History Main / WhenYouComingHomeDad

* ''[[VideoGame/SaGa2 Final Fantasy Legend II]]'' opens with a scene where your father is last seen leaving through your bedroom window. Throughout the game, the two of you bond through brief encounters as you try to convince him to stop working so damn hard.

* The Taiwanese war movie ''Film/AHomeTooFar'' portrays this trope in a depressing way. The protagonist, Deng Ke-pao, is constantly away from his wife and children due to the war, and both his kids would express how much they missed him through letters for their father. Sergeant Teng does eventually come back... to find out the news of his son's death, from falling and breaking his neck after climbing to the top of a tree hoping to catch an early glimpse of the father's return.

* The theme occurs periodically in ''Film/JerseyGirl''.

* ''Manga/TwentiethCenturyBoys'': This has happened with a police detective and his daughter, to the point that she tells him if he's only one hour late to his grandson's birthday party, it'll be okay. [[spoiler:It's a DoomedAppointment, of course.]] It also happened to Otcho, with similarly devastating consequences.

* An episode of ''Manga/NurseAngelRirikaSOS'' reveals that the AlphaBitch Miyuki who frequently bullies Ririka has [[LonelyRichKid issues]] because her father is always at work and doesn't spend time with her. She [[ParentalSubstitute becomes friends]] with Ririka's father however doesn't learn until the end who he is.
* [[{{Ojou}} Eri]] from ''Manga/SchoolRumble'' has this sort of relationship with her rich businessman father, who spends a lot of time away on business. One time she had put a lot of effort into her plans to cook nikujaga for dinner for the two of them that night, only for him to pull up right in front of her in his limousine on the way home to let her know that he has to fly out of Japan immediately and can't make it to dinner after all. She puts on a brave face and tries to be understanding, telling him she had plans to meet up with a friend anyway, but as he drives away leaving her [[GrayRainOfDepression standing in the rain]] it's clear she's heartbroken.
* ParentalSubstitute {{Aver|tedTrope}}sion in ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid''. Kobayashi initially said she wouldn't be able to attend Parent's day (Sports Day in the anime) at Kanna's school due to it being the launch day for a project she was working on, but she then worked even more insane hours than normal to go anyway after realizing how important it was to Kanna.

* ''Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya'': Shirou and Illya's parents spend most of their time away on business trips, leaving them in the care of the family maids. Iri comes back every once in a while, but Kiritsugu is almost always busy. While it's mostly PlayedForLaughs (with Shirou complaining that the male to female ratio is too skewed), in ''2wei'' it's implied that the reason Kiritsugu is so busy is that [[spoiler:he's killing anyone who might try to start another Holy Grail War, since doing so would put his daughter in danger]].
* ''Manga/IThinkOurSonIsGay'': The boys' father often goes overseas for his job, which causes him to be rather out of the loop regarding his son's [[TransparentCloset sexuality]]. However, while he ''is'' home, he tries to spend as much time as possible with his children, and they get along well.

* ComicBook/GreenArrow was this after he took Roy Harper in and made him his sidekick. Oliver was frequently out and about when they weren't in costume and left Roy by himself for varying periods of time. Roy's birth father died in a forest fire when Roy was three, and Roy's adopted father Brave Bow died of liver failure when Roy was twelve. Brave Bow sought Oliver out before that happened because he knew he was dying.

* Diamond Tiara gets a taste of this in the ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'' arc where her father, Filthy Rich, becomes mayor of Ponyville. Among the things he promised was to spend more time with his daughter but with him so busy running the town, Diamond Tiara feels alone and forgotten.
* Post-Crisis, pre-New 52 ComicBook/BlackCanary had a childhood like this. Her mother was the original Golden Age Black Canary. She was often too busy being a superhero to be around in her daughter's life. Dinah II gave her mom a "Best Mom Ever" mug ironically.
* ''ComicBook/TeenTitansGo'': [[spoiler:Killer Moth's]] daughter did what she did in Issue #41 to get his attention because he's distracted with some [[TakeOverTheWorld world domination plot]].
* ''ComicBook/ScoobyDooTeamUp'': [[spoiler: In "Future Shocked", [[WesternAnimation/TheJetsons Elroy Jetson]] is revealed to be the one behind the Space Age Specter. He did it because Mr. Spacely kept Elroy's Dad busy with Project X]].

* ''ComicBook/NewMutants'' shows that ComicBook/{{Sunspot}}'s mother is an archaeologist who's almost always away from home. She didn't show up to the football game where he developed his mutant powers, which he later calls her out on. Combined with his father, who is revealed to be a [[ParentalBetrayal villain]], it leaves Sunspot as a LonelyRichKid.
* Played with in the case of Jacob Kane, [[ComicBook/{{Batwoman}} Kate]] and Beth Kane's father. As a Special Forces soldier, he was often away on missions, and thus commonly missed events in his daughters' lives, such as their birthdays. However, this tapered off as he received promotions, and after Kate enrolled at West Point, he was present at a few Academy events, such as accompanying Kate to R-Day or attending one of her boxing matches.

