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Cool Uncle
aka: Cool Aunt

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"That seems like the kinda thing a responsible parent wouldn't want you doing... Good thing I'm an uncle! Avenge me, kids! AVEEEEEEENGE MEEEEEE!!!"
Grunkle Stan, Gravity Falls, "Headhunters"

Lots of families have that one uncle that gets on great with all the kids. Most often, he's a youngish bachelor with no children of his own and has no intention of settling down any time soon, though he may be romantically involved. He may travel a lot and wow the kids with stories of meeting celebrities and traveling the world (and if so, he always brings back the coolest souvenirs, which he naturally gives away as presents), and he's much more free-spirited than the kids' straitlaced parents.

Regardless, he will often be secretly envious of the stability and loving home life that his sibling enjoys with their spouse and kids, even as he boasts of his own independence. The uncle may be the Black Sheep of the family. Often he's the kids' godfather as well; if they ever lose their parents, he'll be the one who steps in to become a Parental Substitute. This can lead to character development if he has to tone down his lifestyle and become a responsible guardian for the kids' sake. But if only his sibling dies, his surviving in-law may feel obligated to keep him in the kids' lives, even if he and the in-law clash.

This trope is usually male, but the role will occasionally be taken on by an aunt.

Contrast Evil Uncle (although there can be overlap) and Creepy Uncle.


Examples:

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    Anime & Manga 
  • In Another, Kouichi has a close relationship with his aunt Reiko (his mother's much younger sister), who serves as his guardian while he's in Yomiyama, as well as his homeroom teacher. She looks after him, gives him advice on matters such as whether to pursue a career in art and generally is the person he's closest to in his family. By the time he realizes that she's the "nonexistent person" and has to be killed in order to end the calamity, he realizes that he's come to think of her as being like his mother.
  • Bakuman。: Nobuhiro Mashiro, also known under his pen name Taro Kawaguchi, was this to his nephew Moritaka Mashiro. Mashiro admired his uncle's work when he was a little child and the series shows several times that other characters are fans of his work. However, Nobuhiro's death not only hit Mashiro hard, the young Mashiro believed that his uncle committed suicide due to his current lack of success rather than being killed by overworking, which causes Mashiro to lose faith in becoming a mangaka. Years later, after deciding to become a mangaka with his partner Takagi and learning how much work is needed to make manga in practice makes him realize the truth of his uncle's death and he regains his full respect for Taro Kawaguchi.
  • Dragon Ball:
    Cooler: Although I'm MORE than enough to crush these pathetic lice... fine. Don't say Uncle Cooler never gave you anything!
  • In The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy At All, Mitsuki Koga works as a clerk in her uncle's record store. He dotes on his niece and takes her out to buy a guitar when he notices that she's feeling depressed.
  • In Innocent Nicolas-Charles-Gabriel is this very kind to his eldest nephew Charles. Downplayed, since he's also an intrigant who tries to "steal" his nephew's position as executioner of Paris but fails due to being traumatized by Damien's horrific execution.
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Played with for Jotaro Kujo to Josuke Higashikate. He's technically Josuke's nephew since the latter is his grandfather's son, but their interaction involved Jotaro as the admired older relative mentoring the much less-experienced Josuke.
  • Lady!!: Charles Russell. He's practically George and Diana's third parent, dotes for them and is aghast when they're in danger.
  • Main character Yuuta Segawa of Listen to me, girls. I am your father!, whom all three of his nieces admire (one of the girls even has a crush on him), especially when he adopts them.
  • Naruto:
    • Hiashi Hyuga may count to Neji, who's his younger twin brother Hizashi's son. He starts out as a stern and distant authority figure whom Neji loathes due to his belief that Hiashi let Hizashi die in his place. However, after Neji learns the truth, he forgives Hiashi, who often trains him.
    • Yashamaru was this to Gaara. His assault on Gaara was ordered by Gaara's father to test his son. Yashamaru really loved him.
    • Tsunade is Naruto’s great aunt and is consistently the sole caring mother figure in his life, though the fact they’re related somehow never once comes up between them.
    • Hanabi is this to her older sister Hinata's children Boruto and Himawari in the Sequel Series, Boruto, though her clinginess and Genki Girl personality can annoy Boruto.
  • Genjuuro Kazanari from Symphogear is Tsubasa's uncle and leader of the 2nd Division Mobile Disaster Response Corps. He's a Badass Normal who punches a BFS and breaks it. Season 3 revealed he isn't Tsubasa's uncle but her half-brother. Doesn't stop him from being any less cool.
  • Kittan from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann provides an awesome example towards his sister Kiyoh’s infant daughter, taking on a Mugann armed with nothing but a shotgun to protect her.
    "I'm not about to let my cute little niece die in some alleyway! Go on without me, Dayakka! Look after Kiyoh for me.... GO!! IT'S ABOUT TO OPEN FIRE!"

