History Main / GruesomeGrandparent

* ''Manga/FruitsBasket another'': Akito Soma's mother Ren treats her grandson Shiki about the same as she did Akito in the past, which was abusive.

* The ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' mythos isn't quite as rife with these as abusive direct-parents, but they're certainly there:

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'': In ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'', ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'', ''ComicBook/WonderWoman2006'', ''ComicBook/WonderWomanOdyssey'', ''ComicBook/{{The Legend of Wonder Woman|2016}}'', ''ComicBook/WonderWomanWarbringer'' and ''ComicBook/SensationComicsFeaturingWonderWoman'', [[Characters/WonderWomanAres Ares]] is Diana's grandfather and one of her most dangerous and consistent foes, though he does occasionally do things that help her out of his twisted care for his family. The violent self-obsessed misogynistic serial rapist Zeus who has tried to rape her before is her great-grandfather in these continuities as he is Ares' abusive father.

* ''WesternAnimation/KuboAndTheTwoStrings'': Kubo's maternal grandfather, Raiden the Moon King, is a supreme deity who loathes humanity and is disgusted that his daughter married a human. When Kubo was born, the Moon King [[EyeScream ripped out one of the infant's eyes]] in an attempt to "make him blind" to the scum of humankind, and [[spoiler: transformed Kubo's father Hanzo into a giant beetle and stole his memories]]. For the next twelve years, Raiden tries to hunt down Kubo in order to steal his other eye, planning to make him blind and cold to the world so he can embrace his godly heritage and reject humanity.

* ''Film/AboutTheLittleRedRidingHood'': The She-Wolf (mother of the wolf from the [[Literature/LittleRedRidingHood original fairytale]]) is disdainful and abusive towards her grandson the Wolf-Cub because the latter is kind and friendly towards humans, wants to learn more about them instead of fighting them, and doesn’t want to avenge his father. When she burns his favourite (and only) book, he [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal snaps]] and instead of merely arguing with her starts actively helping Little Red Riding Hood.
* ''Film/{{Chinatown}}'' ends with the [[spoiler: rapist and murderer]] multi-millionaire grandfather, Noah Cross, taking in his granddaughter [[spoiler: (who is also [[VillainousIncest his daughter]])]] Katherine after her mother Evelyn's death, clearly planning to [[spoiler: rape her as he did her mother, resulting in Katherine's birth]].
* ''Film/{{Hereditary}}'': Peter and Charlie's grandmother Ellen was very abusive and manipulative to their mother Annie, but when Annie finally gave way and let Ellen "have" Charlie (after not letting her near Peter, who is the eldest), [[spoiler: Ellen used Charlie as a human host for the demon Paimon, and their cult caused Charlie's horrible beheading and drove Peter to suicide so that Charlie could be reborn in Peter's body]]. Whether this is a positive ending for Charlie is left extremely ambiguous, but it definitely isn't for Peter or Annie.
* ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'': [[spoiler:[[BackFromTheDead Palpatine]], [[TheManBehindTheMan the mastermind behind Snoke and the First Order]], [[LukeIAmYourFather is revealed to be Rey's grandfather]]. [[OffingTheOffspring He had her parents killed]] and [[BaitTheDog tries to coax her into becoming the new Empress]], but in reality [[GrandTheftMe he merely wants to possess her]] [[CameBackWrong to escape his broken body]]. When he heals himself using her and Kylo Ren's dyad, he dispenses with this plan and just tries to kill her.]][[note]]In the novelization her father was an "imperfect clone", but that still counts as being her grandfather in a sense.[[/note]]
* Violet, from ''Film/TrashFire'', is a religious fanatic who regularly verbally abuses her grandson Owen, his girlfriend Isabelle, and his sister Pearl. She eventually tries to kill the family as a whole, having killed her own daughter and son in law years prior.
* The horror film ''Film/TheVisit'' is all about this. Two children named Becca and Tyler find their grandparents online and make arrangements to stay with them while their mother, who has long been estranged from the older couple, goes on a cruise with her boyfriend. Though Nana and Pop-Pop seem sweet at first, it soon becomes clear that something suspicious is going on, given that Nana vomits profusely and tries to lure the kids into the oven while Pop-Pop blithely dismisses all of the kids' fears. [[spoiler: It ultimately turns out to be something of a subversion, though -- because Nana and Pop-Pop ''aren't the children's grandparents at all.'' Rather, the original couple worked in a mental hospital, and two elderly residents [[KillAndReplace killed them and stole their identities.]]]]