* In ''Nexus'' this is subverted, as Jack rarely thinks about his father unless he has to.
* Naruto in ''Demon in the Hyuga Clan'' goes through this for years (turning him into a rather soft-spoken, stoic yet well-adjusted kid) but due to being a master of AngstWhatAngst his parents (Minato and Kushina are alive and well) don't realise he's miserable. Hinata calls them out on it (Naruto confides in her) saying they're making him feel unwanted. When they answer that he (Naruto) would've told them she basically asks: [[ArmorPiercingQuestion "How can he when YOU'RE NEVER HOME?"]] Cue StunnedSilence.

* ''FanFic/PerfectCompanions'': Applejack's parents had to travel to help the other Apple Families get their farms started up, and as a result weren't there that often, even missing her birthday several times. They finally made it to give her Winona to help keep her company while they were gone. [[spoiler: Sadly they died in an accident shortly thereafter.]]

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10305847/1/In-Love-of-Quidditch In Love of Quidditch]]'' James Potter spends long hours working as an Unspeakable as a reaction to [[DeathByChildbirth his wife's death]], leaving Harry and her twin brother Alex to be raised mostly by the house elves.

* Played straight and then resolved in ''[[Fanfic/SkyholdAcademyYearbook Life is a Roller Coaster]]''. [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition Cassandra's]] son says his first word, prompting his father (who works in another country) to evaluate what's more important - his work or his family.
* Subverted in ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku''. Hisashi Midoriya only gets to come home once or twice a month because of the rigors of his overseas job as a nuclear physicist. Despite this, he remains HappilyMarried to his wife Inko and his adoptive son Izuku is very happy to spend any amount of time with him.
* PlayedWith in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13249131/1/Croft-and-Son Croft and Son]]''. Lara is often away at work, but she'll talk to Nero whenever she can and is always by his side when he gets sick or hurt, and delayed a work trip entirely to spend a day with him for a school activity. Nero for his part is more than happy being with her, and his only sign of resentment came about in an argument over his future because Lara had a case of ParentalHypocrisy.

* The protagonist of the 2006 version of ''Film/TheShaggyDog'', to the point that his wife’s coworkers believe she’s a single mother.

* Johnny in ''Film/LittleGiants'' wants nothing more than to spend time with his father, who is always away on business. When the father makes it to the football game, Johnny plows through the opposing team and scores a touchdown as a mere side benefit of getting to his dad.
* This is one of the primary themes in ''Film/{{Ink}}''.
* In ''Film/HellraiserInferno'', Detective Joseph Thorne does seem to love his daughter if not his wife anymore, but he ignores both of them by claiming he's working a case when in fact he's visiting hookers. At one point his daughter cries out that she just wants him to come home as he leaves to hunt the killer. [[spoiler:It's Joseph's absence that leads the Engineer to murder his wife and child with no one there to protect them.]]
* In ''Film/GoldenWinter'', the human protagonist, Oliver, feels this way about his parents. It's part of the reason he joined a neighborhood gang.
* In ''Film/{{Mental}}'', the girls and Shirley wish that Barry were home more often, as he often stays away for days [[spoiler:with his mistresses]].

* In ''Literature/CatsCradle'', all the children of Dr. Felix Hoenikker suffer from the fact that he neglects them in favor of his work and [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove does not seem to understand much about emotions in general]], although he genuinely cares from them. He's also the father of the atom bomb.
* In ''Literature/TheCompound'', the fabulously wealthy father had grown up in an orphanage and, during his kids' childhood, realized he didn't spend enough time with them. [[spoiler: So he faked a nuclear attack and made them live with him in an underground bunker for 6 years. He was planning to keep them there another twelve, even if that meant they'd have to eat the younger siblings who were born underground.]] Well, the thought was there...
* One of the ''Literature/ChickenSoupForTheSoul'' books contains a poem entitled "But You Didn't," in which the narrator repeatedly asks one of his parents to play with him, ending each request with the words "but you didn't." In the end, [[spoiler:[[{{Glurge}} "My country called me to war; you asked me to come home safely... but I didn't!"]]]]
* ''Literature/OldKingdom'' series: [[spoiler:Just before he sacrifices himself, Sabriel's father apologizes to her for not having been an "ideal parent", saying that the duties of the Abhorsen tend to come before those of a father. Sabriel makes a similar speech to her son Sam later, saying that Lirael's mother had to leave her because of something she saw]].
* [[spoiler:Barty Crouch, Sr.]] in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' was this, with deadly consequences. Not that this character didn't have [[KnightTemplar other problems]].
-->'''Sirius:''' Nasty little shock for [[spoiler:old Barty]], I'd imagine. Should have spent a bit more time at home with his family, shouldn't he? Ought to have left the office early once in a while ... got to know his own son.

