History Main / WhatTheHellDad

->''"He can't even shoot straight."''
-->-- '''UsefulNotes/JosefStalin''' responding to his son Yakov's attempted suicide by self inflicted gunshot.

You've got your cool dad. You've got your AbusiveDad. And then you've got... this guy. He views his son (this is almost AlwaysMale) as an equal and in no real need of monitoring, instruction, or the rest of the whole parenting game. Can border on its own form of abuse. The child ranges from prepubescent to simply not meeting one's cultural definition of adulthood.

Can lead to WellDoneSonGuy. May eventually be [[CallingTheOldManOut called out]]. See also ParentalNeglect, AdultsAreUseless. Contrast KnightTemplarParent and PapaWolf.
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!!Examples:

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[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* To the extent that she's a mother figure for Shinji, Misato in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''.
** Of course his actual parent, Gendo Ikari, is a thousand times worse.
* Son Goku from ''DragonballZ'', full stop. With both Gohan and Goten.
* In [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime adaptation]] of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', after DisappearedDad Hohenheim comes back to see his kids (who are only 16 and 14), he figures they've taken care of themselves long enough that it doesn't really matter if he takes up a fathering role. And so he leaves ''again''!
** He was pathetic and low in pretty much every arena possible. Al really wanted him to stay, but he didn't listen. His {{Wangst}} reaches really annoying levels when you find out just how much of an asshole he is.
** The original Hohenheim, however, is a completely different story.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Aloof fathers [[ObfuscatingStupidity Isshin]] and [[TheSnarkKnight Ryuuken]] are big headaches for their sons. Isshin pretends to be clueless about Ichigo's adventures while secretly collaborating with his son's SinkOrSwimMentor. He only reveals his powers to hide an even bigger secret from Ichigo. Ryuuken tells Uryuu to his face that he does ''not'' view him as an equal in any way and only admits it's because Uryuu isn't achieving his full potential when his son's unconscious and unable to hear him. In one depressing scene, they acknowledge their awful parenting and debate who is the worst father. It appears they loathe how they treat their sons but feel forced to by a mysterious [[XanatosGambit grand plan]].
* This is almost how the de Blois family relationship works out in ''LightNovel/{{Gosick}}'', with Albert being so obsessed with preparing for WorldWarII that Grevil is an easily intimidated (mostly) ineffectual police inspector [[spoiler:and Victorique's own upbringing being as it is, considering he only sees her as a tool for what's to come.]]
* Patrick Zala in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed'' treats his son Athrun as though he were any other subordinate. Given that Patrick is a paranoid and [[FinalSolution genocidal]] GeneralRipper this is not a good thing. By the end he's attempted to personally execute Athrun for treason.
** Flit Asuno from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE'', once a [[UsedToBeASweetKid sweet kid]] has grown up into a borderline {{expy}} of Patrick. He expects his son, Asem, to behave and conduct himself as an adult and soldier at all times, regardless of how it affects him.
*** And he's not really any better towards his ''grandson''.
* Gambino from ''{{Manga/Berserk}}''. Apart from being a [[AbusiveParents full-blown douchebag]] to Guts as well as his teacher in being a mercenary, Gambino didn't do much in the way of parenting toward his adopted son. He even sent the kid onto the battlefield ''before'' he started his official training at the tender age of four, fully expecting Guts to not get his ass killed.
** Not really. He actually fully expected Guts ''would'' get his ass killed. Guts simply [[{{Determinator}} wouldn't]] [[{{Badass}} oblige]].
* To some degree, both of [[LightIsNotGood Light]] [[BrokenAce Yagami]]'s parents in ''Manga/DeathNote'' do this to him, though it's most likely unintentional; they seem to completely ignore every aspect of his life besides his schoolwork, to the point where they fail to notice his deteriorating [[AGodAmI mental]] [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity state]] and [[SerialKiller murderous tendencies]]. This may or may not contribute to Light's PsychopathicManchild state.
-->'''L''': Your son's pretty smart.
-->'''Soichiro''': Yeah, I guess he is.
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[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ComicBook/{{Magneto}} is this to all his children.
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[[folder:Film]]
* Henry Jones Sr. from ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'', to such an extent that Junior preferred to be named after the dog instead.
* ''Film/ThatsMyBoy'': Donny who raised his son as a teenager and feed him lolipops for breakfast, now his son is a diabetic and needs to take insulin shots daily. That's just the tip of the iceberg of how messed up a dad Donny is.
* Nigel Powers in the ''Film/AustinPowers'' series. When Austin calls him out on his shoddy parenting in ''[[Film/AustinPowersInGoldmember Goldmember]]'', Nigel is confused because he thought they had a great relationship and were best friends. Austin's response?
-->'''Austin:''' I didn't need a friend, I needed a father!
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[[folder:Literature]]
* Luke Skywalker in the StarWarsExpandedUniverse: Ben literally gets away with murder in ''Literature/LegacyOfTheForce''. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking He steals a Y-wing too.]]
** Han oscillates between this and PapaWolf. After the NJO, he's all PapaWolf.
* In ''Literature/TheAbsolutelyTrueDiaryOfAPartTimeIndian'', Arnold Spirit Sr. is portrayed as this, to the point of talking dirty to his son.
* Rick Pym in JohnLeCarre's ''A Perfect Spy'', who uses his son Magnus in many of his scams.
* In a rare mother/daughter example, Rayojini in ''Literature/BuryingTheShadow'' is left alone for months at a time while Ushas goes in search of work. This is actually probably the best arrangement for the both of them.
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[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'' has several, since AdultsAreUseless:
