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| 11 | [[folder:A-C]] |
| 12 | * Every parent in ''Manga/SevenSeeds'' basically abandoned their child by giving their consent when they were chosen for the 7 Seeds Project, without even telling their children. The exception being Hibari's grandmother, who hinted it to her, and Karita, whose parents seemed to have cracked and revealed his role in the project before he was cryogenically frozen. Also, Hana's parents regret their involvement with the project and having Hana take part in it, but still believe that it was the right thing to do. |
| 13 | * Tanaka of ''Manga/AhAndMmAreAllSheSays'' was abandoned by her mother "from the start," and spent her entire childhood in a children's home. This background is why she gets into manga publishing, as well as why she takes PornWithPlot more seriously than her fellow editors in the same {{hentai}} magazine--she treats the fictional world as a replacement for a family she never had, and because of this, sees character and their relationships more seriously than her colleagues. |
| 14 | * This is the central premise of ''Manga/AishiteruzeBaby'', when Yuzuyu's mother gets stressed out and abandons her to her relatives and Yuzuyu's cousin Kippei is forced to take care of her. |
| 15 | * In ''Manga/AiYoriAoshi'', Kaoru's parents both died when he was young, leaving him stuck with his abusive grandfather. He moves out as early as he can; that breaks off his arranged marriage to Aoi, his childhood friend, setting the events of the show in motion. |
| 16 | ** Tina, Aoi and Mayu all have both their parents. Tina's are in the US and Aoi's live at their family estate. Mayu's are constantly traveling, leaving her essentially alone in their BigFancyHouse, aside from maids and her driver/guardian Saionji. Taeko's father died early in her life, and the general vibe is that her mother died prior to the start of the series. |
| 17 | * In ''Manga/{{ARIA}}'' there is no mention of Alice's parents, even though she is only 14-years-old at the start of the series. Likewise, Akari never mentions her parents, despite being only 16-years-old when she moves to Aqua. The only one from Manhome who she has any contact with is Ai -- at least in the Anime. |
| 18 | * ''Manga/AstroBoy'' was actually ''sold'' by his father/creator to what amounted to slavers. |
| 19 | * ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': |
| 20 | ** Eren's mother is killed by Titans at the beginning of the series, and his father vanishes in mysterious circumstances shortly afterwards. [[spoiler: It's finally revealed during the ''Uprising'' Arc that he's dead too, though the reason is too shocking and convoluted to even attempt an explanation here.]] |
| 21 | ** Mikasa's parents were murdered by slavers intent on kidnapping her, but was saved by Eren and taken in by his family (who are also gone, as mentioned above). |
| 22 | ** Armin's parents went exploring outside the Walls and never came back. He was the taken care of by his grandfathers, who was one of the 250,000 refugees who died in the failed attempt to retake Wall Maria. |
| 23 | ** Connie's family [[spoiler:ends up being supposedly killed when Titans start appearing inside Wall Rose. Although it's almost certain that his family weren't killed by Titans -- they were turned into Titans...]] |
| 24 | * A surprising number of characters from ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' are a victim of this: |
| 25 | ** Firo Prochainezo's mother succumbed to tuberculosis when he was ten years, and his father died of lung cancer before he was even ''born''. He has effectively been raised by [[TheMafia the Camorra]] since then. |
| 26 | ** The Gandor brothers' mother is never mentioned. Their father died when Luck was in his early teens, promoting his eldest brother Keith [[PromotionToParent to the role of parent]], and forcing Luck into [[TheMafia the family business]] at [[ImprobableAge a very early age]]. |
| 27 | ** Claire was orphaned and subsequently adopted by Luck's father, making him the RedheadedStepchild of the Gandor family. After the death of his adoptive father, he ran away to join the circus |
| 28 | ** Tick Jefferson was ''sold'' to the Gandors by his [[WickedStepmother stepfather]] to pay off loans. His father had passed away years earlier, and his mother also died not too long after marrying his stepfather. His younger brother, Tack, ran away from home shortly after, at which point he had the misfortune to be picked up by [[MadScientist Huey Laforet]]. |
| 29 | ** Chane's father (the aformentioned Huey) is currently doing time for terrorism. |
| 30 | ** Elmer was born and raised ''as a human sacrifice'' for a religious cult before Huey came across him. This is the sole example of an encounter with Huey being a step ''up'' from the previous life predicament. |
| 31 | ** Huey himself was orphaned after his mother was killed in a witch hunt circa 1700. |
| 32 | ** Czeslaw was orphaned sometime before 1711, and his legal guardian thereafter was... well, not one of the best. Czeslaw finally snaps and kills him after 200 years of daily torture. |
| 33 | ** Ennis was "[[ArtificialHuman born]]" into servitude of Szilard Quates [[spoiler:before Firo did the world a favor and killed him for good]], and [[TrulySingleParent has no mother]]. |
| 34 | ** Eve Genoard's father and eldest brother were murdered by the Runorata mafia family when she was sixteen. Her mother died early on in her life, and her other brother is missing. [[spoiler:He's in a [[CementShoes cement-filled oil barrel at the bottom of the Hudson River]], and ''[[AndIMustScream still alive]]'']]. She's being raised by her butler and maid since. |
| 35 | ** In the ''Baccano!'' manga, as well as the first ''Grand Punk Railroad'' novel, Jacuzzi tearfully tells the Russo henchmen interrogating him that he doesn't have a mother. |
| 36 | * In ''Anime/{{Bakugan}}'' there are several examples: |
| 37 | ** Shun's mother died and his father was never seen, indicating that he doesn't have one. His grandfather (who was [[AbusiveParents abusive]]) is the only adult relative he lives with. |
| 38 | ** Mira's father died at the end of season two and a mother was never mentioned. By the end of the season, she only lives with her older brother Keith. |
| 39 | ** Alice's parents are never mentioned, though she lives with her grandfather and has an aunt and an uncle. |
| 40 | ** Ace apparently doesn't have any family and it is unknown what happened to them. |
| 41 | ** Likewise, Fabia and Ren don't seem to have any parents, as the former's sister was the queen of Neathia in the third season and the later is apparently the last of his kind. |
| 42 | * ''{{Manga/Bakuon}}'': At first it seems that Hane and her sister's parents are deceased... then Hane says that she wants to take her sister on a ride to see them. ''In America''. |
| 43 | * In ''Manga/BakutenShootBeyblade'', Kai's father leaves his family to "follow his dream", Yuriy's mother leaves him with his alcoholic father, Boris shares a similar past, and Takao's father is rarely home because of his job as an archeologist. |
| 44 | * It's everywhere in ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''. Some prominent examples: |
| 45 | ** Guts' birth mother died before he was born -- via execution by hanging. His birth father [[DisappearedDad is never mentioned.]] His adoptive mother, [[MissingMom Shisu]], [[DisposableWoman died of the plague when he was very young]], and [[AbusiveParent Gambino]] -- well, [[{{Jerkass}} we know enough about his deeds to the boy.]] Guts [[CallingTheOldManOut eventually calls his adoptive dad out]], [[SelfMadeOrphan though by accident.]] |
| 46 | ** Griffith's parents are never mentioned. |
| 47 | ** Casca's parents sold her to a noble as a servant (though he wanted her for services ''[[SexSlave other]]'' than cleaning and cooking.) |
| 48 | ** Farnese and Serpico [[spoiler: both share a father who is [[ParentalNeglect emotionally and physically distant]] from both of them (especially so in Serpico's case since he was born out of wedlock). Serpico's mother died under the traumatizing circumstance of her being burned at the stake as a witch by both he and Farnese, and Farnese's mother was always out [[DancesAndBalls partying]], which was [[EnfantTerrible not good for her development]].]] |
| 49 | ** Schierke's birth parents are never mentioned and it as never explained how she came to be under the guardianship of Flora, but [[spoiler: now that she's dead]] Schierke definitely qualifies. |
| 50 | ** Rosine, like Isidro, is an inversion, but on a more diabolical level, as she [[spoiler: [[SelfMadeOrphan sacrificed her parents]] to the Godhand in order to become an apostle.]] |
| 51 | ** Princess Charlotte's birth mother died, her stepmother [[ParentalNeglect more or less ignored her]] (who is also dead), and her father [[spoiler: who had previously [[ParentalIncest tried to rape her]]]] is now dead. |
| 52 | ** New companion Isma is a subversion, as her father died and her mother abandoned her [[spoiler: but her mother came back upon the reveal that [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent she is a merrow.]]]] |
| 53 | ** Technically Guts does this to his own biological son with Casca [[spoiler: due it being a FetusTerrible mutated by Griffith’s demon seed when he raped Casca, which does justify why Guts would shun or [[OffingTheOffspring try to kill it]]. Casca, on the other hand, actually loves her child eerily similarly to Shisu loving Guts. When the Moonlight Boy (who is likely the embodiment of Guts' and Casca's child had it been born normally) shows up, both parents show care for him]]. |
| 54 | * The death of Rino Randou's mother in ''Anime/BestStudentCouncil'' is the catalyst that begins the series. Nothing is mentioned as to what happened to her father, at least at first. |
| 55 | ** And it's not just Rino, [[spoiler: Machii and Kaori are also orphans; in Kaori's case, she has younger siblings, providing a PromotionToParent. And Rein was actually abandoned by her father, forcing her to live with Sayuri's family. And Ayumu ran away from her family.]] |
| 56 | * The two sisters in ''Manga/BinbouShimaiMonogatari'' have a deceased mother and a father who ran off to hide from a big gambling bet. |
| 57 | * Averted ''and'' used in ''Anime/BirdyTheMighty''. In the old OVA series, Tsutomu's family, including both parents, were a hilarious part of the story; but his parents drove away from the story at the start of the much later first TV series. |
| 58 | * In ''Manga/BlackButler'' Ciel's parents died when their mansion was mysteriously set on fire. |
| 59 | * Train from ''Manga/BlackCat'' had his parents murdered, and then he was temporarily taken care of by their ''murderer'', albeit not by choice. After he dies, he's picked up by Carl, a Chronos member. |
| 60 | ** Several other characters show this, but they're mostly Apostles of the Stars. |
| 61 | * ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': |
| 62 | ** Due to abusive parents, Sora kidnapped his sister for her own safety and fled the home when he was 18 and she was 3, raising her alone until his death with Orihime was 12. Orihime has lived alone ever since but does receive financial aid from a distant aunt. The anime changed this to the parents abandoning Sora and Orihime rather than Sora kidnapping Orihime. |
| 63 | ** Chad's parents died when he was eight so he was sent to Mexico to live when his grandfather. When his abuelo died sometime before Chad was fifteen, Chad returned to Japan and has lived alone ever since. |
| 64 | ** Uryuu lives alone because his mother died when he was eight and he's estranged from his father. That is the opposite of Ichigo, Karin, and Yuzu, whose mother also died around the same time, but their father Isshin continued to raise them on his own. It's heavily implied that Uryuu [[InvertedTrope abandoned]] his father due to anger over Ryuuken's [[HeroicNeutral refusal]] to be a Quincy and that Ryuuken is quietly watching over his son without Uryuu's knowledge. [[spoiler:After Uryuu learns the reason for Ryuuken's hatred of the Quincies, they reconcile.]] |
| 65 | ** When Hisana and Rukia entered Soul Society, Hisana was a young child who had a PromotionToParent because of her infant sister. However, because they ended up in a monstrous part of the Rukongai, Hisana was forced to abandon Rukia to survive. |
| 66 | ** Both of Kira's parents died some time before he entered the Shinigami Academy. |
| 67 | * ''Anime/BloodPlus'' has a lot of this: |
| 68 | ** Saya and Diva's biological mother [[spoiler:died long before they were born (they hatched out of cocoons found in her mummified corpse)]] and no information is given on their father, [[spoiler:though it's probably safe to assume either Nathan is their father or he's dead.]] They were adopted by the first Joel who [[spoiler: locked Diva in a tower and experimented on her while treating Saya like a princess. When Diva got out she killed him.]] Finally, Saya was adopted by Kai and Riku's stepfather George Miyagusuku in 2004, [[spoiler:only to be forced to kill him as he was turning into a chiropteran.]] |
| 69 | ** Kai and Riku were both orphaned and adopted by George, but then lost him for above reason. |
| 70 | ** James and Karl both saw Diva as their mother, but she never gave Karl the love and attention he craved and she rejected James after [[spoiler:he had Schiff parts put on him.]] |
| 71 | ** Haji's parents sold him to [[spoiler:Joel and Amshel]] for a loaf of bread when he was twelve. |
| 72 | ** Mao's father is the leader of a Yakuza crime family, so presumably doesn't have much time for her. He does send his goons after her when she tries to leave with Okamura, but that's likely because she stole money from him. Once they get out of Japan he doesn't seem to make any attempt to find her despite the fact that she's traveling the world with a man about twice her age. |
| 73 | * ''Anime/BlueReflectionRay'': |
| 74 | ** Hiori and Mio’s father died, and their mother suddenly abandoned them one day with no warning. Their aunt and uncle offer to take them in, but they insist in staying in their apartment in the hopes that their mother will eventually return. |
| 75 | ** Niina never knew her father, and when her abusive mother was killed she was left homeless with nowhere to go. |
| 76 | * ''Anime/BubukiBuranki'' drops this on all five of the show's protagonists. [[TheHeart Azuma]] ''used'' to live with his parents and his sister on an island in the sky, until he and his sister were sent to Earth's surface (near Tokyo, as it happened) for their protection when the island's [[HumongousMecha Buranki]] started waking up en masse. Kogane's father was killed by one of the villains who wanted to take his [[EmpathicWeapon Bubuki]] for his own, and then the bad guy comes after [[AncestralWeapon her]] as well. The fates of the other protagonists' parents are less certain, but in the [[CrapsackWorld present day]], all five of them basically just have each other (and Horino) to pass for a "family". |
| 77 | * The manga ''Manga/BunnyDrop'' focuses on a young man named Daikichi having to raise a six-year-old girl with this. He wound up with little Rin after her father (Daikichi's ''grandfather'') passed away, there was no mother in sight, and nobody else was willing or able to take her. Daikichi manages to track down Rin's mother, Masako, and decides that the (much younger) woman, while indeed caring about Rin, is in no way mature enough for the job. |
| 78 | * In ''Manga/CaseClosed'', Shinichi's parents (a famous writer and a brilliant actress) ''do'' care for him, but they are always on tour and, since Shinichi doesn't want to go with them, he lives alone (though in active contact) until he physically reverts into a child via Odd Poison and goes to live with his girlfriend Ran. Ran herself lives only with her BumblingDad since her parents are separated on bad terms (she's still in more or less contact with her mom as well). Sonoko avoids it since her parents and older sister are more or less around and manage to be both rich ''and'' nice people. |
| 79 | * ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'': In short, ''everyone'' in Academy City. On its surface, the city consists of over 90% students; there are no accommodations for parents, so all the kids live alone. Much worse, however, is the fact that many parents use this as an excuse to get rid of their kids one way or another. There's even a term for children who have been legally abandoned: "Child Errors." The city, [[TownWithADarkSecret of course]], uses those children as experiments even more than the others. The only parents who actually appear are Touma's and Mikoto's, though a few more are implied; Tokiwadai, for example, is a rich girl school, and mention is made of their parents being able to provide far more money and support. |
| 80 | * Is the driving force in the story of ''Anime/ChancePopSession''. All of the major characters deal with the issue from one side of it, [[spoiler: Akari, Yuki, Nozomi and Reika were all abandoned as children, though the first three have forgotten that fact. And Kisaragi deals with the guilt of abandoning her children years before.]] |
| 81 | * In ''Anime/{{Charlotte}}'', Yu and Ayumi's mother divorced, then left them to their uncle's care. As a result Yu doesn't think too highly of her. |
| 82 | * ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'' has examples of this for ''every main character''. |
| 83 | ** Rosette and Joshua's parents died when a ship they were on sunk. The two were sent to live in an orphanage, but Joshua went [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity insane]] when Aion gave him Chrono's horns, and Joshua froze their caretaker and the other orphans in time. |
| 84 | ** Satella's parents were killed by a demon missing his horns, and was raised by her butler afterwards. In the anime [[spoiler:her butler is then killed by the same demon]]. |
| 85 | ** Azmaria's parents are implied to have died because of her powers. She was adopted into a troupe of traveling musicians, but a villain seeking to use her powers adopted her from them... and later killed them to cover his tracks. Then the villain was killed by the demon he had a contract with. |
| 86 | ** Demons have a society set up something like bees, in the sense that they have a queen from which they're all born from -- so technically, none of them have parents (or even completely understand the concept). However, it still plays into the backstory of Chrono and Aion -- [[spoiler:their mother was a human young woman, pregnant with twins, who was kidnapped by the demons and forcibly turned into their HiveQueen, Pandemonium. When Aion discovers this, it causes the FreakOut that turns him into the BigBad.]] |
| 87 | * In ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'''s first episode, it is revealed that Raki's parents were eaten by a Youma possessing his brother's body. As for Clare, what exactly happened to her parents is unsure, but considering she was a Youma's [[{{Squick}} toy]] for a while, it would be safe to assume her parents were eaten as well. Priscilla's dad, like Raki's brother, was possessed by a Youma who ate her mother and elder brother. |
