History WellDoneSonGuy / ComicBooks

* ''Franchise/TheFlash'':

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** Harry Osborn looks to his father this way, even more so in the ''Comicbook/UltimateSpiderMan'' line, where Norman considers Peter Parker 'my boy' rather than Harry. Yet, he stops his rampage when the Ultimates bring Harry to confront him.

*** HistoryRepeats itself when Bruce offers to formally adopt Tim Drake sometime after Jack Drake's death in ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis''. He gives Tim the exact same speech he gave to Dick and reassures Tim that he isn't trying to dishonor Jack Drake's memory or replace him as a father. Tim responds with a tearful hug.

* Subverted in the [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom furry comic]], ''Comicbook/AssociatedStudentBodies'', where one of the main characters told the story of his childhood being physically abused by his drunken father so badly that he was driven to drink himself, stealing his father's booze. Eventually, the wolf cub grew up tall and strong enough to fight back effectively enough give his father a furious beating. However, even while he was lying in a pool of blood, his father's only comment was an admiring one, "'Bout time you were a man." For his part, the cub was completely disgusted by this perverse admiration of bloody violence and left his father to enlist in the military as soon he could.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':

--->'''Batman''': ''(to ComicBook/{{Huntress}})'' This is good work... No. This is ''outstanding'' work.

--->'''Batman''': Good work, Huntress.\\
'''ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}''': Rest ''easy'', Huntress. That's his ''highest'' praise.

* In ''ComicBook/DrBlinkSuperheroShrink'', an eight-foot-tall blue-skinned ComicBook/{{Hulk}} {{Expy}} has an emotional breakdown in Dr. Blink's office after tearfully admitting "MY DADDY DIDN'T LOVE ME!"

* In ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' comics:
** ComicBook/LoisLane has something like this going on with her father, Major Sam Lane.
** Deconstructed in ''ComicBook/WhoIsSuperwoman'' and ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 Post-Crisis Supergirl stories]]''. Superwoman commits abhorrent crimes in order to earn her genocidal and xenophobic father's approval. As long as she gets Sam Lane's attention and love, Lucy doesn't care who gets hurt or killed. In contrast, ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} is growing weary and sick of trying to please her mother only to get psychologically abused in return.

* A variation occurs in the ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' story "Her Dark Plastic Roots". When the robot Beautie tries to figure out why she periodically suffers bouts of amnesia, she eventually discovers that she was invented by [[spoiler:the prodigy daughter of the GadgeteerGenius Dr. Gearbox. However, he denounces Beautie because he thinks engineering and mathematics are not proper fields for girls; this causes the daughter to angrily renounce Beautie, ordering her to go away and [[ExactWords "FORGET FOREVER!"]] ]]

* In ComicBook/{{Democracy}}, it's implied with Leander from the way he looks at his father and asks for advice before he sets off to Cardia.

* ''ComicBook/TheFoxHunt'': After his epiphany, which began in the old Beaver Kill church, Shinji begins showing signs of this trope regarding his dad's superheroics. He dons a white version of his dad's costume, dubs himself "The Ghost Fox", and tries to take action against a bank robbery they're present at when his Paul tries being [[InvokedTrope purposefully]] [[BystanderSyndrome passive]]. Worried for his safety, he's met with disdain and disapproval from his Paul, a reaction that causes Shinji to kick his father away before running off.

[[WellDoneSonGuy People seeking parental approval]] in comic books.

* In ''ComicBook/WhiteSand'', for all of Kenton's RebelliousSpirit, he admits that his determination to become a Sand Master is mostly caused by his desire to live up to his father's expectations, to the point that after Praxton's death, [[spoiler:Kenton loses his ability to Master for a while.]]

* ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyGenerations'': Grackle and Dyre, daughters of the [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends generation 1 witches]], start off as this. Despite being treated cruelly by their mothers and repeatedly mocked for their supposed ineptitude, they still try to appease them and earn their respect, and try to get revenge on the ponies to prove themselves. [[spoiler:In the climax, however, Grackle finally realizes that not only their mothers simply do not care about them, but their approval isn't really of any worth to begin with. She vows to never use her magic to hurt others again and ends up befriending ponies, who have shown her much more kindness and understanding that her and Dyre's mothers ever did.]]

* ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIDW'', Krang sought the approval of his father Emperor Quanin until he finally Took a Level in Badass.

