History ParentalAbandonment / VideoGames

* In the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' games, it's easier to list who ''is'' over 18 or has parents or guardians. You'd think the social workers would come poking around to see why there is an eight-year-old living on his own in the middle of a factory, with a 15-year-old best friend that's constantly running away, and cart him off to a care home; apparently not.

* ''VideoGame/SpiritsOfAnglerwoodForest'': Edgar's father leaves on a two day trip, but never comes home. His mother is just gone the next morning. Their disappearance is what jump-starts the plot of the game.

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius'', aside from Ike, Mist, and Soren being parentless (well, Soren had both parents alive for some time, but unknowingly participated in the killing of his actual father, who had disowned him at birth)...

** Micaiah's parentage is unknown through most of Radiant Dawn, though she's understood to be an orphan of sorts. [[spoiler: Her true heritage, making her the true Apostle of Begnion, means she was forced to flee her family when the assassination was carried out against her grandmother, though presumably either her mother or father or both remained alive long enough to conceive Sanaki, her sister, and it was never explained why the Apostleship skipped a generation like that.]]
** There's actually implications that [[spoiler: she was not aware of her heritage as Apostle of Begnion. Micaiah is not the kind of person who would order the death of her own sister, even under threat of the Blood Pact. Due to Miacaih's [[OlderThanTheyLook age being unknown,]] there is a window of error for the events and how they unfold. There is actually more reason to theorize that she lost her memory, as that would explain her ignorance of her heritage as well as help accommodate Micaiah's aging.]]

** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'': Possibly averted or played straight with the Inquisitor, depending on which race and dialogue options are chosen. Cassandra's parents were executed when she was a child, after they tried to overthrow the King of Nevarra. Sera was orphaned when she was too young to remember her parents and her ParentalSubstitute has also died. The Iron Bull, like Sten, doesn't know his parents due to Qunari custom. Vivienne, being a Circle mage, was taken from her parents when she was very young. Dorian's parents are both still alive but he is not on speaking terms with them, [[spoiler: and his father is assassinated in the year between the main game and ''Trespasser'']]. Cullen's parents died during the events of the first game, although this is revealed more in supplemental material than in the game proper.

->''[[ParentalAbandonment Single Parent Rule]]: RPG characters with two living parents are almost unheard of. As a general rule, male characters will [[DisappearedDad only have a mother]], and female characters will [[MissingMom only have a father]]. The missing parent either vanished mysteriously and traumatically several years ago or is never referred to at all. Frequently the main character's surviving parent will also [[ThePlotReaper meet an awkward end just after the story begins]], thus [[ConvenientlyAnOrphan freeing him of inconvenient filial obligations]].''

* In the ''SonicTheHedgehog'' games, it's easier to list who ''is'' over 18 or has parents or guardians. You'd think the social workers would come poking around to see why there is an eight-year-old living on his own in the middle of a factory, with a 15-year-old best friend that's constantly running away, and cart him off to a care home; apparently not.

** Nero was not only abandoned in Fortuna at an early age by his biological parents (who are dead now, kthx), his ''adoptive'' parents end up dying from a demonic attack in ''his'' early childhood. No protagonist is safe from this trope.
*** Even better, Capcom has revealed that [[spoiler: his father is Vergil, who we all know what happened to. Considering the 3rd game's events, Nero was no doubt abandoned by his father.]]

* The original ''VideoGame/{{Grandia}}'' has a few. Justin lives with his mother (his father, who gave Justin his McGuffin, is mentioned as having passed away), Sue is an orphan who lives with her aunt and uncle, the parents of Feena [[spoiler:and her sister Leen]] are never mentioned, and Rapp's parents [[spoiler:were petrified when the original Cafu village turned to stone]]. The rest of the cast is of adult age (and a few several times older than that, the oldest being a few centuries old), though it's also worth mentioning that Colonel Mullen's mother, a humanoid that General Baal married in order to learn ancient secrets about the ancient world, is also dead.

* Franchise/ProfessorLayton's adopted daughter, Flora Reinhold, suffers from this trope. [[spoiler: When Flora was little, her mother died. Her father had a village built and populated by {{Ridiculously Human Robot}}s. After her father's death, Flora was RaisedByRobots (and the human caretaker) until Professor Layton came to the village.]]