| 88 | * ''Manga/CodeBreaker'': Ogami's parents were murdered; Toki's father is a heartless JerkAss (and also [[spoiler: Prime Minister of Japan and a leader of the Code: Breaker's EDEN organization]]) with no mention of a mom; [[GenkiGirl Sakura]] ''appears'' to be an aversion [[spoiler: but she's actually adopted and has no memory before the age of 5.]] [[CloudCuckooLander Yuuhi]] has no parents [[spoiler: and might not actually be human.]] |
| 89 | * The protagonist of ''Anime/CodeGeass'' has this as part of his StartOfDarkness. It only gets worse when he learns [[spoiler:his beloved mother Marianne had avoided death and actually agreed with the Emperor exiling Nunnally and Lelouch. When they both try to justify it by stating it was for their own protection from V.V. (who, by that point, is long dead), Lelouch rebukes that, [[ArmorPiercingQuestion asking them why it was necessary to start a war between Britannia and Japan, essentially condemning the siblings to death]]. In their attempt to create a world without lies ''with'' lies, Lelouch states that there is only one truth: they, their parents, abandoned Nunnally and him.]] |
| 90 | * ''Anime/CowboyBebop'': Ed appears to have raised herself [[spoiler:until it's revealed that her nutty-to-the-point-of-horribly-neglectful father just dumped her at an orphanage one day and completely forgot about her. When they ''do'' reunite, it takes Ed's father a moment to remember who she even is, and he forgets all about her again seconds later]]. |
| 91 | [[/folder]] |
| 92 | |
| 93 | [[folder:D-F]] |
| 94 | * In ''Manga/DailyLivesOfHighSchoolBoys'', Motoharu and his sister's parents were never home. |
| 95 | * ''Anime/{{Daltanious}}'': When Kento Tate finds out that [[spoiler: his father is alive, he gets angry and accuses him of this. Hurt, Hayato tells him he cannot blame him for hating him, but asks him to listen to his story - driven crazy by constant {{Hallucinations}} of another world, he became a sailor to find out what they were off, and drowned in an accident. Luckily, he was saved by Heliosians who told him that he was their AlienPrince, and explained that his {{Hallucinations}} were actually his memories he had back when he lived on Planet Helios. Hayato wanted to return to his family, but the Zaal chose to commence their AlienInvasion around this time and had him MadeASlave]]. |
| 96 | * ''Anime/DaphneInTheBrilliantBlue'': |
| 97 | ** Maia is an orphan -- and the circumstances surrounding how she became orphaned are key to the series' plot. |
| 98 | ** Subverted with Gloria. After the group finds a DoorstopBaby, she talks them out of turning it in to the police by talking about how horrible orphanages are. Then [[spoiler:it turns out it's her sister's baby, and Gloria left him there to get out of babysitting.]] |
| 99 | * ''Manga/DeadmanWonderland'' features Ganta (orphaned in an [[TheTokyoFireball earthquake]]); Yo and Minatsuki Takami ([[spoiler:mom abandoned Minatsuki during the earthquake; Minatsuki killed her and much later set her dad up to be killed by her brother, probably out of sadistic boredom]]); and Shiro (no family to speak of other then being childhood friends with Ganta and his mom, and possibly The Director who [[spoiler:implants Deadman organs in her and wants her to kill him. She obliges]]). |
| 100 | * ''Manga/DeathNote'': Misa, Near, and Mello are all orphans, and it's implied that L is, too. (One of the reasons why Misa is so devoted to Light is because the murderers of her parents were among his first victims.) The psychotic mass murderer gets a normal family, though, helping to emphasize how far he eventually falls. |
| 101 | * In ''Manga/DestroyAndRevolution'', Makoto's father committed suicide. His mother abandoned him. And his grandmother died from old age. As a result, he has no family. |
| 102 | * In ''Manga/DetectiveSchoolQ'', Kyuu lost his father at an early age and lives only with his mother. [[spoiler: His father, Satoru, was a detective and had to live his life practically undercover until his death.]] Megu's parents are in good terms with her, but they both work abroad and she lives with her older sister Akane. Kazuma lives with his parents in a [[BigFancyHouse huge mansion]], but they're never seen onscreen. Kinta's father is a high-ranked police officer [[WelldoneSonGuy with whom he has a rather strained relationship]] until the end of the anime. Ryu is an orphan who lives with his tutor, Yurie, and calls her "mother" in front of others [[spoiler: per orders of his evil grandfather, the villainous King Hades from the Meiousei organization]]. |
| 103 | * ''Manga/DGrayMan'': Allen was abandoned by his biological parents due to his left hand, and then raised by Mana Walker, who died sometime before the beginning of the series. He's then taken under General Cross's wing, but it's hard to say if there is anything resembling a father figure in him. Lenalee and Komui's parents are killed by Akuma when Lenalee is young, leading to the discovery of her being compatable with the Dark Boots, and Komui has to join the Order to stay with her. |
| 104 | ** Also, neither Miranda nor Krory's parents are ever seen or mentioned, although Krory's grandfather is. However his relationship with his grandson appears to be more of one that Krory is simply a part of his collection. |
| 105 | ** Timothy's father was a notorious thief, who went to jail. His mother is never mentioned. |
| 106 | * Considering its [[{{Shonen}} genre]], with the exception of [[Anime/DigimonFrontier Frontier]], the ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' franchise subverts this trope. The parents not only play a supporting part helping their kids, they [[Anime/DigimonAdventure help develop the character]], [[Anime/DigimonAdventure02 give one of the more]] emotional aspects to the show, [[Anime/DigimonTamers or attempt to rescue their daughter from the]] BigBad. |
| 107 | * ''Manga/DragonBall'' begins shortly after Goku accidentally kills his adoptive grandfather, the only family he's ever known. Much later, he finds out just how orphaned he is: not only are his parents dead [[spoiler: (mother was never mentioned, father attempted a HeroicSacrifice to save his planet and was killed)]], he's an alien from a planet which has been destroyed. Only a few of his race are left, and they're all utter bastards -- he has to kill most of them himself. |
| 108 | ** As for everybody else, Bulma is the only character from the original ''Dragon Ball'' with both parents, and they're kind of 'out there,' although [[MadScientist her father]] sneaked into the CompetenceZone once. For those introduced in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': Vegeta is an orphan, his mother never mentioned and his father killed when Planet Vegeta was destroyed; Android 17 and 18 killed their creator as they woke up, with their human parents never mentioned; and there's some distance between Videl and Mr. Satan, but they obviously love each other and Mr. Satan dotes on Pan. Trunks originally seemed like he would end up following the trope (raised by his mother after Vegeta's death at the hand of the androids, and is somewhat emotionally distanced from Vegeta himself once they met), but thanks to some time-traveling, he's nearly thirty and still living at home[[note]]Of course in this case "still living at home" means taking over the family business, the world's largest corporation, which his family owns a controlling interest in.[[/note]]. |
| 109 | ** A piece of artwork from Budokai Tenkaichi seems to depict [[http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/dragonballzbudokaitenkaichi/view_image.html?id=a48N4Bsg7hic7Bjm&cat=21&msg_sort=1 Goku and Vegeta's mothers.]] Which is which is up for debate. |
| 110 | ** Goku and Raditz's mother Gine finally appears in ''Dragon Ball Minus'', the bonus story of Manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman. |
| 111 | * ''Anime/DualParallelTroubleAdventure'': Kazuki Yotsuga is effectively orphaned when he ends up in a parallel universe where he was never born. In the BackStory, the mother of Mitsuki Sanada divorced her father, leaving him a bit of an emotional wreck and Mitsuki angry and hateful toward her. |
| 112 | ** In the ending, due to a burst of AGodAmI, an ideal universe is created where the "best" elements of both dimensions are fused... and yet almost all the parents have been sent away on permanent vacation. |
| 113 | * ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'': Anri witnessed her parents [[spoiler:commit murder-suicide]], and she currently lives alone without any adult supervision; Mikado's parents sent him off to live alone in a strange city (also without any adult supervision) at age 15; and Masaomi's parents are never mentioned, though if they do exist, they don't seem to mind when their 15-year-old son drops out of school to run away with his girlfriend. |
| 114 | * ''VisualNovel/EfATaleOfMemories'': Miyako's case fits the trope in a distressing manner, as she truly was abandoned by her parents. But there are more examples: Hiro is living on his own despite still being in high school, because of a row he had with his father due to his choice to become a mangaka. Kei and Chihiro's parents are never seen and the one character who has a mother figure, Renji, seems to be lacking a father that is never mentioned, but from a certain character's constant flirting with Renji's mom, it can be assumed that the father is either non-existant, or deceased. |
| 115 | * ''Manga/ElfenLied'': Most of the characters have suffered extreme parental abandonment (or at least the psychological effects of it) similar to those of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. The results, needless to say, aren't pretty: |
| 116 | ** Yuka never seems to have a father, nor is he even mentioned. Her mother shows up near series end in the manga, and really only seems there to question the wisdom of keeping Nana. |
| 117 | ** Kouta's mother is also never brought up, and the loss of his other family members drives the series. |
| 118 | ** Nana never knows her true parents, and is heartsick when she learns [[spoiler: Kurarama is not her real father. He is Mariko]]'s. |
| 119 | ** Mayu loses her father early on, and it is indicated they may have been close. Her mother was always distant, and turned outright hostile when she learned that her new husband was sexually abusing Mayu. In an act of coldness that has to place her in the bottom 30 animanga abusive parents, she is jealous of her daughter -- who is being raped -- for the attention she is getting, and later she signs away custody to Kouta and Yuka without blinking. |
| 120 | ** Lucy, it turns out [[spoiler:was not abandoned by her mother]]. Lucy/Nyu/[[spoiler:Kaede]]'s mom was [[spoiler:also a diclonius]] -- and then she was used and murdered in the racial eugenics schemes of [[spoiler:Kakuzawa]]. He left Lucy homeless so that she would grow away from Humans. Sadly, it worked. |
| 121 | * ''Anime/EurekaSeven'': Renton had no mother, his father died in the 'Summer of Love' incident, and his sister left home when Renton was young. This left him with his paternal grandfather, until he joins the Gekko State in the beginning of the series. |
| 122 | ** ''Anime/EurekaSevenAO'': Ao's mother vanished in an incident 10 years ago when Ao is two-years-old, and no one knows who his father is. Until he joins Generation Bleu he lives with his adoptive grandfather, who took his mother in when she came to Okinawa. Ao's goal in the entire series is to find his mom and save her, and by the final episode, [[spoiler: he succeeded]]. |
| 123 | * ''Manga/Eyeshield21'': The parents of the members of the protagonist's high school football team take little to no interest whatsoever in the activities of their children (with the exception of Komisubi's folks.) But this trope really comes into play during the Death March storyline, when the team is given to the option to spend their entire summer vacation in America, enduring a hellish and potentially life-threatening TrainingFromHell. All of them accept the offer without consulting, informing or even thinking about their parents, and none of them are ever shown contacting their folks to let them know that they'll be on another continent for the next several weeks. |
| 124 | ** We do see a few scenes on their return from the Death March in Volume 11. Some parents are largely kept in the dark, like Sena's parents and Yukimitsu's [[EducationMama mother]], and some get more of the gory details, like Komusubi's dad and Monta's (apparently apathetic) mother. |
| 125 | ** Hiruma has a distant relationship with his father [[spoiler:who does make an appearance at the Christmas Bowl]] and no mother is mentioned. |
| 126 | * ''Manga/FairyTail'' |
| 127 | ** Natsu was [[RaisedByWolves raised by a dragon]] after being abandoned/separated from his parents in a forest. |
| 128 | ** His rival, Gray had his entire village destroyed by a demon. Then Gray's mentor (who was practically a substitute mother to him) [[spoiler: sacrificed her life to seal that same demon]] when he was still a child. |
| 129 | *** His mentor's daughter (Ultear) believed to be abandoned by her mother, but it's revealed that the mother thought she had died after being tricked by an organization that wanted the daughter because of her magic power. She ends up working for several villains out of spite of this until it's revealed. |
| 130 | ** Lucy's mother died when she was young, and she ran away from home because of her father's heartlessness, implied to be because of his own grief. After him being the cause of a story arc when he hires a guild to force her to come back they finally make up but [[spoiler:he dies of illness while Lucy's away at Tenrou Island.]] |
| 131 | ** Cana's mother died when she was little and she was too afraid to approach her father [[spoiler:who is Gildartz. She does eventually tell him and he apologizes not knowing he had a kid. He does go off again shortly after, but Cana's already an adult by then anyway and they've made peace with each other.]] |
| 132 | ** Averted with Romeo, who's father Macao is also part of the guild and a good and loving father to him. |
| 133 | * ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': All three key human characters have parent issues. Shirou is an orphan, and the man who adopted him is also dead. Rin is living alone, her father having died in the previous Grail War; the man who's been her guardian since then [[spoiler:is in fact the BigBad, and her father's killer]]. Worst off by far is Sakura: [[spoiler:her parents gave her to a foster family years ago, and she's been suffering horrific abuse at their hands ever since.]] |
| 134 | ** Inverted in the prequel, ''Literature/FateZero'' -- Kiritsugu (Shirou's adoptive father, and protagonist) left Illya, his daughter, knowing that he can't be reunited with her, which is the reason for her strange relationship with Shirou in ''Fate/stay night''. |
| 135 | ** It's also applicable to ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}''. Shiki's biological parents are dead. His foster father died before the start of the story and is the plot catalyst. Only passing mention of the mother, it's assumed she died. Arihiko has no family left except his sister. Ciel's parents are dead [[spoiler:because she killed them]]. Hisui and Kohaku don't even know their surnames let alone their parents. Most of the rest of the cast aren't people who actually ''would'' have families of any sort. An exception is made for Satsuki, who apparently has a healthy home life. Maybe that's why her route was removed? |
| 136 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'' spinoff ''Manga/FourTownFourReal'', Jesse sometimes feels like he's abandoned his adoptive children because he is away from them so much due to his job. |
| 137 | * ''Manga/TheFoxAndLittleTanuki'': Both titular characters were abandoned by their parents because they feared their supernatural powers. Senzou, the fox, never had anyone to care for him during his kittenhood and so became evil. He is punished by the gods by having his powers taken away and being given Manpachi, the tanuki, to raise into an upstanding servant of the gods. |
| 138 | * ''Anime/{{Free}}'': Haruka lives alone in his late grandmothers home. His parents moved away for business reasons. |
| 139 | * ''Manga/FruitsBasket'': There are several instances of this, though not as much as [[DysfunctionJunction might be expected]]. Many juunishi still have both parents (Hatsuharu, Hiro, Kagura, and Ritsu) or are independent adults whose parents are only briefly, if at all, mentioned (Shigure, Kureno, and Hatori). Kisa's father is simply never mentioned. Outside this group, Saki has a full family, who actually show up in-panel. In the more extreme cases... |
| 140 | ** Tohru's father Katsuya died of illness when she was three, and her mother Kyoko in a car accident four months before the series begins. Her grandfather is very loving, but the rest of her family is quite bitchy. |
| 141 | ** Yuki is estranged from his parents, who essentially sold him as Akito's playmate (or plaything), while Ayame is just TheUnfavorite. Apparently, Yuki's mother is just starting to soften up to him later. |
| 142 | ** Kyo's mentally unstable mother committed suicide when he was young, and his father blamed Kyo for it. Partially mitigated, as Kyo's uncle Kazuma has become, in essentially all respects, his adoptive father. |
| 143 | ** After years of pretending to care for her, Rin's parents beat up and rejected her for noticing that their affection was fake; she lives with Kagura's family and later with Kazuma as a result. Similarly, Momiji's mother rejected him because of the curse and eventually [[spoiler:had her memories of him erased]], forcing him to live on his own; his father still supports him economically, though, and seems to care about him... [[UselessBystanderParent just not as much as the rest of his family]]. |
| 144 | ** Arisa's mother left her father for another man, and her father became an alcoholic (with her supporting him instead). By the present day, their relationship seems to be improving. |
| 145 | ** Hatori's mother died when he was in elementary school, and his father died when he was in high school. Even before that, the author's notes say that it was a rather cold household. |
| 146 | ** Akito's [[spoiler:loving and doting father Akira died of illness when she was a little child, and her mother Ren despises her (a mutual feeling). In fact, Ren's [[MindRape particularly cruel psychological abuse of young Akito]] is one of the main causes why she is so fucked up.]] |
| 147 | * ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': |
| 148 | ** Ed and Al lose their mother, and try to bring her back with human transmutation. The rest is, as they say, history. As for their DisappearedDad, [[spoiler:they do eventually reunite, although at different points depending on medium. In the manga, Ed briefly meets up with him shortly after Lust's death early on, while Alphonse is reunited with him in Liore much, much later; he plays a very major role in the overall plot. In ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'', Ed and Al don't even see their estranged father until very near the end, and he doesn't do much of consequence besides give some backstory to the villain and ineffectually try to stop her on his own.]] |
