A Father To His Men - Television Tropes & Idioms

{{Don'tExplainTheJoke Get it? 'Cause he's a... Oh forget it.

"Even the biggest fool on my ship is still my son."

—Whitebeard, One Piece

"Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley."

—Sun Tzu

This commander cares deeply about his men and exhibits it constantly. A mentor to the officers under him, he takes a deep personal interest in their welfare and tries to keep them out of harm's way. He would never say, "We Have Reserves" (unless it would save more lives in the long run- but expect him to be torn up about it, though he may hide it almost perfectly — and certainly never to make him look better). Staff officers, engineers, and the Camp Cook will be treated with respect and made to feel as valued as the troops on the front line, though he'll not put up with bureaucratic nonsense. He will never lay claim to work actually performed by his subordinates, and will try to pass the credit to where it's due if it is misattributed to him. He will accept responsibility for any mistakes, even if it was not entirely his fault, especially if the failure would result in severe punishment for a subordinate, and often applies the House Hiring Heuristic to subordinates who make mistakes.

Usually a military mastermind (because obviously anyone who cares so much about the boys on the line has to know what he's doing, right?).

Strategic or tactical blunders are usually the fault of those above him or below him. His career is often handicapped or cut tragically short by the incompetent High Command, his true worth appreciated only by the men he commanded. Or at least, that's the impression he projects to the troops.

This character generally cultivates a father-figure atmosphere. He is a source of discipline and stability. Usually this is through a gentle reasoning tone, but sometimes he's a more strict (read harsh) father figure. In this instance expect a new soldier transferred to the unit to hate him, and for one of the older veterans to take him aside and tell a nice Pet The Dog story about the commanding officer. Sometimes all his soldiers are new; this will result in hatred until the soldiers either survive something that could have killed them, or accomplish a difficult objective, and realize that they would have died or failed without his strict training.

He is often utilized more as a device after he has left the scene, as an idealized counterbalance to the incompetent who succeeds him. This is probably because he's far more effective as a saint, and it'd be hard to maintain such an image when he's actually coordinating operations, especially cursed with Hollywood Tactics like he is. Indeed, an officer who learns You Are In Command Now may find his troops are Losing The Team Spirit over this commander's death — though he can issue a Rousing Speech reminding them that the dead commander would be So Proud Of You if they soldier on.

Sometimes he's used to make the troops unhappy with their new commander, even if he is a good one- similar to the "You're Not My Mother" response given even to kind substitute authority figures.

Other times he's a character who gets called in to deliver an Aesop after the soldiers mess up. Or he might be a mostly off screen character who gives the main characters a reason to try and do better, and to be embarrassed when they make a stupid mistake.

When an enemy, he is often the Worthy Opponent or Friendly Enemy. If he's a subordinate, the Big Bad's lack of concern for his men may be a source of Help Face Turn.

Most of the movie and TV examples in The Captain are of this type.

Sister Trope to Officer And A Gentleman, and they may overlap. If he is a Blue Blood, he will not care that his soldiers are commoners. This often surprises other Blue Blood officers.

Related to The Last DJ, Benevolent Boss. Compare Papa Wolf and the aforementioned Team Dad. See also The Patriarch and Reasonable Authority Figure.

