History Main / DysfunctionalFamily

* In ''Literature/TheSpiritThief'', it eventually turns out that not only are Banage, a bleeding-heart extremist with stubborness of a mule and a head thicker than some castle walls, and Sara, a psychopath with penchant for experimenting on sentient spirits, [[spoiler:married]], but their family includes [[spoiler:Eli, a master thief]] with ComplexityAddiction.
* The Amatsu family in ''Literature/MyVampireOlderSisterAndZombieLittleSister''. Prior to the start of the series, Satori's father Taizou and mother Taori divorced due to frequent arguments. Taizou then married someone else, who brought the titular vampire and zombie into the family. However, Satori mostly gets along with his stepsisters - it's their parents/step-parents who are dysfunctional. [[spoiler:It turns out that the reason Taizou and Taori divorced was because the former was a member of the Bright Cross (a CreatureHunterOrganisation that targets [[OurMonstersAreWeird Archenemies]]) while the latter was a pro-Archenemy advocate. But Taori wasn't aware that Taizou was actually part of the Bright Cross' moderate faction, trying to stop the organisation's persection of Archenemies. On top of that, Taizou's second wife (the siblings' stepmother) is an Archenemy, the demon lord Lilith. Taori absolutely ''hates'' Lilith, seeing her as an usurper, and wants to kill her at all costs]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'': Played with by the Madrigals. It seems the family starts out as supportive and unrestricted beyond Alma's desire to use their gifts to give back to the community but over time becomes dysfunctional as Alma's desire to preserve the miracle intensifies. The first marriages (Pepa/Felix) and (Julieta/Agustin) appear to have been unguided. As grandchildren enter the household, Alma continues to guide the family toward being of service to the community. When Mirabel fails to get a gift, Alma begins to quietly fear that they've failed to be worthy of the miracle and increases the pressure to give back. [[spoiler:Bruno, at this point, is hiding behind the walls and working to repair the cracks that have started to appear.]] By the time Antonio gets his gift, Alma has become aware of the cracks in the Casita and becomes even more focused on keeping the miracle alive. She takes steps to arrange the marriage of Isabela and Mariano [[spoiler:(regardless of Isabela's feelings)]] and becomes more critical of Mirabel's actions that she feels jeopardizes the miracle. Although Mirabel reconciles with Isabela [[spoiler:and begins to strengthen the candle flame, Alma is so distraught and how changed Isabela has become that she openly accuses Mirabel and Bruno of hurting the family. Which becomes the final straw that causes the miracle to collapse.]]

* ''Series/Flowers2016'': The main group and setting of the show is a dysfunctional family who all have many different issues, and Shun, their Japanese guest who also has some himself. Most of the drama is drawn from the conflicts they have with each other.leaving them behind is for the best.]]

