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  • Hajime Nagumo of Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest is a guy specialized in transmutation and gunmanship, and has a hell of a protective streak, particularly when it comes to a certain adorable mermaid girl named Myuu, who he's adopted as his daughter. It is not advisable to scare or otherwise mess with her — a gang of slavers who made the mistake of doing so got annihilated by Hajime and company, the leader of whom got triple-tapped in the head without even so much as a Pre-Mortem One-Liner when Hajime caught up with him, just before his base and those of the other slavers got blown sky high.
  • In Assassination Classroom, Karasuma is this occasionally along with Irina. At one point he pulls two students back and takes the full brunt of an attack when an enemy tries to spray them with paralysis gas. Koro-sensei is also very protective of his students and it's one of the few surefire ways to truly piss him off. This, despite the fact that his students are supposed to be trying to murder him.
  • Oga from Beelzebub seems to not care for Beel, but, if you put a finger on the baby... In chapter 107 he openly declares himself to be Beel's parent, emphasizing this trope even more.
  • Guts from Berserk acts like this towards Jill, Schierke, Isidro and his True Companions in general. Ironically, he doesn't act too much like this toward his insinuated son, the mysterious Moonchild, but most likely because Casca won't let Guts near the little boy or because whenever the Child does appear, larger than normal battle shit happens and they never spend any "quality" time together. However, when the latter happens, the roles get switched.
  • Black Cat. Have some nefarious scheme for Eve? Want to study the nanomachines that she uses? Feeling compelled to dissect her just because you can? Pray to the god of every religion you've ever known that Train and Sven don't find out about it. Especially the former of the two.
  • Don't so much as think of threatening Pinoko or Black Jack will cut you to ribbons. Then sew you back up. Then charge you everything you're worth for the trouble... Yeah, it's just that kind of story.
    • Also, when a child's life is in danger, expect Black Jack to work even harder for the kid's sake. Or to deal even harsher gambits in an attempt to make others empathize with said kid.
  • Black Lagoon:
    • Ginji Matsuzaki. Do not even look at his protégé Yukio wrong, or this badass swordsman will cut you down. Ask about what he did to Chaka, to start...
    • Rokuro Okajima aka Rock. As seen with Gretel, Garcia, and later, Yukio, he'll go to great lengths to shelter children and teenagers from harm. Kidnapping and then molesting and abusing Yukio is a good way to make this usually mild-mannered, diplomatic and well-spoken former Salaryman angry enough to actually cuss you out and physically assault you.
  • Bleach: When Nnoitra threatens Yachiru, she warns him Kenpachi will be angry. Kenpachi dismisses it, but when Nnoitra does try to kill Yachiru, Kenpachi leaps into action. Later, when Yachiru is at Gremmy's mercy, he's interrupted from killing her by Kenpachi who admits he only turned up because Yachiru's reiatsu had become very weak.
  • Blue Exorcist: Shiro Fujimoto probably counts, though he doesn't really get that much screen time. HOWEVER: He killed himself to keep Satan away from Rin and all things said and mentioned about him afterwards suggests that he devoted his life to protecting Rin and Yukio once he adopted them.
  • Daikichi from Bunny Drop makes for a realistic example, by adopting a 6 year old no one wanted to take responsibility for, and doing whatever it takes just to make sure she gets a decent childhood. Commander Badass would be proud.
  • Just try and hurt a kid in front of Captain Harlock.
  • Case Closed:
    • Whenever he learns that his daughter Ran Mouri and/or his charge Conan Edogawa are or have been in danger, Kogoro Mouri is definitely not pleased. And you do NOT want to provoke a man who looks and acts like a slob, yet is a National-level judoka and acts at his most competent when It's Personal. More than one suspect has been at the receiving end of a powerful judo throw for this.
    • He also acts a lot more professional when he knows a child's life is at stake; this is seen in the kidnapping episode.
    • Inspector Juzo Megure is also very protective of the kids who hang out with Mouri and of his own subordinates. Better shown when he goes It's Personal mode in a case involving young women being attacked: he refuses to let Action Girl Satou act as a decoy, and later took a metal pipe to his head while protecting Sonoko from the culprit. It's explained that this comes from one of his first cases, where he failed to protect a schoolgirl posing as a decoy and she almost died. Fortunately, the girl got better... and then they got Happily Married.
    • While there are many Papa Wolves and Mama Bears among the Sympathetic Murderers, there was a specially dark take on this trope during a two-part anime only episode. A businessman named Ushio Bunzou had contacted Kogoro to locate an assassin whom he had hired to kill him, having backed off the deal but not being able to find him and tell him so. It turned out that Bunzou was using Kogoro and others in a Batman Gambit destined to find and kill said hitman with his own hands, since one of his assassinations jobs led to the accidental death of the tycoon's beloved daughter Chisato. Conan had to beg the grieving and very pissed off Bunzou to not exact said revenge and damn himself in the name of his little girl, but he also made sure that the hitman's threat was neutralised and he was taken into custody.
  • A Certain Magical Index:
    • Have you harmed or threatened Last Order? If yes, then you are a dead man walking. The only question is how much of your body will remain after Accelerator annihilates you.
    • It turns out that everything started because Aleister Crowley tried and failed to save his first daughter Lilith. He wants to destroy magic because he blames magic itself for his daughter's death. When he later learns that his second daughter Lola had been possessed by the demon Coronzon (acting under the identity Laura Stuart aka the Archbishop of Necessarius) he's really pissed.
  • Delicious in Dungeon has Proud Warrior Race Guy, orc chief Zon. He's extremely protective of his son and makes it pretty clear that he'd turn anyone who tried to hurt him into a red smear on the dungeon walls.
  • In Deltora Quest The Big Guy Barda tends to invoke this in regards to his younger companions (especially Jasmine), similarly Rebel Leader Doom takes a blow from Nevets protecting Jasmine later in the show. Very fitting since Doom is actually Jasmine's biological father Jarred.
  • More of a Babysitter Wolf than a Papa Wolf, but coming close enough, because in Devil May Cry: The Animated Series, Dante never fails to protect Patty.
  • Dragon Ball:
    • Back in the original series Ox-King was very much a Papa Wolf to his only daughter Chi-Chi, as he would go on a rampage with his ax whenever anyone (e.g the Red Ribbon Army) endangered her or his future son in law Goku. He also made his first appearance begging for Goku to find Chi-Chi after she went looking for the Bansho Fan and did not return. While Ox-King did get Overshadowed by Awesome, even by his own daughter, he still succeeds in being a Doting Grandparent to Gohan especially after the Cell Games when Goku died (again).
    • The franchise has a lot of dads, but the grand master of this trope is Piccolo in Dragon Ball Z, to the point where his constant and epically badass rescues of his pupil Gohan become something of a Running Gag.
    • Gohan's actual dad, Goku, can be as much as a Papa Wolf as Piccolo. Goku did rush (with Piccolo, no less) to finish his long-lost brother Raditz after he kicked off the reunion by kidnapping little Gohan. (He died, but came back), and then saved Gohan's life after Piccolo died with Kinto'un, and beat up Nappa, the one responsible. But what really set Goku off was when Frieza threatened to kill Gohan, right after he gleefully blew up Goku's best friend Krillin. That drove Goku past the edge and turned him from the kind, gentle Idiot Hero into a vengeance-filled warrior. The non-canon movies did a wonderful job validating Goku as a Papa Wolf.
      • In Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest there's a bit where Gohan gets dangerously close to a Brainwashed and Crazy Piccolo, who throws a punch at Gohan while he pleads, but Goku bursts in and catches Piccolo's fist inches from Gohan's face. Then later on in the same fight when Piccolo tries to blast Gohan with Ki Goku manages to deflect it, it's pretty ironic as Piccolo is normally the Papa Wolf for Gohan. It goes to show if Piccolo can be very protective of Gohan, then Goku can be even more so.
      • Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might has an awesome bit where Gohan, having been forced into his Giant Ape form by Turles, attacking his own father and Goku desperately trying to get through to him without hurting him. Him shouting "Gohan! It's Daddy!" is heart wrenching and when Goku is finally forced to cut his son's tail off to save his life, he catches his unconscious child and assures him that he'll take care of everything. In English, he declares "You did a good job today. But now it's time for Daddy to take over," before shifting to face Turles and finishing "Did you hear what I said? I'm done playing games! This ends now!" It's even more moving in Japanese, where he states "Gohan! I dunno about the Earth but I'm definitely gonna protect you," and when he faces Turles "And I am DEFINITELY gonna defeat THAT guy!" He ends this threat to Turles with a petrifying glare.
      • Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug also pulls on the heart strings when Goku arrives on the battlefield after Piccolo and Gohan have been defeated by Elite Mooks Angila and Medamatcha. Completely ignoring the villains Goku goes to his beaten son and the first words out of Gohan’s bruised mouth are "I love you Dad" Goku says he knows, compilmenting his son's bravery and then proceeds to brutally murder both Angila and Medamatcha simultaneously.
      • Goku is very protective of Gohan in Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge despite being more than willingly to fight the villains, Goku quickly changes his mind when Cooler sets his sights on Gohan, which leads to Goku taking a death beam to the back while shielding his boy and is heavily damaged for the majority of the movie as a result. It's quite touching.
      • Also in Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan, titular Broly makes the point of threatening Gohan directly "Kakarot, how much do you love your son?" and Goku, who had been perfectly fine with Gohan in the battle up until this point, flat out tells him "Gohan, leave." When Gohan protests, he simply commands "Now!" before rushing Broly. He's knocked down and Broly quickly goes after Gohan. What comes next in the battle is battle-loving Goku forgetting the challenge of the battle itself and instead only focused on getting to his son.
      • In Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound has Goku, despite being dead attacking Big Bad Bojack for trying to Bear Hug Gohan to death. And he succeeded, giving Gohan the encouragement and strength he needed to win, to put the cherry on top King Kai informs Goku he broke rules of Afterlife by going back to Earth, but in the moment Goku didn’t care since Gohan was on the verge of death.
      • In GT Goku cares greatly for his granddaughter Pan especially seen when Eis Shenron hurt Pan, Goku enraged stated “you don’t mess with a man’s family” and brutally killed Eis with a Dragon Fist.
      • In Super Goku goes absolutely volcanic when Goku Black admitted with relish that in the process of procuring Goku's body, he also butchered his Chi-Chi and Goten out of spite.
        Goku: You Monster!... (voice breaking) YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT..., YOU'LL PAAAAY FOR THAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!
    • Despite wanting nothing to do with Future Trunks (usually ignoring him or just pushing him aside whenever Trunks tried to reach out to him), Vegeta went crazy after Cell killed Trunks.
    "How could I let this happen to my son? He has sacrificed everything for me and I have done nothing but ignore him. I won’t give up on him! There is still time to change things. Cell has crossed me for the last time! He has tricked me in battle, mocked my Saiyan ancestry, but this! This time he has gone too far! He will pay the ultimate price for what he has done to my son!"
    • Also in Bojack, Vegeta appeared to have lost his passion for fighting since Goku died, not even watching the competition. But when Trunks was in danger, he immediately sensed something was wrong and headed to the battlefield, making a Big Damn Heroes moment to help Trunks out of a tight spot.
    • Vegeta willingly kills himself trying to take Majin Buu down with him, all for the purpose of saving his son's life, knowing he would go to Hell afterwards for all of the terrible things he had done in his life. In Vegeta's mind, Trunks was worth it.
    • When a traumatized and nearly dead Future Trunks reappears in the present timeline of Dragon Ball Super, Vegeta's reaction crosses somewhere between shock and outright enraged that someone went after his son. And once Vegeta finds out exactly what Black Goku has done to his Future wife and son, he's more than willing to rip him to pieces.
    • Also a Super Vegeta example, this trope is why you never hit Bulma, as Beerus found out the hard way, being on the receiving end of a flawless twenty second Curb-Stomp Battle where Vegeta No Sells through a direct punch to the face and makes Beerus bleed. Beerus is the Physical God who casually sent Super Saiyan 3 Goku flying with a nonchalant finger poke. Remember how Vegeta became a Majin because he thought his family made him weak? That is some badass Character Development.
    • A minor example in Super occurs during the Tournament of Power Arc. Vegeta’s daughter Bra has just been born, and everyone comes over to see her. When Yamcha and Mr Satan make her cry, Vegeta goes Super Saiyan Blue out of anger.
    • During an episode of the Baby Saga of GT, Vegeta and Bra are coming home after taking her shopping, until they are approached by two teenagers/young men in their car. Vegeta rips off their steering wheel, forcing them to fall into the ocean by the cliff. Why? For hitting on his 10-year-old daughter. In fairness, it was also likely due to the fact that they also insulted Vegeta himself, something you should never do to him.
      • Later that very episode, Vegeta and Bra are ambushed by Gohan, who was being possessed by Baby. Vegeta grabs his daughter and dodges Gohan’s ki blast, which damages their car and shopping. Bra then gets angry and tries to confront him for ruining her new clothes. Since she has no training or battle experience, Vegeta tosses her back into their car and firmly instructs her to leave so she can drive home to safety so he can deal with Gohan by himself.
    • Android 16 certainly had shades of this in regards to Android 18, protecting her fiercely from Cell and even shielding her from explosions. Worth noting 16 was damaged while 18 wasn’t but that didn’t stop him in the slightest.
      • Speaking of 16, Dr. Gero his creator despite being a mass murdering Mad Scientist actually cared for Android 16 deeply, due the fact he’s made to look like Gero’s dead son and when 18 intends to open 16’s pod Gero flips out. Though this probably less out of parental concern and more due to the fact 16 (though defective and a Gentle Giant) is still the strongest Android and could potentially kill all of them.
    • An old man in the episode "Free the Future". While Android 18 was blowing things up after getting angered with Android 17 for killing a boy she thought was cute, the old man attempted to shoot Android 17 (as that boy was in fact his son). It failed, because Android 17 was resistant to gunfire, and needed saving by the time Trunks arrived.
    • This is also inverted, as there's a common theme throughout the show where whenever Goku or Piccolo is in immediate, life-threatening peril, Gohan snaps and proceeds to kick the bad guy around until the latter stops moving. Trunks also unleashes hell anyone who hurts Vegeta, e.g 17, 18 and Majin Buu.
    • In Super, we see that Gohan grows up to become one himself to little Pan. Doctor fake evidence of him cheating on his wife in an attempt to break your marriage up? He gets nervous and tries to explain, but not angry. Start getting noisy enough to disturb his daughter and he'll "politely" escort you across the room and ask you to leave. Kidnap his daughter and you're just asking for it. Gohan outright says that the only reason he wouldn't let Jaco kill Barry Kahn was because Pan was watching, and he didn't want her to witness death at a young age the way he did.
      • In Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Gohan fully displays his Papa Wolf credentials towards Pan, thanks to some scheming from The Chessmaster Piccolo. The new Red Ribbon Army wants to destroy the Z-Fighters, so in a Too Dumb to Live move they decide to lure Gohan by kidnapping Pan, his three year old daughter. Piccolo (who is in diguise and being The Mole) actually chooses to not stop this but instead lets Pan in on this idea and tells her to act the part, knowing if there was anything guaranteed to get the slacking Gohan off his scholar ass and save the world again, it would be the safety of his little girl. This is gloriously proven true, as when a mook shows Gohan footage of Pan being held captive, he flips his fucking lid, making his entire house collapse by going Super Saiyan in sheer fury and goes on a Person of Mass Destruction Unstoppable Rage against the Red Ribbon Army and beats the absolute crap out of Gamma 1 who unfortunately stood in his way. Hell, just hearing Pan crying out (which she was pretending to do at the behest of Piccolo, who was pretending to harm her) is enough to shoot Gohan back up into his Ultimate form, which he previously had to train hard to reacquire.
    • Bardock Goku's father, in contrast to his previous ruthless portrayal is a real Papa Wolf for Kakarot aka Goku in Dragon Ball Super: Broly and Dragon Ball: Minus. Suspicious of Frieza's rule, Bardock steals an Attack Ball for his toddler son to leave planet Vegeta in, saving little Goku from Freiza's destruction of the planet and genocide of the Saiyan race.