| 149 | ** There's also Winry, whose parents get killed during the war in Ishval, however, their murderer changes between the manga ([[spoiler:Scar, in a panic-induced frenzy from having lost all his family and friends in Kimblee's attack]]) and anime ([[spoiler:Mustang, on orders to kill them for tending to wounded Ishvalans]]). |
| 150 | ** It was revealed that [[spoiler:Hawkeye's mother died when she was young, later followed by her jerkass father, and Roy was raised by a foster mother.]] |
| 151 | * So is Sagara Sousuke from ''Literature/FullMetalPanic''. Similarly, Kaname apparently has her own apartment and little connection to her family in the anime, though they were referenced more directly in the novels (They apparently all live near her father's UN job in ''New York'', leaving her by herself in Tokyo). |
| 152 | * ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'' is very, VERY infatuated with this trope. |
| 153 | ** Miaka Yuuki's parents had a REALLY nasty divorce when she was little and she lives with her [[EducationMama over-exigent mother]] and her college-aged brother Keisuke. [[spoiler:In the manga, her mother re-marries later.]] |
| 154 | ** Yui Hongou's parents are only shown once; in their only appearance, they seemingly are rather normal people. In the anime, her father is never even shown; we only see her mother when she asks Miaka if Yui had taken a detour to her home, which is the first clue about her being swallowed into the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho. |
| 155 | ** ParentalAbandonment (more exactly, her parents are going through a really bad divorce) is ''supposed'' to be Mayo Sakaki's FreudianExcuse. Unfortunately, it comes off as {{Wangst}}, and Mayo is ''such'' a JerkAss that people don't give a shit in the end. |
| 156 | ** [[strike:Several]] Most of the Seishi are orphans or abandoned. Here are some plot-driving examples: |
| 157 | *** Tamahome's mother is dead and his loving father is crippled by an illness, [[spoiler:killed halfway through the series by Suboshi]]. |
| 158 | *** Hotohori's mother was an iron-fisted GoldDigger in the court and died a few years after he was appointed as the heir to the throne. |
| 159 | *** Soi's parents sold her to a brothel since they couldn't keep her. |
| 160 | *** Amiboshi and Suboshi's parents died in the war, apparently in front of the twins. |
| 161 | *** [[spoiler: Nakago's mother was raped and murdered in front of him when he was a child. In his character novel, he kills the former general of the Kutou army, who is his DisappearedDad... this happened after a LukeIAmYourFather moment]]. |
| 162 | ** In ''Manga/FushigiYuugiGenbuKaiden'' Takiko's DelicateAndSickly mother dies of tuberculosis in the FIRST Chapter, and her father is never around because [[spoiler:he was researching the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho to find a way to save his wife]], and he never wanted a daughter to begin with. |
| 163 | * Honoka Yukishiro in the original ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure'' lived with her grandmother and her parents were art dealers who came home for her birthday. Honoka doesn't seem to have suffered much as a result of this... actually, it looks like a little of Honoka's parents goes a long way. |
| 164 | ** ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5'' has a couple of these. Urara's mother died when she was very young. This is fairly significant in one episode, which had Urara acting mysterious while carrying around and reading a book that belonged to her mother. Karen has two living parents, but they're a pair of musical performers, consistently making it home for Christmas but otherwise perpetually on tour. (She does have a butler who takes care of her, which is good because this has been the situation since she was little.) [[LonelyRichKid This led to some emotional problems down the road.]] |
| 165 | ** ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure'' has Itsuki, who is shown to be living with her mom, grandfather and (at one point) sickly older brother, but no sign of her father. And Yuri's dad had been missing for three years when he went to search for the Great Heart Tree [[spoiler:then came back and became one of the series' BigBad who works for the GreaterScopeVillain]]. This is also Tsubomi's entire ''backstory'', as her parents were always at work and she spent her time with her grandmother. This lasted for thirteen years before she finally had an emotional breakdown and admitted her loneliness. Her entire story is essentially her recovering from it and becoming a better person. |
| 166 | ** ''Anime/SmilePrettyCure'' has Yayoi, whose father passed away when she was real young. Like Urara, she does have an episode dealing with this. |
| 167 | [[/folder]] |
| 168 | |
| 169 | [[folder:G-K]] |
| 170 | * In ''Manga/GakuenBabysitters'', the parents of the Kashima siblings are dead prior to the start of the story due to a fatal plane crash. |
| 171 | * Shun Ukiya of ''VideoGame/GateKeepers'' harbors more than a little resentment with his father for dying some years before the start of the series, and in turn [[spoiler:his daughter Ayane similarly resents Shun for his heroic sacrifice several years before the opening of the sequel series ''Anime/GateKeepers21'']]. |
| 172 | ** Feiling, Kaoru, Specs ("Megane") and Big Boss all have no visible parents. Reiko appears to live alone except for a governess. Yukino's parents died some eight centuries ago, in the Heian Era. |
| 173 | ** However, there is an aversion in Ruriko, whose family is intact and frequently visible. |
| 174 | ** Appears to be subverted by Megumi, whose parents, though never seen, are still around and active in her life -- and whom she seems to wish would disappear. |
| 175 | * Most of the recurring characters in ''Manga/GetBackers'' are over the age of eighteen, but there are several teenagers with varying levels of parental absences. Most of the overage characters had dead or missing parents as well, but there are some semi-healthy adoptive relationships. Also some inversion, since Juubei and Sakura abandoned their family in order to follow Kazuki, and Toshiki is implied to have run away from home after defeating his half-brother. There are flashback scenes that show [[spoiler: that Ban specifically was abandoned for his abilities and handed off to his grandmother, who has the same powers.]]. |
| 176 | * In ''Literature/GoodLuckNinomiyaKun'', three six-year-olds were living alone under the same roof, with occasional older sibling support. One can only hope that they had financial support, at the very least. Also interesting is the fact that the protagonist's parents were alive and well, just very distant. |
| 177 | * In ''Manga/GourmetGirlGraffiti'', Ryou's parents have been working overseas since she was eight. Her grandmother who has been looking after her for the past ''six years'', has died shortly before the beginning the series, making her a case of MinorLivingAlone as well. |
| 178 | * ''VideoGame/{{Gungrave}}'': Brandon (the protagonist) spent his childhood in an orphanage along with his friend, Harry and it's never said how they lost their parents. When Mika Asagi comes into the picture after the timeskip, not only was her father murdered by Harry before she was even born, she witnessed agents of Millennium murder her mother (Maria) before her very eyes (although their main target was Mika herself) as the family butler (who also dies along the way) was ordered to help bring Mika to the one person who can protect her -- Brandon. Mika gets thrown for quite a loop, however, when she discovers that Brandon isn't really "himself" anymore -- he's the lonely, undead killer called "Beyond the Grave". |
| 179 | * A lot of boxers in ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo'' have missing parents. Ippo's fisherman [[DisappearedDad dad]] drowned at sea while rescuing others, so he only lives with his [[OpenMindedParent loving mother]] Hiroko. Miyata's [[MissingMom mom]] abandoned him when he was a child. Sendo's parents are both dead (mom died apparently in chilbirth, dad was a firefighter and perished in a huge fire), so he lives with his paternal grandmother. Takamura is from a wealthy family, but his parents disowned him when he was in high school, due to his violent nature. Mashiba was orphaned when he was in highschool and had to raise himself ''and'' his little sister Kumi. We never get to know what happened to Volg's father and his DelicateAndSickly mother who raised him alone [[spoiler:and dies some time in the series, after Volg has to return to Russia]]; for all matters, Ramuda is the closest to a father figure he has. |
| 180 | * ''Anime/HanasakuIroha'': It starts with Ohana being sent to live with her grandmother at a hotsprings inn after her mother's boyfriend has racked up a substantial debt, forcing them to flee. |
| 181 | * Both series of ''Manga/HanaukyoMaidTeam''. Both of Taro's parents are dead, and both of Cynthia's parents gave her up to the Hanaukyo family. |
| 182 | * ''Manga/HappyWorld'': Oomura Takeshi was scarred emotionally for much of his childhood and teenage years when the last words his father spoke to him before abandoning him was 'You're a burden'. |
| 183 | * ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'': Haruhi and Kyon seem to have parents (who are never seen on-screen) but Kyon is quite perplexed when he meets up with Yuki at her apartment and she's living there alone. Later on, after Ryōko disappears, Haruhi suspects something is up when she discovers that Ryōko's apartment manager never saw her parents -- because she also lived alone, in the same building as Yuki. This makes sense once you realize that Yuki and Ryoko are alien robots made to observe Haruhi. |
| 184 | ** Mikuru has no family in the present time either, since she's visiting from the future -- where she lives and how she supports herself in this world is completely unknown. Kyon asks her once what her real family in the future is like, but she tells him that time travelers can't talk about their families because it's "top-level classified information." |
| 185 | * ''Manga/HarukanaReceive'': Haruka moves to Okinawa from Tokyo because her mother is working overseas. Kanata's parents are both deceased. |
| 186 | * ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'' practically lives on this trope. We have: |
| 187 | ** Hayate Ayasaki, whose parents sold him to the [[strike:yakuza]] very nice people to pay off their 156,804,000 yen debt and ran away. |
| 188 | ** Nagi Sanzen'in, whose parents are dead. |
| 189 | *** Father is never seen and supposedly died before Nagi could remember him. She has a few memories of her mother though. |
| 190 | *** Her grandfather is said to have given her some raising, but she is estranged from him from the start [[spoiler:and then she gets cut off from the inheritance.]] Mother figure is Maria. |
| 191 | ** Maria, who is a DoorstopBaby. |
| 192 | ** Sakuya Aizawa, whose father had an affair, but both parents are alive. |
| 193 | *** Her father, and two of her (full) siblings have been shown, presumably her mother was with the other two children during this event. She lives, and presumably was raised by her two butlers. |
| 194 | ** Wataru Tachibana has living parents, but runs the family business and lives alone with his maid. |
| 195 | *** His mother is shown to have been living in Las Vegas and his father in some other eastern country. His mother gave birth to him when she was young and then leaving him to be raised by Saki. |
| 196 | ** Hinagiku and sister Yukiji, whose parents ran off, leaving them with a large debt, which Yukiji took care of before getting them adopted by her former teacher and his wife. Hinagiku still happily lives with them, though only their foster mother has been seen. |
| 197 | ** Athena, whose parents are dead, mentioning this is Athena's BerserkButton. |
| 198 | ** Isumi's female family (up to her great grandmother) has been shown, but no mention of her father, grandfather or great grandfather has been made. |
| 199 | ** Izumi lives with her father (and it is implied that her mother is simply not shown.) |
| 200 | ** Riza lives with her grandfather, though her father may have been seen, it isn't mentioned. |
| 201 | ** Miki is implied to live with her parents, but they have not been seen. |
| 202 | ** Both of Chiharu's parents are shown to be around, but are neglectful to the point of eventually burning down their own house in a money-making scheme and then abandoning her to follow through with the scheme. |
| 203 | ** Both of Ayumu Nishizawa's parents are shown, and are decent folk. |
| 204 | * ''Anime/HeatGuyJ'': |
| 205 | ** Daisuke's mother went back home to the land of the [[SuperiorSpecies Celestials]], when she just couldn't take the fighting between her husband and her brother anymore. Her husband, Daisuke's father, was killed by an android controlled by Clair's father [[spoiler: on orders from his ex-brother-in-law.]] |
| 206 | ** Clair's mother [[DeathByChildbirth died giving birth to him]]. After years of physical and emotional abuse from his father, [[SelfMadeOrphan Clair shot and killed his father]]. He may or may not have been fully cognizant of it at the time, and somehow got away with it. |
| 207 | ** Monica's biological father left her mother (likely during either the latter's pregnancy or the former's infancy). Her mother spends all night drinking and partying, and most of the day sleeping off hangovers. |
| 208 | ** Kia Freeborn's father let the SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll trope get the best of him, which culminated in getting his mistress pregnant, and leaving Kia and his mother to start a new life with her. For this, Kia resents his half-brother Ray. |
| 209 | ** Giovanni was a StreetUrchin growing up in Judoh's slum area, when he was taken in by Lorenzo, for reasons unknown, and given to Clair as a bodyguard/big-brother figure. |
| 210 | ** Antonia's mother passed away (possibly from childbirth), and later her father did as well. |
| 211 | ** In fact, the only character whose family is intact and pretty normal is Kyoko. |
| 212 | * In ''Manga/HekikaiNoAion'', Tatsuya's parents died in an accident a week before the story started. |
| 213 | * ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'': |
| 214 | ** Integra. Her mother was out of the picture in early childhood, her father died when she was twelve, she shot her own uncle dead shortly after (mainly because ''he'' was trying to kill ''her''), and the rest of her formative years were spent under the... idiosyncratic... guidance of the family BattleButler and the [[KidWithTheLeash vampiric (un)living weapon she inherited]]. |
| 215 | ** Seras Victoria was orphaned at an early age. She witnessed her father being killed by the gang he infiltrated (the father was a policeman), and her mother died trying to confront them, as well as witnessing ''the gang members raping the corpse of her mother''. Seras herself attacked them with a fork, only to be shot and left for dead. |
| 216 | ** They are not alone. Walter is already a field agent for the Hellsing organization at the age of fourteen (per the prequel series ''The Dawn''), with no mention of parents. Maxwell was abruptly abandoned when he was young for being the illegitimate son of a man's mistress. Pip Bernadotte is implied to have lived with his grandfather, who instilled the mercenary mindset in him. [[spoiler:Alucard, as the semi-immortal Vlad III, has the historically nasty death of his father by the Turkish variation of scalping.]] And these are just the characters for which we ''know'' about their parents. |
| 217 | * ''Manga/HidamariSketch'': So, if Yamabuki is Nazuna's local school, why is she living in the Hidamari Apartments now? [[spoiler:Her father was sent to work elsewhere just before school started. Unexpectedly, Nozuna's mom followed him because "he's useless living alone."]] [[ProneToTears Poor girl]]. |
| 218 | * The anime and especially the manga version of ''Manga/HisAndHerCircumstances'' both subverts and uses this trope. Of the two main characters of the OfficialCouple, Yukino is shown to have a much healthier family life than her beau Soichiro. In both cases the parents are present, but Soichiro's "parents" are actually his foster parents who are biologically his uncle and aunt. [[spoiler:Soichiro's reunion with his biological parents set the stage for the emotional climax of the manga]]. Tsubasa and Kazuma both have only one surviving parent [[spoiler:who marry each other just as Tsubasa and Kazuma themselves get hitched]]. Other characters have very little mention of family except for Rika's brother. One of them is actually on highly antagonistic terms with his father. And finally, [[spoiler:Yukino's dad is an orphan, himself, and that caused some friction with his wife's family before they got married.]] |
| 219 | * In ''Manga/HouseOfTheSun'', Hiro's parents are dead and Mao's are divorced and distant from her. |
| 220 | * Are you one of the main cast of ''Literature/InfiniteStratos''? It sucks to be you if you are. To wit: |
| 221 | ** Ichika and Chifuyu's parents abandoned them, leading Chifuyu to [[PromotionToParent raise Ichika by herself.]] |
| 222 | ** Houki's entire family had to constantly move around due to her older sister introducing the I.S. machines themselves, and thus needs protection. |
| 223 | ** Lin's parents divorced due to differences and the restaurant that Ichika used to visit has closed. |
| 224 | ** Cecilia's parents died from an accident. |
| 225 | ** Charles [[spoiler:or rather, Charlotte]] is the illegitimate child of a country woman, and the CEO of the I.S. company of France, who abandoned him. [[spoiler: Her, actually.]] |
| 226 | ** Laura's a genetically enhanced SuperSoldier and was raised in a military environment, and thus had no parents. |
| 227 | * Almost every major character in ''Manga/InuYasha'' is either orphaned or seems to only have one parent (specifically, Kagome, who appears to be fatherless, though she has a very good, open and trusting relationship with the rest of her family, who actually aid her in her dangerous quest as much as they can, since they see it as [[YouCantFightFate a part of her destiny]]). [[spoiler: It's mentioned in the novel ''Shousetsu Inuyasha'' that Kagome's father died in an accident several years prior to the story, this being the cause why Mama Higurashi, Kagome, and Sota moved into the shrine with the grandpa. And this happened few after Kagome's grandma died, too.]] |
| 228 | * Bell lost both of his parents ''Literature/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon'' when he was young and he was raised by his grandfather, who is also deceased by the time the series starts. |
| 229 | ** Lilluka's parent died in the dungeon trying to make a fortune. |
