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Examples:

• In Naruto, the titular character has two specific relationships invoking this trope.
  • The first is with his Academy instructor, Iruka Umino, who openly states that Naruto is like a little brother to him and becomes a Parental Substitute to Naruto in the first episode of the series. It's this influence in Naruto's life that has kept him from becoming a psychotic killer — like, for example, Gaara.
  • The second is Jiraiya, who often treated Naruto like a grandson. This relationship is later confirmed after Jiraiya's death by Iruka, who tells Naruto that Jiraiya was always bragging about him and had mentioned multiple times that he thought of Naruto as a grandson.
• In Fushigi Yuugi, Tamahome's mentor Tokaki urges him to leave with Miaka and the Suzaku Seishi as the building they're in begins to collapse, all the while telling him to take care and that he cares for his protegee like a son. As in most other cases, Tamahome's father was already dead when Tokaki said this, but what's touching is when Tamahome then calls Tokaki "father".
• Lone Wolf and Cub: The very last panel of the series is of a fatally wounded Retsudo Yagyu declaring the recently orphaned Daigoro his "grandson of the heart".
• Madame Red, Ciel's maternal aunt, in Kuroshitsuji thinks of him like one. This would save his life and cost Madame Red her life.
• In the "Dragon Ball Z" anime, when Piccolo gives his life to save Gohan, he refers to him as "the son he never had."

• Apparently Norman Osborn thinks Peter Parker makes a better son than Harry.
  • In the Ultimate Six comic mini-series, the group (Only five at the moment) break out of a SHIELD prison and Osborn says they need to look for 'his boy.' When Otto Octavius asks where Harry is being kept, Osborn's response is: "What are you talking about? My boy's name is Peter."
• Superman and Supergirl (at least the pre- and post-crisis Kara Zor El, and Linda Danvers...it's confusing..) have this kind of relationship, which is fairly reasonable, since he's her much-older cousin.
• The Ancient One frequently calls Doctor Strange "my adopted son" or simply "my son."

• In Any Given Sunday, Tony says to Rooney, "You're like a son to me Cap, I'd fight for you till the day I die".
• Carbon Copy
  Nelson Longhurst: Walter, you were like a son to me. But as you well know, having a son can turn out to be a bitter disappointment.
• Joshua Tree
  Lt. Franklin L. Severence: I never said Santee was a friend. I said he was like a son to me.
• Kill Bill Volume 2
  Esteban Vihaio: Bill is like a son to me.
• King Arthur
  Cerdic: Raewald. You're second-in-charge now. Yeah, you're like a son to me.
• In the Tower Of Terror movie, this was the relationship between Sally Shine and Emmeline Partriage, her nanny. Partriage is shocked when Anna accuses her otherwise.

• Molly Weasley referred to Harry Potter this way.
  • And he actually becomes her son-in-law.
• In The Dark Tower, Roland feels this way about Jake.
• In Jasper Fforde's Well of Lost Plots, Bradshaw is surprised by the news about Vern because he was — this trope.
• Although it never actually gets said, Halt from Ranger's Apprentice thinks of Will this way.

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Restless"
  Giles: Spike's like a son to me.
  • To clarify, that was a zany dream. Spike is not like a son to Giles. Xander is. And Willow and Buffy are like daughters.
    • When everyone lost their memories in Tabula Rasa and started trying to reconstruct their relationships, Spike decided he was Giles' son while Giles seemed to think Spike must be his younger brother.
  • While never explicitly said, the relationship between the Mayor and his Dragon Faith definitely has the same father/daughter connotations.
• The Doctor Who episode "The End of Time Part 2" has a variation:
  The Master: (to the Doctor) Oh, your dad's still kicking up a fuss.
  Wilfred Mott: No, but I'd be proud if I was.
• Sarah and Maria in The Sarah Jane Adventures. At the end of "The Last Sontaran", Maria is leaving. Sarah Jane tells her she's losing the daughter she had always wanted. *sob*
• Supernatural: Even though he doesn't say it out loud, its obvious that Bobby loves Dean and Sam like they were his sons. He even tells Dean in the season 3 finale that, "Family don't end with blood"
• On several occasions Al Bundy spoke to/of someone as "the son he never had"-at least once in front of Bud.
• All but actually said in The West Wing with President Bartlett and Charlie especially when President Bartlett passes on to Charlie his family knife that has been given from father to son.
  • He also refers to Josh as his son in "Two Cathedrals".
  • Josh also tells CJ that Bartlet thinks of her as a daughter.
• Implied with Martin and Daphne on Frasier, especially when Martin becomes lonely when Daphne moves in with Niles and tries to get Daphne to promise to visit more often by using the fact that Eddie will miss her as a transparent excuse. Also given a Sibling Rivalry-like turn when Daphne gets jealous of Frasier's new girlfriend Claire because Claire and Martin dote on each other and Martin clearly wants Frasier to marry her and make her Martin's daughter-in-law.
  Martin: Her laugh's just like music isn't it?
  Daphne (wistfully): You used to think my laugh was musical...Remember, Marty?
  Martin: Yeah, but I'm used to it now.
• Larry Sizemore calls Michael Westen this in Burn Notice. Subverting the usual associations of this trope, it is not a heartwarming moment- Larry is a former Evil Mentor and Michael has daddy issues.
• In the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, Admiral Adama has repeatedly told Kara "Starbuck" Thrace that she is like a daughter to him.

