History Main / ParentalBetrayal

* In ''Film/HotFuzz'', it turns out the mastermind behind all the 'accidents' is [[spoiler:Frank Butterman]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' it turns out that [[spoiler: Hiroshi Sato]] is an Equalist. The traditional "WeCanRuleTogether" spiel is given, but the child violently refuses. [[spoiler:Culminates in an attempt at ''OffingTheOffspring'' in the finale when Asami claims that Hiroshi doesn't love her late mother anymore since he's too full of hatred. Hiroshi declares that she's beyond "saving" and seriously tries to murder her. Bolin rightly calls Hiroshi a horrible father, and Asami agrees.]]

* ''Series/TwentyFour'': [[spoiler:Jack's father]] was a Big Bad, the Man behind the Man ([[spoiler:Graem]]) behind the Man ([[spoiler:President Logan]]) behind the Man (attempted assassination of the Russian President). [More behind the Mans possible, I can't keep track.] Attempted to kill his son. [[spoiler:And he did kill his other son Graem for failing him.]]

** [[http://asylums.insanejournal.com/scans_daily/235391.html#cutid1 Jason Todd]], as you know, [[ComicBook/ADeathInTheFamily had horrible luck with his mom too]]. After finding out that his mother who raised him was not his biological mother, Jason sets out across the globe searching for his birth mother. Eventually Jason is reunited with her; however Jason's mother is evil. There is really no other way to describe a woman who would so willingly and suddenly [[http://i30.tinypic.com/2nr1xy1.jpg betray her fifteen year old son]] to [[http://i26.tinypic.com/dlsveo.jpg the Joker]] and [[http://i27.tinypic.com/2vwzd76.jpg actually stand there watching him be beaten brutally to near death with a crow bar]], all the while looking none too fazed. After all this happens, [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder the Joker betrays her]], ties her up and leaves her and Jason in a room with a bomb. Jason, injured though he is, tries to save the mother who just betrayed him. He cuts the ropes binding her and together they make it to the door. [[http://i25.tinypic.com/28jzewg.jpg Naturally the door is locked.]] The bomb explodes, Jason and his mother die. He got better.

*** Jason believes that Bruce is guilty of this. Even after Jason's death, he ''still'' keeps letting the Joker live, and eventually replaced Jason with another Robin. It's not hard to see his viewpoint, since the Saviour of Gotham apparently was ready to replace his dead son & partner without even bringing the killer to "justice".
** And Bruce's son Damian hasn't been much luckier. He wasn't pleased at all when his mother Talia willingly allowed Slade to control his body by means of implanting a device in his spine. And when he supported Dick and Bruce's ideals rather than his Talia's, [[spoiler: he found out that Talia had actually created another clone of Damian because he wasn't "perfect enough". Then she kicked him out from the house of Al Ghul and told him not to come back, while all Damian wanted was some of his mother's love.]] JerkAssWoobie indeed. This culminates in [[spoiler:Damian's death at the hands of his own clone. He even pleads with his mother to call off the attack, but she does nothing as the clone impales her own son on a sword.]]

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' has a variation. Dinah Lance saw that Sara was going to join Oliver on the ''Queen's Gambit'', and realized she was sleeping with her sister's boyfriend. After some initial attempts to talk Sara out of it, she let Sara go through with it effectively allowing her to betray Laurel and betraying Laurel herself through inaction. To make matters worse, she didn't even come clean about when the ship sank, and only admitted it years later.

*** Drugs, Thea [[spoiler:,his illegitimate daughter,]] and gets her to [[spoiler:kill Sarah Lance]] in order to distract [[spoiler:the League of Assassins]] who want him dead, knowing that [[spoiler:Sarah]] and [[spoiler:Nyssa Al'Ghul were lovers]] and that this would cause [[spoiler:The League of Assassins]] to descend on Star City for revenge. It is a [[BatmanGambit Batman Gambit]] because Malcolm knows that Oliver will intercede to save his little sister. The only way to settle it is a fight to the death. If Oliver dies, his death settles the blood debt, and Malcolm is no worse off than he began. If Oliver survives and kills [[spoiler:R'as Al-Ghul]], Thea's blood debt is cleared and the leader of [[spoiler:The League]] that wants revenge on Malcolm is dead and his grudges along with him.

** An episode has a model die during the shooting of a reality TV show on a base, only for Gibbs and Co. discover that the man responsible was her agent who, while not biologically related, had adopted her as a teenager. The woman had begun a relationship with a sergeant, and was going to give up modelling to be with him.