    Comic Books 
  • Disney Ducks Comic Universe: Donald Duck to Huey, Dewey, and Louie (when they're not pestering him), and his own adventurous wealthy uncle Scrooge McDuck, who is also considered an "unca" by the triplets.
  • Fantastic Four:
    • Reed and Sue's children consider Johnny to be a cool uncle since he's a superhero that sets himself on fire. Ben also gets this treatment, although he's not a blood relative. Johnny is even willingly to give his life for them.
    • Doctor Doom of all people is considered to be this by Valeria Richards since he is basically the relative that spoils her the most. That, and he indulges her Token Evil Teammate tendencies. You'd think that'd be something he'd try to hide, to save face (er, mask), but no, he has placed her under his royal protection, and allows her to call him "Uncle Doom".
  • The Flash:
    • The first Kid Flash and third Flash Wally West pretty much worships his uncle (and mentor) Barry Allen, the second Flash. At least after he found out Barry was the Flash; when his aunt Iris introduced Wally to her then-boyfriend Barry Allen, he thought Barry was a loser and asked the Flash why Iris didn't date ''him'', rather than that loser Barry.
  • Oliver from Invincible as a mark of his Character Development from the brat he was prior is a caring uncle to Terra his niece.
  • Persepolis: Marji really liked her kindly Uncle Anoosh, who told her stories of participating in a rebellion against the Shah and his stay in the USSR. She was quite brokenhearted when the authorities executed him on suspicion of being a Soviet spy.
  • Spider-Man:
    • Peter Parker's Uncle Ben was a pretty cool guy since he fought in World War II and shaped Peter into the man he is today.
    • Aunt May though she is not related to Peter by blood is most assuredly the greatest aunt in comic history as she absolutely cherishes Peter and would do anything for him.
    • Peter himself is considered Honorary Uncle to Harry and Liz’s son Normie and Peter does care deeply for him and willingly to do whatever it takes to prevent Gruesome Grandparent Norman from trying to get Normie to follow his Villainous Legacy.
  • Supergirl:
  • X-Men:
    • Alex Summers aka Havok is always shown to be a supportive uncle to Rachel and Cable despite the latter being older than him, whenever Scott and Jean are absent he feels they are his responsibility and in Cable and X-Force gives his nephew unofficial approval to continue with his quest to improve the future, without the Avengers hunting him. He is certainly a better uncle than Gabriel aka Vulcan who almost killed Rachel, though he got better.
    • Quicksilver though he claims otherwise does actually love his nephews Tommy and Billy very much, particularly Tommy who inherited his Super-Speed. He is very willing to come to aid in Young Avengers.
    • Surprisingly Cain Marko aka Juggernaut is this for David Haller aka Legion (son of his stepbrother Charles) as shown in Legion of X. They get along remarkably well with David affectionately calling him “Uncle Cain”.

    Fan Works 
  • The Accidental Warlord And His Pack: To Letho's utter surprise Julita chooses him to be her beloved uncle after he saves her from the Ladies of the woods. He ends up being the one to give her her first knife and teaching her how to cuss among other things which make him quite fun for her to hang out with as she grows.
  • Broken Bow: Apollo to Armani. Doubles as a Parental Substitute, since Artemis wasn't aware of the latter's birth until sixteen years later.
  • Children of Remnant: Watts seems to strive to be this, serving as a mentor to Blake and getting Jaune alcohol for a party.
  • The Child of Love: Rei was this to Teri. Even before her birth she was very protective of her niece (very violently protective). When Teri was born she helped to raise her, and Teri was very fond of her.
  • Destiny Intertwined: Vitreus's aunt Isolda is much more loving to him than the rest of his clan, saving him from being bullied by Frostir and giving him a big, affectionate hug when he tries to downplay his excitement at seeing her.
  • In the Lucifer (2016) fic "The Devil and His Urchin", Azrael serves as the cool aunt to Trixie, as Lucifer is Trixie's biological father in this version of events. Not only has Azrael being hiding Trixie from the rest of the angels on God's orders, but after Trixie manifests wings, Azrael helps to teach her how to use them as Lucifer's own wings have been severed, to the extent that it's suggested Azrael will teach Trixie how to fly once the wings are properly developed.
  • Fate of the Clans: Reisi is possibly this to his older brother's kids. When his mother announced into the house that Reisi's with her, the two children immediately ran out to greet him, cheering that he's come over. They bawl their eyes out during the visitation for him.
  • In Ghosts of Evangelion Heishiro is Ryuko's cool honorary uncle who taught her to skateboarding and other cool stuff (although Asuka thinks he is a brat).
  • HERZ: Rei to Shinji and Asuka's daughter Akiko. She gives Akiko toys (some of them handmade), tells her stories and tales, is very protective of her... and Akiko loves her aunt.
  • In Imaginary Seas, Percy realizes that his beloved teacher Chiron, a son of Kronos, is technically his uncle. Percy doesn't dwell on it much though, as he is far more interested in whether or not Chiron was a robot like the Olympians.
  • House is this by association to Wilson's niece Jennifer in the fanfic In The Year 2025.
  • Goro Majima acts as this to Izuku Midoriya in the fanfic Izuku Midoriya, Mad Dog of Shizuoka, cheering him up and teaching him how to fight despite not having a Quirk (yet). Perhaps out of respect, Izuku begins to adopt some of Majima's character tics (being The Gadfly to Bakugou, faking a Kansai accent, use of a baseball bat) as he finishes up middle school and prepares to try and get into U.A.
  • Johanna Mason: They Will Never See Me Cry:
    • Johanna's uncle is encouraging and protective of her both before and after her father's death, teaches her the skills necessary for her to win the Games, and tries to raise money for her while she is in the arena.
    • Finnick's nephew, a tribute in Johanna's Games speaks of him in glowing terms , and Finnick is protective of the boy.
  • Being his personal tutor and The Dragon to his father, Death in Joys of the Parenthood - The Țepeș Edition acts in this role for Adrian. When Adrian is hiding from his parents in bat-form, Death allows him to hide in his rib-cage.
    Lisa: That was very rude of you, Adrian.
    Adrian: ...was playing.
    Lisa: Not good enough. Now apologize to Death.
    Adrian: Sorry...
    Death: It is alright, My Prince. But perhaps I may make a request for the next time? You see, if you could scratch just between the fifth and sixth vertebra...
    Dracula: Don't encourage him, Death.
  • In The Amazing World of Gumball fanfic series Kedabory's Elmore Chronicles, Mr. Small (now Mx. Small) has a niece named Sophie, who views her relaxed, encouraging, kinda-kooky moonparent as being way more fun than her strict father. In fics where Larry appears, he awkwardly tries to fit the mold (to mixed results), since he's also Sophie’s uncle by the association of dating Mx. Small.
  • In Nexus, Dante is certainly one because it's well... him. Though he would argue that he sees himself as more than just an uncle.
  • In the Danny Phantom fanfic Resurrected Memories, Ember has become this to both Zoe and Maggie, though none of them know it yet.
  • In The Second Try, Rei. Her niece Aki adores her and loves spending time with her. In turn, Rei protects her and looks after her. Although, neither of them were aware that they were related when they met. This relationship continues in Aki-chan's Life. They also double as a Moe Couplet.
  • It doesn't take long after their first meeting for Eda to establish herself as this to her nephew, Nero, in The Silver Raven, with him being able to better open up to her about his problems and her providing a much needed outlet. She even kicks ass alongside him against Mega Scarecrows in Chapter 12 and they work together to face off against Echidna in Chapter 13.
  • The Dragon Age fic series Skyhold Academy Yearbook plays with the trope by assigning several uncles to Skye Rutherford, all of whom think they are the Cool Uncle. They have an "uncle-off" in one installment, by which they try to determine which of the six is her favorite; one of her mother's brothers is absent, so he can't participate, and honorary uncle Varric (the "whiskey uncle") abstains, but the other four have great fun with the competition.
  • The kids in Through the crack in the wall can all be honest with Bruno in a way that they can't with the other adults in their family and thus are able to get the right kind of attention and guidance without Abuela Alma breathing down their collective necks.
  • Shadow Stormkpr, Roxy cites the only peaceful period of her childhood was when her abusive mother dumped her at her Great-Aunt Terry's house for eighteen months. Though old and near-blind, she was caring and took care of Roxy to the best of her abilities.
  • In Yugioh EQG: XX, technically Flash Sentry is Flurry Heart's godfather, not her uncle, but he is dating Flurry Heart's aunt Twilight Sparkle, and happily states that he loves Flurry Heart and is more than happy to babysit her and do all the fun "aunt and uncle" activities with her when Twilight is too busy. Flurry Heart also loves Flash and considers him one of her favorite people.

