History AFatherToHisMen / AnimeAndManga

** Mwu La Flaga is a unique example of this. In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' he was the only experienced soldier and AcePilot above the Archangel; as such, he had a fatherly attitude toward her crew of teenagers to young adults. As Neo Roanoke in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'', he again displayed a fatherly attitude to his subordinates (one of the few [[CharClone Char Clones]] to do so), namely the Extended team under his command. Even amnesia and brainwashing couldn't take that trait away from him.

*** Whitebeard in fact exaggerates this trope to rarely seen extent: he's not only a father to his men, but a father to ''only'' his men. His (alleged) biological son Edward Weevil is shunned by the crew, claiming that since he never served under Whitebeard, he could not be called his son, either.
*** [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with Kozuki Oden, whom Whitebeard treated like a little brother instead. He's the only person known to have had the honor.

*** [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with Kozuki Oden, whom Whitebeard treated like a [[BloodBrothers little brother]] instead. He's the only person known to have had the honor.

* Momonga in ''Literature/{{Overlord}}'' treats his NPC subordinates like this. Especially notable in that he doesn't even ''need'' to, as they're programmed to have UndyingLoyalty to him and just speaking with him is enough to make their day, [[BenevolentBoss but he still goes out of his way to compliment and reward them for their efforts.]]

* ''Literature/SagaOfTanyaTheEvil'' has the eponymous [[VillainProtagonist Tanya Degurechaff]]. Despite the fact that she's technically around '''[[ChildSoldiers ten years old]]'''[[note]] Not counting her past life[[/note]] and even though it is for her own self-serving ends, she looks after the men in her battalion much like a mother would her children: praising them when they do well, disciplining them when they step out of line, and doing everything she can to keep them out of trouble, or failing that, getting them out of trouble. [[AbusiveParents She also abuses them to hell and back]].

* Luck Gandor from ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' [[TheMafia 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 [[MobWar mafia turf squabble]] (or even on your lunch break, really), he will honor your service to him and pay his respects to you -- [[PapaWolf then he will hunt down the men responsible for your death and he will]] ''[[ItsPersonal make them pay]]''. If they're lucky, [[AndThisIsFor he'll personally beat them to death with a chair]]. [[CementShoes If]] [[AFateWorseThanDeath they're]] ''[[AndIMustScream lucky]]''.

* Maj. Andrei Kalinin is this to Sousuke in ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'', 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.

* Rias Gremory in ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDxD'', who treats her [[BadassCrew Peerage]] like a big family in between being a strong leader. This is encapsulated in how she treats Kiba when a HeroicBSOD causes him to drop the ball in a fight: she slaps him for endangering everyone, then immediately holds his shoulders and pleads with him to tell her what's wrong like a mother worried about her son. It later turns out that deep concern for everyone under their care is characteristic of the Gremory house.

* ''LightNovel/KonoSuba'': One of LoserDeity Aqua's few redeeming qualities is how devoted she is to her followers. Even though everyone else in the world thinks her people are crazy, even when they fail to recognize her and run her out of town for supposed blasphemy, she does everything she can to help them. Of course, this being Aqua, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero she still ends up causing a lot of problems]], but even Kazuma can't find anything to snark about her genuine desire to help.

* Momonga in ''LightNovel/{{Overlord}}'' treats his NPC subordinates like this. Especially notable in that he doesn't even ''need'' to, as they're programmed to have UndyingLoyalty to him and just speaking with him is enough to make their day, [[BenevolentBoss but he still goes out of his way to compliment and reward them for their efforts.]]

* ''LightNovel/SagaOfTanyaTheEvil'' has the eponymous [[VillainProtagonist Tanya Degurechaff]]. Despite the fact that she's technically around '''[[ChildSoldiers ten years old]]'''[[note]] Not counting her past life[[/note]] and even though it is for her own self-serving ends, she looks after the men in her battalion much like a mother would her children: praising them when they do well, disciplining them when they step out of line, and doing everything she can to keep them out of trouble, or failing that, getting them out of trouble. [[AbusiveParents She also abuses them to hell and back]].

** Captain Bruno J. Global of ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' (and his ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'' counterpart Henry J. Gloval), especially to Misa Hayase. 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 BridgeBunnies start dating aliens, [[OverprotectiveDad he's frustrated that they're not actually his daughters so that he can actually set a curfew]].

* Played with in ''Manga/{{YuGiOh}}'': As Pharaoh, Atem is younger than most of his troops, but he's fiercely protective of them and his people. At one point, he heads into a potentially lethal situation with little firepower because his soldiers would have been killed by Bakura otherwise.

* Yang Wen-li of ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' embodies this trope in all but appearance (being in his early 30s and having a surprisingly delicate appearance is somewhat at odds with the classic visual perception of this archetype). Several of his own mentors, such as Alexander Bucock and Sidney Sitolet, also are examples of this trope in action (and have the wizened appearance that customarily goes with it).