• Sarge uses this line in Red vs. Blue at one point.
  Sarge: Grif, if you see Lopez, tell him I forgive him. Tell him, he was like a son to me.
  Grif: I thought Simmons was like a son to you.
  Sarge: No offense, Simmons. Lopez and I just understood each other better.
  Simmons: Understood? He refused to speak English.
  Grif: Yeah, and he ran away the first chance he got.
  Simmons: And now he's trying to kill you with a remote control jeep.
  Sarge: Ahhhh, what a little rascal.

• In Sam & Max, a talking baby cockroach hatches in front of Sam's eyes and thinks he is his "papa". Sam's response:
  Sam: Now I am, little champion...NOW I AM!
• Played from an outside point of view in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, when Tyrell observes that King Paithos acts like an overprotective dad around his nephew Amiti, and even phrases it "he's like a son to you".

• The Dreamland Chronicles: Alex
• El Goonish Shive:
  Grace: You're like a father to me!
  Mr. Verres: ...But you're my son's girlfriend.
  Grace: We're a strange family.

• During the first season finale of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Iroh tells Zuko, "Ever since I lost my son... I think of you as my own."
  • And once Zuko sorts out his issues, he comes to think of Iroh as his father.
• Home Movies: Coach McGuirk says Eddie is "like the son I never had... or don't know about."
  • Coach McGuirk's relationship with Brendon varies between being an Inter Generational Friendship to being somewhat like father and son. McGuirk even becomes noticeably jealous of Brendon's relationship with his actual father for much of season two.
• In the episode Frankendoodle, Spongebob says this about his creation, Doodlebob.

Subversions:

• In the English dub of Yu-Gi-Oh!, during the anime-only Virtual Nightmare Arc, the Virtual Ghost of Seto Kaiba's abusive adoptive father angrily tells Seto he treated him better than his own son.
  Seto: Thanks. For nothing.

• In the newspaper-comic Drabble, Norm makes his father a sundae, prompted this exchange:
  Ralph: Wow, thanks, Norm! You're like a son to me!
  Norm: Dad, I am your son!
  Ralph: *clearly not paying attention, focused on eating* Oh, yeah huh.

• What Happens in Vegas
  Jack Fuller Sr.: You're like a son to me.
  Jack Fuller: Dad, I am your son.
• Kasper Gutman: I couldn't be fonder of you if you were my own son. But, well, if you lose a son, it's possible to get another. There's only one Maltese Falcon.
• In Sgt. Bilko

  Bilko:(lovingly spoken) Ah, Doberman. The son I never wanted.

  *Doberman seems delighted to hear this*

• In The Three Musketeers and its sequels, Athos sometimes calls D'Artagnan "my son" in moments of great affection, even after he has a real son.
• An absolutely ridiculous example in Mastiff. Tunstall tells this to Beka . . . while trying to kill her.
• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: An untrustworthy slaver boasts that he will treat his latest set of captives — including Lucy, Edmund, Eustace Scrubb, and the young King Caspian — as though they were his own children. Lord Bern sarcastically replies, "That's likely enough to be true."

• Subverted in the last episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, where General Melchett tells Kevin Darling that he's "like a son to him" - not a favorite son, though.

• Parodied in Arrested Development when GOB refers to his son as "the father I never had".
• In the Doctor Who telemovie, the Master claims Chang Lee is "the son I've always yearned for." The Doctor is not convinced ("Oh, please.") — and moments later, the Master snaps Lee's neck.
• From In Plain Sight as Rafael is moving in with the Shannons before marrying Mary
  Brandi: So I guess I'm like the little sister you never had, huh?
  Rafael: I have three sisters. All little.
  • Later deconstructed, impressively. One of the witnesses flips on his criminal buddies after they kill the "son he never had" . . . except the witness had a son, who he couldn't connect with or accept, and who was rightfully jealous of the son substitute. Their relationship is . . . messy.
• From a deleted scene from Flight of the Conchords:
  Eddie: Bret, I like you. You're like a son to me. You remind me of my niece.
• On That '70s Show, Kelso wants to buy a great car from Leo. As they're about to make the final deal, however, Leo recalls that he had originally planned to give that car to his long-lost son and said that he couldn't bear to sell it, which Kelso can understand. Leo then immediately gives the car to Hyde, calling him the son he never had (as opposed to that long-lost son that he did have). Needless to say, Kelso was annoyed.

• Parodied (what else?) by "Weird Al" Yankovic in his Shaggy Dog Epic Albequerque:
  "That snorkel's been just like a snorkel to me!"

• In Big The Musical, MacMillian sings of Josh, "My god, he's like the son I never had!" Josh notices a picture on MacMillian's desk and asks, "Who's that?" "That's the son I had," MacMillian replies.

• Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series:
  Hank: He was like the son I never had until I actually had one.

• In one episode of Hey Arnold!!, Arnold makes friends with a baseball-loving millionaire who says he is "like the son he never had." Then Arnold finds out the man actually does have a son, and spends the rest of the episode trying to help the two of them find a way to connect with each other.
• In Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, the mayor tells both Brent and Flint that they're like sons to him, but it is clear he's being insincere in both instances.
  "And without further ado, our town's hero and my metaphorical son, Flint Lockwood!"
• Clone High
  Glenn the Janitor: Ponce was like a son to me, probably because he was my foster son.
• Phineas and Ferb: Doofenshmirtz's dad had a dog named Only Son that he considered like the son he never had, despite the fact that he already had a son (and would later have another).
  • Norm is not this to Doof himself.
• The Disney Movie "Atlantis."
• Carl almost says this to Meatwad on Aqua Teen Hunger Force while trying to get his ticket to the Super Bowl, but reconsiders midsentence, resulting in:
  "Ever since my son was...never conceived because I never had consensual sex without money involved, I've looked at you as a... a thing I could live next door to, in accordance with state law. Now are we going to the Super Bowl or not?"