Line #56 Main/BondingOverMissingParents


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4	[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/SpiderMan https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bondingparents_1.png]]]]
5
6	->'''Frank:''' I never like it when people tell me, "Sorry about your mom."\
7	'''Leo:''' It never feels genuine.\
8	'''Frank:''' But I'm sorry about your mom.\
9	'''Leo:''' Thanks.
10	-->-- ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'', "The Mark of Athena"
11
12	Alice has just met Bob, and although the two of them come from very different backgrounds, they have one very important character trait in [[CommonalityConnection common]]: both of them have missing parents. It doesn't matter what the circumstances (although the circumstances might be very similar if only for plot convenience); one might have a MissingMom and the other a DisappearedDad, or maybe both of them have parents who were killed due to war violence, or maybe one or both of them never even knew their parents. Whatever the circumstances, this link between them is key to their relationship together.
13
14	Often, the "bonding" part of this trope is done in a scene designed to stir up some emotion, with the two characters alone together, maybe sitting on a hillside or something, and something in the conversation leads them to talk about their parents.
15
16	Variations of this can cover any missing relative or anyone who is sufficiently close enough to a character that they consider each other family. A relatively common twist on this trope is a [[TheReveal revelation]] that the two characters are missing the same exact person. (e.g., [[Franchise/StarWars Luke and Leia]] [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi learning that they are brother and sister]].)
17
18	A SubTrope of CommonalityConnection.
19
20	!!'''As a {{Death Trope\|s}}, all Spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.'''
21	----
22	!!Examples:
23
24	[[foldercontrol]]
25
26	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
27	* ''Anime/BloodCTheLastDark'': Saya and Mana became close due to their lost dads. Though in Saya's case, her "father" is not related to her by blood but by the same species.
28	* In the ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'' manga, [[VitriolicBestBuds Kanji and Ushiro]] got to know each other after encountering each other while visiting their mothers' graves. [[spoiler:Ushiro's biological mother, however, wasn't actually dead at the time]].
29	* ''Manga/ChainsawMan'': When they're assign a team to join the Devil Hunting club, Asa and Yuko make friends while mentioning both their parents were killed by devils. Their glib tone is played for BlackComedy, especially Yuko's excitement over seeking revenge together, the implication being devils orphans ''[[CrapsackWorld so]]'' many children it's barely notable.
30	* In ''Manga/TheDemonGirlNextDoor'', the revelation that MagicalGirl Momo Chiyoda's adoptive big sister who raised her also saved the titular demon girl Yuko Yoshida's life, yet also sealed away Yuko's father and vanished soon after that, becomes the thread that binds them together as true friends. Finding what happened to their mutual savior brings them even closer together, to be practically like sisters.
31	* In ''Anime/DragonballZ'', this is how Gohan and Videl get to know each other personally, as opposed to just being crime-fighting martial artists.
32	* It's revealed in ''Manga/{{Kagetora}}'' that the titular character and Kosuke both lost their mothers and feel a bond between each other because of it.
33	* While all the main characters of ''Manga/TheKurosagiCorpseDeliveryService'' have lost their parents at a young age, Yata and Makino gets some ShipTease moments after revealing that both their families died from suicide.
34	* ''Anime/TheLegendOfSnowWhite'': Besides their shared love of nature and fun, Snow White and Prince Richard also bond over the fact that they both lost their mothers as children.
35	* In the ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'' supplementary manga, Teana starts showing much more understanding and care (in [[{{Tsundere}} her own way]]) for Subaru after learning about the death of Subaru's mother in the line of duty, since she herself lost [[PromotionToParent her surrogate-parent brother]] in a similar fashion, in addition to her parents, who died earlier.
36	* In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', Negi and Asuna smooth out some initial conflict by bonding over their mutual parentlessness.
37	* A one-sided version in ''Manga/OnePiece''. In Usopp's introductory arc, Usopp, whose father had left his family to become a pirate and whose mother died of illness sometime afterward, befriends Kaya to help her get over the recent death of both of her parents, having first-hand experience of what she was going through. However, the usage of this trope isn't brought up until the arc is over and Usopp has left the island both of them were living on, and not by Usopp himself, but by Kaya's butler, who had learned Usopp's back story from the other villagers and figured it out.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Comic Books]]
41	* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
42	** Batman and the first two ComicBook/{{Robin}}s bonded over their parents being violently killed in front of them.
43	** He also bonded with Franchise/GreenLantern Hal Jordan the same way; for all the different ways they're at odds with each other, they're still boys who lost their fathers early on. There's even some symmetry in how their fathers died and what they did about it: Bruce's father was killed by a criminal, so Bruce fights crime. Hal's father died in a plane crash, so Hal became a test pilot (who also fights crime, but the test pilot thing is more integral to his personality).
44	* ''ComicBook/{{Grandville}}'': One of the first things that allows Billie to warm up to [=LeBrock=] is him revealing his father died by fire during the French independence fights. Since both of Billie's parents died in a British separatist bombing, it allows to sink in for her that despite their opposing nations, they both know loss and have to live with it.