** Ling Yao has many shades of this, though he's a prospective heir to the throne of his country rather than a military officer. He strongly believes that a king is nothing without his people and absolutely despises anyone who sees their subordinates as [[WeHaveReserves expendable]]. NEVER tell him to leave behind an injured comrade, or that doing so would be worth it, not even if [[IWillOnlySlowYouDown you are said comrade]]; Doing so will only make him [[BerserkButton pissed at you]].

** Donquixote Doflamingo, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and, pre-TimeSkip, the one about whom the least was known; one of his earliest appearances was giving a ruthless YouHaveFailedMe treatment to a subordinate who made the mistake of pressing Luffy's BerserkButton. But post-Time Skip, when more of his backstory is revealed (including the fact that he's TheDon of a worldwide [[TheMafia Mafia]]), he seems to fit this trope to a T, and it's shown that all of his closest subordinates care for him enough to die for him. [[spoiler:Too bad the feeling isn't mutual. While Doflamingo cares about his top Officers more than his mooks, that won't stop him from ordering them to die for him. While he's clearly regretful about ordering Officers to die, it's equally clear that this is because he's losing a powerful minion, not because he's losing someone he loves. And if an officer betrays him, than they'll get no mercy (Baby 5, the unstable NinjaMaid, seems to be an exception, due to her [[ExtremeDoormat personality]]). As Law says, Doflamingo's care for someone only goes as far as how useful they are to his ambitions.]]

** In the sequel, Haise Sasaki's primary method of leadership seems to involve treating his subordinates like a surrogate family. He confesses that he isn't a particularly ''good'' leader when it comes to discipline and is criticized for being too lenient with them. The team even live together, with him cooking their meals and Saiko affectionately referring to him as "Maman". Nothing punches his BerserkButton like threats to his "children", and in return they are ([[TokenEvilTeammate mostly]]) fiercely loyal to him. Even that one exception, during a mental breakdown, has conflicting thoughts of resenting Haise and resenting that he's nothing but a burden to Haise.

* ''LightNovel/SagaOfTanyaTheEvil'' has the eponymous [[VillainProtagonist Tanya Degurechaff]]. Despite the fact that she's technically around '''[[ChildSoldiers ten years old]]'''[[note]] Not counting her past life[[/note]] and even though it is for her own self-serving ends, she looks after the men in her battalion much like a mother would her children: praising them when they do well, disciplining them when they step out of line, and doing everything she can to keep them out of trouble, or failing that, getting them out of trouble.

* Ash Ketchum of the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime. He takes very good care of his Pokémon and will gladly work with them to overcome any problems they may be facing. More humorously, in some more recent episodes, he'll scold them if they're misbehaving, like a father dealing with his misbehaving kids.

* ''Manga/GingaNagareboshiGin'': Riki is a straight example of this trope. When Gin calls him "father", Riki (having amnesia) mistakes this as being figurative and says "All dogs among us are like own sons to me". He is also shown to care very deeply about his comrades, and even forbid [[spoiler:Ben]] from coming to the final battle due to the latter [[spoiler:having become a (literal) father, as well as having lost his eyesight]].

* Akira Takaoka from ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'' exploits this in dark way; he usually mentors teens and young adults and his method of training them is establishing his trainees as a family unit with him as the father. Acting in this role, he showers his trainees with affection.....while also violently and unhesitatingly punishing any dissension and putting them through TrainingFromHell, which he justifies as being fatherly discipline. This method works until he deals with E Class, who soon beat him at his own game, leading to his downfall and SanitySlippage.

* [[LightNovel/{{Baccano}} Luck Gandor]] [[TheMafia 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 [[MobWar mafia turf squabble]] (or even on your lunch break, really), he will honor your service to him and pay his respects to you -- [[PapaWolf then he will hunt down the men responsible for your death and he will]] ''[[ItsPersonal make them pay]]''. If they're lucky, [[AndThisIsFor he'll personally beat them to death with a chair]]. [[CementShoes If]] [[AFateWorseThanDeath they're]] ''[[AndIMustScream lucky]]''.

* Akira Takaoka from ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'' exploits this in dark way; he usually mentors teens and young adults and his method of training them is establishing his trainees as a family unit with him as the father. Acting in this role, he showers his trainees with affection.....while also violently and unhesitatingly punishing any dissension and putting them through TrainingFromHell, which he justifies as being fatherly discipline. This method works until he deals with E Class, who soon beat him at his own game, leading to his downfall and SanitySlippage

* ''[[LightNovel/YoujoSenki The Saga of Tanya the Evil]]'' has the eponymous [[VillainProtagonist Tanya Degurechaff]]. Despite the fact that she's technically around '''[[ChildSoldiers ten years old]]'''[[note]] Not counting her past life[[/note]] and even though it is for her own self-serving ends, she looks after the men in her battalion much like a mother would her children: praising them when they do well, disciplining them when they step out of line, and doing everything she can to keep them out of trouble, or failing that, getting them out of trouble.

