History Main / ParentsAsPeople

* In the BlueDevil comics, Kid Devil aka Eddie Bloomberg's parents were this to him, with his aunt Marla Bloom being the alternative parent and Blue Devil being a kind of surrogate uncle. His parents' neglect ended up having some effects on Eddie later in life when he joined the Teen Titans, making him very desperate to have a family.

* In ''DeathNote''

* If [[FruitsBasket the Sohma parents]] don't abuse their cursed children, they're likely to end up as this. I.e., Ritsu's mom Meshou is a FragileFlower who ApologisesALot, and Kisa's HotMom almost gives up raising her because she's too stressed and sad upon not being able to help Kisa with her school troubles.

*** Also Ruki's HotMom Rumiko, who cares for her kid but due to having her [[AbsurdlyYouthfulMother when she was 17]], takes quite a while to really assume her motherly role.

* ''{{Juno}}'' uses this Trope to a degree. The title character's parents are divorced, leaving her with her Dad, step-mom, and half-sister. [[MissingMom She hasn't seen her mom in years, only communicating through letters,]] and her Dad and stepmom don't exactly react too horrified or shocked when they hear she's pregnant, aside from Dad proclaiming an intent to [[GroinAttack punch the boy who did it in the balls.]] At the same time, Juno's stepmom sticks up for her in the doctor's office when a nurse makes a passing insult, and when she's feeling doubtful about a potentially serious relationship, her Dad is there to offer some good advice (albeit admitting that as a divorcee, he isn't the best person to give it).

* The reason Cobb in ''{{Inception}}'' took Saito's job was so he could return to America to see his children. [[spoiler: Mal]] was like this too, but after [[spoiler: being unable to tell reality from dreaming, she committed suicide, believing herself in a dream, so she could be with her children again, not realizing she was already in the real world. Or was she?]]

* General Ross from ''[[Film/TheIncredibleHulk The Incredible Hulk]]'' has a few moments where he seems to care about his daughter Betty but most of his life and time is devoted to capturing the Hulk. In fact, in his determination to subdue the Hulk, his actions nearly got Betty killed at one point. Psychiatrist Dr Samson points out to him how he was lying when he said Betty's safety was his main concern.

** They had this problem in the earlier ''Film/{{Hulk}}'' film as well. General Ross wanted to be a part of Betty's life but couldn't because of his work. He also disapproved of her relationship with Bruce, but only because he knew about Bruce's abusive parents and wanted to keep her safe. By the end of the film, Betty's house, phone, and computer are being monitored in case Bruce ever attempts to contact her, but the two of them make an effort to stay on good terms.
* [[AlphaBitch Regina's]] stepmother in ''MeanGirls''. She is so desperate to be the "cool mom" to her stepdaughter that she effectively spoils Regina rotten, letting her get away with anything, and contributes heavily to Regina's lack of respect to other people.
* King George V in ''TheKingsSpeech'' is strict and harsh to his younger son Albert who has a speech impediment, especially when he was younger where George was a bit of a JerkAss towards him. But because his oldest son is shirking his duties, he knows that Albert may eventually have to take over his duties as a king (whether Albert wants it or not) and he is trying, in his own way, to fix Albert's stuttering. On his deathbed, he does approve of Albert as king but he never actually told Albert.
* In Film/BeforeMidnight, [[spoiler:Jesse and Celine are shown as parents who try very hard and love their kids to bits but ultimately are flawed and imperfect at being parents. Celine later confesses how ashamed she was of being clueless as the mom of their daughters and making mistakes and how she felt she was supposed to be instinctual and a natural at this parenting thing. Also, Jesse totally steals a half-eaten apple from his sleeping daughter!]]
* Herc Hansen from ''PacificRim'' is a good man and is trying hard to be a good father but he and his son Chuck suffer from poor communication and trauma from when Herc had the SadisticChoice of either saving his son or wife when the {{Kaiju}} attacked. Chuck is implied to have SurvivorsGuilt in regards to his father saving him over his mother and resents his father for not saving her.

-->-- [[KatawaShoujo Hisao]], [[Fanfic/WeekendAtHisaos Weekend at Hisao's]]

* In general terms, this is a popular trope in drama series like ''TheBill'' or ''Holby City'' when the children of characters in high-pressure or high profile jobs (such as doctors, teachers, political figures or rescue services) are involved. Often the child will have a scene where they berate their parent for being a hero to everyone else ''but'' their child (i.e. a successful doctor who's never home because she refuses to abandon her patients, or a teacher who goes the extra mile for her pupils while completely forgetting her own son's graduation).

