History AbusiveParents / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/{{CSI}}'' has Sara as a main character, and possibly Ray, plus all the =[[CSIs]]= have quite a few criminals with such pasts.

* ''Series/{{CSI}}'' has Sara as a main character, and possibly Ray,plus all the [[=CSIs=]] have quite a few criminals with such pasts.

* ''Series/{{CSI}}'' has Sara as a main character, and possibly Ray,plus all the CSIs have quite a few criminals with such pasts.

* George Sr. and Lucille Bluth of ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' treated all of their children with varying degrees of abuse, which continued (to an extent) well into their adulthood. Michael and Gob were constantly played against each other (and occasionally manipulated into physically fighting each other. Said fights were viedeotaped and sold later as ''Boyfights'') because George believed it to be a way of preparing them for conflict in life. They were also constantly undermined to keep them [[WellDoneSonGuy working for George's approval]] (Gob' desire to pursue a career in magic is constantly mocked, and his parents make it clear that he is TheUnfavorite; Michael had a ridiculously extreme work ethic instilled in him, and George would often shoot down his ideas for the family business, regardless of what he thought of them). Lindsey is often reminded of the fact that she has never really achieved anything, and Lucille has made cracks about her weight (when Lindsey doesn't really have ''any'' weight problems) since she was very young. Buster was made to have a [[MyBelovedSmother crippling overdependence]] on his mother, only for her to discard him whenever she considers him to be an inconvenience or imposition; George is also highly disdainful of his lack of independence and maturity. George would also traumatize his children by making them associate certain unwanted behaviors with severe mutilation, in order to teach them "lessons" (such as leaving a note when they run out of milk). Lindsey's abuse is probably the darkest [[spoiler:when it is learned that she is adopted, and Lucille admits they didn't want her and only adopted her to spite [[SitcomArchNemesis Stan Sitwell]], who had been trying to adopt her himself.]] They also spoiled all of their children except Michael to the point that they had virtually no work ethic, which many would consider a form of abuse.

** In the series finale, Lois actively made sure Malcom didn't get that high paying job which he EARNED by sole virtue of merit. Yeah, she did it because she wanted Malcolm to become president, someone who will know how people like them live and would be able to do something about it. However, Malcolm's family's problems largely are their own fault. She's also said at one point that she'll happily throw Malcolm's future away to save Reese (the family failure).

* Regina in ''Series/OnceUponATime'' is strongly implied to be emotionally abusive towards Henry in terms of neglect and lack of involvement, but at the same time, she loves him in her own way.

** Despite his outwardly sunny, joking exterior, [[{{NCIS}} Tony [=DiNozzo=]]] implies that his parents were physically and emotionally abusive, in addition to being alcoholics. That's not even mentioning the fact that Tony's dad went on a buisiness trip with child!Tony to Maui, but then he ''forgot him there!'' It should also be mentioned that Tony was left there for a ''week''. That's right folks, Tony's dad went home from Maui, and forgot his son was there until a week later!

* George Sr. and Lucille Bluth of ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' treated all of their children with varying degrees of abuse, which continued (to an extent) well into their adulthood. Michael and Gob were constantly played against each other (and occasionally manipulated into physically fighting each other. Said fights were viedeotaped and sold later as ''Boyfights'') because George believed it to be a way of preparing them for conflict in life. They were also constantly undermined to keep them [[WellDoneSonGuy working for George's approval]] (Gob' desire to pursue a career in magic is constantly mocked, and his parents make it clear that he is TheUnfavorite; Michael had a ridiculously extreme work ethic instilled in him, and George would often shoot down his ideas for the family business, regardless of what he thought of them). Lindsey is often reminded of the fact that she has never really achieved anything, and Lucille has made cracks about her weight (when Lindsey doesn't really have ''any'' weight problems) since she was very young. Buster was made to have a [[MyBelovedSmother crippling overdependence]] on his mother, only for her to discard him whenever she considers him to be an inconvenience or imposition; George is also highly disdainful of his lack of independence and maturity. George would also traumatise his children by making them associate certain unwanted behaviors with severe mutilation, in order to teach them "lessons" (such as leaving a note when they run out of milk). Lindsey's abuse is probably the darkest [[spoiler:when it is learned that she is adopted, and Lucille admits they didn't want her and only adopted her to spite [[SitcomArchNemesis Stan Sitwell]], who had been trying to adopt her himself.]] They also spoiled all of their children except Michael to the point that they had virtually no work ethic, which many would consider a form of abuse.

