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10[[quoteright:350:[[WebAnimation/TerribleWritingAdvice https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/intrigue_plots_dead_paremts3_9.png]]]]
11[[caption-width-right:350:Can't let you down when they're six feet under.]]
12
13->''"Parents are only there to cause angst for the hero. If they're loving and supportive they must die. If they're not then they're mean and abusive so the hero must run away bemoaning his fate."''
14-->-- From [[http://eragon-sporkings.wikispaces.com/Everything_Newcomb this]] ''Film/{{Eragon}}'' Sporkings article
15
16[[AdultsAreUseless Parents Are Useless]]. Even if they don't [[ParentalAbandonment leave you]] and/or [[AbusiveParents abuse you]], the likelihood of them actually ever taking time to care for you [[ParentalNeglect is quite low]]. GoodParents are hard to come by. It appears that the only decent parents are the dead ones.
17
18These are the parents that leave the characters behind, not by choice (or it is a choice they had to struggle with, [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou usually for some good reason]]), early on in the story, sometimes even before the story begins. The characters are now [[ConvenientlyAnOrphan all alone with no family]]. They may find a ParentalSubstitute, but they may not always be the [[EvilUncle best]] [[WickedStepmother guardians]].
19
20These often heroic characters will always have fond memories of their parents. That's because these parents did everything right while they were alive. They spent time with their children and taught them invaluable [[AnAesop life lessons]] that they continue to keep even to this day. Even though the parents are gone now, the actions of the parents still affect the character and keep him going.
21
22This is especially commonplace for Superheroes, whose parents or parental figures frequently suffer DeathByOriginStory.
23
24If it turns out that they [[ParentalIssues weren't quite such amazing parents]] as believed by the characters, but still treated as such, then it's NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead. See GoodParents for examples of these who manage to stay alive.
25
26Not a subtrope of ILoveTheDead.
27
28----
29!!Examples:
30[[foldercontrol]]
31
32[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
33* Subverted in ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''. Sys, Guts' adopted mother, was the only one who loved him as a child, having picked him as a baby from underneath his deceased mother's corpse and raising him as her own. (So of course, [[DisposableWoman she's dead from the plague]] [[TimeSkip a few panels later.]]) However, while nurturing, she is also depicted as more than a bit unhinged after a miscarriage shortly before. As for his adopted father [[AbusiveParents Gambino]], [[AvertedTrope well]]...
34* Ciel Phantomhive from ''Manga/BlackButler'''s parents, Rachel and Vincent Phantomhive, died when their mansion was mysteriously set on fire. They were described and remembered by Ciel as loving and devoted parents, though Vincent's moral alignment is left slightly ambiguous.
35* Masaki Kurosaki from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' was a kind-hearted woman who loved her family very much. She left them when her children were very young, risking her life to protect Ichigo from certain death. Her husband Isshin practically worships her memory to this day - a large poster of her is hung in the kitchen of the Kurosaki's house.
36* Nadeshiko Kinomoto from ''Manga/CardCaptorSakura''. She has been dead for seven years at the beginning of the series, but being dead doesn't stop her from watching over and protecting and caring for her family, which includes her husband, her son, and her daughter, the show’s title heroine. She is frequently described by all who knew her as a caring and kind, if somewhat ditzy, person. And, since she was a famous model, there were a lot of photos of her, so her husband puts up a new picture of her every single day, and [[TheMourningAfter never once even]] ''[[TheMourningAfter considers]]'' [[TheMourningAfter dating anyone else or getting remarried]].
37* [[spoiler:Subverted]] in ''Anime/CodeGeass''. [[spoiler:Lelouch practically worshiped his late mother, only to learn that 1) she's not really dead, and 2) she's pretty much identical to his much-despised father, and they both engineered the horrible events of Lelouch and Nunnally's lives in hopes of toughening them up. And they considered those two their favorites.]]
38** Gets worse in the novelizations, which contain a {{Flashback}} scene where [[spoiler:Bismarck sees Marianne interacting with her kids and notices, to his shock, that there's absolutely no love in her face or demeanor - to her they're just objects]].
39* ''Manga/ACruelGodReigns'': Jeremy's dead father seemed like a pretty cool, incredibly sweet guy. Too bad he's dead, or it would have saved Jeremy from his TraumaCongaLine.
40* Tanjiro Kamado’s entire family in ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' was slaughtered overnight, when he was innocently offered to take shelter in a good natured neighbor’s house after a long day of selling charcoal in the day prior; going home Tanjiro finds his mother and five siblings dead, killed by a demon, his sister Nezuko, however, survived and became a demon herself, and so it began Tanjiro’s quest to find a way to turn Nezuko back into a human and protect people from demonic threats along the way; as the series progresses it is consistently shown Tanjiro had a very loving family, which shaped his whole character as a very gentle and determined person.
41* ''Manga/FoodWars'': The final arc reveals that Soma takes ''a lot'' after his late mother Tamako. She was a LethalChef despite being the daughter of a diner's owner, yet still had a lot of fun cooking no matter how much she failed, and she was an easygoing and rather friendly person whom everyone liked, and she was very loved by her husband and son. In fact, Soma learned to cook his first dish (fried rice) from her.
42* ''Manga/FruitsBasket'':
43** Kyoko Honda, Tohru's mother, was an amazing person who imparted her wisdom and desire to help both others and her daughter Tohru, causing her memory to live on with her. She dies in a car accident shortly before the series begins.
44** Tohru's dad, Katsuya. Apparently he was such an understanding sort that he fell in love with Kyoko while she was still a delinquent, got her to see that she could be better than everyone thought, and married her despite objections from his family. In fact, a good deal of the wisdom and attitude that Tohru's mother imparted to her comes from the faith she learned from Katsuya. [[spoiler:Although Tohru herself suggests that she felt some resentment toward her father for her mother's suicidal behavior after he died.]]
45** Kyo's mother is more or less an exception. She [[MyBelovedSmother basically kept him locked up in the house all day]], and Kyo suspects she was ashamed of him. This doesn't stop his biological father from holding [[spoiler:her suicide]] against him. Kyo himself is more or less HappilyAdopted.
46*** Kyo's mother is a unique issue because it was basically ''because'' of his father's emotional and verbal abuse towards his mother that she mistreated him and then [[spoiler:committed suicide]].
47* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
48** Trisha was portrayed as being a wonderful, loving mother; so much so that her children decide they're going to [[BackFromTheDead bring her back to life]]. [[CameBackWrong Big mistake.]] Its particularly noteworthy when she's compared to Ed and Al's father, [[DisappearedDad Hoenheim]], who's still alive but [[ParentalAbandonment not a particularly great parent]], [[ParentsAsPeople well-meaning though he may be]].
49** Not to mention Winry's parents, [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished killed by an Ishvalan refugee they were nursing back to health]], or in the [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003 2003 anime]] [[spoiler:Roy Mustang (though he was told to and ''deeply'' traumatized afterwards)]].
50* ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'':
51** Sango and Kohaku always have fond memories of their strict but loving father, who during his first appearance Kohaku is forced to kill under MindControl.
52** Inuyasha's dead mother did her best for her [[HalfHumanHybrid half-breed]] son and loved him dearly, so that Inuyasha did not hate humans entirely.
53* ''Anime/KazeNoShojoEmily'':
54** Emily's mother died when she was 4 from an illness, and her father died when she was 11 after he contracted tuberculosis. Emily now lives with her aunt Elizabeth, who loves to verbally demean her.
55** Ilse's mother, Beatrice Mitchell, died when travelling to repay a loan at New Moon. As a result her grief stricken father can't bring himself to speak about her. This drives a wedge between him and Ilse.
56** Teddy's father is implied to be deceased since he lives with his single mom. His mom is also heavily attached to him in an unhealthy way.
57** Perry is also implied to be an orphan since he lives with his aunt.
58* ''Manga/KimbaTheWhiteLion'': Kimba's father was killed trying to rescue his pregnant wife from hunters, and during her time with Kimba, his mother taught him his father's ideals. When she was killed off, Kimba aimed at becoming a benevolent ruler of his father's jungle for the honor and pride of his family.
59* ''Manga/MarchComesInLikeALion'':
60** Many of Rei's happiest memories come from his biological parents during his early childhood. While Kouda himself is not bad, he's guilty of a bad case of ParentalObliviousness.
61** The Kawamoto sisters speak very fondly of their mother; Akari and Hina have strong memories of how well of a caretaker she was. [[spoiler:However, Rei notices that they always speak of their mother and never of their father, leading Rei to theorize in his narration that something happened between the sisters and their father that doesn't exactly place him in a positive light. It's revealed that their father is in fact alive, and is also ''not'' a nice person.]]
62* Ilulu from ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'' had very good parents from what little we see of them (the fact that they didn't discourage her attempts to be friends with humans speaks volumes). Their deaths played a large role in her becoming a TragicBigot.
63* ''Manga/MyRoommateIsACat'': Subaru's parents were very supportive of him, despite Subaru being so introverted he seldom left their house, while they loved travelling. They died while travelling, after an adult Subaru declined to go with them yet again.