* Creator/AnthonyHorowitz wrote a children's novel titled ''Granny'', where the titular grandmother delights in being evil not just to her grandchild but her daughter and son-in-law and random people as well. She turns out to be part of a conspiracy of evil grandmothers, and when her plans are foiled and she's sent to a retirement home, takes the place of another old lady who died so as to keep sponging off the other lady's kids. Her family flees when they think she's BackFromTheDead, and the rage at being abandoned (finally) gives her a heart attack.
* ''Literature/{{Dune}}'': [[spoiler: Baron Harkonnen]] turns out to be this to Paul and Alia Atreides, alongside being an ArchnemesisDad to their mother. [[DepravedHomosexual Given his predilections]], [[LukeYouAreMyFather he was shocked to learn this from the latter]], [[spoiler: who ends up being haunted by his GeneticMemory]].

* ''Literature/OurOnlyMayAmelia'': May Amelia and her brothers can't stand their Grandmother Patience because she's so mean and spiteful to everyone - and likewise, the grandmother absolutely loathes her grandchildren, particularly May Amelia. When she moves into the house under the pretense that's she's getting too old to keep her own house by herself, Grandmother Patience can do nothing but make cruel, snide remarks towards May Amelia and her mother and demand everything from the twelve-year-old girl, using her as her personal servant under the guise of "turning her into a proper young lady" and beating her with a cane hard enough to cause some nasty bruising.

* In ''Series/{{The Boys|2019}}'', [[spoiler:ArcVillain Soldier Boy is revealed to be [[LukeIAmYourFather the father of Homelander]] and grandfather of Ryan. Homelander attempts to reconcile with him [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes so they could be a family]], but Soldier Boy ends up being an even bigger {{narcissist}} than him and declares him an InadequateInheritor before trying to kill them [[WouldHurtAChild both]].]]
* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'': Pappy Mcpoyle, the elderly patriarch of the severely inbred Mcpoyle family. Who [[EstablishingCharacterMoment gives us a good idea]] of who he is when he starts [[SuddenlyShouting loudly ranting]] about how his entire family was born "fully-formed" from him and that he was forced to ''{{eat|sBabies}}'' one of his own to avoid being eaten himself. He doesn't enter gruesome territory until several episodes later when he orders [[spoiler: the bird living under his hat to peck out the prosecutor's eyes at the crescendo of Paddy's Pub's CourtroomAntics.]]
* ''Series/{{Luke Cage|2016}}'' has Mama Mabel, who leads an organized crime syndicate and forces her grandson Cornell to participate through verbal and mental abuse. When her granddaughter Mariah got pregnant from being raped [[spoiler: by her great-uncle]], Mabel forced her to go through a traumatizing pregnancy and birth instead of letting her have an abortion. [[AbusiveParents Her horrible parenting]] of Cornell and Mariah caused them both to be quite screwed up as adults.
** She also eventually [[spoiler:forces Cornell execute Uncle Pete, who - despite his other crimes - was actually kind to Cornell]]. She did this ''not'' because of [[spoiler:Pete's molestation of Mariah, but because he betrayed her syndicate]].

* In the LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek "Shattering The Silence", a woman regains RepressedMemories of being sexually abused by her father and realizes that this is why her sister has been estranged from the family for years--she remembered and left home as soon as possible. She resolves to get past it and not let it disrupt her life. . . until she notices her niece's (her brother's daughter) strange behavior and has the horrified realization that he's now abusing his granddaughter the same way.

** [[spoiler:[[{{God}} Chuck Shurley]]]], already [[AbusiveParent having questionable parenting skills]] with the archangels, tries to get his {{Nephilim}} grandson [[AntiAntiChrist Jack]] killed for being a threat to his power and eventually [[OffingTheOffspring does the job himself]]. Jack [[BackFromTheDead is eventually brought out of the Empty]] and becomes one of Sam and Dean's main allies [[spoiler:against [[GodIsEvil Chuck]].]]
* In ''Series/KirbyBuckets'', the title character's Grandma Inga is said to be the only living person who likes Dawn more than Kirby. This changes after Kirby launches his web channel, but this doesn't last long after Kirby is forced to kill off Scrunch Face, who is Inga's favorite character but TheScrappy to most of his fans. Inga then tortures Kirby until he brings back Scrunch Face, but Kirby refuses to give in as doing so would be a betrayal to his fans.