| 230 | * ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' has this running the entire length of the series. In Part One, Jonathan Joestar lost his mother when he was an infant in a carriage accident; Dio Brando, meanwhile, also lost his mother as a child, but personally killed his father for being an abusive alcoholic. Part Two has Joseph Joestar, who was raised by his grandmother ([[spoiler:his father having been killed by a vampire and his mother, Lisa Lisa, giving him up to keep him from what now looked like the family destiny, requesting Erina tell Joseph both his parents were dead]]). Jotaro in Part Three actually has both parents, but his father is a famous musician perpetually on tour. In Part Four, Josuke grew without the presence of his father (Joseph), he meets him at the start. Part Five has Giorno Giovanna, his father is Dio [[note]]whose head took over Jonathan's body[[/note]] and is estranged from his stepfather and mother. In Part Six, Jolyne had to live with her father's (Jotaro) frequent absency. Most of the series has her trying to save him. As for part Seven, Johnny's father [[TheUnFavourite shunned him]] as he [[ParentalFavoritism prefered his older brother]]. Johnny got booted out after a fight with him. |
| 231 | * Subversion: In ''Anime/JubeiChan'', main character Jiyu's mother is dead true to form, but this has made her extremely close to her BumblingDad, who is aware she's a (very strange variant of the) MagicalGirl. Their relationship is more important to the series than the plots of the various villains, except where the relationship and the plots intersect. |
| 232 | * Nanami Momozono from ''Manga/KamisamaKiss'' gets abandoned at the start of the story by her father (her mother died when she was little). See, he is [[TheGamblingAddict a bit of a gambler]] who racked up a massive amount of debt and barely managed to skip town maybe ten minutes ahead of the creditors and repo-men leaving Nanami to get evicted from her home. |
| 233 | * Rinichi Sagara from ''[[Manga/KanojoNiNaruHi Kanojo Ni Naru Hi Another]]'' lives with his paternal uncle and insists his parents are dead; the truth isn't much prettier. Sagara's father is a ne'er do well gambler with a habit of skipping town and his mother [[TheResenter resents him for being an ever-present reminder of his loser father and for looking better than she does.]] She lost custody after a nasty incident where he accidentally pushed her down the stairs trying to escape a beating and eventually tries to sell him to human traffickers to settle the debts Sagara's Deadbeat father saddled her with. |
| 234 | * All the ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'' main characters, save Nayuki (who has a mother, Akiko) and Mai (whose mother is important to her plot, but only appears a few times). Shiori and Yuuichi are said to have parents, but they're never on screen and Yuuichi doesn't live with his. Ayu's mother is dead, and she can't reach her father and stepmother; even in the end, we don't see them. Makoto has LaserGuidedAmnesia and can't find her parents, but it's [[EpilepticTrees theorized]] that we do see one of them as one of Makoto's {{Mysterious Watcher}}s. If you watched the show, you'll know what I mean. |
| 235 | * In ''Literature/KazeNoStigma'', Kazuma gets abandoned by his parents after losing a match with his cousin. At least he gets a gold card from his mom, but he bends it to prevent himself from relying on them. |
| 236 | * Many fighters from ''Manga/KenganAshura'' are orphans. |
| 237 | ** Ohma, Kiryu, [[spoiler:Himuro and Rin]] hailed from a WretchedHive called "The Inside" where abandoned children are distresssingly common, and many of them have to fight, steal and even kill on a daily basis just to survive. |
| 238 | ** Implied to be the case with Wakatsuki due to his Superman's syndrome. Furumi's uncle mentions that his parents sent him to the hospital to help control his condition, and are never seen again. Furumi practically raised Takeshi, and accompanies him throughout his significant life events, such as his high school graduation. |
| 239 | * ''Anime/KillLaKill'' has [[spoiler: Ryuuko Matoi]], whose mother ''dropped her down a garbage chute'' shortly after birth for not seeming to successfully get superpowers from being infused with Life Fibers. |
| 240 | * In ''Manga/KimagureOrangeRoad,'' Kyosuke and his sisters have a MissingMom who died few after the girls were born, though she's still revered by the whole family. Hikaru lives with her parents, but they're never shown onscreen. Madoka is the biggest example: she gets along well with her parents, yet they're very famous musicians who practically ''live'' on tour so she lives with her older sister, and when said sister gets married and moves abroads with her husband, Madoka prefers to live alone at home. |
| 241 | * The titular character from ''Manga/KimbaTheWhiteLion'' has his father shot by poachers, while his mother drowned in a boat. Lyra also lost her parents to hunters. |
| 242 | * ''Manga/{{Kinnikuman}}'', was, as a baby, mistaken for a pig that snuck aboard his parents' ship and dropped on Earth. |
| 243 | * Played with in ''Manga/KOn''. Yui's parents do exist but Ui seems to do their job anyway, and it's a running joke that they're never around when the band visits Yui -- until the one time they ''are''. |
| 244 | * ''Manga/KoreWaKoiNoHanashi'': |
| 245 | ** Haurka's father is away on business constantly and her mother is hospital-bound due to illness. |
| 246 | ** Shinichi's parents were gone a lot, too, when he was a child. [[spoiler: They attempted a family suicide when he was eight-years-old, but Shinichi survived.]] |
| 247 | * ''Manga/KotouraSan'': |
| 248 | ** Haruka's {{telepathy}} powers plus InnocentlyInsensitive nature also caused this trope--[[LivingLieDetector by blurting out]] the affairs ''both'' her parents had in front of them. Both of them abandoned her to her grandfather, with the mother stated that [[WhamLine she wished]] [[IHaveNoSon Haruka to not been born.]] |
| 249 | ** Yuriko's mother was DrivenToSuicide (and have her name permanently tarnished) due to people's allegations that she was a fraud and trickster who pretended to be clairvoyant. |
| 250 | [[/folder]] |
| 251 | |
| 252 | [[folder:L-N]] |
| 253 | * Both Lavi and Claus in ''Anime/LastExile'' are orphans, forcing them to spend most of their childhood learning how to fly their fathers' vanship. |
| 254 | * In ''Literature/LoveChunibyoAndOtherDelusions'', [[spoiler:[[MrImagination Rikka]] and Touka's father died three years before the events of the series and their mother left them with their grandparents. The resultant solitude ''is'' the main reason why Rikka behaves this way.]] |
| 255 | * In ''Manga/LoveHina'', most of the Hinata Apartments residents are either estranged from, or just don't seem to have, parents. Motoko and Kaolla are orphans. Sarah is living with Seta, despite apparently having parents overseas (in the anime, where it is inexplicably implied they are abusive; in the manga, though, her parents are deceased college friends of Seta and Haruka). Shinobu lives at Hinata-sou as a result of her parents divorcing and moving away. (Her parents have several appearances, and became part of the plot for some episodes.) Naru lives away from home because she feels she doesn't fit in after her mother remarries. Keitaro has parents, who are mentioned but never seen, although their voices are heard in the first episode and he talks to them by phone occasionally. (In the manga version, though, Keitaro's parents are alive and well; they run a bakery, and Keitaro frequently fights with them over his decision to attend college instead of taking the family business.) Parents aren't mentioned for Kitsune (who is Naru's contemporary) or Haruka (who is ''Seta'''s contemporary, and thus more than old enough to be independent). |
| 256 | ** In [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary material]], it's revealed that Haruka's parents are dead and she was adopted by her's and Keitaro's grandmother. |
| 257 | * ''Manga/LuckyStar'': Konata's mother died when she was very young, Yutaka lives with her uncle and cousin, and Miyuki's father is never mentioned. However, the series seems to avert the trope overall. None of the instances cause damage or discomfort to characters or viewers, beyond engendering mild empathy for Konata. Her single-parent relationship with her father is very loving and supportive in both directions (the loli/otaku stuff is played for comedy). The Hiiragi twins, Miyuki and Minami all have delineated, idyllic family lives. Screen time is just too expensive to spend on multiple parental units, because the show isn't about them. Yet ''Anime/LuckyStar'' focuses far more often on family life than comparable shows like ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'', ''Manga/HighSchoolGirls'', ''Hyakko'' and (despite the age differences), ''Manga/StrawberryMarshmallow'', and presents it quite positively. |
| 258 | * Very consciously [[AvertedTrope averted]] in ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha''. While a good number of the characters had lost their natural parents [[ArtificialHuman or never had parents in the first place]], practically all of them are adopted into families that care for them deeply and raise them in a loving environment. Not surprising considering how the series stresses the importance of family. |
| 259 | ** There is a straight example in Teana Lanster though, who lost both parents, and later, her older brother and guardian at a relatively young age. One of the strengths she saw in her partner Subaru was that she had a loving family to support her, despite the death of her mother at some point. |
| 260 | ** And then there's Hayate, who's... a special case. She lost her parents at a very young age, but she has the [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld Wolkenritter, her beloved adopted family]]... of which she's been the ''mother'' figure ever since she was ''nine''. [[WiseBeyondTheirYears Kids sure mature fast these days]]. |
| 261 | *** But how about before the Wolkenritter? There's no mentioning, and given Hayate was then in a wheelchair, it is expected some body to look after her...? |
| 262 | ** Hayate flat-out says she was alone before the Wolkenritters came. Didn't the doctors or ''someone'' have something to say about a crippled child being left all on her own? |
| 263 | *** There is a possible justification for that. [[spoiler: Given the fact that Gil chose her as a sacrifice because she didn't have anyone that would mourn her loss, it's very likely that the authorities were paid to look the other way.]] |
| 264 | ** Fuka grew up in an orphanage, and no mention is ever made of what happened to her parents. Unlike most orphans in the series, she doesn't end up getting adopted (she does live with her employer Nove, and the final bonus manga chapter notes that their relationship is familial in nature, but they never officially make the jump to mother and daughter). |
| 265 | ** All four of Amitie and Kyrie's grandparents were killed when their parents were children in the movie continuity, having been victims of the Planet Restoration Committee slaughter. |
| 266 | * Saotome Alto from ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'' seems to suffer from this, as [[spoiler: his mother died of an illness when he was still a kid]] and he was thrown out of the family by his father after refusing to continue the family tradition of kabuki performance and instead pursuing his dreams of becoming a pilot. |
| 267 | ** Ranka Lee is one of the few survivors of the 117th Research Fleet. Her parents weren't so lucky. |
| 268 | ** Michael Blanc's parents were killed when he was young and he was raised by his older sister until [[spoiler:she killed herself after being court-martialled for accidentally shooting her commanding officer/former lover in battle]]. |
| 269 | ** Sheryl Nome was a homeless girl in the slums of the Galaxy fleet before she was found by MadScientist Grace O'Connor and turned into a galaxy-wide pop-idol. |
| 270 | * In ''Manga/MarchComesInLikeALion'', both of Rei's parents (along with his sister) die in truck accident as part of his backstory. Their bruised corpses when they were returned to the home for the funeral service have left a lasting impression on his mind. |
| 271 | * Borderline case: The main characters' parents in ''Manga/MarmaladeBoy'' are impulsive and flighty, but clearly try to [[OpenMindedParent be supportive of their children when they are around at all]]. When both pairs divorce and remarry each other's former spouses, the whole group moves in together to form a single household so that the children don't need to be separated from their parents. However, they leave the two teens alone as they go off on vacations, they repeatedly dismiss Miki's concerns as "taking life too seriously," and never try to determine the cause of Yuu's emotional detachment. The four parents are so in sync with each other that some fans refer to them as "the hive mind." |
| 272 | ** Meanwhile, Satoshi is the only other character who has a parent appear, and he's a rich playboy who allowed his dead wife to think he was having an affair to cover the fact that he was having an affair ''with someone else'' (although is otherwise a nice guy, from what we've seen); Meiko can't stand her home, as her parents are incredibly hateful towards each other, both having affairs and emotionally distant (and the mother is apparently an alcoholic); Kei is estranged from his family due to [[EducationMama the enormous pressure put on him as a musical prodigy]], although he's implied to have patched things up in the end; Cousins Ginta Suou and Tsutomu Rokutanda are rivals because their family constantly compared them to each other growing up (and this throwaway line is the only mention they ever get!); Arimi and Suzu's families are never mentioned at all, beyond the fact that Suzu is Satoshi's cousin and, in the anime, her father gets Yuu his scholarship for an American school. In the anime we have Anju Kitahara, who apparently has a rather normal family life with parents who overprotect her a bit since [[DelicateAndSickly she has a serious illness]]. |
| 273 | * Kouji Kabuto and Tetsuya Tsurugi of ''Anime/MazingerZ'' and ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' are equally parentless. Kouji's mom died early on (unless it's ''Anime/ShinMazinger'') and his dad disappeared ([[spoiler:Actually turned into a cyborg and later performed a HeroicSacrifice]]) and his grandfather killed as Dr. Hell began his attacks. Tetsuya, along with his companion Jun, were both orphans. |
| 274 | * Exception: Lan from the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' games and anime interacts with both of his parents. His father is a scientist who becomes vital to the series' plotlines, and his mother is a type of moral support when Lan finds that he and Mega Man need to save the world. |
| 275 | * In ''Manga/MeruPuri'', Airi's parents are working abroad. She supposedly lives with her grandparents, though they are never seen. |
| 276 | * ''Manga/MinamiKe'' is a show about three sisters and their daily lives, ranging in age from high to elementary school. Where are their parents? We're never outright told, but they're pretty strongly implied to be dead. The best evidence is a poignant moment where Haruka tells Chiaki that Fujioka reminds her of their father -- and Chiaki, whose memory of him apparently isn't as strong, goes to sit on Fujioka's lap (which becomes her habit for the rest of the series). |
| 277 | ** Meanwhile, Chiaki's classmate Touma Minami (no relation) lives with her three brothers... and no one else. Yep, this series has ''two'' parentless Minami families! |
| 278 | * ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'': |
| 279 | ** Kanna was banished to Earth by her parents for pulling pranks, but at this point she probably doesn't care since [[ParentalSubstitute Kobayashi]] is a better parent than [[ParentalNeglect both of them put together]]. |
| 280 | ** Both of Ilulu's parents were killed by humans, which ended up being one of the catalysts for her {{Tragic Bigot}}ry. [[spoiler:Like Kanna, she finds a ParentalSubstitute in Kobayashi.]] |
| 281 | * ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' has a great example of non-dead parental abandonment. Amuro Ray's father Tem Ray is very much alive during the majority of the series (and might technically still be alive afterward), but he is a [[MadScientist man obsessed with his work]], and cares little about either his wife or son. By the time Amuro sees him again later in the series, he has gone quite mad after an accident. As for Amuro's mom, Kamaria, she lives on Earth, and is also likely still alive after series end for at least a while, but the two of them are especially estranged due to her extremely strict pacifistic principles (she called her own son a monster for killing a Zeon soldier in ''self-defense''). The novelization also implies that the real reason she didn't leave Earth with her husband was because she was having an affair. |
| 282 | ** Actually, a scene in the Gundam movies specifically states that [[spoiler: Tem died through DeathByFallingOver in Side 6, having plummeted down the stairs of his home during Amuro's battle.]] |
| 283 | * Subverted in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED''. In the first episode, we see nothing of the main younger cast's parents, and when they're taken aboard the ''Archangel'', they seem to slip into the usual unusually independent kids role. However, upon arriving at Orb, Captain Ramius informs them that their parents, who were apparently evacuated from Heliopolis separately, are waiting for them, allowing them to visit for a short time. Similarly, the equally young ZAFT pilots all seem to have visible parents when they return to PLANT on leave. |
| 284 | ** However, the trope is also played straight with Flay (mother died before the series begins, father horribly killed in an enemy fleet action [[spoiler: which caused Flay to go insane and manipulate Kira, as revenge for not saving her dad when he needed it]]), Athrun (mother died in the Bloody Valentine Incident, father killed in the last episode of the series and emotionally disconnected long before then), and Cagalli (never knew her [[spoiler: and Kira]]'s real parents, her adoptive mother has died before the series began, and her father's killed in a HeroicSacrifice midway through the series to get his daughter into space where she'll be safe). |
| 285 | ** And then there's Mu La Flaga, whose father Al Da Flaga was [[TheUnfavorite so dissatisfied with his son]] (apparently for being an actual child instead of a perfect vehicle for his father's ego) that he effectively disowned Mu, locked him away in a BigFancyHouse and had himself ''cloned'' instead. Then, he and his wife died in a fire several years later while Mu was still a young boy. The ultimate result of Al Da Flaga's lousy parenting was that Mu became an overachieving heroic AcePilot and the clone, Rau Le Creuset, became an OmnicidalManiac NietzscheWannabe. Way to go, Dad! |
| 286 | ** The sequel series, ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'' plays this straight. Shinn's parents are messily killed at the beginning of the series, Lunamaria and Meyrin's parents aren't accounted for, Meer is slightly implied to be a war orphan, and Rey [[spoiler: is a clone, and therefore does not have natural parents and Dullindal acts as his ParentalSubstitute.]] |
| 287 | * ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'': Out of the dozen-odd main characters, only Relena has both parents alive and well, though a few episodes into the series her father is killed, at which point she learns that she's adopted and her real parents are dead too. Her adoptive mother Mrs. Darlian, on the other hand, never appears after the scene in which they comfort one another over Mr. Darlian's death. |
