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* ''Series/{{The 100}}'':
** One hundred teenagers are sent to the ground, unsupervised, to test if the planet is survivable again. Even Clarke and Wells, who had parents on the governing Council, were not exempted. That they sent their children to what would probably be their deaths is a source of angst for parents and children alike.
** Raven says her mother was "AWOL" for most of her childhood, and no mention is made of her father; she considers her ChildhoodFriend, Finn, to be her real family.
* ''Series/AbsolutelyFabulous'': {{Subverted|Trope}}/parodied. In one episode, a central lady character learns of a sister she never knew of before, and they meet. They end up talking about their mother, and it turns out she was a sexual monster. One sisters claims she "sprinkled illegitimate children all over Europe" and both remember her catchphrase, whenever she had given birth: "take it away, and bring me another lover!" It is heavily suggested that the fathers were never known. Neither of the sisters hold grudges for their mother or invoke angsty childhood.
* ''Series/{{Alias}}'': During the first season we learn that Sydney's mother apparently died in a car accident when she was six. However, at the end of the Season 1 finale we learn that [[spoiler: she faked her own death and now leads a criminal organization. Upon meeting Sydney for the first time as an adult, she proclaims, "You must have known this day would come. I could have prevented all this, of course. You were so small when you were born. It would have been so easy."]].
* ''Series/TheAliens'':
** Antoine was this to Lewis, because he was imprisoned for decades on drug dealing charges. Lewis didn't even know about his real paternity for most of that though.
** Lewis' mum died, leaving him with an alcoholic father and drug-addicted sister (or step-father and half-sister, as he then discovers). It seems likely the family would be less dysfunctional if she had lived.
* ''Series/AllInTheFamily'': In the ninth-season opener, Edith's chronically drunk cousin, Floyd, leaves his daughter Stephanie on their doorstep and leaves (presumably to get help, find work or go on his drinking binges). Although Floyd does appear from time to time -- continuing into ''Series/ArchieBunkersPlace'' -- to regain custody of (or make contact with) Stephanie, he in fact has "abandoned" her ... and by early 1981, Archie (who by now is widowed) has been granted full custody of Stephanie.
* ''Series/{{Andor}}'': By the time Kassa was abducted by Maarva and Clem to save his life the eldest members of his village were teenagers. It's unclear where all the adults were but supplemental materials give his biological father's date of death as years later.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': Most of the characters' parents, except for Fred's (who stand out by being loving and responsible), are MIA. Angel/Angelus ''ate'' his, Gunn's are never mentioned, Cordelia's are in jail for tax evasion; Wesley's mom is in England, with his emotionally abusive father; Spike turned his mother, but had to kill her when she turned out to be a worse monster than he was, and Lorne's parents live in another dimension -- plus his father is probably dead, and his mother hates him. Much love.
* ''Series/{{Arrested Development}}'': In the fourth season, Maeby is separately but simultaneously abandoned by Lindsay and Tobias.
* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'':
** After his wife was murdered, Malcolm Merlyn abandoned his eight-year-old son Tommy for two years to [[TheSpartanWay train with the League of Assassins in Nanda Parbat]].
** Felicity Smoak's father left her and her mother when she was seven. His disappearance is ominously alluded to multiple times in Season 3, to the point that he is on his way to becoming the MysteriousParent. [[spoiler:Season 4 reveals he is a fugitive cyber-criminal who had to leave for his family's safety when it became clear he couldn't change his ways.]]
** Shortly after Sara (apparently) died on ''Gambit'', Dinah Lance divorced her husband, left her remaining daughter, moved to another city, and made little to no effort contact with Laurel over the next 5 years. When she ''does'' reach out, it's because she thinks Sara is alive.
** Between Sara's apparent death and Dinah divorcing him, Quentin Lance became an alcoholic. While still present in Laurel's life, it's indicated he wasn't there emotionally, and instead she was largely forced to take care of him.
* ''Series/AshitaMamaGaInai'': Post was left in a baby hatch by her parents, while Donki's mother chose her boyfriend over her.
* ''Series/{{Astrid}}'': Astrid's mother left when she was an infant, indicated to be because of autistic burnout of her own. Her father did his best to raise her properly by himself, but died at some point prior to the series.
* ''Series/TheATeam'': Face wandered into an orphanage after being abandoned at five-years-old, he knows neither parents. Murdock's mum died when he was five years old and no mention is ever made of his father. BA has a mother but no mention is given of what happens to his dad.
* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica1978'': Starbuck was orphaned at a very young age during a Cylon attack. [[spoiler:However, it is discovered in the episode "The Man with Nine Lives" that an aging con-man Chameleon happens to be Starbuck's biological father.]]
* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': Lee "Ace Attorney!" Adama's MissingMom and Kara "Starbuck" Thrace's DisappearedDad, and all the people who lost parents and spouses in the destruction of the Colonies and New Caprica, plus the human-type [[TheMole sleeper cell]] Cylons who have no parents due to being clones, a few of which have to deal with being parents themselves.
* ''Series/Batwoman2019'':
** What became of Mary's birth father is not revealed. Later, her mother is murdered.
** Ryan lost her birth parents early on, and then her adopted mother later. It turns out her birth mother is alive, but wants nothing to do with Ryan. She was apparently conceived from an affair, with her birth mother giving her up for adoption and concealing the fact.
* ''Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse'': Some of the kids have grandparents, but Treelo seems to have nobody at all other than Bear, and Tutter apparently lives in the Big Blue House.
* ''Series/{{Beetleborgs}}'': At first you'd think it's this, as Roland's dad and grandmother are main characters but there's no sign of a mom. However, eventually, the dad leaves the show and is replaced by the mom. (They're only seen at the comic book shop run by the grandmother, so presumably it was just a change of jobs and they're still together.)
* ''Series/{{Belgravia}}'': Charles Pope; his mother suffered DeathByChildbirth and his father was killed in the Battle of Waterloo, so he was adopted by the Reverend Pope and his wife. His maternal grandparents the Trenchards gave him up to the Popes to protect their daughter's reputation and his paternal grandparents the Earl and Countess of Brockenhurst had no idea he existed until Mrs. Trenchard admits the truth to Lady Brockenhurst out of guilt.
* ''Series/{{Believe|2014}}'': Tate didn't even know about Bo before they met, and she had no idea who her father was (her mother having died shortly after her birth).
* ''{{Series/Beyond}}'': After Celeste's death, Frost had zero interest in Willa. This is why Arthur - her grandfather - ended up raising her.
* ''Series/TheBigComfyCouch'': Even though Loonette is [[VagueAge apparently]] a child, she lives alone with her [[LivingToys doll]] Molly, and while she has a grandmother, aunt and uncle, no parents are ever seen or mentioned. In the episode "Where Do Clowns Come From?" we learn that baby clowns float down from the sky, so it's possible she never had any parents at all.
* ''Series/BigSky'':
** Ronald kills his mother Helen in a fit of rage. We never hear what became of his father, but he's only mentioned in the past tense, so he might have died.
** Cassie's mother died by suicide in the past. Later her father is murdered, leaving her devastated.
* ''Series/BirdsOfPrey2002'':
** Helena's mother was murdered on Joker's orders to get at her father, who didn't know she existed. As a result her father had a HeroicBSOD severe enough that it made him leave New Gotham, and they never met.
** Dinah gets introduced as a runaway FosterKid. It turns out her birth mother gave up Dinah to protect her when she was six, and they don't see each other again until the present day. Dinah angrily considers her dead because of this. Her birth father is not mentioned or seen at all.
* ''Series/{{Bones}}'': This is said to be one of the reasons behind Bones' retreat to hyper-rationality and cutting herself from forming emotional attachments. Also in the backgrounds, in various ways, of Booth (abused by his alcoholic father, raised by his grandfather) and Sweets.
* ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'': Happens to Shawn several times over. First by his mother, then by his father, then by his mother again, then his father again...
* ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'': Jake Peralta frequently mentions that his father walked out when he was young, only showing up again when he needs something. Furthermore it's implied that his mother was too busy to take care of him, causing him to largely be raised by television. This plays a large role in why [[ManChild he is what he's like today.]]
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** Buffy and Dawn's father is in Spain with his secretary, while Xander's parents (drunken and always fighting) and Willow's mother (too clinical) put in one episode-only appearances. Willow's father is only referred to. Tara's mother is dead and her father is a bastard (as are her brother and cousin). Anya's parents have been dead for over 1000 years. Fortunately, Giles serves as father figure for the whole gang.
** Connor in Season 9. Angel refuses any contact with him, even ignoring his phone calls, because he thinks it will be better for him. Connor's fake family, the Reillys, have lost all memories of him as a result of the magic being gone, so he's left without a father figure.
** Twilight is a bit upset by the fact that Angel and Buffy abandoned it to return to their own dimension.
* ''Series/BurdenOfTruth'': Joanna's mother was mostly gone during her childhood, supposedly due to being sick. However, later it turns out that was her dad's doing. They grow closer when Joanna learns of this, and she gets estranged from her dad. Then [[spoiler:he's murdered]] too.
* ''Series/CanYouHearMyHeart'': In best SoapOpera fashion, this KoreanSeries includes Ma Ru, who was left in the care of his uncle by his mother as a baby and never knew his biological dad.
* ''Series/TheCape'': This appears to be at the center of The Lich's motives.
* ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'': Paige was abandoned by her parents at a church because of fear from the Elders.
** Prue, Piper, and Pheobe's father left them, either because he couldn't handle being married to a witch or because their grandmother pushed him out of their lives ([[DependingOnTheWriter it varies from episode to episode]]). They eventually manage to reconcile with him, but it takes several seasons.
* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'': Chuck and Ellie Bartowski's mother left when Chuck was in fifth grade, and their neglectful father finally up and left as well about ten years later. They learned to get along with just each other to rely on.
* ''Series/ClassOf09'': Poet never knew her father, and wasn't interested to after he left. Her mother died as she was in college at age 18. She's tearful on her graduation day from the FBI at the fact her mom's missed seeing what she has achieved.
* ''Series/ColdCase'':
** Lilly Rush had a father who left when she was a child and an alcoholic mother. It is later revealed that while both of them were drunks, [[spoiler:[[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou he sobered up and then she kicked him out.]]]]
** A {{Justified|Trope}} example occurs in "A Perfect Day". The VictimOfTheWeek turns out to have a twin sister whose mother abandoned her in a church around the time of the victim's death. It turns out the victim was killed by the twins' abusive father [[IfICantHaveYou to punish their mother for leaving him]], and the mother knew that he would continue to look for her and for their surviving daughter, so she decided to abandon the daughter so that even if her husband tracked ''her'' down, he'd never find the child.
* ''Series/TheCompanyYouKeep'': Daphne tells Connor she never met their father until at her mother's funeral while she was an adult. She joined his criminal enterprises after this as his lieutenant and they grew close.
* ''Series/Cursed2020'': A lot of characters are lacking in the parent department.
** Nimue's father Jonah left when she was a young child out of fear of her powers [[spoiler: and because he became aware she [[NotActuallyHisChild wasn't his biological daughter]]. Later, it turns out that her birth father is Merlin. Once this is revealed they begin a relationship.]] Her mother is also killed at the end of the first episode.
** Tor, Arthur and Morgana's father, died in a tavern brawl defending a bar maid. There's no mention of their mother.
** Uther's father died in the past, and [[spoiler:he kills his mother after learning they are not his parents by blood. She took him from his birth mother, a peasant, murdering her to cover it up. His birth father is not mentioned, though he was also possibly dead or absent already since there's no indication that he was another "complication" which she had also dealt with. It's possibly implied he was born out of wedlock.]]
** Iris's father killed her mother, and then was presumably put to death for it or otherwise went out of the picture as she grew up in the abbey.
* ''Series/DeadOfSummer'': Drew's mother says that Drew's father died in the past. His mother herself left after she "accepted" that Drew was a boy, but couldn't accept that her daughter Andrea wasn't real.
* ''Series/{{Defiance}}'': Amanda was forced to raise her little sister Kenya after their mother was killed during the war. It turns out that Amanda was with her mother scavenging for supplies when the war got close to where they were. Their mother wanted to simply run and wasn't willing to back and get Kenya. When Amanda insisted that they do so, mom simply left without either of them. Their father had died in the Pale Wars already.
* ''Series/{{Derry Girls}}'': James's mother abandons him in the first episode of the series, leaving him to live with his aunt and cousin. This is initially played for laughs/black comedy, but is played much more seriously when [[spoiler:his mother returns and tries to bring him back to England with her]].
* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'': The title character was raised by a good, caring foster family. He didn't care about his biological family for the most part, until weird things bring them up. [[spoiler: Namely his biological brother, whose existence he had all but forgotten, kills their father, and tries to get Dex to kill his foster sister. During the course of the first season, Dexter remembers being witness to the brutal chainsaw killing of his mother, which helps explain why he and his bro are so screwed up. During the second season, he learns that it was his foster father who essentially unintentionally put his mother in the position that got her killed. Not only that, but his foster dad killed himself when he realized grooming Dexter to become a model serial killer wasn't exactly a good idea. His foster father also wouldn't let his real father raise him, judging him as not being good enough.]]
* ''Series/DocMartin'': The Ellinghams took every opportunity to not have to raise Martin, sending him to boarding school at age six and having him spend summers with Aunt Joan (until his father decided that Joan was too immoral). Louisa's mother walked out on the family when she was ten and she became estranged from her gambling-addict father when she was an adult. [[spoiler:Her father eventually becomes a criminal, causing a second estrangement. Her mother returned to become a cast member in Season 5.]]
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** Some of the companions: Vicki, Dodo, Jamie, Sarah Jane, and Adric are orphans, Victoria's mother is dead and in her first story her father gets exterminated, Nyssa's mother is dead and in her first story her father is killed and his body hijacked by the Master, Ace's father is never mentioned and likely out of the picture, Rose's father is dead (though not for lack of trying to prevent it), and both of Mickey's parents walked out when he was very young and his grandmother, who raised him, died tripping on a damaged piece of carpet on the stairs he never got around to fixing. Naturally, he feels very guilty about this. We also find out (in his final episode) that Turlough's mother was killed during a civil war on his planet, his father and stepmother were sent to a prison planet and killed when their transport crashed, whilst he was exiled to a boarding school on earth.
** For the duration of Series 5, Amy's parents [[RetGone had never existed]] due to the time-crack in her house. Amy herself doesn't realize this until the end, shortly before the Doctor undoes the damage caused by the cracks.
* ''Series/TheEndgame'': First Elena's mother died when she was little, and then her father was assassinated right in front of her.
* ''Series/FamilyMatters'':
** Urkel's parents leave unannounced to live in Russia, forcing the Winslows to take him in. As a RunningGag had it that his parents were never really fond of him, Urkel is not really bitter or resentful.
** Later episodes, revolving around [[CousinOliver cute kid]] 3J joining the Winslow household, established that 3J was abandoned by his mother when he was a baby. (Carl does take 3J to meet a waitress, to help him explain that someday, his mother will be willing to meet with her son; only Carl is aware that the waitress is 3J's biological mother, and she shows gratitude and is relieved that 3J will be raised in a stable household.)
* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'':
** A variation occurs, where the Tam siblings' parents send River to a government-sponsored [[SchoolForScheming Academy]] that proceeds to [[MindRape wreck her mind]] while experimenting on her. When Simon tries to explain to them what is happening, they show increasingly less interest in River's welfare, to the point that their father threatens to disown Simon if he continues causing trouble trying to reach her, which he eventually does before Simon rescues River. It is [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation up in the air]] as to whether or not this is simply callous abandonment by their parents or outright ParentalBetrayal, if you follow the [[EpilepticTrees line of thought]] that the Tams deliberately gave River over to the Academy.
** Alternatively the Tams could have simply been in denial -- after all River was in a ''government school'' how could anything be wrong?
* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'': It's mentioned that two of the reasons for both Frasier's extreme clinginess towards his brother and friends and his love-life-destroying fear of rejection (apart from the fact that his first wife, his fiancee, and his second wife all left him), are a) his mother's tragic death from cancer, and b) his distant relationship with his father, which was exacerbated by said death.
* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'': Will Smith himself, who was raised by his single mother in Philly until he was a teenager as his father left them when he was only a small child, dedicating himself full-time to his job as a cross-country truck driver. Will wondered for years of his father's whereabouts, and it was in part because of the lack of a father-figure that it eventually became necessary for him to move to Bel-Air with his Uncle Phil and Aunt Vivian, who took him in on his mother's request. In "[[Recap/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAirS4E24PapasGotABrandNewExcuse Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse]]", Will's dad, Lou, inexplicably shows up at school hoping to meet his son, and the two attempt to bond despite Uncle Phil's heated objections, fearing lingering disloyalty on Lou's part. Lou tries to explain that he "felt trapped and scared", and was "not ready", and Will eagerly accepts the chance to travel with him to the anger of Phil, but he eventually comes around because he knows what this means to Will. Lou, however, again bails on his son, saying a "big job" is up and can't afford space for Will. Devastated, Will cuts all ties with his father, and tearfully accepts Uncle Phil as his true father.
* ''Series/FridayNightLights'': Has several cases of this, the most glaringly obvious being the Riggins' parents -- their father lives in another city, and their mother is mentioned all of twice (and never seen.) The Colletes also have an absent father, and their mother shows up rarely and usually has no visible means of income. Becky Sproles' father has another family in Seattle. Vince Howard's father has been in prison most of his life, and his mother is a drug addict. Matt Saracen's dad is a lifelong military man, and never shown to be close to or affectionate to his son even when he's home. Matt is "cared for" by his grandmother, but given her mental and physical decline it's actually him that takes care of her.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Phoebe's father walked out on his family when Phoebe was a baby, her step father ended up in jail and her mother killed herself when Phoebe was 14-years-old. Later she found her [[spoiler: biological mother, as well as her father]].
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Many characters have dead or missing parents.
** Dany and her older brother Viserys. She was raised by Viserys, as her father was assassinated shortly before she was born, and her mother died giving birth to her.
** Jon, Tyrion, Cersei, and Jaime, and a number of side characters.
** Bran clearly feels this way about Catelyn's journey to the capital.
** It's Family Abandonment in Rickon's case: the only one of his relatives still left in Winterfell is his barely older brother Bran. And he finally has to part with him, too.
** The direwolves' mother is dead when they were introduced and their father is nowhere to be seen.
** House Baratheon. When they were very young, Robert and Stannis watched as their parents died in a shipwreck within sight of Storm's End.
* ''Series/GangRelated'': Ryan first lost his mother and then his father as a child.
* ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'': George's father Manny walked out on George and Benny when George was two and Benny was pregnant with a daughter that she had to give away. Adding insult to injury, Manny had another family, also naming his second son George.
* ''Literature/TheGoodLordBird'': Onion's father gets killed in his first scene. His mother was apparently already dead.
* ''{{Series/Gotham}}'':
** Bruce's parents were both killed by a criminal, like usual, and this forms a core recurring part of the show, along with shaping his own personality/life path.
** Selena's mother dumped her in an orphanage. There's no mention of her father.
* ''Series/GothamKnights2023'':
** Turner was an orphan whom Bruce Wayne had adopted, before being murdered himself.
** Harper and Cullen Row have fled their abusive father to fend for themselves. Harper mentions that their mother left, so he started beating on them instead of on her.
* ''{{Series/Hanna}}'':
** Hanna has this twice over. First, she breaks contact with her birth father (who she'd never met before), considering Erik her real dad. Then Erik is killed. Meanwhile, Hanna's mother was killed in a car crash while fleeing from Utrax when Hanna was an infant.
** After learning her birth mother's identity, Clara suffers from this, realizing that both her mother and father are gone. [[spoiler:She later meets her mother in the Season 2 finale however, averting this in part.]] Most of the girls have this however, as they all were taken in by Utrax as infants (Hanna is the one lucky exception). You can see how much it affects Sandy to have a pretend family in her cover identity, so much that it soon becomes real for her.
* ''Series/HappyDays'':
** Fonzie's father had left the family when he was very young. Several episodes are built around his surrogate family (the Cunninghams) helping Fonzie try to come to terms with his father's absence. In a Christmas episode aired in 1978, Fonzie finally gets some answers after a letter is hand-delivered to him by a sailor (the letter explains that his father had joined the Navy, and that he didn't have the courage to tell him face-to-face).
** At some point in Fonzie's childhood, several years after the father had left, Fonzie's mother also leaves her son behind. Fonzie goes to live with his Grandma Nussbaum, which he does until he joins a gang -- the Demons and the Falcons -- and is involved in minor criminal activity in both. (This is all part of the BackStory, and continues until he befriends Richie and eventually becomes a surrogate member of the Cunningham family.) In one of the later episodes, Fonzie attempts to meet with his mother, which he does ... unknowingly.
* ''Series/{{Haven}}'': After Duke Crocker's father died, his mother couldn't take it anymore and left, forcing him to turn to crime to survive. Years later, he randomly ran into her, but she didn't even recognize him.
* ''Series/Hawkeye2021'': Maya's father was killed by Ronin. At first, her mother is neither seen nor mentioned. [[spoiler:In ''Series/Echo2024'', we learn that her mother was killed by enemies of her father who had cut her brakes, causing an accident (with Maya, inside the truck as well, surviving but losing her leg).]]
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'':
** See MissingMom and DisappearedDad for Hiro, Matt, Mohinder, and Claire's situations, because while they fit here, there are... rather complex details.
** Molly Walker's parents were both Sylar victims. She's now got a ''Series/MyTwoDads'' situation instead.
** Nikki's dad not only walked out on her but was also [[AbusiveParents abusive]].
** Elle's mother is never seen and Sylar kills her ([[AbusiveParents abusive]]) father.
** The Petrellis' mom: evil. Dad: committed suicide.
*** Actually, the father didn't commit suicide, he was paralyzed by his wife in retribution for attempting to kill her son. And the father was also extraordinarily evil.
** Sylar's [[spoiler: bio-mom was murdered in front of him by his bio-dad when he was five, adopted father walked out on him at ten, and he became a (semi-accidental) SelfMadeOrphan when his adopted mom attacked him with a pair of scissors.]] [[FreudianExcuse No wonder he snapped]].
* ''Series/HitAndMiss'': Wendy dies and leaves her four kids alone, as none of their fathers were involved. Mia, who'd fathered Ryan while involved with her but wasn't aware before of her son (she's now [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} transitioning]]) is told and steps up to raise them, sparking the plot. Riley, the oldest, had taken care of her younger siblings already though.
* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis''- A few characters.
** Nina's parents died in a car accident when she was little, so [[RaisedByGrandparents her Gran raised her.]]
** Jerome's mother is implied to be very distant and never around, while his father went to jail when he was a little kid, so long ago that his little sister Poppy doesn't even remember. In Season 2, an entire subplot focused on them reuniting and reconnecting.
** Eddie has a similar situation, with his father, Mr. Sweet, having left when he was young. He even sent letters that never reached him, being addressed to "Eric Sweet, England." When the audience finds out about their relationship, they also find out just how hurt and bitter Eddie feels about the whole situation. Like Jerome above, he did eventually bond with Mr. Sweet.