64* ZigZagged in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
65** Naruto's parents died the day he was born, though they did love him [[spoiler:and even protect him from beyond the grave]]. Still, he's an emotional basket case, though not as bad as [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Pain]], [[JerkassWoobie Sasuke]] or [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Gaara (though in Gaara's case becoming an orphan was merciful, since his father kept trying to kill him)]].
66** Subverted like hell in ''Anime/NarutoTheMovieRoadToNinja''. Sakura, after getting embarrassed by her parents in front of her friends and being lectured at for breaking her house's rules, wishes that she doesn't have parents who are so pushy. Then she and Naruto enter an alternate universe where their fates are switched: Naruto has living, albeit normal, parents, while Sakura's parents are heroes who died defending the village from Kurama. For a couple of days, Sakura embraces her status as an orphaned celebrity, as she can do anything and everything without parental supervision, while the village cares for her because she's the heroes' daughter. But she soon learns that being a young orphan means that you will always return to an empty home everyday, with nobody to greet you, which not only sucks but is ''depressing'' after a while. Sakura thus comes to an epiphany: no matter how pushy or controlling, having living parents who can look after your well-being is miles better than having saintly, deceased GoodParents who can't.
67* Negi's father and mother in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' is a DisappearedParentsAreTheBest variation, since they're not confirmed dead, only MIA ([[spoiler:At least, Nagi is. Arika...[[WhateverHappenedToTheMouse not so sure]]]]). Yes, he's never actually met either of them, but given [[GovernmentConspiracy all]] [[ClearMyName the]] [[FakingTheDead crap]] they had to go through, they did a damn good job getting Negi the best ([[GiveHimANormalLife and safest]]) childhood that they could.
68* Possibly subverted or played straight in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. Shinji has very loving memories of his mom, Yui, and her death affects him well into his teenagers years. Gendo, the living parent, wound up abandoning Shinji after his wife died and didn't see him for years until he was needed to pilot Unit 01 (although it's often implied, if not outright stated, that getting away from Shinji was the only way Gendo could cope with Yui's death). But on the other hand... [[spoiler:There are hints Yui wasn't as innocent and sweet as she seemed. She might have known beforehand about being absorbed into Unit 01, and brought her four-year-old son to watch it happen anyway. Like her husband, she seems to have a bit of TheChessmaster vibe to her, but it's unclear how heartless she really was/is.]]
69* [[spoiler:Subverted]] in ''Anime/OblivionIslandHarukaAndTheMagicMirror''. The movie starts with a flashback showing Haruka's mother shortly before she died, and Haruka ends up in the titular Oblivion Island partially due to a series of events related to the strained relations between her and her workaholic father. However, at the end of the movie, the mirror reveals that [[spoiler: while her mother obviously loved her, her father was more openly affectionate and spent even more time with her when she was little, implying that he works so much in order to support her, not because he's oblivious like she assumed]].
70* Probably the most normal, stable adult in ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' was Haruhi's dead lawyer mom. The more benign of the other adults are WholesomeCrossdresser {{Cloudcuckoolander}}s.
71* Jessie's MissingMom, Miyamoto, in ''Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries'' is presented as sweet and cheerful, even if she is a high-tier Team Rocket member. She gave up her daughter due to her career but wanted to send money to her. Miyamoto went to capture Mew specifically because it would sell for a lot of money however she ended up getting lost in a blizzard. [[spoiler:It's implied she survived and is still searching twenty years later.]]
72* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'': Mamoru's parents died in a car accident, causing him to lose all of his childhood memories... while gradually recalling his past life as Prince Endymion.
73* ''Anime/TheSecretGarden'': Lilias Craven was a kind woman, and everyone of the Craven manor speaks highly of her. However, she died before Colin was born. In contrast, Mary Lennox's parents are also dead, but they were heavily neglectful and most people didn't even know they had a daughter.
74* ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' loves this trope.
75** Arata is shown to have been a loving and devoted father to his children, [[CainAndAbel Touka and Ayato]]. What little we know about him is taken from how his children remember him, as a father that always encouraged them and kept up a brave front for them even while struggling to keep them safe.
76** Kureo Mado seems like a sadistic monster when first introduced, taking pleasure in [[KickTheDog Kicking The Dog]] and not seeming to have much in the way of redeeming qualities. It's only after he's long dead that we meet his daughter, Akira, and learn that he was a devoted Single Father that worked hard to raise her alone. Omakes feature him [[FaceOfAThug scaring]] her classmates when he showed up for Parent Day, and being accused of being a pervert when he took his teenaged daughter shopping for underwear. Another shows him proudly displaying a portrait his daughter did of him in school, which his coworkers mistake for a sketch of a suspect.
77** Hinami's parents were loving and kind, doting on their only child. Both ended up killed as a result of VanHelsingHateCrimes, leaving her orphaned. Even so, people comment that it's clear how much they loved her -- that she remains such a kind and gentle girl in spite of everything is proof they surrounded her with as much love as possible.
78** Kaneki's relationship with his mother is.....complicated, seeming to play it straight before subverting it. He remembers her fondly as a gentle woman that always did her best for everyone, and cooked him his favorite meal whenever she could. But when forced to confront his past, he admits that he deeply resents her for leaving him alone so often and working herself to death for the sake of [[UngratefulBastard her sister]]. He ultimately comes to accept her flaws, realizing she was simply afraid to lose the people she loved.
79[[/folder]]
80
81[[folder:Comic Books]]
82!!!By Creator:
83* Creator/StanLee, co-creator of ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}, loved this trope:
84** It's especially noticeable in ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'', where Peter Parker is three times an orphan, with his biological parents already dead at the beginning of ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 and his surrogate father, Uncle Ben, killed in that story. It was later revealed that his parents were badass secret agents for ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} who once saved ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}. Oh, and Uncle Ben apparently saw ComicBook/CaptainAmerica first-hand.
85** Sue and Johnny Storm turned from half-orphans to orphans by the death of their father, Franklin Storm, in early ''ComicBook/FantasticFour''. Neither Reed Richards nor Ben Grimm had living parents (that was later changed for Reed by John Byrne), Ben just mentioned his Aunt Petunia (who was also first shown by Byrne). Subsequently Ben was also given a dead brother, Jake, so he could angst over ''his'' violent death as well.
86** Scott Summers, an orphan in the original version, as was his brother Alex, although Creator/ChrisClaremont later introduced Corsair as their long-lost father. Scott was originally mentored by the criminal Jack o' Diamonds.
87** Professor Charles Xavier, another triple orphan, losing his father, his mother, and his stepfather in his origin stories, gaining evil stepbrother Juggernaut in the process.
88** [[ComicBook/TheWasp Janet Van Dyne]] already had lost her mother, the murder of her father was what drove her to become the Wasp.
89** It even extended to supporting characters, most notably in the case of Gwen Stacy, who perhaps had the coolest dad of Marvel's 1960s.
90*** Certainly this trope is very pronounced in Spider-Man, where Betty Brant was an orphan to begin with and then also lost her brother Bennett in a shoot-out. Harry Osborn's mother was also dead from the beginning, in ASM #122 he also lost his father, the original Green Goblin (he got better, though). When Mary Jane finally got an origin in the mid-1980s, it was revealed that her mother also is dead. J. Jonah Jameson was introduced as a widower, which of course made his son John a half-orphan. The trope as inverted with Joe Robertson, who once mentioned he had another son, Patrick, who died.
91** ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': Bruce Banner was introduced without a family. Eventually it was revealed that his mental troubles partly derive from his mother being killed by his abusive father. Bruce's longtime love-interest (and, for a time, wife) Betty Ross was introduced having lost her mother. The Hulk's occasional side-kick Rick Jones has been an orphan from the start.
92
93!!!By Series:
94* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': Bruce Wayne, of course, practically worships the memory of his parents. His parents worked hard to give Bruce a strong sense of justice and knowledge of right and wrong, and the importance of helping those who need it (although they meant using the family fortune to improve the lives of Gotham's citizens, as some stories portray them as pacifists who would've disapproved of Bruce's methods). These lessons naturally fuelled his drive to become Batman after their deaths.
95* ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'s father was a good, honest man, who pushed his son to be the best man he could be. Since the elder Murdock was a boxer, he encouraged Matt to study as hard as he could and get a good education, not being uneducated and forced to fight for a living like himself. In addition to being the superhero Daredevil, Matt became one of New York City's most respected and honest defense lawyers. And of course, his dad was killed by the mob before he got to see it happen.
96** However, this is slightly subverted. Jack Murdock loved his son, but Matt, as an adult, admits that he greatly resented his father forcing him to study instead of being allowed to play with other children. Further, when Matt got into a fight and beat up a boy who was picking on him, Jack actually slapped him, something the adult Daredevil tries to turn a blind eye to.
97*** Matt Murdock's mom was also dead in the original origin, but Frank Miller later retconned it so she became a nun and Jack lied to Matt about her being dead.
98* ''ComicBook/GreenArrow'': Roy Harper had three dads growing up, his biological father Roy Harper Sr., his first foster dad Raymond Begay, and his second foster dad Oliver Queen. Out of all three fathers, Raymond was largely the best and most attentive, although Roy Sr. can be forgiven because he died when Roy was three. Compared to Ollie, Raymond did his best to pay attention to Roy's needs while raising Roy to respect the traditions and legends of the Navajo community. Raymond even went as far as to get Ollie to take Roy in before Raymond died of liver cancer, knowing Ollie was Roy's hero. Unfortunately, Raymond's only shortcoming as a father was not taking to the time to learn if Ollie could be a good teacher ''and'' a good father to Roy.