** Toby's dad has a disturbing [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment punishment]] for him and JT for watching porn.
** Craig's dad is abusive. Naturally Joey goes to the opposite extreme.
** Tracker, somewhat justified by the fact that Tracker is Sean's brother, not his father. But that doesn't explain why Tracker lets Sean stay in Toronto when he moved to Alberta. Indeed, Sean in general follows the RuleOfCool.
** Peter's dad.
* John Winchester from ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' trained his sons from an early age to kill the demon that murdered their mother, and didn't really do much else in the way of parenting. He left that to oldest son Dean, treating Dean more like a grown hunter than a child.
* The relationship between Frank Barone and his adult sons in ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'' runs on this trope. Frank's reaction, on realising Ray has made it into the big time as a newspaper columnist, is to say
-->Never thought a son of mine would ever amount to anything!
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[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* Granddad from ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks''. Riley hangs around known criminals, Huey has a massive weapons stockpile, and Granddad doesn't care. Though he does beat them when they do something bad.
** [[FlatWhat wut.]]
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Dr. Thomas Light]] repeatedly sends his son Rock out to fight hordes of evil robots and a megalomaniacal MadScientist. Justified in that said son is, you know, a robot himself.
* The King of All Cosmos kicks off the first ''VideoGame/KatamariDamacy'' by going on a drunken bender and knocking all the stars out of the sky. He then sends his tiny son to clean up the mess for him, placing completely arbitrary conditions on his rolling. Don't roll a big enough katamari before his patience runs out? [[ItsAWonderfulFailure Punishment time]]!
* Kenshi is this in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'', according to Kano. [[FridgeBrilliance And he's got a point.]]
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[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Dr. Rusty Venture on ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers''. He even hires Sgt. Hatred (a known pedophile) as a bodyguard, and when it's revealed Hatred has a nickname for Hank, Rusty simply says [[{{Shotacon}} "You're sleeping with him, aren't you?"]]
** Rusty's own dad, Dr. Jonas Venture Sr., has become worse and worse as more of Rusty's childhood is shown. In season one, he was shown to have been a mildly negligent InsufferableGenius, but by this point, he seems to have been an emotionally manipulative, near-scociopath who knowingly placed his son in danger on a daily basis...and was also negligent.
* ''All'' the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' parents are portrayed as this. Borders on a RunningGag at times.
--> '''Kyle''' *from the episode ''Asspen''* It's been 8 hours, ''where the hell are our parents?!''
* Peter to Chris on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', to the point of IncestSubtext. Then again, '''it's Family Guy''', so IncestSubtext is par for the course.
* [[BigBad Fire]] [[AbusiveParents Lord Ozai]] from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. Yes, his son survived what he put him through, with Uncle's help, and yes, his daughter was highly competent as TheDragon, but he did not do the parenting thing, and sent them both into great danger very casually. Azula at least he trained personally.
* WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}, though he is not the actual father of [[InsistentTerminology Wee Baby Seamus]], gets his name tattooed on the infant's back. Archer got Seamus' name on his back, and he thought the gesture would symbolize how they "have each other's backs." Seamus's mother is very horrified by this.
* Played for laughs in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' when Leela and the rest of the crew end up becoming teenagers again. Leela chooses to go live with her parents, so she can experience what it would have been like to have parents (structure, discipline, etc.) but they just give her alcohol and don't care how late she stays out. Part of this is due to lack of knowledge, but mainly she is already an adult mentally and know she can make her own decisions.
* When ''[[TheSimpsons Homer Simpson]]'' isnt an AbusiveDad, he's this trope, especially towards Bart. This is especially obvious whenever Marge isnt around, as Homer has little interest in proper parenting and usually just ignores his children until he's guilt tripped into doing actual parental things with them.
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[[folder:Real Life]]
* JosefStalin's son Yakov was so heavily abused by his father that he attempted suicide. When Yakov was captured by Nazis in WW2 the Nazis offered to free him in exchange for several high ranking officers since he was Stalin's son. However Stalin refused the deal, believing that the deal was unfair because Yakov was not a high ranking officer himself. Yakov later died in a Nazi concentration camp.
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* {{Magneto}} is this to all his children.

-->-- '''JosefStalin''' responding to his son Yakov's attempted suicide by self inflicted gunshot.

* The King of All Cosmos kicks off the first ''KatamariDamacy'' by going on a drunken bender and knocking all the stars out of the sky. He then sends his tiny son to clean up the mess for him, placing completely arbitrary conditions on his rolling. Don't roll a big enough katamari before his patience runs out? [[ItsAWonderfulFailure Punishment time]]!
* [[MortalKombatX Kenshi]] is this, according to Kano. [[FridgeBrilliance And he's got a point.]]

* ''Franchise/IndianaJones and Film/TheLastCrusade'''s Henry Jones Sr., to such an extent that Junior preferred to be named after the dog instead.

* Nigel Powers in the ''Film/AustinPowers'' series. When Austin calls him out on his shoddy parenting, Nigel is confused because he thought they had a great relationship and were best friends. Austin's response?
-->'''Austin:''' "I didn't need a friend, I needed a father!"

* The relationship between Frank Barone and his adult sons in ''EverybodyLovesRaymond'' runs on this trope. Frank's reaction, on realising Ray has made it into the big time as a newspaper columnist, is to say