* ''Literature/TheBible'': In the ''Literature/BooksOfKings'', after Judah's king Ahaziah is assassinated, his mother Athaliah names herself queen and executes (almost) all his sons. She missed the youngest, which proved to be her downfall.

* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'': Niime verbally and physically abuses her grandson Hugh because Hugh didn't pick up the family talent for dark magic; it's implied that he acts like he does because he wants to prove to himself that he's not just a "pathetic little grandson". [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The prequel]] reveals that she cast "all sorts of hexes" on Hugh (when he was one year old, mind you) to try and get him to learn that way. At the end of their support chain, they reconcile somewhat, with Niime wishing Hugh a long and comfortable life.

** ''God of War 3'' has Kratos face off against [[OurTitansAreDifferent Cronus]], Zeus's father and thus his grandfather. Cronus' beef with Kratos is because due to the Ghost of Sparta opening Pandora's Box and infecting Zeus with fear, Zeus threw him into Tartarus. That, [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas and he believes Kratos killed Gaia]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'': [[AbusiveParents Heihachi Mishima]] isn't just content to [[OffingTheOffspring kill his son Kazuya]], but also seeks to kill [[HeroicBastard his illegitimate grandson]].

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': While not her biological relative, [[ImmortalitySeeker Zouken Matou]] is the adoptive grandfather to Sakura Matou. [[AbusiveParents He's a horrible guardian]] whose "tests" are more "[[ColdBloodedTorture torture]]", and his abusive nature to his biological grandson Shinji [[FreudianExcuse are a large part of why]] he's such a {{Jerkass}}.

[[folder:Web Original]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': [[EvilOverlord Fire Lord Ozai's]] own father Azulon tried to order his grandson Zuko's death, so Ozai would know what it feels like to [[OutlivingOnesOffspring lose a kid]], no less after he made unsavory comments about his older brother Iroh's loss of his son and heir. Ozai [[OffingTheOffspring was considering doing the job for him]], but his wife Ursa got wind of things and aided him in committing {{patricide}} to [[MamaBear protect Zuko]] instead.
* ZigZagged by Ben and Gwen's Grandma Verdona in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce''. She loved her family, but her alien BlueAndOrangeMorality made her seem callous in her first appearance as she casually tried to force Gwen to embrace her EnergyBeing heritage by attempting to destroy her physical body and blasted Ben (and Kevin) [[DestinationDefenestration through a wall]] when they stood in her way. She TookALevelInKindness by her next appearance, however.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In "Chum Fricassee", Squidward's grandmother is pretty awful. Not only does she publicly humiliate her grandson for cooking her recipe wrong, but she actually encourages the enraged customers to burn down Le Chum Bucket, destroying his fame.

When it comes to family drama, a parent can be [[AbusiveParents a real pain]]. Maybe a straight-up ArchnemesisDad or EvilMatriarch. But sometimes the parents are fine; it's the ''grandparent'' that's a problem. An [[EvilOldFolks Evil Old Folk]] who for whatever reason has it out for their grandson or granddaughter. Perhaps they were abusive to their own children and they haven't changed their ways with the next generation. Or maybe they want to avert some sort of prophecy by [[OffingTheOffspring offing the grand-offspring]].

