History Main / TellMeAboutMyFather

--->-- ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl''

->'''Will Turner''': You knew my father.\\
'''Pintel''': Old Bootstrap Bill? Aye, we knew 'im. Never sat well with ol' Bootstrap, what we did to Sparrow and all. That's why he sent a piece of the treasure off to you, as it were. He said that we deserved to be cursed... and remain cursed.
--->-- ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl''

* "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" by the Temptations addresses this.

* Pretty thoroughly [[AvertedTrope averted]] in ''TheDragonridersOfPern''. Lord Jaxom's mother died in childbirth, and his father died in a duel minutes later. Jaxom grows up knowing that his father was a cruel, power-mad tyrant.

* In KenFollet's ''The Pillars of the Earth'' the character Jack asked about the demise of his father Jack Shareburg.

* HarryPotter idolized his father until he heard differently from Snape and then saw for himself that James Potter was not the greatest wizard in the world, as his son believed.
** It was also noted by others that James was a ''teenager'' - which we nearly all will look upon as an OldShame someday. He ''[[CharacterDevelopment did]]'' [[CharacterDevelopment wise up enough]] to become a more or less decent guy. And Snape was ''hardly'' [[UnreliableNarrator the most unbiased person]], either.
*** Plus, it excellently paralleled Harry's being self-centered, {{Wangst}}y, and nasty to his friends all through his fifth year, although Harry probably didn't really understand until after his behavior caused massive consequences. The context made the scene where Harry asks Sirius and Remus about it, and can't understand why they chuckle with fond embarrassment through the whole exchange, ("He kept messing up his hair."/"I'd forgotten he used to do that!" and "...he was only fifteen—"/"''I'm'' fifteen!") very humorous to readers who actually had personal experience with such people.
*** It came from Snape's memories, and it seems in the HarryPotter universe, memories don't lie.
**** A) Slughorn lied in his memory of Tom Riddle asking about Horcruxes. B) We learn in the last book that it was Snape's worst memory, not because of what James and Sirius did to him, but because that was the day he called his only friend (and love) Lily a mudblood, which completely ''destroyed'' their friendship.
***** Slughorn lied deliberately and it was fairly obvious in the memory; Snape's memory was one no-one was supposed to see.
***** Also, the accuracy of this particular memory--James attacking Severus because Sirius was bored--was confirmed by Sirius and Remus.

* PercyJackson often wondered about his father (before finding out that his father was Posideon) and despite his mother often repeating carefully selected details about him, he never got tired of hearing them.

* In JohnRingo and DavidWeber's ''March Upcountry,'' Prince Roger is considered a jerk, a fop, and a possible traitor by the other characters, mostly because he takes after his father who shares all the same qualities. The catch -- he has never met his father and no one has ever told him why. The real reason for his being like this is that he has been sidelined all his life on the grounds that he MIGHT be like his father. Everyone simply assumes he knows his father's history, but no one has ever checked to make sure. Because of this suspicion, he ends up trapped on a DeathWorld. So when he finds out, the result is an entirely justified temper tantrum.

* Renton was shocked and anxious when he found out at episode 38 that Eureka knew his father Adrock Thurston all along in {{Eureka Seven}}, and urged Eureka to tell him about his dad. This sudden outburst made Eureka confused and uncomfortable, so she ran away. Eventually She did come back to Renton and share her experience with Adrock Thurston after learning from Stoner that Renton is eager to learn about his dad very much.
* Subverted in GundamWing. [[spoiler: Right before Relena's adoptive father kicks the bucket, he manages to briefly tell that she's adopted and that her dead parents were the monarchs of the Sank Kingdom, but dies before giving her the details. She later cuts off her adoptive mother when she's gonna tell her how she came into the care of the Darlians, begging her in tears to not stop being her mom.]]

* In an interesting inversion, Daken, the son of Wolverine, asks his father about his mother. Due to the fact they're in a mental plane of existence, Logan decides to show him rather than just tell him. It's a sweet moment until Daken can't touch her and demands more, which Logan can't give.

* [[BigFish]] is heavy on this

* TheOdyssey: When Odysseus went to war, he left a wife and newborn son at home. Twenty years later, the war is ten years over, but Odysseus has still not returned. His son Telemachus, now just barely an adult, goes on a road (and sea) trip to find out where the heck he's gone off to. As he interviews Ulysses' old war buddies (in books III and IV) he tries hard to keep it strictly business -- when did you last see Odysseus, and which way was he going? -- but the TellMeAboutMyFather vibe is unmistakable, making this one OlderThanDirt.

* in Ken Follet's "The Pillars of the Earth" the character Jack asked about the demise of his father Jack Shareburg.

* {{Gender Flip}}ped in several season 4 episodes of ChinaBeach as Karen inquires about her mother among the group of [[VietnamWar veterans]] who knew her. She also eventually meets her father in the process. He's a jerk. No wonder she wasn't looking for him.

* The character Sophie, in [[MammaMia Mamma Mia]], doesn't ask her mother about her father, but finds her mother's diary describing 3 possible fathers, leading to the entire plotline.

* In ''AION''s second area, Altgard Keep, you meet an Archon that hands you an expensive pendant and his story. He had been abandoned as an infant with only this pendant and now wants to know who his parents were, although he suggests that they were mere mortals. You track the owner of the pendant down and she tells you that a)she has lost that pendant long ago and therefore the boys parents must've been thieves and b) that she and her husband have no children. She does, however, hand you the box that belongs to the pendant and tells you to give it to the Archon with best wishes in regards of finding his true parents. [[spoiler:In the box you find a letter detailing that said owner of the pendant is in fact his mother, the father being not her husband but a dead Archon that courted her and that he died because of political 'difficulties', namely her father, the High Priest of the Daeva himself and the girls family-in-law and that she barely was able to abandon him to let him live, that it broke her heart and that this scandal must never come to light.]]

