History Main / MysteriousParent

* Sumire's father in the TV series version of ''SakuraTaisen''.

* ''ThirdRockFromTheSun'', Dick Solomon's birth father is revealed to be [[spoiler: The Big Giant Head played by William Shatner. Knowing this, fans realized Dick was previously married to his cousin Janet]]. Also note that they have no blood relation to Sally, Tommy, or Harry, even though they pretend to be siblings.

* Kanon's dad in ''[[KanonByChihoSaito Kanon]]'' (by Chiho Saito).

* Nagi Springfield, father of Negi Springfield of ''MahouSenseiNegima''.
** Also Negi's mother [[spoiler: Arika]]. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that she was unjustly accused of a crime, and they didn't want Negi going off half-cocked to defend her reputation, so they didn't tell him about her at all.

* In ''[[KenichiTheMightiestDisciple History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi]]'', [[spoiler: Miu]]'s father is[[spoiler: the leader of the organization of [[EvilMentor Evil Mentors]] YAMI]] and possible BigBad of the series. He is also directly responsible for [[spoiler: Miu]]'s MissingMom.

* Nadia's long-lost (and presumed dead) father in ''NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater''.

* Kanon's dad in [[KanonByChihoSaito Kanon]] (by Chiho Saito).

* Narrowly averted on ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'' when it was widely presumed that [[spoiler:the missing Number 7 Cylon, Daniel, was Kara Thrace's missing father until WordOfGod denied it.]]

* In [[http://thewretchedones.smackjeeves.com The Wretched Ones,]] Charlie and Kazuko's father has only been seen in flashbacks and mentioned in passing. Kazuko describes him as being 'gone' but his fate is unknown.

* Renton's father in ''EurekaSeven'' is revealed to be more and more involved in the main plot as the story moves on.
** Ironically, Ao's parents, [[spoiler:Renton and Eureka]] In the sequel ''EurekaSevenAO''.

* ''BaldursGate'': The main character's DisappearedDad [[spoiler:turns out to be Bhaal, God of Murder.]]

* ''JadeEmpire'': One of the Lotus Assassins sent to kill Master Li's family couldn't bring himself to kill his infant child, [[spoiler: Dawn Star ? who ended up being raised by Master Li at his school in Two Rivers, neither even suspecting their relationship until they're told about it late in the game]].

* Halt in ''RangersApprentice''; he's [[spoiler:heir to the throne of Clonmel]] and his brother is [[spoiler:the current king.]]

* Played for laughs in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0723.html here]].
* In [[http://thewretchedones.smackjeeves.com The Wretched Ones]], Charlie and Kazuko's father has only been seen in flashbacks and mentioned in passing. Kazuko describes him as being 'gone' but his fate is unknown.

* Linda Walkerton in ''[[http://www.itswalky.com It's Walky!]]'', [[spoiler: who switched one of her twin children, Sal, at birth in an attempt to mislead Head Alien.]]

* Mikoto's constant references to her brother in ''{{Mai-HiME}}''. [[spoiler: He turns out to be much, ''much'' nearer than she thinks...]]

* Haru's father, Gale Glory, from ''RaveMaster'', due to the fact that [[spoiler:he helped found Demon Card and when he tried to stop them, he had a Dark Bring shoved in his forehead that would mature into a powerful explosive.]]

* In ''OnePiece'', the main character Monkey D. Luffy's father is [[spoiler:Dragon the Revolutionary, the most wanted criminal in the world and the only one actively trying to bring down the [[TheGovernment World Government]].]]

* [[StarWars Darth Vader]], most famously.
* Bootstrap Bill Turner in ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'', who manages to be vital to the plot of the first movie without actually appearing in it.

* Played for laughs in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0723.html here]]

* Franz Hopper in ''CodeLyoko''.

* Brad Chiles and Judy Reeves, the real parents of Fred Jones in ''ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated.'' Fred has gotten wise to their plans with the rest of the previous Mystery Inc. team to locate the cursed treasure of Crystal Cove and has disowned them.

** Also [[spoiler: Portgas D. Ace whose father was Gold Roger, not Dragon as previously believed. Garp adopted him, he goes by his mother's name, and he doesn't like his father because all the grief his heritage caused, knowing that in the eyes of the world, he wasn't supposed to exist.]]

** Also [[spoiler: Portgas D. Ace whose father was Gold Roger, not Dragon as previously believed. Garp adopted him, he goes by his mother's name, and he doesn't like his father because he died ''15'' months (yes 15) before he born.]]

* [[spoiler: Nube's father Jikuu]] in Manga/HellTeacherNube. We only find out about him in the anime.

* Mikoto's constant references to her brother in ''{{Mai-HiME}}''.

* Van Hohenheim from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. It's initially presented as ParentalAbandonment, since that's how his children see it. However, the real reason for his leaving is because he's [[spoiler:a human philosopher's stone whose blood was used to create the BigBad Father, who then used Hohenheim as an UnwittingPawn to destroy the kingdom of Xerxes. Hohenheim is filled with guilt, and plans to stop Father from doing the same to Amestris; this was half of the reason he left home. The other half was to somehow find a way in which he could live out a normal lifespan and die at the end of it, so he wouldn't outlive his beloved wife and their sons]].

** Also Negi's mother. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that she was unjustly accused of a crime, and they didn't want Negi going off half-cocked to defend her reputation, so they didn't tell him about her at all.
* Precia Testarossa, the abusive mother of Fate in ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', is the one that's ordering her to get all the Jewel Seeds.

* Done twice in ''{{Disgaea}}'', with both parents of [[Characters/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness Laharl]]. Laharl's father is [[spoiler:[[MidBoss Mid-Boss]], or rather the Dark Adonis, working behind the scenes to reunite the Netherworld and Celestia]], while his mother is [[spoiler:Big Sis Prinny, paying penance for the sin of taking her own life to save Laharl's.]]

* ''AceAttorney'''s Kay Faraday [[spoiler: took up the thief's lifestyle after finding out that her dead father was the original Yatagarasu. She doesn't find out the [[CollectiveIdentity major twist]] until later.]]

* Masaru's DisappearedDad in ''DigimonSavers'', Daimon Suguru, is second only to [[ScaryShinyGlasses Hitlermo -- er, Kurata]] on the list of "Characters Most Instrumental in Driving the Plot." Li Jiang-Yu from ''DigimonTamers'' may count -- very important to the backstory and, eventually, the plot, but not very mysterious and definitely not missing.

Interestingly, [[TruthInTelevision real-life]] relationships can be just as tortuous and surprising as the fictional ones; for a famous example, JackNicholson learned just days before the premiere of ''{{Chinatown}}'' that his recently deceased "sister" was in fact his natural mother, and that the parents who raised him were in fact his grandparents (similar switches occurred in other people's lives, such as singer Bobby Darrin).

When the reason for ParentalAbandonment of a character is revealed, and the parent is someone important to the world of the story, or at least the events. Occasionally alluded to constantly but vaguely for maximum surprise. This is often coupled with some startling revelation about the child too, such as if the parent was/is a scientist and the child was [[TrulySingleParent created in a lab experiment]], or are following in a SecretLegacy of the family.

* ''ThirdRockFromTheSun'', Dick Solomon's birth father is revealed to be [[spoiler: The Big Giant Head played by William Shatner. Knowing this, fans realized Dick was previously married to his sister Janet]]. Also note that they have no blood relation to Sally, Tommy, or Harry, even though they pretend to be siblings.

* ''DragonQuestV'': TheHero's mother.