History Main / ConvenientlyAnOrphan

* ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' reveals near the end of the game that [[AntiVillain N]] was orphaned as a child and was [[RaisedByWolves raised by feral Pokémon]] until [[ParentalSubstitute Ghetsis]] came along.
* ''VideoGame/LaPucelle'': Prier, Aloutte and Coulette are orphans.

** The fact that this is ''not'' the case for many of children detained for the purpose of Alma's research eventually becomes a plot point. When she first tells her husband about the children, she claims most of them are orphans she's providing for. Her husbands reply is to bring up [[spoiler:their adoptive son who's being passed off as Alma's nephew, whose biological parents were told he died in the hospital and were killed soon after they found him again by chance]].

* ''Series/TheBarrier'': A character who catches [[ThePlague noravirus]] and then goes missing conveniently doesn't have any living relatives, which limits both the places where she can take refuge and the number of people who need to be put in the loop about the event.

Oddly enough, family outside of parents is never mentioned. Apparently [[WorldOfNoGrandparents no one ever has grandparents]] or cousins, although [[{{Nephewism}} having an uncle (and sometimes aunt) as surrogate parents]] is common. Siblings ([[OnlyChildSyndrome if they exist at all]]) seem to only show up for plot-based reasons -- and not PromotionToParent, which would give them responsibilities. One wonders how the world manages to get populated when every couple only has one child. Surrogate parents show up more regularly in the form of RaisedByNatives, they [[DeathByOriginStory tend to]] [[FriendlyTarget die a lot]] too.

** ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'': Snow White's mother died when she was a baby, and at some point her father remarried the WickedStepmother. The film doesn't make it explicitly clear that her father has since died, but the Queen is always seen ruling by herself (and it's hard to imagine that the King would allow his only child and heir to be turned into a scullery maid), so it's heavily implied.

* It's mentioned at one point in ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin'' both of Fu's parents were killed in a skirmish with Iwa. Her lack of an immediate family was part of the reason why she was chosen to be Chomei's jinchuriki.

* In the Literature/ChroniclesOfPrydain, it's a plot point that Taran does not have parents, nor a name or title of his own, and his master Dallben will tell him nothing of his history. He is eventually known as "Taran Wanderer," when he spends the fourth book on a quest to find his heritage. It's not until the very end of the last book, however, that the truth is revealed. [[spoiler:Or rather, [[TheUnreveal unrevealed]]. Taran really is an orphan, but even Dallben doesn't know who his parents were - he found a baby alone near a battlefield where there were no survivors. Having no family meant that he fit the parameters of the Book of Three's prophecy that Prydain would be ruled by a great king who had no origins, so Dallben took the baby home and raised him in the hopes that this was the great king. It was.]]

** Chapter 15 of the manga reveals that this is also Riza's backstory. Her mother died when she was a little girl, leaving her to be raised by her MadScientist father, who died of a lingering illness not long after his alchemy apprentice - Roy - left to join the military. With both parents gone, there was nothing to stop her from following Roy, which she's done ever since.

* In ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'', Zelgadis and Gourry both have no parents (Zelgadis' great-grandfather [[AffablyEvil Rezo]] killed his, and Gourry's were killed during a [[BigScrewedUpFamily family feud]]), and Sylphiel, Filia, Pokota, Amelia, and [[spoiler:Naga]] only have one parent each (a father, actually); in Sylphiel's case, she falls under this trope when her father is KilledOffForReal in the third {{Light Novel|s}}/late first season of the anime in a [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill town-wide explosion]]. Ironically, the main protagonist's (Lina) parents are both alive and well. And the status of the parents of Lina's later allies in the novels (Luke and Milina) is unknown.

** [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Kira Yamato]] seemingly has both parents alive and well, only to find out later on that [[spoiler:the woman who raised him as his mother is actually his aunt; both of his parents died when he was a baby, with at least his father being murdered by Blue Cosmos]]. By virtue of [[spoiler:being Kira's twin sister]], this applies to [[spoiler:Cagalli]] as well.

** Hayate's parents died an unspecified amount of time before the series began, which allowed her to raise a family of [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots sentient alien programs]] on her own [[WiseBeyondTheirYears since the age of nine]] and, as mentioned in the [[ComicBookAdaptation supplementary comics]], move to Mid-childa before she even graduated from high school. Like most orphans, she does have an "[[HonoraryUncle uncle]]" who was a friend of her father's taking care of her, although it's only financially [[spoiler:and it turns out that he never knew her father, and believes that because she is an orphan, few will have to mourn her once she's sealed away with the Book of Darkness]].

* At one point in ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', during the [[ActionFilmQuietDramaScene Quiet Drama Scene]], while discussing Seras' progress Alucard asks Walter how they covered up her death and how her family is taking it. When Walter replies that she has none and is an orphan, Alucard sardonically replies "Of ''course'' she is". However, since Seras was already an adult by the time she died, the circumstances and consequences of her parents' deaths turns out to be a major part of her character and the series veering into CrapsackWorld territory and running on BlackAndGrayMorality, it's a justified trope.

** For that matter, Raditz himself is an orphan, but unlike Son Goku, their father Bardock was alive by the time their planet was obliterated, yet he took little interest in the well being of his sons. Raditz himself failed to earn respect from any of his fellow Saiyan survivors. However a recent {{Retcon}} has their parents send Goku to Earth in order to ensure his survival.

* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'': Done plausibly as the Social Welfare Agency only selects girls for its secret killer cyborg program who don't have extended families who'll be concerned about them. As a victim of child sex trafficking, Triela's background is unknown even to the Agency. Henrietta's entire family was murdered and Angelica's parents are in prison. Petra's family are too poor to travel from Russian to see their daughter -- which is just as well as her appearance has been altered completely. It's eventually revealed that they were told she had died. As Rico is one of the few cyborgs who retains memories of her previous life, the occasional visit from her estranged parents is no doubt enough to reassure them that their IllGirl is receiving the best of care; the Agency would have no trouble getting Rico to play along.
* In ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', all of the main cast have ParentalAbandonment issues, but Griffith is the only one who has absolutely no mention of any sort of guardianship in his early life, making it quite convenient for him to up and decide that he was going to become a king someday and to get there, he needed to start a ragtag bunch of misfit mercenaries.