    • Subverted with Paragus and his son Broly from the same movie. Initially Paragus plays it straight, furious that King Vegeta sent Broly to the crapsack planet Vampa he flies off after his son and steals a spaceship to reach him on Vampa. However when Paragus meets his son, he pulls on Broly's tail to knock him out and then spends the next few decades training Broly as a weapon of revenge against King Vegeta. Paragus even puts a Shock Collar on his son, to keep him in line and Broly literally trembles whenever he sees the remote in his father's hands.
  • One of the weirdest (and that's saying it NICELY) examples ever is Dr. Shingen Kishitani from Durarara!!. In the novels, we learn that Shingen was the one who cut Celty's head off and sold Saika's sword off to the Sonoharas... but he did it in order to protect his young son Shinra from Namie Yagiri's grandfather, who threatened to kill Shinra if he didn't.
  • Fairy Tail: You can do anything to him, even completely destroy his guild and Makarov will only get irritated, but if you hurt any of his guild members, there's a very good chance he will make you stop breathing (permanently).
  • In the second OAV based on the video game Fatal Fury, titled FATAL FURY 2: THE NEW BATTLE, lead hero/fighter Terry "The Wolf" Bogard has lost his will to fight and live after being beaten by Wolfgang Krauser, only to have a street kid named Tony tag along with him. Tony, who lost his father in a street fight and works as a shoe shine-boy to support his mom Elsa, worships Terry's reputation as a fighter and wants to be his disciple. After the defeat, Terry spends half the special getting drunk and not caring about anything... It is only after Axel Hawk, the heavyweight boxing champion of the world, orders his sparring partner to beat Tony within an inch of his life in a bar (after Terry drunkenly refused to fight Hawk when challenged), does Terry rise out of his funk...and drops Hawk with ONE PUNCH. Even Hawk can't believe it (as his inner narration mentions).
    • In The Movie, Kim Kaphwan gets to show off his Papa Wolf credentials as well. When a Brainwashed and Crazy Cheng Sinzan steps into a party he's attending with the main cast and his family, Kim offers to fight him so his two kids can see him kick ass. His rival, however, soon starts wiping the floor with him, so much that Joe has to be stopped by Andy from breaking in... but the very moment one of the Kim boys begs his daddy to not lose, Kim brings himself back and completely curb stomps his enemy with a single Ho-oh Kyaku.
  • In Fate/stay night, Berserker is viciously protective of Illya and will defend her at all costs despite being under the effects of Mad Enhancement. He's so protective that despite running out of lives, he breaks free of Enkidu to try and kill Gilgamesh for murdering Illya.
  • When Youichi from Father and Son gets a call seemingly demanding ransom in exchange for Shou, he had apparently grabbed his old bat and headed towards a restaurant where his son was. However, he calmed down once he learned the call was from his brother-in-law and that his son wasn't in any danger.
  • Kenshiro in Fist of the North Star. Anyone threatening, never mind hitting, Bat or Lin is to endure a rather slow and painful and explosive death. And those are just the ones he's close to — as a Friend to All Children, he despises those who mess with kids, and reserves some of his worse kills for them.
    • There's an interesting straight use and subversion of this trope, pulled off by the same character (a villain). He's the leader of a wolf-themed gang, and one of their raiding parties gets their asses handed to them by Kenshiro. When he finds the bodies, he howls for vengeance, taking the rest of the pack with him to hunt for Kenshiro. The subversion comes from the fact that when they are utterly defeated by Kenshiro and Rei, one of the midgets in his gang comes up to him and asks for help. He tells him to get lost, that he can start a new pack anytime he wants. Then they all die.
  • In Fruits Basket, we have Kazuma Sohma, uncle and foster father to Kyo Sohma. In one chapter of the manga, Kazuma proclaims his intent to protect Kyo single-handedly from the entire Sohma family if he must.
    • There's also a sketch in one of the later volumes, where Kazuma meets with Kyo's Jerkass of a father, cheerfully telling him that now that the Zodiac curse has been broken and Kyo is free, it's time they had a little talk about Kyo's future. Kyo's father looks like he's pissing himself in fear. It's Played for Laughs, but given the psychological abuse the father heaped on Kyo (at one point he accuses Kyo of trying to kill him for standing too close to him), it's very much impressive.
  • Fullmetal Alchemist: "Don't EVER mock my son." Screw with Hohenheim's kids and you're in trouble. Not only that, but he's willing to sacrifice his own life to bring his youngest son Al back from the Gate, and when asked by Ed why would he do such a thing, he calmly replies, "Because I'm your father".
  • In Gangsta. Nic and Doctor Theo will tear apart anyone who lays a finger on little Nina.
    • Similarly Galahad and Marco will do almost anything to protect Loretta or punish anyone who disrespects her.
  • The first battle in Gantz sees the hunters confronting the Green Onion Alien, a short, scrawny alien who repeatedly says, "Onions are enough for me." They kill him without a second thought... at which point his gigantic father rounds the corner, sees what they've done to his son, and proceeds to utterly devastate them.
  • In Gintama:
    • Shoyou was this to his students.
    • Gintoki is this to Kagura and Shinpachi...sometimes.
    • Umibozu is also this to Kagura (he's her real dad) and becomes this to Kamui when facing Utsuro.
    (in a letter to Kagura) If anything happens, all you need to do is send me a letter. I'll go over there and kill everybody.
  • The titular Onizuka from Great Teacher Onizuka who goes through great lengths to protect his students. In fact, you don't even have to be his student. He will rescue you anyways. This includes getting shot multiple times in an attempt to rescue a school girl (who happened to be trying to discredit him as a teacher) he saw being kidnapped while on his way to take an exam.
  • Gugure! Kokkuri-san:
    • Kokkuri the Papa Fox, naturally, as he frequently worries about Kohina's wellbeing and safety (her poor eating habits are what convinces him to look after her in the first place).
    • Shigaraki the Papa Tanuki as well, surprisingly enough. Despite his mischievous and laidback nature, he likes to take good care of children and protects Kohina from her pet cyclops when it tries to kill her in her sleep.
  • Brandon 'Beyond the Grave' Heat from Gungrave, both in the anime and the game. He is extremely protective of Mika, a thirteen-year-old girl who is the posthumous child of his boss and his ex-lover. In the very first episode, Grave wakes up from his hibernation (it's been over thirteen years since his hibernation) to kick ass not because of being activated by the doctor; instead, it's because he hears Mika's scream.
    • During the encounter with Bunji, Grave has been shot several times with Anti-Necrolyzed bullets and crippled. He only has his left arm intact and Bunji is already pointing his gun at his head. But then, Bunji is annoyed by Mika, who begs him to stop. Annoyed, Bunji fires some misdirected shots at Mika, who is terrified. Seeing this, Grave snaps, gets up, and gives Bunji a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown by pinning him to the ground with his knees and beating him up with an arm. While shedding Manly Tears and what may be Berserker Tears (as revealed by Mika later). He stops when Mika asks him to stop.
    • Big Daddy is one to Brandon. When Brandon is shot to protect him from a Lightning agent, he snaps at Randy (who is worried about him) and tells him to call an ambulance to save Brandon first. Later, Big Daddy is grief-stricken when Brandon is murdered by Harry. And he is especially upset when he finds that Doctor Tokioka necrolyzes Brandon (even if it's Brandon's request because he wants to deal with Harry in case Harry veers off-course, which Big Daddy has known from Brandon's letter). He cries when he spends some moment talking to a hibernating Brandon and tells him to just rest in peace. After that, he decks Doctor Tokioka with a punch for necrolyzing Brandon without his knowledge before going off to confront Harry.
    • Bear Walken is this in regards to his daughter Sherry. He puts her happiness and safety above all, and threatens to kill Harry if Harry fools around with her.
  • In Happy Yarou Wedding, Yuuhi is very much one. Because his own childhood was so lonely he wants to give Shouta the best childhood he can and is fiercely protective over him.