** Being the emotionally reclusive obsessive vigilante that he is, Batman is generally shown as not showing gratitude, approval, or any emotion towards his adoptive sons (i.e., the Robins), at least for anything short of saving his life. However, they've known him so long that they've can tell when a small nod and an urge to get back to work really means "I'm proud of you." And it often does (how touching).

** Soon after the introduction of Damian Wayne, [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim Drake]] had been feeling somewhat overshadowed, leading him to go out solo in search of information on a recent case -- after getting into trouble, Batman bails him out, and immediately tells him "You have ''nothing'' to prove to me."

** In ''ComicBook/SupermanSecretOrigin'', ComicBook/JimmyOlsen laments that his family will never approve of him, and they didn't expect much of him when he left for Metropolis.

*** History repeats itself when Bruce offers to formally adopt Tim Drake sometime after Jack Drake's death in ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis''. He gives Tim the exact same speech he gave to Dick and reassures Tim that he isn't trying to dishonor Jack Drake's memory or replace him as a father. Tim responds with a tearful hug.

* Ajak from ''ComicBook/TheEternals'' used to be the only Eternal who could directly communicate with the Golden Celestial. Ajak took this as a sign of favoritism and did all he could to learn about the Celestials. After the series had a reboot, it was revealed that Makkari was the Celestial's favorite. Ajak did not take the news well.
** Ajak was made to talk to the Celestials whenever they show up, it's just ''this'' one isn't like the others and likes Makkari (and ComicBook/IronMan) better.

* Subverted in the [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom furry comic]], ''Comicbook/AssociatedStudentBodies'', where one of the main characters told the story of his childhood being physically abused by his drunken father so badly that he was driven to drink himself, stealing his father's booze. Eventually, the wolf cub grew up tall and strong enough to fight back effectively enough give his father a furious beating. However, even while he was lying in a pool of blood, his father's only comment was an admiring one, "'Bout time you were a man." For his part, the cub was completely disgusted by this perverse admiration of bloody violence and left his father to enlist in the military as soon he could.
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** Harry Osborn looks to his father this way, even more so in the ''Comicbook/UltimateSpiderMan'' line, where Norman considers Peter Parker 'my boy' rather than Harry. Yet, he stops his rampage when the Ultimates bring Harry to confront him.
** A more lighthearted Spider-Man example is Eugene Patilio, aka the Frog-Man. The reason for his costumed identity is not only because he wants his dad to be proud of him, but because his dad used to be a small-time costumed criminal called the Leap-Frog, and he wants to do good deeds with the old equipment to redeem his father. Problem is, [[SuperZeroes he's not very good at it.]]
** ComicBook/SpiderGirl wants her father Peter Parker to be proud of her. That said, after some initial (very justified) reluctance to seeing his daughter taking on the role of superhero, he IS very proud of her.