45	* In ''ComicBook/LockeAndKey'', Kinsey and Jamal share stories about their respective dads on more than one occasion.
46	* Implied in one ''Franchise/StarWars'' comic starring Boba Fett. Boba's latest target tries to throw him off by pointing him in the direction of a possible Jedi in hiding. Boba tracks the man down and blows up his house, but discovers that the man is no Jedi. He is merely the son of a Jedi who died in the battle of Geneosis (the same battle in which Boba's father Jango lost his life) and was left with nothing but his father's lightsaber as a keepsake. The man starts to cry as he states that he had to grow up without a father, remarking that he doubts Boba would be able to understand. As Boba recalls the moment he held Jango's severed head as a child, the man's own son arrives on the scene. He asks Boba if he's going to kill them both. In the next scene, Boba tracks down and finishes off his original target.
47	* In ''ComicBook/StrangeAdventures2020'', while Michael "ComicBook/MisterTerrific" Holt is investigating ComicBook/AdamStrange's story of what happened during the Rann/Pykkt war, he gets repeatedly challenged by Adam's wife, Alanna. However, the two do end up slowly becoming acquainted after discussing their lost family: Michael having lost his wife and daughter, Alanna also having lost her and Adam's daughter, Aleea, during the war. This dynamic ends up carrying to the end of the series when it's revealed that Aleea is actually alive as part of Adam's scheme to [[FakingTheDead fake her death to stave off the war]] -- Alanna will have to deal with the consequences of [[EtTuBrute Adam's actions behind their back]], yet she finds beauty in the straightforward, honest nature of Michael recovering from his tragedy.
48	* In the original Pre-Crisis comics, Franchise/{{Superman}} and ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} bonded over their lost parents as soon as they met.
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Fan Works]]
52	* ''Fanfic/TheArianaBlackSeries'': Ariana and [[SatelliteLoveInterest Neville]] first get together when she's depressed about her [[MissingMom dead mother]]/[[DisappearedDad absentee father]] and he tells her about his parents' [[DrivenToMadness mental health issues]].
53	* ''Fanfic/TheDragonAndTheButterfly'': A variant; Hiccup and Mirabel initially bond over the two of them being the BlackSheep of their respective families. Because of [[InSpiteOfANail the events of Mirabel's film happening over the course of the fic]], her family situation gets better. [[spoiler:Halfway through the fic, so does Hiccup's]].
54	%%* ''Fanfic/EmpathTheLuckiestSmurf'': It's explained as the reason that Papa Smurf is the sole parent figure of a hundred Smurfs.%%What is?
55	* ''Fanfic/FlyFree'': Robin helps a lot of the [[Manga/{{Naruto}} messed up kids in Konoha]] by sharing parts of her past or things she's encountered. In Sasuke's case, it was this paired with their over-arching standing of being the {{Sole Survivor}}s of their respective homes (the Uchiha for Sasuke and Ohara for Robin).
56	* ''Fanfic/TheKingNobodyWanted'': Stannis and Cersei have a moment of empathy with one another when discussing how religion didn't offer them adequate answers for the sudden deaths of their parents (Cersei's mother, Stannis's mother and father).
57	* If a ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' fic features (or is focused on) the Shinji/Asuka pairing, this is inevitable:
58	** Shinji and Asuka in ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'', which helps solidify their RelationshipUpgrade. They started bonding when Shinji mentioned that his father abandoned him right after his mother's death... and Asuka muttered that the same thing happened to her.
59	** In ''Fanfic/GhostsOfEvangelion'', Shinji and Asuka often talk about their mothers and their motivations. Their talks help them to get closer.
60	** In ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'', after challenging Asuka to a duel and winning, Shinji demanded that she told him why she was always so hurt and angry. Asuka told him about her mother's death -which reminded Shinji of his own mother's death-, and he told her that he was an orphan, too. Their relationship got better since that point on, and they eventually got together.
61	** In the seventh chapter of ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'', Shinji and Asuka do this. Shinji told her that his father abandoned him after his mother’s death and then he asked her what her parents were like. She replied that they were dead, and they talked about how they lost their respective parents.
62	** During the AfterTheEnd episodes of ''Fanfic/TheSecondTry'', Shinji and Asuka's relationship strengthened -among other things- because they opened up to each other and talked about their respective mothers' loss.
63	** In chapter 4 of ''Manga/Evangelion303'', Shinji talks to Asuka about his parent issues: he tells her how his mother died when he was a little child, his father foisted him on a caretaker alleging that he was protecting him, and he doesn't get along well with his father's girlfriend. After hearing his history, Asuka reflects that [[NotSoDifferentRemark they're not that different after all]].
64	** In ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionGenocide'':
65	*** In chapter 8, Shinji and Asuka talk about their respective mothers' demises and how they feel about their loss, and as a result of it, their relationship improves.