* In ''Seroes/TheWestWing'', the only Jed Bartlet´s flashback about his past portrayed his father as a emotionally, and sometimes physically, abusive parent toward the young Jed. In a battle with his subconscious, personified by the "ghost" of Mrs. Landingham, his father is described as "a prick who could never get over the fact that he wasn't as smart as his brothers". [[WordOfGod Sorkin says]] that Bartlet's tirade against God in the episode "Two Cathedrals" is directed just as much at his own father.

* American dark-comedy sitcom TV show ''{{Titus}}'' has Ken "Papa" Titus, who was emotionally abusive toward his sons. One of the TooGoodToLast shows, canceled due to ExecutiveMeddling.

* [[Series/{{Supernatural}} John Winchester]] might just own this part of the trope. Dean had an "obey or somebody gets killed" issue while Sam got completely disowned when he wanted to be normal, their tearful phone calls in both "Home" and "Faith" got ignored, Dean got used as an emotional punching bag when he was pissed off with Sam, and he gave them so little affection that when he acted like a WellDoneSonGuy, they thought he was possessed or that there was something incredibly wrong going on.

* ''{{Lost}}'': All the characters have Daddy issues, but Ben's father in particular is so nasty to him (blaming him for his mother's death in childbirth) that the viewer almost cheers when [[spoiler:Ben kills him.]]

* In ''{{Buffy the Vampire Slayer}}'', Tara Maclay's father brainwashed Tara into believing that she's a demon.

* ''{{NCIS}}'':

* ''{{Scrubs}}'':

* [[TheSopranos Tony Soprano]] is emotionally manipulated and terrorized by his difficult mother throughout his childhood and well into his adult life. One notable incident featured his mother threatening to stick a fork in his eye when he was only ten years old. Tony's father was outwardly friendly, yet also a manipulative sociopath who indoctrinated his son into violent crime and the mob. It's implied that the various degrees of emotional manipulation and terror Tony suffered under his parents is what turned him into the violent sociopath that heads the New Jersey crime families. Oddly enough, Tony manages to become a better father to his kids than his parents ever were to him (despite being an aforementioned violent sociopath), and his children turn out relatively nice and normal, even if they have a few issues of their own.

* These kinds of parents came up a few times in the original ''TwilightZone''. Specifically, the stepfather in "Living Doll" and Jenny's aunt in "The Fugitive". Although the latter really did love Jenny, as she was clearly distressed when Jenny was near death, and the former was mostly antagonistic because a doll was trying to kill him.
* On ''StarTrekVoyager'', what kind of parents did Annika Hansen have? They kept her with them when they flew into the most dangerous area of the galaxy, ignoring the danger while searching of the most dangerous species anyone in the Federation knew of. And we all know how well that turned out. Annika Hansen is the birth name of Seven of Nine. She says herself how irresponsible this was, in conjunction with denouncing Icheb's parents for using him as a biological weapon against the Borg.

* In ''TheWestWing'', the only Jed Bartlet´s flashback about his past portrayed his father as a emotionally, and sometimes physically, abusive parent toward the young Jed. In a battle with his subconscious, personified by the "ghost" of Mrs. Landingham, his father is described as "a prick who could never get over the fact that he wasn't as smart as his brothers". [[WordOfGod Sorkin says]] that Bartlet's tirade against God in the episode "Two Cathedrals" is directed just as much at his own father.
* {{Bones}}' parents abandoned her and her brother when she was fifteen. She goes into the foster care system where, at one point, she was locked in a truck for two days because she broke a plate. Sweets was physically abused as a child by his parents. He was removed from them by social services and adopted by another family when he was six. Booth and his brother, Jared, were physically abused by their father before their grandfather took them in.

-->(After a while...)

* Starbuck from ''[[Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined Battlestar Galactica]]''. We learn all of her fingers were once broken at the exact same place - due to her mother putting Kara's hand in the doorframe and closing the door shut. This being a show of GreyAndGreyMorality, Kara's mother is not portrayed as pure evil despite this. She knew from oracles that Kara had a special destiny in store, and her way of trying to toughen her up and prepare her was really warped. She was also a Colonial Marine and a really bitter one for not having made officer (remember that OCS rejection letter?).