  • Hell Teacher Nube: You do NOT mess with Meisuke Nueno's, a.k.a. Nube's, True Companions. "Leave (insert names) ALONE!" is his Catchphrase and signifies that he's about to open a can of serious whoopass.
  • In the anime/manga version of The Heroic Legend of Arslan, all of the male members of Arslan's group, particularly Daryun and Jaswant, are very protective over Arslan. Anyone who insults him or comes near him with ill intent will die.
  • Hetalia: Axis Powers's Antonio aka Spain goes from Doting Parent Team Mom to Papa Wolf as soon as his protégé, Romano/South Italy, is kidnapped by Sadiq/Turkey.
    • While it's not been seen in canon, fanon sometimes makes England this towards America. When not pairing them up, that is.
  • While not a biological father, Sousou/Cao Cao from Ikki Tousen is this towards his friends. So much, that his Superpowered Evil Side took full control of him whenever he saw them in danger. It first happened with his Unlucky Childhood Friend Chuukou (he thought the bullies at their judo club were attempting to rape her), and later with his Bash Brother Kakouton (who lost his eye while shielding him)). And in the anime series, he also recruited Myousai by protecting her from a rapist and offering her a chance to be his subordinate and fighter instead of a Child Soldier.
  • Sesshoumaru from Inuyasha usually doesn't get too excited about much. Threaten Rin, though, and a beatdown like none other will commence. The best example comes from the manga... when Rin is taken to the underworld by a hellhound, Sesshoumaru follows and kills it. When she is already dead, whoops the King of Hell's ass to get her back. When this doesn't work, he actually shows the closest thing to human emotion he's ever done in the series, purifies the souls of the dead as an afterthought, then rips a hole back into normal reality. After all of this, his youkai queen mother acknowledges this and uses her powers to resurrect Rin since Sesshoumaru, of all people, is clearly unhappy about her death. He goes from Aloof Big Brother to a combination of John Creasy, Jesus, and Spawn.
  • A very unusual example is featured in the protagonist, Amaike Leo, of the manga Jobless Monster Player. After he goes back in time ten years to his late teens, he finds out that he has to care for the huge Womanchild monster named Suzuko who devoured him before he went back in time, who keeps addressing him as her father. Even though he is weirded out at first he slowly but steadily grows into this trope. It is especially accellerated when he discovers that Suzuko was a girl created by a Chuunibyou scientist whom she addressed as her father, who manipulated her into cutting off her own body to feed the monsters he was creating. After some time, he deemed that she was no longer needed and left her to become monster food. This freaks Leo out so much (partially because during this, he feels Suzuko's pain) that he immediately deems that he is her real father and continues to beat out the crap of the 'father' figure in her memories.
    "I'm Suzuko's father. Suzuko saved me."
  • Happens in more than one occasion in Jojos Bizarre Adventure:
    • In Phantom Blood Jonathan Joestar rescues a little boy named Poco from Dio’s zombies, then Jonathan saves Poco’s older sister from being sexually assaulted by Dio’s snake minion. Even when he’s dying Jonathan forces his wife Erina to rescue a baby instead being Together in Death with him, it’s a Tear Jerker to think such a Papa Wolf never got see his own son or grandchildren.
      • Jonathan must’ve inherited it from his father George Joestar who while overly strict towards Jonathan, still took a killing blow aimed for Jonathan by Dio.
    • Joseph Joestar while clearly more immature than his grandpa still inherited this trope from him as he displays it in every part he appears in. First thing Joseph does in Battle Tendency is save little Smokey Brown from two racist cops. In Stardust Crusaders not only does Joseph express his care for his grandson Jotaro and aid him in battle (despite the fact Jotaro finds him annoying), but Joseph’s main motivation is curing his Delicate and Sickly daughter Holy by travelling all the way to Egypt to stop DIO. In Diamond Is Unbreakable Joseph does his best to make amends with his illegitimate son Josuke and this time the roles are switched and Josuke protects Joseph from danger and even helps him walk. Joseph also adopts a baby girl he found and tenderly looks after her despite being a 79 year old man.
    • Speaking of Diamond is Unbreakable it actually provides a villainous example in the form of Yoshihiro Kira, who fiercely protected his femicidal Ax-Crazy Serial Killer son Yoshikage from danger and disregarded all the women he killed. Yoshihiro even protected his son despite being technically dead himself and only alive thanks to his Stand.
    • Jotaro Kujo The Stoic himself is no stranger to this, in Stardust Crusaders he uses Star Platinum to punch out a great white shark that was going to kill a girl. But’s nothing compared to Stone Ocean when Jotaro's own daughter Jolyne is in danger and though he’s put out of action for most of the saga, Jotaro dynamically comes back to save his daughter from Enrico Pucci.
  • Sai Nanohara from Jubei-chan is almost always a Bumbling Dad, but once he learns that his daughter Jiyu is the reincarnation and Soul Jar of Yagyu Jubei, he decides to not stay aside and does what he can to help her. In fact, his first Papa Wolf act was calling out Yagyu Jubei himself upon his treatment of Jiyu. To Jubei's very face. And in the Grand Finale of the first season, Sai also manages to give Jiyu/Jubei a Cooldown Hug to dispossess her from Jubei's influence, putting himself at great risk to do so.
  • Henry Marker from Karin is usually a weak-willed Bumbling Dad, but when his daughter Karin is in trouble, he will literally let himself burn in the broad daylight to rescue her from the well-intentioned but ignorant hospital people who think she's Delicate and Sickly, but could potentially discover that she's a vampire.
    • A more awesome example when he goes to rescue his daughter from a rival vampire clan who kidnap her because Karin is the Psyche, a reincarnation of a messianic figure for vampires and planned on breeding her to continue the line. He proceeds to use whole trees as stakes against them.
  • Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple gives us a number of examples. The most prominent ones are Hayato Furinji, who's a Grandpa Wolf for his biological granddaughter Miu and also for Kenichi to a degree; Sakaki Shio and Apachai Hopachai, two of the Ryozanpakou masters who train Kenichi and will go all-out to protect him if he's in serious trouble; and most recently the Big Bad himself, Saiga Furinji, who joined Kenichi's group in disguise to rescue the kidnapped Miu, his daughter.
    • Not to mention Kenichi's father, Mototsugu Shirahima, who, when he found out just how brutal Kenichi's Training from Hell was, tried to escape with Kenichi from the masters. He even tried to save his son from a boulder that was rocketing towards them, regardless how futile it was.
  • Kingdom: Attacking Mouten was the biggest mistake Kanmei made, as it turned an even fight with Moubu into one where the latter smashed through his sword and turned his head into pulp.
  • Kirby himself in Kirby: Right Back at Ya! In one episode, Kirby adopted a baby Galbo from its egg and raised it all by himself. Then when King Dedede buys an adult to fool Kirby, only to wind up having the baby sacrifice itself to save his adopted daddy, needless to say, Kirby was pissed...
  • Haruka's grandfather Zenzou in Kotoura-san can be violently protective of her granddaughter, despite being a Pervert Dad as well—He's the first person to stand by her as she's being rejected by the society for her telepathy. The word society includes his daughter Kumiko, or Haruka's mother. In fact, he disowned Kumiko as the latter disowned Haruka, and when he comes across her again some 10 years later, the first thing out of his mouth is a warning that he never wanted to see her again. The two only reconciled as Kumiko and Haruka reconcile. When he first meets Moritani in episode 6, he implies quite clearly that he knows what she did to Harukanote  and that she isn't off the hook with him.
  • Despite being the hero of Lone Wolf and Cub, Ogami Itto averts this trope. He considers his four-year old son to be something more akin to a True Companion than a child in need of protection. While he will walk through hell to help his battle buddy, as any samurai should, death in the line of duty is a professional hazard, and not something to be shied away from. Not even if you're four.
  • Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow: Arthur Popple. He's a caring dad, but he's not afraid to be firm. When Lucy May tells him she adopted a dingo, he says that if it ever harms her or anyone, he'll put it down.
  • They may have marital problems in Macross 7, but don't ever think of threatening any of their children or their city or their ship; coz when Mama Bear Milia and Papa Wolf Max Jenius team up, you are definitely screwed. Especially emphasized on their killer combo attack in Super Robot Wars Alpha 3 as seen here.