66	*** Asuka didn't like [[spoiler:Keiko]] and she thought that that girl shouldn't be a pilot. In chapter 9, [[spoiler:Keiko]] reveals that she lost her mother and explains how she was affected by it, leading Asuka to, in spite of herself, feel pity for her.
67	** ''Fanfic/LastChildOfKrypton'': Asuka and Shinji do this when they start living together, and they talk each other about their missing mothers.
68	** ''Fanfic/OnceMoreWithFeeling'': After defeating Gaghiel, Asuka asks Shinji about his mother. He answers that she’s dead, and Asuka feels guilty and asks how she died. When Shinji tells her the story, she realizes that she empathizes with him.
69	--->Asuka took a long, deep breath as he leapt up, dashing away the flood of emotions that Shinji's effortless penetration of the barriers she had erected had brought up. His story of how he had lost his mother was so similar, the skeptical, College educated part of her mind immediacy denied the possibility of a pure coincidence, but she simply didn't know what to think... except that perhaps Shinji Ikari might not be the stuck up, show off jerk she had thought he was...
70	** ''Fanfic/TheChildOfLove'': When Misato told Shinji how Asuka’s mother died, he felt he could understand Asuka better now because he was also an orphan. Later on, Shinji opens up to her and talks about his mother’s death, and Asuka says he’s the only one she can trust because he’s the only one can understand her.
71	--->'''Shinji:''' I saw her crying in her sleep once. Poor Asuka... I understand now how she feels.
72	** In ''Fanfic/ReadTheFinePrintEvangelion'', Shinji and Asuka become pen-pals when they are kids. In his first letter, Shinji mentions he is living with a teacher, causing Asuka to ask what happened to his parents. Their relationship only grows thicker from that point on.
73	* ''Fanfic/PerfectionIsOverrated'': [[Anime/MyHime Mai and Nao]] chance upon each other in the hospital, where Mai visited Takumi and Nao visited her comatose mother; Mai learns about Nao's comatose mother at this point. However, one thing that helps them come to an understanding with each other over time is the contrasts between them -- Mai has taken care of Takumi since her parents' deaths while Nao has no one of the sort, and Nao's mother could one day awaken from her coma -- realizing the difference in their circumstances helps them understand the other and see their own past decisions in a new light.
74	%%* ''Fanfic/OurTrueColors'': This is what cements the bond between Applejack and [[spoiler: Pinkie Pie]].%%What does?
75	* ''Fanfic/TheSpectacularSpiderManLostInGotham'': When he's being officially questioned by the Bats, Spider-Man admits that he's from another dimension. When Spoiler [[InnocentlyInsensitive innocently says that his parents must be worried]], Spider-Man says that he doesn't have parents. Spoiler is horrified by what she's said while the rest of the family (especially Batman, Nightwing, Red Hood, and Signal) look sympathetic.
76	* In the ''Fanfic/AftermathOfTheGames'' universe, this was how Sci-Twi and Dog Spike bonded during their backstories; Spike was the SoleSurvivor of a horrible case of rabies that wiped out his family. He went into such a deep depression that none of the humans would consider him as a pet because he wasn't as energetic as the other dogs. Around the same time, the 13-year-old Sci-Twi's parents were killed by a DrunkDriver, so [[PromotionToParent Shining Armor and Cadance]] decided to get her a pet in order to help ease her grief. When Sci-Twi heard what happened to Spike's family, she chose to adopt him, and in the present day they are completely inseparable.
77	* As in canon, ''Fanfic/LostInCamelot'' sees Arthur and Merlin (''Series/Merlin2008'') have a bonding moment when they talk about how Arthur never knew his mother or Merlin his father. Prior to that scene, Merlin had shared a similar moment with his lover Bo (''Series/LostGirl'') where the two acknowledge that neither of them know their fathers (although in Bo's case, she's glad of that ignorance given that her father was almost certainly her mother's rapist). When Gwen learns more about the circumstances of Arthur's encounter with Morgause and how she revealed a secret involving the death of Arthur's mother, she reflects that another thing she and Arthur have always shared is the gaping hole left in their lives by the absence of their own mothers.
78	* In ''The Form of Survival'', Yiereth bonds with both Kanan (her lineage-nephew) and Barriss over their lost Masters.
79	* This is a point that helps to forge some of the friendships between students at ''Fanfic/SkyholdAcademyYearbook''. A number of the students, such as [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition Cole]] and Jim, are orphans, and their backgrounds are directly related to how they came to the school.
80	* In ''Fanfic/TheFlashSentryChronicles'': When Lightning Blitz helps Big Mac with his Apple bucking, the two slowly start to bond when Big Mac tells Lightning that his parents are both dead, and Lightning says he knows how that feels since he lost his mom at about the same age.
81	* In ''Fanfic/ATriangleInTheStars'', Steven and Bill touch upon the fact that their parents, one or both, are no longer with them.
82	* In ''Fanfic/KaraOfRokyn'''s backstory, [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Kal]] and [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]] bonded over the fact that both of them lost their parents at a very young age.