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'': In ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'', ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'', ''ComicBook/WonderWoman2006'', ''ComicBook/WonderWomanOdyssey'', ''ComicBook/{{The Legend of Wonder Woman|2016}}'', ''ComicBook/WonderWomanWarbringer'' and ''ComicBook/SensationComicsFeaturingWonderWoman'', ComicBook/{{Ares|DC}} is Diana's grandfather and one of her most dangerous and consistent foes, though he does occasionally do things that help her out of his twisted care for his family. The violent self-obsessed misogynistic serial rapist Zeus who has tried to rape her before is her great-grandfather in these continuities as he is Ares' abusive father.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': [[EvilOverlord Firelord Ozai's]] own father Azulon tried to order his grandson Zuko's death, so Ozai would know what it feels like to [[OutlivingOnesOffspring lose a kid]], no less after he made unsavory comments about his older brother Iroh's loss of his son and heir. Ozai [[OffingTheOffspring was considering doing the job for him]], but his wife Ursa got wind of things and aided him in committing {{Patricide}} to [[MamaBear protect Zuko]] instead.
* ZigZagged by Ben & Gwen's Grandma Verdona in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce''. She loved her family, but her alien BlueAndOrangeMorality made her seem callous in her first appearance as she casually tried to force Gwen to embrace her EnergyBeing heritage by attempting to destroy her physical body and blasted Ben (and Kevin) [[DestinationDefenestration through a wall]] when they stood in her way. She TookALevelInKindness by her next appearance, however.

If one's own parent is still abusive or antagonistic, [[FreudianExcuse this might be why]] [[TroubledAbuser they're not good parents]]. Or perhaps if the protagonist has GoodParents, it's in response to the grandparent. Compare WiseOldFolkFacade, an elderly character who acts as a kindly grandparent figure to someone but is actually manipulating them for evil purposes.

** Perseus' grandfather Acrisius locked him up with his mother in a crate and sent them out to sea because he feared Perseus one day overthrowing him. [[YouCantFightFate Fate being]] [[SelfFulfillingProphecy what it is]], this fails and Perseus accidentally kills him with a discus throw.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': [[EvilOverlord Firelord Ozai's]] own father Azulon tried to order his grandson Zuko's death, so Ozai would know what it feels like to lose a kid, no less after he made unsavory comments about his older brother Iroh's loss of his son and heir. Ozai [[OffingTheOffspring was considering doing the job for him]], but his wife got wind of things and aided him in committing {{Patricide}} to protect Zuko instead.

* ''Film/AboutLittleRedRidingHood'': The She-Wolf (mother of the wolf from the [[Literature/LittleRedRidingHood original fairytale]]) is disdainful and abusive towards her grandson the Wolf-Cub because the latter is kind and friendly towards humans, wants to learn more about them instead of fighting them, and doesn’t want to avenge his father. When she burns his favourite (and only) book, he [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal snaps]] and instead of merely arguing with her starts actively helping Little Red Riding Hood.

** In the third book of ''[[VisualNovel/TheRoyalRomance The Royal Heir]], there's Barthelemy Beaumont, who attempts to wrest custody of the heir, who can be his granddaughter through his son Maxwell (if Riley marries the latter), from her parents, as part of his scheme to take over Cordonia and raise the heir to be like him, a tyrant.

* In the second book of ''VisualNovel/ItLives'', the main character Harper's grandfather Arthur is extremely harsh and controlling from the start. Then it is revealed that [[spoiler:he killed Harper's parents. But then it turns out he was framed and is GoodAllAlong. However, one of the main villains, a terrifying lake monster, is revealed to be Arthur's wife, Harper's grandmother Josephine]].
* In the third book of ''[[VisualNovel/TheRoyalRomance The Royal Heir]], there's Barthelemy Beaumont, who attempts to wrest custody of the heir, who can be his granddaughter through his son Maxwell (if Riley marries the latter), from her parents, as part of his scheme to take over Cordonia and raise the heir to be like him, a tyrant.

* ''Webcomic/TrueVillains'': Bayn's [[https://www.truevillains.com/comic-2014-03-17-Fated-jpg.htm grandfather]] is a creepy, clawed man who [[https://www.truevillains.com/comic-2014-03-24-Keeping%20Cool-jpg.htm terrifies him]] and even [[https://www.truevillains.com/comic-2014-03-31-Father%20Son%20Bonding-jpg.htm makes]] his [[TheArchmage archmage]] father [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness uncharacteristically wary]]. It's not explained why, but Bayn and his father both believe that his grandfather would kill him on sight.

* In the LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek "Shattering The Silence", a woman regains repressed memories of being sexually abused by her father and realizes that this is why her sister has been estranged from the family for years--she remembered and left home as soon as possible. She resolves to get past it and not let it disrupt her life. . . until she notices her niece's (her brother's daughter) strange behavior and has the horrified realization that he's now abusing his granddaughter the same way.