    Films — Animated 
  • Barbie in the Nutcracker: In the original Nutcracker Drosselmeyer is Clara/Marie's godfather; in this version Aunt Drosselmeyer is not a magician but a world-traveling adventuress whose stories and presents excite Clara, to the disapproval of her grandfather. She also appears to know about Parthenia, and it's heavily implied that the king she danced within her story was Prince Eric's father.
  • Incredibles 2: Edna Mode takes on this role for the Parr family. When Bob (a.k.a. Mr. Incredible) is exhausted trying to manage Jack-Jack's emerging powers and asks Edna to watch him for the night, she initially pulls away before observing his potential as a super, after which she shoos Bob out and says that "Auntie Edna" will take care of everything.
    • Role made explicit with the related short film Auntie Edna.
  • The Lion King. How young Simba initally saw Scar. Scar took advantage of this and manipulated him into exile.
  • In an earlier version of Turning Red, Mei would have had an Aunt named Christina with whom she could bond.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe: Ari and his aunt Ophelia adore each other; Ophelia even knowingly gifts him money and condoms during a visit.
  • Auntie Mame is the quintessential female example, a free-spirited, eccentric bachelorette who takes in her straitlaced nephew after her brother dies.
  • Avengers: Age of Ultron: Although not related, Natasha Romanoff (a.k.a. Black Widow) fills this role for Hawkeye's kids. Upon arriving at his farmhouse following a serious beatdown by Ultron, the rest of the team is stunned that Hawkeye even had a family, while his daughter enthusiastically embraces Romanoff as "Auntie Nat".
  • Big Business (1988): Sadie Shelton happily plays with her nephew when his father brings him by the office.
  • Catherine Called Birdy (2022): Birdy adores her handsome Uncle George since he has plenty of war stories and respects her agency.
  • Gifted: Frank supports his niece Mary's advanced academic interests while still encouraging her to act like a kid, and loves to take her to the beach or out for a ride on boats he's finished fixing. From an adult perspective, it doesn't hurt that he's played by Chris Evans.
  • Susan in The Good Son for her poor orphan nephew Mark the protagonist, to the extent that Mark at even hallucinates at night that she is mother, leading to a very touching and sad Cool-Down Hug. Unfortunately as Mark gets closer to his aunt, his Enfant Terrible cousin Henry makes it clear he doesn’t want to share his mommy with anyone.
  • The Host (2006): Park Nam-joo is a Cool Aunt with a bronze medal in archery. She seems to be her niece Hyun-seo's favourite relative.
  • In Madame Web (2024), Ben Parker is clearly set up to become a fun-loving uncle to his new-born infant. Of course, anyone who knows anything about Spider-Man knows how that's going to turn out.
  • Mama: Lucas is an Extra Cool Uncle, actually. There's his Determinator display while his nieces were missing. Even in the film's prologue, he almost flips when he first fears something bad has happened to his nieces, more like a father would than an uncle.
  • Marvin's Room: Because Bessie shows more maternal love towards Hank than his own mother does, he develops a close bond with her in just a few days, to the point where he'd rather stay in Florida with her than return to Ohio with Lee.
  • Mystery Road: Jay gets offered useful insight and information by a genial old local man who calls him “nephew” in two scenes.
  • Secondhand Lions: Hub and Garth spectacularly avert the Evil Uncle trope that was implied at the beginning. They eventually prove to be more caring to Walter than his irresponsible mother (to the point that Walter prefers to stay with them), and also Garth tells Walter stories of his and Hub's epic adventures in the past.
  • Silver Bullet: Uncle Red is practically idolized by his nephew Marty. He might be a chronic drunk but not hard to see where the admiration comes from when he builds his nephew a high end motorized wheelchair, gives him fireworks to set off, and has the gumption to fight a werewolf hand to hand in the climax.
  • Luke Skywalker in Star Wars for Ben Solo his nephew with supplemental material to the Sequel Trilogy confirming Ben utterly idolised his legendary uncle. Their relationship greatly soured however when Luke sensing The Dark Side within Ben contemplated killing him in a Moment of Weakness for which Ben would would go nuts over almost killing Luke, slaughtering his other students and becoming Kylo Ren. When they meet again in The Last Jedi Luke wastes no time Calling the Young Man Out and exploiting his nephew’s rage to give enough time for the Rebellion to escape.
  • Theodora Goes Wild: Uncle John is the cool one out of the Lynn family save for Theodora.
  • Tower of Terror: Buzzy and his niece Anna get along great. He uses her to help fake tabloid photos, and she enjoys the experience.
    Anna's Mother: One day your uncle is gonna wake up and find out he's not a kid anymore.
    Anna: I hope not.
  • Uncle Buck, starring John Candy as the title character, a fun-loving slob who is forced to babysit his nephews with hilarious results.
  • Wonder Woman (2017): Antiope encourages the young Diana's warrior instincts and desire for combat instruction. Initially training her in secret against her sister Queen Hippolyta's wishes, Antiope eventually convinces Hippolyta that it's the right thing to do. Mainly because she saw that conflict with Ares was inevitable, no matter what Diana's mother might wish.
  • Young & Wild: Daniela's aunt Isabel is more freespirited than her mother by far, giving her a Rolling Stone that had a sexually explicit article that her mother threw out before. She contrasts them as well by her aunt cursing, staying single dating many men and not complaining over anything, even getting cancer. Daniela is far closer with Isabel and dreads losing her.

