History Main / DysfunctionalFamily

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': The obvious exemplar, we could be here all day with examples to back up their inclusion. However, even if [[GeorgeHWBush the President]] wished Americans could be "more like ''TheWaltons'' and less like ''The Simpsons''," they stay together, go to church together and eat dinner together every night, and they're ultimately closely-knit.

* Well, it certainly helps explain some things about Harley Quinn. In ''GothamCitySirens'' we learn that her father is a con-artist who abandoned his family to scheme older women out of their fortunes, her brother is a shiftless deadbeat with multiple kids from different mothers and no job, and her mother might be suffering from Manic/Depressive Bi-Polar disorder. One of the reasons Harleen Quinzel became a psychiatrist in the first place, which was the first step on her trip to becoming Harley Quinn, was to try and understand all the emotional trauma her family put themselves and each other through.
* The ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' of MarvelComics fame were designed to be a rather dysfunctional and constantly bickering, but ultimately tight-knit and loving family unit, which is part of what made the comic so popular and part of what put MarvelComics on the map; the fact that each member has superpowers only adds to the tensions and clashes between them. Although only Susan and Johnny were initially directly related to each other (sister and brother), Susan and Reed later married and started their own family.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', although by this point, they're probably closer to the trope BigScrewedUpFamily.

* The Smiths of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''.

** In fact, Wes Anderson loves this trope in general. ''TheLifeAquatic'' has Dysfunctional TrueCompanions, and there are familial issues to be worked out in both ''TheDarjeelingLimited'' and ''FantasticMrFox''.

* ''{{Bleach}}'': Ohhhh the Ishidas. Uryu is so deeply estranged from his father Ryuuken--due to the latter's [[HeroicNeutral complete rejection]] of his Quincy powers and the spirit world in general--that he refers him by his first name (which is ''cold'' even by western standards) and chooses to live alone rather than under Ryuuken's roof. Ryuuken works hard to [[JerkassFacade give his son the impression]] that he regards him as a disappointment although he seems to be deeply concerned for the boy's well-being [[BeneathTheMask underneath it all]]. Ryuuken was, in turn, badly enough estranged from his own father, Souken, (for reasons that are still somewhat hazy) that he forbade Uryuu to visit him. It certainly doesn't help that every other member of the Ishida family ''besides'' Ryuuken and Uryuu has died tragically. [[spoiler:The dysfunction is revealed to go back even further in the "Everything but the Rain" flashback arc: Souken's frequent absences caused tension with his wife, who took out her frustrations on Ryuuken's ArrangedMarriage fiancee Masaki. Oh and did we mention that the engagement was somewhat coercive, since Masaki had no other family to turn to?]]

* The [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bat-family]] has become this in the last few years. There's a lot between just the men of the family. First you have Batman, an absentee father. His jerkass moments far outweigh his nice moments regarding his family, since he [[IWorkAlone works alone.]] This messes up the family pretty badly. There's also [[TheUnfavorite Jason Todd]], who holds a grudge against Bats for not killing his murderer, TheJoker, and has a one-sided rivalry with Nightwing, akin to a little brother hating his AloofBigBrother. Finally, there's Damian Wayne, who desperately seeks Bats' approval to the point where he assaulted his brothers, but who Bats refuses to acknowledge as his son because of [[BedTrick how he was conceived]]. The only member of the family he gets along with other than Bats himself is Nightwing, who was his ParentalSubstitute for quite some time. It's quite amazing that Nightwing is so well adjusted, seeing the family he comes from.

* The [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bat-family]] has become this in the last few years. There's a lot between just the men of the family. First you have Batman, an absentee father. His jerkass moments far outweigh his nice moments regarding his family, since he [[IWorkAlone works alone.]] This messes up the family pretty badly. There's also [[TheUnfavorite Jason Todd]], who holds a grudge against Bats for not avenging his death, and has a one-sided rivalry with Nightwing, akin to a little brother hating his AloofBigBrother. Finally, there's Damian, who desperately seeks Bats' approval to the point where he assaulted his brothers. The only member of the family he gets along with other than Bats himself is Nightwing, who was his ParentalSubstitute for quite some time. It's quite amazing that Nightwing is so well adjusted, seeing the family he comes from.

The entire premise for many {{Dom Com}}s is that the lead characters are a family of maladjusted people who generally don't get along. Usually they consist of a JadedWashout and/or BumblingDad father, a mother who is either a [[WomenAreWiser paragon of common sense]] and efficiency or a repulsive harridan (or both, a la ''{{Roseanne}}''), and two-three kids who are unhappy, dislike each other, and resent at least one of their parents. Also, the father and his mother-in-law tend to hate each other. The family is generally fairly poor, although not always - ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' is about a large, rich dysfunctional family. And even they won't remain wealthy. (It was seized by the Government)

-->'''Ned:''' You see, Father wanted a large family so Mother promptly had Linda, but Linda was a girl so Mother promptly had Julia, but Julia was a girl and the whole thing seemed hopeless. Then, the following year, Mother had me. It was a boy and the fair name of Seaton would flourish. Drink to Mother , Johnny. She tried to be a Seaton for a while, then gave up and died.

* The Setons in ''{{Film/Holiday}}''. Linda has a warm relationship with both her siblings, but they don't much care for each other. Julia's the only one who gets along with her dad, whom [[TheAlcoholic Ned]], and [[BlackSheep Linda]] both resent him for trying to run their lives. Their [[MissingMom mother]] can't have been terribly happy, either.