* In [[http://www.goldcoincomics.com Gold Coin Comics]] when Lance talks about his parents' past.

* Isheil of {{Juathuur}} loved to hear the story of how her mother became a fish.
* TheDreamlandChronicles: [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/the-dreamland-chronicles/chapter-06/page-392/ Nastajia learns her parents visited the mermaid king on their quest]]

* We know about Zuko's father in AvatarTheLastAirbender, of course. Instead, [[spoiler:after the war is won and Ex-Fire Lord Ozai is imprisoned, Zuko comes to his cell and demands one thing. "Where. Is. My. ''Mother''?"]]

* In [[http://percyjacksonfanfiction.wikia.com/wiki/Whispers_in_the_Dark Whispers in the Dark]], Taylor was told all her life that her father drowned when she was a baby and that's why she doesn't remember him. But when [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou she actually meets him]], she's pretty pissed to find out that he's [[spoiler:the one and only [[PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians Luke Castellan]], who betrayed the gods to join Kronos]].

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* Subverted in John Varley's ''Steel Beach'' as Hildy's mother flatly refuses to even identify her father, let alone tell her anything about him. The resulting animosity causes periodic breaks in their relationship, but that doesn't prevent Hildy from resolving to similarly conceal the fahter's identiy of her own child Mario.

* In the Lindsay Lohan remake of ''TheParentTrap'', Hallie (posing as Annie) asks her mother to tell her about "the F-word" - "You know, my father."

A parent or other relative who wants him not to TurnOutLikeHisFather will [[LockedOutOfTheLoop resist as long as possible]]. Unfortunately, this usually results only in the [[ShroudedInMyth mysterious parent]] taking on the allure of ForbiddenFruit -- which may result in [[ExpectingSomeoneTaller a harder than usual crash]].

* Haré pulls this in ''[[JungleWaItsumoHaleNochiGuu Haré+Guu]]'' with his mother, Weda. He asks her about his father. [[spoiler:She tells him pretty blankly that it's Dr. Clive, the doctor who's just come to work in the village. Since Dr. Clive is a ChivalrousPervert without the chivalry, Haré is ''not'' pleased.]]

** Sad to say, the chance never did present itself. Naruto spent the entirety of his childhood trying to survive, though how bad it really was is debated between fans from 'everyone trying to kill him' to 'everyone hates him.' It was pretty much established that Naruto was ''supposed'' to be told everything when he officially turned 16, else he would be too weak. [[spoiler: Too weak to handle the Yondaime's enemies, that is. Naruto ''is'' his son, after all.]]
** Considering how Naruto was a kid it's probably for the best they didn't tell him. It would have gone straight to his head.
** He finally does ask a ''little'' when he meets [[spoiler: his mother]] while on a JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind. Not nearly as much as he ''should'' have, but he had other, more pressing concerns at the time.
* Renton was shocked and anxious when he found out at episode 38 that Eureka knew his father Adrock Thurston all along in {{Eureka Seven}} and urged Eureka to tell him about his dad. This sudden outburst made Eureka confused and uncomfortable, so she ran away. Eventually She did come back to Renton and share her experience with Adrock Thurston after learning from Stoner that Renton is eager to learn about his dad very much.

** The fact that James joined the war against Voldemort and died trying to hold him off so that his wife and son could escape (as well as how he saved Snape from werewolf-Lupin, which ''Snape himself aknowledges'' albeit grudgingly) reinforces the understanding of the good man he wasn't at first, but later became.

* In the Lindsay Lohan remake of ''TheParentTrap'', Hallie (posing as Annie) asks her mother to tell her about "the F-word" -- "You know, my father."

* Negi Springfield, titular character of ''MahouSenseiNegima'' sort of counts. He thought of his father the [[RedBaron Thousand Master]] really was a man of a thousand powerful spells, when really he only knew five or six and had to look through a cheat sheet of complex incantations (of course his romantisizing son was rightfully disturbed). Despite all that, Nagi ''was'' a talented hand-to-hand fighter and his sheer power could more than accommodate for his lack of spells; for the spells he ''could'' do, they were often over-powered (including basics) or his natural ability made complicated magic a sinch for him. [[WorldsStrongestMan There's a reason they called him an invincible hero]].

* The gender-flipped version is used in ''{{Clannad}}'' (by [[spoiler: Ushio Okazaki, Tomoyas daughter... with IllGirl Nagisa, who [[DeathByChildbirth died when giving brth to her]]]]) [[TearJerker to wring out as much tears as possible from the audience]].

** Sadly to say, the chance never did present itself. Naruto spent the entirety of his childhood trying to survive, though how bad it really was is debated between fans from 'everyone trying to kill him' to 'everyone hates him.' It was pretty much established that Naruto was ''supposed'' to be told everything when he officially turned 16, else he would be too weak. [[spoiler: Too weak to handle the Yondaime's enemies, that is. Naruto ''is'' his son, after all.]]

* When [[DCComics DC]]'s Damage discovered he was the son of the JusticeSociety's Atom, two members of the Society, with him, talked about finding the others, and every surviving member came with Damage to his parents' grave.