    Literature 
  • Absolutely Truly: Truly's Aunt True acts as this to her.
  • Akata Witch. Sunny's aunt Chinwe is a female version. Her sisters, one of them being Sunny's mother, both became doctors. Chinwe was also supposed to become a doctor because that was their father's ambition for them, but instead, she became a professional dancer and married an American. Sunny looks up to her aunt because she is the only other person in the family who doesn't quite fit.
  • A popular trope in the American Girls Collection:
    • Uncle Gard is the jovial, fun-loving uncle to Samantha, an orphan being raised by her strict, old-fashioned grandmother. Gard does eventually settle down and marry Cornelia, but as a couple they're both still incredibly forward-thinking and adventurous for their class.
    • Josefina's Tía Dolores is an entrepreneurial, lively, and smart woman who helps care for the Montoya sisters after Mamá dies, teaching them how to read and write among other skills.
    • Kit's Aunt Millie is an independent, resourceful, and upbeat unmarried older woman who teaches Kit different ways to be thrifty during The Great Depression. Kit finds her no-fuss ways to be a breath of fresh air compared to her more prim and proper mother.
  • Auntie Mame: The title character is this, in spades.
  • Battle Royale: Shinji Mimura looked up to his uncle moreso than his father. His uncle also happened to be a political dissident, and it was from him that he developed his sense of morality. In the manga adaptation, his uncle also taught him how to hack computers and could outplay him at basketball.
  • The Book of Joe: Joe is a cool uncle — and his brother calls him out on it for being a little too cool/a bad influence.
  • Borgel: Borgel claims to be Melvin's uncle, though their exact relationship is unclear. While most of Melvin's family are stuffy and lame, Melvin finds Borgel far more fun to hang out with, and Borgel has lots of fun interests and obscure knowledge.
  • A Brother's Price: Ren is this for little Eldie Porter, who calls her "Auntie Ren". Ren is a princess, which makes her even cooler.
  • The Butcher Boy: Uncle Alo is the best relative Francie ever had, until his drunk father calls him out for being a liar.
  • Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg mentions his uncle Charlie several times, claiming that he's his "secret weapon" at Christmas, as he'll get Greg whatever he asks for. Downplayed, though, because he has a tendency to misinterpret Greg's requests; one Christmas, for example, when Greg wanted a Barbie house (because he thought it would make a cool fort for his toy soldiers), he got Greg a Barbie doll instead.
  • Discworld: City ruler Lord Havelock Vetinari is the epitome of cool and cunning. But from the novel Night Watch onward, the character of his only living relative, the aunt alluded to in Guards! Guards!, is opened up a little: it is hinted that Vetinari learned a lot of his skills from Auntie Bobbie (Lady Roberta de Meserole), who is a political manipulator, a Seamstress where she needs to be, possibly one of only a handful of female Assassins, and a lady of guile, insight, cunning, and wisdom. She has certainly raised Havelock in loco parentis after the undetailed death of his parents. A second wise woman in Havelock Vetinari's life, an aunt-like character, has been the vampire Lady Margolotta (although some interpretations hint at a sexual relationship).
  • Dive (2003): Adrianna and her brother spend most summers with their archaeologist uncle, who has imparted a lot of knowledge to them, while their parents constantly neglect them. However, he only had one spot available for his latest trip and took Adrianna's brother, causing her to apply for the Caribbean expedition.
  • Doctor Sleep: Dan to Abra, whose mother Lucy was the product of an extramarital fling by their mutual father, Jack Torrance.
  • Donna Parker: Special Agent: Uncle Roger fills this role. He's the black sheep of the family, and no one in Donna's family had seen him in many years. Donna suspected that he might be an impostor. She was wrong.
  • Dragon Bones: Aunt Stala is the bastard half-sister of the protagonist's mother, and she's very, very cool. In a patriarchal world, she disguised herself as man and learned sword-fighting. She's so good at it that she's the official head of the guard of castle Hurog.
  • Eight Cousins: Uncle Alec is this for Rose and the boys. He's particularly this to Rose, as he is her legal guardian following the death of her father, and also to his nephew Mac, whom the sequel reveals is his godson. Alec's sister-in-law Jessie, meanwhile, is the universally beloved Cool Aunt of the family.
  • Harry Potter:
    • Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, neither of whom were actually related but who nevertheless filled the role in Harry's life.
    • Bilius Weasley — uncle to the seven Weasley children — was implied to be this. Described as a "right laugh at weddings", his party trick was to down an entire bottle of firewhisky, run out onto the dance floor, and pull bunches of flowers out from under his robes.
  • Of Fire and Stars: Casmiel, called Cas, is Thandi and Mare's paternal uncle, along with advising their father (his brother) who's the king. He's far more laidback and reasonable by far than their father. Mare in particular is much closer to him, as he tolerates her rebellious behaviors, as he realizes they can be useful (e.g. intelligence is brought back from her ventures into the city).
  • The Pendragon Adventure: Uncle Press will show up at Bobby's doorstep and take him on some cool outing, like a helicopter ride, or tell him about his adventures in some exotic locale.
  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower: Subverted with Charlie's Aunt Helen.