83	* In ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Aska}}'', Nico and Ayra bond over losing a sibling.
84	* In ''Fanfic/GoldenThreadsTieUs'', [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening neither Severa nor Lucina]] feel comfortable talking about their deceased parents, but the fact of being war orphans helps them grow closer to each other.
85	-->"I learned from Father," Lucina admitted, and her expression was fond for an instant. "When he taught me, though, it was so I could lead the Shepherds in the future and do duties such as defending innocents from bandits and robbers. I don't think...this is what he was expecting me to use my swordsmanship for." She paused and frowned at nothing in particular.\
86	"Ah," was all Severa could think to say. None of them usually talked about their parents, and that went double for Lucina. Lucina's recollections felt too personal for Severa to feel completely at ease, but for some reason, she didn't feel as uncomfortable as she would have expected.\
87	That was likely because Lucina and her had begun to grow closer, recently. Small things, like Lucina seeking her out for a meal, or to sit with under the pretense of a chat, but, more often than not, ended up with them sitting side by side without any exchange of words. Severa couldn't ever say she was similar to Lucina, but compared to their allies...she might be one of the few people who could begin to understand her.
88	* In ''Fanfic/FreedomsLimits'', Madavi and Smador bond over this a little bit. During their early conversations, Madavi reveals her mother is long dead while Smador was taken from his mother and rarely sees her. Neither of them ever knew their fathers, either.
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
92	* In ''WesternAnimation/AstroBoy'', all of the kids Astro meets on the surface are orphans, taken in by [[TheFagin Hamegg]]. But he makes a special connection with Cora after learning that she too had a close relationship with her parents in Metro City before being separated from them.
93	* This is a major CommonalityConnection between the five main characters of ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' - all of them have lost their parents, in one sense or another, and their only real hope of survival (and possibly finding their remaining family members) is to reach the Great Valley.
94	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheGoodDinosaur'', Arlo and Spot begin to bond when Arlo talks Spot about his family. [[spoiler:Spot then reveals he did have a family, but they died. Just like him, Arlo lost his father recently.]]
95	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfKells'', this is what gets [[TheFairFolk Aisling]] to warm up to Brendan after she demands that he leave her forest. Brendan mentions that he doesn't have a family, and Aisling admits that she doesn't have one either.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
99	* ''Film/FallingForChristmas'': Jake is a widower, and his daughter Avy confesses to Sierra that she misses her mother deeply. Sierra is amnesiac but this starts to trigger memories of her own dead mom, and she is able to bond with the girl as a result.
100	* ''Film/{{Footloose}}'' has a minor variation; Ren has a DisappearedDad, and Ariel has a dead brother. They bond over this while [[ItMakesSenseInContext screaming at a train]]. Ren and Reverend Moore (Ariel's father) also later have this scene together for a moment to establish that they aren't that different.
101	* ''Film/{{Jumanji}}'': Alan Parrish talks with Judy and Peter about their dead parents after learning his own parents have died.
102	* In ''Film/TheParentTrap1961'' and ''Film/TheParentTrap1998'', bonding over their respective missing parents (one missing mom and one disappeared dad) leads to TheReveal that the two girls are SeparatedAtBirth sisters.
103	* In ''Film/TheMightyDucks'', Coach Bombay and Charlie have a scene in which they talk about growing up without their fathers. (Charlie's mom divorced, while Bombay's father died.)
104	* While it's never explicitly spelled out, the {{Adaptation Expansion}} in ''Film/BeautyAndTheBeast2017'' creates a sense of this between Belle and the Beast. The major turning point in Belle's feelings for the Beast comes not only because he saves her life, but because she learns from Mrs. Potts that he [[UsedToBeASweetKid was a sweet, innocent child]] until he lost his mother at a young age, like she did (and that his cruel father then raised him to be a {{Royal Brat}}, in sharp contrast to [[GoodParents Maurice]]). Later, the Beast uses a magic book left by the Enchantress to fulfill Belle's lifelong wish of seeing her parents' old home and helps her finally learn how her mother died, which serves as another invaluable step forward in their budding romance.
105	* ''Film/Cinderella2015'' [[AdaptationExpansion enhances]] Cinderella and Prince Kit's relationship with some of this. [[spoiler: The King is mortally ill in this version, and at the ball, the long-orphaned Ella shares a moment of sympathy with the prince over this fact.]] In a deleted scene, they also talk about their deceased mothers together, and the film's final scene shows the royal newlyweds gazing together at portraits of their parents, [[spoiler: now all four dead,]] and Ella remarking that they would have loved each other before they emerge onto the palace balcony to greet their people.
106	* This seems to be a mainstay of Disney's live-action remakes: In ''Film/Dumbo2019'', the titular baby elephant bonds with two [[HumanFocusedAdaptation human children]] whose mother has died, paralleling his separation from his own mother.
107	* An InvokedTrope in ''Film/PointBreak''. Johnny Utah pretends his family died tragically to get close to Tyler Endicott, who is an orphan. She's understandably pissed off when she later discovers he's an undercover FBI agent and realises he made the story up.