| 288 | ** On the other hand, the characters who lose family have it as a source of motivation or CharacterDevelopment, including Relena as well as [[spoiler: Quatre (father, sister), Wufei (entire colony), Zechs (Relena's brother), and Dorothy (father and grandfather)]]. Everyone else either got over their parents' deaths, or were too young to remember them. |
| 289 | * This trope is part of Kamille's anger and untrustworthiness of adults in ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam''. His parents, Franklin and Hilda, were members of the Titans and found themselves lost in their work (Franklin was cheating with Hilda with a mistress and Hilda dove into her work headfirst in anger). When Kamille joined the AEUG, the Titans used them as bargaining chips. [[spoiler:Jerid ends up accidentally murdering Hilda as he was told the capsule holding her was actually a bomb while Franklin is killed when he attempts to steal a Rick Dias and escape with it.]] |
| 290 | * There's a few examples of this trope in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00''. |
| 291 | ** Setsuna F. Seiei [[spoiler:killed his own parents and sister after being brainwashed by MadBomber Ali al Saacheez. That explains his attatchment to Marina, who closely resembles his MissingMom.]] |
| 292 | ** Lockon Stratos' [[spoiler:parents and little sister Amy were killed in a terrorist suicide bombing, perpetrated by the terrorist group that Setsuna is a part of.]] |
| 293 | ** Feldt Grace's parents were killed before the start of the series. [[spoiler: They were members of Celestial Being and died when one of the Gundam prototypes went ''horribly'' wrong.]] |
| 294 | ** Saji Crossroad lives with his sister, IntrepidReporter Kinue Crossroad, because their parents are dead. Then [[spoiler:Kinue is killed by Ali al Saacheez for getting too close to the truth.]] |
| 295 | ** Louise Halevy is studying abroad and we only see her mother [[spoiler: ''All'' of her family perishes later when Nena Trinity fires at the wedding they were attending in Spain. Poor Louise is the only survivor of the incident.]] |
| 296 | * ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': After a villain killed her husband, Nana Shimura had to put her son, Kotaro, in foster care for his own safety after her hero career became too dangerous for her to raise a child. She went as far as to erase him from the family registry to prevent her enemies from tracking him, even saying that she never had a child. However, this was the hardest decision Nana ever made, and she broke down in tears in Gran Torino's arms after leaving her son. She did leave a letter to Kotaro with her reasons for leaving him, along with a picture of the two of them, saying she would always love him, but would understand if he came to hate her. Unfortunately, her decision to abandon Kotaro led to him becoming resentful of the fact that she chose to help strangers instead of being with her son. As a result, he became an abusive parent to his own children. |
| 297 | * In ''Anime/MyHime,'' the parents of the three main characters (Tokiha Mai, Kuga Natsuki and Minagi Mikoto) are dead; in addition, Yuuki Nao's mother is comatose in an hospital (with the rest of her family killed). |
| 298 | ** Natsuki's DisappearedDad is actually still alive, but he's implied to have hooked up with another women while Natsuki was in hospital recovering from the accident that killed her mother (supplementary materials suggest her parents weren't on good terms). Combine that with First District's links to her mother's death, and is it any wonder that Natsuki has issues trusting other people? |
| 299 | * ''Literature/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'': Anne's mother was killed in a fire just before her fifteenth birthday. Her father abandoned her with the Claes family shortly afterwards, as the burn scars she received in the fire made her worthless for potential political marriages. |
| 300 | * In ''Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater'', all three central (child) characters -- Nadia, Jean, and Marie -- are (or believe they are) orphans. |
| 301 | * Nana Osaki, Shin and Black Stones' ''fangirl'' Misato of ''Manga/{{NANA}}'' all have absentee parents to varying degrees. |
| 302 | * ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' sure loves this trope. In fact, the only character whose parents are both alive ''and'' [[InvisibleParents shown]] is Shikamaru and Sakura (which actually became a plot point in the ''Road to Ninja'' movie). |
| 303 | ** Naruto never knew who his parents were, [[spoiler: since both of them sacrificed themselves to seal the Nine-Tailed Fox,]] and there is no mention of him having any sort of personal caretaker. However, since he's the main character, he has been much luckier by having four father figures in his life: the Third Hokage, Iruka, Kakashi, and Jiraiya. |
| 304 | *** Nevertheless, the 3rd was often too busy running the Hidden Leaf Village, and Iruka and Kakashi themselves were only children/teenagers for much of Naruto's early life. Jiraiya himself was absent for the first 13 years of Naruto's life, despite being his godfather, with their first meeting being by accident. |
| 305 | *** In fact, Iruka and Kakashi themselves were orphaned while still children; Iruka's parents died fighting the Nine-Tailed Fox, while Kakashi's father committed suicide after ruining his reputation by failing a mission because he prioritized saving his friends, with Kakashi's mother having already died before this. |
| 306 | ** Sasuke's parents were killed by his brother when he was young. Seeing as all his blood relatives and his entire clan were also killed at the same time, it is unclear how Sasuke, who was seven at the time, managed to survive. As with Naruto, there is no mention of his having a caretaker. |
| 307 | ** Gaara's (and his siblings') mother died in childbirth, and his father tried to kill him before he himself was killed by Orochimaru. |
| 308 | ** Neji's father Hizashi was killed to appease the Hidden Cloud Village after Hizashi's brother Hiashi killed one of their leaders when he tried to kidnap Hiashi's daughter Hinata, and Neji's mother has never been shown. |
| 309 | *** Hinata's own mother has also never been seen, apart from a flashback in episode 166 of Shippuden, and fans often speculate that both her and Neji's mom are dead. |
| 310 | ** Shikamaru's luck seems to have probably spread to his teammates. Both Chouji's and Ino's fathers are alive and shown, while in the anime, Choji's mother is briefly shown in Episode 82 of Shippuden, and Ino is shown talking to her off-screen mother in Episode 53 of Part I and is later shown in episode 281 of Shippudden. |
| 311 | *** [[spoiler:Not any more. Shikamaru and Ino's fathers were both killed during the [[WarArc Fourth Shinobi World War]]. But not before [[DyingMomentOfAwesome passing on strategy and dying words to their children and the army.]]]] |
| 312 | ** Asuma dies before his child is born. At least the kid will still have a mother in Kurenai and a father-figure in Shikamaru. |
| 313 | ** Karin apparently ''abandoned her parents'' along with the rest of her village at some point when her power alerted her to people who were about to burn it to the ground (it's not specified whether she just didn't tell them or if [[CassandraTruth they just didn't listen]]), and Orochimaru decided to take her in after finding out. |
| 314 | ** Even the bad guys are not spared. Sasori's first two puppets were made in the image of his parents, who were killed by Kakashi's dad Sakumo. This extends to the series's original BigBad, Orochimaru, whose parents died when he was fairly young; Nagato and Konan, whose parents were killed in the Second Shinobi World War; Obito which like Naruto never knew his parents; Kimimaro, whose father kept him in a cage for most of his life before getting himself and the rest of his clan (barring Kimimaro) killed during their war against the Hidden Mist Village; and Haku, whose father killed his mother and tried to do the same to Haku, who killed him in self-defense. |
| 315 | ** The epilogue chapter heavily implies [[spoiler: Sasuke abandoned Sakura and their daughter Sarada to continue his self-imposed WalkingTheEarth mission. Partially subverted in the fact that Sakura traveled with Sasuke for a time while she was pregnant, and ended up giving birth to Sarada at Orochimaru's hideout (with Karin helping her on the childbirth). Still, Sasuke didn't see her for the first 12 years of her life, and when they met he didn't immediately recognized her.]] |
| 316 | * In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', Negi Springfield's only apparent extant family is his older cousin, and he is in search of his father, Nagi Springfield, whom most believe to be dead. It's eventually revealed that [[spoiler: they're alive, but MIA.]] His roommate/student/partner Asuna is also an orphan, which is an important plot point in the series' [[OvertookTheManga idiosyncratic climax]] -- and, apparently, in the manga as well (though not the ''same'' plot point). |
| 317 | ** Setsuna was cast out of her family for albinism. |
| 318 | ** Yue makes mention of her deceased grandfather, but never her parents. [[RaisedByGrandparents Hmm....]] |
| 319 | * ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': |
| 320 | ** Shinji Ikari witnessed the apparent death of his mother Yui, and is -- to put it delicately -- emotionally estranged from his father Gendo after spending ten years apart from him (actually, the fact of Yui's disappearance does help explain what's wrong with both Shinji and Gendo). |
| 321 | ** Asuka Langley Soryuu is estranged from her father as well (depending on the version of ''Evangelion'' you're following, this takes different forms: In the anime, it was implied he was never interested in having children, and firmly established that he was ''very'' neglectful in his parenting, while in the manga, Asuka never met him as he was a sperm donor selected from a bank of Nobel prize winners and scientists. And in both continuities, her father/mother's husband committed adultery with her mother's nurse, later married his lover, and both made clear that Asuka was an unwanted burden). Furthermore, when she was a young child, Asuka's mother was driven insane by an science experiment that went awry and eventually she tried to commit a murder-suicide with Asuka, though she only succeeded in killing herself. |
| 322 | ** Several other major and minor characters have lost one or both parents: Misato, Ritsuko, Toji, Hikari, and Kensuke all come to mind. (However, this is probably not uncommon after Second Impact, which killed half the population of Earth, and during the destructive Angel siege of Tokyo-3.) |
| 323 | ** [[spoiler:The fact that A: it is mentioned that Shinji's class are all pilot candidates, and B: none of them ever mentions a mother, except Kensuke, whose mother is explicitly dead, puts the pile of discarded EVA parts seen late in the series in a ''very'' creepy light.]] |
| 324 | * ''Anime/NightHeadGenesis'' follows this trope strictly up to a certain point. Naoto and Naoya are abandoned by their parents because they fear the siblings' destructive powers. As a result the brothers spend 15 years in a research facility, eventually escaping only to find out that [[spoiler:their parents have blanked out certain memories and are convinced that the two have perished as children while trying to same a little girl from drowning.]] |
| 325 | * ''Anime/{{Noir}}'': |
| 326 | ** Mireille's parents were murdered when she was a small child. And when Kirika awoke in Tokyo for the first time, she was alone in her apartment, with neither parents nor Soldats agents pretending to be parents. |
| 327 | ** Likewise, Chloe's parents are never mentioned, but Altena acts as a surrogate mother figure to her (It's implied that she had done the same for Kirika before the EasyAmnesia). |
| 328 | [[/folder]] |
| 329 | |
| 330 | [[folder:O-Q]] |
| 331 | * Ayase from ''Manga/OkaneGaNai'' is an orphan whose parents have died when he was still a child and he is living alone when the action begins. This does not last long, though, as he quickly spirited away by Kanou with whom he is forced to live and have sex in order to pay an exorbitant debt. In the manga version, Ayase is shown to treasure every memento that reminds him of his parents, even going to the extent of disobeying [[{{Seme}} über manipulative and forceful Kanou]] to rescue pictures of them from his former apartment that is about to be sold. |
| 332 | * ''Manga/OmamoriHimari'': There is only one parent actually seen in the manga yet (Rinko's mother), and Kuesu was seen talking to her mother on the phone. Yuuto and [[spoiler:Shizuku]] have dead parents, Himari only once talks about her ancestors in general (Mother is dead, does not know who her father is). |
| 333 | * ''Manga/OnePiece'': |
| 334 | ** Usopp is the only Straw Hat who was actually raised by his biological parents, and his father had left his family. When it comes to other main characters, their parents abandoned them, are dead or [[spoiler:the world's most wanted criminals]] or, puzzlingly, never mentioned. Here's the rundown for the curious: |
| 335 | *** Luffy: [[spoiler:Father's a revolutionary and apparently left Luffy in his grandfather Garp's care who trained him and his (adoptive) brother Ace before leaving them in the care of mountain bandits.]] Mother never seen as of yet. |
| 336 | *** Zoro: No mention of parents at all. Closest father figure he had is his dojo master, with Kuina acting like a CoolBigSis (before her fatal accident anyway). |
| 337 | *** Sanji: The first time we see him he's working on a boat, and no mention of other relatives other than his father figure Zeff. [[spoiler: At least, until late into the series where we find out his family are assassins and Sanji isn't on good speaking terms with his father and his mother, the nice parent, is dead.]] |
| 338 | *** Nami: Orphaned, twice over. First time, her original village was destroyed by a pirate attack where she was adopted by Bellemere (along with her adoptive older sister, Nojiko, who actually rescued baby Nami from the ruins and carried her around in her arms until they met up with Bellemere). Second, when Arlong invades Cocoyashi and kills Bellmere in front of Nami's eyes. Genzo, the town's sheriff, sorta act like a father figure though. |
| 339 | *** Chopper: The most literal of the trope as he was ostracized, then kicked out, by his herd. His second father figure does this too but only out of concern for him before he later blows himself up. He does get a second mother figure in Kureha, though she publicly pretends not to care. |
| 340 | *** Robin: [[spoiler:Father died and never shown, mother Olvia left her with her brother who had a very uncaring and abusive wife. Olvia returns to meet her, only to be killed in the Buster Call raid.]] |
| 341 | *** Franky: [[spoiler:Thrown overboard by his parents and somewhat adopted by Tom, who gets hauled away thanks to Spandam's actions.]] |
| 342 | *** Brook: Like Zoro, his parents aren't mentioned -- he is well into adulthood when his past is shown. And anyway, since Brook is over 80-years-old, it can be safely assumed that his parents are dead. |
| 343 | ** Ace: His mother Portgas D. Rouge [[spoiler:[[DeathByChildbirth died when he was born]]]], after [[spoiler:holding him inside her womb for ''twenty months'']] to make sure he'd be safe from his father's enemies. Said father? None other than the [[spoiler: Pirate King Gold Roger, who was dead by the time Ace was born, anyway and means "his enemies" referred to basically the entire world]]. |
| 344 | ** As far as one-time allies go, there's Rebecca: her mother [[spoiler:was killed when she (Rebecca) was a child]], and she doesn't remember her father at all. The closest thing she has to a parent is a LivingToy named Thunder Soldier, who watched over her ever since they met. [[spoiler:Eventually subverted when we learn that the Thunder Soldier ''is'' her father, who was turned into a toy by one of the villains of the arc. This also caused Rebecca and everyone else who knew him to [[RetGone completely forget about him]], hence why Rebecca didn't remember even having a father. Her memories of him eventually return when the aforementioned villain is knocked out, returning all toys to normal and restoring the people's memories of them.]] |
| 345 | ** Still on the subject of allies, we learn in the Zou arc that [[spoiler:Kin'emon isn't Momonosuke's father. Both of Momo's real parents were executed by the Pirate Emperor Kaido and Orochi, who usurped control of Wano from the true ruler, Momonosuke's father, Kozuki Oden to ensure Orochi kept control of Wano lest Oden likely finish what he started and kill both Kaido and Orochi. Momonosuke's father was boiled alive, while his mother was killed when their palace was burned down (but not before she sent Momonosuke and several retainers, including Kinemon, 20 years into the future)]]. |
| 346 | ** Even major villain Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors, fell victim to this trope. [[spoiler:And like Nami, twice over: first, her real parents begrudgingly abandoned her on Elbaf after they found themselves unable to deal with their daughter's monstrous strength any longer, then her ParentalSubstitute Mother Carmel disappeared without a trace one day (it's heavily implied that Big Mom [[NightmareFuel accidentally ate her]] without realizing it). While she wasn't shown to be fazed about her parents' disappearance, Carmel vanishing had a hugely traumatic impact on her]]. |
| 347 | * ''Manga/OutlawStar'' has a lot of flashbacks of when Gene's father was killed, but makes no mention of his mother. Jim's parents are never mentioned (except for an intro that said his father was a hacker) so it is assumed that he is an orphan who some how came to live with Gene. |
| 348 | * In ''Manga/PandoraHearts'' Oz's father is not a model of good parenting. He ignores his son so much that Oz ''doesn't even remember his face anymore'', and the last two times Oz met him he a) [[spoiler:told his son he was disgusting and he never wanted him]] and b) [[spoiler:threw him into the Abyss]]. Yeah, [[AbusiveParents Oz's dad needs the crap kicked out of him]]. |
| 349 | * In ''Manga/PenguinRevolution'', Yukari's mother left her and her father when Yukari was young. Early in the first chapter of the series, Yukari's father sends her an email to tell her that his latest business venture has gone bust, he has to "lay low for a while," the lease on their apartment is up ''that day,'' and he's canceling both of their cell phone contracts so she won't be able to reach him even if she tries. Yukari is thus left to fend for herself at the age of sixteen. |
| 350 | * Sorata of ''Literature/ThePetGirlOfSakurasou'' originally lives in the neighbourhood, but now lives in the local BoardingSchool as his father was reassigned to Fukuoka. |
| 351 | ** {{Inverted}} by Nanami; [[FantasyForbiddingFather her parents object to her aspirations as a voice actress]], and refused to help her pay her way through this. So she ended up moving out, [[NewJobAsThePlotDemands working various jobs]] to support herself while she attended voice acting school. |