* In ''{{Supernatural}}'''s "Nightmare", the first psychic child Sam and Dean meet is Max Miller. Max is a slightly deranged, telekinetic, abused child who was beaten by his father and uncle almost daily. He killed them both and, instead of killing his mother (before shooting Dean dead) like he was going to, he ends up tragically killing himself.

* In ''{{The Mentalist}}'', Lisbon has this as part of her backstory. Her father was an abusive [[AlcoholicParent alcoholic]] who left her to [[PromotionToParent raise her three brothers]]. [[JerkAss Jane]] is not above using this [[KickTheDog to manipulate her]], most notably in a recent Season 3 episode.

* Not quite true parentage, but in ''StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' Doctor Mora Pol was the scientist that was supposed to figure out what Odo was initially, subjecting him to a lot of probings and unpleasantness (though he was under pressure from the Cardassians at the time). Eventually he figured out that Odo was sentient, but didn't quite realize just how much Odo resented being subjected to the crap that he was. Even years later, Doctor Mora didn't realize how much of an ass he was to Odo, constantly interrupting him and telling him that he was responsible for Odo becoming the man that he was and educating him in interacting in society (which would make him the closest thing to a parent Odo would have), leaving out the parts where also he electrified him, subjected him to vacuum, and used a "protein decompiler" on him. Eventually, it took Odo trying to maul/kill him while under the Changeling equivalent of a mind altering substance for him to realize that a lot of what Dr. Mora did was not appreciated, and he became somewhat less an ass to Odo in subsequent episodes. They do eventually reconcile fully.
* [[Series/RedDwarf Arnold Rimmer]] and his three brothers were abused by their father in various ways; the most severe of them was the use of a ''rack'' to try to accelerate their growth. Rimmer's father had been refused entry to the Space Corps for being an inch below regulation height. Indeed, all of the abuse they suffered was to make them succeed where Rimmer Snr. had failed; unfortunately, Arnold continually tries to use this as a FreudianExcuse for his constant failures and annoying behaviour, whilst his brothers each become successful in their own Space Corps specialty.

* Part of [[BurnNotice Michael Westen]]'s backstory is that his father physically abused Michael and his younger brother Nate. It's never mentioned if Mr. Westen beat Madeline as well (though good luck with that, considering the woman [[MamaBear carries around a shotgun]]), but 3x07 "Shot in the Dark" has Michael, Sam, and Fiona helping a mother and two boys on the run from an abusive stepfather.

* A ''[[MASHTheSeries M* A* S* H]]'' episode has Frank Burns telling Trapper, "I'm from a very strict family. We weren't allowed to talk at meals. We couldn't even ''hum''. Anybody who hummed got a punch in the throat."
* Penny's mom on ''GoodTimes''. She hits Penny numerous times, breaks her arm, and in one of the most infamous scenes in the show, she burns Penny with a HOT IRON. This troper still will not watch the last 5 minutes of that episode. Thankfully, Penny's life changes when her mom abandons her and Willona adopts her.

* Francis implies that Lois in ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'' was physically abusive in addition to the more well known abuses in finance: For instance, when listing all of the punishments that they should make themselves immune to after she thinks they burned her red dress and is interrogating them as to which ones ruined it [[spoiler: (which turns out to be neither of them, as it was actually Hal, the father, who did the deed)]], he lists them as crushing their toys, making them spin around with their heads on baseball bats to make themselves dizzy, corner standing, laying under a dusty couch, single interrogations, loud children's songs, and threatening to smash the TV, and in another episode was also implied that her punishments towards Francis actually made a cult trying to haze Francis completely incapable of humiliating him, and after learning his secret, actually adopts Lois's punishments on new recruitees as their new method of hazing. It's also implied that Lois's mother, Ima, was even worse.

* Child abuse of all flavors is one of the specialties of ''LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'', but since rape is the other, sexual abuse against minors is one of their most frequent case types. Female circumcision is one plot that shows up more than it in all likelihood would.

* ''{{Supernatural}}'' implied heavily that Bela Talbot was abused by her father in this way when she was fourteen. In that case, [[spoiler:can you blame the poor woman for wanting to make a {{deal with the devil}}]]?