* The Fields in BarbaraGowdy's ''Falling Angels''. Not played for laughs, though.

* The premise of ''The Daichis: Earth's Defense Family'' is one of these families being recruited as a pseudo-SuperSentai team just before the parents formally divorce each other - and the [[HilarityEnsues hilarity]] and angst that ensues.

The entire premise for many {{Dom Com}}s is that the lead characters are a family of maladjusted people who generally don't get along. Usually they consist of a JadedWashout and/or BumblingDad father, a mother who is either a [[WomenAreWiser paragon of common sense]] and efficiency or a repulsive harridan (or both, a la ''{{Roseanne}}''), and two-three kids who are unhappy, dislike each other, and resent at least one of their parents. Also, the father and his mother-in-law tend to hate each other. The family is generally fairly poor, although not always - ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' is about a large, rich dysfunctional family.

* ''{{Bleach}}'': Ohhhh the Ishidas. Uryu is so deeply estranged from his father Ryuuken--due to the latter's [[HeroicNeutral complete rejection]] of his Quincy powers and the spirit world in general--that he refers him by his first name (which is ''cold'' even by western standards) and chooses to live alone rather than under Ryuuken's roof. Ryuuken works hard to [[JerkassFacade give his son the impression]] that he regards him as a disappointment although he seems to be deeply concerned for the boy's well-being underneath it all. Ryuuken was, in turn, badly enough estranged from his own father, Souken, (for reasons that are still somewhat hazy) that he forbade Uryuu to visit him. It certainly doesn't help that every other member of the Ishida family ''besides'' Ryuuken and Uryuu has died tragically. [[spoiler:The dysfunction is revealed to go back even further in the "Everything but the Rain" flashback arc: Souken's frequent absences caused tension with his wife, who took out her frustrations on Ryuuken's ArrangedMarriage fiancee Masaki. Oh and did we mention that the engagement was somewhat coercive, since Masaki had no other family to turn to?]]

* ''{{Bleach}}'': The Ishidas. Uryu calls his father by his first name (which is cold, even by western standards), and the two can barely stand to be in each other's company.

* ''{{Tsukihime}}'' reference: The Tohno Family who, [[spoiler:due to their non-human ancestry]], were a 'cursed' gene pool of insanity, various psychosis, and [[spoiler:sanity-decaying superhuman abilities]]; their family tree was full of suicides, early deaths, disappearances, and the like. Needless to say, they didn't necessarily get along with each other, although they co-existed rather well.

* The [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bat-family]] has become this in the last few years. There's a lot between just the men of the family. First you have Batman, an absentee father. His jerkass moments far outweigh his nice moments regarding his family, since he [[IWorkAlone works alone.]] This messes up the family pretty badly. There's also [[TheUnfavorite Jason Todd]], who holds a grudge against Bats for not avenging his death, and has a one-sided rivalry with Nightwing, akin to a little brother hating his AloofBigBrother. Finally, there's Damian, who desperately seeks Bats' approval to the point where he assaulted his brothers. The only member of the family he gets along with other than Bats himself is Nightwing, who was his ParentalSubstitute for quite some time. Needless to say, it's quite amazing that Nightwing is so well adjusted, seeing the family he comes from.

* The [[{{Batman}} Bat-family]] has become this in the last few years. There's a lot between just the men of the family. First you have Batman, an absentee father. His jerkass moments far outweigh his nice moments regarding his family, since he [[IWorkAlone works alone.]] Needless to say, this messes up the family pretty badly. There's also [[TheUnfavorite Jason Todd]], who holds a grudge against Bats for not avenging his death, and has a one-sided rivalry with Nightwing, akin to a little brother hating his AloofBigBrother. Finally, there's Damian, who desperately seeks Bats' approval to the point where he assaulted his brothers. The only member of the family he gets along with other than Bats himself is Nightwing, who was his ParentalSubstitute for quite some time. Needless to say, it's quite amazing that Nightwing is so well adjusted, seeing the family he comes from.

* The Russos in ''WizardsOfWaverlyPlace''. See ''Family Game Night'' episode and you'll assist at an extreme case of [[HilarityEnsues funny dysfunctional family]]. Plus, the kids have ''to battle'' each other when they reach maturity.

** The Tendos consist of: the over-emotional father, Soun Tendo, who bursts into a geyser of tears at little provocation. The eldest daughter, Kasumi Tendo, who is a YamatoNadeshiko so sweet and nice she frankly comes off as deliberately oblivious at times. The middle daughter, Nabiki Tendo, a mercenary money-maker and [[TheVamp teenage seductress]] who will happily sell skimpy photos of and paid dates with her little sister and her little sister's fiancé alike for extra pocket money. And the youngest daughter, Akane Tendo, an emotionally unstable and ''very'' {{tsundere}} tomboy martial artist.

** The Saotomes consist of: the father, Genma Saotome; a glutton, petty thief, shiftless, irresponsible, [[SinsOfOurFathers responsibility-dodging troublemaker]], and [[BalefulPolymorph turns into a panda bear when splashed with cold water]]. The mother, Nodoka Saotome; a YamatoNadeshiko... who [[BewareTheNiceOnes carries a katana with her everywhere she goes]], in case she has to order her son to commit {{Seppuku}} for lack of manliness, as per the contract she agreed to and that Genma offered. The son, Ranma Saotome; a brash, socially inept martial artist who [{GenderBender turns into a busty girl when splashed with cold water]], who also is the center of a LoveDodecahedron, thanks in part to his father's aggreeing to placing him under ''two'' separate {{Arranged Marriage}}s.