  • Shy and helpful Ugo in Magi: Labyrinth of Magic becomes this when his friend Aladdin is threatened or about to be harmed. Best shown in his fight against Judar where he refused to return to his flute to protect Aladdin because Judar gleefully stated he would kill Aladdin for the fun of it. And for all purposes, he was arguably the closest thing Aladdin had to a father when Aladdin's dying mother asked him to look after her son.
  • Mazinger:
    • Kenzo Kabuto from Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger. It is arguable if he was or was not a good father. It is not arguable when his older biological son was about of being killed he sent a Humongous Mecha after the people was attacking him, and when his adoptive son was about of being killed, he blew his assailant and himself up. Therefore, althought his parental skills left much to be desired, you DON´T try to hurt his sons.
    • Danbei Makiba from UFO Robo Grendizer. If he thinks you are going to hurt his daughter, he WILL hang you with his bare hands. Or shoot your brains out (the only reason Kouji and Duke are alive is because his aim is awful). If he entrusts you to drive his daughter somewhere he'll load his shotgun in front of you as he warns she BETTER does not get harm in any way, shape or form.
  • Despite being the youngest (male) of the group, Mobile Suit Gundam 00's Setsuna F. Seiei is quite the Papa Wolf for his teammates in season two. This is so pronounced that sensing his comrades all on the brink of death pissed him off to the point that he unknowingly initiates the "Trans-AM burst mode", completely turning the tide of the battle.
    • An ironic example is Sergei Smirnov, who has been called ''Papa Bear'' (because in-universe he's nicknamed "the Wild Bear of Russia") by fans with the description of Papa Wolf in mind. He did fit the Papa Bear description given above regarding his treatment of his son Andrei, but with Soma Peries he was Papa Bear all the way.
  • In one of the Mobile Suit Gundam Wing mangas, Marticus Rex aka King Peacecraft performs a badass You Shall Not Pass! in the middle of a burning palace, so his butler and his Number Two can take his youngest daughter Relena to safety. He doesn't make it alive, but the others manage to reach safety with the little girl, who later becomes a key player in the story.
  • Monster: After a whole series of being a supervillain-level Manipulative Bastard and being several steps ahead of the whole cast, Johan Liebert stands in front of Dr. Tenma and holds a pistol to a young boy's head to force Tenma to kill Johan and complete Johan's plan of a "perfect suicide" as well as corrupt Tenma... a plan that completely goes to hell when the kid's father grabs a gun and shoots Johan in the head.
  • All Might is already rightfully feared amongst the Villains of My Hero Academia. Mess with his students though, and you will learn just what his philosophy of "Plus Ultra" means in the most painful way possible.
    • Let's not forget Aizawa, who fights an entire league of villains who break into the UA to protect his students.
  • This is half the premise of My Home Hero: an unassuming salaryman realizes his daughter's boyfriend is a Yakuza who has already murdered two of his past girlfriends, so he ambushes and kills him. The other half is he and his wife, extremely protective herself, making the body disappear and trying to keep the Yakuza from finding out who killed the son of one of their bosses.
  • Naruto:
    • Minato Namikaze aka the Fourth Hokage. In fact the whole deal with the Kyuubi has been revealed as the struggle between him and Tobi, with Tobi using Minato's love for his wife/partner Kushina (then-host of the Nine-tailed fox) and their newborn son Naruto (future host of the same Fox) for his advantage. And we already know how THAT ended...
    • Iruka Umino to Naruto, going as far as taking a massive shuriken to the back to protect him, which marked the first time someone had shown explicit care for Naruto, who suffice to say was a little overwhelmed.
    • Jiraiya reveals himself as one when Orochimaru tries to kill Naruto directly believing him to be a potential threat. This leads to Orochimaru getting forced to retreat as Tsunade joins in on the combined beatdown of their former teammate to protect Naruto.
      • Jiraiya also dropped everything to look after Pain, Yahiko and Konan.
    • It’s clear Kakashi has this level of care for his students, like the time he beat Naruto and Sasuke apart before before they unintentionally killed Sakura, or each other. Kakashi also retrieved a wounded Naruto, who was chasing Sasuke and carried him back to the hospital but the one time where Kakashi was a explicit Papa Wolf was when Sasuke tried to murder Sakura with the Chidori, causing Kakashi to burst in Just in Time to stop him.
      • It’s also poignant as Kakashi unintentionally killed Rin with the Chidori... so he’s sure as hell not gonna let anything like that happen again.
    • Hell you can add most male Jonin to the list given their attitude towards the students e.g Gai steps in to stop Gaara finishing off Lee and before that even protected Naruto from a Sound Ninja. There’s also the time Kakashi, Gai and Hayate as well as Kurenai all stepped in to stop Neji from murdering Hinata. Not only is it against the rules to interfere in the Chunin Exams matches but really only one Jonin would’ve been enough to stop Neji... but for poor sweet Hinata’s sake the adults clearly didn’t care.
    • Chouza Akimichi also deserves a mention for throwing himself in front of his son Chouji to protect him from Pain, almost getting himself killed in the process. He does it again against the undead Asuma.
    • Hizashi Hyuga deserves a mention here, as the mere realization that his son Neji is a member of the Branch Family sends him into a murderous rage (which is stopped before it can begin courtesy of Hiashi activating his curse seal - and doing so is the first step in causing Neji to spend at least nine years of his life afterward as the inversion of this trope!)
    • Also Hiashi for killing that Cloud ninja for attempting to kidnap Hinata.
    • Maito Dai, Gai's father, certainly seems to count in Gai's flashback. Despite being known as "the eternal Genin", he follows/finds Gai's team while they're being cornered by the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and unlocks the Eight Gates, killing himself to protect his son.
    • Naruto naturally towards Boruto and Himawari, his children.
    • Sasuke takes a blow in the back while protecting his daughter Sarada in Naruto Gaiden.
  • Madara in Natsume's Book of Friends, quite literally as he can transform into a wolf spirit. The one time he lost control was when Natsume was injured.
  • Negi Springfield of Negima! Magister Negi Magi, despite being four or five years younger than his charges. Threaten his students, and he will pull the spear you impaled him on out of his chest and beat you half to death with it.
    • Takahata is this way as well, but to Asuna in particular he's an adoptive father. Although only because his self esteem is too low to be her boyfriend.
    • It is implied at first, then outright stated, that Nagi and later Negi saved the world because it was the only way to save Asuna, an Artificial Human girl who was used as a Barrier Maiden and, in the past, horribly treated by those who kept her prisoner and used her Anti-Magic powers for their own benefit.
  • One Piece :
    • Captain Whitebeard, formerly one of the four most powerful pirates in the world. An attack on one of the Whitebeard Pirates (who he considered his "sons") is never forgiven and his reactions are legendary-when the World Government sentenced his adoptive son and lieutenant Ace to death, everyone involved knew immediately that it was effectively an outright declaration of war.
      • After Ace's death, instead of going insane with rage like most had expected, Whitebeard in a frightful and calm way defeated his very powerful murderer Akainu in two blows and, in the same blow, split the entire Marine island in half... despite being stabbed, blown up, gutted and with half his face burnt off. All to avenge poor Ace's death. And you thought Whitebeard on a rampage was bad?
    • There's also Chef Zeff, who was like this towards the young Sanji. When they didn't chew each other up, of course. This *is* the ex-pirate who either ate his own leg so child Sanji would have enough food to survive in the manga or had the same leg cut off to rescue the kid from drowning when the ship he worked in was sunk in the anime, after all. Ironically Zeff says he hates “snotty brats”, given his missing leg and his tears at Sanji’s departure that isn’t quite true.
    • Genzo is a prominent example, he surrendered quickly and put up no fight when the Arlong took over Cocoyashi Village. But when Arlong decided to take little 8 year old Nami away he went in guns blazing only to be cut down by Kuroobi twice but still continued to fight the Fishmen until he was bedridden in hospital with wounds all over his body. Years later Genzo still put his life on the line for Nami, the moment he learned Arlong had betrayed his deal with Nami (to let her buy the village and save everyone) he gathered the villagers to storm Arlong Park and when Nami tried to stop him with a knife he just hugged her until she got out of the way.