99* ''ComicBook/{{Hound|2014}}'': Detira is a loving mother to Setanta, kissing his forehead after she tells her brother, King Connor, that the boy is strong like his father the sun god. She dies trying to get him off Morrigan's claws when he is only a baby.
100* In the [[ComicBook/ChickTracts Jack Chick]] tract "Happy Hour", the mother dies as an indirect result of her alcoholic husband's actions. The children blame him for her death, and the girl even says that he should have died instead, but [[EasilyForgiven they forgive him and]] [[EsotericHappyEnding convince him to turn his life over to Jesus]].
101* ''ComicBook/{{Maus}}'':
102** Art was significantly closer to his mother Anya than his father Vladek and seems to idolize her to an almost unhealthy extent. Art took her suicide very hard, and his father (who was still trying and failing to deal with his own Holocaust-based emotional issues) was no help, and without Anya to act as a buffer between them, their relationship also deteriorated.
103** Inverted with regards to Vladek's relationship with Art. Art firmly believes himself to be TheUnfavorite, and that his father prefers his idealized memories and fantasies of Richieu, the son he lost to the Holocaust, to his living, breathing, flesh-and-blood son. There is absolutely nothing in the book to indicate that Art is wrong.
104* James-Michael's parents in ''ComicBook/OmegaTheUnknown'' were very caring despite being [[spoiler:[[RoboticReveal robots]]]].
105* Inverted by ComicBook/ThePunisher. He would have been a good parent. But it was his kids who died, not him.
106* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'': In the Pre-Crisis era, Superman lost both their biological and adoptive parents. Jor-El and Lara are shown to be very loving toward their only son, and of course they are killed when Krypton explodes. Jonathan and Martha Kent are loving and understanding, but both of them died from some kind of sickness before his eighteenth birthday. Later versions feature at least one surviving Kent, though.
107* Using an existing quote, Creator/{{Herge}} quipped re. his most famous creation, Franchise/{{Tintin}}: "Not everyone is so lucky as to be born an orphan." Tintin's good friend Chang is a young orphan, and his other close friends Haddock and Calculus also have no familial attachments in-story.
108* Notably averted in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''. Rorschach's mother's abuse is part of why he's so unstable. When he heard that she had been murdered, all he said was "Good".
109* ComicBook/{{X 23}}'s mother, [[MotherlyScientist Sarah Kinney]], was under strict orders not to show any maternal affection for the TykeBomb. In spite of this, she defied those orders whenever she could and did her best to nurture X-23's humanity. She died helping her escape from the facility, after being unknowingly exposed to a "trigger scent" that would force X-23 to involuntarily [[ManchurianAgent fly into a berserker rage]], effectively forcing X-23 to kill her own mother. When X-23 came to her senses, Sarah used to her dying moment to name her "Laura" and tell her she loved her.
110[[/folder]]
111
112[[folder:Fan Works]]
113* It's revealed in the ''Fanfic/NineteenEightyThreeDoomsdayStories'' that [[spoiler:Hungary]] is this to the successor Nations now living in what's left of her land.
114* Firefly in ''Fanfic/AceCombatEquestriaChronicles'' matured from a filly to an adult mare due to losing her parents, thanks to [[spoiler:Black Star]]. She always speaks with gratitude about them, but still grieves over the loss at times.
115* In ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'', Asuka's parents died in a lab fire when she was a little child. She remembers them fondly and misses them, as opposed to her canon self who loathes her father and wants nothing to do with him.
116* ''Webcomic/DragonBallReboot'': Goku's mother Gine lost both of her parents at a very young age when they died while on a mission off-world. While we don't know a whole lot about them, it can be implied from Gine's saddened face as she recounts her backstory that she loved both of them dearly.
117* In ''Fanfic/EmpathTheLuckiestSmurf'', Papa Smurf becomes the sole parent of about a hundred Smurfs because their parents have all passed away due to ThePlague. However, some of them also had the foresight to teach their children important skills that would be useful in their lives, although they never expected those skills to come in handy after such a loss of parents.
118* Zuko and Katara in ''Webcomic/HowIBecameYoursRiseOfTheAgniArmy'', [[DesignatedHero at least according to the author]].
119* In ''Fanfic/{{Mutant}}'', [[MotherlyScientist Kittery Abigail]] doesn't live through the second chapter, in stark contrast to the cute, happy first chapter.
120* ''Fanfic/TheJoyOfBattle'', a ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' fanfic, subverts this trope with Joy's mother. The first chapter sets up the typical Deceased Parents Are The Best scenario with a side character mentioning Joy's mother favorably. Several chapters later, when Sorrow channel's her mother's spirit, Joy makes it obvious that she does not like her mother (living or dead!). Much later in the story, we learn why.
121* In ''Fanfic/OneDayAtATimeNyame'', subverted with Jason and Bruce in the original timeline. While Jason had made peace with Bruce's faults and dearly loved and missed him long after his death, he'd be the first to tell you how terrible of a father Bruce was. The only exceptions he made to that (in which he applied NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead) were to his own children, probably because three of them [[PromotionToParent were biologically Bruce's]].
122* ''Fanfic/TheParliamentOfHeroes'': Rose Worth/Wilson, in contrast to her still living, [[AbusiveParent abusive father]] Slade, has nothing but nice things to say about her late mother, Lillian Worth. When thinking about her travels with Lillian across the Indochinese Peninsula before moving to New York, she recollects those times happily. She's also a major RelativeButton for Rose when Slade says her name due to his role in her death.
123* ''Fanfic/PatternsOfThePast'': Olesya's parents are revealed to have died when she was young. Her mother died from the flu, while her father died in a horrific mining accident during the California Gold Rush. She's not too troubled over their deaths due to not knowing them very well, but Oprah has a horrified reaction to the news.
124* Cori Falls's ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' fanfics portray Jessie's mother Miyamoto as a [[PuritySue saintly, loving, nurturing woman who died tragically before her time]], and Jessie never misses a chance to [[{{Wangst}} wax emotional about this]]. Becomes a double dose of this trope when Jessie finally finds out about her father Dorian, who's portrayed as a TragicHero.
125* [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4158483/ Princessbinas]] [[Fanfic/AdoptionNightmare loves this trope]]. All of her {{Original Character}}s are orphans.
126* Subverted in ''Fanfic/{{Reconciliation}}''. [[spoiler:Sho's mother [[DeathByChildbirth died in childbirth]] and his father [[DrivenToSuicide committed suicide]] soon afterward; Sho considers his father's decision extremely selfish.]]
127* Downplayed in ''Fanfic/TheSwordShallDevour''. Caitlyn is naturally devastated by her parents' deaths, but she doesn't place them on a high pedestal.
128* In ''Fanfic/WeekendAtHisaos'', Shizune talks fondly about her deceased mother, noting that she was able to get her father to stop hiring tutors to make her speak. Her still living father falls under ParentsAsPeople.
129[[/folder]]
130
131[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
132* In ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInTheTwelveDancingPrincesses'', the King and his daughters clearly love each other, but he admits that he doesn't quite understand his daughters the way the late Queen was able to. The princesses all have very fond memories of their mother, love dancing in their mother's favorite pavilion, and do their best to keep birthday traditions started by their mother alive. In fact, it is the copies of their mother's favorite story given to each princess in one birthday tradition that [[spoiler:are the key to unlocking a magical land where the princesses are free to be themselves]].
133* ''WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs'': Flint's mom was the more loving and supportive of Flint's two parents in Flint's eyes. Sure enough, she ended up dead after the prologue, while the dad, loving but distant, survived.
134* In the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon, parents are lucky to survive long enough to have any screentime at all.
135** [[WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs Snow White]]'s dad, although he wasn't mentioned in the movie itself. He was in the merchandise and comics though.
136** WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}'s [[UrExample mom]].
137** ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'': Cinderella's kind dad is seen doting on his daughter in the prologue.
138** ''Franchise/TheLittleMermaid'': Ariel's mom, seen in [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIIArielsBeginning the third film]]. In contrast, she has a [[DatingWhatDaddyHates strained relationship]] with her father, [[KnightTemplarParent Triton]].
139** ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'': Mufasa to Simba. Simba considered him to be great long before he died.
140** WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'s mom, who appears as a DramaticWind to help Pocahontas out numerous times.
141** Quasimodo's mother of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'' loved her son despite his ugly appearance, in contrast to society who shunned him.
142** ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' Milo's parents. Raised by his grandfather, who has also died before the film begins.
143** The parents of Lilo and Nani Pelekai in ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch''. Their father was even the one who came up with the ''[[TrueCompanions 'ohana]]'' motto.
144** ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'': Tiana's dad. Her still-living mom is also a good parent, but it's her dad's dream of owning a restaurant that serves as Tiana's motivation.
145** ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'': Although fans [[RonTheDeathEater demonize]] Anna and Elsa's parents, they qualify. Their decision to hide Elsa away and try to teach her to repress her powers led to mistakes, but it was well-intentioned.
146** ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'': Flashbacks reveal that Pedro, Alma’s beloved husband, was a loving FamilyMan who tried to convince four men on horseback to spare his wife, children and the other refugees of their village. Unfortunately, the horsemen cut him down anyway.
147* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyANewGeneration'': Sunny's father believed that the three pony races can live in harmony again and that fear and mistrust are not the way, and instilled those values into his daughter. He's heavily implied to have died in the timeskip between the introduction and the movie proper.
148[[/folder]]
149
150[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
151* ''Film/AliceInWonderland2010'': Alice's father, Charles Kingsleigh, would comfort Alice after having a nightmare. He would also encourage her unconventional thought patterns and tell her that it's okay to be mad. Alice would eventually follow in her father's shoes and take up his old business ventures.
152* ''Film/BeautyAndTheBeast2017'' adds this for Belle and the Beast's respective mothers. Both died while they were very young and it turns out [[spoiler:Belle's died of ThePlague and she had Maurice take the infant Belle far away to avoid them being infected]]. Subverted with the Beast's father, who was a cruel abuser and turned him into the selfish prince he was at the start of the story.
153* Sam's father in ''Film/ACinderellaStory'' was practically a living saint.
154* ''Film/Cinderella2015'' goes to great lengths to show Ella's mother and father as excellent parents who doted on and loved their daughter. Her mother encourages her imagination and teaches her to always be courageous and kind, while her father showers her with love and brings her presents from his travels.
155* ''Film/{{Contact}}'': After her father instilled a passion for astronomy in Ellie Arroway and passed away, her life's mission revolved around the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. This culminates with [[spoiler:Ellie meeting an alien disguised as her father]].
156* In ''Film/{{The Flash|2023}}'', Nora Allen (Creator/MaribelVerdu) was shown to be a kind and loving mother to Barry before she was murdered.
157* ''Film/TheHungerGames'': Katniss views her dead father more highly than she does her loving but not-quite-there mother.
158* ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'': Murph's adult life revolves around the abandonment/"death" of her father.
159* ''Film/JackTheGiantSlayer'': Jack's father and Isabelle's mother are both very decent people. Jack's father comforts Jack when's he frightened by a storm. Isabelle's mother encourages her to go on adventures and to be the best she can be.
160* Vada's mother in ''Film/MyGirl''. Subverted in the sequel when Vada goes to her mother's old home town to do research on her for a school project [[BrokenPedestal and finds out she wasn't so perfect]].
161* In ''Film/ANewHope'', Luke Skywalker's mother is dead, and his father is implied to be dead as well (though [[ItWasHisSled by now]] [[LukeIAmYourFather everyone knows the truth]]). Furthermore, his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, the parental figures who raised him afterward, are killed by stormtroopers shortly after Luke meets Obi-wan Kenobi.
162* Mia's Dad in ''Film/ThePrincessDiaries'' leaves her a whole kingdom behind after he dies, and like every little girl's dream she becomes a princess.
163* ''Film/{{Twister}}'': Jo's father is killed by a tornado, setting her motivation in the story in motion.
164[[/folder]]
165
166[[folder:Literature]]
167* Averted in ''Literature/TheAmyVirus''. Eroica Witt's mother was physically and emotionally abusive towards her daughter because Eroica is autistic, and died a couple of years before the events of the story. Eroica doesn't miss her one bit, and is happy that her father, who is much more loving and supportive, is her sole guardian now.
168* Babar's mother in ''Literature/{{Babar}}'' is presented as a loving and caring MamaBear who sacrifice his life for his cub against the cruel GreatWhiteHunter. Same in other media like movies and animated films.
169* Whilst both the main characters of ''Literature/DarkOnesMistress'' are missing their fathers, Clara has far fonder memories of her dead father than her still-alive mother.
170* ''Literature/DreambloodDuology'': Nijiri's mother died when he was a child, leaving him in the care of Ehiru, to be raised at the Hetawa and opening the path for him to become a Gatherer, which is one of the most prestigious positions achievable within Gujaareh.
171* ''Literature/DragonQueen'' has Trava's father.
172* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Harry Dresden's both died when he was very young. His mother subverted the hell out of this -- she was a well-known hellraiser in the world of magic, and ''deeply'' involved with some very bad individuals, magical, monstrous and mundane, before she fell in love with NiceGuy Malcolm Dresden. Harry's father played it straight. Harry described Malcolm as a good if naive man, and as Harry grew older he could see what his late mother saw in him. When his father died in his sleep one night, Harry felt truly alone for the first time in his life.
173* ''Literature/DyingEmbers'': The [=McCarty=] siblings and their cousin Em have five parents between them, all very loving, and dead for nearly a decade.
174* ''Literature/TheEdgeChronicles'' provides a subversion. In ''The Last of the Sky Pirates'' we meet Deadbolt Vulpoon, who tells Rook what a good and noble man his father Thunderbolt Vulpoon was, dying to save others. Except that the reader already knows from the previous book that he was actually a slave trader who got his comeuppance. It's not clear whether Deadbolt is lying or genuinely believes what he's saying. It's not quite NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead because there's only one character still around who knows what his father was really like, and he doesn't really say anything other than that he'd met him once.
175* ''Literature/TheElricSaga'': Elric is the emperor of Melniboné, so by definition his parents must be dead. (When they died is the subject of confusion, as one book has him remembering his parents fondly while another says that his mother [[DeathByChildbirth died giving birth to him]].) Plus, if there'd been more than one person left in the empire who [[spoiler:Elric didn't completely despise, he might not have felt like destroying the entire civilization.]]
176* ''Literature/TheEmpiriumTrilogy'': Both of Rielle's parents were kind and loving, but until her mother's death. This event turned her still-living father against her; from then on, he'd become emotionally distant and even verbally abusive by repeatedly telling her she's a dangerous monster.
177* The Arrandas of ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear''. [[EarthShatteringKaboom They were on Alderaan]], along with almost everyone else Tash and Zak knew, and the kids were profoundly changed by their loss.
178* There are exactly two living parents that we see in the ''Literature/DenOfShadows'' series: Dominique, and Erin's father. Other than that, all the protagonists' parents have been dead.
179* FamilyTreeSeries:
180** spoiler:Abby's mother dies Nell when she's a teenager, which leaves her only with her sexist, social climbing father Luther and later WickedStepmother Helen. Abby constantly thinks better of her mother than her father, and she never got to know much about her mother's struggles with mental health until many decades [[spoiler:later when her great-granddaughter Georgie finds Nell's SecretDiary]]; even then, she's still much more enamored with her mother, in part because of everything Luther is.
181** Dana, a DaddysGirl to the point of being blind to her father Zander's [[TheAlcoholic drinking problem]] and many faults, elevates him even more after he passes and is annoyed and is resentful of her mother constantly moving them around Maine to keep a job to support herself without any help from Luther (even though again, it was Zander's [[MrsRedInk spendthrift ways]] that left them with debt after his drowning that Abby worked to pay off while raising four kids). This culminates in her moving away and in with her aunt when she's a teenager, leaving the rest of the family behind and having a poor relationship with Abby until she's a grandmother.
182* In ''Literature/GuildHunter'' this is both played straight and [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] with Elena's mother: while Marguerite ''was'' a wonderful mother up to the event that shattered her family, after that she became nothing more than a shadow of herself, not standing up for her surviving daughters when they needed her and ultimately [[DrivenToSuicide driving herself to suicide]].
183* ''Literature/HarryPotter''- Harry Potter's parents, even if Harry can't remember them.
184** Lily in particular is pretty much flawless. She was noted to be an exceptional student and witch, and everyone who knew her speaks fondly of her (except for Petunia, who is obviously just jealous and wrong). Her sacrifice is what protects Harry from Voldemort and ultimately makes him capable of defeating him, [[spoiler: and Snape's unrequited love for her and guilt over the role he played in her death is what leads to his redemption]].
185** There is a slight twist with James though. Making him a bully in high school was a brilliant move. It's a flaw that strikes a nerve the frequently nerd-identified fans and fleshes James out a bit so that he's no longer the perfect but flat dead father, particularly from Harry's perspective, as he himself has been a victim of bullying. For many fans though, it struck too much of a nerve, and they can't get past James and Sirius's bullying past. It doesn't help that we never get to see James grow as a person, and the idea that someone can ''grow out of'' being a bully is not widely seen in media. It does not help that there are hints that James did not completely grow out of it and continued to at least bully Snape while hiding it from Lily, with Sirius and Lupin mentioning that Snape was a "special case" and how "James didn't take Snape on dates with her and jinx him in front of her ..." That said, they also inform Harry that Snape never missed an opportunity to attack James either, possibly suggesting that James' bullying had led to a more equal if toxic rivalry between the two once James supposedly TookALevelInKindness. Of course, given that none of these developments are shown and only exposited by people like Sirius, Lupin, and Snape, [[UnreliableNarrator none of whom are unbiased observers]], readers can only speculate as to what James was like after "growing out of it."