* Franchise/{{Batman}}, continued with the first two Robins. For years [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim Drake]] was unusual among the Batclan in having a living parent, but eventually the temptations of orphanhood overcame the writers.
* Franchise/SpiderMan. He has his beloved aunt, and his uncle [[DeathByOriginStory lived long enough]] to [[AesopCollateralDamage say the thing that has shaped most of Spidey's career]]. Also more than a few members of the supporting cast have lost one (ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson, Harry Osborn, John Jameson) or both (Betty Brant, Gwen Stacy) parents.
* The debut issue of ''[[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk The Incredible Hulk]]'' makes it clear up front that Rick Jones (Bruce Banner's newly-acquired teenaged sidekick) is an orphan. Much later, we learn that Bruce is also an orphan. Bruce's mother was killed by his father when he was a child, and Bruce (accidentally?) killed his father shortly before the explosion that made him the Hulk.
* Several mutant characters from Marvel's [[Franchise/XMen X-Books]] are orphans; sometimes by abandonment, sometimes by death, by murder, or by parents becoming a demon bear... [[DoubleTake Wait]], ''what'' was that last one?! [[spoiler: Danielle Moonstar, known as the illusion-casting Mirage before ComicBook/HouseOfM, lost her parents to the 'demon bear' and knew it would come for her. After the big confrontation with it, it turns out that they ''were'' the bear and she was able to free them. No, they haven't been properly killed off since... yet. This makes her one of exceedingly few X-characters to have both parents, despite having a standard-issue dead parent origin when we met her!]]

* The Plutonian of ''Comicbook/{{Irredeemable}}'' is yet another convenient superhero orphan. The series actually deconstructs this Trope, examining the effect it can really have on a little boy with super-powers. The Plutonian was also abandoned by his subsequent foster parents, after he accidentally crippled their biological son. They even devoted themselves to ''never speak again'' just so he wouldn't pick up their voices by superhearing.
* ComicBook/TomStrong. Orphaned at around age 8, after being raised in a gravity chamber by his parents.
* Franchise/{{Tintin}}. Most members of his recurring supporting cast come without familial attachments.
** One reason Hergé abandoned JoZetteEtJocko - suggested by his editor who wanted a series about a regular family - was that it became difficult to come up with stories where the two main character always had to be separated from their parents in time for their adventures.

* In ''ComicBook/BratPack'', the {{kid sidekick}}s all lose their parents just before becoming superheroes. This is because [[spoiler:the adult superheroes killed their parents to make them more dependent on them]].

* ''Fanfic/SOE2LoneHeirOfKrypton'': Asuka was conceived by donor sperm. Her husband's mother hated her for it, and when Kyoko died, he remarried and abandoned Asuka, who devoted her life to pilot mechas to try to overcome her abandonment issues. She never knew who her biological father was but she always assumed he was someone extraordinary. Ten years later when she starts to manifest strange, formidable powers she realizes she was very, very right, and her father was ''[[Franchise/{{Superman}} an alien of planet Krypton]]''. So she became ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'' to try to become the hero her deceased biological father was destined to be.

* Harry Dresden, from ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. His mother died shortly after he was born, and his father died when he was around 7. Then, later on, while living with Justin [=DuMorne=], he's orphaned again when [[spoiler: he kills Justin]]. Later on, he discovers that he does still have surviving family, in the form of [[spoiler: his half-brother Thomas Raith]] and [[spoiler: his grandfather Ebenezer [=McCoy=]]].

** Averted to a certain degree for some of the Origins in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins''. Regardless of background, the player character does have either relatives or unrelated persons who fill that role in their lives, and not all of them die in the prologue. For practical purposes, though, it still amounts to the same thing. Played straight with some of your companions (Leliana, Zevran, etc.), and in Alistair's case, it's even a plot point.
*** Also parodied in the elven Alienage, where the number of "orphans" is directly proportional to the amount of money you're giving the beggars.

*** The others tend to mention their parents in passing. Anders had a good mother who gave him a pillow, before he was taken to the Circle; supplemental material confirms that his parents loved him dearly right up until his magic manifested, after which his father at least wanted nothing to do with him. [[AbusiveParents Isabela had a terrible mother, who sold her to a slaver in a very bad marriage]], and never mentions her father at all. Fenris remembers having a mother (eventually), but her fate is unclear. Merrill's parents are never mentioned, but she was 'traded' by her birth clan to the one in which she grew up when her magic manifested. Varric spent his childhood caring for his alcoholic mother, whom he really only mentions once when he's talking about [[CainAndAbel Bartrand]]; his father died when he was a baby. [[spoiler:When Hawke is mourning his/her mother, Aveline tells him/her about her own father's death to comfort him/her, and notes that her mother died when Aveline was too young to remember her.]] Sebastian (who is DLC exclusive) loses his parents shortly before he's met in the game, as most of his character arc centers around finding those responsible for their murders.
** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' continues the trend with a few of the companions. It's particularly a plot point for the elf Sera, who was orphaned young (she doesn't seem to remember her birth parents) and was adopted by a human noblewoman, who has also since died. Cassandra's backstory is an especially tragic example, as she lost both of her parents when she was a child; they were executed for attempting to overthrow the king, and then when she was twelve her adored older brother was also murdered. It's not mentioned explicitly in the game, but this is also Cullen's backstory, as his home village of Honnleath was besieged by darkspawn during the Fifth Blight and both of his parents were killed - meaning that he left home for Templar training at the age of thirteen and never saw them again.

* According to Mai Shiranui’s conversation with Takuma Sakazaki in''VideoGame/TheKingofFightersXIII'', Hanzou Shiranui’s death leaves the legacy of the Shiranui school of ninjitsu in the hands of Mai and Andy. This implies Mai is the only member of the Shiranui family left.