Examples

Anime and Manga

The Ur Example of this in anime is of course, the Gundam saga's Captain Bright Noah. One of the Universal Century's most recurring main characters, Bright is world-famous for both the fatherly atmosphere he projects towards those under his charge, as well as for smacking the fail out of the more angsty ones.
- An antagonistic example is Prince Dozle Zabi, who actually does a basass Last Stand in order to get everyone in Solomon out to safety, from his wife and baby girl to the rookies.
Captain Henry J. Gloval, of Robotech, and thus Macross. Not just to his immediate bridge crew, but also to various fighter pilots he happens to know despite the isolation of command. In the novelization of Robotech, when the Bridge Bunnies start dating aliens, he's frustrated that they're not actually his daughters so that he can set a curfew or anything.
Maj. Andrei Kalinin is this to Sousuke in Full Metal Panic, while Richard Mardukas seems to be the hardass version to everybody else, although in a twist he is particularly so toward Tessa, who is technically his superior but seems to respond to him more as a father figure.
- Well, he IS a father figure to her, being her real late father's best friend and all. Again, Kalinin did legally adopt Sousuke.
The pirate Whitebeard is like this to his men in One Piece. He explicitly refers to his crewmen as his sons, and they in turn call him "Oyaji" (which can mean father). Whitebeard is well-known to go to any length to avenge the death of any of his crew, which is what creates the current situation in the manga with the World Government planning to execute one of his elite, Ace. When one of Whitebeard's crewmen is tricked into turning on him, Whitebeard's response is to call the man a fool, provide a Cooldown Hug, and tell his "foolish son" he still loves him.
- A very warped version of this is none other than the villainous Arlong. Despite being a Complete Monster to humans, he is as attached to his Nakama as Luffy is to his own; because of that, he takes at least four different levels of Unstoppable Rage, each for his three defeated Elite Mooks and one when Luffy uses a fallen Mook as a shield to his bite attack.
- On the Marine's side is Captain T-Bone, who is willing to tear apart his clothing to provide bandages for a train car full of injured soldiers. The extent to which he goes creeps some of the soldiers out, such as a bandage for a small big bite.
Alexander Anderson, of Hellsing, has a sternly parental relationship with the younger members of Iscariot (at least some of whom he actually raised in the orphanage he works at) that becomes readily apparent in later volumes. Before going into his final fight with Alucard, he orders the subordinate members of the Iscariot advance guard to go back home to the Vatican, but they disobey, staying behind to help him get to the front of Alucard's soul army at the cost of many of their own lives.
In Galaxy Angel, Colonel Volcott is Forte's father figure, having taken her into his care from an early age.
Yuma Ansecto in Rave Master took in war orphans who grew up to form La Resistance. They call him "Daddy."
Jushiro Ukitake in Bleach is known for the great concern and strong emotional attachment he shows to his subordinates, and generally displays the most "fatherly" attitude of all the captains. He also feels deep personal guilt if one of his subordinates is hurt or killed, enough so that he has not yet been able to replace his fallen lieutenant, Kaien Shiba. Aizen shows elements of this early on as well, towards Momo and Renji though his placement in this trope is completely obliterated by what he does at the end of the Soul Society arc.
Luck Gandor may not be the most moral of men, but damn if he doesn't care for his mooks. If you ever happen to work under him rest assured that, should you fall in the next mafia turf squabble (or even on your lunch break, really), he will honor your service to him and pay his respects to you — then he will hunt down the men responsible for your death and he will make them pay. If they're lucky, he'll personally beat them to death with a chair. If they're lucky.
Misato Katsuragi tries to be this. Her success is more than slightly undermined by her own personal issues but at least she puts the effort in... which is rather more than can be said for Gendo...
Balalaika in Black Lagoon is a rather warped version of this. She actually was the commanding officer of her men when they were part of the Soviet military, and now that they're...no longer in the military, Balalaika's concern for her subordinates are her Pet The Dog moments. If you attack any of this Magnificent Bitch's men, you will be DEAD.
- Note this extends to her part-time employees as well, most notably the Lagoon Company. She might be utterly ruthless, but her recurring Pet The Dog trait is her unswerving loyalty to her comrades, regardless of duration.
Princess Kushana is quite close to her Third Army and always has a little trouble coping with casualties.
Although she can be harsh, Sister Kate of Chrono Crusade genuinely cares for all of the exorcists under her command and often treats them as her children. In fact, she's generally portrayed as being harsh towards Rosette because she does care for her and is concerned for her.
General Tiedoll in D Gray Man. Kanda doesn't appreciate it at all.
Major General Olivier Armstrong from Fullmetal Alchemist. In the second anime she and Buccaneer agreed to a 24-hour time limit for him to search for the men who scouted the tunnel, and the door will be sealed even if they don't come back. It took them over 24 hours to return since they doused the light to avoid getting attacked by Pride, but they come back to find the door still open because she set the time on a broken watch.