108	* ''Film/ToAllTheBoysIveLovedBefore'': Lara Jean and Peter are on opposite sides of the PopularityFoodChain, but grow closer because they connect over their lost parents -- Lara Jean's mother died when she was a kid, and Peter's father walked out on his family.
109	* In ''Film/SuperMarioBros1993'' Luigi and Daisy bond at the restaurant over not knowing their parents, [[spoiler:though Daisy does find her father later]].
110	* In ''Film/{{Rags}}'', One of the first real bonding moments between Charlie and Kadee is when they both open up about having deceased mothers and proceed to joke about having their own "My Mom Died" t-shirts. This makes them go from friendly acquaintances to actual friends.
111	* In ''Film/Joey1997'', Billy and Linda bond over the deaths of his father when he was five, and her mother a year earlier.
112	* In ''Film/AreWeThereYet'', when Lindsey and Kevin see their father through a window that he's not sick, and with a woman and infant implied to be his new wife and child, they realize that their father was lying so he does not have to see them. When Nick finds out, he reveals how his own father abandoned him while comforting the two. Lindsey and Kevin eventually come to terms with the fact that their father does not want them in his life and learn to accept Nick as their new father figure.
113	* ''Film/TheKnightBeforeChristmas'': Brooke, a modern science teacher, lost both her parents recently - her mother to undisclosed illness and all we know is her father was a cop before he passed away, unclear if this was during retirement or whilst he was still serving. Sir Cole, [[TimeTravelRomance time shifted Knight from 1334 England]] hasn't seen his parents since he was sent away to be a squire in his youth. The two bond over this when Cole accidentally opens a box of Christmas decorations belonging to Brooke's mother and they discuss both their mother's skills at crafting and sewing.
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	[[folder:Literature]]
117	* In one story of ''Literature/{{TKKG}}'', two side characters do this.
118	* In ''Literature/ALittlePrincess'', Sarah calms the tantrum-throwing Lottie by bonding with her over their dead mothers.
119	* The lead characters of ''Literature/LeftBehind: The Kids'' bond together when their parents are either raptured or killed.
120	* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings,'' both Faramir and Éowyn lost their mothers as small children, and then their fathers (or father figures) in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. They bond over this and other things in the Houses of Healing.
121	* Jerin and Ren in ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' both have dead fathers and living mothers and talk a little about it.
122	* ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear: Army of Terror'' has the Arranda kids and Luke Skywalker bonding over all of them being recent orphans.
123	* Leo and Frank in ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus,'' spend most of the third book disliking each other, but eventually bond over the deaths of their mothers.
124	* In ''Literature/{{Leviathan}}'', Prince Alex and Deryn/[[SweetPollyOliver Dylan]] became close when they shared the pain of losing their parent(s).
125	* A variant in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix:'' after the death of [[TheHero Harry]]'s ParentalSubstitute [[spoiler:[[MentorOccupationalHazard Sirius]]]], the only person who is really able to console him is [[CloudCuckooLander Luna]], who tells him about how her mother died. It marks the first time Harry feels sorry for Luna, since before she had come off as kooky at best and annoying at worst.
126	* In ''Literature/{{Seraphina}}'', the title character and her love interest Lucian Kiggs bond over the fact that they both lost their mothers as children: Seraphina's mother [[DeathByChildbirth died in childbirth]], while Kiggs's died in a shipwreck.
127	* ''Literature/TheLastDogs: Journey's End'': In a case of dogs bonding with their lost owners or siblings, Max gets Spots the bluetick coonhound to open up about the wall and how Spots' brother Dots got taken. He appeals to his [[FriendToAllChildren fondness for entertaining children]] by remarking that his owner Emma had wanted to be a conductor when she grew up. This warms the old coonhound's heart, and he becomes more helpful.
128	* In ''Literature/ToAllTheBoysIveLovedBefore'', Lara Jean and Peter bond over the fact they have lost parents. Lara Jean's mother died and Peter's father left his family.
129	[[/folder]]
130
131	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
132	* One of the (many, many) bonds Agents Mulder and Scully share in ''Series/TheXFiles'' is that both lose their respective fathers early in the series. Scully's father dies unexpectedly of a heart attack in season 1. Mulder's father is murdered by the conspiracy in season 2.
133	* In ''Series/{{Bones}}'', one of the first times Brennan is shown sympathizing with another human being is when she reveals to a foster kid (whose foster brother had been killed) that she had been in the foster system too. Eventually [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] as he presumes to make a romantic move on her based on this connection and she immediately shuts him down hard.
134	* ''Series/Merlin2008'':
135	** Merlin and Gwaine become closer over their deceased fathers.
136	** Merlin and Arthur bond. Merlin has a DisappearedDad and Arthur has a MissingMom.
137	* In ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', Parker and Hardison have this during "[[Recap/LeverageS01E06TheStorkJob The Stork Job]]".
138	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
139	** Both Castiel and Dean have fathers who abandoned them at some point in their lives. Of course, Castiel's dad is ''{{God}}''.