  • Shannara: Walker Boh served this role to Par and Coll Ohmsford, albeit in a more cranky manner than most.
  • A Song of Ice and Fire:
    • Tyrion Lannister loves his niece and nephew Myrcella and Tommen and they love him, too. (The situation with Tyrion and his other nephew Joffrey is rather different.)
    • Tyrion's own aunt Genna, and his uncles Kevan, Tygett, and Gerion, were also far kinder to him than his own father was.
    • Theon remembers his uncle Aeron being this way in his youth, but upon his return home finds that Aeron has discovered religion sometime in the last ten years and becomes considerably less fun than the rowdy, drunken womanizer he remembers.
    • Theon's sister Asha considers her maternal uncle Rodrick "the Reader" Harlaw this, though unconventionally; he rarely leaves his home and the gifts he brings back are books, advice, and political support. Of course, the field of competition is not strong; her paternal uncles consist of a dim-witted brute, the aforementioned sour religious fanatic, and an Ax-Crazy schemer.
    • There's also Catelyn Stark's uncle Brynden Tully, who is definitely this trope with regards to her and her siblings, Lysa and Edmure.
    • Eddard Stark's younger brother Benjen Stark (who is First Ranger in the Night's Watch) is a Cool Uncle to Ned's kids, especially to Ned's illegitimate son Jon Snow, who adores his uncle and has wanted to join the Night's Watch his entire life like his uncle. Like their brother Jon, Arya and Sansa also idealize the Watch based on their uncle, and Benjen is held in high esteem by his other nephews Robb, Bran, and Rickon as well. While Benjen loves all his nephews and nieces, he seems to have an additional soft spot for his nephew Jon.
    • Averted with Edmure Tully, who — despite having all the personality traits of a Cool Uncle — only actually meets one of his nephews and none of his nieces; and even then, since a war is going on, he doesn't have much chance to be one.
  • In the Sanson Mémoires, which I count as literature due to the heavy fictionalization, Henri Sanson has loads of them simply due to the fact his grandfather had ten children and it is frequently mentioned that he gets invited by them for dinner.
  • Summers at Castle Auburn: Jaxon Halsing. He travels widely, lives an exciting life, showers his nieces with gifts, and is pretty determined to live and die single, but there are hints he isn't as happy as he appears.
  • Swallows and Amazons: Nancy and Peggy's Uncle Jim, also known as "Captain Flint". He lives on a houseboat, owns a Pirate Parrot, and has traveled all over. A great part of the first book revolves around his nieces starting a private war with him, since he's taken up writing and become distant, therefore, in their minds, ceasing to be cool.
  • Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina: Greedo's uncle Nok teaches hunting to his nephews and pilots the starship when they narrowly escape from the hired killers who find their refuge.
  • Theatre Shoes: Mose and Lindsey Cohen are both very kind and helpful to their nieces and nephew, Sorrel, Mark, and Holly Forbes. Mose Cohen is a famous comedian, adding to his coolness.
  • Tolkien's Legendarium:
    • Bilbo the titular hero of The Hobbit is utterly idolised by his Took nephews and nieces such as Pippin much to the irritation of the stuffier Hobbits. But it is Bilbo’s cousin Frodo the protagonist of The Lord of the Rings whom he adopted that cherishes the old Hobbit the most.
    • Thorin was this to Fili and Kili his two nephews and the youngest Dwarves in the party. Thorin deeply cared for his “sister sons” and they in turn refused to leave his side in the Battle of Five Armies though it cost them their lives defending him.
    • Théoden is a truly epic and heartwarming example towards his nephew Éomer and especially his niece Éowyn both of whom he loves as dearly as his own children after losing his only son Théodred. In turn they care for him dearly with Éowyn taking on the Witch King and its fell beast to protect the crushed Théoden in the battle of the Pelennor Fields. Just see Théoden‘s quote to Aragorn while watching Éowyn bond with Gimli in the extended edition of The Two Towers.
    I haven't seen my niece smile for a long time. She was a girl when they brought her father back dead. Cut down by Orcs. She watched her mother succumb to grief. Then she was left alone, to tend her king in growing fear. Doomed to wait upon an old man who should have loved her as a father.
  • The Trolls:
    • Aunt Sally is the female version — a cool aunt — for the kids.
    • Great-Uncle Louis thinks he's a cool uncle, but only Robbie really thinks he is.
  • Village Tales: Has lots of these. The very first duke of Taunton — one of James II and VII's bastards — was given his first peerage title, upon the Restoration, by his Cool Uncle Charles (Charles II, that is). The current Duke is a very cool Uncle Charles to Rupe and Jamie. The Nawab is a cool uncle to Sher Mirza. And the ancient Hugo, Lord Mallerstang, is a cousin and honorary uncle, and the mad-coolest, to everyone.
  • Walker's Crossing: The Walkers' aunt Peg is an encouraging mentor toward Ryan and openly denounces the white supremacists.
  • Will in Scarlet: In the first act of the Robin Hood re-imagining, Geoff Shackley serves as regent of the family estate and the guardian of his nephew Will while his brother is off fighting in The Crusades. Geoff is a decent enough Parental Substitute and has no desire to steal his nephew's inheritance. Instead, he longs for the days when Will's father will make it home safely so he can relinquish his duties as regent and spend more time hunting. Sadly, he finds out the hard way that Anyone Can Die when the family falls out of favor with the Big Bad.
  • Uncle Flynn the ne'er-do-well gambler in humorist Patrick McManus's (fictionalized) stories of his Idaho childhood.