186** Lupin attempts to deliberately invoke this trope in the final book, in the belief that he'll do more for his son by dying heroically than by living on as a hated werewolf. [[BerserkButton The idea that a child would be happier with his father dead cuts a little too close for Harry, who blows up at him.]] [[spoiler: Tragically, however, both Lupin and his wife [[LastNameBasis Tonks]] die in the final battle anyway.]]
187** Dumbledore's father died when he was a kid and his mother when he was a teenager. His brother Aberforth clearly respects and loves them for their sacrifices but also doesn't deny that their mom was unnecessarily secretive.
188* ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' have Esperanza Valdez and Emily Zhang, the respective mothers of Leo and Frank who raised their sons the best they could before kicking the bucket.
189** Subverted with Marie Levesque and Beryl Grace, the mothers of Hazel and Jason who are shown to be deeply flawed. In Marie's case, she ultimately redeems herself moments before she dies along with Hazel. Hazel spends the next decades searching for her mother in Asphodel to no avail before being rescued by Nico.
190* ''Literature/TheHungerGames''. Katniss' dead father is described as practically perfect in every way and was the one who taught her everything that helped her feed her family and survive the Games. Heck, even [[spoiler:post-hijack Peeta]] remembers him fondly.
191%%* Tessa's and Jessamine's parents in ''Literature/TheInfernalDevices''.
192* ''Literature/JamesAndTheGiantPeach'': James had two loving parents until they were eaten by an escaped rhinoceros (yes, a rhinoceros) when he was 4 years old. The absurdity is so deliberate it's a BetterThanABareBulb example of this trope, or an ExaggeratedTrope. Highly unusual in that it's making light of the tragic death of his parents, a MoodDissonance.
193* Every living mother in every single Creator/JaneAusten novel is ineffectual in some way or other. There are three dead mothers: Mrs Tilney in ''Northanger Abbey'', Emma's mother in ''Emma'', and Lady Elliot in ''Persuasion''. They were all epitomes of perfection.
194* ''Literature/TheKingkillerChronicle'' have the main character Kvothe detail how his parents were killed by the Chandrian, and his attempts to find them so he can avenge his parents. Before they died however, they raised him well, teaching him skills that serve to help him throughout the books.
195%%* ''Literature/ManiacMagee''
196* ''Literature/TheMazeRunner'': As revealed in the prologue of ''The Fever Code'', [[spoiler:Newt had nice parents ready to give their lives for their child]].
197* Deconstructed in ''Literature/TheNevernightChronicles''. Mia hero worships and swears vengeance for the deaths of her parents but meeting a man who actually knew them, she learns the dark side of many of the reasons she worships them.
198* In ''Literature/OutOfTheDust'', heroine Billie Jo has a supportive and kind mother and an emotionally distant (though not terrible) father. Guess which parent dies.
199* ''Literature/TheSecretGarden'': Averted with Mary's parents. While they weren't horrible people, the book doesn't gloss over how they neglected her. Played straight with Colin's mother. Well for one thing Mary and her family WERE in India and she was looked after by a nanny.
200* ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'': The parents were supportive and passed their best traits on to their children, but not forcefully. Then the parents die in a house fire, and the children live with many unsuitable guardians.
201** Subverted later, when the kids remember things about their parents that bugged them, their small rows, and flaws. But they conclude that they still loved their parents.
202** [[spoiler: It is possible that Count Olaf suffers from this also, his parents being poisoned years before by the "good" guys.]]
203* In ''Literature/SorcererToTheCrown'', Prunella is an orphan whose backstory plays this trope relatively straight. [[spoiler: Prunella's mother definitely wanted the best for her, her father's motives are more questionable.]] Zacharias is adopted, and his adoptive father is dead, but still present as ghost, and far from perfect. The adoptive mother subverts this trope by being alive, well-meaning and competent.
204* [[SueGrafton Kinsey Millhone]] lost her parents at the age of 5 and doesn't seem to miss them much, and was quite content to grow up with her [[{{Nephewism}} aunt]] as a guardian.
205* Creator/SimonaAhrnstedt [[SubvertedTrope subverts]] this in her debut novel ''Literature/{{Overenskommelser}}''. You would have expected this trope to be played straight here, considering how Beatrice is treated by [[EvilUncle her uncle]]. But even though she misses her parents, she can still admit that they had flaws.
206* Having died of uterine cancer years before the book starts, Maureen from ''Literature/{{Spoonbenders}}'' was TheHeart who held the Telemachus Family together, the Telemachus Family collapsing into {{dysfunction|junction}} once she's dead and buried. [[SuperpowerLottery She is also the only member of the family with multiple psychic abilities]], as opposed to her children and grandchildren who only inherited one each.
207* Averted in ''Literature/ToAllTheBoysIveLovedBefore''. While Lara Jean and her sisters have fond memories of their deceased mother, they remain very fond of their living father who did his best to raise three girls on his own.
208* In ''Literature/TheUnderlandChronicles'', we never learn much about Luxa’s parents, but apparently they were pretty decent people.
209* ''Literature/WarsOfTheRealm'': Drew's late father is his role model and hero. What few memories he has of him and his advice motivate him to take on entire gangs in the ghettos of Chicago, among other things. So you can imagine how he feels when he finds out that [[spoiler:his dad became a Christian before he died]].
210* ''Literature/WonderWomanWarbringer'': Nik and Lina Keralis, Jason and Alia's parents seem to have been genuinely kind and loving. After Jason admits to his true intentions, there is some doubt cast as to whether at least Nik Keralis was that good of a man. It's never explored in detail, though.
211[[/folder]]
212
213[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
214* On ''Series/The100'', Clarke's father was a loving parent who believed the people of the Ark deserved to know what the Council was deciding about their fate. The Council executed him shortly before the series began, and they arrested Clarke because she was trying to follow in his footsteps.
215* ''Series/TheBarrier'': Two of the characters who are dead by the time the series properly starts were able to be parents for a few years before dying. Their respective children and surviving spouses have nothing but good things to say about them.
216* ''Series/Charmed1998'':
217** The girls' mother and grandmother, the former of whom they remember fondly (if at all) and the latter of whom raised three of the four of them alone. Paige's adoptive parents were also noted to be very good parents, before they died in a car crash when she was sixteen. Prue, Piper and Phoebe's father Victor and Paige's father Sam are both completely out of the picture, with Victor only becoming a more regular presence after [[spoiler: Prue dies and Piper has her first child]], while Sam pops in once every three seasons before completely disappearing yet again.
218** The grandmother continues to appear posthumously on the show and subvert the trope. It's revealed she was a bitter misandrist who was engaged six times and married four.
219* ''Series/DesperateHousewives'': Zach's mother Mary Alice is remembered in the best possible light, even though it turns that [[spoiler: she bought her son as a baby, killed his mother, and covered up the murder]].
220* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Jackie Tyler has painted an idealized picture of her late husband for their daughter Rose who is rattled to discover that the little business ventures which Jackie described so fondly had, back in the day, caused more than a little marital tension as there was ''never'' enough money. But while Pete Tyler may be a bit of a flake is some ways he proves himself a card carrying hero - in any reality.
221** It's quite a TearJerker because Rose, not wanting Pete to know that he died when she was just a baby, lies and tells him what a fantastic dad he has been to her growing up, only for Pete to immediately realize her version sounds ''nothing'' like him, and gradually pieces together the how and why when [[TimeCrash things start going wrong...]]
222* ''Series/TheFallOfTheHouseOfUsher2023'': Unlike her ruthlessly ambitious husband and sister-in-law, Annabel is good to the core, and only has the well-being of her family in mind. Decades after her death, Roderick glumly notes that her whatever goodness their children may have inherited from her is gone, but it's very present in their only grandchild, Lenore.
223* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' and Niles' mother Hester is often remembered in the best possible light by them (and Martin) as a compassionate, considerate, cultured and down to earth woman. There is the occasional hint that this view is not entirely accurate; she had a brief affair, it is sometimes implied that her method of raising the boys was ultimately damaging to them, and (if her appearance on ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' is anything to go by) she could be outright hostile to Frasier's love interests. It's still made clear that despite her faults this is not an entirely inaccurate view of her, however, and that for her faults she was still a loving mother and wife to them, hence why they choose to remember her fondly.
224* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Phoebe always speaks positively of her late mother who took her own life when Phoebe was a teenager. Over the course of the series it becomes clear that Lily didn't give Phoebe or [[EvilTwin Ursula]] the best childhood, being emotionally neglectful and not telling them that she wasn't their biological mother, but Phoebe still misses her a lot.
225* ''Series/MaddigansQuest'' plays with this trope; Garland idolises her father Ferdie, occasionally to the detriment of her mother, while Eden has complete trust in the ideals his parents died for. [[JadeColoredGlasses His brother Timon]], on the other hand...
226* In ''Series/Merlin1998'', the titular character is an orphan, born to a mortal woman without a mortal father. [[BigBad Queen Mab]] seemed to deliberately invoke this trope, as she didn't make any move to save Merlin's mother after she'd given birth to him. Before [[DeathByChildbirth dying of childbirth]], Elissa made [[ParentalSubstitute Ambrosia]] promise to [[TakeCareOfTheKids take care of Merlin]].