** And Garet is a complete aversion: he's the only cast member who has a large, living and functional family, but they all encourage him to save the world and fatherless Isaac gets more angst; then in the ''epilogue cutscene'' of the second game [[spoiler:Garet comes home, finds the town destroyed, and thinks for a moment that they all died]].
** The first four heroes of ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' all have at least one parent still alive and caring for them-- the previous games' heroes ([[GenerationXerox whom the kids strongly resemble]]). However, the second set of heroes include two straight examples (Sveta, whose parents died in Morgal's revolutionary war, and [[spoiler: Eoleo when [[SacrificialLion his father dies onscreen]]]]), a subversion (Amiti, who doesn't have parents but lives with his affectionate and overprotective uncle, who tries to forbid him from heroics), and an aversion (Himi's parents aren't happy to see her going into danger, but they have to let her because she's the only one who knows what needs to be done any more).

* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'': Samus Aran was orphaned and raised by Chozo, who have since [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence withdrawn from the universe]], leaving Samus with no familial ties.
* The player character in ''The Mystery of Grimstone Manor'', a HalloweenEpisode spinoff of ''VideoGame/TheCabinetsOfDoctorArcana'', is indicated to be this because the game states that they are their Uncle Victor's last living relative. This means that although their parents kept them away from Uncle Victor all throughout their youth, they can no longer stop them from going to the ancestral family mansion and following in their BlackSheep uncle's footsteps.

** ''VideoGame/Persona5'' goes back to this in spades, though it is addressed more than in the previous titles. [[TheHero Joker]]'s parents abandoned him to a distant friend in Tokyo when he was arrested for assault [[spoiler:though he supposedly returns to them in the ending]], [[TheLancer Ryuji]]'s [[AbusiveParents abusive dad]] abandoned him and his mom, [[ButNotTooForeign Ann]]'s parents travel a lot, [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Yusuke]]'s mom died and his father is never mentioned, [[StudentCouncilPresident Makoto]]'s father died and is taken care of by [[AmoralAttorney her sister]], [[{{Hikikomori}} Futaba]]'s mother is dead and her father's whereabouts are unknown as she was [[HeroicBastard born out of wedlock]], [[spoiler:[[{{Ojou}} Haru]]'s father is killed during the plot and her mother is never mentioned]], and [[BrokenAce Goro]]'s mother killed herself [[spoiler:and his [[ArchnemesisDad father]] is only vaguely aware he's his son.]] However, Yusuke, Futaba, [[spoiler:Haru]], and Goro's statuses are all plot relevant.

* Patch from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'' turns out to be an adopted orphan in the episode "Princess Problems" so that she could be suspected of being a [[LostOrphanedRoyalty long lost royal daughter]].

Often used as character backgrounds in tabletop adventures: Such a character's background often consists of "My parents were killed by (insert AlwaysChaoticEvil race here), so I'm out for revenge". Aside from conveniently leaving no 'annoying' ties to the past to keep the character away from the CallToAdventure, it can also result in a YouKilledMyFather moment should the villain race (or the BigBad if he's responsible) appear.

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* In ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'', Zelgadis and Gourry both have no parents (Zelgadis' great-grandfather [[AffablyEvil Rezo]] killed his, and Gourry's were killed during a [[BigScrewedUpFamily family feud]]), and Sylphiel, Filia, Pokota, Amelia, and [[spoiler:Naga]] only have one parent each (a father, actually); in Sylphiel's case, she falls under this trope when her father is KilledOffForReal in the third {{Light Novel|s}}/late first season of the anime in a [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill townwide explosion]]. Ironically, the main protagonist's (Lina) parents are both alive and well. And the status of the parents of Lina's later allies in the novels (Luke and Milina) is unknown.

** Most of the Straw Hat crew are victims of this trope, often more than once. Both Nami and Franky, for example, were orphaned at a young age, but taken in and raised by a kind foster parent...only for them to die as well. But they've still got it better than Robin, who didn't just lose her parents, but HER ENTIRE HOME ISLAND, of which she is the only survivor. Most of the others seem to have absentee parents of one form or another; the only member whose mother and father are both seen is Usopp, a victim of both this trope AND ParentalAbandonment (his dad left to become a pirate, and his mom died shortly after).

* In ''Franchise/SailorMoon'', both Mamoru's and Makoto's parents are dead, long before the start of the series. In the [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]] it's used to handwave why they live alone, but in the [[Anime/SailorMoon anime]] any mention is quickly swept under the rug.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWomanWarbringer'': Jason would never have been able to make his plans, travel and experiment with his abilities if his parents hadn't died, which, once the full extent of Jason's plans come to light, makes their "accident" [[SelfMadeOrphan rather suspect]].

* ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'': Shinji and Asuka are both orphans. And Rei. And Hikari [[spoiler:who also becomes a pilot.]] And all of their classmates. Eventually Shinji and Asuka start to suspect it is indeed very ''convenient'' all pilots are orphans whose surviving parental figure works for NERV. When [[spoiler:they compare notes on their mothers' deaths]] and after [[spoiler:Hikari tells them she felt her mother inside her robot]] they realize what has happened to their mothers and NERV is behind their deaths.

* ''Fanfic/DoingItRightThisTime'': In the original timeline Shinji and Asuka spent a long time mourning their deceased mothers as they fought space aliens. Ironically they -and Rei- now know that their mothers were always with them.

* ''Fanfic/LastChildOfKrypton'': Shinji's genetic donor [[spoiler:''[[Franchise/{{Superman}} Jor-El or Kal-El]]'' depending on what version of the story you are reading]] sent a sample of Kryptonian DNA to Earth before dying. Yui Ikari used it to modificate her unborn baby and several years later she died. Gendo abandoned Shinji after her death, entrusting him to the care of an uncle of his. When Shinji discovered his powers and started to use them to help other people, nobody found out, and he kept his secret for years.

** ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'': Snow White's mother died when she was a baby, and at some point her father remarried the Evil Stepmother. The film doesn't make it explicitly clear that her father has since died, but the Queen is always seen ruling by herself (and it's hard to imagine that the King would allow his only child and heir to be turned into a scullery maid), so it's heavily implied.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'': The [[Literature/{{Aladdin}} original folklore version]] had a dead father but a living mother. The Disney Aladdin has neither parent, which makes it even easier for the audience to empathize with him for his harsh life as a "street rat". Subverted in [[WesternAnimation/AladdinAndTheKingOfThieves the third movie]] when it's revealed his father only {{disappeared|Dad}}. According to WordOfGod, Aladdin was originally supposed to have a mom, who functioned as his conscience of sorts; however, it was decided that the [[AnAesop Aesop]] would be more meaningful [[BeYourself if he learned it on his own]].
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'': [[spoiler:Flynn Rider]] has this trope as part of his backstory. His motivation behind [[spoiler: being a thief]] is because of growing up poor. Subverted in [[WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries the series]], when he finds out [[spoiler:his father's still alive, but had to give him up when he was a baby]].

* A great many of the main characters in ''Franchise/StarWars'' are orphans. Anakin Skywalker is technically not an orphan because his mother survives until ''Film/AttackOfTheClones,'' but he is taken from her at age nine to become a Jedi and doesn't see her again until she dies in his arms ten years later. Han Solo is an orphan, and Luke and Leia ''think'' they're orphans until the [[LukeIAmYourFather truth]] is revealed (and both get orphaned a second time when the Empire kills their respective guardians). Jedi younglings are taken from their parents to become Jedi as very young children, and First Order Stormtroopers such as Finn are similarly taken from their families, though more forcefully. Finally, Rey is left by her parents on Jakku to fend for herself, believing they will one day return for her [[spoiler: before learning the AwfulTruth, and later, an even ''[[FromBadToWorse worse]]'' truth, that her parents were filthy junk traders who sold her for drinking money, and that she is actually the granddaughter of ''Emperor Palpatine'']].
* {{Discussed|Trope}} in ''Film/MoonriseKingdom''. Suzy, who's an avid reader of children's fantasy stories, says that all her favourite protagonists are orphans, and sometimes she wishes she were one too. Sam, who is himself an orphan and has lived a miserable live because of it, simply responds: "I love you, but you have no idea what you're talking about."

** Kira was also raised as an orphan when her parents were killed.

* In the ''Literature/CHERUBSeries'' books, every character as part of CHERUB is an orphan. Means they can be trained up as spies without parents wondering whats going on. Although in the later books the rules are changed slightly so the children of staff members can become [=CHERUBs=] as well, partly because it's hard to find conveniently orphaned/abandoned children that fit CHERUB's other recruitment criteria.

* This trope is zigzagged in ''Literature/HarryPotter''. Harry of course is an orphan, raised by his aunt and uncle, but his parents' lives and deaths, particularly his mother's self-sacrifice, do serve the plot in important ways throughout the series. However Creator/JKRowling has admitted in interviews that she originally killed off Lily and James mainly so their presence wouldn't hamper Harry's adventures, and that the original drafts of the first book killed them off rather anticlimactically; it wasn't until [[CreatorBreakdown she lost her own mother that Harry's parents' sacrifices became an important plot point]].

* Subverted in ''Literature/LandOfOz''; Dorothy is stated to be an orphan, but lives with her maternal aunt and uncle in Kansas. She loves them enough that despite all the beauty of Oz and the friends she made, she is determined to go back anyway. Eventually, her aunt and uncle move to Oz with her and they permanently stay there together.
* In ''Literature/TheLegendsongSaga'', Glynn and Ember's parents died in a car crash a about a year ago. Despite being only 17, they live alone. They also have almost no other friends or connections, making it less complicated when they are stuck in Keltor (Ember was the only reason Glynn wanted to return to Earth; Ember doen't care about anything except her death and her music.)

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': Frodo Baggins was orphaned at twelve, but was raised in his family's home by said extended family; when he turned 21 (adult-ish but not yet legally adult for hobbits) he was adopted by and went to live with his 'uncle' Bilbo (who conveniently leaves once Frodo is legally an adult). Bilbo himself is technically an orphan (his parents died of natural causes after he was fully grown), manages to avoid marriage, and thus has no family ties holding him back when he goes on his adventure.

* Mr. Benedict from ''Literature/TheMysteriousBenedictSociety'' requires children who are all alone in order to [[KidHero help his cause]]. Kate considers herself an orphan, though technically [[ParentalAbandonment her father is a deadbeat]] ([[spoiler:or so she thought, since it's later revealed his absence is explained by amnesia]]) and both Constance and Reynie are orphans. Sticky is a [[TheRunaway runaway]] though:

* ''Series/{{Bones}}'': Dr. Brennan's emotional interface may be glitchy, but any one she deals with who comments on her inability to sympathize gets slammed when they find out she lost her parents at a young age, conveniently explaining why she might come off disturbed but assuring everyone that she understands.

* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', Dean and Sam become hunters after their [[YouKilledMyFather mother dies]], and the series starts with their [[DisappearedDad father]] missing forcing them to [[TakingUpTheMantle take up the mantle]]. [[spoiler: They become ''bona fide'' orphans at the start of season two.]]