* In the ''Literature/NewJediOrder'', Jaina Solo (Han and Leia's daughter) is this with respect to her mother as, during her childhood, her parents were always off saving the galaxy and were too busy for her. [[DaddysGirl She oddly doesn't hold her father to the same standards]], though this is partly due to the fact that she somewhat resented the fact that Leia never properly learned to be a Jedi even though she carries a lightsaber, and that she otherwise shares all of her skills with her father.

* The first conversation between [[spoiler:Harry and Maggie Dresden]] in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' has shades of this - mainly because, for a variety of reasons ([[spoiler:eight years of not knowing Maggie exists, one year of being mostly dead, and a year of being unable to leave a small island in the middle of Lake Michigan]]), this first-ever father-child conversation happens when the child is ''ten''.
* Blaze's mother in ''Literature/BlazeOrLoveInTheTimeOfSupervillains'' works double-shifts as a nurse to support the family since Blaze's father left them. She's not home a good bit of the time, forcing Blaze to take on the role of making sure that dinner gets on the table and Josh gets to soccer.
* Entirely averted by ''{{Literature/Discworld}}'s'' Sam Vimes, who ''will'' read his son's favorite storybook to him every night at 6 PM, come hell, high water, or terrorist attack. The Watch get in on the act, blocking off the two busiest streets in Ankh-Morpork at rush hour solely so he can get through, and he even manages, [[spoiler:while in a berserk fury, deep underground and possessed by a vengeance demon]], to roar the story loud enough for his son to hear it from several miles away.

* ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'':
** Roseanne tried to encourage Dan to spend more time bonding with DJ by threatening that she might have to play a Harry Chapin song for him.
** Dan's issues with his own father are all about how much time he spent on the road with his job and trying to make up for it by giving expensive gifts whenever he came back.
** Another episode had Roseanne realize just how much she and Dan ignore DJ (who, in a metafictional sense, had spent much of the series until that point being OutOfFocus). They have to be told he's stopped seeing his friends and that he'd stopped playing hockey a year ago. When she finds out he's been driving their car around the neighborhood (implied to be to see if they'd notice), she decides to spend more time with him by making him work as a busboy in the diner.
* On ''Series/WillAndGrace'', Jack, who has daddy issues of his own, despondently recites the lyrics of the song into the mirror when his biological son's mother forbids him from seeing the boy again.
* ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'': Justin's dad is too busy trying to find and hold down a job to spend much time with him. Justin has a bit better luck than most on this page because this is resolved by the end, and in the meantime, his fellow Rangers act as a surrogate family.
* In the TV-movie ''The Christmas Shoes'', Rob Lowe plays a lawyer who spends too much time away from his family, but learns his lesson because of the aforementioned shoes (it makes more sense if you know the song on which the TV-movie is based).
* In the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS03E09Defiant "Defiant"]], Gul Dukat laments to Ben Sisko that, rather than spending the day trying to stop the hijacked USS ''Defiant'' from attacking Cardassian space, he was ''supposed'' to be taking his son to an amusement park for his eleventh birthday.
-->'''Dukat:''' He always wanted to go, but I never had the time. I told him, "This year will be different, Mekor. This year I will ''make'' the time."\\
'''Sisko:''' I had the same experience with Jake. At that age, they never understand, do they? You just hope that, one day later, they'll look back and say, "Now I understand. Now I know why he did that."\\
'''Dukat:''' When my son looks back on this day, the only thing he'll remember is that a Federation officer, on a Federation ship, invaded his home and kept his father away from him on his eleventh birthday, and he won't look back with understanding. He'll look back with hatred, and that's sad.
* This is one of TheChainsOfCommanding Birgitte Nyborg suffers from on ''Series/{{Borgen}}''.
* Morland Holmes, father of Sherlock Holmes in ''Series/{{Elementary}}'', is implied to have been like this for most of his younger son's childhood. He's an international business consultant; when Sherlock was eight, he was sent to boarding school.
* On ''Series/{{NCIS}},'' Tony's mother died when he was young and his father was a struggling businessman who was usually one step away from bankruptcy. [=DiNozzo=] Senior spent a lot of time traveling and would regularly neglect Tony when trying to scrounge up a new business opportunity. Tony remembers one summer when they went on vacation to Hawaii and Tony spent an entire week by himself in the hotel room because his father met some investors and was trying to hammer out a deal.
* Very common question in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' flashbacks, as John would leave his young sons by themselves in seedy hotels for weeks on end while he hunted monsters. Also very popular in fan fiction, as canon establishes that Sam doesn't find out the truth about what John does until he's ten and thought his father was a traveling salesman.
* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'':
** In "Double Helix", the world's most eminent geneticist Dr. Martin Nodel is berated by his 19-year-old son Paul for never attending his Little League games.
** In "Fathers & Sons", Joe "Madman" Dell, a famous blues musician, was frequently absent during his son Hank's childhood because of his music career. This leads him to resent Joe later in life.
** In "Family Values", Jerry Miller is too busy working to be there for his children Candace and Russ, which leads to Candace getting into trouble at school.
* On ''Series/SchittsCreek'', Moira and Johnny were too busy with their careers, wrapped up in each other and their busy social life to pay much attention to David and Alexis, who were raised by their nanny in a different wing of the house. The main arc of the show is the family becoming an actual family when they become destitute and are forced to live in close quarters.