    Live Action TV 
  • Amber Brown (2022): Pam, Amber's maternal aunt, is more laid-back and indulgent compared with her mom. As a result, Amber adores her and sometimes tries to get Pam on her side in spats with her mom.
  • Andor: Mon's daughter Leida considers Vel this, helped by her bringing her a fancy new dress as a gift, even calling her "Aunt Vel" (though she's really their cousin).
  • The Barrier: Marta has cool relatives on both sides. Her her paternal uncle Álex acts more like an older brother to her at times, providing fake a voiceover for the news or tickling her out of nowhere to amuse her. Her mother's twin sister has slightly less leeway to be fun due to needing to pretend to be her mother and planning to leave town soon for the first half of the series, but adores Marta nonetheless.
  • BOB ❤️ ABISHOLA: When Bob officially gets engaged to Abishola, his siblings Douglas and Christina discuss this trope, both quite excited to become the fun, chill uncle and aunt to Bob's stepson-to-be, Dele. They're both self-aware enough to realize they're too reckless and irresponsible to be parents, and this is much more their speed. Even before the couple ties the knot, Douglas and Christina are quite lenient towards Dele when he's at their house; Abishola won't let him play video games or eat junk food at home, but the way they see it, what she doesn't know won't hurt her.
  • Breaking Bad: Hank Schrader to Walter White Jr.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Joss Whedon said that in Season 7, Faith was a Cool Aunt to the Potentials, whereas Buffy was the mom.
  • Charmed: Phoebe and Paige are these to their nephews. As revealed by Adult Wyatt.
  • El corazón nunca se equivoca: Diego decides that, since they're a Family of Choice, then he gets to be Arqui's fun uncle.
  • Dexter: Debra Morgan sometimes plays this role.
  • The Equalizer (2021): Violet has lived an eventful and bohemian life, which gives her great insight and perspective. Not only does she offer sage advice to both Robyn and Deliah (two very different generations), but sometimes seems far younger than her years and is able to relate to both of them on their own terms.
  • Everybody Loves Raymond: In one episode, Raymond laments the fact that Robert is always willing and able to play with Raymond's kids when he comes over, never seeming to be too busy or too tired to do so. When Robert discovers this, he explains that he's only able to do it because he only ever sees the kids for an hour or so at most. Raymond, meanwhile, cares for his children effectively all the time, and shouldn't be ashamed that he lacks the energy to "Play Monster" with them all day.
  • Family Ties: Had Uncle Ned, played by Tom Hanks. He was really cool, but he had a drinking problem.
  • The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: Zig-zagged with Uncle Phil, even though Will is actually blood-related to Philip's wife Vivian. He and Will get on each other's nerves occasionally and he is not the typical easygoing uncle, but at the end of the day, he's awesome and Will learned to respect him as a true father figure. Ironically, in the early episodes Vivian was much more of a Cool Aunt, but by the end of the show Will is closer to Uncle Phil.
  • Friends:
    • Rachel is delighted when Ross's young son Ben starts referring to her as his "Fun Aunt Rachel," and loves that Ben is thrilled to see her.
    • When Phoebe is bummed about having to give up the babies she carried as a surrogate for her brother and his wife after giving birth to them, Rachel and Monica cheer her up by telling her that she'll be "cool aunt Phoebe".
  • Full House: Uncle Jesse is this to his three nieces. He's their late mother's younger brother who's a singer and agreed to help his brother-in-law Danny raise the kids. But unlike most examples of this trope, Jesse does end up having children of his own. Joey is also this though he's Danny's best friend and only an "uncle" in spirit.
    • Stephanie inherits the role in the sequel series Fuller House.
  • Game of Thrones:
    • Jon Snow clearly views his uncle Benjen Stark this way and adores his uncle, requesting to join his uncle Benjen in the Night's Watch, where he tries to emulate him. The rest of the Stark kids adore their uncle as well.
    • Zigzagged by Tyrion, who is very friendly to Tommen and Myrcella, but is not adverse to slapping and insulting (a very deserving) Joffrey when the situation calls for it. While he sends his niece Myrcella to Dorne for political reasons, he also does it in an attempt to ensure her safety from the dangers in King's Landing. He even admits to Cersei that Tommen and Myrcella's deaths broke his heart because he honestly loved them.
    • Brynden Tully acts this way with Catelyn, but treats her brother Edmure rather poorly, bullying him with phrases like "The laws of my fist are about to compel your teeth."
    • Shireen has a very high opinion of her uncle Axell Florent.
  • Good Eats: Alton mentions that his parents would go off on romantic getaways and leave him and his (TV) sister Martha in the care of their Uncle Rudy back in The '70s. Rudy lived a bohemian lifestyle out of a van and was fond of kabobs, despite lacking cooking skills.
    • Alton himself plays the role to Marsha's son Elton, usually by subverting Marsha's authority. Special mention goes to the Halloween episode, where Alton saves Elton from schoolyard embarrassment by replacing Marsha's health-food "candy" with tastier homemade fare and replacing his carrot costume with a chef outfit.note 
  • Heroes: Peter Petrelli, though his interaction with his nephews is limited, his niece Claire definitely looks up to him.
  • Kirby Buckets: Has an uncle named Leon who is always willing to do "solids" for other people. At first, Leon's solids seemed to work out great for Kirby, as he got him new subscribers for his web channel, a gourmet crab lunch, a girlfriend, a basketball session with NBA superstar Zach LaVine, new sneakers and a car. Unfortunately, Leon's gifts eventually backfired, as they were all either cheap knockoffs (the sneakers, the crab lunch, the subscribers — actually inflated by a bot) or outright stolen (the car). It later turned out that he did all of it on purpose because Kirby's mother specifically told him not to contact him. Needless to say, Kirby was amazed his mother was able to come up with such an elaborate scheme.
  • The Law According to Lidia Poët: Lidia encourages her niece Marianna to be more independent like her and aids her to follow her wishes, even when it goes against what Marianna's parents want.
  • Leave It to Beaver: Beaver and Wally's way cool, sorta whack Uncle Billy. Just don't take him for granted; he hates that.
  • Northern Rescue: Aunt Charlie. Her character page on the show website describes her as spending more time dealing with her nephew and nieces' problems than her own.
  • Once and Again: Judy is like this for both Grace and Zoe.
  • Outlander: Ian thinks his Uncle Jamie is the absolute coolest. He runs away from home more than once to go live with Jamie and even admits that as a kid, he wished Jamie was actually his father. In Season 4, Ian begs to stay in America with Jamie, even though the limitations of travel in the 1700s means that he's basically committing to never seeing his parents and siblings in Scotland ever again.
  • Psych: Shawn Spencer had his treasure hunting Uncle Jack.
  • Snowfall: Played with. In the first season, it looks like Jerome fits this role for Franklin, as he helps Franklin gather the manpower and firepower needed to establish his business. In Season 2, Franklin gets disillusioned with Jerome after he proves unable to adjust to the rigors of big business, but his worship then goes to his Aunt Louie, who becomes a surrogate mother figure for him after his own mother disowns him.
  • Someday or One Day: Chen Yun Ru's uncle encourages her, acts concerned for her welfare, and takes the reveal of Huang Yu Xuan possessing her well, to the point where he acts like a better father figure to her than her actual father.
  • Treme: Aunt Mimi is like this to Davis, backing his musical ventures and going out on the town with him on occasion.
  • Two and a Half Men: Uncle Charlie.
  • WandaVision: Invoked when Wanda's brother Pietro seemingly comes back from the dead and moves into the family house. Billy and Tommy instantly take a liking to "Uncle Pete," especially Tommy (who inherits his speed powers). When Wanda starts to question him, he admits he's pretty much there to give her and Vision grief while bonding with the kids, as part of TV suburbia style life Wanda's living. Then it turns out he was an imposter bewitched by Agatha Harkness to spy on Wanda.