227* In ''Series/{{Moesha}}'', though her father was a loving parent throughout the series, Moesha clung to the memory of her deceased mother Marguerite quite tightly. This led to something of a BrokenPedestal when Moesha eventually found out [[spoiler:Marguerite abandoned Frank and Moesha when Mo was a little girl and later forced Frank to give up the son he fathered while they were separated.]]
228* ''Series/MyLeftNut'': Mick's deceased father is only ever spoken of as a great parent and husband.
229* More often PlayedForLaughs than straight, although there was a couple of those moments, was Del Boy's and Rodney's mum in ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses''. She is often spoken of in hushed reverenced tones as if she was the Virgin Mary... the truth of course is that she was a less than perfect parent but she always did the best she could for her kids.
230* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S6E11InnerChild Inner Child]]", Anne Marie Reynolds idolizes her late father, who committed suicide, but has an extremely distant relationship with her mother, whom she blames for his death.
231* Played straight initially in ''Series/PartyOfFive'' with the kids' dead parents - who never appear in the series. But eventually subverted and borderline deconstructed. It's eventually revealed that the father was an alcoholic and that Charlie actually does remember him hitting their mother (but had repressed it). Their mother also had an affair with a musician friend. Additionally in a WhatIf episode where they hadn't died, they're shown to be almost excessively smothering on Julia - to the point where she feels she's NotAllowedToGrowUp.
232* In ''Series/PushingDaisies'', Ned's mother is shown to be a sweet and attentive mother who loved to bake pies for her son (inspiring his future vocation), but she sadly dies from an aneurysm, [[spoiler: then gets brought BackFromTheDead by Ned's magic touch, and ultimately [[BlessedWithSuck dies a second time when she touches Ned again]] kissing him goodnight]]. Ned's father then in quick succession [[ParentalAbandonment abandons his son]] at boarding school, moves while Ned is at school and doesn't forward Ned the address, then gets remarried and starts a new family without Ned. The people in Coeur d'Coeurs who knew Ned's father, like Chuck's aunts, have no problems calling the man an asshole.
233* Given a {{Reconstruction}} in ''Series/{{Resurrection}}''. Maggie's mother, Barbara, died apparently trying to save her nephew, Jacob, from a river. When Jacob [[BackFromTheDead returns]], he explains that no, actually ''he'' was trying to save ''her''--and it also comes out that Barbara was cheating on Maggie's father. This naturally [[BrokenPedestal breaks]] Maggie's view of her mother, and she initially rejects Barbara when she also returns from the dead. However, Maggie later concedes that her view of Barbara was overly idealized, and she wants to get to know that real version now that she has a chance. [[spoiler:Pity it doesn't last long.]]
234* Subverted heavily on ''Series/ScreamQueens2015''. Grace has grown up believing that her dead mother was a good person. In reality she was the AlphaBitch and among the sorority girls who let their friend die in the bathtub after giving birth.
235* In early seasons of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', Mary Winchester, Sam and Dean's mother who died when they were young, is portrayed as a gentle but protective figure as opposed to their father. This dynamic is so extreme for Dean that one of his versions of Heaven is time he spent being cared for by her as a four-year-old and consoling her over his father's actions.
236* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S5E17Number12LooksJustLikeYou Number 12 Looks Just Like You]]", Marilyn Cuberle deeply loved her father Jack, who [[DrivenToSuicide committed suicide five years earlier]], and bases her decision not to undergo the Transformation on what he taught her about individuality and inner beauty.
237[[/folder]]
238
239[[folder:Manhua]]
240* Sinbell from ''Manhua/MyBelovedMother'' is an orphan RaisedByRobots, who longs for his ''real'' mother and often butt heads with Milan, the robot mother assigned to take care of him, to the point of frequently running away from home. [[spoiler:It turns out Sinbell's real mother is actually closer than he thinks - back when he was 4, his biological mother, Aya, [[MamaBear sacrifices herself to save Sinbell by using her body to shield him from a gas explosion]]. Prior to her death, Aya's request is for her mind to be transferred into a robotic body via BrainUploading, becoming the prototype robot mother Milan, a fact Sinbell finds out in the final chapter]].
241[[/folder]]
242
243[[folder:Theater]]
244* Lydia Deetz in ''Theatre/{{Beetlejuice}}'' is still in raw grief over the death of her mother, and has a [[ParentalNeglect troubled relationship with her distant father]].
245* {{Averted}} hard in ''Theatre/{{Carousel}}''. In life, Billy was an irresponsible, short-fused man who [[DomesticAbuse hit his child's mother]]. His [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]] further damages his family's financial status since the setting is the 19th century when it was ''very'' difficult for a woman to support herself. His poor reputation in life leads to the town ostracizing his daughter after his death for SinsOfTheFather. Billy is given a chance to go back to Earth for one day to try to atone for the troubles he caused his daughter so he can even have a shot at getting into heaven.
246* Electra takes this kind of attitude towards Agamemnon in ''Theatre/{{Electra}}'', even feeling morally justified in wanting to kill her mother to avenge his death.
247* In ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods'', Cinderella's living father is [[ParentalNeglect distant]] and allows her WickedStepmother and stepsisters to bully her. Cinderella's mother even in death helps Cinderella achieve her dreams, with the mother's spirit conjuring up ball attire for Cinderella to go to the King's festival in.
248[[/folder]]
249
250[[folder:Video Games]]
251!!!By Creator:
252* Pretty common trope in ''Creator/NipponIchi'' games. The parents of [[VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness Laharl]], [[VideoGame/Disgaea3AbsenceOfJustice Mao]] (mother unknown, presumed to be dead), [[VideoGame/Disgaea5 Usalia]], [[VideoGame/PhantomBrave Marona]], and [[VideoGame/SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters Danette]] were all depicted as loving parents before they died.
253** Also applies to [[spoiler:''Disgaea 2'''s Adell]], though their circumstances are more complicated... namely, [[spoiler:his biological parents are still alive, but enslaved by the BigBad]].
254
255!!!By Series:
256* ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
257** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'': Played straight for the Cousland Warden, as only PC whose parents are both alive at the prologue and ''have'' to die by the end, which gives their deaths [[YouKilledMyFather that much more pathos]]. Also for the City Elf Warden, whose mother was killed some time before the game's start and is clearly revered by the PC and family alike. Largely averted for the other origins though, as their parents can be anywhere from present to [[DisappearedDad disappeared]] to dead, but aren't given much detail.
258** Similarly, in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' the memory of Hawke's father Malcolm is all but worshiped by the family. [[spoiler:Mother Leandra is also depicted as extremely [[GoodParents loving]], which makes her murder that much more tragic too.]]
259* In ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games, no PlayerCharacter ever has a full set of parents by the end of the game. Most of them start with a pair of dead parents, and only two characters (Edge of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' and Hope of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'') even starts the game with two living parents (the former's parents are killed in front of him, the latter loses one almost immediately). And several who do start with one surviving parent lose said parent by the end. In fact, it's not until the [[spoiler:sixth]] game that you even see a parent survive [[spoiler:and even that one is crazy and doesn't recognize his son]].
260** Though VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII does break the cycle first (numerically), it's not until its release on the Platform/NintendoDS that the story gets fleshed out in this way. In III, each of the main characters were orphans, but were raised by kind and loving people: Luneth and Arc are raised by the elder of Ur. Refia is raised by the blacksmith of Kazus, and Ingus is raised as a soldier under the King in Castle Sasune.
261** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', Cloud's mother was pretty much perfect before dying when Sephiroth burned down the village. The [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake remake]] hammers in the tragedy by having Sephiroth ''personally'' kill her as she begged for him to spare Cloud's life.
262* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
263** Hugh's parents in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'' were apparently very kind, but died before the story starts, leaving him to a HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood and insecurity issues courtesy of his grandmother, who ended up raising him.
264** Played straight and subverted depending on the parents in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''. [[spoiler:Lucina puts Chrom on a pedestal, Cynthia idolized Sumia to the point of cutting her hair off when she died and Owain regards his parents as heroes. On the other hand, Gerome shut off any feelings he had towards Cherche and his father, refusing to even call them "mother" and "father" when reunited with their past selves. Severa does both; at first it seems she resents Cordelia for both being "perfect" and for dying. Then it turns out she uses resentment and anger as a cover for how much she loved her mother and how much it hurt when she died.]]
265** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', Ike and Mist's mother died when they were very young and their father dies only a few chapters into ''Path of Radiance''. Greil is idolized by Ike who makes it his ultimate goal to [[SurpassedTheTeacher surpass him]], and Elena was noted to be an unusually kind and compassionate person, to the point where it granted her immunity to the ArtifactOfDoom's power. Eventually the details of their DarkAndTroubledPast come to light, but rather than turning into a BrokenPedestal, it makes their children respect them even more as they realize just how much their parents had to endure.
266* Averted very well in the first two ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'' games, where the main character's parents are not only loving and supportive but remain alive and well. ''VideoGame/Mother3'', being the DarkerAndEdgier game, [[spoiler:kills Lucas's mother, Hinawa through a jarring case of DroppedABridgeOnHim. Not only was Hinawa a great mother, but Flint, the father, falls into a pit of grief-driven insanity and becomes neglectful and distant towards Lucas after her death]].