* In ''Theatre/TheTwentyFifthAnnualPutnamCountySpellingBee'', Olive saves a seat for her emotionally distant father. He never shows.

* In ''VideoGame/Persona4'', Dojima is always too busy solving crime to do anything with Nanako (and he's particularly obsessed with finding the man who killed his wife, Nanako's mom, in a hit-and-run). She asks him the title question over the phone more than once.

* In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', we get a dose of this with Carth's son. Part of the reason he [[spoiler: joined the Sith]] was because he resented his father for always being off at war.

* Both ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER|1}}'' and ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' have the protagonist's father in such a situation, contactable only by phone; exaggerated in ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', where in the cast roll in the credits your father ''is'' a phone. ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER 3}}'' also does it, in a different way: for much of the game, Lucas' father spends most of his time up in the mountains searching for his other son that had gone missing, leaving Lucas home alone.
* ''[[VideoGame/SaGa2 Final Fantasy Legend II]]'' opens with a scene where your father is last seen leaving through your bedroom window. Throughout the game, the two of you bond through brief encounters as you try to convince him to stop working so damn hard.
* In ''VideoGame/TheSandMan'', Richard Grundler is always busy with work, to the point that he leaves notes for his daughter letting her know that he'll be staying there for several days at a time to get things done. For her part, Sophie [[StepfordSmiler hides how she feels about this]].
* In ''VideoGame/LabyrinthineDreams'', Beth's father has to work constantly just to make enough to support the family. He hates that he's missing so much of his daughter's childhood [[spoiler: and this ultimately drives him to stage his own death to secure the family money from life insurance.]]

* In the 2016 Starlight event in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', a young and sick boy wants only one gift and that is to see his father. Because the boy's father is a merchant, he spends a lot of time away from the city and has little to no time to rest. Seeing that his father will never show up, the boy's illness grows worse because he gave up hope. You then confront the boy's father before he sets sail to another land and it turns out that he was away for so long in order to find a cure for his son and he just found it, but it requires him to go overseas in order to negotiate a deal for the medicine. In the end, the father can't return home, but the boy bounces back with confidence once he hears the truth and vows to stay strong until his father returns.

* Tiger from ''Webcomic/{{Spinnerette}}'' had a case of this in his flash-back; he often had precious little time with his wife and kids because he was working so many hours as a police officer. In truth, it was because he was moonlighting as a superhero. When his family catches him, his kids aren't upset anymore; in fact, they're completely ecstatic! His wife... not so much.

* ''Webcomic/ButImACatPerson'' runs [[LonelyRichKid Miranda]] through multiple flavors of ParentalAbandonment, including this one (although it's her mother, not her father, who's the workaholic).

* In ''Webcomic/ForestHill'', Colin, a single father of two young kids, tends to be out of town on a regular basis because of work meetings.
* Factors into [[Film/{{Beetlejuice}} Lydia's]] home life in ''Webcomic/CobwebAndStripes''. Stepmother Delia is a self-absorbed artist, which is no loss, but Lydia's father Charles is genuinely kind and loving; he just works ridiculous hours, which leads to things like missing his daughter's birthday. It's part of why she's such a loner.

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Varsuvius turns out to be one. Specifically, they have a spouse and children that they left behind to go become an adventurer and didn't contact or even think about until their lives were threatened due to an enemy V had made. [[spoiler: After a HeelRealization, V decides that the best thing they can do for their kids is to accept it when their spouse files for divorce and sign without fighting it]].
* In the short comic ''[[https://www.deviantart.com/strangelykatie/art/Counting-Stars-Full-Comic-290955152 Counting Stars]]'', the protagonist's mother is working a late-night shift on her 16th birthday.

* Shows up in ''WesternAnimation/UnstableFables: Tortoise Vs. Hare'': Murray Hare misses his son's science fair to work at his car dealership. His wife is even worse, as she's a real estate agent who never takes off her Bluetooth headset and appears to be giving motherly advice when she's actually talking to a client.
* Parodied in the ''Film/MaryPoppins'' episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', where Homer says that Shary Bobbins taught him not to be a money-driven workaholic (something Homer never was in even the tiniest way).