** Easily her equal in this trope is [[ColonelBadass Roy Mustang]]. He endangers an entire operation to rescue two of his most loyal subordinates from certain death, even though he's the one who ordered the operation and if his activity is known, [[SlaveToPR explaining it will be difficult and probably ruin the "ruthless careerist" persona]] he employs as cover. (For this, his personal aide - one of the two he rescued - calls him an idiot. [[NoBadassToHisValet But she's allowed.]]) There's a reason his old unit from the war [[spoiler:comes back to help in the finale]] - as one of them says in a flashback, he went out of his way to protect them from harm, and they credit him with being the reason they all survived. He also recruited the Elric brothers prior to the start of the anime/manga - and because they are literally children, with a MissingMom and DisappearedDad, they are in some ways like his sons.

*** Before his [[spoiler:departure from the military,]] Zechs Merquise treats most of his men well and get incredible respect and devotion in return, but saying "fatherly" might be a stretch (especially seeing as he's only [[ImprobableAge 19 years old]]). Lucrezia Noin probably counts a little more, seeing as she's a pilot instructor and often takes the role of the firm but caring mother figure - so much so that she becomes TeamMom (one of them, anyway) to the Gundam Pilots after a HeelFaceTurn.

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* ''Manga/GingaNagareboshiGin'': Riki is a straight example of this trope. When Gin calls him "father", Riki (having amnesia) mistakes this as being figurative and says "All dogs among us are like own sons to me". He is also shown to care very deeply about his comrades, and even forbid [[spoiler:Ben]] from coming to the final battle due to the latter [[spoiler:having become a (literal) father, as well as having lost his eyesight]].

* Played with in ''Manga/{{YuGiOh}}'': As Pharaoh, Atem is younger than most of his troops, but he's fiercely protective of them and his people. At one point, he heads into a potentially lethal situation with little firepower because his soldiers would have been killed by Bakura otherwise.

** Also from the Zekes, [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamThe08thMSTeam Rear Admiral Yuri Kellarny]], who honestly and earnestly cares for his men despite being loud, obnoxious, and pissing off Ginias because he thinks it's fun. Most exemplified in episode 9 ''The Front Line''.

*** Whitebeard in fact exaggerates this trope to rarely seen extent: he's not only a father to his men, but a father to ''only'' his men. His (alleged) biological son Edward Weevil is shunned by the crew, claiming that since he never served under Whitebeard, he could not be called his son either.
** While Whitebeard may be the most explicit example, Luffy's dedication to his crew and his friends is this trope in spades. He has done things for them that include but are not limited to climbing a mountain with bare hands and feet in the middle of a snowstorm, being frozen solid, and...oh, yes, declaring war on the entire world's law enforcement. And that's barely touching on how many times he's been beaten up, bitten, burned, poisoned, sliced, slashed, or otherwise put at death's door for the sake of his friends.

** Kozuki Oden is certainly this for his retainers all of whom he met and "adopted" when they were young, while he isn't as affectionate to his men as Whitebeard is, it’s made very clear Oden cherishes his men. [[spoiler: This is seen best when he and his retainers were sentenced to execution by being StewedAlive and Oden literally [[LoadBearingHero held all 9 of his men safely above his head]] for an whole hour and then threw them to safety. Years later Oden's retainers still honor his memory and follow his last command passionately]].

** Kozuki Oden is certainly this for his retainers all of whom he met and "adopted" when they were young, while he isn't as affectionate to his men as Whitebeard is, is made very clear Oden cherishes his men. [[spoiler: This is seen best when he and his retainers were sentenced to execution by being StewedAlive and Oden literally [[LoadBearingHero held all 9 of his men safely above his head]] for an whole hour and then threw them to safety. Years later Oden's retainers still honor his memory and follow his last command passionately]].

** Donquixote Doflamingo, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and, pre-TimeSkip, the one about whom the least was known; one of his earliest appearances was giving a ruthless YouHaveFailedMe treatment to a subordinate who made the mistake of pressing Luffy's BerserkButton. But post-Time Skip, when more of his backstory is revealed (including the fact that he's TheDon of a worldwide [[TheMafia Mafia]]), he seems to fit this trope to a T, and it's shown that all of his closest subordinates care for him enough to die for him. [[spoiler:Too bad the feeling isn't mutual. While Doflamingo cares about his top Officers more than his mooks, that won't stop him from ordering them to die for him. While he's clearly regretful about ordering Officers to die, it's equally clear that this is because he's losing a powerful minion, not because he's losing someone he loves. And if an officer betrays him, than they'll get no mercy. (Baby 5, the unstable NinjaMaid, seems to be an exception, due to her [[ExtremeDoormat personality]]. As Law says, Doflamingo's care for someone only goes as far as how useful they are to his ambitions.]]

** Cornelia herself is a CoolBigSister for her men, especially her bodyguard. He has a really hard time convincing her to run away and let him buy her time. Seriously if you watch this episode alone, it's impossible to figure Cornelia is the BigBad.