* In the ''Franchise/JakAndDaxter'' series, there are only five fathers and mothers are only mentioned in passing.

** The player determines whether or not the Dragonborn's parents are alive in dialogue options in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', especially if the ''Dawnguard'' DLC is installed and Serana inquires after them.

** Some of the games, however, do give Link other relatives -- he had a grandmother and a sister in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', a grandfather in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'', and an uncle in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast''. Additionally, the ExpandedUniverse of ''Link to the Past'' states that his parents are deceased, but had been Hylian Knights (yes, both of them). ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' also says his mother died and left him to be cared for by the Deku Tree before succumbing to unspecified injuries, though his father is never mentioned. In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', it's revealed that [[spoiler:his father was a royal guard, though the exact nature of his fate is never revealed]]. The other games seem to assume that Link just came into existence on his own; this is particularly {{egregious}} in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' because Link is said to have been a native of Skyloft, yet the students at the Knight Academy all have their families living on the small floating town except for Link himself.

*** Meanwhile, the relationship between Marisa and Mima may be one of the biggest mysteries in Touhou. In the PC98 games, Marisa referred to Mima by ''[[UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics the extremely respectful -sama honorific]]''. One the one hand, this was [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness her first]] [[CharacterizationMarchesOn and second appearances.]] On the other hand ''this is the most respect Marisa has shown to anyone ever.'' Fans generally have them as teacher and student, often crossing over into [[ChildrenRaiseYou a pseudo-familial relationship]], which becomes ParentalAbandonment for Marisa when Mima is PutOnABus. Finally, Mima's leitmotif is given a description in ''Dolls in Pseudo Paradise'' that has been taken to be about Marisa and her mother.

* Joey La Rocca, the protagonist of ''Series/TheSopranos Road to Respect,'' is the illegitimate child to Big Pussy Bonpensiero ([[CanonForeigner although he's never seen on the show]]).

** In ''[[LaPucelle La Pucelle Tactics]]'', Prier's and Cullotte's parents were killed in a wagon accident years before the game begins. Homard became a SkyPirate to defeat the demon who injured his father and attacked his kingdom, [[spoiler: Marl Kingdom, making him the grandson of Cornet from [[VideoGame/RhapsodyAMusicalAdventure Rhapsody.]]]]

** Cora Harper's parents disappeared in the Attican Traverse with the rest of their ship not long after she joined the Alliance. Cora never found out what happened to them.

** In general, anyone who didn't bring their parents to Andromeda with them, such as Liam and Suvi, had to mourn them once they woke up due to the six hundred year journey.

** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'': Possibly averted or played straight with the Inquisitor, depending on which race and dialogue options are chosen. Cassandra's parents were executed when she was a child, after they tried to overthrow the King of Nevarra. Sera was orphaned when she was too young to remember her parents and her ParentalSubstitute has also died. The Iron Bull, like Sten, doesn't know his parents due to Qunari custom. Vivienne, being a Circle mage, was taken from her parents when she was very young. Dorian's parents are both still alive but he is not on speaking terms with them. Cullen's parents died during the events of the first game, although this is revealed more in supplemental material than in the game proper.

* In the ''JakAndDaxter'' series, there are only five fathers and mothers are only mentioned in passing.

* In most ''{{Pokemon}}'' games, the player character usually has a mom and a mom ''only''; whatever happened to dear old Dad is never explained. Averted quite noticeably in ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire''/''Emerald'', though -- not only is Dad still around, but he's a ''Gym Leader'', and yes, you do have to wail on Pappy for a badge. He does not go easy on his own son/daughter. [[ThatOneBoss Not. In. The. Least.]]

-->--'''TheGrandListOfConsoleRPGCliches #6'''

* [[spoiler:[[BigBad Kageyama Reiji's]]]] father left his family because after losing a soccer match to Daisuke (before that he never lost), he started to lose every match after that and his mother died because of an ilness. This is also his FreudianExcuse.

** Fubuki Shirou lost his family member after an avalanche striked Shirou's car, he was pushed out by Atsuya; thus saving him.

** [[{{Metroid}} Samus Aran]] had parents that were murdered by Space Pirates when she was very young, and she was adopted by the Chozo. And it's strongly implied that the Chozo are now all extinct. This would make Samus an orphan ''twice over!''