* In ''WesternAnimation/AaahhRealMonsters'', ickis has a famous father Slickis who is often too busy to properly connect with Ickis. They do make up after Slickis saves Ickis from danger and reaffirms he believes his son can do great things too.
* ''WesternAnimation/YogiBear''[='=]s [[ChristmasEpisode All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper]] had a LonelyRichKid stow away with Yogi and gang, who end up getting accused of kidnapping. The trope is summed up aptly when the dad confronts them:

* On ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'', [[HeroAntagonist Dib]] and [[CreepyChild Gaz]] suffer from an extreme version of this, as their father [[ReluctantMadScientist Professor Membrane]] is always either at his laboratory or working on some odd project in the basement. He often communicates with his children through floating video monitors rather than in person. To make things worse, most of his remaining interaction with Dib is spent on lamenting his "[[CassandraTruth insanity]]" and/or pestering him to study "[[ForScience real science]]." The [[ComicBook/InvaderZim comics]] downplay this, with him having a greater presence at home, though he still questions Dib's obsessions.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'' had Johnny and Dukey enlisted by TheMenInBlack Black and White to help investigate an ObviouslyEvil-looking man by becoming friends with his daughter.[[spoiler: Then it turned out it was ''the daughter'' who was evil, and plotting to destroy her father's pet food factory because he was too busy with work for her.]]
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'' with the elderly supervillain The Terror and his son Charlie. Charlie accuses Terror of never spending any time with him when he was a child. Terror says he had to work, but also because Charlie was such a goody-two-shoes, Terror didn't WANT to spend any time with him. For reference, Charlie became an insurance agent instead of a supervillain.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', Jake becomes the father to a litter of dog-rainicorn pups. However, his status as an adventuring hero means he's rarely around to see them. It doesn't help that the pups have reached adulthood in weeks, so all of Jake's attempts to bond come off as hopelessly immature and childish. One of them even tried to buy out Jake's house and force him to take a more "serious" job.
* Both of Macie's parents in ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'' are quite distant and they even forget her own 13th birthday. However they are horrified when they realise it, and the episode is about them trying to make it up to her.
* On ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', Adrien's father Gabriel is ''always'' busy with work. This is on top of keeping Adrien locked into a busy schedule of modeling work and lessons. At the end of "Simon Says" Adrien passive-aggressively rips into his dad for his distance. [[spoiler:Secretly being a supervillain doesn't help Gabriel's case, either.]]
* Edd's parents from ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' are implied to be this. Although they show that they love Edd through their sticky notes and homemade meals, they are implied to have demanding jobs. This hinders their interaction with their only son.
* Mocked in ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'' with Oxnard, Mr. Peanutbutter's BeleagueredAssistant, whom Mr. Peanutbutter all-but abducts after concocting another ZanyScheme. Oxnard had wanted to listen to the trope-naming "Cat's in the Cradle" with his son, who runs into the house to listen as his father's literally getting dragged to work.
-->'''Oxnard''': No! The lyrics are too relevant! Don't do it. [[BigNo Noooooo]]!
* The canonical reason why Scootaloo's parents [[InvisibleParents never appeared]] in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' until the final season is because they're constantly traveling the globe for research work. This leaves her in the custody of her two aunts and seeking attention of CoolBigSis figure Rainbow Dash, but she still maintains a positive view of her folks and deeply admires them.

* A CompressedVice version in the ''[[Literature/TheMoomins Moominvalley]]'' episode "Moominpapa and Son". Mrs Fillyjonk convinces Moominpapa that his lack of a job is a bad influence on Moomintroll, so he decides to set up a business offering boat tours (but, since this is Moominpapa, only in storms). As far as Moomintroll is concerned, all this means is that Moominpapa isn't at home any more.

* Su-ryeon in ''Film/TheSchoolgirlsDiary'' bitterly resents her father for constantly working and only making brief and very infrequent visits home to his family. However, this film was made in UsefulNotes/NorthKorea, so the FamilyUnfriendlyAesop is that her father is ''right'' to essentially abandon his family for his work because he's serving the state and Kim Jong Il.

* ''Manga/UchiNoMusukoWaTabunGay'': The boys' father often goes overseas for his job, which causes him to be rather out of the loop regarding his son's [[TransparentCloset sexuality]]. However, while he ''is'' home, he tries to spend as much time as possible with his children, and they get along well.

* On ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'', [[HeroAntagonist Dib]] and [[CreepyChild Gaz]] suffer from an extreme version of this, as their father [[ReluctantMadScientist Professor Membrane]] is always either at his laboratory or working on some odd project in the basement. He often communicates with his children through floating video monitors rather than in person. To make things worse, most of his remaining interaction with Dib is spent on lamenting his "[[CassandraTruth insanity]]" and/or pestering him to study "[[ForScience real science]]."

* The canonical reason why Scootaloo's parents [[InvisibleParents never appear]] in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is because they're working all the time (which often leaves her in the custody of her two aunts). Their absence has left Scootaloo craving the attention of her CoolBigSis figure Rainbow Dash.