| 352 | * Maron Kusakabe from ''Manga/PhantomThiefJeanne'' was turned into a BrokenBird because her parents often left her at home alone when she was little because of their jobs, which was apparently fairly traumatizing to the poor kid when she was left alone at night. Even when they were home, the anime at least implies that they fought a lot. Later, before Maron was even in grade school, they both left to work in other countries, and haven't contacted her since when the series begins. She now seems to have a deep-seated fear of being alone, especially at night, and cannot comprehend "love" because her parents weren't around to tell her about it. The only reasons Maron is in any way mentally stable when the series begins are Miyako's family, who live right across the hall and took care of her when she was little, and Finn, whose presence keeps Maron from being alone in the apartment. |
| 353 | * ''Manga/PitaTen'': Kotarou lost his mother in a traffic accident, and his father often works until late hours. |
| 354 | * ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': |
| 355 | ** Ash's father ''seems'' to be alive but not around, for some vague, non-traumatic reason. As well, it seems that not only is it socially acceptable, but a ''cultural expectation'' that if a child wishes to be a Pokemon trainer, he/she has to leave their house at least at the age of ''ten'' and travel the world looking for Pokemon completely alone (unless they find unrelated traveling partners). This is mitigated somewhat by the general helpfulness of the ''Pokemon'' world's residents, and the fact that a Pokemon trainer is TheKidWithTheRemoteControl of what is potentially an incredibly powerful weapon. An early non-canon novelization states Ash's dad is a deadbeat. However, it has multiple differences from anime itself. There's no concrete proof of where Ash's dad is (or even ''who'' he is), with his mother simply saying he's off somewhere training. |
| 356 | ** Averted, however, with May and Max, the children of Caroline and Norman. Since this is also true of the main character in the ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' games, on which May is based, |
| 357 | ** If you want emotional issues, Brock seems to be repressing his annoyance at the fact that both his parents ditched him at some point, leaving him to look after the Gym and his nine siblings until Ash turned up. In the fifth episode, Brock's father comes back, having left home to become a trainer, failed at it, and been too ashamed to show his face around his children anymore, instead opting to disguise himself with a beard and adopt an alias. His mom came back too, eventually, and yeah, [[InconsistentDub his mom was never dead, despite what 4Kids implied and never even tried to correct]]. |
| 358 | ** Dawn, Serena, and Lillie have mothers, but there's no mention of the former two's fathers whatsoever. In Lillie's case, her father went missing while investigating the Ultra Wormholes and had been presumed dead, but at the end of the season she embarks on a journey with her brother Gladion to search for him upon learning that he might still be alive. |
| 359 | ** Clemont and Bonnie have a father, but no mention of a mother. Mallow has a dad, but her mother died when she was little. |
| 360 | ** Misty, Tracey, Iris and Cilan have no mention of either parents. Tracey and Iris have no mention of any other relatives for that matter, while Misty and Cilan at least have siblings. |
| 361 | ** For completion's sake, Kiawe, Lana, and Sophocles have both their parents, averting this trope. |
| 362 | ** Meowth of Team Rocket was abandoned as a kitten and had to join a gang for food. |
| 363 | ** ''Anime/PokemonLucarioAndTheMysteryOfMew'' features a Lucario who feels it was abandoned by its trainer, centuries ago, and clearly was just as close to him as a son would be to a father. (When it discovers that he is dead and Ash tries to console it, all Lucario asks is that Ash promise ''never'' to abandon Pikachu.) [[spoiler:As it discovers later, it [[SubvertedTrope was not truly abandoned]]; its trainer died making a HeroicSacrifice to save his kingdom.]] |
| 364 | ** Jessie's parentage has never been referenced in the anime itself but ''[[Radio/PokemonTheBirthOfMewtwo The Birth Of Mewtwo]]'' radio drama expanded on it. Her father is never mentioned, but her mother was a member of Team Rocket named "Miyamoto". She gave up Jessie up to foster care to give her a better upbringing but wanted to take her back in when she gained enough money. She went looking for Mew twenty years ago in the Andes mountains but hasn't returned. She ''still'' [[AbortedArc hasn't returned]] after nearly twenty real-world years. |
| 365 | ** In ''Literature/PocketMonstersTheAnimation'', it's explained that the reason Gary is being [[RaisedByGrandparents raised by his grandfather]] is that his parents died in a car crash. |
| 366 | ** It also states that Misty's parents up and left her in the care of her older sisters while they went on a Pokemon training adventure, and that Ash's father did likewise when Ash was a baby. |
| 367 | *** It's important to note, however, that the novelization sometimes contradict the anime and so any claims made there are dubious. |
| 368 | * ''Manga/PokemonDiamondAndPearlAdventure'': |
| 369 | ** Hareta's father dumped him at Rowan's lab when he was an infant. Hareta's father, like Hareta himself, is kind of [[IdiotHero an idiot]]. Rowan however is supposed to be a genius -- a genius who decides that Hareta is better off [[RaisedByWolves growing up in the forest]]. So the kid gets [[WildChild let loose in the woods]] 'till he's ten, being dumped off by both his father and his father figure. Oh yeah, and no mother is ever mentioned. |
| 370 | ** Mitsumi was an orphan who was adopted and raised by [[spoiler:Cyrus, the BigBad]]. She was [[spoiler:once one of the most brutal members of Team Galactic]] but by the time of the manga has quit. |
| 371 | * ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'': |
| 372 | ** Red is one of the two Dex Holders without any mentioned relatives, which leaves the question as to who is managing his house when he's away or who is even supporting him. To make things worse, in the FRLG arc, when he notes how frantic Blue and Green have become due to their kidnapped family members, he muses that he's not freaking out because he doesn't have any family in danger. The wording is vague enough that we don't know if he means that his family's in danger or if he doesn't have any family to begin with. |
| 373 | ** Yellow's only mentioned family is an uncle that is in the plot from time to time, but he doesn't live near her and doesn't seem to keep in touch with her enough to be considered a "parental figure". (He doesn't recognize her Pikachu in GSC, when she's clearly had it long enough to be pretty close to it.) Her parents are never mentioned, either, and she seems to live by herself, despite being 14 (at the time) and not out on a trainer journey. |
| 374 | ** Koga and Walker are both [[DisappearedDad disappeared dads]] for Janine and Falkner, and there's no mention of their mothers. |
| 375 | ** [[spoiler:Blake/Lack-Two was orphaned from a crime that involved the International Police and was raised by an agent there since.]] |
| 376 | * The otherwise-lighthearted ''Anime/{{Potemayo}}'' uses this trope with Sunao. His father is constantly abroad on research, and [[spoiler: his mother died prior to the beginning of the series]]. |
| 377 | * ''Anime/PowerpuffGirlsZ'' appears to use this trope at first, as the only parents (other than Utonium, who is ''not'' the girls' father, contrary to the [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls original American continuity]]) that show up for quite some time are Princess' and the Gangreen Gang's. Eventually, some of the girls' parents show up in the final episode of Season 1 (the Christmas episode). |
| 378 | * In the ''Anime/PrettySammy'' series, Misao's father hasn't been home in years while her mother is always working and frequently leaves her home alone, only putting forth enough effort to have a meal provided. |
| 379 | * ''Manga/ThePrinceOfTennis'' is a rather curious case. With the exception of Ryoma's relatives (parents, [[CoolBigSis cute female cousin]], pet cat), Ryuzaki-sensei's relationship with her granddaughter Sakuno (whose parents aren't even *mentioned* ), Akutsu [[spoiler: and his beautiful mother ([[DisappearedDad what happened to the father]], nobody knows)]], Kawamura and his father the genki sushi chef, and/or the siblings who are into tennis as well (Yuuta and Shusuke Fuji, Kippei and An Tachibana, Senri and Miyuki Chitose, Narumi and Kurumi Ijyuin), the players' families are usually ignored, or only their voices are heard in the background. If they ''do'' show up, it's generally in small manga chapters (Tezuka's parents and grandfather, Fuji's mother) or tennis-related cameos ([[HeadTurningBeauty Yumiko Fuji]], Kaidoh's parents and younger brother). [[spoiler: And in the case of the Americans, [[AbusiveParents they're not exactly the best role models, either]] (Kevin's father is an alcoholic who raised him as a tennis {{Tykebomb}}, the Griffy twins' aunt and caretaker was abusive and sold them out to their mentor)]]. |
| 380 | * Features pretty heavily in ''Anime/PrincessTutu'' in the backstory of two characters: |
| 381 | ** Fakir's parents died when he was a young child [[spoiler:because of an accident involving his powers]], and his foster father is caring, but became distant from Fakir as he grew older. Once his backstory is fully revealed, it explains a lot about his overprotective nature. |
| 382 | ** [[DarkMagicalGirl Rue's]] mother is never mentioned and her father [[spoiler:the Raven]] is emotionally abusive. [[spoiler:Although it turns out the Raven simply kidnapped her as a child, and her parents had been distraught when she was taken away by the crows.]] |
| 383 | * ''Manga/PsychicSquad'': In spite of being the super-powered, formerly very delinquent representatives of [[OrganizationIndex BABEL]], Shiho, Aoi, and Kaoru have parents. Kaoru's dad [[DisappearedDad left]], but her mom (a famous actress) tries to be supportive. Less a case of Parental Abandonment than [[ParentsAsPeople Parental Not-knowing-how-to-handle-a-super-powered-child.]] While BABEL (and especially [[TeamDad Minamoto]]) do their utmost to give them a good environment, the girls still have a few issues about it. |
| 384 | * Numerous examples in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', to the point that the fact that title character has parents at all [[CrapsackWorld is called out]] [[BreakTheCutie as distinctive.]] |
| 385 | ** [[DeathByOriginStory Mami lost her]] parents [[spoiler: in a car crash. The reason why she survived was because she made a contract with Kyuubei to become a magical girl in exchange of her being saved, but she later starts regretting that she didn't wish to save her whole family.]] |
| 386 | ** [[BrokenBird Homura]]'s parents are never seen or mentioned. |
| 387 | ** Kyouko's father went crazy after finding out that his daughter made a wish so that people would believe his preaches, meaning that he only got followers because of magic. He called his daughter a witch, then [[PaterFamilicide killed the rest of his family]] (safe for Kyouko) and himself. |
| 388 | * There are several in ''Anime/QueensBlade'': |
| 389 | ** The Vance sisters' mother died in one of the Queen's Blade tournaments, which is why Count Vance was so set against Reina participating. |
| 390 | ** Nowa is a half-elf abandoned at birth, though Alleyne serves as a good surrogate mother. |
| 391 | ** Cattleya's major motive for fighting in the tournament is to try to figure out what happened to her husband (and father of her child Rana, which is where it comes into this trope). |
| 392 | ** Aldra was orphaned at a young age, as was Irma, who was orphaned by forces acting on Aldra's authority. |
| 393 | ** Listy's motive as a bandit is to acquire money for the orphanage where she was raised. |
| 394 | * ''Anime/RemyNobodysGirl'': |
| 395 | ** Jérôme sells Remy to HumanTraffickers because the Barberin family is poor. |
| 396 | ** The children that ended up with Gaspard's care were either orphaned or abandoned by their parents. |
| 397 | * ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets'': Both Fuutarou and the Nakano sisters lost their respective mothers prior to the start of the series (the former in an accident, the latter to illness). While Isanari Uesugi has a fairly healthy relationship with Fuutarou and Raiha (if somewhat absent at times due to having to work to provide for them), Maruo Nakano is a workaholic stepfather who spends more time running his hospital and his relationship with his stepdaughters is distant at best and strained at worst, even if he does care for them. [[spoiler:As for their biological father, it turns out he left their mother when she was pregnant with them, and didn't reappear in their life until they were teenagers]]. |
| 398 | [[/folder]] |
| 399 | |
| 400 | [[folder:R-T]] |
| 401 | * ''Anime/RahXephon'' has this happen repeatedly to the protagonist. But then, given that his family tree is more of a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klein_bottle Klein Bottle]] it can be hard to tell that this happened, other than one obvious example. |
| 402 | * ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' is rife with parental abandonment. Ranma himself does not even ''realize'' he has a mother until the last two episodes of the series, having been separated from her when he was a toddler. Shampoo's father is only seen twice in the manga, her mother is never even mentioned, and in any event she cannot return to her village until she either kills or marries Ranma. Ukyou was actually abandoned twice: Once when her father sent her with the Saotomes, and again when Genma left her on the side of the road. (The notion that Ukyo's father forced her to take vengeance on the Saotomes is pure {{Fanon}}, both the manga and the anime imply that it's her own idea). Ryoga's parents [[NoSenseOfDirection are always lost]]. The Kuno siblings were abandoned by their father three years ago and their mother is never mentioned. The Tendo sisters' mother died when they were very young and Soun, their well-intentioned but ditzy father, is... [[BumblingDad well, himself]]. Every other major teenaged character is known or appears to be missing at least one parent, mostly their mothers. |
| 403 | * ''Anime/{{Raideen}}'': [[spoiler: Princess Lemuria]] deliberately abandoned her son because she was bound by a duty to her people, the Mu. Inside, she's full of self-hatred for being so cold to him. |
| 404 | ** In a very notable occasion, Ryuu Kumon's father died right before his eyes -- and the audience's eyes, too, making it the one and only confirmed, on-screen death of a character in the ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' universe. Mind that Ryuu was six at the time, had already lost his mother, and was left homeless upon his father's death. |
| 405 | * ''Manga/RaveMaster'' is no stranger to this trope. Haru and his sister were both left with a friend when their parents left their island [[spoiler: Their mother later revealed to have been killed by Gale Ravegroove no sooner after finding their father. Who then puts himself into exile when infused with a dark bring that'll destroy the world if he gets emotionally distressed.]] Haru's father returns near the climax of the first part of the series [[spoiler: only to end dying saving Haru from a cave in]]. Musica's family was killed when a evil swordsman tested his newly created sword on them [[spoiler: made from Musica's grandfather whose as it turns out is alive and well if not a drunkard. He gets better after the swordsman defeated]]. Elle's parents apparently died before the storyline. Ruby's father was slain by Doryu. And Jegan destroyed most of Jet and Julia's hometown. Even on the villain end this has happened, Lucia [[spoiler: is the son of Gale Ravegroove whose mother was killed in a raid on DemonCard headquarters. His father thought he was killed too so he never knew he survived the attack.]] Reina's [[spoiler: father was accursed of a crime he didn't commit and died in prison]] and Deep Snow [[spoiler: who never really had a parent as he was artificially created considered Gale Ravegroove as his father.]] |
| 406 | * An odd case in ''Anime/RealDrive'', where both Minamo's parents are alive and well (and still married), but she was still mostly raised by her grandmother, due to their jobs' requirements. At the time of the series she's mostly cared by her older brother, who calls himself her guardian. Their father works on the same island and at least in theory lives in the same house, but is so often absent that his first appearance doesn't happen before Episode 9. Still, Minamo never questions the extreme workaholism of her parents in true Japanese style. |
| 407 | * In ''Manga/ReKan'', Hibiki is seen praying at her family altar before heading out to school. A picture of her mother is seen, indicating she died prior to the show's start. |
| 408 | * Utena Tenjou from ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' is an orphan, and her parents' death and funeral were significant events in her life. Anthy and Akio have no visible family. The parents of Miki and Kozue Kaoru are emotionally divorced from their twin children, and Kozue especially harbors a great deal of ill-will toward them. |
| 409 | * In ''Manga/TheRoseOfVersailles'' there are several cases. André's parents have passed away by the time he is 8, so he goes to live with his grandmother. Rosalie's adoptive mother passes away in an accident when Rosalie is a teenager -- and Rosalie later finds out who her biological mother is, to her horror. Bernard's mother dies when he is 5. Robespierre's mother dies when he is young as well. Marie Antoinette's mother is still alive, but sends her away to France to get married when Antoinette is only 14-years-old. Not much is known about Fersen's parents -- though he is very close to his siblings. Majorly averted by Oscar, the protagonist, having both her biological parents outlive her! Also downplayed by Alain having his mother be alive until he is in his mid 20s. |
| 410 | * About ''Manga/RurouniKenshin''... |
| 411 | ** Kenshin's parents died of cholera along with his entire village. Later he was sold out as a slave, but the caravan was slaughtered by bandits with him as the only survivor. The closest to a father figure he has is his mentor, Seijuuro Hiko. |
| 412 | ** Kaoru's parents have passed away by the time the series starts, leaving her as HeirToTheDojo. Her neighbor, Dr. Genzai, is a sort-of father figure for her in the anime. In the manga, she's picked up another stray, an old man named Kihei, who cooks and cleans for her, but is actually out to steal her dojo. |
| 413 | ** Sanosuke and his friend Katsu were the [[TagalongKid Tagalong Kids]] for the rebellious Sekihoutai, but except for these two, they were all slaughtered. [[spoiler: In the manga, we learn that Sano actually ran away from home after his mother's death, but his dad (who's just like his son), sister and brother are alive and well.]] |
| 414 | ** Yahiko's dad died in the war when he was a baby, his mother was then driven to prostitution to support herself and Yahiko until she passed away from syphilis, and he was adopted by gangsters who used him as a pickpocketer. |