* ''{{Married with Children}}'': Bud Bundy has had his scholarship money stolen by his parents.

* In bits and pieces over the course of his run on ''Series/{{MASH}}'', Frank Burns revealed (usually while drunk) a litany of things his parents would do to him. Both of his parents were emotionally abusive, though it was his father who would do things like punching him in the throat if he so much as hummed during dinner.
* MadMen

* ''{{Smallville}}'':

* ''{{CSI}}'' has Sara as a main character, and possibly Ray,plus all the CSIs have quite a few criminals with such pasts.

* In ''CriminalMinds'', some of the [=UnSubs=] were abused by their parents.
** Then there are the [=UnSubs=] who ''are'' the abusive parents.

* Regina in ''[[Series/OnceUponATime Once Upon A Time]]'' is strongly implied to be emotionally abusive towards Henry in terms of neglect and lack of involvement, but at the same time, she loves him in her own way.

* Brenda's parents in ''SixFeetUnder'' had sex in front of her during her childhood, threw orgies while she was in the house, and sent her to a psychiatrist who scrutinized her and played mindgames with her for a book. When she grew up, her mother constantly put her down and laughed at any attempts she made to improve her life and even told her that she would've aborted her if her father hadn't talked her out of it.

** Ben's case really includes three types -- emotional abuse, neglect, and physical abuse. Roger blames him for his mother's death, hits and manhandles him (breaking his glasses at one point), and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking always forgets his birthday]]. The only time he gives a damn about his son is when [[spoiler:Sayid shoots little Ben]].
** Not to mention Locke's father, [[CompleteMonster Anthony Cooper]], who not only [[spoiler:stole Locke's kidney and pushed him out of an eight story window]], but [[spoiler:was also the original Sawyer-- you know, the man who ruined James Ford's father's life so badly that he murdered his wife and killed himself]].

*** Buffy, Dawn and their mom had a good relationship...and thus the mother must die...of course, the mother and father were unhappy in marriage and their father left.
**** There was the one episode where Buffy's father and mother were a loving, caring couple and all they wanted was for Buffy to be OK [sigh]. Of course, in that one, it was Buffy who was INSANE!!!!

** The episode "Restless" had the foster daughter claiming that she ran away from home because her birth parents in a commune were abusive. Although her parents living in a commune wasn't true and in fact part of a scam (although the episode itself implies that [[LaserGuidedAmnesia she genuinely believed her identity and the part about her parents was true due to mental brainwashing and subsequent reprogrammings]]), the part about her having an abusive parent (more specifically, an abusive uncle, as her actual birthparents were killed in a car crash and he received custody) [[FromACertainPointOfView was actually true]], as her uncle, a person working as a chef in the second-chance shelter, and also the person who masteminded the foster child scam that she was unknowingly/unwillingly involved in, often physically abused her (one example is a burn mark on her shoulder that was revealed to be from tongs used for handling taco shells), not to mention had her reprogrammed at least twice beforehand.

* ''{{Scrubs}}'': Dr. Cox's father was an abusive alcoholic while his mother simply stood by and let the abuse happen. He can't stand the sight of his own sister, because seeing her reminds him of their childhood.

** Elliot's parents were emotionally abusive and neglectful of her when she was little to the point that the maid basically raised her and her mother still ridicules her whenever she comes to town.

* Starbuck from ''[[Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined Battlestar Galactica]]''. We learn all of her fingers were once broken at the exact same place - due to her mother putting Kara's hand in the doorframe and closing the door shut. This being a show of GreyAndGreyMorality, Kara's mother is not portrayed as pure evil despite this. She knew from oracles that Kara had a special destiny in store, and her way of trying to toughen her up and prepare her was really warped.
** Of course, she was also a Colonial Marine and a really bitter one for not having made officer (remember that OCS rejection letter?).
* ''{{Scrubs}}'': It was revealed in Season Five and referred to in later seasons that Dr. Cox's (and his sister's) father was a violently abusive alcoholic who showed love by throwing bottles at his head and missing on purpose.
** And let's not forget The Janitor's parents who kept him in a "Baby Cage" (which was actually a pet carrier). One would assume this was just another one of his many BlatantLies if he weren't so distraught by the fact that no one else had ever ''heard'' of a Baby Cage and were so horribly disturbed when he gave one as a present for a baby shower.
*** Don't forget the overheard phone conversation with his mother, "no mom, playpen/baby cage is not like tomayto/tomahto."
*** The Janitor also has occasional flashbacks in the show to his mother cheerfully assigning him bizarre and rather cruel punishments when he was messy. One example that springs to mind was making him eat his dinner off the floor (with no plates), because he got crumbs everywhere. "Soup night was the worst..."