* In ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', we have [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Jotaro Kujo]]'s father, who wasn't around often, due to being a jazz musician that was frequently on tour. Not that Jotaro seems to resent him for this, but he clearly didn't understand that most people need a dad while growing up. This affects his and his daughter Jolyne's relationship in ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Stone Ocean]]'', as he just sort of assumed that his she would inherently know that his near-constant absence was to keep her and her mother out of the Stand-related trouble he regularly dealt with.

* In ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', we have Jotaro Kujo's father, who wasn't around often, due to being a jazz musician that was frequently on tour. Not that Jotaro seems to resent him for this, but he clearly didn't understand that most people need a dad while growing up. This affects his and Jolyne's relationship in ''Stone Ocean'', as he just sort of assumed that his daughter would inherently know that his almost constant absence was to keep her and her mother out of the Stand-related trouble he regularly dealt with.

** ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''. A major source of friction between the Joneses Sr. and Jr. is that Sr. wasn't around much when Indy was a kid. The young Indy was frequently neglected as a child because his father was always off hunting relics. This also let a bad guy get away with a valuable relic that he was going to sell on the black market because [[NotNowKiddo he was too busy translating something to look at him]]. Bright side is that he reclaimed it years later.\\
\\
Things had settled down in the ''Series/YoungIndianaJones'' series when Indy was in High School, but now the physical distance had been replaced with emotional distance after the death of Mrs. Jones.

!!Examples

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]

[[folder:Stand-Up Comedy]]
* {{Parodied|Trope}} in Tim Hawkins' piece "Short Songs", where one of the songs he abbreviates seems to be "Cat in a Cradle": "My son got mad 'cause I worked all the time; he grew up to be a jerk, just like me!"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

[[folder:Web Original]]

* ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutron'' once traveled back in time and persuaded his father to invest in the show's [=McDonald's=] {{Expy}}. When he got back to his own time, his parents were millionaires, but they couldn't even bother to give him the time of day, so he went back to the past to change things back to normal.

* In Aaahh! Real Monsters, ickis has a famous father Slickis who is often too busy to properly connect with Ickis. They do make up after Slickis saves Ickis from danger and reaffirms he believes his son can do great things too.

-->'''Dad:''' She wouldn’t leave me for you. What could you give her that I haven’t?\\
'''Yogi:''' [[ArmorPiercingResponse How’s about some uhh… Time?]]
-->'''Dad:''' [[ExplainExplainOhCrap I’m a busy man. I have a company to run! I have meetings all day, all night. Flying to conferences! I’m never home, I-]](beat) ''[[HeelRealization I’m never home]]''.

* In ''VideoGame/Persona4'', Dojima is always too busy solvin' crime to do anything with Nanako. She asks him the title question over the phone more than once.

-->'''Sirius:''' Nasty little shock for [[spoiler:old Barty]], I'd imagine. Should have spent a bit more time at home with his family, shouldn't he? Ought to have left the office early once in a while ... gotten to know his own son.

->''"If you miss little Timmy's softball game even once he'll end up a serial killer all because of your terrible parenting."''

Basically, this is a story about parents who do honestly love their kids, but are {{Workaholic}}s who yammer away on a cellphone constantly and [[DaddyDidntShow don't show up to their kid's science fair or soccer game or spelling bee]]. The child will feel the pain and misery of your (often ridiculously benign) neglect as he looks in the audience and sees you aren't there. It can even unintentionally infer that they don't care about their own children. It usually develops into AnAesop about not busting your hump for the boss man and instead spending time with your family, frequently by CuttingTheElectronicLeash.

Subtrope of ParentalNeglect. While not quite AlwaysMale, has a strong tendency to be about Dad rather than Mom. Not really ParentalAbandonment, because the parents are there, and not HandsOffParenting either, because they usually aren't hippies. This trope is the most usual portrait of ParentsAsPeople, and usually part of the backstory of a LonelyRichKid. Overlaps with PulledFromYourDayOff if they try to make time but work interferes anyway and DisneylandDad if they try to make up for being absent by buying expensive gifts and paying for expensive outings.

* In ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'', Waku tells Moji that he used to play soccer, but his father never showed up for the tournament he was in, so he began to question why he was doing it, and decided to take a break from it. [[spoiler:At his funeral]], his father admits to having been burdened with work. In the manga, Aiko "Anko" Tokiosumi's father Akira is one as a news reporter, and it's revealed that she had once hoped to be an IdolSinger to see him on TV.

* Fans often think this is the case in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', though Gohan has never shown much if any anger for his father not being there more for him. This is probably because his absences are usually with good reason, and he spends as much time as he can with his family when he ''is'' around. His first absence of one year is because he dies saving Gohan, and stays in the afterlife to train so he can protect the Earth from the Saiyan threat. The next time, he crash-lands on a distant planet following his fight with Frieza, and only declines to return to Earth immediately because he is in the midst of learning an incredibly useful technique - he returns of his own accord a year and a half later. His longest separated time (seven years) was due to him sacrificing himself to prevent Cell from destroying Earth, and believing that if he stayed dead there would be no more foes (like Frieza or Cell). Despite this, he ends up returning and staying until he had to leave to teach his successor - which doesn't prevent him from visiting often, if Neko Majin Z will have us believe. Least to say, neither of Goku's sons are in any way resentful for this and Chichi ends up understanding (but still doesn't cease to worry).