** Averted to a certain degree for some of the Origins in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins''. Regardless of background, the player character does have either relatives or unrelated persons who fill that role in their lives, and not all of them die in the prologue. For practical purposes, though, it still amounts to the same thing. Played straight with some of your companions (Leliana, Zevran, etc.), and in Alistair's case, it's even a plot point. Also parodied in the elven Alienage, where the number of "orphans" is directly proportional to the amount of money you're giving the beggars.
--->'''Orphan Ollie''': My mother is ''especially'' dead!
** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', Hawke's father Malcolm passed away a few years before the events of the game, but his/her mother Leandra is alive and well and accompanies the family to Kirkwall, living with Hawke. [[spoiler:And ''then'' [[TearJerker this trope kicks]] [[WhamEpisode in full-force]].]] The others tend to mention their parents in passing. Anders had a good mother who gave him a pillow, before he was taken to the Circle; this is passed on to Varric as a keepsake during Act 3. [[AbusiveParents Isabela had a terrible mother, who sold her to a slaver in a very bad marriage]]. Fenris remembers having a mother (eventually), but her fate is unclear. Merrill's parents are never mentioned, but she was 'traded' by her birth clan to the one in which she grew up when her magic manifested. Varric spent his childhood caring for his alcoholic mother, whom he really only mentions once when he's talking about [[CainAndAbel Bartrand]]; his father died when he was a baby. [[spoiler:When Hawke is mourning his/her mother, Aveline tells him/her about her own father's death to comfort him/her.]]
** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' continues the trend with a few of the companions. It's particularly a plot point for the elf Sera, who was orphaned young (she doesn't seem to remember her birth parents) and was adopted by a human noblewoman, who has also since died. Cassandra's backstory is an especially tragic example, as she lost both of her parents when she was a child; they were executed for attempting to overthrow the king, and then when she was twelve her adored older brother was also murdered.

* Good thing that Taiga and Mia don't have any parents in ''VideoGame/DuelSaviorDestiny'' or else their family might be a little concerned when they get whisked off to another world and put into the special forces. In fact, nobody else seems to have any family either apart from Lily's adoptive mother.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has Terra, Edgar, and Sabin explicitly stated as orphans as part of the plot. Gau is essentially an orphan. Relm may or may not be an orphan [[spoiler: depending on whether you save Shadow]], but it's at least DisappearedDad. The rest of the cast never mention their families, including Cyan who does have a dead wife and child that feature in the plot but never mentions his parentage.

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', Tidus, Yuna, Seymour, Wakka, and Lulu are all missing both parents [[spoiler:well... a case could be made for Tidus, but that's different]]. Kimahri's family disowned him, Rikku's mother is dead, and we never hear anything about Auron's parents. Only two of the main characters have siblings, and one of them is dead. Probably justified to demonstrate that Sin has touched everyone's lives.

* Implied to be the case with the eponymous characters of the ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'' series. They get flung forward in time in the sequel, and don't have any problem staying around. The orphan thing is explored/confirmed for [[TheHero Jak]], but is still only an implication for Daxter, though [[{{Fanon}} no one is saying otherwise]].

** Link is often an orphan. This leaves him with no family to be tied to on his journey.
** Zelda might also count in some of the games. She definitely counts in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', where her figurine clearly spells it out and an NPC early in the game mentions that her mother died.

* Cornet, the main character of ''VideoGame/RhapsodyAMusicalAdventure''. She lives with her grandfather. [[spoiler: If you've played ''Disgaea'', you'll probably see the twist coming.]]

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* According to Mai Shiranui’s conversation with Takuma Sakazaki in''VideoGame/TheKingofFightersXIII'', Hanzou Shiranui’s death leaves the fate of the Shiranui style’s legacy in the hands of Mai, as well as Andy Bogard. This implies Mai is the only member of the Shiranui family left.

* According to Mai Shiranui’s conversation with Takuma Sakazaki in''VideoGame/TheKingofFightersXIII'', Hanzou Shiranui’s death leaves the fate of the Shiranui legacy in the hands of Mai, as well as Andy Bogard. This implies Mai is the only member of the Shiranui family left.

* According to Mai Shiranui’s conversation with Takuma Sakazaki in''VideoGame/TheKingofFightersXIII'', Hanzou Shiranui death leaves the fate of the Shiranui legacy in the hands of Mai, as well as Andy Bogard. This implies Mai is the only member of the Shiranui family left.

[[/folder]]

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'': Orphans the sister protagonists within the first ten minutes, thus allowing them a strained relationship with only each other. This serves as a major plot point, exacerbating the loneliness of the leads.

* A great many of the main characters in ''Franchise/StarWars'' are orphans. Anakin Skywalker is technically not an orphan because his mother survives until ''Film/AttackOfTheClones,'' but he is taken from her at age nine to become a Jedi and doesn't see her again until she dies in his arms ten years later. Han Solo is an orphan, and Luke and Leia ''think'' they're orphans until the [[LukeIAmYourFather truth]] is revealed (and both get orphaned a second time when the Empire kills their respective guardians). Jedi younglings are taken from their parents to become Jedi as very young children, and First Order Stormtroopers such as Finn are similarly taken from their families, though more forcefully. Finally, Rey is left by her parents on Jakku to fend for herself, believing they will one day return for her [[spoiler: before learning the AwfulTruth, and later, an even ''[[FromBadToWorse worse]]'' truth, that her parents were filthy junk traders who sold her for drinking money, and that she is actually the granddaughter of ''Emperor Palpatine''.]]

* In the ''Literature/CHERUBSeries'' books, every character as part of CHERUB is an orphan. Means they can be trained up as spies without parents wondering whats going on.
** Although in the later books the rules are changed slightly so the children of staff members can become [=CHERUBs=] as well, partly because it's hard to find conveniently orphaned/abandoned children that fit CHERUB's other recruitment criteria.

* Harry Dresden, from ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. His mother died shortly after he was born, and his father died when he was around 7. Then, later on, while living with Justin [=DuMorne=], he's orphaned again when [[spoiler: he kills Justin]].
** Later on, he discovers that he does still have surviving family, in the form of [[spoiler: his half-brother Thomas Raith]] and [[spoiler: his grandfather Ebenezer [=McCoy=]]].

* With his parents having died a few years ago, Daniel from ''Literature/TheLeonardRegime'' is able to go off and fight. It later turns out [[spoiler:his parents died after founding the same rebellion he is fighting for.]]