      • Genzo also veers into overprotective dad territory, promising he hunt down and kill Luffy if he ever took Nami's smile away and later made several complaints to the Navy about her suggestive bounty poster. Genzo also had a small mental breakdown when he saw Nami's New World outfit in the newspapers.
    • Shanks, when Luffy is threatened. There is a reason why he lost that arm of his. A good 1000 chapters later Shanks in Wano prevents Admiral Ryokugyu from capturing Luffy, unleashing some Conqueror’s Haki on the Plant Person, at which Ryokugyu‘a Villainous Valor completely abandons him and he surrenders at once.
    • Another Shanks example in One Piece Film: Red towards Uta. She’s not his blood daughter, but Shanks shows how much he cherishes Uta when the Marines (including Admirals Kizaru and Fujitora) try to take her away and he tells them in no uncertain terms to back off and punctuates this threat by unleashing a wave of Conqueror's Haki that knocks 90% of the fleet and makes even Kizaru and Fujitora quaver.
    • Literal father King Cobra (along with Igaram) followed his daughter Vivi in "secret" when she wandered outside the Palace as a girl, when bandits almost captured her Cobra steps in (after Kohza saved Vivi) and defeated the remaining kidnappers himself before Chaka and Pell (the Royal Guards) could arrive. Cobra didn't stop there as he kicked their unconscious bodies bellowing at them for daring to touch his girl.
    • Similarly King Neptune towards his daughter Shirahoshi, though (just like The Little Mermaid). In Reverie arc Neptune even willingly risked the wrath The Government by going to attack Charlos who was trying to enslave Shirahoshi.
    • Luffy himself is a younger version of this trope, as any attack on the physical or emotional well-being of his crewmembers or close friends is taken personally and likely to result in an angry and violent beatdown. Luffy is also very protective over children, as shown in Punk Hazard where the only time he got serious is when Momonosuke told him about Caesar experimenting on the children, leading to the Mad Scientist getting his face imprinted by Luffy's fist. In general, Luffy will almost always bond with any children he meets in canon or filler due to being a Manchild himself, but he also get very pissed if they are endangered. The most recent example of this is with little Tama (who's also a friend of Luffy's brother Ace) in Wano, as when Luffy learns Holdem had used pincers on her cheek... he isn't very happy about it. The Wano arc also manages to subvert and deconstruct this trope, as Big Bad Kaido seemingly kills Tama and the half the crew (they're revealed to be alright later) and Luffy naturally flies off the handle, attacking Kaido directly... getting himself beaten and captured as a result.
    • Zoro, too. The first thing he did canonically was kill a mad dog that was going to attack Rika (or just protected her from Helmeppo in the anime) and even accepted imprisonment so she wouldn't be harmed when the Marines came after him. And Zoro's normally not the type to take revenge but Ohm made him reconsider that when he set traps that brutally injured Chopper. In filler, he is explicitly shown protecting children (like Apis in Warship Island) in several arcs.
    • Sanji is a reluctant Papa Wolf since he claims "he hates brats" but like Zeff before him he's lying through his teeth as in the same arc where he said that, he saved every single child who was being experimented on in Punk Hazard. In filler, Sanji kicked Usopp down when the latter tried to attack a little girl on the villain team. Also, Sanji is very protective of Chopper and Carrot, the youngest crewmates.
      • In Wano, when a little girl called Toko has her soba (noodles) knocked over by a yazuka member and cries about it, Sanji wrecks the guy and then happily gives the last bowl to Toko. Later, when Toko hears that her father Yasuie is about to be executed, she runs off and Zoro chases after her, concerned for her safety. Taken up to eleven when Shogun Orochi shoots Yasuie and then attempts to kill Toko as well, both Zoro and Sanji burst in to save her. Toko just got herself two Papa Wolves.
    • Franky is also a big Papa Wolf, having gathered his "Franky family" from the slums of Water 7. Franky is fiercely protective over them and the main reason for his initial hatred towards Luffy was because the latter attacked his family (though they attacked Usopp first). Franky is especially protective of Mozu and Kiwi, his "little sisters", flipping out when Kalifa kicked them down. Franky was stricken when he thought they were killed by the Buster Call, and cried with happiness when he found out they were okay.
    • Garp is a Grandpa Wolf who would have killed Akainu for killing Ace if Sengoku, the Fleet Admiral, hadn't stopped him. He even tells Sengoku to keep him down or he would have tore Akainu to pieces.
      • Garp is also extremely protective of the young Marines he trained, especially Koby who has become the Marine son he always wanted (his actual son Dragon becoming a revolutionary and his grandson Luffy a pirate). The Blackbeard pirates who captured Koby have a Mass "Oh, Crap!" at Garp literally punching their island and beating the shit out of all them to save Koby. Not even Kuzan (a goddamn former admiral) is safe from Garp’s One-Man Army rampage.
    • Also, Luffy's actual father Dragon the Revolutionary has appeared only once or twice, but one of these apparitions puts him squarely here. When Luffy was about to be arrested by Smoker... Dragon shows up and keeps him from using his weapon. Then a gust of green wind blows through the island, freeing Luffy from Smoker's clutches. It hasn't yet been revealed if the wind was Dragon's doing, but...
      • He’s also the reason Sabo is alive in the first place. Just a little while ago he stop to listen to the poor kid’s pleas over the nobles’ part in causing the destruction of Grey Terminal whilst expressing extreme shame of being born into nobility, much to Dragon’s horror. Just as a World Noble tries to outright kill Sabo for daring to cross path with his ship, Dragon carries Sabo off to safety, informally adopts him, and raises him to the second highest ranks of the Revolutionary Army.
      • Flashbacks revealed that in a sense, he never truly abandoned Luffy. As the most wanted man in history, he’s forced himself to leave his son in Garp’s (his own father) hands. Kuma noticed that he secretly watches over Luffy from a safe distance, but Dragon orders him to drop the subject at once, unless he wants to guarantee Dragon’s death warrant. Kuma is confused over this, whilst Dragon quips in “Children are a vulnerability for any parent”. Given what the World Government does to anyone related to wanted criminals, Dragon is making it perfectly clear that if his enemies were to find out about their blood ties, he wouldn’t hesitate to die in place of Luffy.
    • Smoker himself acts as a Papa Wolf to his subordinates, especially Tashigi. He doesn't hesitate jumping in to save Tashigi and his men from Trafalgar Law, telling them to run away and taking him on on his own. Also, he was really worried and shocked about his men when they got caught in a huge explosion. Then, when he finds out Vergo attacked them, he lays a beat down on him, and allows himself to lose their battle in order to get Law back his heart, who was also revealed to have been severely traumatized and abused by Vergo in the past. In short, you do not screw with children or the men under Smoker "The White Hunter", or you will regret it.
    • Kyros is one of the few on this list who is a literal father. While he's a toy named Thunder Soldier, he protects his daughter Rebecca from threats as extreme as kidnappers to as minor as boys asking her out, but once he becomes a human again and encounters her fighting Diamante, the man who murdered his wife Scarlet, he gets pissed. The only reason he doesn't just smash Diamante there and then is because Diamante is targeting Rebecca with all of his attacks, but once Robin shows up to protect her, he can focus entirely on Diamante who, despite raining spiked balls onto Kyros, is one-shot by the man.
    • Trafalgar Law had one in his Parental Substitute Corazon, aka Donquixote Rocinante, Donflamingo's younger brother. The man spent six months trying to find a cure for Law's Amber Lead poisoning, and when doctors who foolishly thought it was contagious refused to treat the dying child, Corazon beat them up and destroyed their hospitals. He later died to save Law's life, both finding him a cure and engineering his escape from Donflamingo at the same time.
    • Charlotte Katakuri's biggest redeeming quality despite being a fierce villain is his protectiveness over his younger "beloved" siblings. Katakuri will not tolerate his brothers and sisters getting hurt in any fashion, and caught Luffy's fist when he tried to punch his sister Brulee in the face.