Film

Used in K-19: The Widowmaker: the first captain of the K-19. All his men love him, he takes an interest in them and is a great submarine captain... then five minutes in, he's demoted and replaced by another guy who is a drill-obsessed hardass. Not only do the men hate him because he overworks them, they feel that their "rightful" captain has been wronged.
General Waverly in White Christmas.
John Wayne's character in She Wore A Yellow Ribbon
Russell Crowe seems to play these characters well. The Roman general he played in Gladiator cared deeply for his men, and in some ways even more for his fellow gladiators. Captain Jack Aubrey in Master And Commander is this even moreso.
In Apocalypse Now, Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) alludes to Lieutenant-Colonel "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" Kilgore (Robert Duvall) as falling into this trope. Arguably he comes across as more of a Cool Uncle or Older Brother.
The Captain in Das Boot is very much like this, although he is only thirty years old and the men are in their late teens.
It's very understated, but Captain Nemo appears to have this relationship with his men in The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen. This is a nod to his source material, as these men continued to follow him even after he was exiled from his homeland, where he had been a prince in the ruling family before their massacre.
Captain Staros in The Thin Red Line. His parting words to his men are: "You've been like my sons. You are my sons."
General Robert E. Lee in Gettysburg. Exemplified in one scene shortly after the titular battle, where Lee apologizes to his men for their defeat at the hands of the Union army and takes all the blame for their failure. His men, on the other hand, refuse to blame Lee and plead with him to send them back into battle to redeem themselves.
General Kuribayashi from Letters From Iwo Jima tries to be this, but the other officers in the army have the soldiers still be Red Shirts, and the only one this has good effect on is Shimizu.
Hunter, in Crimson Tide, leads from the bottom up, contrasting with The Captain's lead from the top style.
In Star Trek XI, Captain Pike is practically young Jim Kirk's Well Done Son Guy.
- And in Star Trek TOS, Spock was willing to risk his life out of loyalty to Captain Pike.