* In ''TwinPeaks'', [[spoiler:murder victim Laura Palmer, repeatedly raped over several years and [[OffingtheOffspring later killed]] by her father Leland. Of course, Leland is supposedly not entirely responsible because of possession by BOB, an evil spirit.]]

* ''DarkAngel'': Max was fostered by a family shortly after her escape from Manticore, the father of which was a drunk, and he smacked both her and her foster-sister around and molested the latter. [[spoiler:This scenario is replayed in episode 3 of season one, when she is imprisoned in the Warden's house. However, it ended differently in the fact that Max ended up splattering him by [[SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfAwesome ramming a jeep into the car he was hiding behind]].]]
** And, of course, because Max was a TykeBomb, she endured plenty of abuse from the adults at Project Manticore. It's a wonder more of her group didn't go crazy like her brother Ben.

* [[MadMen Don Draper]]'s father abused him physically (partially explaining how he got so messed up). On the other hand, messed-up as he is, he isn't half as abusive to his children as Betty, whose ice-cold and often oblivious parenting has given way to physical abuse; Don tends towards [[BumblingDad well-meaning cluelessness]], and even his all-too-frequent forgetting of important events doesn't seem to get to the level of neglect. Betty's second husband, Henry Francis, is more understanding, but he doesn't seem to be able to make Betty get that she's making things worse.
** Given how he was born, Don was probably also emotionally abused by [[InsistentTerminology his father's wife]]. [[spoiler:"I'm a whoreson, didn't you know?"]]
** Don't forget [[GenerationXerox Betty's mother]].
* ''{{Smallville}}'': [[ManipulativeBastard Lex]]'s dad, [[MagnificentBastard Lionel]] witholds affection and approval from his son in the warped belief that it will make him stronger. Their tortured relationship is one of the keystones of the series, and ends very badly when Lex [[spoiler:[[SelfMadeOrphan kills his dad]]]]. It is revealed in Season 3 that Lionel himself suffered physical absue from his drunken, [[TheAlcoholic alcholic]] parents, who sought to keep him down in the gutter with them, and prevent him from succeeding at anything; this is one of the reasons he's so oblivious to his abuse of Lex, as he thinks he has a firm grasp of what abuse looks like. And then there's [[BrokenBird Tess Mercer]], who's real parents [[ParentalAbandonment abandoned her]] and who's foster father broke her eardrums and arm through physical violence.

* Regina in ''[[Series/OnceUponATime]]'' is strongly implied to be emotionally abusive towards Henry in terms of neglect and lack of involvement, but at the same time, she loves him in her own way.

* Regina in ''OnceUponATime'' is strongly implied to be emotionally abusive towards Henry in terms of neglect and lack of involvement, but at the same time, she loves him in her own way.

** At the end of another episode, it is implied that Starsky himself was once beaten by his father during his 8th birthday.

* One episode of ''{{Starsky and Hutch}}'' deals with child abuse, where the titular characters attempt to find who hurt a young boy they see at school and initially suspect it was the father. [[spoiler:As it turns out, the mother was the abuser and she was arrested after Starsky and Hutch barged in her house to look for her son.]]

** At the end of another episode, it is implied that Starsky was once beaten by his father during his 8th birthday.

* One episode of ''{{Starsky and Hutch}}'' deals with child abuse, where the titular characters attempt to find who hurt a young boy they see at school and initially suspect it was the father. [[spoiler:As it turns out, the mother was the abuser and she was arrested after Starsky and Hutch barged in her house to look for her son.]]

** Then there are the [=UnSubs=] who ''are'' the abusive parents.

** Not to mention Locke's father, Anthony Cooper, who not only [[spoiler:stole Locke's kidney and pushed him out of an eight story window]], but [[spoiler:was also the original Sawyer-- you know, the man who ruined James Ford's father's life so badly that he murdered his wife and killed himself]].