267* ''VideoGame/OctopathTravelerII'': Agnea's late mother Cuani Bristarni was a world superstar, and her success makes Agnea want to follow her mother's example, despite her father's disapproval. [[spoiler:Cuani also personally trained Dolcinaea, Agnea's antagonist-turned-friend, in Sai when Dolcinaea was young.]]
268* Sasha Nein's deceased mother in ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' is depicted as an angel in his memory vault. Until he [[AMindIsATerribleThingToRead reads his father's mind]] and discovers [[ParentalSexualitySquick other memories his father had of her]].
269* Mars' parents in ''VideoGame/ShiningWisdom'' are both dead. His father died after succumbing to poison inflicted upon in him a battle with a dragon...while his mother is rarely mentioned.
270* According to the supplemental material of ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', the Heavy's father died in a prison riot in a gulag, the Demoman's father died of circumstances which were not described (he probably blew himself up), and the Sniper's (elderly) parents died sometime in between the events of ''Meet the Director'' and ''Blood in the Water.'' The Scout is also wholly convinced that his father died, but there seems to be a lot of evidence pointing towards his father being the Spy.
271-->'''Scout:''' ''So your dad's dead, huh?''\
272'''Heavy:''' ''Yes.''\
273'''Scout:''' ''[[DisappearedDad Yeah, mine disappeared]].''\
274'''Heavy:''' ''[[InvisibilityCloak Yes. Your father disappears often]].''
275* [[{{Deuteragonist}} Clementine's]] parents from ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadTelltale'' seemed like caring, good people, and their daughter remembers them fondly. Clem's hat is a gift from her dad, and she wears it throughout all seasons. [[spoiler:They're dead before the game starts. They went on a trip to Atlanta, and left Clem with a babysitter in their family home in Georgia. [[PlayerCharacter Lee]] can find a message on their answering machine of Clem's mother, Diana, crying and reassuring her daughter that her parents love her, as the ZombieApocalypse unfolds in the background.]]
276[[/folder]]
277
278[[folder:Visual Novels]]
279* Miles Edgeworth's father in ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' was so good that his character was partially based on [[Literature/ToKillAMockingbird Atticus Finch]]. He's murdered when Miles is nine, unfortunately leaving him in the hands of a far more AmoralAttorney.
280** Likewise, it's practically hammered home what a loving father [[spoiler:Byrne Faraday]] is during the course of investigating his murder. No wonder [[spoiler:his daughter Kay]] [[TakeUpMySword wanted to carry on his work]].
281* ''VisualNovel/ChoicesStoriesYouPlay'': The player characters are often orphans or have one deceased parent. In the latter case, the surviving parent ranges from emotionally distant to abusive. In the former case:
282** ''VisualNovel/DesireAndDecorum'': Clara is sent to live with her father, whom she never knew, after her mother dies. She frequently thinks of her mother watching over her. [[spoiler:Her father is glad to meet her and truly loves her, but he dies of yellow fever midway through the first book.]]
283** ''[[VisualNovel/ItLives It Lives Beneath]]'': After Harper and Elliot come home to see their parents brutally murdered, they're sent to live with their grandfather rather than Harper's biological father, who abandoned Harper years ago. Harper considers Elliot's father to be a real father and also expresses fondness for their mother.
284* Played with in ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert''. Amanda sees Lainie in an unambiguously positive light all throughout the story. Thanks to manipulation by Cecilia, she goes through a period when she feels betrayed and lied to by the protagonist. Still, Amanda is thoroughly in love with him.
285* Maria in ''VisualNovel/DontTakeItPersonallyIJustDontLikeYou'' mentions this to the player in a remarkably blasé fashion while camping. Apparently, they weren't very close.
286* In ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'', the protagonist’s parents, who died in the Barbarossa incident, were extremely supportive of his skiing career.
287* In ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'', the parents range from being uninvolved in their children's lives (Hisao's parents, Rin's parents) to outright abandoning them ([[spoiler:Lilly's parents]]) or being AbusiveParents ([[spoiler:Shizune's father]]), with the exception of Emi's mother. The deceased parents are considerably better; Emi speaks fondly of her deceased father, and Hanako's mother [[spoiler:[[MamaBear shielded Hanako with her body]] during the house fire, [[HeroicSacrifice saving her daughter's life at the cost of her own]]]].
288* ''VisualNovel/{{Melody}}'':
289** Melody’s mother, Melissa, gave her daughter her first guitar (still one of her most prized possessions), and Melody says that her fondest memories were of her mother. Melody also gets her love of music from her mother. Contrast with Melody’s father; he left Melody and Melissa when she was born, she never knew him, and she doesn’t give a rat’s ass about him.
290** Deconstructed with the protagonist. He never appreciated his father while he was alive, but he realizes how grateful he is for his father now that he has passed away.
291* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'':
292** Asumu Ushiromiya died before the story began, but it's clear she was an extremely loving and nurturing mother to Battler alongside being a good wife to Rudolf. In fact, Asumu's death was the reason why Battler severed ties with the Ushiromiyas and went to live with his maternal grandparents, as he felt offended by Rudolf marrying Kyrie so quickly after Asumu's death. [[spoiler:Even though Battler learns Asumu's not his biological mother (Kyrie is, thanks to a switch Rudolf pulled when his and Asumu's child was stillborn), he still considers Asumu to be his mom first and foremost. It's also greatly implied Asumu suspected the truth about Battler but didn't let it affect how much she loved Battler. ''Last Note of the Golden Witch'' even brings Asumu back briefly as the witch Piece, proposing a hypothetical world where Asumu's influence would've prevented all the tragedies had she not died when she did. Even her attempt to hurt Ange as misdirected anger at Kyrie isn't enough to turn Battler against her, with Asumu/Piece even ''apologizing'' because she got to know Ange and Ange considering Asumu an aunt.]]
293** Part of the reason Ange hates her aunt Eva so much is because she doesn't think anyone could ever replace her parents (no to mention the fact that she suspects Eva was the one who killed them). [[spoiler:This is subverted to Hell and back in episode 7, where [[AwfulTruth it turns out]] Eva ''did'' kill them, but in what was more or less self-defense, since it turns out that Kyrie and Rudolf were in fact the real murderers and would have killed her otherwise. Needless to say, Ange [[HeroicBSOD doesn't take]] [[GoMadFromTheRevelation it well]].]]
294[[/folder]]
295
296[[folder:Web Animation]]
297* ''WebAnimation/EpithetErased'': [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]]. Molly has nothing of fond memories of her mother compared to her (understandably) less than savory opinion on her father and sister, but WordOfGod mentions that Calliope would have taken losing Martin as badly as he did losing her. Eventually, Molly acknowledges her mother's flaws in ''Literature/EpithetErasedPrisonOfPlastic'' while talking to her friend Rick Shades; she reveals that her mother was a workaholic that rarely smiled, while her father could not take anything seriously. Molly realizes that both her parents would have been bad as single parents, and it's only together at the Blyndeff family was able to be "happy under two broken support beams".
298* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Compared to Raven Branwen who abandoned her family outright and Taiyang Xiao Long who struggled to care for them in the wake of losing two wives, Summer Rose appears to have been the perfect parent for both Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long. This is because she disappeared when Ruby and Yang were very young, enabling them to create idealised versions of her in their minds. This is deconstructed in that Ruby died young enough that she remembers Summer less as a person and more as an ideal, namely an ideal [[PerfectionIsImpossible she can't live up to]]. [[spoiler:This is reconstructed when learning about her mother's flaws in Volume 9; this is a rude awakening for her, but she eventually realizes that Summer was simply human and so is she.]]
299[[/folder]]
300
301[[folder:Webcomics]]
302* Cog from ''Webcomic/{{Clockwork}}'' has nothing but good things to say about his late father and his life's work of helping people. On the other hand, [[spoiler:Alexander, who came to him for treatment and was turned away,]] has a decidedly less noble image of the man.
303-->'''Cog:''' What the hell do you know!? My dad ''loved'' helping people!\
304[[spoiler:'''Alexander:''']] ''No.'' He loved [[spoiler:having a talent no one else did--]] deciding who ''deserved'' his help, and who ''did not''.
305* In ''Webcomic/TheComebackPathOfPrincessFromMars'', we have Noah Perez, the mother of protagonist Olga Perez. She was an excellent doctor and highly regarded as the top medical researcher of the New Roman Empire. Her staff informed her of a 6-year-old child named Corrie who was abandoned by her parents due to an illness that was too expensive for them to even treat. She took said child in as "experimental materials" and ''absolutely doted'' on the little girl, letting her play with her own daughter, Olga who also took a shine to her. Both girls mourn her own passing to disease that was too virulent for even Noah to cure.
306* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', Antimony's mother, Surma, loved her very much, even as she was dying. This made her passing [[spoiler:and some very [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=532 startling]] [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=806 revelations]]]] all the more [[TearJerker heartbreaking]].
307* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', this trope is implied to be a mechanic of [[TheGamePlaysYou Sburb]] itself. Every parent ([[spoiler:except Jane's]]) or [[RaisedByWolves lusus]] of the players has died, either by a game mechanic or character, or well before the game's start. All of the Guardians were naturally loving and supportive, even if they were [[ParentsAsPeople odd about it]].