* Averted in ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'' with Nagisa Furukawa's parents. Her father Akio has the phases of the tough guy and an OverprotectiveDad, while her mother Sanae has the sensitive and loving personality as TheDitz and MoeMoe. They are willing to do everything to protect and help Nagisa whilst trying to maintain a healthy, loving relationship between their own selves. [[spoiler: It was eventually revealed that the two indeed ''followed'' this trope earlier in their lives as they were constantly busy pursuing their dream careers in acting (Akio) and teaching (Sanae) and little Nagisa was left alone home constantly. After an incident where Nagisa fell seriously ill while they were working and they [[ParentExMachina just managed to save her before she nearly died]], they find out she was [[IllGirl born sickly]] and have decided to both quit their jobs to pursue the goal of protecting Nagisa instead. This explains the bakery, and why Sanae is [[LethalChef so horrible at baking]] to begin with. Poor Nagisa doesn't know this, and enters a state of {{Wangst}} for a few episodes after she finds out, but eventually recovers when [[ParentExMachina her parents tell her directly during an important play she was doing]] that she shouldn't [[ItsAllMyFault blame herself]]]].

* Timmy Turner's parents, in ''TheFairlyOddParents'', exemplify this trope. They're silly, affectionate, devoted to each other...and leave Timmy in the care of a psychotic babysitter while they're off pursuing their hobby-of-the-week. They do make earnest attempts at being good parents (and are always quick to declare YouAreGrounded), but the fact is that Wanda provides the more traditional "motherly" role.
** The Turners really are this to a T; in the pilot, they were unaware it was possible to hire someone to look after your children and were just sickeningly devoted to giving Timmy all their attention.

** She's a JewishMother, what do you expect?

* Rumplestiltskin in ''OnceUponATime'' is a DotingParent towards his son Baelfire but to save his son from being drafted into the Ogre Wars, he becomes the Dark One to get power, becoming increasingly ruthless and would even [[spoiler: kill people in front of Baelfire]] as a massive overreaction to any injury done to his son. When [[spoiler: offered the chance to live with Baelfire in a world without magic]], he was unable to let go of his power and ended up [[spoiler: losing his son]].

* Jack and Maddie on ''DannyPhantom'' are sometimes more obsessed with their latest ghost-hunting activities to pay attention to their children--like, for example, to notice their son is ''the half-ghost kid they're hunting.'' Their older daughter Jasmine actually [[LampshadeHanging Lampshades]] this, though her diagnosis is a bit of an exaggeration---when not distracted they can show plenty of interest in their kids, often to the point of clinginess.

* The UrExample would have to be Mom and Dad from ''CalvinAndHobbes''. Dad routinely complains about having children, exclaiming that what he really wanted a dog, and has given up on education or instilling respect in his delinquent son; quite the contrary, Dad's favorite pastime is filling his son's head with complete nonsense about how science works. (This may actually stem from Calvin criticizing Dad's ignorance in this field in a past strip.) Mom generally keeps her game face on, but even she has her limits. Artist Bill Watterson said in response to angry complaints about the cruel parents, 'They do a better job than I would.'

* Spirit Alburn in ''SoulEater'' tries to be a loving father but is a ''terrible'' husband, as evident by his wife divorcing him due to his womanizing, which in turn, causes tension between his daughter.

* Spirit Alburn in ''SoulEater'' tries to be a loving father but a ''terrible'' husband, as evident by his wife divorcing him due to his cheating and womanizing, which in turn, causes tension between his daughter.

* Ickis, one of the main characters in Aaaah! Real Monsters is often described as the son of the Great Slickis. Many characters, particularly Oblina and the Gromble gush about how talented Slickis is (in stark contrast to Ickis' struggles to successfully complete his assignments.) Slickis is shown to be a very friendly, laid-back monster who is often traveling the world while he son attends a boarding school, so consequently they don't talk to each other much. The first time they try to reconnect, Slickis cannot remember whether or not his son likes certain activities and Ickis gets mad because everybody else wants to hang out with Slickis, and he wants to spend the day with just his Dad. They end going to the surface world together in an attempt to scare the humans. Ickis messes up, Slickis saves him, and then decides NOT to humiliate his son by revealing what happened after they return to the Academy. Ickis is puzzled but pleased, and the episode ends with the two monsters finally having a nice conversation. Later seasons mention Slickis, who Ickis still wants to impress, and he actually does come to watch his son win a Sewerball game (the monster version of baseball) but mostly he remains too busy with his own career to help Ickis.