140	** In season four, Dean and Anna have a FriendshipMoment when Anna complains about the difficulty in trying to please [[{{God}} an unknowable father]]. Dean says [[WellDoneSonGuy he gets that.]]
141	* In the first season of ''Series/{{Glee}}'', Kurt and Finn bond over Kurt's dead mom and Finn's dead dad, Kurt telling Finn that he sometimes lies down on the floor next to the dresser that still smells of his mom's perfume, and Finn showing Kurt some of his dad's things. Later, Kurt's dad and Finn's mom marry each other.
142	* ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'', George is about to send Max's troublemaking friend Ricky home to his mother, only to find that, much like his own childhood, the mother is an alcoholic and the father abandoned them. Rather than leave Ricky with his mother (who is obviously very drunk), he offers to let him stay over for a few days and winds up arranging for Ernie to be his foster parent.
143	* In ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'', Jerome and Joy managed to go from being sorta-friends, sorta-enemies, to genuinely loving each other, and one of the scenes that helped their relationship along was when they were washing Mara's dog and talking about their parental issues. Jerome casually mentions his father, who'd been in prison the season before, and then it starts the conversation, culminating in Jerome encouraging her to not judge her own father for the mistakes ''he'' made.
144	* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': Alicent Hightower lost her mother some time ago, and her best friend Rhaenyra Targaryen loses hers in the first episode. This strains Rhaenyra's relationship with her father, Viserys. Alicent's ambitious dad Otto sees an opportunity and has his daughter offer words of advice and comfort about missing a mother...to Viserys, not Rhaenyra. Viserys becomes fond of Alicent, and she has become Rhaenyra's new stepmother by the third episode.
145	* Subverted in ''Series/TheVampireDiaries''. Anna tells Elena about her plan to open the tomb containing Katherine so she can free her mother, who was imprisoned there a long time ago. Elena sympathizes with her, but Anna says, "Yeah, I think we'll skip the dead mom bonding so you can start serving a purpose."
146	* Elliot and Angela in ''Series/MrRobot'' first met when his father and her mother died from a toxic leak at the company they worked for.
147	* ''Series/LawAndOrderUK'': DS Matt Devlin uses this to play [[GoodCopBadCop good cop]] with a murder suspect when she describes her father as "[[AbusiveParents a bastard]]". He responds, "Are we related then?", implying that his own father was abusive as well.
148	* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S7E14Mindreacher Mindreacher]]", Dr. Candace Maguire is quickly able to form a strong emotional bond with her patient Judith Wilder as they both lost their mothers when they were young. Candace's mother was sent to a psychiatric institution while Judith's mother died of Parkinson's disease when she was four. Candace even admits that Judith reminds her of herself when she was in her early teens.
149	* In the ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'' episode "[[Recap/BrooklynNineNineS1E09SalsPizza Sals's Pizza]]", there is JurisdictionFriction between the NYPD detectives and the fire department. They argue over who gets to investigate a crime scene of arson. Boone from the fire department warms up to Peralta the cop after he hears why Peralta cares so much for Sal's pizza place. Jake's father was a baseball coach and took the team to eat pizza after every game, but left his family... and one of the worst things about it was that Jake couldn't go with him to Sal's anymore. Turns out Boone's father also left his family.
150	-->'''Boone:''' ''[crying]'' Sorr... I'm sorry. I'm sorry that happened to you. I mean, what kind of dad just... Just leaves his son like that? Look, you're... You're a cop and... And I'm a firefighter, but underneath all of it, we're just two boys whose dads abandoned them. And you and I, we're gonna solve this thing, together. Okay?
151	* ''Series/MotherlandFortSalem'':
152	** Raelle and Scylla are able to understand each others' grief due to Raelle's mom and both of Scylla's parents having died due to the military.
153	** Alder insinuates that Anacostia feels sympathy for Scylla due to them both being orphans.
154	** The Bellweather unit has a ceremony at the start of basic training to honor their fallen relatives.
155	* ''Series/IronFist2017''. After Danny Rand tells Colleen Wing about how his parents died in the plane crash, Colleen tells Danny how her father sent her to live with her grandparents after her mother died.
156	-->'''Danny:''' It doesn't matter how much anyone else cares for you. It's not the same.\
157	'''Colleen:''' Part of me is sorry you understand that.\
158	'''Danny:''' And the rest?\
159	'''Colleen:''' Is glad I found you.
160	* ''Series/{{Community}}'': In "[[Recap/CommunityS2E11AbedsUncontrollableChristmas Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas]]", Abed makes some emotional headway on the train with Annie and Troy. Abed tells them that while his Palestinian dad is a staunch Muslim, his Polish mother loved Christmas and would always come to visit him on the 9th to celebrate it even after the divorce. Annie (who is Jewish) then relates that she's also a child of interfaith divorce, and that she celebrated Christmases with her Episcopalian father before he left.