** Both Vaan and Penelo from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII''

* Dart from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'', in addition to the DoomedHometown at the beginning of the game.
* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'': Samus Aran was orphaned and raised by Chozo, who have since [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence withdrawn from the universe]], leaving Samus with no familial ties.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' reveals near the end of the game that [[AntiVillain N]] was orphaned as a child and was [[RaisedByWolves raised by feral Pokémon]] until [[ParentalSubstitute Ghetsis]] came along.
* ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'': Laharl and Etna are orphans. [[spoiler:At least, Laharl ''thinks'' he's one.]]
* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' has a cast that either consists of this or of characters with one parent. Barry Burton himself subverts this; ''he's'' a married parent with two daughters, and canonically, he survives the events of [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil1 the first game]]. How Chris, Claire, and Leon lost their folks is [[AllThereInTheManual put out there in guidebooks and novels]], and it's implied that Jill is also this (something is amiss with her father). Sherry loses ''both'' of her parents during the events of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' (her mother is shot and her father [[OneWingedAngel transforms into a tooth-covered, virus-riddled abomination]] and is eventually put down), and Steve Burnside loses his father to the T-Virus during ''Code Veronica.'' There's also [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil6 Jake Muller]] - his mother died of an illness, [[spoiler:and his father turns out to be the recently-killed-during-''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5''-Albert Wesker]].
* As is Cornet, the main character of ''VideoGame/RhapsodyAMusicalAdventure''. She lives with her grandfather. [[spoiler: If you've played Disgaea, you'll probably see the twist coming.]]
* ''VideoGame/LaPucelle'': Prier, Aloutte and Coulette are orphans.
* ''VideoGame/PhantomBrave'': Marona and Ash become orphans in the introduction.
* ''VideoGame/SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters'': Revya and Danette are orphans.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** Link is often an orphan. This leaves him with no family to be tied to on his journey.
** Zelda might also count in some of the games. She definitely counts in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', where her figurine clearly spells it out and an NPC early in the game mentions that her mother died.

** The series as a rule enjoys making their main characters an orphan at some point in the game. Their mothers are rarely mentioned but when they are, they're dead. Their fathers will die at some point in the story for some reason. The sole exception to this so-far is Eliwood, Roy's father in The Sword of Seals who lives throughout the game but is severely bed ridden. On the other hand, both Roy's and Lilina's mothers passed away before the game starts, and [[spoiler:Lilina loses her father Hector early on, playing this trope straight in her case]]. The prequel, ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword]]'', viciously delights in killing off family. It's gotten to the point that if a character has a parent/sibling/uncle that loves them, nine out of ten times they're dead before the game is up, if not killed before it. [[spoiler:Lyn's parents were both killed by bandits, Hector's parents and brother die of disease, Eliwood's dad is killed by Nergal, Raven's parents committed suicide when their house was attacked, Lucius's father was killed and his mother died of sickness, Serra's parents abandoned her, Erk's are absent, both Jaffar and Nino have dead parents, Lowen probably takes the cake though, having lost first his parents, then his grandparents in fairly quick succession.]]

* A recurring element in the VideoGame/TalesSeries:
** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'', several party members including the leads Cress and Mint are orphaned very early in the game, several because [[spoiler:their parents were a previous generation of heroes who sealed away Dhaos, and who are being targeted for the keys they hold]].
** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'', everyone in your entire party is an orphan. With most of them, all we get is either the parent left or the parent died, or both, no further explanation. We only find out how one parent died, although it's implied (very ''very'' subtly) that several of the mothers died in childbirth. In all honesty, it feels a little ridiculous at times.
** Sorey in ''VideoGame/TalesOfZestiria'', as he was a human raised by seraphs, which was what gave him a strong enough resonance to be the Shepherd. The seraph party members never had family, as spirits born from sites of natural power [[spoiler:except Mikleo, who as a baby died in the same event that orphaned Sorey but immediately reincarnated as a seraph and raised alongside Sorey. His mother's technically still alive but in no position to have raised him]].
** Exactly what orphaned Velvet, Laphicet, and Celica Crowe before ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'' is not fully explained, but can probably be blamed on the daemons that plague the world. The rest of Velvet's family is eventually stripped away as well. Other human party members Magilou and Eleanor are orphaned as well, also to be blamed on the daemons. Rokurou isn't orphaned, his family just comes from extremely far away [[spoiler:but he's hinted to have to become a SelfMadeOrphan to succeed the head of his family someday]]. As with the seraphs in ''Zestiria'', the malakhs are spirits born spontaneously from the world [[spoiler:or reincarnated from those who die in specific circumstances]].
* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'': surprisingly, not the hero, but both other core members of your party. Aika is established early on to be an orphan, and Fina... well, there's no other Silvites left but some Elders, and [[TheDragon Ramirez]].
* In ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos'', Kalas has no parents, although he makes mention to being raised by his grandfather, and to having a brother. [[spoiler:He's an ArtificialHuman, and his grandfather actually created him.]] The prequel, surprisingly, averts this: Sagi's implied to be the only biological child of the woman who runs his town's orphanage, and Milly's dad is [[spoiler:one of the villains]]. Also played with: One of the boss fights culminates in YOU orphaning one of the original game's party members.