** KT's parents are implied to have died like Nina's, and she was raised by her Grandfather. However, said Grandfather eventually died, and she was sent to England basically as an orphan.
** Then there are the parents that are just never mentioned, specifically Fabian's and Willow's, leading to a lot of {{Fanon}} about their parents being neglectful at best, or gone/[[AbusiveParents abusive]] at worst.
* ''Series/{{Hustle}}'': Emma and Sean had this with their father who had abandoned them when they were 5 and 3. This led them to becoming con artists. They even pull a con on their own father, who doesn't recognize them.
* ''Series/ICarly'':
** Carly and Spencer's father is in the military, whilst their mother has completely abandoned them (as revealed in the [[Series/ICarly2021 revival]]). The whereabouts of Sam's and Freddie's fathers is unknown, and Sam's mother is a depressed lump who rarely gets up before noon.
** Sam's father's abandonment is finally addressed in ''iParty With Victorious'':
-->'''Sam''': Yeah, and my dad told my mom he was coming back.
* ''Series/KamenRiderKiva'':
** Wataru, the eponymous character, never knew his father and lives alone in his house after being put there by his mother when he was a child. Later, he learns exactly why: [[spoiler:his father Otoya died after fighting the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Fangire]] King alongside a time-traveling Wataru in order to protect his friends and the woman he loved. His mother Maya was the Fangire Queen but, stripped of her powers, became an easy target for any Fangire looking to make a name for himself, and she left Wataru in order to protect him - which hurt her just as much as it hurt him. He also learns that his childhood best friend Taiga is actually his half-brother, but that's [[LongLostRelative another trope entirely]].]]
** ''Series/MaskedRider'' (one of the franchise's American adaptations): Don't think ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' is the only series in the world of American {{Toku}} to have this as a rule. Dex, the Masked Rider, has a grandfather (King Lexian) and an uncle (usurper Count Dregon, the BigBad.) We don't meet or hear of Grandma. His parents, though, were mentioned to have died when he was young. (Like ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'', the ruination of the world pre-series makes "they all got dead thanks to the bad guys" a logical assumption, but it's never said - and also like ''RPM'', if Lexian had a wife and she died, you'd think it'd be mentioned if Dex's parents' deaths can be mentioned; NeverSayDie isn't the culprit here.)
** ''Series/KamenRiderDragonKnight'': Kit has a dad but no sign or mention of a mom. Even then, his dad had gone missing pre-season and he was placed in foster care; at one point Kit states that he assumed his dad had just walked out on him.
* ''Series/KeepBreathing'': By the present, Liv's mom has left years ago, while her dad's dead.
* ''Series/KillingEve'': Both of Villanelle's parents died in the past, leaving her to be put into an orphanage. [[spoiler:It turns out that her mother is alive later though. Villanelle kills her in the end]].
* ''Series/KnotsLanding'': Lilimae abandoned both Valene and Joshua in order to pursue her country music career, which never took off. She eventually came to deeply regret her actions and both of her children forgave her years later. In Joshua's case, however, it was less straightforward as his father told him that his mother was dead and he was initially under the impression that Lilimae was his maternal aunt.
* ''Series/KungFuTheLegendContinues'': Peter Caine has a continuing case of this. His mother died when he was young, he was separated from his father when he was twelve--believing that he, too, had died--and after he was reunited with his father as an adult, the elder Caine left again repeatedly. To make matters worse, Peter's ''adoptive'' father left for personal reasons at the end of the second season and never returned (sadly, [[WrittenInInfirmity due to the death of the actor]]). Unsurprisingly, Peter has issues.
* ''Series/LAsFinest'':
** The birth mother of Isabel [=McKenna=] was killed in a car crash by a Drunk Driver. It was only three years before the series starts, and Izzy is still very affected (she was in the car at the time). She's angry about it and acts out as a result. [[spoiler:Later on her father is murdered too.]]
** Nancy says she never knew her dad. Her brother Nico is younger, so presumably they're half-siblings, though there's no sign his was around. She says as a kid she'd often wonder about him, hoping he'd appear. Their mother meanwhile was killed [[spoiler:by Nico while protecting Nancy from her abuse]].
* ''Series/TheLastOfUs2023'': Ellie's mother Anna died just a few hours after giving birth to her. Meanwhile, what became of her father hasn't been revealed.
* ''Series/LazyTown'': None of the characters except Stingy are said to have parents, and seem to live completely alone.
* ''Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie'':
** What Nancy, the bratty orphan who Nels and Harriet Olesen adopt, claims her mother did to her, all to gain sympathy from her new family and friends. (In truth, Nancy's mother suffered from pre-enclampsia and died while giving birth to her; when officials are unable to track down her biological father, Nancy is made a ward of the court and is moved around from orphanage to orphanage.) Charles Ingalls is able to uncover the truth after he makes a casual remark to the director of the last orphanage where Nancy was staying.
** Several episodes revolved around parents leaving the family for various reasons, with the Ingalls or other main characters helping the involved child cope with their loss(es). However, at least two main characters had direct involvement:
** Albert Quinn (Matthew Laboreteaux), whose drunken father leaves the 10-year-old boy on the streets of Winoka at the start of the 1978-1979 season; Albert is eventually adopted by the Ingalls family. (Several times, Albert's biological father, John, attempts to regain custody, but these efforts fail.)
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'':
** In a show [[DysfunctionJunction where]] [[Theatre/OedipusRex everyone]] has parent issues, this trope shows up in spades:
** Hurley's dad left when he was a kid (which caused his eating and weight problems), then showed up again after Hurley won the lottery.
** There's both the father of Claire's child and her own father ([[LukeIAmYourFather who also turns out to be]] [[spoiler: Jack's father, making her and Jack half-siblings]].
** Ji Yeon (Jin's and Sun's daughter) is seemingly abandoned by her mother as she returns to the island. [[spoiler: Then both her parents die.]]
** Jin's mother was a prostitute, who left him with the man she claimed was his father right after his birth. She later blackmailed Sun with this information.
** Locke was given up for adoption after he was born. We won't even go into what his parents ended up doing to him.
** Miles was raised by his mother, who never spoke to him about his father. Later, it's revealed that he's actually the son of [[spoiler: Dr. Pierre Chang]].
* ''Series/Lucifer2016'':
** Shortly after Linda gives birth to her son she admits to Maze that she'd previously been through a TeenPregnancy at 17. When her daughter was born, she realised that she wasn't ready to be a mother and left the baby at the maternity hospital. Maze eventually helps her track down her now-adult daughter who was HappilyAdopted.
** This is revealed to be the cause of [[spoiler:Jimmy Barnes']] [[NotGoodWithRejection rejection issues]] in the Season 6 episode "Yabba Dabba Do Me". [[spoiler:When Jimmy was a child, his mother abandoned him in a motel room for her music career, with him left there watching cartoons on TV until CPS came to take him in.]]
* ''Series/TheLWord'': Bette's mother left while she was a girl, and her father dies from cancer in Season 2 (even prior they were estranged over her sexual orientation).
* ''Series/MayfairWitches'': Patrick, birth father of Rowan, died prior to her birth. [[spoiler:It turns out her birth father was Cortland however, as [[ChildByRape a result of rape]].]] Her adoptive mom Elena had brought up Rowan as a single mother after this. Elena then dies after her cancer relapses, and Rowan initially doesn't know about her birth mother Deirdre, who's alive.
* ''Series/{{Merlin 2008}}'':
** Not one of the main characters has a complete set of parents - Morgana and Gwen's fathers are both dead. Neither of them has even mentioned their mother, so it can be assumed that they, too, are deceased. Arthur's mother is dead (and his father tends to treat him very coldly as a result). Merlin never knew his father, [[spoiler: until ''The Last Dragonlord'', in which it was revealed that he was forced to leave Hunith before he even knew she was pregnant. He is killed shortly after they are reunited. Strangely enough, though, prior to this Merlin seemed to be daddy-issues free.]]