Literature

Jack Aubrey is all over this trope.
Aral Vorkosigan, specifically how he treats his men during the two pre-Miles books, Shards of Honor and Barrayar, by Lois Mc Master Bujold. He's explicity said to love Koudelka "like a son", bending the rules to keep him on as a secretary when he would have been medically discharged. If one applies this metaphor to Bothari... a little Oedipal complex? That's sorta scary how well it fits, especially his incident during the Escobaran war...
Star Wars Expanded Universe: Kal Skirata was the only family his clone troops ever knew, and he did care about them as though they were his children; he allowed his own sons to disown him, in order to keep the clones safe because they needed him more.
- A rare literal example later on: he formally adopts the main characters as sons near the end of the war.
Sergeant Jackrum in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel Monstrous Regiment, who refers to his unit as "my little lads". Of course, there's all kinds of irony in Jackrum being A Father To His Men: "he's" actually A Mother To Her Women.
- And, of course, Polly's own motherly nature shows throughout the book, often landing her in charge even when she's not technically in charge.
- Don't forget Commander Sam Vimes.
Sun Tzu's The Art of War suggests a "Stern Father" approach to leading one's men. One commentator relates a story of a general who personally cared for an ill soldier. When the soldier's mother heard of it, she burst into tears: her husband, who served the same general, never abandoned the man afterward and died in battle as a result - and now her son was going to be the same way.
In The Book of Mormon, Captain Helaman's 2000 young soldiers call him "Father", and he refers to them as his sons.
Capt. Aivars Terekhov in Honorverse spinoff The Shadow of Saganami is the textbook example, strict and caring at the same time, and even complete with the Bad Dreams. He also has all the markings of The Strategist, so MWW must have some far-flung plans about him.
- Honor herself is clearly a mother to her men, albeit a properly distant one in the military sense.
- Properly distant in the military sense, but definitely capable of being a Mama Bear if anyone harms them...
Dan Abnett's Tanith First-And-Only had Colonel-Commissar Gaunt in this role, but Colm Corbec, Gol Kolea, and to a lesser extent Viktor Hark all exhibit signs of this.
- In The Guns Of Tanith, several people try to persuade Gaunt this it is beneath his dignity to involve himself in the question of whether a Ghost trooper accused of rape and murder is guilty. He counters with the fact that the troopers actually win his battles, and a general is impressed by such views, which he hasn't heard in some time.
- Some subordinates also show it. In Straight Silver, Raglon is deeply guilt-stricken when his first mission as a sergeant results in half his troopers dying. When Gaunt's reassurance reveal that Raglon is hiding something, and Gaunt digs for it, Raglon tries to put him off with, "I was in command, sir" before telling Gaunt that Costin had been drunk, and then tries to save Costin from Gaunt.
- In His Last Command, Wilder also fits under this trope, suffering somewhat because good as he is, he is not Gaunt. And Mkoll, seeing a scout whom he met only recently knocked through a Chaos warp gate, says No One Gets Left Behind — and jumps through. Despite its being cold and wrong on the other side, and the other scout's freaking out, he gets him back to safety.
In Sandy Mitchell's Warhammer 40000 novels, Ciaphas Cain does his best to pose as this (and later, to pound into the heads of cadets that this is elementary self-preservation). Apparently, he's completely successful; both Sulla and Tayber, in the excerpts from their works, effuse about his boundless concern for his subordinates.)
- However, whether Ciaphas Cain is a true father to his men or not is a matter up to debate, though considering how many times his biographer notes he followed this trope when being coldblooded would be more rational, signs point this being true.
The trope is mentioned in one of the Flashman novels, which the Cain series is strongly based on. On the eve of the Mutiny, an Indian sepoy says that his old commanders said their soldiers were like children to them (in a good sense), not like the arrogant idiots now in command.
Lieutenant Rasczak from the Starship Troopers novel is presented very much this way, especially after he died making pickup on two of his men.
Dan Abnett's Warhammer 40000 Horus Heresy novel Horus Rising opens with the Warmaster sends one of his men, Sejanus, to parlay with a planetary emperor, and Sejanus is murdered.
The commander's grief was absolute. He had loved Sejanus like a son.
- In Mitchel Scanlon's Descent of Angels, when Brother Amadis tells Zahariel he had saved his friends, Zahariel tells him he was protecting his squad, and then tries to fight off collapse on the ground he had to get the squad back. Amadis assures him that he will take care of it, as Zahariel's done enough.
And then there's Rhysling's, infamous song "The Captain is a father to his crew", which should never be sung in mixed company.
In Graham Mc Neill's Warhammer 40000 Ultramarines novel The Killing Ground, Barbaren remembers with scorn his predecessor as colonel, who thought bringing his men back alive was important.
In James Swallow's Warhammer 40000 Blood Angels novel Red Fury, when the Flesh Tearer Noxx gets Kayne into a situation where he can challenge him, Rafen, being Kayne's sergeant, breaks his fingers and says that since Kayne can not face him, he will take his place.
Sima Yi from Romance of the Three Kingdoms also has shades of this.
Lord Suffolk in The English Patient is like this, especially for Kip, who considers the English sapper unit to be his real family. This is a definining feature in his backstory.
Arhys, in Lois Mc Master Bujold's Paladin Of Souls. So much so, in fact, that his soul is taken up by the Father (one of the five gods) despite never having fathered a child.
Lampshaded in Dune when Duke Leto Atreides risks his life and the priceless spice to save his men, someone comments that a man such as that would inspire fanatical loyalty. It's implied that this is why the Emperor wants him dead, because he fears Leto will use his popularity to depose him.
- It is hinted (although never outright confirmed) that Leto deliberately tries to cultivate this image to inspire said loyalty. Considering the Grey And Gray Morality in Dune, it is entirely possible that Leto only acted that he cared, and that he figured the odds of saving the spice harvester that was about to be swalled by a sandworm was low. Your Milage May Vary.
  - That's not a bad theory and it might even be true. However, repetitive behavior often becomes a self-perpetuating cycle. Even if Leto initially meant to only cultivate an image of loyalty through charity, keeping it up would be hard enough work that it's sure to have rubbed off on him. Given he seems nice enough in private, this is likely true.
  - There's also the prequels, which pretty much straight out say he's Lawful Good to the core. Of course, Your Milage May Vary violently regarding this.
  - It is of course possible to be fully aware of the effect your natural behavior has on your men and capitalize on it. In other words Leto could have both genuinely cared for his men AND consciously used that fact to secure their loyalty. Or he may have become the mask as suggested above.
  - And of course making a mask for yourself to become could have more idealistic implications. It could mean one actually desires to be something and that one is making a mold for oneself to grow into.
In Ben Counter's Warhammer 40000 Soul Drinkers novel Chapter War, at the climax Sarpedon tells Eumenes that the position of Chapter Master is not a prize for the proud but a position of responsibility. Then they Duel To The Death.
Raj Whitehall fits this trope to a tee. He tears himself up inside over his losses and turns into a raging Papa Bear when his men are slaughtered.
An almost inadvertant example of this trope is Metellus Pius (aka 'the Piglet') of Colleen Mc Cullough's Masters Of Rome series. He fusses and clucks over his troops more like a mother than a father to make sure they are in fighting trim when the time for action comes. At first his motives are purely practical but the glow of his men's gratitude and affection gradually changes that. In the end he cares for 'his boys' as they care for him.