* In ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'' Gemma continually does underhanded things to undermine her son, Jax's, relationship with his girlfriend and eventual wife, Tara. Gemma explicitly says that Tara was Jax's first love, that he was heartbroken the first time they broke up, and that he would do anything for her, making Tara the only person who has a strong enough influence on Jackson to overpower Gemma's own overbearing, manipulative influence on him. Jax loves his mom and is none the wiser to her manipulations. Gemma is so determined to control Jax that she eventually [[spoiler:murders Tara]] a move that emotionally destroys Jackson, leads to him [[spoiler:murdering Gemma in retaliation]] before [[spoiler:committing suicide to atone for all the murders he committed trying to avenge Tara's murder]].

* Gaia of Myth/GreekMythology did this to three generations' worth of her divine progeny after they pissed her off by empowering the next generation. Her first son Uranus [[ParentalIncest who was also her first consort]] was jealous and fearful of their children the Titans and trapped them inside Gaia. A pissed off Gaia forged a huge sickle and gave it to her youngest son Cronus and had him ''[[GroinAttack castrate]]'' Uranus with it. Cronus eventually turned out to be NotSoDifferent from Uranus and trapped his non-Titanic siblings, the Hechatonchaires and the Cyclopses, inside Gaia since he feared their power. Cronus knew that Gaia would try to turn his own children against him in revenge, so he ''ate his own children after they were born.'' A pissed off Gaia conspired with Cronus' wife Rhea to save the last child Zeus, and raised him to be a LaserGuidedTykeBomb against his father. After Zeus and his fellow Olympians eventually prevailed, they stuck the Titans who refused to surrender to them in the deepest pits of Tartarus, which upset Gaia since she didn't want her children to suffer such a horrible punishment. A pissed off Gaia then sent various giant monsters such as her youngest and strongest offspring [[EldritchAbomination Typhon]] to overthrow the Olympians. This chain of betrayal ended when Zeus and the Olympians defeated the threats sent by Gaia, proving that they had surpassed her.

** Magnus was aware of Horus' treachery before the Emperor was. Unfortunately, he chose to deliver the message by teleporting to Terra using forbidden magics, which destroyed the Webway Gate the Emperor was building. Instead of heeding Magnus' warnings, he declared Magnus the traitor, and sicced the [[Literature/SpaceWolf Space Wolves]] on his homeworld Prospero.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarII'' features Zeus betraying his son, Kratos out of fear that Kratos would kill him and usurp his throne as ruler of Olympus, taking into evidence Kratos' destructive behavior and scorn towards the gods out of their refusal to erase his nightmares about his slaughtered family. Zeus does this by taking some of Kratos' godly powers and putting them into the colossus of Rhodes, tricking Kratos into giving up his remaining powers to obtain the blade of Olympus, and then wounding and murdering Kratos. Of course Kratos is healed and swears vengeance on Zeus, setting off a series of events where Kratos personally murders the vast majority of the Olympic gods ''and'' Titans over the course of this game and the next.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Mass Effect|1}}'', Wrex eventually explains that he was a leader of his people back on his homeworld following the Krogan Rebellions. He was advocating peace so that the Krogan could rebuild, but his father, Jarrod, was a rival warlord pushing for war. Wrex and Jarrod agreed to meet at neutral ground to discuss their differences. Being [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy krogan]], though, it could only end [[BlastOut one way]]. Jarrod's troops managed to wipe out Wrex's followers, forcing him to leave the planet both for his own survival and because he was disgusted with his own species' self-destructive nature, but not before Wrex managed to kill his father for the betrayal.

* VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon has Dart's father turn out the be the BigBad. [[spoiler:It turns out he was possessed by Melbu Frahma, but still.]]

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarII'' features Zeus betraying his son, Kratos out of fear that Kratos would kill him and usurp his throne as ruler of Olympus, taking into evidence Kratos' destructive behavior and scorn towards the gods out of their refusal to erase his nightmares about his slaughtered family. Zeus does this by taking some of Kratos' godly powers and putting them into the colossus of Rhodes, tricking Kratos into giving up his remaining powers to obtain the blade of Olympus, and then wounding and murdering Kratos. Of course Kratos is healed and swears vengeance on Zeus which results in a lot of gods getting killed for two games.

* ''Series/TwentyFour'': [[spoiler:Jack's father]] was a Big Bad, the Man behind the Man ([[spoiler:Graem]]) behind the Man ([[spoiler:President Logan]]) behind the Man (attempted assassination of the Russian President). [More behind the Mans possible, I can't keep track.] Attempted to kill his son. [[spoiler:And he did kill his other son Graem for failing him.]]