** Morgana views her [[spoiler: father Uther]]'s refusal to acknowledge her as this. Whether it should be viewed as this is up for debate as, despite not telling her, he spends a considerable amount of time with her, makes no secret that he considers her a daughter, listens to her advice, and once skipped a council meeting to go riding with her.
* ''Series/MohawkGirls'': Caitlin's mom is dead and had left her as a baby, while her dad's very negligent to her. His mother says it comes from being abused in one of the residential schools the native kids of his generation were sent to and that he can't show normal love after this.
* ''Series/{{Monk}}'': Adrian Monk's father left the family in 1972 while attempting to get them Chinese Food. It is later revealed that the cataclyst was a Chinese fortune cookie stating that he should "be his own man", although it is implied that the frustrations involving his family also contributed greatly as well.
* ''Series/TheNewNormal'': Goldie's parents left her in her grandmother's hands.
* ''Series/TheNightAgent'': Peter's mother was dead already when his father died in a car accident too.
* ''Series/NightAndDay'': Plenty to go around. Steph [=McKenzie=] left her son Josh Alexander in a church doorway as a baby; Danny Dexter abandoned son Dennis Doyle and his mum Roxanne when he was a baby; Django Doyle was so eaten up by his father Charlie's abandonment of him as a child that he arrived in town with the intention of killing him.
* ''Series/NoTomorrow'': Xavier's father was one of the "emotionally absent" kinds to him, and they haven't spoken for years. Now doing so is one of the items on his bucket list. Meanwhile his mother died when he was a child.
* ''Series/NoughtsAndCrosses'': [[spoiler:Kamal]] was completely absent from Yaro's life, due to him being born from an affair (which was also illegal as it's an interracial relationship). Yaro learns of him only after his mother's death.
* ''Series/Numb3rs'': Not quite in Amita's case but her parents are too busy to come visit her.
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'':
** ''Damn near everyone'' has issues about this. Special mention goes to Emma Swan and Rumplestiltskin who were both the abandoning parent and the abandoned child. Though Emma didn't abandon her son per se, she just gave him up for adoption. She still feels somewhat guilty for it.
** Not to mention Killian "Hook" Jones, whose father sold him into servitude as payment for buying a rowboat to escape the law.
** Regina is perhaps the only character who doesn't have these issues, and she probably would have been better off if her mother ''had'' abandoned her. Everyone else would have too.
* ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'': The Trotters' mother Joan died when they were young, while their JerkAss father Reg abandoned them. They were not happy when he returned in "Thicker than Water". Del frequently speaks of his mother with great fondness.
* ''Series/TheOrder'': Jack's story is kicked off by his and his grandfather's desire to get {{Revenge}} on the man they believe is responsible for Jack's mother committing suicide. He'd sired Jack without knowing it [[ChildByRape via]] [[LovePotion love spell]].
* ''Series/TheOutpost'':
** Talon's father's absence is unexplained [[spoiler:at first]]. Her mother was murdered. [[TraumaCongaLine As if that weren't enough]], she's adopted by a human family, and they are slaughtered by Varek (a Blackblood who hates humans).
** [[spoiler:Gwynn]]'s birth parents (i.e. the king and queen) were killed in her childhood by the Prime Order, who overthrew her father. Her adopted father is later murdered too.
** Garret's mother was murdered, and [[spoiler:he later kills his own father while {{brainwashed}} as a test of loyalty]].
** Janzo doesn't mention his father. Since his mother died giving birth to him, he likely doesn't know. He was probably born out of wedlock as otherwise The Mistress wouldn't have adopted him.
** Wren's father is never seen or mentioned. [[spoiler:Her mother is later killed to stop her AssimilationPlot]].
** Tobin's father is dead and his mother simply never gets mentioned.
* ''Series/PaperGirls'': Erin's dad died when she was nine. After going into her future of 2019, she finds that her mom's died from a disease as well.
* ''Series/PartyOfFive'': The one, the only. In the pilot episode, we learn the parents were killed by a drunk driver six months prior. The [[Series/PartyOfFive2020 remake]] has them get deported instead.
* ''Series/Pitch2016'':
** Ginny's dad [[spoiler:died in a car accident, while she was there with him.]]
** Regarding her mother, it's played with. As a consequence of Ginny's father's constant push for Ginny to play baseball, her mother felt increasingly left out of Ginny's life despite all her attempts to be a part of it. Sadly, her mom's reaction to this only worsened the problem as Ginny discovering her mom with another man resulted in Ginny distancing herself even more from her mom and throwing herself more fully into baseball.
* ''Series/ThePower2023'': It turns out that Eve's mother simply left her at a Walmart when she was three, never to return, while her father is not mentioned.
* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'':
** Parents often go unseen, though Rangers are seldom seen in the sort of situations that make one wonder "What did Mom say when they got back from fighting the villains?" Villains conveniently attack after school but before dinner most of the time. However, in the ''Mystic Force'' season, the Rangers have been shown to pull the occasional all-nighter at Rootcore, [[FridgeLogic making one wonder]] how they explained it. And then, there was the story in which Vida became a vampire, which took place over the course of several days... did Dad notice his daughter's fangs and aversion to sunlight?
** Exceptions tend to be the times one parent of one Ranger is a main character -- and curiously, when this happens, count on the other parent to be totally absent and rarely even referred to. It's a habit that strangely continues through multiple cast and crew changes and {{Channel Hop}}s; none of the people who did it in Time Force are among those who did it in RPM; none of them, in turn, had anything to do with it in Beast Morphers. Yet, even ''one line'' alluding to the parent who isn't a regular is a rarity.
** Dana and Ryan of ''Lightspeed Rescue'' are Captain Mitchell's daughter and son. Mom is actually mentioned for once and it sounds like she's dead (an old friend of Captain Mitchell said Dana reminded him of her mom, and that she'd be proud if she could see Dana now.) but that one scene is the only mention of her. (What's funny is, in ''Series/RescueSentaiGoGoFive,'' the MissingMom of all five Rangers - they were a SiblingTeam but there was no SixthRanger - turns out to be in a coma near the end, and wakes up. Finding out she's alive gives them more HeroicResolve and they go kick butt. ''Power Rangers,'' the younger-skewing NeverSayDie series, has her established as dead, leaves her that way, and Dana and Ryan find more than enough reason to keep fighting in the fact that Queen Bansheera unleashing every demon from the Shadow World upon the mortal realm would be ''[[{{Understatement}} bad]]''.)
** Wes of ''Time Force'' has a dad as a regular - he's in every episode and much of Wes’ story has to do with their relationship - but no mention of a mom ever.
** Averted for half the Rangers of ''Ninja Storm'', whose parents may be gone but their presence is still felt: Brothers Blake and Hunter are effectively orphans and they meet the spirits of their parents briefly at the end of a multiparter.[[note]]Well, they're ''adoptive'' parents, but let's not get technical.[[/note]] They have a current father figure, too, in their ninja master, but he was one of many ninjas captured by the villains. As for Cam, he's one of the ones who has a dad but no mom, but this is explained as her having passed away a while ago; her husband and son still miss her and her relationships with them still affect the plot, especially when Cam [[spoiler:goes back in time and winds up getting his Ranger powers from her.]]
** Trent's situation in ''Dino Thunder'' (dad, no mom) is justified by adoption.
** ''Mystic Force'': We actually get a two-parent family! In fact we get [[spoiler:a four-parent family, two biological and two adopted,]] once [[LukeIAmYourFather all the connections are revealed]]. However, we manage to get the usual situation ''also.'' Clare was raised by her aunt, Udonna, because her mother (Udonna's sister) died in the GreatOffscreenWar pre-series. No mention of her dad; apparently he wasn't in the picture.