* In ''Series/TheBoys'', [[spoiler:ArcVillain Soldier Boy is revealed to be [[LukeIAmYourFather the father of Homelander]] and grandfather of Ryan. Homelander attempts to reconcile with him [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes so they could be a family]], but Soldier Boy ends up being an even bigger {{narcissist}} than him and declares him an InadequateInheritor before trying to kill them [[WouldHurtAChild both]].]]

* "Literature/{{Tattercoats}}": The titular character's mother died giving birth to her, and her grandfather hates her for it. Hence he refers to her as "[[ItIsDehumanizting it]]", refuses to take care of her, and has sworn never to look at her face; he spends almost all of the story sitting by a window and endlessly weeping for his beloved daughter.

* ''Literature/{{Holes}}'': Charles "Trout" Walker was an abusive asshole to both his children and grandchildren, forcing them to help him dig endlessly for Kate Barlow's treasure in the desert every day of their lives, not even letting them take breaks on Christmas or their birthdays. [[spoiler: This is what caused the Warden (Trout's granddaughter) to become the bitter and cynical woman she is in the present day.]]

** As revealed in "Kayda 8: The Best Days of Our Lives (Part 2)", [[spoiler: Pejuta's grandmother]] had a long-term plot to get [[spoiler: Pejuta]] to leave school, by having people harass her, and almost got her killed.

* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'': Pappy Mcpoyle, the elderly patriarch of the severely inbred Mcpoyle family. Who [[EstablishingCharacterMoment gives us a good idea]] of who he is when he starts [[SuddenlyShouting loudly ranting]] about how his entire family was born "fully-formed" from him and that he was forced to ''[[EatsBabies eat]]'' one of his own to avoid being eaten himself. He doesn't enter gruesome territory until several episodes later when he orders [[spoiler: the bird living under his hat to peck out the prosecutor's eyes at the crescendo of Paddy's Pub's CourtroomAntics.]]

* ''Series/ThePolitician'': Infinity was raised by her grandmother Dusty after her mother's death. Dusty, who has Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, poisoned her and made her believe she was sick, having [[spoiler: killed her mother, too]].

* "Literature/{{Tattercoats}}": The titular character's mother died giving birth to her, and her grandfather hates her for it. Hence he refers to her as "it", refuses to take care of her, and has sworn never to look at her face; he spends almost all of the story sitting by a window and endlessly weeping for his beloved daughter.

* ''WesternAnimation/KuboAndTheTwoStrings'': Kubo's maternal grandfather, Raiden the Moon King, is a supreme deity who loathes humanity and is disgusted that his daughter married a human. When Kubo was born, the Moon King ripped out one of the infant's eyes in an attempt to "make him blind" to the scum of humankind, and [[spoiler: transformed Kubo's father Hanzo into a giant beetle and stole his memories]]. For the next twelve years, Raiden tries to hunt down Kubo in order to steal his other eye, planning to make him blind and cold to the world so he can embrace his godly heritage and reject humanity.

** ''God of War 3'' has Kratos face off against [[OurTitansAreDifferent Cronus]], Zeus's father and thus his grandfather. Cronus' beef with Kratos is because due to opening Pandora's Box and infecting Zeus with fear, Zeus threw him into Tartarus. That, [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas and he believes Kratos killed Gaia]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'', Abuelita is this to Miguel because she upholds Imelda's ban and discrimination to music, she even destroys Miguel's guitar, which led to him running away. Even after returning from the Land of the Dead to help Coco remember Hector, Abuelita just [[LackOfEmpathy yells at him]], but that time, she's stop by Miguel's Parents. When Coco finally remembers Hector and Ernesto's crimes have been exposed, she atones for her past sins and the family goes back to loving music.

* ''WesternAnimation/Coco'': Abuelita is this to Miguel because she upholds Imelda's ban of music, she even destroys Miguel's guitar, which led to him running away, even after returning from the Land of the Dead to help Coco remember Hector, Abuelita just yells at him, but that time, she's stop by Miguel's Parents. When Coco finally remembers Hector and Ernesto's crimes have been exposed, she atones for her past sins and the family goes back to loving music.