161	[[/folder]]
162
163	[[folder:Theatre]]
164	* In ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'', Hamilton attempts this with Burr at their first meeting. Burr deflects this by buying Hamilton a drink.
165	[[/folder]]
166
167	[[folder:Video Games]]
168	* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'':
169	** ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'': Miles Edgeworth and Kay Faraday. Both of their fathers were lawyers who were killed in the courthouse when they were about ten years old. This parallel does not go unnoticed by Edgeworth.
170	** ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'' introduces Apollo Justice's best friend, as they got to know each other by sharing their grief over the loss of their mothers (although Apollo didn't lose his, she only went missing). Too bad he's the concerned case's victim.
171	* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'', a scene exclusive to [[AnotherSideAnotherStory Hector Mode]] has Hector and Lyn bonding over their parents' deaths, by illness and bandits respectively.
172	* Niles and Linde's support conversation in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriors'' ends in them vowing to protect each other after they learn that they both lost their respective parents.
173	* ''VideoGame/{{Fractured}}'': The 3rd game features the boy and the girl from the last two games, in where they pursued the ghost of their parent [[spoiler:only to ultimately fail]]. This game has them find each other's ghosts instead, and the ending scene has them sit side-by-side. It's inferred from the narration that they are the "two hopeful souls."
174	* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'', Rean bonds with Fie easily thanks to them not having their real parents around.
175	* The first ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'' game has its fair share of this. Geo and Sonia bond over his missing dad and her dead mother. Geo and Pat have an almost-romance over Geo's missing dad and Pat being an orphan.
176	* A DummiedOut conversation in ''VideoGame/Mother3'' has Kumatora and Duster muse about how none of the three human protagonists have mothers. Kumatora is genuinely an orphan, and Duster's mother seemingly died before the White Ship departed. Likewise Hinawa isn't even confirmed to be Lucas's genetic mother.
177	[[/folder]]
178
179	[[folder:Webcomics]]
180	* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive,'' this is the way [[ChivalrousPervert Tedd]] and [[StrawFeminist Susan]] find [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2003-04-25 a common ground]]. This [[VitriolicBestBuds relationship]] somewhat improves later.
181	[[/folder]]
182
183	[[folder:Web Videos]]
184	* In ''WebVideo/ImAMarvelAndImADC'' an early installment had Superman introduce Spider-Man to Batman because ''Film/SpiderMan3'' had a darker theme to it. Spider-Man and Batman get into an argument when Batman doesn't see the dark aspect of Spidey's origins and character, but quickly settle their differences over their mutual dead relatives.
185	-->'''Batman:''' Your parents, ''and'' your uncle?\
186	'''Spider-Man:''' Yeah...\
187	'''Batman:''' [[ItNeverGetsAnyEasier Never gets any easier, does it?]]\
188	'''Spider-Man:''' No, it doesn't.
189	* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' episode 18 has Vex and Zahra become friends this way after their initial animosity.
190	[[/folder]]
191
192	[[folder:Western Animation]]
193	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': In "Hopping Mall", Anne spends the whole episode looking for a present to give to her mother. At the end of the episode, Sprig wakes up in the middle of the night to find Anne awake and on their hotel room's balcony. He asks her about her mother, leading Anne to admit that she misses her mother more than she was letting on. Her admission leads Sprig to reveal to her ([[TheReveal and the audience]]) that his and Polly's mother passed away when they were very young. He admits that he doesn't know exactly how Anne feels, but he can relate because, even though he never knew his mother, he still finds himself missing her. Anne grabs him in a hug.
194	--> '''Sprig''': You know, I've always wondered... Can you miss someone you never actually knew?
195	* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' loves this trope, usually with regard to Katara and Sokka's mother (who was killed in a [[TheEmpire Fire Nation]] raid of their colony):
196	** Katara and Haru, as Haru's father was taken away from his family by the Fire Nation due to laws against earthbending in his town. This leads Katara to help him and his dad, who is on the same prison rig as Haru is taken to, when he gets arrested for the same reason.
197	** [[ManipulativeBastard Jet]] [[SubvertedTrope attempts to use this]] to manipulate Katara and Sokka into destroying a town occupied by the Fire Nation.
198	** Katara and Zuko, during their LockedInARoom scene in the season 2 finale; when Katara mentions that the Fire Nation took her mother away, Zuko says, "That's something we have in common," and tensions cool for a while, [[SubvertedTrope until]] Zuko's FriendOrIdolDecision between siding with [[TheDragon Azula]] or making a HeelFaceTurn leads him to completely ignore all that bonding and side with Azula.
199	*** As a result, when Zuko sides with the Gaang for good, Katara's the last person to trust him until he helps her find her mother's killer.
200	** Mako and Asami continue the tradition in the SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''.
201	* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'', Zatanna's mother isn't in the picture, and she suddenly loses her father when he sacrifices himself to become the vessel of Doctor Fate, and prevent him from keeping hold of Zatanna. While Robin has been forbidden by Batman to reveal his secret identity (and, with it, the fact that his parents were murdered when he was nine), he's usually the one shown grieving with or comforting her. He had a crush on her already, but the show seems to imply that his empathy was what pushed them towards their kiss in the finale.