** Justified in ''Operation Overdrive'': Mack has a father, but his mother is absent. You don't question it at first because that's how the show rolls, but later, it is revealed that [[spoiler:Mack's dad is a TrulySingleParent: Mack has no mother, because he is an android that his father built because he was too wrapped up in his work to find the right woman.]]
** In ''RPM'', the Red Ranger's dad is a major character. No sign or mention of Mom, though since it takes place AfterTheEnd, it could be she went the way of the majority of humanity. However, that's never said - unlike his brother, whose death in battle we ''saw.'' We don't get that one line that clearly puts her in the past tense while maintaining NeverSayDie (see Dana and Ryan Mitchell above.)
** In ''Samurai'', Skull sends his son Spike to live with his best friend Bulk, apparently so Bulk can mentor him and teach him something-or-other. What's odd is that Spike's mom is never mentioned, even though WordOfGod says it's [[spoiler:''Kimberly'', Skull's longtime crush and the original Pink Ranger!]]
** ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel'' takes it to the extreme. We have:
*** Brody and Aiden [[spoiler: aka Levi]]: Dad is missing for half the series; we do have mention of a mom, established as dead.
*** Preston's dad is apparently so cold ''because'' of the death of Preston's mom. Yes, ''two'' explicit death situations!
*** One episode has Sarah's mom and Hayley's dad begin to date, causing their daughters to be {{Squick}}ed by it. We're back to the usual rules of no mention of either teen's ''other'' parent.
*** That leaves ''one'' team member, Calvin, as the only one who ''might'' actually have two parents (as in, we never hear about either of his, so him having two isn't explicitly ruled out.) However, the Rangers' tech guy Mick does have both parents, proving that contrary to how it may appear by this point, the producers are aware that yes, it does typically take two people to make a kid.
** ''Beast Morphers'' gets in on it from the start. Three Rangers to start, and we find that Devon’s dad is the mayor, Zoe’s mom is a reporter, and Ravi’s mom is the Rangers’ chief. Neither of them has the other parent mentioned in any way, even after multiple appearances of the first parent. However, none of the parents are ''quite'' central enough that it's strange to not hear a mention of the other... at least, until the first Christmas special, which has each of the starting trio talk about their Christmas plans with the one parent we’ve seen for each, as opposed to saying “my parents” as you’d expect if both were in the picture.
** ''Villain'' single parents are also common.
*** Master Vile is the father of Rita and Rito, but no mother ever gets mentioned.
*** Divatox is Elgar's aunt. As such, General Havoc, Divatox's bro, ''may'' be his father, but no mother. We also meet Divatox's mom, but the absence of a dad is explained: she tossed him into the Pit of Eternal Sorrow and the source of the screaming we heard the ''entire'' time it was open was apparently him.
*** Scorpius is the father of Trakeena, but no mother ever gets mentioned.
*** Bansheera is the mother of Impus/Olympius, but no father ever gets mentioned.
*** Ransik is the father of Nadira, but -- you guessed it -- Mom's a never-mentioned mystery. (Yes, that's the ''same season'' that has a Ranger whose dad is a main character, but whose mom is never mentioned.)
*** Lothor is the uncle of Marah and Kapri. Their parents are only mentioned in passing, but they evidently do exist.
*** Necrolai is [[spoiler:Leelee's mom. Dad exists, but she had him turned into a worm at some point.]]
*** After the fall of Prince Vekar and Prince Vrak in ''Megaforce,'' Emperor Mavro comes in person to take revenge. No Empress do we ever hear from.
** It's also ''very'' much the norm in other American {{Toku}} series, even those that aren't Saban's, but you'll have to look alphabetically. Really, by this point, it's a true shocker when you ''do'' get the slightest mention of the parent that isn't the one important to the show.
* ''Series/PunkyBrewster'':
** Sometime after her father abandoned her whole family, Punky was abandoned by her mother; the reason why was never disclosed. The subject of Punky wanting to reunite with her mom came up a few times during the first couple of seasons (and once in the animated version). [[spoiler:Mrs. Brewster eventually returns in the [[Series/PunkyBrewster2021 sequel series]] but the only season ended on a cliffhanger before revealing whether a now adult Punky wanted to rekindle their relationship.]]
** Cherie lost her parents in a car crash, resulting in her being raised by her grandmother Betty. The episode "The Anniversary" focuses on her starting to come to terms with the loss.
** [[Series/PunkyBrewster2021 The sequel series]] has a now adult Punky fostering an orphaned girl named Izzy.
* ''Series/PushingDaisies'': One of the main themes of this show is the effect that suffering this trope has had on the two leads. Both of them lost a parent when they were children (on the same day, in fact[[note]]This was actually Ned's fault, even though he didn't realize it at that time.[[/note]]). Chuck was raised by her aunts after that [[spoiler:although one of her aunts may be her mother]], while Ned's {{Jerkass}} father abandoned him at boarding school.
* ''Series/{{Quantico}}'': [[spoiler:Shelby Wyatt's parents, long believed to have died on 9/11, actually ended up in hiding, as a result of finding out that some shady contacts that they had made in Afghanistan were connected to the terrorist attacks.]]
* ''Series/QuantumLeap'': Al's mother abandoned him and his younger, mentally handicapped, sister when they were young. Then their father put them in an orphanage, so he could travel for work. The father later died, and Al left the orphanage once he was an adult. He went back later to retrieve his sister, Trudy, but she had died from pneumonia.
* ''Series/ReservationDogs'': Elora has this. Her mother died in a car accident when she was little, and her father was always absent. She's never known her father's identity, as her grandmother didn't want to talk about it. Later she learns he's white and still living. She meets him, initially to just get information Elora needs for getting her college financial aid. He tells her about his relationship with her mother and apologizes for not being there in her life, with them bonding somewhat. Elora also meets her half-siblings and promises she'll visit them.
* ''Series/ResidentAlien'': Asta's mother abandoned her when she was little, and Dan raised her after that. We never hear what became of her birth father. Later she gave up her baby as a teenager under pressure from Jimmy, the father, who said they were too young to be parents.
* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': Charlie and Danny's biological mother died sometime after the blackout and their father dies in the [[Recap/RevolutionS1E1Pilot pilot episode]]. Their stepmother Maggie lives, [[spoiler: only to die in [[Recap/RevolutionS1E4ThePlagueDogs Episode 4]]]]. However, their birth mother is revealed to be still alive, and in Monroe's custody in [[Recap/RevolutionS1E2ChainedHeat Episode 2]]. She does get free in [[Recap/RevolutionS1E10NobodysFaultButMine Episode 10]], but then she blatantly shows that she favours Danny over Charlie to an unhealthy degree. Sure, [[spoiler:Danny's death]] in [[Recap/RevolutionS1E11TheStand Episode 11]] didn't help matters, but slapping Charlie because she tried to call her out on her abandonment in [[Recap/RevolutionS1E12Ghosts Episode 12]], as well as leaving Charlie and fully intending to die sends the message that Charlie is better off without her in [[Recap/RevolutionS1E13TheSongRemainsTheSame Episode 13]].
* ''Series/{{Sadakatsiz}}'': It's a major theme in the story, either by death (read suicide), neglect, or refusing to take care of one's children. Parents who {{avert|ed}} this are often portrayed in a more sympathetic light, if only by a bit.
** Asya's mother killed herself and Asya's father in a car accident, which caused Asya to fear abandonment and the attachment that comes with love of any kind. When pushed to the edge, Asya ponders whether to just let Volkan have full custody of their son but her own familial experience gives her the strength to {{def|ied}}y this trope and fight to stay in her son's life.
** Volkan's father is long disappeared from his family's lives by the time the series starts. Though never explicit, he was abusive toward his wife Saliha and son. Because of that, it's treated as a good thing that he left.