    • Another literal father example is Pound, one of Big Mom's husbands and the father of her daughters Chiffon and Lola. He is NOT a fighter and he's painfully aware of it, but that DOESN'T stop him from attacking Charlotte Oven when he learns that he plans on attacking Chiffon and the group she's in. When Chiffon is captured and about to be executed, he charges at Oven again and gets him to release her, and ultimately dies to make sure she'll be safe. Though this being One Piece Pound was revealed to have survived later and reunites with his daughters and grandson.
    • Kozuki Oden was also a literal father and a very powerful one at that. When Oden learnt his wife Toki and children Momonosuke and Hiyori had been endangered and his wife wounded by Shogun Orochi, Oden went on a Unstoppable Rage cutting his way through Orochi's guard single handedly and was only prevented from cutting down the bastard himself thanks to a Barrier Warrior minion. In fact Oden only loses to Kaido because of this trope as the Voluntary Shape Shifter on the villain's side transforms into Momonosuke and pretends to be captured, causing Oden to hesitate long enough for Kaido to strike him down. Oden was also very much A Father to His Men (the retainers) similar to Whitebeard caring greatly for them, taken up to eleven during Oden's execution as he literally holds all his men above his head while being freaking Stewed Alive.
    • Hancock may not be Rayleigh's daughter (biological or adoptive), but he did keep her and her sisters safe for a few years after they were enslaved by the World Nobles and liberated by Fisher Tiger. When Blackbeard and the Marines attack Amazon Lily shortly after the Seven Warlords are abolished and the violence escalates until Hancock's life is literally in the hands of Blackbeard, Rayleigh enters the scene and threatens all the outsiders into leaving the island peacefully... or else they will have to fight him. Even Blackbeard decides to cut his losses and retreat (since at this point anyone in his crew who is even remotely close to Rayleigh's level has already been turned to stone by Hancock), though after the dust settles Rayleigh admits he may not be able to use his reputation to pull off such a bluff a second time, being several decades past his prime.
    • Bartholomew Kuma, one of the most imposing Warlords of the Sea, is revealed to be the father of Supernova Jewelry Bonney, whom he loves so much that he'll smite anybody who tries to harm her, even when he's technically dead. His love for her runs so deep that even as a supposedly unfeeling machine, he ends up bloodying the face of one of the Five Elders, who are among the highest-ranking figures in the World Government, when he tries to kill Bonney.
  • The Oyaji, from the manga of the same name, is a bloody extreme example of this. We dare you.....No, we DOUBLE DARE you to lay a finger on anyone in his family!
    • The last time two yakuza members tried to burn his family alive, their whole gang ended up being massacred in the most brutal way possible and then burnt to ash! The scary part? This was done right in their own base by the old man with a shovel all alone!
    • Heck! Even his would-be son-in-law learned this in a very, very painful way!
  • Not even a freaking typhoon could stop Penguindrum's Kenzan Takakura from getting medical attention for his ill daughter Himari. And he still had enough pluck to shield one of his sons, Kanba, from a falling lamp. And had his other son Shouma been there, he would've protected the kid too.
  • Plastic Memories subverts this in Episode 5. When Michiru's adoptive father becomes a Wanderer, he goes crazy after hearing Michiru cry as a R-Security soldier tries to forcibly takes her away from him. Unfortunately he then starts targeting Michiru after he "saved" her, and is only stopped after being brutally gunned down.
  • In Pluto, love for his child broke through a robot's aversion to killing, and was then used against him to kill him.
    Gesicht: Even if the world ends, I won't let you go.
  • Pokémon: The Series:
    • James is rather protective of his Pokémon in the Sinnoh arc, especially Mime Jr. (which is a baby Pokémon, by the way). Sometimes he goes as far as teaming up with Ash and company just to keep them safe. Oh, and when Jessie and Meowth refused to help out one of those times, he attacked them.
    • Ash himself counts too. Countless times, he has put his life on the line without hesitation to save his Pokémon, especially Pikachu. And for that matter, Ash's Pokémon can be fiercely protective of their owner... Just ask his Grovyle, who had been Brought Down to Normal due to an Heroic BSoD, but recovered his powers out of sheer willpower upon seeing Ash in lethal danger!
      • His biggest moment is when Nebby is captured by Faba. Ash is so angry about this he actually tackles Faba to the ground in an effort to rescue the baby Pokémon.
    • In Pokémon Heroes, Latios is a Brother Wolf to Latias. He refuses to let any strangers into their secret garden, and is even willing to sacrifice his life just so his sister and the town of Alto Mare could be safe.
    • In How I Became a Pokémon Card, a Dragonite goes on a wild rampage when he thought his son was kidnapped by humans.
  • Psychic Squad's Koichi Minamoto is basically just a normal guy who tasked to watch three powerful girls with insane psychic power. But when he gets pissed off enough, such as if someone harms his girls or they're harming themselves, you'll understand why they made him guardian of those girls.
  • Psycho-Pass: Tomomi Masaoka may be the oldest Enforcer in Division 1, a latent criminal and a chronic alcoholic besides, but threaten his son Nobuchika Ginoza and you'll see firsthand that he has 30+ years of combat experience for a very good reason.
  • Tendo Soun of Ranma ½ isn't as badass as most of the cast, but disrespect any of his three little girls and you'll realize that he hasn't forgotten much of Happosai's Training from Hell. Saotome Genma, on the other hand, is cursed to transform into a literal "Papa (panda) bear". See the opening statement on why this trope is named "Papa Wolf" and not "Papa Bear" and you'll understand the Fanon that Jusenkyo curses are Personality Powers.
  • Deconstructed in Rash: when he saw his daughter Misaki attacked by her Stalker with a Crush Akiyama, Toshinori Ogata beat him to a pulp with a baseball bat... And was arrested and sent to jail for assault, as the judge determined he had gone overboard. Worse, the judge decided that Akiyama could not understand what he was doing and thus gave him a lesser prison term, resulting in Akiyama being freed first a few days before Misaki would marry another man, stealing a picture from her home, visiting Ogata in jail to make him know he was around, and then try and murder Misaki.
  • Record of Ragnarok, like so many other things, takes this archetype and pushes it up to 11. Not only is the Biblical Adam ready to fight a no-bullshit god in a duel to the death to protect his wife and children without any hesitation, but he's also doing it to save each and every one of his descendants: that is, the whole of humanity. Bonus points for that god being the big bad daddy of the Greek pantheon himself, Zeus.
  • Rurouni Kenshin gives us the tragic deconstruction of Yukyuzan Anji from the Juppongatana. There was a peaceful, gentle Buddhist monk who sheltered the children of rebels against the Meiji Government. The villagers didn't like it, so they ambushed the monk, injured him and burnt the orphanage along with the children, killing them all. Poor monk snapped, subjected himself to Training from Hell for five years and bloodily killed all the villagers responsible with his own bare hands. And that's how Anji joined Makoto Shishio, since Shishio let him have credibility to spare lives if he wished so in return for recruiting him. And he did it, saving Misao from Usui's stab In the Back at one point.
    • Kenshin, however, manages to reconstruct the trope and play it straight. When he fell through the Despair Event Horizon due to believing that his girlfriend Kaoru had been massacred by Enishi and his group, what brought him back to his senses was Yahiko's girlfriend Tsubame telling him that Yahiko was fighting Enishi's group alone. Few later, Kenshin pulls a massive Big Damn Heroes to save Yahiko.
  • Otaru from Saber Marionette J to X. Granted, he was a father for only episode and half, but he surely proved to be quite a Papa Wolf!
  • Konzen's (Sanzo's pre-incarnation) Character Development in the Saiyuki Gaiden manga is maturing from a spoiled, bitchy, bored bureaucrat into a slightly less spoiled and bitchy Papa Wolf for Goku. The man has high-heeled sandals and no athletic abilities, yet he jumps off a stories-high stairwell/elevator shaft, catches the falling Goku, and clutches the severed elevator cable in mid-air. All to save his boy! The fact that Konzen's gonna die before the end and Goku will be locked away in a mountain without any of his memories of being so devotedly loved makes this all the more heartbreaking.