| 415 | ** Also in the war, a teenaged Megumi was separated from her family in Aizu and she doesn't even know if they're alive or not. [[spoiler: It's hinted that they're all dead, though.]] |
| 416 | ** Aoshi and Misao are orphans raised into the Oniwabanshuu by Okina. |
| 417 | ** In the anime, Yuutarou is an orphan too, only his parents were rich so he lives in a BigFancyHouse. Raijuuta used his need of a father figure to lure the kid into his evil plans. In the manga, his father is alive, well, and very rich. |
| 418 | ** In the anime, Shougo and Magdaria's parents were slaughtered in front of them (the father was stabbed to death, the mother was shot) for being Christians. They escape thanks to their maternal uncle, later have to raise themselves. |
| 419 | ** In both OAV and manga, Tomoe and Enishi's mother died [[DeathByChildbirth when he was born]] so she became his surrogate mom. [[spoiler: In the manga, their father Oibore is alive and well, and later he plays a key role in the Jinchuu arc.]] |
| 420 | * ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' '''loves''' this trope. Of all the school-aged characters, only Usagi, Chibiusa (who's [[HappilyEverAfter obliged to have one]] as the KidFromTheFuture) and Minako seem to have intact families. |
| 421 | ** Rei lives with her maternal grandfather in both the [[Manga/SailorMoon 90s anime and manga]], but it is only explained in the manga why she does. Rei's mother died of an illness when Rei was little and her father spent all his time at work instead of being with his dying wife, which Rei never forgave him for. Rei was left with her grandfather after her mother's death because her father was too wrapped up in his work to care for Rei; Rei only sees him once a year on her birthday. Her father is a major part of the reason Rei distrusts men so much, though her distrust is shown only in the manga because anime Rei is boy crazy (maybe seeking for a ReplacementGoldfish?). |
| 422 | ** Ami's parents are divorced (which in [[TheNineties the '90s]] when the manga originally started was a big taboo) and her father is never around, merely sending hand-drawn postcards of places he went to now and then. Her mother is a doctor and barely at home, although one chapter in the manga does show she regrets that her job is keeping her away from her daughter a lot. |
| 423 | ** Makoto's parents died in a plane crash when she was little, which caused her fear of airplanes. Makoto lives alone and is supported by an unknown relative. |
| 424 | ** Similarly, Mamoru's parents were killed in a car crash when he was little. Mamoru lived in an orphanage for most of his life until he was old enough to support himself. |
| 425 | ** Hotaru's mother is dead and her father is possessed by a demon. By the end of the series, he is either dead (manga) or abandons her to go to parts unknown (anime); in either case, Hotaru ends up living with the other Outer Senshi, who function as her [[ParentalSubstitute new family]]. |
| 426 | ** Haruka and Michiru's parents are never seen or mentioned and Haruka and Michiru live together (at least in the anime, in the manga they mention they have "guardians" who take care of the rent for their apartment). Setsuna's parents (if she has any) are most likely dead because, as the Guardian of Time, Setsuna is over 1,0000 years old and was never reborn on Earth. |
| 427 | ** Even Minako's case differs depending on the adaptation: in ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'' she appears to be an orphan, with only an agent acting ''in loco parentis'' for her. |
| 428 | * In ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' all the saints are orphans. In the manga, [[spoiler: Mitsumasa Kido]] is actually the Bronze Saints' father, making the fact that he sent out his numerous sons to get abused and killed while trying to obtain their Cloths [[FridgeHorror all the more horrible.]] The anime softens this by making them orphan boys picked up from either orphanages and/or the streets randomly, trained for a time in Kido's BigFancyHouse and then sent out for their TrainingFromHell. |
| 429 | ** Also, ''everyone'' in ''Manga/SaintSeiyaTheLostCanvas''. Justified since it's set in the 18th century Europe. |
| 430 | * Every major character in ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}''. In sum: Sanzo's and Hazel's foster fathers are dead; Goku was conceived from the gathered energy of the earth and was born from a rock, so he therefore had no real parents, but his foster/adopted father, [[spoiler: and Sanzo's past life]] Konzen [[spoiler: was crushed to death between the doors connecting heaven and earth trying to save young Goku, and his body was dissolved from the massive amounts of spiritual energy created by them]] Hakkai grew up in an orphanage; Gojyo's stepmother (Dokugakuji's birth mother) was killed by Dokugakuji to keep her from killing Gojyo himself [[spoiler: and his father and birth mother committed suicide so that they would not be forced apart by villagers that were angry about their mixed race relationship]]; Kougaiji reveres his trapped, frozen mother, but refers to his and Lirin's father by his name; Lirin is well aware that her mother has no use for her beyond resurrecting her father, and wonders if Kougaiji's mother will love her instead; Kami-sama was raised [[spoiler: by Ukoku Sanzo, otherwise known as Nii Jenyi]] and is well aware he was nothing to him but a toy; and Homura was abandoned due to the manner of his birth and grew up in a prison cell. Whew! |
| 431 | * ''Anime/SakuraWars2000'': Subverted. Sumire Kanzaki is estranged from her industrialist father and grandfather, who have been absorbed in work for seven years and apparently ignoring her completely, much to Sumire's chagrin; [[LonelyRichKid she has become convinced that they don't care about her.]] In the next-to-last episode, though, we learn it's been because they've dedicated themselves to building a superweapon for Sumire and the Teikokukagekidan all that time, and the father is actually a warm, friendly and loving person. He asks Sumire to forgive him before the last battle, and she does. |
| 432 | * In ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'', Fuu's mother died when she was still a little girl. As for her father, [[spoiler:he's the "samurai who smells of sunflowers" Fuu is chasing for most of the series, having run out on her and her mother early in Fuu's life. In his defense, he was fleeing death for being a Christian in the then-still isolated Japan; [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies had he not left, the whole family would've been slaughtered]]]]. |
| 433 | * In ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'', Itoshiki Majiru, the nephew of the titular Zetsubou-sensei, was abandoned by his parents. The fact that his father [[spoiler: who may have been disinherited]] looked exactly like his three younger brothers causes some confusion for him and for the class of Itoshiki Nozomu when he sees Nozomu walking on the street and mistakes him for his father. Hi-jinks ensue, resulting in Majiru living with his Uncle indefinitely [[spoiler: apparently along with at least one female member of Zetsubou-sensei's class at any given time.]] |
| 434 | ** Subverted by Kiri Komori, who abandoned her parents to live at school [[spoiler: and eventually alternated between living there and in her teacher's closet at home when school was out of session. Shortly after leaving home it was destroyed in a fire -- her parents may or may not be alive but have never come in contact again with her since.]] |
| 435 | ** Abiru Kobushi's mother abandoned her and her father within weeks of the start of Zetsubou-sensei's tenure as teacher. |
| 436 | *** All of the above is played for laughs - [[RefugeInAudacity and it actually *is* funny.]] |
| 437 | * In ''Manga/SchoolRumble,'' Tenma and Yakumo Tsukamoto live without their parents. No explanation is given and the father is the only parent seen (and then only in flashbacks). Harima Kenji is living with his cousin and we never see his parents (though he does have a younger brother who I would assume lives with them), Oji Karasuma's parents live in America, and we actually get to see Eri Sawachika's parents but they are still away most of the time, leaving her in the care of the family servants. |
| 438 | * ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'' is fond of this one: |
| 439 | ** Ken: His father abandoned him and his mother when he was four, and his mother died several years later. [[spoiler: His father Kentaro is alive, but as the leader of Red Impulse he left his family behind to protect them. When Ken finally learns the leader of RI and his father are one and the same, it's too late.]] |
| 440 | ** Joe's parents were killed by Galactor agents when he was eight. Young Joe found their corpses in a beach. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that they were Galactor agents themselves and trying to defect with the help of Dr. Nambu.]] |
| 441 | ** Jun and Jinpei are orphans, not much is known about their situations beforehand. Jun took the infant Jinpei under her wing when she was still a child herself. There is an episode where Jinpei tries to learn about his origins, but the only person who knows for sure lies to protect him and ends up dead. |
| 442 | ** While Ryu's the only one with a normal family, a lot of fans assume his unseen mother to be dead or divorced from the family. (In ''Anime/BattleOfThePlanets'', oddly enough, Ryu's counterpart Tiny was an orphan like the rest of the team) |
| 443 | * In ''Manga/TheSecretAgreement'', Yuuichi lived on the [[StreetUrchin streets]] and [[SelfMadeMan raised himself]]. He always thought he was a war orphan, but they actually just left him. His uncle isn't even his real uncle. |
| 444 | * ''Anime/TheSecretGarden'': Mary Lennox's parents were more concerned about living the lifestyle of wealthy people, and left her in the care of their many servants. When they eventually die of cholera, Mary can't even grieve because she barely knew them. |
| 445 | * ''Manga/SensualPhrase'' plays around with how messy this actually is: |
| 446 | ** Sakuya's father abandons his mother prior to his birth, and his mother subsequently drinks herself to death. Sakuya shows the effects of this and has to deal with meeting his remaining family ([[spoiler: specially, his evil half-brother Ralph]]) as an adult. |
| 447 | ** Yuki is disinherited for choosing the band above his family duty, but the family still obviously love each other and turn to each other in times of difficulty. |
| 448 | ** Atsuro is kicked out of the house for similarly choosing the band over more sensible options, but after some loud arguments and intervention by his [[spoiler: adoptive]] sister Yuuka (sister. In conclusion, sister) he returns home. |
| 449 | ** Towa is mysteriously estranged, but he reacts strongly to the others not trying to maintain relationships with their parents. |
| 450 | ** Aine's parents are preoccupied with their own relationship difficulties to the point of being criminally negligent, but they do occasionally feel the need to provide appropriate parental censure. |
| 451 | ** Santa's situation is the only one that plays the trope perfectly straight -- his parents never appear, and are never mentioned. |
| 452 | * Ruuko Kominato in ''Anime/SelectorInfectedWixoss'' was abandoned by her mother and possibly father but for very vague reasons. In the anime she's living with her grandmother. |
| 453 | * Lain's entire family disappears on her about halfway through ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain''. [[spoiler:In the last few episodes, her own father reveals that Lain is an ArtificialHuman, created by Tachibana Labs and put in a family so she could have a "normal" life. Since they don't need to be her parents anymore, they just abandon her.]] |
| 454 | * In ''Manga/ServantXService'', this is the {{backstory}} around the Ichimiya siblings. They're from a single-parent family and her beautician mother works for long hours. This practically caused Taishi to have PromotionToParent, and the ensuing BigBrotherWorship from Touko (albeit she's very Type-A {{Tsundere}} about this). |
| 455 | * In ''Manga/TheSeveringCrimeEdge'', Iwai's father was murdered by a killing goods author and her mother abandoned her. This is the reason why she lives in the mansion alone. |
| 456 | * A huge portion of the cast of ''Manga/ShadowStar'' are missing one or more parents. This being ''Shadow Star'', Shiina's mother is the only cast member who truly abandoned her child. [[KidsAreCruel The other cases of missing parents are much more...disturbing.]] |
| 457 | * ''VisualNovel/{{Shuffle}}'' has its share of parentis absentis: Rin's parents (dead), Kaede's mom (dead) and dad (out on business), Asa's dad (unknown, presumed dead), Sia's mom (back in the God world) and Nerine's mom (back in the Demon world). |
| 458 | * Likewise Wataru in ''Literature/SisterPrincess''. While no genealogy is provided for his (half-?)sisters, the most likely solution to their parentage implies that they are all also missing at least the father whom they must share with Wataru. In the VisualNovel, all the legal ones have alternate endings where they turn out to be [[NotBloodSiblings adopted]]. |
| 459 | * ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'': |
| 460 | ** Lina: Parents are alive, but she is apparently enstranged from them. Is terrified of her [[AloofBigBrother older sister, Luna.]] |
| 461 | ** [[IdiotHero Gourry]]: No mentioning of parents; lives alone as a mercenary. |
| 462 | ** [[NighInvulnerable Zelgadis]]: Parents killed by [[AffablyEvil Rezo]], his great-grandfather, due to suspicions over his bizarre experiments. |
| 463 | ** [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Amelia]]: Father is alive; mother was killed by an assassin, [[spoiler:which prompts her sister Gracia, otherwise known as [[GoldfishPoopGang Naga the Serpent,]] to leave home and [[WalkingTheEarth learn the ways of the world.]]]] |
| 464 | ** Naga: [[spoiler:See above.]] |
| 465 | ** [[TheMedic Sylphiel]]: Father killed in a town-wide explosion, [[spoiler:with his body sealed underground; this is exploited in ''Slayers NEXT.'']] |
| 466 | ** [[TagalongKid Pokota]]: His entire kingdom falls to a disease, and his parents [[spoiler:are sealed away underground, courtesy of Rezo, without their souls.]] |
| 467 | * Nearly everyone in ''Manga/{{Sola}}'', though at least important characters tend to have an excuse. Like being immortal, or The Hunter, or the [[spoiler: TomatoInTheMirror]]. |
| 468 | * ''Manga/SoulEater'': |
| 469 | ** Crona was abandoned by Medusa after her original plan of turning them into a Kishin failed. [[AmbiguousGender Crona]] did however get picked back up again later on -- after Crona was starting [[TearJerker to get used to life in Shibusen]] -- and knowing Medusa it might have been her intention all along had she not been [[GrandTheftMe temporarily incapacitated]] by getting cut in two. |
| 470 | ** Maka's parents are divorced. Her estranged father Spirit watches her from a (unwilling) distance. The manga makes few mentions of her mother, though does point out that Maka thinks highly of and is inspired by her. |
| 471 | ** Black Star's family was killed by Shibusen, and he was raised by Sid (and probably Nygus too) who is something of a mentor figure, if not exactly paternal. |
| 472 | ** Death the Kid doesn't apply [[spoiler: currently, as he has [[TrulySingleParent Lord Death]] as his father, and they get on well enough. However, Lord Death intends for Kid to 'replace' him at the cost of Lord Death's own...existence, meaning this trope will come into effect.]] |
| 473 | ** Of the cast whose parents are even referred to, only Tsubaki and Soul Eater seem to have both without any known issues. Mad big brothers and inferiority issues notwithstanding. |
| 474 | ** Chapter 78 confirms that [[spoiler:Liz and Patti]] are an example of both this and [[spoiler:SonOfAWhore.]] |
| 475 | --->'''[[spoiler:Liz]]''': [[spoiler:I still resent the mother who abandoned both me and Patti, but---... Even though I heard that she was the most beautiful prostitute in Brooklyn, I don't feel any gratitude for her just for giving birth to me, not matter how beautifully she did it...]] |
| 476 | * The Aizawas in ''Manga/SquidGirl'', just like the Minamis above, are a family of three siblings whose parents are mysteriously absent, leaving the oldest sister in charge. We've actually seen the Aizawa parents, but only very briefly in Eiko's memory, and the fact that Squid Girl is at one point offered their room (they "don't use it now") makes it pretty clear that they're gone. |
| 477 | * All over the place in ''Anime/StarDriver'', Takuto and the You sisters are the only people in whose parents are mentioned and basically any other underage character seems to live either alone or with another family member. To elaborate: |
| 478 | ** Takuto has been RaisedByGrandparents after his mother left him in their care seemingly at a very early age in his life (since he only knows his mum from pictures) and then disappeared without a trace. His father never cared for him either and one of the main reasons for him to come to Southern Cross Island at the start of the series is to look for said father. [[spoiler:Turns out he's the BigBad and doesn't give a crap about his son.]] |
| 479 | ** Wako only lives with her grandmother and we never get to hear where her parents are or what happened to him. Given that as a maiden, she cannot physically leave the island, it's quite possible they just left to not be stuck in that place forever. |
| 480 | ** Sugata's father is briefly mentioned and his parents were available until around his 10th birthday. At that time, Sugata was told [[spoiler:that he inherited King Samekh's mark and is doomed to die should he ever apprivoise]] and after that, it seems they disappeared from the island, leaving their son with a huge house and two [[NinjaMaid Ninja Maids]] [[spoiler:who are also supposed to kill him should he ever attempt to leave the island]]. |
| 481 | ** Mizuno and Marino live with their aunt after their [[spoiler:(well, [[TomatoInTheMirror actually only Mizuno's]])]] mother left to chase after her husband, who had left the island. She briefly returns in Mizuno's arc, but of course that doesn't stick. |
| 482 | ** Keito seems to live with her aunt for reasons unexplained, and Benio, George and Tetsuya all three suspiciously live in the school's dorms instead of the city despite being native to the island. And that's not even all of the characters that seem to freely come and go without any family anywhere despite them being teenagers... |
| 483 | * ''Anime/{{Stitch}}'': Yuna's mother is dead while her father works away from home. This results in her being [[RaisedByGrandparents raised by her grandmother]] though she and Stitch move in with her older cousin at the beginning of season 3. |
| 484 | * ''Anime/StrainStrategicArmoredInfantry'' has an explanation, too: the elite are chosen to be Reasoners before birth, and only one character has been shown to have a family member that ''wasn't'' a Reasoner, so they all must be either dead or fighting in the war. Sara's parents did, in fact, die when she was a small child. |