** Haluk Güçlü is portrayed as a {{Helicopter Parent|s}} to Derin and Demir. However, midway through the first season, it's revealed that he fathered a son with another woman and that he refused to acknowledge. This illegitimate son is a deeply unstable individual who then comes back to stir trouble for Haluk's family.
** Nil Tetik never mentions nor visits her parents. During one [[DiscussedTrope conversation]] with her LoveInterest, she tells him that they are both alone in this world, implying that her parents are out of the picture, possibly due to abandonment as well.
** Hicran Dağcı abandons her son Selçuk to another woman's care when he's a young kid. In flashbacks, she's implied to be a sex worker, and her reasoning for leaving her son is that she didn't feel ready to be a mother. She also wanted to spare him the ugly details of her work. Unfortunately, Selçuk is abused in his new home, prompting him to run away. He becomes an aggressive, resentful young man who wants nothing to do with his mother. And neither with the father who rejected him.
* ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'': The titular character is raised by her aunts. Her dad the warlock lives in the magical [[AlternateDimension Other Realm]], and only shows up a few times to visit. Her mom is a mortal, which means she and Sabrina can't see each other or Mom will turn into a ball of wax. [[spoiler:Mom is allowed to come to Sabrina's wedding in the series finale because Hilda allows the Witches Council to turn her into a candle.]]
* ''Series/TheSandman2022'': Rose and Jed Walker's parents divorced, resulting in the former living with their mother and the latter living with their father. Then both parents died at different times, leaving Rose on her own and Jed stuck with abusive foster parents by the present day. Part of the plot of the second half of season 1 focuses on Rose trying to find Jed at the request of their great-grandmother Unity.
* ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'': Maria's parents are divorced but Chrissie appears so often that this trope ''isn't'' in play for her. However both the other kids have it: Clyde's parents -- who are divorced -- are never seen (he lives with his mother apparently); Luke has no father, he's an artificially-grown human but he was adopted by Sarah Jane. [[spoiler:Series 2 introduced Rani Chandra, the only kid of the group to have her parents still together. We get to meet Clyde's parents finally, too, and Clyde's feelings on his father running off are prominent when we do.]]
* ''Series/TheSecretCircle'': Several of the main characters have a parent that is dead or that has not been mentioned. Cassie, Jake and Nick have lost both of their parents. This turns out to have been deliberately engineered by Cassie's father, actually alive, so that he could manipulate them better by offering them a connection to their dead parents or acting in a ParentalSubstitute role.
* ''Series/TheSecretLifeOfTheAmericanTeenager'' gives us [[AbusiveParents Ricky's parents]]. His dad had drug problems and sexually abused him. His mom had drug and alcohol problems and is implied to be a prostitute. Needless to say, they lost custody of him a long time ago and both ended up in prison, though [[spoiler: his dad got out briefly before getting busted for drugs again]] and [[spoiler: his mom gets out of jail in Season 3 and they eventually mend their relationship]]. However, Ricky has [[ParentalSubstitute very loving and supportive foster parents]] and he considers them his "real" parents.
* ''Series/TheShannaraChronicles'':
** Eretria's mother died in her childhood, killed by a demon, and her father is unknown. She was adopted by Cephalo after that, who's a terribly abusive father to her.
** Lyria's father [[AmbiguouslyAbsentParent isn't mentioned or seen]], while her mother [[spoiler:kills herself [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled rather than be killed by Riga]]]].
* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'':
** Tess's father left her at an [[OrphanageOfFear orphanage from hell]]. His abandonment has an obvious affect on her later, once she really remembers it. (As her father ends up being Lionel Luthor, she probably would've preferred being kept in the dark about everything.)
** SubvertedTrope in this WB/CW television series about Superman's early years, where his foster parents are aware of his alien origin and supernatural abilities since birth and remain supportive of him.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'': Daniel Jackson lost his parents to an accident (involving heavy stones while setting up a museum exhibit) when he was a kid. This is revealed when the team is trapped in an alien LotusEaterMachine which makes him relive this memory over and over. He was ''Not Amused'' to say the least. His granddad was too busy as an AdventurerArchaeologist to take him in so he went into foster care.
** Most of the main cast seems to be missing a parent. Sam Carter's mother died in an accident while Sam was a teenager. Vala's father dropped by occasionally, but she was raised by her mother. (When asked if she'd got anything from him, she replied, "Some minor food allergies.") Cassandra lost both parents in an engineered plague, and was adopted by Dr. Frasier, who would die only a couple years later when Cassie was barely out of High School. Teal'c was forced to ''be'' a DisappearedDad to Rya'c for awhile, because he was afraid the System Lords would use his family against him. By the time the series starts, both of his parents are dead. His father was killed by Cronus for [[YouHaveFailedMe failing]], his mother was killed by a rival. Rya'c and his mother Drey'auc didn't take it well. Jack O'Neill's parents are probably dead, and Jonas Quinn doesn't mentions his. Only Cam Mitchell has both parents definitely living.
* ''Series/StarskyAndHutch'': Starsky's father was murdered when he was young. His mother is still alive, but it is implied he was sent to California without her.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
** [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Data]]. His "parents" shut him off, and when he next woke up, he was the only survivor of the whole colony.
** Also, Tasha Yar claims she was abandoned by her parents at the age of five, although [[SeriesContinuityError a later episode states]] that they were actually killed at that time.
** ''TNG'' must really like this trope, because it also hit William Riker. His mother died when he was two, and his father left when he was fifteen. They didn't speak again for fifteen years after that.
* ''Series/StarTrekPicard'':
** When we first meet Elnor in AMinorKidroduction, his parents are already absent (whether missing or dead is unclear), and he's being raised by a group of Romulan warrior nuns known as the Qowat Milat.
** The parents of Narissa and Narek died in the line of duty as Zhat Vash operatives; the youngsters were later adopted by their aunt Ramdha.
* ''Series/StepByStep'': The reason why Frank Lambert is single and left to raise three children alone. Except for the series' pilot and scattered mentions in early first-season episodes, the Lambert children's mother/Frank's ex-wife is never heard from, leaving Carol (whom Frank marries in the pilot) to fill the void.
* ''Series/StrangerThings'' '''dear christ''' where to start.
** Eleven lost her mother Terry Ives when she was just toddler i.e she got lobotomised by a TheGovernment and Eleven's aunt doesn't even know she alive. To make things worse, Eleven's "Papa" Doctor Brenner tortuously experimented on her almost making Eleven a TykeBomb before she escaped. Fortunately Eleven gets some parental love from [[ParentalSubstitute surrogate]] dad Hopper and Joyce briefly.
** Jonathan and Will's douchebag father Lonnie walked out on his family after several years of abuse towards them and found himself a younger woman. Lonnie only returns when Will is presumed dead, when Joyce learns he only returned to make money out of Will’s assumed death, Joyce kicks the bastard out again.
*** [[spoiler: Jonathan and Will get this again as Joyce NiceGuy boyfriend Bob is horrifically killed in Season 2.]]
*** Since Hopper is implied been high school sweet hearts with Joyce, he can easily be seen as the two brothers surrogate dad, Jonathan at least actually sees the police chief in this light.
** Dustin has a mother, [[DisappearedDad but no father to be seen]].
** Mike and Nancy’s father Ted is so pathetically [[ParentalNeglect neglectful]] it’s actually kinda painful when it isn’t PlayedForLaughs. Lampshaded when Dustin comes over asking for Mike, then Nancy and Ted after checking with his wife whose on the phone he simply joked his kids don’t live at home, Dustin cusses him out correctly calling Ted utterly useless while walking away. Karen isn’t much better either while she at least tries to reach out to her daughter Nancy, she isn’t nearly as attentive as Joyce.
** Billy’s father remarried a different woman (Max’s mom) and is still physically abusive to Billy. This serves as the JerkJock’s FreudianExcuse in Season 2 and also explains Max’s introversion.
