Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You in Western Animation.
- Subverted in Adventure Time with Finn's dad, Martin. Initially, Finn thinks this before searching for him in the Citadel, but when his father is confronted on the issue, he tells Finn he can't remember why he did it in the first place. To rub salt in the wound, later in the episode, he even tries (and succeeds in) abandoning Finn again.
- Played with in the Islands mini-series when is revealed through a flashback that Martin didn't abandon Finn and his wife intentionally. A combination of his shady past catching up with him and forces beyond his control ended up separating him from both his wife and his son.
- Arcane: While Vi did storm off to cool down after hitting Powder, she didn't mean to abandon her. Marcus arrested her to save her from being killed by Silco, who had already reached Powder by the time Vi tried to go back. Powder doesn't know this, however, and it's a major factor behind her becoming Jinx. Vi is only able to explain this years later after she gets out of jail, indirectly because of Jinx's violent ways, and Jinx isn't entirely convinced because Caitlyn is with her.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender has a mild version of this; Hakoda has only been gone for a few years to fight in the Hundred Year War. Sokka harbors no resentment and is happy to reunite with his father, but Katara at least still felt abandoned. She even says that she knew and understood Hakoda did what he had to do, but she couldn't help feeling angry for not having him there when she needed him the most. They make up at the end of the episode, though.
- Also, the reason why Princess Ursa is Zuko and Azula's Missing Mom? She killed her father-in-law, Fire Lord Azulon, to protect young Zuko. Or so we think. It is probably what happened, but the ones who reveal this information are Azula and Ozai, who are... not the most trustworthy of people.
- Supposedly, Ursa was meant to come back sometime during the series finale, but the Avatar team didn't want to have to waste a perfectly good plot by squeezing her in. This duly became the biggest unresolved plot thread.
- The Search revealed that she elected to erase her memory of them instead of dedicating her life to watching them grow up from afar. That's one screwed-up family.
- Also, the reason why Princess Ursa is Zuko and Azula's Missing Mom? She killed her father-in-law, Fire Lord Azulon, to protect young Zuko. Or so we think. It is probably what happened, but the ones who reveal this information are Azula and Ozai, who are... not the most trustworthy of people.
- Played for Laughs in Dave the Barbarian, where the King and Queen are away fighting all the evil in the world. It's taking a while. Youngest child Fang in particular seems upset about their absence, while Candy is mostly annoyed about having to run the kingdom herself.
- Subverted in DuckTales (2017), where we have Della Duck, who decided to take a joyride in an experimental spacecraft shortly before her eggs were due to hatch. The end result was her getting stuck on the moon for a decade and presumed dead by her entire family, with the incident causing Donald and Uncle Scrooge to become estranged for most of that time. When she finally returns in Season 2, everyone is overjoyed, but some of them still call her out on her reckless and immature actions. Scrooge is frustrated that she hadn't seemed to learn much from the harrowing experience when they go on a new adventure, Louie refuses to acknowledge Della as his mother until the end of the season, and the first thing Donald does when he finally sees her in the season finale is scream at her for being a moron.
- On Futurama, Leela grew up thinking she was a one-eyed alien, when in reality she was an unusually normal-looking human mutant. Realizing she could pass for "normal," her parents left her at an Orphanarium when she was a baby with a note in an alien language, allowing her to live on the surface rather than as a second-class citizen in the sewers. When they reunite years later and this is revealed it's quite the Tear Jerker, as well as the fact that they never truly abandoned her, since the ending montage showed that they cared for and watched over her from the shadows. In a bit of foreshadowing, you can see them among the crowd of mutants in the first episode taking place in the sewers, hinting this had been the plan all along.
- In Green Eggs and Ham, it is eventually revealed that Sam Iam's mother Pam gave him up for adoption because of her being a spy constantly put his life in danger from enemies, so she left him behind at an orphanage when he was a toddler.
- On Hey Arnold!, Mr. Hyunh was trying to escape to America with his toddler daughter during The Vietnam War; upon hearing that the last helicopter out could only hold one more person, he handed her over and stayed behind. He followed her to America years later but was never able to track her down. Arnold (and Helga) reunite them in the Christmas Episode.
- In Hilda Johanna got deadly ill as a baby, and her parents, Phinium and Lydia, asked the Fairy Entity to cure her, which it agreed to do, but only if Johanna would be given to it ten years later. Out of options they agreed, but soon made a new bargain to give themselves instead and be banished to Fairy Country forever, leaving their daughter behind. Johanna’s aunt Astrid even placed a memory spell on her, so she won’t think her parents have abandoned her.
