We've all seen it. Usually it's where the daughter utterly adores the father-figure and at times the mother (if there is one) feels completely left out. The daughter, who is usually, but not always, either a single child or the only girl in the family is likewise the
father's favorite. In extreme instances this can all be part of a
Hikaru Genji Plan or can result in the daughter becoming obsessed with her father to the point of developing an Elektra Complex.
At times, the girl can also end up as a
Bratty Teenage Daughter (or
Spoiled Brat if the father is rich).
It's the flip-side of
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas and
Mommas Boy.
If the
Daddys Girl acquires a stepmother, she is frequently
jealous and regards the woman as a
Wicked Stepmother whatever her characters is like.
Compare
Daddys Little Villain.
Examples:
Anime and Manga
Comic Books
- The Golden Age Green Lantern and his daughter Jade. In this case, the excluded figure wasn't a mother (a long dead schizophrenic supervillain) but The Unfavorite twin Obsidian (also a schizophrenic).
- The Sin City short story "Daddy's Little Girl" takes this to the obvious extreme.
- Jenny Quantum of The Authority, pretty much by default.
- In instances where they're actually portrayed as family, Wanda is this to Magneto of the Marvel Universe. Lorna is this in many ways, although it generally seems that she wants to be Daddy's Little Girl, and Wanda is. (Reality-warping and alternate universes make it hard to say for certain.)
Film
- Bonnie Blue has a relationship like this with her father Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind. Scarlett O'Hara has a somewhat similar relationship with her father, Gerald.
- In Labyrinth, this dynamic drives Sarah's relationship with her stepmother and half-brother.
Literature
- Sara Crewe from A Little Princess.
- Anne Shirley and Matthew Cuthbert from Anne Of Green Gables.
- Merry in Louisa May Alcott's Jack and Jill. Expected, since Merry is the youngest member of the Grant family... and has three much older brothers.
- Lisa in Lottie and Lisa, on which The Parent Trap was based.
- Elizabeth Bennet from Pride And Prejudice is her father's favorite daughter and the two are very close. She is coincidentally her mother's least favorite child.
- Maree-Celee from The Princess 99 has a close relationship with her father but no one knows who or where her Mom is.
- Jessie in Stephen King's novel, Gerald's Game... until her father sexually abused her.
Live Action TV
- The daughters in Full House (having only father figures around makes it sort of hard not to be a Daddy's Girl).
- Ditto Nicole in My Two Dads.
- Punky Brewster and Henry.
- Veronica Mars and her father, Keith Mars.
- Richard Castle may be a horndog, an egotist, and a bestselling writer of pulp noir mysteries, but he'd move heaven and earth for his daughter Alexis. For her part, Alexis is (against all odds and most understandings of genetics and environment) a sensible, studious, smart young girl who loves and understands her father. It pretty much gets summed up in their first scene:
Castle: When I was your age, I...wait, I can't tell that story, it's wildly inappropriate. Which is my point—don't you want to have wildly inappropriate stories when you're older?
Alexis (affectionately): Don't worry, I think you'll have enough for both of us.
- A later episode opens with them fencing, quoting Robin Hood, and talking about Alexis's new crush (at the same time); another has them playing laser tag. Both times, it's clearly an absolute blast for both. Say what you want about Richard Castle—but he's a great father.
- Abby Sciuto in NCIS.
- In Firefly River is kind of a big brother's girl. Possibly she always was and in any case the curious situation had led to a Promotion To Parent for her doting big brother.
Newspaper Comics
Real Life
- Anne Frank said in her diary that she was closer to her father than her mother.
- She even gave her father a nickname, which she uses to refer to him as in the diary- Pim.
- An unusual case is Laura Ingalls, who is the second of four daughters. (She is the most active, energetic and willing to help with the work as a son would, though.)
- Miley Cyrus is probably the most well known real life example of a daddy's girl
- Catholic scholar Michael Novak shares a great affection with his daughter Jana and they have co-written several books.
- Journalist Lucinda Franks who wrote a book "My Father's Secret War" researching her father's experience as a spy in World War II. In her case it was the book that made her Daddys Girl because he had been to much of a Shell Shocked Senior for her to like, and she hadn't understood why until then.
Video Games
Webcomics
Western Animation
- Pizzazz from the Misfits in Jem And The Holograms.
- Princess Azula from Avatar The Last Airbender. When the dad is a sociopathic Evil Overlord and the daughter a multitalented Teen Genius who really wants to make him happy with her things can get ugly.
- In the Teen Titans series, the villain Killer Moth had a spoiled brat daughter named Kitten who interrupted his plans to conquer the city to make Robin take her to prom.
- A few in Danny Phantom. Damon Gray's relationship with Valerie is the biggest one in the series; one obviously filled with love and the show emphasizes that to its fullest. Quite heartwarming really. Paulina's father is more straightforward, even giving the If You Ever Do Anything To Hurt Her speech to Danny. Considering his BIG build, it's best to stay on his good side. And of course Jack Fenton who has shown several scenes of adoration to his daughter (not that he ignores his son), so much to the point that Jazz's often obsessive personality may have been received by Jack's influence—no matter how much she would deny it.
- The Simpsons, despite how Lisa may be embarrassed by her father, Homer has read a book for her to try to get her popular.
- Sasha Caylo from Titan Maximum. Like the Pizzazz example above, her father is also unable to deal with her bullshit and just throws money at her to keep her out of his hair.