    • For that matter, in the present timeline, Sanzo's furious response and following Heroic BSoD when Goku was shot and almost died fits this trope to a T.
      • Goku himself to Sanzo. Particularly since hurting Sanzo is a sure way to start his Unstoppable Rage.
    • Also, Hakkai. Don't threaten or hurt his comrades. Just DON'T!
  • SPY×FAMILY:
    • <Twilight>, currently going by the name Loid Forger, adopts little Anya as part of the cover for his current mission, and much to his own surprise, finds himself being very protective of her. In the first chapter alone, when he's ambushed by Edgar's men and realizes he's been compromised, instead of abandoning the cover ID and flee, he goes One-Man Army on them and gives them a Mook Horror Show to rescue Anya. Then during the Eden Academy parent interview, he almost punches Swan for making Anya cry, but he resorts to punching the table instead, claiming to have seen a mosquito.
    • Becky's father also counts; when he hears that the school bus with his daughter on it has been taken hostage by terrorists his reaction is to attempt to use all of his company's resources to save her. As he's the owner of the company that produces the nation's military vehicles, this entails attempting to mobilize a private army. He only relents when it's pointed out that sending in a bunch of tanks and fighter jets is only going to make the hostage situation more dangerous.
  • Spirit Albarn/Deathscythe from Soul Eater would like to think of himself as a Papa Wolf and certainly steps in whenever his daughter Maka's in serious trouble, but he's a little too much of an unrepentant womanizer for her to take seriously. He still had a pretty good Papa Wolf moment with his Dynamic Entry when defending her and Soul from Crona.
    • Also note his reaction to Medusa's claims about her child Crona; for the first time in the series, Spirit is upset and angry.
    • Sid adopted Black*Star as a child after his entire clan was destroyed, and becomes this to him.
  • In an odd example, the titular Humongous Mecha from Space Runaway Ideon. Its New Powers as the Plot Demands are almost always activated by children being in danger. Some of the smarter characters even try to deliberately utilize this.
  • Kou Shouka in The Story of Saiunkoku is mostly a Retired Badass who prefers to employ Obfuscating Stupidity and play the role of Bumbling Dad. When his children are threatened, however, he goes out for blood.
  • Sword Art Online: Kirito, the protagonist of the series, and his beloved girlfriend/in-game wife Asuna adopts Yui as their daughter after they found her alone wandering in the woods. Even after learning the truth about her being an artificial intelligence, it doesn't change a bit how they feel about her. Kirito loves Yui like she was her own child and he is a very kind and caring father. But woe betide anyone stupid enough to go after her, especially since Asuna is just as much a Mama Bear.
  • In the Street Fighter IV OAV The Ties that Bind, none other than Ken Masters becomes this. With good reason: his wife Eliza has been abducted by Crimson Viper, and then he learns that she's pregnant. This is so awesome from his part that Viper herself notes that the massive fighting power he displayed was no slouch compared with none other than Ryu's Satsui no Hado. (And might as well be the Power of Nothingness that opposes said SNH); considering how cheerful and cocky the dude is, it puts on perspective how fucking pissed off he was.
  • At one point in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Kittan attempts to taken on a Mugann armed with nothing but a shotgun in order to ensure his infant niece's safety.
    "I'm not about to let my cute little niece die in some alleyway! Go on without me, Dayakka! Look after Kiyoh for me.... GO!! IT'S ABOUT TO OPEN FIRE!"
  • Kotetsu T. Kaburagi of Tiger & Bunny may have a strained relationship with his daughter, Kaede, due to his job as a superhero (which she isn't aware of) meaning that he has to spend a lot of time away from home, but he's not about to let anything harm his little girl. This is showcased when he lifts a collapsed tree to save Kaede from a collapsing shrine even when his powers run out, and later, when Maverick has a gun to Kaede's head, Kotetsu reveals himself to be Not Quite Dead and punches Maverick in the face.
  • Tokyo Ghoul:
    • Yoshimura turns out to be one, in an incredibly tragic way. The organization he once served wants nothing more than to kill his beloved daughter. To keep her safe, he left her in the 24th Ward and avoided all contact to prevent them from using him to find her. When he learned of her rampages as the One-Eyed Owl, and found out she had been wounded in battle, he impersonated her to throw all pursuers off her trail. He has spent the last decade Taking the Heat for her, and when given one last chance to save himself (and Anteiku), he throws it back in their face by denying having a child. All this clearly kills him inside, but even her being the Big Bad of the series does not diminish his devotion towards keeping his daughter safe.
    • In the sequel, Haise Sasaki is one towards his squad. When Orochi tries to kill them, he unleashes a brutal Curb-Stomp Battle that leaves them all speechless in shock. Though only a few years their senior, he is a fiercely protective Parental Substitute to them.
    • Mirumo Tsukiyama is a Doting Parent to his only son, Shuu. But when his beloved son is in danger, Papa reminds everyone that Asskicking Leads to Leadership in the Ghoul world. When the family is targeted for extermination, he first uses himself as a decoy to allow servants to smuggle his son to safety. When this ploy ends in failure, Mirumo decides to escape and come help — while he plays it off as nothing, the scene accompanying his casual explanation reveals he tore out of his Quinque Steel body restraints and ripped a truck in half.
  • Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs: In the Alternate Timeline Marie Route series, Leon’s father Balcus suits up in his Mini-Mecha and engages The Dreaded Black Knight to protect his sons, Taking the Bullet and being severely injured, leading to the black knight taunting his sons about it, driving Leon into an Unstoppable Rage.
  • In Trigun, despite his reputation Vash the stampede is a very gentle and loving person who despises violence. Hurt or kill a child however... then the Glowing Eyes of Doom and Unstoppable Rage kicks in as you discover why Vash is “El Diablo”. Played with at other times as Vash is sometimes shown capable of protecting the innocent without using violence as when a bunch of bandits want a young girl named Lina, Vash debases himself in front of the gang at their request to protect her. It’s only when they physically kidnap Lina that Vash goes in gun blazing once again.
  • Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-:
    • Clone/Father Syaoran. Big Damn Heroes with his Mama Bear wife.
    • Kurogane is like this. Though he has an initially calm attitude when Seishiro "kills" Syaoran in Oto, you can just tell there's the hint of death in his dialogue and in his face. Though it's hard to tell if he's more mad about Syaoran's "death" or Fai's. Either way, don't mess with anybody in his party.
  • As Seto Kaiba of Yu-Gi-Oh! tries to inform people, it is a big mistake to threaten his little brother Mokuba, to whom he's been a father since they were ten- and five-years-old.note 
  • In the second sequel series Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds, Crow goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge when he returns after the appearance of the Dark Signers' evil fog to find out the kids he's taken in have all vanished.
    • Also Jeager (to an extent). You may not be able to tell when you meet him, but he'll do anything for his son. (In one episode, when he and his family were down on his luck, he went hungry in order to feed his wife and son, telling them he'd "already eaten". Unfortunately, he's a Bad Liar.)
  • Napoleon from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX is an interesting case. He wants to be his son Martin's protector, but he can't; as a teacher at Duel Academy, showing favoritism towards a student is a professional taboo, so he's forced to isolate himself from Martin (one of the hardest things he ever did, as he put it). As fate would have it, Martin becomes the victim of Demonic Possession, courtesy of Yubel, at which point Napoleon pleads with Judai to help him.
  • Yusuke from YuYu Hakusho is a subtle example. Harming/killing at least one of his loved ones gets mad, but if it's Keiko or Kuwabara, he will kick their ass!
    • The best example comes from the battle against Suzaku, who was stronger than Yusuke, capable of creating six clones of himself (all strong as the original) and, once he clones himself, has to be killed alongside all his clones, because leaving just one barely alive will only lead to him absorb the rest, heal himself and summon six clones. Obviously, Yusuke was having a lot of trouble, but as soon as Suzaku threatened Keiko and Botan he killed six of the Suzakus (including the original) and grievously wounded the seventh. At that point Yusuke was exhausted, but the survivor had absorbed the others to heal and cloned himself again... At which point Yusuke used the power of his own soul (a move that nearly killed him) to recover the strength, and overpowered and killed all the Suzakus at once.

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