Live Action TV

Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek The Original Series exemplifies it: he often berated himself when he lost any of his crew.
- Picard in Star Trek The Next Generation is also a fatherly type (some would say even more than Kirk).
  - Definitely moreso.
- We might as well keep going: Sisko, Janeway, and Archer all frequently displayed this trope.
Both Cols. Blake and Potter to the 4077th M*A*S*H. Radar actually comes out and says this in Blake's case, as his own father died when he was very little. Poor Radar.
President Bartlet in The West Wing, who cares for, stands by and defends his staff even at great political cost, although this is a more metaphorical example, as his "soldiers" are not actual soldiers.
William Adama from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica certainly gives off this impression, affectionately referred to by most as the "Old Man", and displays paternal affection for his crew in return (at one point, he is shown going through memory exercises to recognize the new recruits by face and name; at another, he sits with a dying female pilot and talks about having a daughter). Which is funny given how crappy his relationship with his actual son can sometimes be.
- At least until the events of "The Oath". Damn you Gaeta! Indeed, it is the realization he can no longer trust some of his crew as if they were family that, among other concerns, finally breaks Adama's spirit and drives him to drink and pills.
- The scene in "The Farm" where he breaks down and weeps over Boomer's body in the morgue is another particularly good example.
- Special mention of Starbuck, who was like that from the pilot. It doesn't hurt that she was in love with and going to marry his son Zack, and therefore was almost his daughter-in-law. Adama takes it very hard on the occasions where it is thought that she was dead.
  - Adama even goes so far as to call Starbuck his daughter in some of the last episodes.
- The time that Admiral Cain was going to have several of Adama's men executed and Adama almost had the Galactica attack the Pegasus over it.
- Oh! And that time he was going to shoot Cally if Tyrol didn't do what he wanted... wait...
Captain (eventually Admiral) Sir Edward Pellew in the Horatio Hornblower mini-series.
It is stated more explicity in the licensed novels that Colonel Jack O'Neill takes this view of his team, particularly Daniel, who is younger than he is.
- Interestingly, Daniel, having been on the original Abydos mission, was originally the only member of SG-1 to know that O'Neill had been ready to commit suicide because his actual son Charlie shot and killed himself with O'Neill's gun on accident.
- General Hammond also behaves like, and is seen as, a father to the rest of the SGC, with SG-1 his favorite sons and daughter.
- Weir is simply born by this trope. All her subordinates (except Kavanaugh, of course) are willing to die for her and not out of duty but because that's how much they like her. She was also the only leader of Atlantis who truly didn't mind her subordinates routinely throwing the rulebook out of the airlock because she knew they will win the day. Carter also did this because while she was on SG-1, she also broke the rules frequently. Woolsey, on the other hand, was the polar opposite of Weir. Too bad they can't [[unfreeze]] her since she's a security risk, being a replicator and all.
- While on the topic of Stargate, Stargate Universe completely averts this trope since it's a three-way power struggle between three factions: Rush (scientists), Young (soldiers) and Wray (civilians). Wray is too weak to do anything on her own and Rush is a straight-out ass so the crew look to Young for leadership and he appreciates it (though we are yet to see the backlash of Rush making Spencer's suicide to look like a murder and framing Young for it; the reason is that Young threw Rush off the ship and lied that Rush got caught in a rockslide).
Played straight by Richard Winters in Band Of Brothers, where due to his leadership and exceptional concern for them, the men of Easy Company universally consider him the best commanding officer they ever had. Subverted in the case of Sobel. While the men of Easy Company attribute his harsh training methods to their survival during the war, he had no redeeming qualities and was therefore universally hated.
- Slightly less evident because he had to manage the entire regiment, but Colonel Robert Sink is also implied to be this in the miniseries, and moreorless outright stated to be so in the book. David Webster, a member of Easy Company, noted that while the Allied generals would all talk about how their soldiers were eager to go out there and kill Germans, Sink actually knew that the boys hated fighting and tried to make the best of the situation when he could; the soldiers preferred Sink.
Lt. Giardello in Homicide Life On The Street represents the police version of this trope in many ways; although gruff and aggressive, he'll go to bat for any one of his detectives, and is greatly respected by them in return.
[[NCIS]] Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, full stop. This probaby has something to do with the horrible death of his wife and daughter stealing his chance to be a literal father. It's most notable with Abby, who's the same age as his daughter would have been. In addition, Tony seeks his approval in a manner reminiscient of a Well Done Son Guy (and, in the later seasons, actually gets the 'Well Done'), while Ziva has explicitly stated that Gibbs is more of a father too her than distant [[Chessmaster]] Eli David.