* Kalibak ''lives'' for the approval of his father {{ComicBook/Darkseid}}. Darkseid repays Kalibak's devotion by constantly snubbing him in favor of Orion and giving Kalibak the Omega treatment whenever he fails to meet Darkseid's impossible standards -- or just for the sheer hell of it. Darkseid's affection is limited to reviving Kalibak in order to give him another chance to prove himself [[spoiler:and that's likely only because Kalibak's late mother Suli was the only person Darkseid ever truly loved.]]
** Darkseid's other sons don't share Kalibak's desire for approval. Orion ''loathes'' his father and is a sworn enemy of Darkseid and Apokolips. [[TheUnfavorite Grayven]] constantly tries to escape his father's shadow one way or another -- no easy task considering Grayven is a pale imitation of Darkseid in every possible way (a weaker variant of Darkseid's EyeBeams, same skin tone, similar physique...).
* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'', Gen. Armand D'Coolette's pride in his son, Antoine, wasn't quite obvious to the latter until the former was on his deathbed in issue #168.
* ''ComicBook/AllFallDown'' has IQ Squared and his father, IQ. [[spoiler: He gets his dad's respect in the end, but for something he didn't actually do.]]
* Pops up on occasion in both ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules'' and ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'', with the eponymous heroes having similar troubles in pleasing their fathers, Zeus and Odin. Neither are particularly driven to distraction by it but it can be pretty irksome when you're one of the greatest warriors to have ever lived (a distinction that gets a lot more mileage in Marvel than it does in real life) and the best they can get out the old man is, "Is that the best you can do?"
** Ironically, this is the same for their arch-enemies ([[CainAndAbel and brothers]]) Ares and Loki respectfully. One of the key issues each villain has with the heroes is being TheUnfavorite and seeking to earn their father's approval. Attempts to destroy their fathers are often a result of this as well: "Love me or die?" Making it worse in the case of Loki is that Odin does ([[DependingOnTheWriter usually]]) actually love all his kids... he's just really, really, '''really''' bad [[CannotSpitItOut at showing it]]. At least one evil-future version of Loki threw a screaming fit seeing Odin say how proud he was of Loki and Thor.
--->'''King Loki:''' Damn you, old man! Damn your one eye! '''''YOU NEVER SAID THAT TO ME!'''''
* ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} to some extent with Xavier. In most versions and for a large part of his publication, Scott was motivated by a desire to impress his surrogate father. In fact, a large part of the reason he shifted so much in personality following Jean's (second) death was from him realizing how terrible a father Xavier truly was to him, and then experiencing first hand ''why'' he was like that.
* A ''stunningly'' dark subversion in Garth Ennis' ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'' series. Jesse Custer breaks the back of the man who shot his father in front of his eyes, then later killed his mother [[spoiler: (or so he thought)]] and generally acted like a world-class sociopath... all the while teaching Jesse to ride, shoot, fight and fix engines. What are Jody's last words to him? "Prouda' you, boy..." Custer reacts by snarling out "DIE!" and strangling whatever life is left in him.
* A variation occurs in the ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' story "Her Dark Plastic Roots". When the robot Beautie tries to figure out why she periodically suffers bouts of amnesia, she eventually discovers that she was invented by [[spoiler:the prodigy daughter of the GadgeteerGenius Dr. Gearbox. However, he denounces Beautie because he thinks engineering and mathematics are not proper fields for girls; this causes the daughter to angrily renounce Beautie, ordering her to go away and [[ExactWords "FORGET FOREVER!"]] ]]

* ''ComicBook/StarTrekEarlyVoyages'': In "The Fallen, Part One", it is readily apparent that Captain Pike and his hard-nosed father Admiral Josh Pike have a distant relationship. When Pike returns home to Mojave to visit his father during the ''Enterprise'''s layover at Earth, Admiral Pike is curt and unwelcoming. He says that there can only be two reasons why his son is visiting: either there is something that his doctors are not telling him or he wants something. He then asks him which one it is. Captain Pike is hurt at his father's attitude, especially since the visit was motivated by Commander Kaaj luring him into a trap with a ForgedMessage saying that the admiral was on his deathbed (as seen in "The Flat, Gold Forever"). In "The Fallen, Part Two", Captain Pike admits to Number One that he is afraid that his father will die alone while the ''Enterprise'' is on a mission.
* ''ComicBook/{{Maus}}'' is a harsh and unsentimental look at the trope, made even more tragic by being a work of non-fiction. Art states outright that he feels he has spent his entire life trying to win his father Vladek's approval from his father's idealized memories and fantasies of his brother Richieu, who died in the Holocaust. [[spoiler: With his dying breath, Vladek refers to Art as "Richieu", indicating that all his fears about his father's affection may very well have been spot on.]]
* ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIDW'', Krang sought the approval of his father Emperor Quanin until he finally Took a Level in Badass.
* ''ComicBook/TheFoxHunt'': After his epiphany, which began in the old Beaver Kill church, Shinji begins showing signs of this trope regarding his dad's superheroics. He dons a white version of his dad's costume, dubs himself "The Ghost Fox", and tries to take action against a bank robbery they're present at when his Paul tries being [[InvokedTrope purposefully]] [[BystanderSyndrome passive]]. Worried for his safety, he's met with disdain and disapproval from his Paul, a reaction that causes Shinji to kick his father away before running off.
** In a bit of an inversion, it's noted that Paul himself feels he has failed and been essentially "betrayed" by Shinji upon first witnessing The Ghost Fox's debut, since by this time, he's long since felt being a vigilante wasn't a good thing to aspire to. In fact, in his utter shock, he wonders where Shinji could have gotten "such a stupid idea" in the first place.
--->'''Shinji:''' "Everything I am, ''you'' made me."\\
'''Paul:''' "Then how do I ''unmake'' you?!"
* ''ComicBook/Rocket2017:'' Castor Gnawbarque III is driven by two things: Greed and the desire to win his dead father's approval. And Castor Gnawbarque II was not a CorruptCorporateExecutive, but a "hardworking beaver of the old school", who wouldn't approve of his son's ways, so there wouldn't have been much chance of that.