** The Saotomes consist of: the father, Genma Saotome; a glutton, petty thief, shiftless, irresponsible, [[SinsOfOurFathers responsibility-dodging troublemaker]] who [[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 agreeing to placing him under ''two'' separate {{Arranged Marriage}}s.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* R.D. Laing had quipped, "There are no crazy people, only crazy families." This was after noting a number of his patients who became more functional independently became less so with time and proximity to their family.
* The Gosselins of ''Series/JonAndKatePlusEight''. Things started to go downhill when the titular Jon and Kate split up in 2009. After the show was officially canceled in 2017, the family was financially ruined, things are still bitter between Jon and Kate, and reportedly the kids have been acting out ever since.
* After Woody Allen left Creator/MiaFarrow for her adopted daughter, Soon-Yi, their shared children haven't had anything to do with him since (with the exception of Moses Farrow).
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* ''Fanfic/ASecondChance'': [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]].The story drops all pretense and shows exactly how the rampant dysfunctionality within the Loud family, the sisters’ selfish, entitled, and inconsiderate behavior, and the parent’s lax attitudes towards disciplining their children and asserting their authority is slowly but steadily destroying the family. And unlike many other fics, [[ButtMonkey Lincoln isn’t the one who arbitrarily suffers the brunt of the dysfunctionality]], [[HatesEveryoneEqually with the sisters treating each other just as badly]] (if not more so), and logically, the family members who are affected the most by the dysfunctionality are [[PushoverParents Lynn Sr. and Rita]], who have been burdened with the thankless job of [[SpoiledBrat taking care of]] [[TeensAreMonsters 10 misbehaved]] and [[UngratefulBastard ungrateful children]] and their lot in life is [[RageBreakingPoint slowly driving them to the brink]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', the Parr family starts off like this, as a SuperFamilyTeam forced to live an average life under a SuperRegistrationAct. Violet angsts about not being normal, the arguments between siblings and parents at the dinner table and Helen butting heads with Bob over his late-night vigilante antics all contribute. Thankfully, the events of the movie contribute to bring them all closer by the end.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'': Played with by the Madrigals. It seems the family starts out as supportive and unrestricted beyond Alma's desire to use their gifts to give back to the community but over time becomes dysfunctional as Alma's desire to preserve the miracle intensifies. The first marriages (Pepa/Felix) and (Julieta/Agustin) appear to have been unguided. As grandchildren enter the household, Alma continues to guide the family toward being of service to the community. When Mirabel fails to get a gift, Alma begins to quietly fear that they've failed to be worthy of the miracle and increases the pressure to give back. [[spoiler:Bruno, at this point, is hiding behind the walls and working to repair the cracks that have started to appear.]] By the time Antonio gets his gift, Alma has become aware of the cracks in the Casita and becomes even more focused on keeping the miracle alive. She takes steps to arrange the marriage of Isabela and Mariano (regardless of Isabela's feelings) and becomes more critical of Mirabel's actions that she feels jeopardizes the miracle. Although Mirabel reconciles with Isabela [[spoiler:and begins to strengthen the candle flame, Alma is so distraught and how changed Isabela has become that she openly accuses Mirabel and Bruno of hurting the family. Which becomes the final straw that causes the miracle to collapse.]]

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'' has its six protagonists hailing from five such families. The Gellers are almost normal, but the result was still ControlFreak Monica and incredibly awkward HollywoodNerd Ross. The Greens are two bickering parents who raised three {{Spoiled Brat}}s (though Rachel managed to evolve out of this exactly by running away). The Tribbianis are BigEater HotBlooded Italians leading to six women and [[TheCasanova Casanova]] [[TheDitz Ditz]] Joey. The Buffays have a DisappearedDad, a mom who killed herself, and bickering and not very bright twins Phoebe and [[EvilTwin Ursula]] (and to make things even weirder, there's Phoebe's half-brother [[MayDecemberRomance who married his much older teacher]]). And finally, the Bings can be summed up by this exchange:

* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2006-11-20 Satan characterizes the world as this.]]

* The Gosselins of Jon and Kate Plus Eight. Things started to go downhill when the titular Jon and Kate split up in 2009. After the show was officially canceled in 2017, the family was financially ruined, things are still bitter between Jon and Kate, and reportedly the kids have been acting out ever since.
* After Woody Allen left Mia Farrow for her adopted daughter, Soon-Yi, their shared children haven’t had anything to do with him since (with the exception of Moses Farrow).

** The Griffins (Family Guy) are of a more traditional sitcom setup in the style of The Simpsons. Peter Griffin is a Manchild who combines low intelligence and massive emotional immaturity with a dangerous lack of common sense. Lois Griffin is a shrewish housewife who can't control her husbands behavior. Chris Griffin, like his father, is a FatIdiot who shows lack of knowledge. Meg Griffin is the ButtMonkey of the entire family, if not the whole town. It's telling that the best adjusted members of the family are the one-year-old EnfantTerrible Stewie (who's a murderer a dozen times over) and KnowNothingKnowItAll FunnyAnimal Brian, who are able to rely on each other for emotional support.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', the Parr family starts off like this, as a SuperFamilyTeam forced to live an average life under a SuperRegistrationAct.

* AbusiveParents

Standard Members (note: this isn’t always accurate):

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]