Video Games

General Leo of Final Fantasy VI.
Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid. The kids at Outer Haven called him their "One- Eyed Uncle".
- Big Boss also fills this role in Stray, for FOXHOUND. Literally, since FOXHOUND's membership includes two of his cloned offspring.
- And a female example in The Boss to Cobra Unit.
- And again with "Big Mama" to the Paradise Lost Army.
  - In the MG 'verse, any Parent To His Men should fall under A God Am I. Technically those three examples are mercenary companies; their leaders turn them into military forces that can go toe-to-toe with national superpowers.
Although the Kirby series isn't exactly known for its deep characterization, what we see of Meta Knight's interactions with his endless army of Faceless Goons seems to indicate he plays this role for them — yet another one of the reasons he's the resident Worthy Opponent and Anti Villain.
- Kirby Super Star's "Revenge of Meta Knight" makes it a bit more explicit. He tells his crew to abandon ship before it crashes into the ocean while he distracts Kirby with a final duel. His crew likes him too much and they decide to fight Kirby first. He thanks them (or apologizes for forcing them to sacrifice themselves depends on which version you play).
Captain Brenner/O'Brian in Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, who indeed serves as an idealized counterbalance to the leader of the other Rubinelle/Laurentinian faction.
Lt. Colonel Daitetsu (from Super Robot Wars) actually mentions that he feels this way to his second in command, Tetsuya.
Master Big Star from Disgaea 3 fills this role nicely. The late King Kricheveskoy also appears to have been one, if Etna's accounts are anything to go by.
- King Kricheveskoy definitely fits in Disgaea. The vassals scattered around the castle make many mentions of it: when a former enemy of the late king's shows up and attacks Laharl, they go to his defense explicitly in honor of Kricheveskoy's legacy. Later, after Laharl becomes the new Overlord, one of them even says he cannot think of anyone but Kricheveskoy as truly being the Overlord. None of them ever have anything but kind words for him, and they mention him often.
Greil from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance is like this, saying things like "It doesn't matter what our blood ties are; we are all family. So if you don't want to cause your family any grief, then live!" By the end of the game, his son Ike has taken on the same role.
Commander Dietrich Kellerman, aka Silber One from Ace Combat Zero was this. To a lesser extent, so was Victor Vochek and his successor, Ilya Pasternak to the rest of Strigon Team in 6.
- Ace Combat Zero also featured a female version, though in a minor unnamed and unseen character. In one mission you are ordered to destroy a Belkan base with a female commander who can be briefly heard through radio transmissions. Upon other transmissions from the soldiers in the base, it can be heard that they greatly admire her, for her beauty as well as her courage, and all see themselves as equivalent to her sons. At the end despite a brutal defeat she even reassures her troops and says they all fought well and with honor.
Selvaria Bles is arguably a female version of this trope according to the DLC. Taking the front lines alongside her soldiers, giving up her cot for exhausted subordinates, rewarding her troops for going above and beyond their normal duties
- Hell, there are hints of this even in the main story. More often than not, she'll issue the order "All Units Heal".
Takeda Shingen from Sengoku Basara cares deeply about his men, and in particular has a fatherly affection for his young ward Yukimura. Chousokabe Motochika is also a good example, though he's rather young so his crew tend to see him more as an older brother than a father.