* In ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'', Gen. Armand D'Coolette's pride in his son, Antoine, wasn't quite obvious to the latter until the former was on his deathbed in issue #168.

* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehog'', Gen. Armand D'Coolette's pride in his son, Antoine, wasn't quite obvious to the latter until the former was [[TearJerker on his deathbed]] in issue #168.

** Ironically, this is the same for their arch-enemies ([[CainAndAbel and brothers]]) Ares and Loki respectfully. One of the key issues each villain has with the heroes is being TheUnfavorite and seeking to earn their father's approval. Attempts to destroy their fathers are often a result of this as well: "Love me or die?"

** Harry Osborn of looks to his father this way, even more so in the ''Comicbook/UltimateSpiderMan'' line, where Norman considers Peter Parker 'my boy' rather than Harry. Yet, he stops his rampage when the Ultimates bring Harry to confront him.

** ComicBook/SpiderGirl wants her father Peter PArker to be proud of her. That said, after some initial (very justified) reluctance to seeing his daughter taking on the role of superhero, he IS very proud of her.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'', being the emotionally reclusive obsessive vigilante that he is, is generally shown as not showing gratitude, approval, or any emotion towards his adoptive sons (i.e., the Robins), at least for anything short of saving his life. However, they've known him so long that they've can tell when a small nod and an urge to get back to work really means "I'm proud of you." And it often does (how touching).

** There were a lot of times Batman refused to accept [[BlackSheep Spoiler]], but there were a few instances that he did. [[http://i421.photobucket.com/albums/pp296/ScottyQuick/GothamKnights7.jpg "Don't apologize and don't turn it off. I ... don't mind the company."]]

*** He sometimes asks Alfred if his father would be proud or ashamed of him... and sometimes he asks Alfred if ''he'' is proud or ashamed of him. Alfred almost always responds that both of them are proud of him, sometimes even if he never asked. Alfred, after all, has always seen Bruce as a son, just as Bruce has always seen Alfred as a second father.
*** FridgeBrilliance kicks in when you realize Bruce was raised by Alfred for a substantial chunk of his life, and between not ''technically'' being Bruce's father and [[StiffUpperLip the way his personality is wired]], Alfred was often reserved and restrained with Bruce as well. That might contribute to why Bruce acts the same way to his own adoptive kids.

* Comicbook/{{Deathstroke}} is basically Batman's EvilCounterpart in this regard. He comes across as distant and verbally abusive towards his three children, but in reality, he loves them a great deal and secretly harbors immense guilt over his inability to be the dad they needed. His buddy Wintergreen suggested that this is because while Slade is capable of ''feeling'' emotions like love, he's so screwed up in the head that he can't actually ''express'' them like a rational human being.

* In [[ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel Marvel's]] (and now [[ComicBook/GIJoeDevilsDue Devil's Due's]]) Franchise/GIJoe continuity, Storm Shadow felt unwanted and underappreciated after his uncles praised Snake-Eyes's abilities above even his own. However, in a subversion, an assassin uses this resentment, which is by that point out in the open, to frame Storm Shadow for killing his uncle -- Storm Shadow himself would never have ''considered'' such a thing.

* In Franchise/{{Superman}} comics, ComicBook/LoisLane has something like this going on with her father, Major Sam Lane. Her sister Lucy appears to have it even worse in recent appearances.

* ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl 2005}}'': {{Deconstruction}}. Superwoman commits abhorrent crimes in order to earn her genocidal and xenophobic father's approval. As long as she gets Sam Lane's attention and love, Lucy doesn't care who gets hurt or killed.

* Harry Osborn of ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' looks to his father this way, even more so in the ''Comicbook/UltimateSpiderMan'' line, where Norman considers Peter Parker 'my boy' rather than Harry. Yet, he stops his rampage when the Ultimates bring Harry to confront him.
* A more lighthearted Spider-Man example is Eugene Patilio, aka the Frog-Man. The reason for his costumed identity is not only because he wants his dad to be proud of him, but because his dad used to be a small-time costumed criminal called the Leap-Frog, and he wants to do good deeds with the old equipment to redeem his father. Problem is, [[SuperZeroes he's not very good at it.]]
* ComicBook/UltimateMarvel

* ComicBook/SpiderGirl wants her [[ComicBook/SpiderMan father]] to be proud of her. That said, after some initial (very justified) reluctance to seeing his daughter taking on the role of superhero, he IS very proud of her.