308** Downplayed with Dave's [[FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo brother/father]], who raised him in a HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood but meant well and laments being unable to properly raise children [[spoiler:in an AlternateUniverse]]. Averted with Vriska and Gamzee's [[PerplexingPlurals lusus]], who were respectively [[AbusiveParents abusive]] and [[ParentalAbandonment abandoning]].
309* In ''Webcomic/KuroShouri'', Hisaki reveals eventually that his parents are dead, [[spoiler: killed by his older brother.]] He has dedicated his entire life to avenging them.
310* ''Webcomic/{{Phantomarine}}'': Phaedra clearly misses her father.
311** [[spoiler:Vanna is shown as a kind maternal figure before she is spirited away. Even after death, she makes sure that Pavel has a store of medicine and a way to find help.]]
312* Jade, the main character of ''Webcomic/{{Recursion}}'', lost her adoptive mother, Seren, during the war. (Since Seren still had her family's last name, it's entirely possible she was unmarried, meaning Jade never had a father.)
313* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': The comic has a WholeEpisodeFlashback to the events that lead to a local outbreak of ThePlague that only Onni, Tuuri and Lalli survived. During it, Onni, Tuuri and Lalli's parents, who were among the dead, get a handful of panels of characterization during which they display absolutely no negative traits. Lalli's mother is shown to be a loving mother, Lalli's father is shown to be a loving son to his mother (who's the character getting ADayInTheLimelight during the flashback). As for Onni and Tuuri's parents, the fact that they let Onni bring Tuuri and the family's luggage to their house before joining the gathering during which the entire rest of the village got infected was a big factor in making Onni and Tuuri's SerendipitousSurvival possible; staying in the house for a little longer than they were expected to is what ultimately kept them from being infected before someone realized ThePlague was being spread at the gathering.
314* ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'': Most parents seen are abusive or absent, but Duane and Vienne both did their best by their children prior to their murders.
315* In ''Webcomic/TheWitchsThrone'', Agni's mom dies off-screen, in-between the prologue and the first chapter. [[GoodParents And she was really nice too.]]
316[[/folder]]
317
318[[folder:Web Original]]
319* This trope is {{Discussed}} (and, by extension, mocked) in the following tweet from the Website/{{Twitter}} blog ''Blog/WorstMuse'':
320-->[[https://twitter.com/WorstMuse/status/503973422284546048 "What do you MEAN, your protagonist's parents are still alive? Do I need to do EVERYTHING for you?"]]
321[[/folder]]
322
323[[folder:Web Video]]
324* ''WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory'': UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill rather cruelly mocks the fact that both of UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt's parents died at relatively young ages. Roosevelt fires back that, while losing his mom and dad was hard on him, they at least loved him enough to stay in his life while they were alive... unlike Churchill's parents, [[ParentalAbandonment who straight-up ditched him]].
325[[/folder]]
326
327[[folder:Western Animation]]
328* Katara in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. Sort of - her Dad's still alive, he's just off fighting in the war, and has been gone for a couple of years when the series begins. But her main drive and source of internal conflict in the series is the death of her mom.
329** {{Subverted}} and {{Deconstructed}} with Aang's relationship with his children in the SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''. Tenzin, Aang's only airbending son and thus [[LastOfHisKind the only one able to pass down this part of Aang's legacy]], got to go on trips and spend more quality time with his dad growing up than his siblings Kya or Bumi did. After Aang passes, Tenzin puts his father up on a pedestal. Kya and Bumi meanwhile grow steadily bitter over what they considered to be blatant [[TheUnfavorite favoritism]] and [[ParentalNeglect neglect]] by their father. In the end, all the siblings come to realize that [[ParentsAsPeople their father was a complex man with enormous responsibilities who had good and bad qualities like any other person]].
330*** PlayedStraight however with Asami's mother and Mako and Bolin's parents, all of whom were murdered by firebenders. Asami clearly misses her mother and is estranged from her father for quite a few years after [[spoiler: he is found to have been a member of a terrorist group and [[OffingTheOffspring attempts to kill Asami]] for not jumping to join him in the cause]]. Mako always wears [[TragicKeepsake the scarf his late father gave him]]. In Book Three Bolin is excited to visit the city his father was from and starts tearing up at an old picture of him and Mako with their parents when they were little.
331* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Disenchantment}}'', [[RebelliousPrincess Bean]] has a troubled relationship with her father, is largely indifferent to her stepmother, but clearly misses her mother, [[TheHighQueen Dagmar]], who died when she was a toddler. [[spoiler:{{Subverted}} because Dagmar [[TakenForGranite isn't actually dead]], and [[EvilMatriarch isn't very nice]] when she reenters Bean's life.]]
332* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' has Huey, Dewey, and Louie's mother Della. During the first season, the boys revere her memory, and [[PalsWithJesus her best friend Selene]] claims that Della loved her family more than anything, and always made everyone around her better. [[spoiler:Then, "The Last Crash of the Sunchaser" reveals that she put adventuring before her unhatched children, [[WhatTheHellHero which her brother Donald called her out on]], and stole an untested, experimental family rocket that Scrooge planned to surprise her with for a solo joyride. In short, [[ParentsAsPeople she was flawed]]. Of course, she turns out to be not deceased at all, and she isn't exactly a perfect parent once she manages to get back to her kids (though not for lack of trying on her part).]]
333* Both of Kimber's and Jerrica's parents from ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' are presented as sweet and positive. Their parents [[HappilyAdopted fostered Shana and Aja]] as well. Their dad designed a supercomputer named Synergy while he was SecretlyDying [[spoiler:and Synergy herself is based on his wife]].
334* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Big Mac were raised by their paternal grandmother. They have few memories of their parents, and since NeverSayDie is an EnforcedTrope in the series, their parents' death is never explicitly dealt with. The season 7 episode "The Perfect Pear" reveals, through TellMeAboutMyFather stories from ponies who knew their parents, that Bright Mac and Pear Butter defied FeudingFamilies to be together and were parents anypony could be proud of.
335* Nestor's mother in ''WesternAnimation/NestorTheLongEaredChristmasDonkey'' sacrifices herself to take care of her son after their owner rejects him and tosses him to the freezing cold. She eventually passes on from hypothermia, forcing Nestor to venture out on his own. Thankfully, [[DivineAssistance Til]][[OurAngelsAreDifferent ly]] shows up to accompany the poor fellow not long after.
336* ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats'': Chuckie's biological mother Melinda. While Chuckie doesn't remember her that much, he does have fond memories of her in dreams when she played him and when he was around her he wasn't afraid.
337* This also applies to ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'' where, before Roland and Miranda married, the former's wife and the latter's husband died before the events of the series, and were remembered as good parents. Specifically, [[spoiler: the former queen was unable to give birth to children, and Roland wished for her to have children. Unfortunately, her body couldn't handle it, and she died. Sofia's father was a sailor who was lost at sea. Roland initially raised Amber and James on his own, but wanted them to have a mother figure, and married Miranda when they clicked, leading to Sofia becoming a princess.]]
338* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'''s mother, Rose Quartz, is depicted as a beautiful, loving woman who was a superb leader. Though to be fair, his living father is a {{Good Parent|s}} too (even if he is "kind of a mess" in every other facet of his life). This is gradually deconstructed as the series goes on: while Rose was a fundamentally good person, she used to be condescending towards humans (viewing them as how most people would view a cute pet) and it took her relationship with Greg for her to develop proper respect and empathy for them. Rose is also revealed to have lied to her friends about Bismuth and Pink Diamond's true fates. Additionally, Rose is also shown to have actually been naive, foolish, and childish as [[spoiler: Pink Diamond]], which she never really grew out of until her relationship with Greg. Not to mention that the Crystal Gems are shown to be greatly affected by her passing even years after the fact (not helped by the fact that [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld they've been alive for millennia]]) and Steven is saddened by the fact that he'll never know his mother the way Connie knows hers.
339* Riya's parents in ''WesternAnimation/StretchArmstrongAndTheFlexFighters'' qualify for this as she fond memories of them on their beach house. [[spoiler: There's more though. They were involved in the development of Flexarium, but were killed by Jonathan Rook in a plane crash when they found out he was Stretch Monster. Riya takes up the mantle of Blindstrike and works with Dr. C (who survived the plane crash) in order to take Rook down and avenge her parents.]]
340** Jake also has fond thoughts of his late mother, Kim. He remembers her as an artist, and according to the comic tie-in, she would temper his father's worst ControlFreak tendencies and creating a less dysfunctional household.
341** "Rook's Story" reveals that [[spoiler: Rook had a sick mother that would always support his intellect and education since young. His inability to save her from her disease (along with the Epsilon Society rejecting him) would triggger his StartOfDarkness. It is also implied that his father died when he was even younger]].
342* Zigzagged on ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender''. Allura's parents died when [[EarthShatteringKaboom Altea was destroyed]] and she retains untainted memories of them. Additionally, Keith is implied to have been very close to his now-deceased father. However, all of the living parents on the show (except for [[spoiler:Haggar]], [[BaseBreakingCharacter depending on who you ask]]) are also GoodParents.
343[[/folder]]

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