* ''Series/StrangersWithCandy'': Jerri Blank was traded away by her birth mother for a pitcher of beer. She herself would later trade her baby son for a guitar.
* ''Series/StreetJustice'': Main character Grady lost his parents when he was 9 years old; they were Canadian missionaries to Vietnam who were killed during a raid by Viet Cong soldiers at the village where they were staying.
* ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'': London had a father who she never saw (until the sequel series, that is), any time she did see him he was hidden behind his bodyguards. He was always away on buisness so her lonliness led her to buy extravagent things every time he canceled time with her. Plus, there's the matter of her mother, who apparently only visits her occasionally (offscreen, and is mentioned about once more afterwards). London was practically raised by Mr. Moseby.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
** A really jerky one here. John obviously kept Dean on a tight leash when he was younger but what happens the first time Dean goes on a hunting trip by himself? He uses it as an excuse to ditch him. While it might have been justified, Dean obviously thought he had done something wrong:
-->'''Shifter!Dean:''' Me? I know I'm a freak. And sooner or later, everybody's gonna leave me.\\
'''Sam:''' What are you talkin' about?\\
'''Shifter!Dean:''' You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too.
** Sam likewise was affected by John's negligence as a parent. Growing up, he never had a solid father figure in his life, and because of this, Sam has serious parental abandonment issues and has always held a grudge against his father for never being there for him and Dean growing up. Also, his mother Mary died when he was six months old, so he doesn't remember her, [[spoiler:and doesn't get to know her until she's resurrected when Sam is in his thirties]].
** It turns out both of Mary's parents were killed by Azazel when she was a young woman.
** The angels. [[HaveYouSeenMyGod God's gone missing]], and left them to their own devices. As a rule, they haven't taken it all that well.
** Crowley was a victim of parental abandonment: by his father as soon as he was born, and by his mother Rowena when she was having too much trouble with witch-hunters pursuing her.
** Claire Novak suffered this after her first appearance in Season 4: her dad is possessed by an angel (and he's effectively killed and sent to Heaven by said angel dying and resurrecting, with only the guy's meatsuit brought back to life), and it's revealed when Claire first reappears years later that her mom left to discover herself and never returned [[spoiler:(because she was actually kidnapped and held captive by a Grigori for years)]]. As of Season 10, both of Claire's parents are dead.
** Annie "Alex" Jones was raised by her grandmother, until a band of vampires abducted her when she was a young girl. As a teenager, she is informed that her grandmother died of old age. [[spoiler: Then she loses her vampire family as well, but by then she has made up her mind to move in with Jody.]]
** Both of Eileen's parents were killed by a Banshee when she was just a baby. And her ParentalSubstitute ''also'' ended up dying of cancer when Eileen was 16.
** [[MissingMom Krissy's mom]] was killed in front of her by a monster, leading the Chambers to become hunters. Like John, [[DisappearedDad Lee]] is often away hunting, leaving Krissy to hold down the household by herself. And then after they ''do'' decide to quit hunting, he [[spoiler:gets killed via BusCrash]].
** Mick Davies never knew his mom or dad, and grew up an orphan StreetUrchin before he ended up with the British Men of Letters.
* ''Series/That70sShow'': There's a reason why the Formans act like everyone's parents. It's because no one else's are there. Hyde's father was gone at the beginning and his mother took off a few seasons in, Jackie's father went to jail and her mother stayed away for months (it's implied this is usual for her), Donna's mother moved away, and Fez's parents are of course in his home country (so really it's more like he abandoned them). Kelso's parents are there, but they have lots of children so no real time for him.
* ''Series/TidelandsNetflix'': Tidelanders are half human/half siren hybrids. Born from human men mating with sirens who drown during the act, they are left on shore by their mothers once born and have no further contact with them. Most of them long to see their siren mothers. Adrielle promising she will call them keeps many loyal to her.
* ''Series/Titans2018'':
** Rachel was raised by an adoptive mother, due to her birth father being an evil demon who's locked away in another dimension and her birth mother being [[spoiler:locked away in Agnews Asylum]]. And her adoptive mother dies at the start of the series. Rachel's birth mother Angela Azarath is killed by Trigon [[spoiler:(though not before revealing she was EvilAllAlong)]], and Trigon is killed or reimprisoned by Rachel herself.
** Dick Grayson's parents, same story as in the comics.
** Getting kidnapped by the government didn't exactly allow Larry to be a present father figure to his surviving son Paul. However, Larry also ''chose'' to avoid his family for decades out of shame.
** Clara Steele's mother was killed in a car accident while her biological father was taken by a MadScientist and believed he died as well. She is also introduced in ThePresentDay during her adoptive father's funeral.
* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'': Reveals that Captain Jack's father was killed when Jack was a young teenager.
* ''Series/{{Trigonometry}}'': Gemma's mom was killed in a car accident when she was a child. In the series finale, her dad dies of cancer too.
* ''Series/UtopiaUS'': Jessica lost her father as a child [[spoiler:(though it turns out he's still alive)]], with no mention of her mother being made.
* ''Series/UtopiaFalls'': Tempo was raised in a "creche", apparently a place that raises children collectively, so he's never known his parents. [[spoiler:Later it turns out Phydra is his mother, and she had his father "[[UnPerson ghosted]]" as revenge for abandoning the two.]]
* ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'':
** Elena and Jeremy's parents died in a car accident a few months before the start of the series. Elena later learns that she was adopted and meets her biological parents ... both of whom end up dead by the end of Season 2.
** Stefan killed his and Damon's father, while their mother had died years earlier from consumption. [[spoiler:Turns out she came back to life as a vampire, but abandoned them, at first because she couldn't control her bloodlust around them, and later because her feelings for them had evaporated.]]
** Bonnie's mother abandoned her when she was very young, and her father is a very uninvolved parent. Bonnie's grandmother seems to have been the main parental influence in her life.
** Tyler's father and mother were both killed, each in separate episodes. Ditto for Caroline, though her mother is one of the few people in Mystic Falls to have died of natural causes.
** Matt's father may or may not be dead, but he's certainly not in the picture, and his mother is prone to leaving town for months at a time, and doesn't show up at all after the first season.
* ''Series/{{Vida}}'':
** Emma and Lyn’s mother's death is the IncitingIncident for the plot, while their father is absent in the beginning. It turns out he was deported to Mexico, but there's no indication of them being in contact with him at first. It turns out they thought he died, but he's still alive and is back in the US. Lyn reconnects to him, but Emma doesn't want to. It doesn't last long, since he expresses homophobia toward them hosting LGBT events in their bar, and about Emma being queer, so Lyn declares him [[DisownedParent no longer her father]].
** Johnny and Marisol’s mother is deceased before the series starts, [[spoiler: leaving them without parents when their father dies in Season 3]].
* ''Series/{{Voyagers}}!'': Jeffrey Jones' parents died in a car accident and he was dumped on an aunt who didn't really want him. Consequently, he latched on fiercely when the time-traveling Phineas Bogg showed up in his life, having nothing in particular to leave behind.
* ''Series/VRTroopers'': Finding his dad is Ryan's main motivation. His mom? No sign or mention of her.
* ''Series/Warehouse13'':
** Pete's dad died when he was 10, his mother then tried to keep busy leaving little time for Pete.
** Claudia's parents died when she was young, she was then raised her brother who a few years later got trapped in an interdimensional space for several years.
* ''Series/TheWilds'': Toni says that her dad has been "a no-show since day one". Her mom, meanwhile, has been in and out of rehab for years. Because of this she lives with her friend Martha's family.
* ''Series/{{Willow}}'': Jade not only had to kill Ballantine, her adopted father, but had lost her birth father and mother before (however, they [[DeceptiveLegacy were different people than she'd been told during her early life)]].
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