    Music 
  • In Jimmy Buffett's song "The Pascagoula Run", he sings about his "black sheep" Uncle Billy, who had made it rich while traveling around the world. When Billy came back home to Mississippi, he immediately went on a 24-hour bar-hopping run to all his old haunts and invited his nephew Jimmy to come along. According to Buffett, this all actually happened back when he was 17.
    Billy pulled in in a Jaguar
    Red convertible '65
    Headed home to Mississippi, he'd been around the world
    That black sheep uncle of mine
    His ship had come in, he was looking to sin
    Singing his own song
    When he yelled from the drive, my heart came alive
    "Jimmy boy come along!"

    Newspaper Comics 
  • Calvin and Hobbes had Uncle Max, who's implied to have a bit of a wild past and is one of the few adults with whom Calvin ever really bonds. He only turns up in one story arc, however; Word of God says he found him awkward to write because Calvin has Unnamed Parents and he didn't know how Max should address them.
  • For Better or for Worse: Elly's musician brother has made a few appearances, and the kids, Michael and Lizzy, just adore him. Hilarity Ensues when he attempts to take the kids off the parents' hands for a night and he wears himself out trying to get them to bed.

    Tabletop Games 
  • Call of Cthulhu campaign The Fungi from Yuggoth, adventure "Mountains of the Moon". An NPC named Victor recognizes one Player Character. He was an old friend of the PC's father, and the PC remembers him as "Uncle Victor", a warm, good-hearted man (even though Mom didn't seem to like him).

    Theatre 
  • Played With in Kimberly Akimbo (2021). Kimberly's aunt Debra is a fun and chaotic woman who is so charismatic that she is capable of committing various scams. She convinces Kimberly and her friends to commit a check fraud scam. But this act still helps Kimberly have fun and break free from her family a bit.