| 485 | * In the anime ''Manga/StrawberryMarshmallow'', the girls' parents appear rarely, if at all. Indeed, it is several episodes in before Nobue and Chika's are even mentioned, the first proof they even exist. Only Ana's are mentioned regularly, and her mother is the only parent whose face is ever seen. Nobue and Chika's mother appears briefly in the manga during a flashback in which she takes her daughters out on a trip. |
| 486 | * ''Anime/SuperAtragon'': Go's father was a merchant marine captain that supposedly died when his ship capsized near Antartica during Go's early childhood. Go's mother died later in life. [[spoiler: His father is Captain Hayate.]] |
| 487 | * In ''Anime/TamakoMarket'', Tamako's mother passed away when she was five. She is fine with it though. This is later shown in a flashback in TheMovie. |
| 488 | * In ''Manga/TegamiBachiLetterBee'', Gauche and Sylvette Suede's mother died giving birth to Sylvette, and their father is absent. Lag's mother, already a single parent, was abducted by mysterious men from the capital, leaving him to be raised by his aunt in Cambel Litmus after Gauche takes him there. |
| 489 | * In ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'', Tenchi Masaki's mother (Achika in most continuities made before 2000, including the first TV series and all three movies, and Kiyone in the {{OVA}}s and most post-2000 continuities) died when her son was quite young, in some continuities from the side effects of saving his life. In the original {{OVA}} continuity, Ryoko was deprived of her creator/mother Washuu for almost 5,000 years, after Kagato kidnapped Washuu and kept her in [[HumanPopsicle suspended animation in his ship]]. |
| 490 | * ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'': |
| 491 | ** Kamina's mom died and dad left when he was a child ([[spoiler:and he finds his skeleton a couple episodes in]]). |
| 492 | ** Simon's parents died in an earthquake. |
| 493 | ** Rossiu's mother is dead, and he can't even refer to his father as such due to his position as the religious leader of his village. |
| 494 | ** Yoko's parents are dead. |
| 495 | ** Gimmy and Darry's parents are... you guessed it. |
| 496 | ** Nia's father is Lordgenome, but there's no mention of her mother -- if she even had one, that is. She picks up ParentalAbandonment ''during'' the series, though, when she's stuck in a box and thrown out like garbage. |
| 497 | * A few examples in ''Literature/TheTestamentOfSisterNewDevil'': |
| 498 | ** Mio's adoptive parents are killed in front of her eyes at some point before the story starts. Her real father, a demon king, is also assassinated by a rival demon faction that wants his position. |
| 499 | ** Basara's mother is said to have died a while back. His father then leaves overseas for work in the first episode, leaving him alone with his two new stepsisters Mio and Maria. |
| 500 | * In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'', characters that still have a family are the rare exception in a series filled with orphans caught in a CycleOfRevenge. |
| 501 | ** Kaneki Ken's father died when he was four, and his mother worked multiple jobs to support them ''and'' her greedy sister's family. He was often left alone while she worked, and after she finally died from exhaustion he was taken in by his aunt's family and abused by them. Suffice to say, he has serious abandonment issues. |
| 502 | ** The Kirishima siblings, Touka and Ayato, were orphaned when their father was caught by Investigators one night and never came home. They spent several days alone in the apartment before a neighbor came to check on them....and promptly handed them over to Investigators on suspicion of being Ghouls. They escaped and spent the next several years living on the streets. |
| 503 | ** Nishiki's nasty attitude stems from losing his parents early on, and being raised by his older sister. She developed feelings for a human, only for him to turn her in on suspicion of being a Ghoul -- she ended up dying in Nisiki's arms, leaving him alone and determined to never trust anyone again. |
| 504 | ** One particular abandonment turns out to be significant to the plot: [[spoiler: The One-Eyed Owl, daughter of BigGood Yoshimura. The organization he served forced him to kill his human lover, but doing so allowed him to flee and hide their newborn HalfHumanHybrid child before his superiors could learn she existed. Since then, he's been keeping his distance from his beloved daughter while she grew into an incredibly powerful WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds and created Aogiri Tree as part of her EvilPlan]]. |
| 505 | ** And how about some investigator examples? First we have Amon, who lost his parents at an early age. Luckily, he got into an orphanage where he lived with a loving foster parent - who happened to be a ghoul himself and frequently ate some of his orphans. Though it's true that he ''did'' love Amon. |
| 506 | ** There's also Akira. Her mother died when she was pretty young (probably in her early teens). However, she did have a father for the rest of her childhood... who, while being kind to her overall, was a "quinque-maniac" and rather spent time hunting ghouls and... well, creating new quinques. Obviously. |
| 507 | ** Juuzou is a pretty weird case. He has been kidnapped by Big Madam when he was still a young child (maybe his parents have been killed in that process). Big Madam raised him from that day and zigzagged this trope: On the one hand, we saw them having a good time, she taught him stuff, they laughed, they say that they love each other and all that. On the other hand, she purposely inflicts pain to him, forces him to kill other humans, and to top it off, since she wasn't happy with having a "son", she tried everything to make him a girl: crossdressing, make-up, and smashing his testicles with a hammer. Yep. Ouch. |
| 508 | * ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'' has ''lots'' of this: |
| 509 | ** Out of the five main girls, only Ichigo (and in the anime, also Retasu) is shown to have a normal family. Minto's parents are too busy to look after her, so she is watched over by her grandmother. Bu-ling has to take care of her five younger siblings because her mother is dead and her father is away -- and she's only nine at the end of the series. Zakuro has no known relatives and apparently lives alone; she's ''fifteen'' at the end. Finally, there's TeenGenius Ryou, whose parents were killed in the {{backstory}}, and [[HoYay whose only family appears to be his partner Keiichiro]]. |
| 510 | ** The aliens themselves also bear mentioning, as none of them seem to have parents to speak of, save for Quiche, who's seen holding the hand of what might've been a parental figure in the anime. Nothing in the way of relatives is mentioned for Pai or Taruto, who's about Bu-ling's age and yet somehow allowed to go off secure a planet for his people... |
| 511 | * In ''Manga/TokyoShinobiSquad'', En was separated from his father while they were both on the run from assassins after their precious ninpo scroll. En hopes to find his father while working with the Narumi-kai. |
| 512 | * In ''Manga/TonaGura'', the usually fractious Kagura siblings are united in their dislike of their father's near-eternal absence and the moves he makes that permit them to never keep friends. It is implied in the manga that part of Marie's hostility towards her brother's "perverted" nature stems not merely from her father's orders, but a desire to see Yuuji revert to his pre-puberty self, when he paid attention to her, the way their father does not. Yuuji's desperate, clumsy efforts to win girls, especially Kazuki, can be seen in the light of his father's absence on many levels. Worse, both have to assume responsibilities their father can't be bothered with -- Marie in keeping Yuuji under control, and Yuuji in working with Kagura Senior's bipolar junior business partner, Tojo Haya. Their mother is never mentioned. |
| 513 | * In ''Literature/{{Toradora}}'', Ryuuji Takasu's father is dead [[spoiler: but we later learn that he just walked on his mom when she was still preggers]], so he lives with his mother Yasuko. OTOH, Taiga Aisaka lives alone because she has problems fitting in at home ever since her mother re-married, and [[spoiler: her father ran away from home after his business went down the toilet, and is quite a JerkAss otherwise.]] In the end, [[spoiler: Taiga returns to her home so she can deal with her familiar problems.]] |
| 514 | * In ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'', ''Manga/XxxHolic'''s sister series, nobody has a present set of parents. ''Nobody''. Perhaps the most egregious case would be Sakura, [[spoiler:who had both a mother and father way before the beginning of the series, but had them erased from existence when Syaoran's desperate wish to save her life screwed over the space-time continuum]]. Kurogane ''HAD'' parents however [[spoiler:his father was killed in combat and his mother was murdered]] |
| 515 | * Exception: In ''Literature/TheTwelveKingdoms'', the parents of Youko Nakajima, who is TrappedInAnotherWorld, are repeatedly shown in the real world worrying about her, before eventually accepting that she is gone for good. |
| 516 | ** Played straight with: Seishuu (his parents were good to him, but his mother died in an earthquake and his father was killed by monster), Shoukei (her parents were overthrown and slaughtered for being injust sovereigns) and IIRC with Rangyaku and Keikei (parents died when they were kids, so they live with Rangyaku's boss Enho). |
| 517 | [[/folder]] |
| 518 | |
| 519 | [[folder:U-Z]] |
| 520 | * Ataru in ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'' still has both his parents, but his father ignores him and his mother frequently wishes he had never been born. Weird case, in that they're seen frequently (never dropped or written out) and definitely are raising Ataru, but they're not involved in any stories and don't have names. Leading to one of the most genuinely weird moments, in an OAV, where the mom ''introduces herself'' as "Ataru Moroboshi's mother". |
| 521 | * In ''Manga/ViolinistOfHameln'', the theme of parental abandonment runs RAMPANT. |
| 522 | ** Sizer, the red-winged angel/Demon King spends most of the time before and part of canon believing that her mother abandoned her when she was little. |
| 523 | ** Hamel, her brother, has rather a terrible experience when the presence of Pandora is removed from the equation. Let us say that the people of Anthem ''really'' should have thought that out better. |
| 524 | ** The death of Raiel's parents in the massacre at Anthem (''really'' should have thought that out better...) is one of the driving forces for him to increase his skill in magical music and defeat demons. It's worse in the anime, though. |
| 525 | ** Flute has issues over the fact that her mother, [[spoiler:Queen Horn]], chose to send her off to some village instead of raising her herself. |
| 526 | * Prince Van Fanyel in ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'' has no living family other than his older brother... who is a servant/general of the invading EvilOverlord, [[spoiler:until he pulls a HeelFaceTurn. Still, Van has (understandable) difficulty accepting him back in his life for a while]]. Hitomi seems to still have her mother and her kid brother Mamoru at Earth, and her dad is at least mentioned when she calls out "Otousan" during a lonely moment on Gaia. Allen Schezar's mother died of grief and illness when he was young, and he hates his DisappearedDad Leon because he abandoned her [[spoiler: until he learns that Leon actually was DeadAllAlong, murdered many years ago by the EvilOverlord's troops.]] |
| 527 | * ''Anime/VoltesV'': |
| 528 | ** [[spoiler: Kentaro did this to the Go siblings by accident, but given what was at stake, it's hard to blame him. He sheds TearsOfJoy when reuniting with his sons.]] |
| 529 | ** Ippei is extremely cynical because he believes his mother abandoned him when he was a child, when the truth is [[HeroicSacrifice much more tragic]]. |
| 530 | * Kaito in ''Anime/WaitingInTheSummer'' refers to his parents to be "living in his memory" after they passed away. |
| 531 | * '''Manga/WelcomeToDemonSchoolIrumaKun:''' The series opens with a justified version of this trope for the titular Iruma. His parents abaondoned him when they summoned a demon and he offered them money in exchange for their son. These greedy, abusive, negligent people happily agree and the series opens with Sullivan, the aforementioned demon, taking Iruma to the demon world. |
| 532 | * Marnie from ''Anime/WhenMarnieWasThere'' has distant parents who are always away. They leave her in the hands of an abusive governess and their staff. Anna herself lost her parents at a young age [[spoiler:but was raised by Marnie until she died of old age]], and lives with her foster mom. |
| 533 | * Watanuki from ''Manga/XxxHOLiC'' was orphaned at a young but unspecified age and has been living alone ever since. [[spoiler:Well, maybe not. It was revealed that [[Manga/CardcaptorSakura his parents]] are still alive somewhere. Just not in his universe. He doesn't remember them due to a DealWithTheDevil or three, and so just assumes them to be dead. His "[[Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle brother]]" does remember them, but ran away from home at the age of seven, and we'll stop there because that’s where the parental ''abandonment'' ends, and something [[Theatre/OedipusRex else]] begins.]] |
| 534 | * Yotsuba Koiwai from ''Manga/{{Yotsuba}}'' is adopted. All we have about her family before Koiwai adopted her is that she was an "abandoned child", as Jumbo puts it, and that at some point she lived on an island, as far as she remembers herself. Koiwai himself is quiet about how, exactly, he adopted her, saying only that he found her in another country. |
| 535 | * The protagonist of ''Manga/YourLieInApril'', Arima Kousei, live alones in his family's house, as his mother is dead and his father is constantly away for business reasons. |
| 536 | * ''Anime/YourName'': |
| 537 | ** Mitsuha's mother passed away from illness when she was young, causing her grief-stricken father to abandon his priestly duties. For this, he was told to get lost by her grandmother, which led to him becoming distant from the rest of the family and Mitsuha to be living with her grandmother and her little sister. The novelisation clarifies that this was the result of a mutual breakdown in the relationship between father and grandmother. Side novel ''Another Side: Earthbound'' adds another twist by revealing that her father had tried to get the sisters to go with him, but they rejected him. |
| 538 | ** Taki's mother is never seen for unknown reasons. |
| 539 | * In ''Anime/YuGiOh'', we have the Kaiba brothers (biological parents died when they were little, adopted father raised Kaiba under a [[TrainingFromHell borderline abusive schooling regimen]], then committed suicide after Seto took over his company), Jounouchi/Joey (estranged from his mother since his parents' divorce, and his drunken father is only mentioned once in the first anime series), Anzu/Tea, Honda/Tristan, and Ryuji/Duke with no visible or suggested parents, and Yugi himself, whose mother appears twice, making him for all intents and purposes appear to live with his grandfather, a major supporting character. |
| 540 | ** Naturally, it's {{Lampshaded}} in ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' several times. After Tea and Tristan snuck on a boat heading for the private island of the BigBad of the season, Tristan wonders if their parents even care that they're missing. |
| 541 | *** Also, Seto Kaiba and his brother Mokuba were orphans "because I had fired our parents." |
| 542 | ** In the manga, we ARE shown Ryuji's father, but he's not star parenting material by any stretch and only appears for a few chapters. |
| 543 | ** Bakura initially explains that the reason he's living alone is so he could [[NewTransferStudent transfer to a new school]] after being ostracized at his old one (because of his SuperpoweredEvilSide). His mom is implied to be dead anyway; he's seen writing a letter to his sister, who's dead according to WordOfGod, and in the letter he asks how she and their mother are doing. And it's [[{{fanon}} generally assumed]] that his dad, who's an archaeologist, is probably off doing archaeologist stuff all the time. |
| 544 | * The lack of parents in the spin-off ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' is even worse. Even if the series does take place at a boarding school, some situations definitely call for parental involvement. Fubuki disappears for a year, and is in a coma for a few days/weeks after resurfacing; his sister Asuka, another student, falls apart over him, but where are their parents? (To be fair, one episode suggests that their mother died when they were very young.) Jun Manjyome runs away for three months; no parents looking for him or threatening the school with a lawsuit. (Indeed, his two older brothers seem for all intents and purposes to be his guardians, but why, after they become estranged, he still has access to an unlimited amount of his family's money, is a mystery.) Ryo and Sho Marufuji's living mother is briefly mentioned in the dub (when Sho talks to Rei in her first apparition, he says their mother said Sho is growing up more alike to Ryo, which suggests they're in good terms and maybe in regular contact), but she's never shown. The show is big on sibling relationships, but aside from an appearance by Hayato Maeda's father in an early episode, not at all with parents and children. |
| 545 | * Parents are mostly a foreign concept on ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'': The four members of Team Satisfaction grew up on the streets after being orphaned in Zero Reverse. The twins' parents are explained as always being away on business trips... and just leave their kids home alone (albeit in a luxurious apartment complete with a swimming pool) with no supervision save online tutors (until Season 3, when they are seen attending school). Aki reconciles with her estranged parents... who are never seen again after they're introduced. The kids have several {{Parental Substitute}}s like Martha and Robert Pearson and, in cases like Crow's and Kiryu's, even ''become'' {{Parental Substitute}}s. |
| 546 | * In ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', Yusuke lives with his drunken, cynical, goodhearted but irresponsible single mother Atsuko, who IIRC was kicked out of her house when she got pregnant at age 14. His actual father is never mentioned in the anime, but Atsuko is seen visiting with a man implied to be his father late in the manga. [[spoiler: (Raizen is not actually his father, but an ancestor several generations back.)]] |
| 547 | ** Yusuke's father is still alive, and briefly meets with his mother in the manga, floating the possibility of getting back together. |
| 548 | ** Hiei is cast out by his people, and his and Yukina's mother, Hina, apparently died, so it is unclear who raised Yukina. |
| 549 | *** It was likely Hina's friend Rui. Although it is unlikely, considering she was also the one who dropped Hiei off a floating island into a demon infested forest. |
| 550 | [[/folder]] |
| 551 |
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