* [[RedDwarf Arnold Rimmer]] and his three brothers were abused by their father in various ways; the most severe of them was the use of a ''rack'' to try to accelerate their growth. Rimmer's father had been refused entry to the Space Corps for being an inch below regulation height. Indeed, all of the abuse they suffered was to make them succeed where Rimmer Snr. had failed; unfortunately, Arnold continually tries to use this as a FreudianExcuse for his constant failures and annoying behaviour, whilst his brothers each become successful in their own Space Corps specialty.

** Elliot's parents were emotionally abusive of her when she was little, and her mother still ridicules her whenever she comes to town.

* The second season of the new ''Series/DoctorWho'' gave us Eddie Connolly, a 1950s patriarch who was a product of his time, treating his son like dirt.

* Kenzi's stepfather from ''{{Lost Girl}}'' used to lock her in a closet for laughing too loud, and it's implied that he was sexually abusive.

* On StarTrekVoyager, what kind of parents did Annika Hansen have? They kept her with them when they flew into the most dangerous area of the galaxy, ignoring the danger while searching of the most dangerous species anyone in the Federation knew of. And we all know how well that turned out. Annika Hansen is the birth name of Seven of Nine. She says herself how irresponsible this was, in conjunction with denouncing Icheb's parents for using him as a biological weapon against the Borg.

* Practically every single parent in GossipGirl, but especially Bart Bass.

* Celia in {{Weeds}}, who constantly berates and belittles her HollywoodPudgy daughter, Isabelle.

* It was implied that Horatio and Ray had a level of angst with their father in {{CSI Miami}}

* Character Aaron Echolls, father of Logan Echolls in {{Veronica Mars}}, is notably one of the worst dads in television - among other things he has been shown to physically abuse his son, hitting him and striking him with a belt. Logan's mother could be said to be neglectful, in the least, due to her drinking with the intention of ignoring her son being beaten in the next room.

* In LawAndOrderCriminalIntent, in "Crazy", the team found out that the victim had molested his young daughter. [[spoiler: He didn't. It was because his ex-wife was becoming desperate and accused her husband as such, despite knowing what really happened.]]
* In the series finale of ''{{Malcolm in the Middle}}'', Lois actively made sure Malcom didn't get that high paying job which he EARNED by sole virtue of merit. Yeah, she did it because she wanted Malcolm to become president, someone who will know how people like them live and would be able to do something about it. However, Malcolm's family's problems largely are their own fault. She's also said at one point that she'll happily throw Malcolm's future away to save Reese (the family failure).
** Hal kept a $10,000 grant Malcolm earned a secret from him. He also charged an expensive Christmas vacation on Malcolm's credit card; Malcolm wasn't completely innocent here, seeing as though he was responsible with it he got the card illegally, but still....
** Lois takes 3/4 of Malcolm's paycheck from Lucky Aid with no reason given.
** Malcolm was offered a full scholarship to a prestigious boarding school and knowing they wouldn't let him go under normal conditions, he makes a very rational argument that with him away, the family could actually afford a coming baby without being drowned in debt. Rather than let him go, Hal chastises him by telling him "you don't get to leave", with only the rationale that something will come up to keep the family afloat.
* An episode of ''{{Law and Order Special Victims Unit}}'' had a set of white parents set their black adopted child to be killed by white supremacists to collect the insurance money.
** Another episode had a family poison their granddaughter in a way to make it look like she had cancer so they could collect insurance money and sympathy.

* Horatio's father on '{{CSI Miami}}''

* [[{{NCIS}} Ziva's father]]. Dear Lord, Ziva's father. Descriptions of her childhood mention that the "fun" activities she enjoyed involved being taken blindfolded into the forest and left to find her own way out. After that, he raised her to be a killer, [[spoiler:instructed her to kill her own brother, abused his position to spy on her, sent a drunken assassin to pretend to be in love with her, left her to be tortured to death in Somalia without a pang of guilt, and finally tried to frame her for murder.]] She cut off all contact with him recently. What a shocker.

