with her mother probably stem from being raised as a [[spoiler: body for her mother to possess.]]
** To a lesser degree in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', assuming you interpret Merrill (an orphan) and Merithari (her mentor who is certainly old enough to be her mother) this way.
* Isaac in ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'' spends a cutscene after each level crying to himself about the traumatic things his mother put him through, even before she started hearing the voice of God telling her to kill him.
* ''VideoGame/{{Paranoiac}}'' has much more than MommyIssues with Miki and her mother. Both are mentally ill, but Miki's mother is willing to support her depressed daughter nor was she will [[spoiler:to support her mentally ill sister.]] Even when he daughter called and asked to come home after three nights of being chased by [[spoiler:her dead aunt,]] she claims that her aunt's house is now her daughter's and to not come back.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Butch from ''ChoppingBlock''. His mother ''still'' [[http://choppingblock.keenspot.com/d/20120725.html verbally abuses him]] despite [[Film/{{Psycho}} being dead]].
* Madam Principal Abigail Mars in ''HowToRaiseYourTeenageDragon'' goes full tilt [[Disney/{{RobinHood}} Prince John thumb sucker]] when she's reminded of what her father would think of her petty need for revenge.
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[[folder:Web Originals]]
* This trope is [[GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse Doctor XX's]] whole reason for supervillainy, though in her case its Daddy Issues.
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[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Azula in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Interpretations]] of [[MamaBear Ursa]] vary: the only time she appears, it's from Zuko's perspective of past events and, therefore, likely idealized and slightly unreliable. Azula, with her mind twisted by [[FreudianExcuse Ozai's]] emotionally abusive and violent tendencies, could only fixate on her belief that 'Mother loved Zuko best' and that 'my own mother thought I was a monster'. [[LampshadeHanging She points it out herself]], but it's very clear she was always yearning for her mother's approval and love -- and just as clear that Ursa was concerned for her. Fortunately, none of this is pertinent because the only thing you really need for Mommy Issues is the perception of an uncaring mother.
** Looks like at least some of her issues may be resolved in the upcoming sequel to ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderThePromise, subtitled ''The Search''. It revolves around Zuko and Azula's search for Ursa.
*** It seems like Azula's Mommy Issues have gotten even ''worse''. [[spoiler:Azula only recovered from her breakdown by believing that Ursa orchestrated a conspiracy to bring her down. The reason she's helping Zuko in his search is so she can ''kill'' Ursa.]]
** As for Zuko, he has his own paternal issues, what with the [[WellDoneSonGuy need for retribution in his father's eyes]] and all.
* See NinetiesAntiHero for TheTick parody
* Gazpacho from ''{{Chowder}}''
* [[MoralOrel Clay Puppington]] has an upsetting Oedipus complex, which is too bad considering he accidentally killed his mother.
* ''{{Archer}}''. The title character certainly has issues with his mother. Made clear in the first episode where he [[spoiler:gets an erection when the man threatening his mother's life describes her dead in the gutter.]]
-->'''Malory''': The thought me ''dead'' gives you an ''erection''?
-->'''Archer''': Just... half of one. The other half would really miss you.
* ''{{Metalocalypse}}'': Skwisgaar Skwigelf has a few problems with his [[SonOfAWhore mom]].
* Luanne's mother from WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill was very abusive to her father causing him to flee, and is implied to have neglected her in the past. When she comes back she is okay as long as she doesn't have any alcohol; when she does she's borderline psychotic and will attack anyone who provokes her in the slightest. According to her, she views Luanne more as a sister than her daughter.
* Grimes' mother on ''UglyAmericans'' pulls a VisualPun (with being a literal mummy) ''definitely'' falls into this trope, as she doesn't approve of his (fake) demon girlfriend, Callie, and even tries to one-up her by showing how to ''really'' [[{{Squick}} kiss her little boy.]]
* Kyle has this in the first few seasons of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', ''especially'' in [[WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut the movie]].
* It's heavily implied that Dan from ''DanVs'' has these. WordOfGod says the show would have explored them more if it continued into a fourth season.
* Pretty much everyone in WesternAnimation/AdventureTime to the point where the show [[FavoriteTrope loves this trope a lot.]] [[spoiler: Finn's possible dad was a JerkAss]], Marcy's dad ate her fries, Joshua seemed like he thought Finn was a whiney baby and made Jake feel bad about his strength, [[spoiler: They both got better]], and LSP's parents made her run away. [[spoiler: she got better also.]]
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[[folder:Real Life]]
* Unfortunately, abusive or neglectful parenting situations do make it more likely that the child will have mental or behavior issues when they become adults, so this is TruthInTelevision.
* Augusta Gein, mother of EdGein. It's questionable who was more unstable.
* According to [[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/tick/victims_1.html this]], it is one of the top reasons for serial killing. Although often ''there is no reason'', resulting in RealityIsUnrealistic since a FreudianExcuse reads more true in fiction than it actually is.
* Implied with Adam Lanza, who murdered his mother in her sleep before snuffing out the lives of 26 others at Sandy Hook Elementary.