- In The Long Long Holiday, Ernest and Colette's father leaves the children with their maternal grandparents because their mother has to go to Switzerland to attempt to cure her tuberculosis, and he feels compelled to enlist to help defend France from the Nazis. Then, when France falls to Germany he becomes a prisoner of war. At some point he is freed, but he decides to join La Résistance in Free France across the sea in England. It means the parents can't really see their children until the end of the war, but the reasons are for the greater good so it's understandable.
- Ninjago:
- Lloyd's father, Lord Garmadon, left his family out of a combined desire to conquer the world and to shield Lloyd from his own dark destiny and assure that Lloyd was free to choose his own path. Lloyd's mother, Misako, abandoned Lloyd at a boarding school shortly afterward in order to dedicate her time to seeking a loophole in the prophecy that said Lloyd and Garmadon would have to fight each other to determine the fate of the world. Lloyd holds particular resentment against Misako and outright tells her that she doesn't deserve to call herself his mother when they meet again, but after hearing her out and taking some time to cool down, he forgives her.
- Zane witnessed his father's death, then found him alive on a distant island years later. Turns out he had been revived and abducted in order to make weapons and vehicles for the skeleton army and had been trapped on the island and unable to communicate with the outside world for years. He's afraid Zane will hold this all against him, but Zane is just happy to see him again.
- Kai and Nya's parents, Ray and Maya, were presumed to have died when Nya was three and Kai was slightly older, until Kai discovered hints that his father was still alive and assisting one of their enemies. Turns out the enemy, Krux, had abducted Ray and Maya and forced them to work for him by threatening Kai and Nya's lives.
- Jay hopes this is the case in regards to his biological parents, who abandoned him on his adopted parents' doorstep when he was a baby, but he hasn't received any explanation for it (yet).
- In Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated we learn that Fred's father, Mayor Fred Jones Sr., actually stole him from his birth parents, Brad Chiles and Judy Reeves of the original Mystery Incorporated as part of a way to get hold of the rest of the Planespheric Disc pieces. In the second season, when Brad and Judy finally show up, they say that Jones had also threatened bodily harm onto Fred if they ever came back. Though they came back for a different reason...
- The Simpsons:
- Homer's mother Mona, on the run from federal agents to protect her husband and son after she helped to destroy the contents of a germ warfare laboratory assembled by Mr. Burns. As it turns out, she was quite surprised when she found out that Homer believed her to be dead. The misunderstanding came up because (1) Grandpa Simpson was unwilling to reveal to young Homer that his mother was a criminal (she was rather ticked off by this), and (2) Homer's mistreatment of his mail carrier prevented any of her care packages from reaching him until he specifically asked about them. It's what happens when you don't tip them on Christmas.
- Also, we're led to believe Nelson's father abandoned him. Turns out his peanut allergy caused circus dwellers to kidnap him and use him as an attraction. Thanks to Simpsons' negative continuity, he is never referred to again.
- Tangled: The Series: The last season reveals that Eugene is the prince of the Dark Kingdom, with his father being King Edmund. When Edmund learned that the Moonstone, the artifact that the kingdom had been built around, was dangerous, he tried to destroy it. The stone responded by releasing a shockwave of magic that killed off Eugene's mother and almost killed Edmund. When he recovered, the King ordered that the Dark Kingdom be abandoned, and had Eugene's nurse take him to an orphanage as far from the Dark Kingdom as possible. Even if he can understand Edmund's reasoning, Eugene is understandably upset that his father abandoned him and didn't try to contact or find him for twenty-five years. Eventually, though, they make up, and Edmund even gives Eugene his blessing to marry Rapunzel.
- Voltron: Legendary Defender:
- Keith’s mom has a pretty good reason; being an alien warrior who was fighting in the war between the Galra Empire and the Blade Of Marmora. This combined with Give Him a Normal Life ended with him being raised by his father. They’re only reunited when they run into each other while she’s on an undercover mission.
- Haggar/Honerva tries to invoke this with Lotor. It doesn't end well.
- The Owl House: Depressingly played straight with King's quest for his family, specifically his father whom he has vague recollections of. As the series goes on, not only does it turn out that King's father had a very good reason for abandoning King, it also becomes obvious that he was never too far to begin with, since he is revealed as the Titan, whose corpse the cast (sans Luz) has been living on all their lives.