* The NCIS episode "Restless" had the foster daughter claiming that she ran away from home because her birth parents in a commune were abusive. Although her parents living in a commune wasn't true and in fact part of a scam (although the episode itself implies that [[LaserGuidedAmnesia she genuinely believed her identity and the part about her parents was true due to mental brainwashing and subsequent reprogrammings]]), the part about her having an abusive parent (more specifically, an abusive uncle, as her actual birthparents were killed in a car crash and he received custody) [[FromACertainPointOfView was actually true]], as her uncle, a person working as a chef in the second-chance shelter, and also the person who masteminded the foster child scam that she was unknowingly/unwillingly involved in, often physically abused her (one example is a burn mark on her shoulder that was revealed to be from tongs used for handling taco shells), not to mention had her reprogrammed at least twice beforehand.

* Despite his outwardly sunny, joking exterior, [[{{NCIS}} Tony [=DiNozzo=]]] implies that his parents were physically and emotionally abusive, in addition to being alcoholics.
** That's not even mentioning the fact that Tony's dad went on a buisiness trip with child!Tony to Maui, but then he ''forgot him there!''
*** It should also be mentioned that Tony was left there for a ''week''. That's right folks, Tony's dad went home from Maui, and forgot his son was there until a week later!

* Michael on ''{{Roswell}}'' has this problem with his foster dad, until he emancipates himself.

* ''{{House}}'': Dr. House's father started out as just a harsh bastard who didn't see eye to eye with his son, but then, as is always, more than a few nasty things popped up about him. He doesn't believe in unconditional love, he apparently never told his son that he was right or did the right thing, he made him sleep outside and take ice baths when he was a child (trust the writers to go for things that are considered torture in some places), refused to speak to him for two months when a twelve-years-old Greg told him (truthfully) that Papa House wasn't his real father, and let him go without food if he was ever a tiny bit late for a meal. But, even after all this and in the last fifteen minutes of "Birthmarks", House (in his own guarded way) admits that his father's death has affected him more than he would care to admit.

** Angel's (Liam's) father was stern and demanding, but never portrayed as abusive.
** Wes's dad was inferred to be abusive, especially with the 'locked him in the closet' thing.

* On ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' Amy's mother told her she was useless and wasting her youth, ''[[GrandTheftMe stole her body]]'', kept her locked in the house as a prisoner (while still in the wrong body) and almost [[AndIMustScream trapped her in a small cheerleading trophy, forever]].

* It's heavily suggested that Faith of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' was a victim of parental abuse. Her mother was a neglectful alcoholic who was likely physically and mentally abusive. As well, Faith's rather twisted relationship with sex hints at possible sexual abuse. The BigBad who took her in as a [[TheDragon Dragon]] and surrogate daughter was a better parent! Even after his death, Faith still remembers him fondly while still acknowledging that he was an evil man.
** Over on ''Series/{{Angel}}'' Wesley's father is obviously incredibly emotionally abusive, and used to lock him under the stairs. Any time Wesley speaks to him it's nearly possible to ''see'' his self-esteem draining away. When he finally showed up in person this continued, until Wesley actually managed to impress him. [[spoiler: Except that no, this was all a ploy to gain access to a mystical artifact to use against Wesley's friend and employer. Also the father turned out to be an illusion-clad cyborg impostor, but Wesley was perfectly willing to believe that his father would actually do this. After shooting the cyborg while still believing it to be his father, he called home to make sure the real one was alright, and was promptly told off for calling at that hour.]]
** Connor's relationship with Holtz started when he kidnapped him as a baby and fled to "the darkest of dark worlds". Apart from that he raised him to hate his biological father and tied him to a tree and abandoned him for weeks at a time to teach him how to track. From the age of about six. Given that this is a man who decided to teach someone else "loyalty" by ''nailing their hand to a table'' there's presumably a lot more.
** One case dealt with a [[MindOverMatter telekinetic]] teen named Bethany who had been sexually abused by her father. Wolfram and Hart's attempt to turn her into a killer amounted to putting her father in the same room, on the basis that she'd be unable not to kill him with her new powers.

* {{CSI}} has Sara as a main character, and possibly Ray,plus all the CSIs have quite a few criminals with such pasts.
* Adam's father on {{CSI NY}}
* Horatio's father on {{CSI Miami}}
* Michael on {{Roswell}} has this problem with his foster dad, until he emancipates himself.