Fan Fic

Erico's fanverse for Mega Man features Doctor James Cain of the Maverick Hunters, who the troops revere as a father. For some, such as X and Zero, he's the closest thing to a real father figure they have.
Col. Edwards in The Return combines this with Colonel Badass.

Real Life

Robert E. Lee
And general William Tecumseh Sherman for the North.
Erwin Rommel
- And in that same vein, Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring, nicknamed "Uncle Albert" by his troops.
Blucher actually called his men "my children" and was called "Father Blucher" by them. The historian David Howarth says that he was able to behave like that largely because he was so old while a younger general would have had to be more distant.
Alexander Suvorov, the best military commander in the history of Russia and one of the few undefeated commanders in world history. The guy camped out with his soldiers even after he became a Field Marshal to stay aware of their morale and motivate them.
Leonidas, in the same vein. It has been said that he had a nickname for every Spartan at Thermopylae, and that he refused to sleep in the only tent, preferring to sleep in the mud with the men.
Colonel Robert Gould Shaw was beloved by his African-American Civil War regiment. Probably because he treated them with more respect than many of them ever knew in their lives.
General Sir John Monash, in WWI. He continually promoted the concept that a commander's role is to, above all else, ensure the safety and well-being of their subordinates. Notably, after the Battle of Hamel, where his leadership led to a 92-minute victory in conditions which would have otherwise taken months, his men remarked that the most extraordinary thing about the battle was not the tactics, the weapons or the incredible success of the operation, but the fact that Monash had hot meals delivered to the troops whilst the battle was ongoing.
General (later Field Marshal) Sir Herbert Plumer, Britain, World War One - men used to fight to be sent to his command, and few other generals of any army on either side took better care of their soldiers. Most of his attacks worked. The few that didn't were drowned in mud at Passchendaele. At the start of an attack, he would sometimes be found on his knees in prayer in his quarters, pleading to God for the safety of his men. In tears. And that was when victory was certain...
Speaking of World War I, Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, a Blue Blood Prussian general who led two thousand black African troops in perhaps the most successful guerilla campaign ever, driving the British and Portuguese out of Deutsch-Ostafrika and even ''invading'' enemy territory while hopelessly outnumbered. He appointed black officers (unheard of in a colonial European army) and learned to speak their language fluently ("We are all Africans here.") Forced to cut rations as the British wore him down, most of his men stayed loyal and fought on rather than desert. After the war, he gave his men signed certificates so they could secure their back-pay from the ruined Imperial German government. By the time they were finally payed in 1964, many of them had lost said certificates but were able to prove their identity by performing the German Manual of Arms, which they still remembered thanks to his strict drill and discipline.
Lt. Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. was specifically picked to lead the Tuskegee Airmen because he had survived the Army's segregation better than most anyone and thus could provide both an understanding and leadership to the other Black pilots. Their service record indicates he was most definitely the right choice.
Rowland Hill, a British General who served in the Peninsular War. His nickname "Daddy Hill" just about sums him up. He was reportedly only ever heard to swear on two occasions, and often showed great generosity to both officers and men alike. Not to mention that he was a pretty capable commander.
- This carried over to his appearance in Sharpe's Eagle.
A rather sinister and almost literal example is Theodor Eicke, known as "Papa" to his men.
This could be more or less literal in Highland regiments, some of whom were lead by commanders who were chiefs back home and had many in their regiment who were either blood relations or at least fellow clansmen

Webcomics

Kristoph Gavin Ace Attorney has a somewhat literal example with Kurtis Gavin.

Western Animation

Optimus Prime. Several versions, anyway.
Zachary Foxx of Galaxy Rangers lives this trope. Fanon speculates that his intense devotion to the team is what has kept him sane after his wife met a Fate Worse Than Death and his entire left side was replaced with cyberware.

Adopt An Index

Like A Son To Me