* May be small compared to the other examples in this trope, but it's discovered at the end of the ''Series/{{Awkward}}'' season 1 finale that the 'carefrontational' letter was written by Jenna's mom, Lacey.
* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'' done by Mr. Sweet- Eddie's father. A bit of dramatic irony, too, as the viewers and the rest of Sibuna knew that Mr.Sweet was a member of Team Evil but nobody told Eddie, and when he found out he was completely devastated. Gets even worse after Mr.Sweet starts proactively manipulating Sibuna to further the plans of his own team-- and knowingly hurting Eddie in the process.

* In ''Series/KamenRiderDrive,'' we get a doozy. [[spoiler: Kiriko and Gou's father, Professor Banno, was one of the creators of this year's villains, the Roidmudes, but it was always assumed that it was a case of AIIsACrapshoot. Nope, Banno is basically Davros; the Roidmudes' current state is his deliberate doing, and the Heart Roidmude, the BigBad until that point, was horribly abused by him and basically a case of TheDogBitesBack. Banno betrays the SCU and his own children, lets us know he sees even his own children as a means to his dark but as-yet-not-fully-understood ends, and rises to the role of BigBad. Right now, dealing with him is ''everyone's'' main concern, good guys and bad guys alike.]] HumansAreTheRealMonsters, indeed!
* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' has a variation. Dinah Lance saw that Sara was going to join Oliver on the ''Queen's Gambit'', and realized she was sleeping with her sister's boyfriend. After some initial attempts to talk Sara out of it, she let Sara go through with it effectively allowing her to betray Laurel and betraying Laurel herself through inaction. To make matters worse, she didn't even come clean about when the ship sank, and only admitted it years later.
** A stronger example would be Moira Queen. Soon after he returns from being stranded on an island for 5 years after witnessing his father's suicide, Moira has her son, Oliver, kidnapped and interrogated to find out if his father, Robert, had revealed any secrets before his death. Unfortunately for Moira, Oliver is now a [[ComicBook/GreenArrow superhero]] and is able to escape without revealing anything.
** Also, [[ArchnemesisDad Malcolm Merlyn]].
*** Spends much of the first season fighting both Oliver and his alter ego, The Hood, despite Oliver being his son's best friend since childhood and Malcolm being aware that Oliver is The Hood.
*** Causes the death of his own son because of his own son, Tommy, who dies when he's crushed in a building destroyed by Malcolm's [[MisplacedRetribution Undertaking Earthquake Machine]] designed to level the entire section of the city in which his wife was murdered.
*** Drugs, Thea [[spoiler:,his illegitimate daughter,]] and gets her to [[spoiler:kill Sarah Lance]] in order to distract [[spoiler:the League of Assassins]] who want him dead, knowing that [[spoiler:Sarah]] and [[spoiler:Nyssa Al'Ghul were lovers]] and that this would cause [[spoiler:The League of Assassins]] to descend on Star City for revenge. It is a [[BatmanGambit Batman Gambit]] because Malcolm knows that Oliver will intercede to save his little sister. The only way to settle it is a fight to the death. If Oliver dies, his death settles the blood debt, and Malcolm is no worse off than he began. If Oliver survives and kills [[spoiler:R'as Al-Ghul]], Thea's blood debt is cleared and the leader of [[spoiler:The League]] that wants revenge on Malcolm is dead and his grudges along with him.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarII'' features, Zeus betraying his son, Kratos in the second game. Zeus commits this betrayal out of fear that Kratos would kill Zeus and usurp his throne as ruler of Olympus, taking into evidence Kratos' destructive behavior and scorn towards the gods out of their refusal to erase his nightmares about his slaughtered family. Zeus does this betrayal by taking some of Kratos' godly powers and putting them into the colossus of Rhodes, tricking Kratos into giving up his remaining powers to obtain the blade of Olympus, and then wounding and murdering Kratos. Of course Kratos is healed and swears vengeance on Zeus which results in a lot of gods getting killed for two games.

See also ParentalAbandonment, EvilMatriarch, and ArchnemesisDad. Inverse of BetryalByOffspring.

See also ParentalAbandonment, EvilMatriarch, and ArchnemesisDad.

* ''Franchise/GodOfWar'' features, Zeus betraying his son, Kratos in the second game. Zeus commits this betrayal out of fear that Kratos would kill Zeus and usurp his throne as ruler of Olympus, taking into evidence Kratos' destructive behavior and scorn towards the gods out of their refusal to erase his nightmares about his slaughtered family. Zeus does this betrayal by taking some of Kratos' godly powers and putting them into the colossus of Rhodes, tricking Kratos into giving up his remaining powers to obtain the blade of Olympus, and then wounding and murdering Kratos. Of course Kratos is healed and swears vengeance on Zeus which results in a lot of gods getting killed for two games.