* Ickis, one of the main characters in Aaaah! Real Monsters is often described as the son of the Great Slickis. Many characters, particularly Oblina and the Gromble gush about how talented Slickis is (in stark contrast to Ickis' struggles to successfully complete his assignments.) Slickis is shown to be a very friendly, laid-back monster who is often traveling the world while he son attends a boarding school, so consequently they don't talk to each other much. The first time they try to reconnect, Slickis cannot remember whether or not his son likes certain activities and Ickis gets mad because everybody else wants to hang out with Slickis, and he wants to spend the day with just his Dad. They end going to the surface world together in an attempt to scare the humans. Ickis messes up, Slickis saves him, and they decides NOT to humiliate his son by revealing what happened after they return to the Academy. Ickis is puzzled but pleased, and the episode ends with the two monsters finally having a nice conversation. Later seasons mention Slickis, who Ickis still wants to impress, and he actually does come to watch his son win a Sewerball game (the monster version of baseball) but mostly he remains too busy with his own career to help Ickis.

* Mary's parents, in an adaptation of ''TheSecretGarden'', are hopelessly self-absorbed people who accidentally abandon their daughter during an earthquake because they forgot about her.

* Part of the {{Deconstruction}} in ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' revolves around this trope. Many SuperRobot shows have a teenage mecha pilot and a long-absent father who designed the mecha, so ''Evangelion'' shows how traumatizing it would be for a real teen to fight in a giant robot -- and what kind of father would be long-absent to design the robot.

** Try Kouji and Kouichi's parents in Anime/DigimonFrontier. Both boys were raised on the story that their DisappearedDad (Kouichi)/MissingMom (Kouji) was dead and until the death of their maternal grandmother, neither knew the other existed. On the other hand, Tomoko is technically [[GoodParents a good mother]] if a bit of an adult IllGirl and Kousei at least seems to be a decent enough dad.

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'' is one of the most radical examples of this trope. The parents aren't just people, they're full-fledged main characters. All of the mothers got some great development, and the fathers have quite a bit as well. (Except Hideyoshi, who despite being really nice we don't know much about, [[EnsembleDarkhorse to the disappointment of the fanbase]].) They also have one of the [[BigScrewedUpFamily Biggest, Most Screwed Up Families]] you're ever going to meet.
* Averted in ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'' with Nagisa Furukawa's parents. Her father Akio has the phases of the tough guy and an OverprotectiveDad, while her mother Sanae has the sensitive and loving personality as TheDitz and MoeMoe. They are willing to do everything to protect and help Nagisa whilst trying to maintain a healthy, loving relationship between their own selves. [[spoiler: It was eventually revealed that the two indeed ''followed'' this trope earlier in their lives as they were constantly busy pursuing their dream careers in acting (Akio) and teaching (Sanae) and little Nagisa was left alone home constantly. After an incident where Nagisa fell seriously ill while they were working and they [[ParentExMachina just managed to save her before she nearly died]], they find out she was [[IllGirl born sickly]] and have decided to both quit their jobs to pursue the goal of protecting Nagisa instead. This explains the bakery, and why Sanae is [[LethalChef so horrible at baking]] to begin with. Poor Nagisa doesn't know this, and enters a state of {{Wangst}} for a few episodes after she finds out, but eventually recovers when [[ParentExMachina her parents tell her directly during an important play she was doing]] that she shouldn't [[ItsAllMyFault blame herself]]]].
[[/folder]]

* ''VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'' is one of the most radical examples of this trope. The parents aren't just people, they're full-fledged main characters. All of the mothers got some great development, and the fathers have quite a bit as well. (Except Hideyoshi, who despite being really nice we don't know much about, [[EnsembleDarkhorse to the disappointment of the fanbase]].) They also have one of the [[BigScrewedUpFamily Biggest, Most Screwed Up Families]] you're ever going to meet.
* Averted in ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'' with Nagisa Furukawa's parents. Her father Akio has the phases of the tough guy and an OverprotectiveDad, while her mother Sanae has the sensitive and loving personality as TheDitz and MoeMoe. They are willing to do everything to protect and help Nagisa whilst trying to maintain a healthy, loving relationship between their own selves. [[spoiler: It was eventually revealed that the two indeed ''followed'' this trope earlier in their lives as they were constantly busy pursuing their dream careers in acting (Akio) and teaching (Sanae) and little Nagisa was left alone home constantly. After an incident where Nagisa fell seriously ill while they were working and they [[ParentExMachina just managed to save her before she nearly died]], they find out she was [[IllGirl born sickly]] and have decided to both quit their jobs to pursue the goal of protecting Nagisa instead. This explains the bakery, and why Sanae is [[LethalChef so horrible at baking]] to begin with. Poor Nagisa doesn't know this, and enters a state of {{Wangst}} for a few episodes after she finds out, but eventually recovers when [[ParentExMachina her parents tell her directly during an important play she was doing]] that she shouldn't [[ItsAllMyFault blame herself]]]].