* In ''Manga/MagicOfStella'', Tamaki's father's jobs requires him to only available at home ''one weekend a month''. This is the FreudianExcuse for Tamaki's [[LikesOlderMen fascination of fictional middle-aged men]].

* In the DistantFinale of ''{{Manga/Naruto}}'' and its [[Manga/{{Boruto}} sequel series]], Boruto Uzumaki seems to have this relationship with his father Naruto. He spends a lot of time playing pranks mostly as an effort to get his dad's attention since he's too busy being the [[spoiler:seventh Hokage]]. While Naruto perhaps means well, it is shown that he barely knows anything about his son and has burned up much of Boruto's goodwill towards him, leading his eldest child to openly disrespect both him and his title of Hokage. Even when Naruto attempts to spend time with Boruto, it mostly revolves around things Naruto himself preferred as a child, such as taking Boruto out for ramen. Sadly, the man who once declared that "I never go back on my word, it's my ninja way!" seems to either be stretched too thin, or just not understand his responsibility to his children. Boruto is particularly enraged when he feels he received a promise from Naruto to be at Himawari's birthday celebration, only for Naruto to send a clone...and one that dispels while carrying Himawari's cake. Needless to say, Boruto is NOT pleased with Naruto. His younger sister Himawari doesn't have this issue and is more accepting of their father's job.

** Sorrel from ''Anime/PokemonIChooseYou'' has parents who works often. When he was younger, he was raised by their Luxray. [[spoiler:The Luxray ended up freezing to death keeping him warm while they were stuck outside in a snowstorm]].

** Ami's mom is a workaholic doctor, but also a pretty good person who had to raise her daughter almost on her own after her divorce. She even laments in the [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]] that she would really love to spend more time with her kid, but she cannot. This is to the point where she doesn't show up at all in TheNineties anime. Likewise her DisappearedDad is a travelling artist (seemingly a wildlife painter) who communicates to her via letters and paintings but almost never actually shows up.

* Naruto in ''Demon in the Hyuga Clan'' goes through this for years (turning him into a rather soft spoken, stoic yet well adjusted kid) but due to being a master of AngstWhatAngst his parents (Minato and Kushina are alive and well) don't realise he's miserable. Hinata calls them out on it (Naruto confides in her) saying they're making him feel unwanted. When they answer that he (Naruto) would've told them she basically asks: [[ArmorPiercingQuestion "How can he when YOU'RE NEVER HOME?"]] Cue StunnedSilence.

* In ''WesternAnimation/JetsonsTheMovie'', George is given a promotion and becomes a workaholic to try and maintain said rise in power. He has to be snapped out of it by his family and the fact that Spacely Sprockets is destroying a alien race's home. This all leads to his crowning moment where he finally tells Spacely off.

* The 1998 comedy ''[[Film/JackFrost1998 Jack Frost]]'': Jack Frost is a workaholic singer of his self-titled rock band and he constantly puts his career over his wife Gabby and son Charlie and often breaks/forgets the promises he made to them. Jack misses Charlie's hockey game, but promises to make up for it with a trip to the mountains for Christmas. But then Jack is called in to record songs that mean he won't be home for Christmas. On his way to the gig, Jack realizes his mistake and cancels the gig and leaves to spend the holidays with his family. Unfortunately, a bad storm begins to block his vision, and he crashes his car and is killed instantly. One year later, the spirit of Jack is reincarnated inside a snowman in order put things right with Charlie before he completely disappears into the afterlife.

* Creator/MichellePfeiffer's character in ''Film/IAmSam''. She and her husband are overworked and share little time with their son who has becomes estranged.

* Su-ryeon in ''Film/TheSchoolgirlsDiary'' bitterly resents her father for constantly working and only making brief and very infrequent visits home to his family. However, this film was made in UsefulNotes/NorthKorea, so the FamilyUnfriendlyAesop is that her father is ''right'' to essentially abandon his family for his work, because he's serving the state and Kim Jong Il.

* In ''Film/{{Mental}}'', the girls, and Shirley, wish that Barry were home more often, as he often stays away for days [[spoiler:with his mistresses]].

* ''Literature/OldKingdom'' series: [[spoiler:Just before he sacrifices himself, Sabriel's father apologizes to her for not having been an "ideal parent", saying that the duties of the Abhorsen tend come before those of a father. Sabriel makes a similar speech to her son Sam later, saying that Lirael's mother had to leave her because of something she saw]].