* In the ''Franchise/DragonAge'' series:
** Averted to a certain degree for some of the Origins in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins''. Regardless of background, the player character does have either relatives or unrelated persons who fill that role in their lives, and not all of them die in the prologue. For practical purposes, though, it still amounts to the same thing. Played straight with some of your companions (Leliana, Zevran, etc.), and in Alistair's case, it's even a plot point. Also parodied in the elven Alienage, where the number of "orphans" is directly proportional to the amount of money you're giving the beggars.
--->'''Orphan Ollie''': My mother is ''especially'' dead!
** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', Hawke's father Malcolm passed away a few years before the events of the game, but his/her mother Leandra is alive and well and accompanies the family to Kirkwall, living with Hawke. [[spoiler:And ''then'' [[TearJerker this trope kicks]] [[WhamEpisode in full-force]].]] The others tend to mention their parents in passing. Anders had a good mother who gave him a pillow, before he was taken to the Circle; this is passed on to Varric as a keepsake during Act 3. [[AbusiveParents Isabela had a terrible mother, who sold her to a slaver in a very bad marriage]]. Fenris remembers having a mother (eventually), but her fate is unclear. Merrill's parents are never mentioned, but she was 'traded' by her birth clan to the one in which she grew up when her magic manifested. Varric spent his childhood caring for his alcoholic mother, whom he really only mentions once when he's talking about [[CainAndAbel Bartrand]]; his father died when he was a baby. [[spoiler:When Hawke is mourning his/her mother, Aveline tells him/her about her own father's death to comfort him/her.]]
** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' continues the trend with a few of the companions. It's particularly a plot point for the elf Sera, who was orphaned young (she doesn't seem to remember her birth parents) and was adopted by a human noblewoman, who has also since died. Cassandra's backstory is an especially tragic example, as she lost both of her parents when she was a child; they were executed for attempting to overthrow the king, and then when she was twelve her adored older brother was also murdered.
* [[MultipleChoicePast Two of the three options]] in ''Franchise/MassEffect'' for Shepard. With the spacer background, Shepard's mother is not only alive and well, but also helps [[GenderNeutralWriting him/her]] out during one of the optional sidequests in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1''. They have another conversation in the ''Citadel'' DLC for ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''.
* Implied to be the case with the eponymous characters of the ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'' series. They get flung forward in time in the sequel, and don't have any problem staying around. The orphan thing is explored/confirmed for [[TheHero Jak]], but is still only an implication for Daxter, though [[{{Fanon}} no one is saying otherwise]].
* Ratchet of ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' believes he is the only Lombax left in the universe. Although [[spoiler:this is proven wrong when Alister Azimuth, another Lombax, appears]] in ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureACrackInTime'', Ratchet is forced to [[spoiler: kill Azimuth at the end, leaving him alone once again]].

* In ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'', your mother died when you were a baby, during [[spoiler:Ammon Jerro's duel with the [[BigBad King of Shadows]]]]. Your father is a complete question mark, [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot a point that might have made an excellent sidequest]].
* Of the seven party members in ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'', only one of them has a living parent, five are stated to be orphans, and the last's parents are never mentioned. [[spoiler: The orphan total becomes six later thanks to the parent performing a HeroicSacrifice.]]
* Good thing that Taiga and Mia don't have any parents in ''VideoGame/DuelSaviorDestiny'' or else their family might be a little concerned when they get whisked off to another world and put into the special forces. In fact, nobody else seems to have any family either apart from Lily's adoptive mother.
* No matter which class you elect to play in ''VideoGame/{{Darkstone}}'', you are an orphan. When speaking to the guards at the gate of your hometown, one will always comment that they haven't seen you since your parents were killed.
* The protagonist of ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' is raised by Gorion the sage, and at the start of the game does not know who his/her real parents were. [[spoiler:It turns out that both are dead, and that the PC's father was the deity of murder, Bhaal. The trope is subverted, since the latter part of the game, and the sequel, are about the consequences of Bhaal's attempts to avoid his coming death - which among other things resulted in the PC's birth and special heritage.]]

* Taki from the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'' had her immediate family die of sickness, leaving her to be raised by the [[HiddenElfVillage Fu-Ma Ninja Clan]].
* Deconstructed in ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}'', as the brutal deaths of Caim's parents have left him an intensely vengeful and violent NominalHero.
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': This was Sonic's American backstory throughout most of the 1990s. The ''Script/SonicTheHedgehogBible'' has his parents dying and a later bio says he was an orphan raised amongst WoodlandCreatures. Since ''Adventure'', however, it's unknown if Sonic is still an orphan. His parents aren't mentioned at all. ''No one's'' parents are (except for Cream's mother).
* Maki Harukawa from ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' was raised in an orphanage. [[spoiler:It was scouted for potential assassins by a cult called the Holy Salvation Society. When they [[SavingTheOrphanage threatened to defund the orphanage if they didn't comply]], she [[TrainingFromHell agreed]], granting her true talent.]]
* Many of the girls in ''VideoGame/SenranKagura'' have no real family to speak of for various reasons. Katsuragi's parents vanished to avoid punishment for failing a mission, Homura was kicked out of her family due to her being unable to become a Good Shinobi anymore, Yomi's parents worked themselves to dead to make sure their daughter could have a brighter future, Hikage's furthest memories go to her being raised in an orphanage for some reason, both Haruka and Mirai more or less abandoned their parents for various reasons, ''everyone'' at the Gessen team have dead parents and were then adopted by Kurokage [[spoiler:who had already died during the events of the game]], Ryoubi's and Ryouna's parents died when they were young [[spoiler:and their older sister Ryouki, who took the parental role after that happened, is also dead]] and finally [[spoiler:Fubuki's ''yoma'' mother was banished out of this realm by her father, who did it at the cost of his own life]].
* An optional backstory for the Dragonborn in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim''. If the ''Dawnguard'' DLC is installed, there comes a point in its main quest when Serana, who has some justified parent issues, will inquire about her companion's parents. The game provides a few choices for what happened to the player character's parents, one being to say that they died a long time ago.

* ''Webcomic/TheDreamlandChronicles'': [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/the-dreamland-chronicles/chapter-05/page-284/ Felicity lightly mentions that she was orphaned.]]

* Parodied and {{defied}} by ''[[Website/TheHardTimes Hard Drive Magazine]]'' in "[[https://thehardtimes.net/harddrive/anime-mom-struggles-every-day-to-not-die-for-her-childs-tragic-backstory/ Anime Mom Struggles Every Day Not to Die for Her Child's Tragic Backstory]]", which describes the various ways the titular Mom tries to avoid dying in service of the plot and the protagonist's journey. Such methods include learning karate and removing her MotherlySidePlait.

** We don't see Starfire's parents, either. The closest thing she has to a family adult figure is her uncle, which is good since her only other family is [[SiblingYinYang her sister, Blackfire...]]

* ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'': Since Jen's parents were killed by the Skeksis, he was raised as an orphan.

* ''Fanfic/TheChildOfLove'': When he was four Shinji lost his mother, and his father abandoned him shortly after. During a conversation with Misato he learns Asuka went through the same thing than him (but her ordeal was harsher). At the end of the story he also learns they are mecha pilots because they are orphans [[spoiler:since their mothers are inside their robots]].

* ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'': None of the major demigods have any sort of family to go back to, unless it's a sibling. The only exceptions are Percy, Piper, and Annabeth, and even the latter two don't have the best relationship with their muggle parent - Annabeth [[TheRunaway ran away]] from her father and stepmom while Piper's father is [[ParentalNeglect neglectful]], although he tries his best. Percy's the only one with GoodParents to return to.

** Pretty much every character in Genealogy of Holy War due to [[spoiler:the entire playable cast save Fin, Adeen and Brigrd being wiped out half way through the game leaving their orphaned children to continue the fight seventeen years later]]. Many other enemies are also orphaned by the player and are out for revenge.

-->'''Orphan Ollie''': My mother is ''especially'' dead!
** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', Hawke's father Malcolm passed away long before the events of the game, but his/her mother Leandra is alive and well and accompanies the family to Kirkwall, living with Hawke. [[spoiler:And ''then'' [[TearJerker this trope kicks]] [[WhamEpisode in full-force]].]] The others tend to mention their parents in passing. Anders had a good mother who gave him a pillow, before he was taken to the Circle; this is passed on to Varric as a keepsake during Act 3. [[AbusiveParents Isabela had a terrible mother, who sold her to a slaver in a very bad marriage]]. Fenris remembers having a mother (eventually), but her fate is unclear. Merrill's parents are never mentioned. Varric spent his childhood caring for his alcoholic mother, whom he really only mentions once when he's talking about [[CainAndAbel Bartrand]]. [[spoiler:When Hawke is mourning his/her mother, Aveline tells him/her about her own father's death to comfort him/her.]]

* [[MultipleChoicePast Two of the three options]] in ''Franchise/MassEffect'' for Shepard. With the spacer background, Shepard's mother is not only alive and well, but also helps [[GenderNeutralWriting him/her]] out during one of the optional sidequests in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1''. They have another conversation in the "Citadel" DLC for ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''.

* Patch from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'' turned out to be an adopted orphan in the episode "Princess Problems" so that she could be suspected of being a [[LostOrphanedRoyalty long lost royal daughter]].

** In ''ComicBook/TeenTitansGo'' Raven's mother is alive after [[spoiler:Trigon's defeat]].

** We don't see Starfire's parents, either. The closest one she has to a family adult figure is her uncle, which is good since her only other family is [[SiblingYinYang her sister, Blackfire...]]

[[/folder]]
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* Every [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon animated Disney movie]].
** Averted with ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'' where Aurora became the first heroine to have both parents alive and well. But she is still separated from them for sixteen years.
** ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan'' also averts this. The Darling children, Wendy, John, and Michael's parents are well and alive and seen in both the beginning and ending of the movie.
** ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'' is perhaps the strongest aversion, as not only are the Dalmatians' parents Pongo and Perdita well and alive throughout the film, but their owners Roger and Anita are as well.
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}''. The [[Literature/{{Aladdin}} original folklore version]] had a dead father but a living mother; the Disney version has neither parent until we find out in [[WesternAnimation/AladdinAndTheKingOfThieves the third movie]] that his father only {{disappeared|Dad}}. According to WordOfGod, Aladdin was originally supposed to have a mom, who functioned as his conscience of sorts; however, it was decided that the [[AnAesop Aesop]] would be more meaningful [[BeYourself if he learned it on his own]].
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'' is another aversion and the titular heroine has her grandmother for added bonus. In fact, her plot is kicked off by her not wanting her father to die in war.
** A very rare type of aversion happens in ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'', where the father straight up leaves Jim and his mother. This abandonment leads to Jim becoming a bitter and rebelliousness teen.
** [[spoiler:Flynn Rider]] has this trope as part of his backstory in ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}''. His motivation behind [[spoiler: being a thief]] is because of growing up poor. Averted with Rapunzel herself, who has a living adopted mother ([[spoiler:at least until the end]]) and two living biological parents.
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' orphans both girls within the first ten minutes, thus allowing them a strained relationship with only each other. This serves as a major plot point, exacerbating the loneliness of the leads.
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Big Hero 6}}'' had Hiro and Tadashi orphaned at a young age and raised by their Aunt Cass, but then Tadashi is also killed.
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'' averts this, with Moana's mother and father being alive and well throughout the movie. It's [[spoiler:the grandmother]] who dies in the end of the first act, giving Moana the courage to start her journey away from the island.

* Somewhat deconstructed in ''ComicBook/RelativeHeroes''. The kids would never have taken up superheroics or been able to travel across the US and have adventures on their own if their parents weren't dead but their entire driving motivation is reviving their parents and the reason they have to do so much traveling is that their being chased by Social Services and Government Agencies that deal with meta-humans due to their runaway orphan status.

* Many of the girls in ''VideoGame/SenranKagura'' have no real family to speak of for various reasons. Katsuragi's parents vanished to avoid punishment for failing a mission, Homura was kicked out of her family due of her being unable to become a Good Shinobi anymore, Yomi's parents worked themselves to dead to make sure their daughter had a brighter future, Hikage's furthest memories go to her being raised in an orphanage for some reason, both Haruka and Mirai more or less abandoned their parents for various reasons, ''everyone'' at the Gessen team have dead parents and were then adopted by Kurokage [[spoiler:who had already died during the events of the game]], Ryoubi's and Ryouna's parents died when they were young [[spoiler:and their older sister Ryouki, who took the parental role after that happened, is also dead]] and finally [[spoiler:Fubuki's ''yoma'' mother was banished out of this realm by her father, who did it at the cost of his own life]].

*** Lampshaded/mentioned in Unseen Academicals when only people with a note from their mother are excused from playing football. Rincewind asks the Arch-Chancellor for permission to go ask his mother for such a note. "I thought you said you didn't have a mother." [beat] "Permission to go find her, Arch-Chancellor?"
** In ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', Moist von Lipwig lost his parents at an early age and was raised by his grandfather, who died some time before the actual start of the story. Having no family connections is, indeed, convenient for Moist, who makes his way in the world as a ConMan.