* The reason Freud believed in this so strongly was because it actually applied to him. He really did have incestuous feelings for his mother. However, one critic pointed out a reason for this. Since Freud had a wet nurse, he instead recognized ''her'' as his "mother", and recognized his biological mother as just an attractive woman who cared very deeply for him.
** Similarly, many Freud biographers say there is evidence he was sexually or at least physically abused by his father, meaning he has a, [[IncrediblyLamePun well]], FreudianExcuse for both halves of the Oedipus Complex that's so bizarrely prominent in his theories.
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->''Mother? May I call you mother? ''My'' mother was a person with no self-respect of her own, so she tried to take mine. Ten years old, she had the scissors, you wouldn't believe what she did with those...(chuckling) She's dead to me now. Mostly 'cause [[ImAHumanitarian I killed and ate her.]]''
-->-- '''Kralik''', ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''
-->-- '''Kralik''', ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''
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-->-- '''Kralik''', ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''
-->--'''Malory Archer''', ''{{Archer}}''
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* Guts from ''{{Berserk}}''. When he was growing up in a mercenary camp he lived for the approval and love of Gambino the leader of the mercenaries. Sadly, that love was not reciprocated since Gambino blamed Guts for the death of his lover Shisu (who rescued Guts as an infant) of plague, believing the boy to be bad luck. Gambino ''sold Guts to a pedophiliac soldier'' for three silver coins, then later tried to kill him after he got drunk. Guts killed him in self-defense, and ever since he had issues with being touched and had trouble forming emotional bonds. Guts was on the verge of getting over his Daddy Issues thanks to his time with the Hawks (Casca in particular), but then the Eclipse gave him even worse issues.
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* Guts from ''{{Berserk}}''. When he was growing up in a mercenary camp he lived for the approval and love of Gambino the leader of the mercenaries. Sadly, that love was not reciprocated since Gambino blamed Guts for the death of his lover Shisu (who rescued Guts as an infant) of plague, believing the boy to be bad luck. Gambino ''sold Guts to a pedophiliac soldier'' for three silver coins, then later tried to kill him after he got drunk. Guts killed him in self-defense, and ever since he had issues with being touched and had trouble forming emotional bonds. Guts was on the verge of getting over his Daddy Issues thanks to his time with the Hawks (Casca in particular), but then the Eclipse went down and gave him even worse ''worse'' issues.
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The villain is a [[VillainByDefault basement-dwelling, creepy, perverted sociopath]] with nothing but contempt for his chosen target villain group ([[WomenInRefrigerators almost always women]]). Rather than give the character just any FreudianExcuse, the creators have decided to give the character a mother who is unstable, cruel, [[MyBelovedSmother demanding, possessive, controlling]], and sometimes outright insane. She isn't the EvilMatriarch... she isn't a true villain in her own right. But she's twisted her son's psyche from birth through years and years of psychological and physical abuse. Bonus points if [[ParentalIncest the relationship is incestuous]].
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The villain is a [[VillainByDefault basement-dwelling, creepy, perverted sociopath]] with nothing but contempt for his chosen target villain group ([[WomenInRefrigerators ([[HeManWomanHater almost always women]]). Rather than give the character just any FreudianExcuse, the creators have decided to give the character a mother who is unstable, cruel, [[MyBelovedSmother demanding, possessive, controlling]], and sometimes outright insane. She isn't the EvilMatriarch... she isn't a true villain in her own right. But she's twisted her son's psyche from birth through years and years of psychological and physical abuse. Bonus points if [[ParentalIncest the relationship is incestuous]].
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ouo;; Hope this is okay in a repair shop.
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* Music/{{Mothy}}'s characters [[CreepyTwins Hansel and Gretel]] have this, mainly due to their foster mother kidnapping them as babies and then murdering their real mother. After that, when they got older, ''she left them out into the forest to die.'' Their reincarnations [[spoiler: [[WellDoneSonGuy Ney]]]] and [[EnfanteTerrible Lemy]] don't get any better: [[spoiler: Ney's]] mother [[PlayingWithSyringes gave her up for the Big Bad to experiment on]], making her pretty damn AxCrazy; while it's heavily implied that Lemy's parents were killed by his surrogate mother, [[{{Immortality}} the same]] BigBad, who brainwashed him into becoming a SerialKiller. [[DysfunctionJunction It's that kind of series.]]
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* Music/{{Mothy}}'s The Franchise/EvilliousChronicles' characters [[CreepyTwins Hansel and Gretel]] have this, mainly due to their foster mother kidnapping them as babies and then murdering their real mother. After that, when they got older, ''she left them out into the forest to die.'' Their reincarnations [[spoiler: [[WellDoneSonGuy Ney]]]] and [[EnfanteTerrible Lemy]] don't get any better: [[spoiler: Ney's]] mother [[PlayingWithSyringes gave her up for the Big Bad to experiment on]], making her pretty damn AxCrazy; while it's heavily implied that Lemy's parents were killed by his surrogate mother, [[{{Immortality}} the same]] BigBad, who brainwashed him into becoming a SerialKiller. [[DysfunctionJunction It's that kind of series.]]
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* It's heavily implied that Dan from ''DanVs'' has this.
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* It's heavily implied that Dan from ''DanVs'' has this.these. WordOfGod says the show would have explored them more if it continued into a fourth season.