202	* An odd example from the 2012 ''WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles\|2012}}'': [[DarkActionGirl Karai]] is giving [[WeirdnessMagnet April]] a CurbStompBattle as April, near the breaking point, begins recounting all the weirdness and trouble she's had, ending with her (previously unmentioned) MissingMom. Something about this causes Karai (who also has no visible mother in her life) to hesitate for just a second, allowing April to knock her down a staircase and escape. But in a later episode, she still tries to kill her.
203	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaijudo}}'': Ray and Allie bond over Ray's DisappearedDad and Allie's MissingMom, thus starting their friendship.
204	* In one episode of the first season of ''WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries'', Rapunzel tries to get Eugene and Cassandra to bond by [[LockedInARoom locking them in a cell together for a day]]. Eventually, the two get into a discussion about Cassandra's father, the Captain of the Royal Guard, and Cassandra reveals that he is her adoptive father and she has never met her real parents. Eugene also reveals that he was an orphan as well, having never met his parents either. Then Eugene tries to invoke this trope to bond with Cassandra, asking her what she did fantasize her parents were, but Cassandra tells him [[TheyreCalledPersonalIssuesForAReason she doesn't want to discuss this with Eugene]]. Eugene feels very offended and accuses Cassandra of defying this trope, but the audience will discover in the third season that Cassandra did this not to deny Eugene of bonding, but because [[spoiler: she is repressing the painful memory of being abandoned by her mother the day she kidnapped a baby Rapunzel.]]
205	* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'':
206	** In the first episode of the series, when Ezra gets mixed up with the ''Ghost'' crew, he befriends Sabine, the crew member most closest to his age. Ezra asks her what happened to her parents, to which she simply answers, "The Empire.", and she asks what happened to his, but is called away to a meeting before he can answer. Later in the episode, Ezra reveals that he doesn't have any parents either. Then later in the season, when Ezra refuses the opportunity to discover the fate of his parents (because his thought process is that if they're dead, then they're gone, but if they're alive, then they never came back for him and/or he could have saved them), Sabine urges him otherwise so he can find closure. Much later in the show, the two switch roles, with Sabine being the one reluctant to [[ProdigalFamily see her estranged family]] and Ezra telling her that she can still make amends with them while he'll never be able to see his parents again.
207	** Kanan touches on this with Ezra in one episode. Ezra is upset with people getting in the way of him finding out more information about his parents, and when Kanan tells him to calm down, Ezra tells him that he doesn't know how it feels. Kanan says that he's right because as a Jedi, he was taken from his parents as a baby. Ezra apologizes and Kanan tells him that it's okay, it's too late for him now, but not for Ezra.
208	* Fry and Leela in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Xmas Story." Fry, a HumanPopsicle who has outlived his entire family, is sorry for himself until he realizes that Leela, who never knew her parents, may have it worse.
209	* ''WesternAnimation/Primal2019'': {{Inverted}}. The thing that bonded Spear (a caveman) and Fang (a tyrannosaur) was that they both lost their families. One day while hunting for food for his family, Spear hears screaming and runs to see his wife and children being eaten alive by a pack of Horned Tyrannosaurs. Then after some time has past, he sees the same Horned Tyrannosaurs attacking Fang and her babies. Spear steps in and teams up with Fang to fight them. When it appears that they have slain all the Horned Tyrannosaurs, Fang's babies come and gently play with Spear's hair. Then the Horned Tyrannosaurus alpha appears and before Spear or Fang can do anything, it eat Fang's babies alive, to their shock and horror. Spear and Fang fight together and kill the alpha. Neither of them are satisfied, having both failed to protect their families. Fang just lays down while Spear sadly walks away. Later, while walking on a beach, Spear sees Fang following him, and after a moment of consideration, Spear accepts Fang, and the two head off into the night as a new family.
210	* Blue Diamond's proper introduction in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' has her crying over the loss of Pink Diamond. Greg (who's helping Steven investigate) introduces himself and tells her he knows how she feels, as he's also lost someone. Blue Diamond is so touched by his empathy, she decides to [[DramaticIrony save him from the Cluster]] by bringing him to the Human Zoo. Of course, if Greg had mentioned that he was mourning Rose Quartz, who happened to be the person who ''shattered'' Pink Diamond, the scene would have gone differently. [[spoiler: And then it turns out that they actually ''were'' mourning the same person.]]
211	* ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019'': Played for laughs in "Climax at Jazzapajizza". King Shark tries to help Bruce through losing his parents, having lost his own recently...after Bruce has caused a ZombieApocalypse in an attempt to bring them back, ''decades after they died''.
212	-->'''King Shark:''' Okay. Now I am judging. It feels like you should be much further along than this. I mean, you're obsessed about the past and missing out on the present and also starting a zombie apocalypse.
213	[[/folder]]

Context Main / BondingOverMissingParents