* In the ''Literature/NewJediOrder'', Jaina Solo (Han and Leia's daughter) is this with respect to her mother as during her childhood, her parents were always off saving the galaxy and were too busy for her. [[DaddysGirl She oddly doesn't hold her father to the same standards]], though this is partly due to the fact that she somewhat resented the fact that Leia never properly learned to be a Jedi even though she carries a lightsaber, and that she otherwise shares all of her skills with her father.

* ''Series/TheWire'': Detective Jimmy [=McNulty=]'s bad parenting encompasses this trope, but is by no means limited to it. He is separated from his wife, and is frequently disputing the terms of the custody agreement, insisting he needs more time with both his kids.

* ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'': Justin's dad is too busy trying to find and hold down a job to spend much time with him. Justin has a bit better luck than most on this page because this is resolved by the end, and in the meantime his fellow Rangers act as a surrogate family.

'''Dukat:''' When my son looks back on this day, the only thing he'll remember is that a Federation officer, on a Federation ship, invaded his home, and kept his father away from him on his eleventh birthday, and he won't look back with understanding. He'll look back with hatred, and that's sad.

** Billy Ray's [[Music/MileyCyrus daughter]] [[WordOfGod mentions in her 2009 memoirs]], ''Miles to Go'', that she never understood why her dad had to be out on the road for so long, until she herself had to do long tours away from her family. Billy Ray's intense schedule led him to slow down his country career by the late [[TheNineties 1990s]] to settle down and raise his family, which led to him living and working with them in Canada filming ''Doc''.
* "Someday Never Comes" by Music/CreedenceClearwaterRevival, which not only invokes this trope with both the father's life and death, but states that the son ends up just like his father with the implication that '''his''' son will be the same way when he gets older.

** Amy's mother is a shoe saleswoman, and is always travelling across the east coast. While Amy doesn't mind this too much, it does mean that she's much closer to her father than her mother.

* Both ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER|1}}'' and ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' have the protagonist's father in such a situation, contactable only by phone; exaggerated in ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', where in the cast roll in the credits your father ''is'' a phone. ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER 3}}'' also does it, in a different way: for much of the game, Lucas' father spends most of his time up in the mountains searching for his other son that had went missing, leaving Lucas home alone.

* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'', William and Annette Birkin are high-ranking scientists who work for Umbrella. But because of their work, they're almost never home and barely able to spend any time with Sherry, their twelve-year-old daughter, forcing her to learn how to take care of herself. It's even worse in the remake; after she's implanted with a G-Virus embryo by her mutated father and Annette [[TheNeedsOfTheMany chooses stopping William from leaving the city over curing her]], Sherry begins doubting if Annette even loves her, outright refusing her pendant when Claire offers it back to her, claiming it was a birthday gift from her mother... But all Sherry wanted was for her to be home more.

* Tiger from ''Webcomic/{{Spinnerette}}'' had a case of this in his flash-back; he often had precious little time with his wife and kids because he was working so many hours as a police officer. In truth it was because he was moonlighting as a superhero. When his family catches him, his kids aren't upset any more, in fact they're completely ecstatic! His wife... not so much.

* Chapter eight of ''Webcomic/{{Terra}}'' opens in a {{flashback}} of Rick [=MacFarlane=] in the last stages of getting ready to go on deployment, only to discover that his daughter (10-ish) has gone so far as to steal his ID to keep him from leaving. He was apparently supposed to help her finish a model kit of some kind. And then since it's a flashback, we know that after this his SpaceFighter gets shot down and he and his pilot Alex are stranded a ways across the galaxy with no easy way home.

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Varsuvius turns out to be one. Specifically, they have a spouse and children that they left behind to go become an adventurer and didn't contact or even think about until their lives were threatened due to an enemy V had made. [[spoiler: After a HeelRealization, V decides that the best thing they can do for their kids is accept it when their spouse files for divorce and sign without fighting it]].

* ''WesternAnimation/RocketPower'' had Sam's dad be like this when he comes to visit. By the end of the episode he tosses his phone in the back of their car and ignores it as it rings.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'' with the elderly supervillain The Terror and his son Charlie. Charlie accuses Terror of never spending any time with him when he was a child. Terror says he had to work, but also because Charlie was such a goody-two shoes, Terror didn't WANT to spend any time with him. For reference, Charlie became an insurance agent instead of a supervillain.

* May or may not be the case in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. Gohan has never shown much if any anger for his father not being there more for him. The separations often occurs due to Goku being dead or the Earth being in great peril. In fact, his longest separated time (seven years) was due to him believing that if he stayed dead there would be no more foes (like Frieza or Cell). Despite this, he ends up returning and staying until he lad to leave to teach his successor. Least to say, neither of Goku's sons are in any way resentful for this and Chichi ends up understanding (but still doesn't cease to worry).

-->'''Dad:''' Why would he leave with you? What could you possibly give him that I couldn't?\\
'''Yogi:''' [[ArmorPiercingResponse Time.]]

* Rick Moranis defied this troupe. When his wife died, he retired from acting specifically so he wouldn't be one of these to his daughter.