Not the same as LukeIAmYourFather, which is basically the inverse -- the villain (who was previously shown) is suddenly revealed to be the parent, rather than the other way around.

* Gaia of Myth/GreekMythology did this to three generations' worth of her divine progeny after they pissed her off by empowering the next generation. Her first son Uranus [[ParentalIncest who was also her first consort]] was jealous and fearful of their children the Titans and trapped them inside Gaia. A pissed off Gaia forged a huge sickle and gave it to her youngest son Cronus and had him ''[[GroinAttack castrate]]'' Uranus with it. Cronus eventually turned out to be NotSoDifferent from Uranus and trapped his non-Titanic siblings, the Hechatonchaires and the Cyclopses, inside Gaia since he feared their power. Being GenreSavvy, Cronus knew that Gaia would try to turn his own children against him in revenge, so he ''ate his own children after they were born.'' A pissed off Gaia conspired with Cronus' wife Rhea to save the last child Zeus, and raised him to be a LaserGuidedTykeBomb against his father. After Zeus and his fellow Olympians eventually prevailed, they stuck the Titans who refused to surrender to them in the deepest pits of Tartarus, which upset Gaia since she didn't want her children to suffer such a horrible punishment. A pissed off Gaia then sent various giant monsters such as her youngest and strongest offspring [[EldritchAbomination Typhon]] to overthrow the Olympians. This chain of betrayal ended when Zeus and the Olympians defeated the threats sent by Gaia, proving that they had surpassed her.

** Magnus was aware of Horus' treachery before the Emperor was. Unfortunately, he chose to deliver the message by teleporting to Terra using forbidden magics, which destroyed the Webway Gate the Emperor was building. Instead of heeding Magnus' warnings, he declared Magnus the traitor, and sicced the SpaceWolves on his homeworld Prospero.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40K'': The Emperor (not yet God-) was many things, but a good father was ''not'' one of them. Most of the Primarchs who fell did so due to his giving exactly zero consideration to what they wanted:

* [[spoiler:Sarah]]'s dad and [[spoiler:Bree]]'s mom in ''{{lonelygirl15}}'' are both examples.

** Angron was on the eve of leading a GladiatorRevolt on his home planet when the Emperor showed up. Rather than help him win the day or even, y'know, bring down an OrbitalBombardment or five dozen from his fleet, the Emperor teleported Angron away so as not to lose any time on his grand conquest of the galaxy. The revolt was easily crushed, with Angron's comrades died thinking he'd run away or warse, betrayed them.

* In ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' [[spoiler:Leah's mother Adria, in one of the cruelest betrayals of the entire series, reveals herself to be Diablo's high priestess before shoving the Black Soulstone, with all seven Great Evils inside, into Leah, who she had for the sole purpose of using her as the vessel for Diablo's rebirth as the Prime Evil.]]

* In [[spoiler:''{{Series/Broadchurch}}'', Joe Miller is the husband of DS Miller and the father of Tom (Danny Latimer's best friend). Danny is killed. Later, it's found out that Joe killed Danny after trying to force a pederast relationship with him and Danny refused. Joe later accuses Danny's dad himself of parental betrayal and that the child came to him after he hit Danny once.]]

* Strongly hinted to be the case in ''VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'' with [[spoiler:Battler's parents, Rudolf and Kyrie who takes the chance when the gold is found and kills everyone except Battler and Eva.]]

* PrisonBreak has Christina Rose Scofield who ends up trying to kill both her sons.

Sometimes the villain in a work hits much closer to home than the hero would expect - it's their parent. Yes, the parent who we've seen throughout the movie, book or show, doing their usual parent stuff and being seemingly a good guy, only to turn out to be evil all along. Can be very shocking if pulled off right.

Not the same as LukeIAmYourFather, which is basically the inverse - the villain (who was previously shown) is suddenly revealed to be the parent, rather than the other way around.

* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'' done by Mr. Sweet- Eddie's father. A bit of dramatic irony, too, as the viewers and the rest of Sibuna knew that Mr.Sweet was a member of Team Evil but nobody told Eddie, and when he found out he was completely devastated. Gets even worse after Mr.Sweet starts proactively manipulating Sibuna to further the plans of his own team- and knowingly hurting Eddie in the process.