    Video Games 
  • Mario Auditore in Assassin's Creed II. He gives Ezio money and a place for his family to stay and inducts him into the Assassin's order.
  • Yashra from Asura's Wrath, indeed his determination to protect his niece Mithra eventually leads to him pulling a Heel–Face Turn and helping Asura out against the other Jerkass Gods.
  • Crescent Prism: Downplayed with Lunita's aunt Rain, who is a playable character and a supportive figure in Lunita's life, but she's also willing to mooch off Lunita for money.
  • Dragon Age:
    • In Dragon Age: Origins, the Human Noble Warden is clearly one to their nephew, Oren. This makes it all the more tragic when Oren is killed along with the rest of their family, during Arl Howe's betrayal; the player character's expression is absolutely heartbroken.
    • Based on the group dynamics in Dragon Age II, if Varric is the Team Mom and Aveline is the Team Dad, that would make Hawke fill this role. S/he's the one person everyone is willing to go to and is more or less on good terms with everyone.
    • In the Trespasser DLC for Dragon Age: Inquisition, Cullen receives a letter from his sister Mia which implies that he is this for their mutual nephew, who reminds her very much of Cullen as a child.
  • It was eventually revealed that Dante of the Devil May Cry series is this to Nero, because Vergil was his dad. It’s very telling that even after said revelation Dante is still more of a father to Nero than Vergil is. Though Vergil being a taciturn No Social Skills type factors in.
  • In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the scholar Calcelmo, in Markarth, has his nephew Aicontar working as his assistant. Aicontar is very fond of Calcelmo and looks up to him greatly.
  • In Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, Nino considers Jan to be this, saying that he was a kind man, though he's probably not her actual uncle. Canas has this kind of relationship with Nino, teaching her how to read and write after she says she never learned how to, which tracks with the reveal that he is, in fact, her uncle by marriage.
  • Amusingly, the De Santa kids from Grand Theft Auto V see Trevor like this, calling him "Uncle T" and Tracey even hugging him when he shows up at Michael's house. While he is legitimately fond of them, he's also aware that they're little more than Spoiled Brats and is prone to giving them horrible advice (such as telling Jimmy to give up smoking weed and switch to meth).
  • Uncle Brent, in the third installment of the Hero of the Kingdom series, is clearly seen this way by his nephew, the Player Character, whom he raised.
  • Sialeeds Falenas in Suikoden V although she's more of a Cool Big Sis to her nephew and niece. And yes, she'll do anything to create a wonderful future for both of them, even if it means besmirching her own name.
  • Super Treadmill: Uncle Rico has several sports accomplishments under his belt and is supportive of Billy's attempts at getting thinner. It turns out later on that his motives for helping Billy are not entirely selfless, though.
  • Judas to Kyle in Tales of Destiny 2 even if Kyle doesn't know they're related. His nephew immediately takes a liking to him and trusts him after they've known each other for probably an hour, and Judas becomes his Cynical Mentor (though he gradually loses the cynicism).
  • Happens in Tales of Berseria, although which two characters are involved are a bit of a spoiler. It turns out that Laphicet the malak is the reincarnation of Artorius and Celica's unborn child, making Velvet his Cool Aunt. Laphicet has the least trouble getting past Velvet's Broken Bird exterior to her Hidden Heart of Gold.
  • Lee and Lars in Tekken care greatly for Jin their nephew to the extent they are willing to go out on a limb to rescue him despite the horror he has inflicted on the world. Though Lars ironically isn’t that much older than him. Tekken 8 adds cool aunt Reina who is affectionate towards Jin, despite him not having a clue who she is.
  • Uncle Albert from Uncle Albert's Adventures is more of a "cool honorary uncle'', but he loves to tell children stories about his past adventures.
  • The Walking Dead: A New Frontier has Javier, the protagonist, who serves as cool uncle to David's kids. Kate, his sister-in-law, lampshades this.

    Visual Novels 
  • Subverted with Morgan’s uncle, Tommy, in Double Homework. Although he’s a former rock star with lots of tattoos, he wasn’t very keen on raising a child, and he does his best to direct Morgan in a fairly traditional way to the straight and narrow. The exceptions, meanwhile, are his frequent cursing and his lame, inappropriate jokes regarding the name of his old band (“The Tits”).
  • Amy from Melody is a cool aunt to the title character. She acts as a parental figure and confidant for Melody. Plus, she’s only 11 years older than her niece is. Lampshaded in that the ending where the protagonist ends up with Amy is called the “Cool Aunt Ending.”

    Web Animation 
  • ATTACK on MIKA: Aunt Takako is the only relative Kotomi looks up to. She was the one who gave her Ron the dog to ease her loneliness even after her younger sister Himeka was born. When Himeka poisoned Ron and plunged Kotomi into despair, she was the only one who stood up for the latter. At the end, she lets Kotomi live with her in Hokkaido with her pets.
  • RWBY has Ruby and Yang's uncle Qrow Branwennote , a snarky, argumentative grump who's perpetually drunk. However, he's also an exceptionally talented hunter, having saved the girls once when they were little and Yang got them lost in the forest, and he was the one who taught Ruby how to wield a scythe (the most dangerous Huntsman weapon, something that's implied to be against school policy). Whenever he's around he dotes on the girls, playing video games with them and telling them stories about his adventures and missions, and the girls absolutely adore him. The only reason he's not around more is that he's busy with his work and because his Semblance is an always-on bad luck power and he doesn't want to risk hurting his nieces with it.
  • Tanabata Manga: Natsu's aunt is one of the family members that Natsu looked up to, they later work together to expose Natsu's mother and sister Rie to their extended families for mistreating Natsu.

    Web Original 

    Webcomics 
  • Referenced in Dominic Deegan when Greg asks if he can be this if Dominic and Luna, who had just gotten engaged, ever have kids. The two do end up becoming parents in the Distant Finale, so he may have gotten his wish.
  • Rayne in Least I Could Do gets along very well with his niece and is always willing to play with her. He tried to call out his sister on not spending more time with her daughter, but she responded that Rayne has it easier since he doesn't have any of the responsibility that comes with being a parent. Rayne actually acknowledges this.
  • Theo's uncle from The Noordegraaf Files taught him to Sword Fight. Kinda.
  • Subverted with crazy uncle Duncan in The Perry Bible Fellowship here.
  • Stomp's Uncle George in Stomp!.

    Western Animation 
  • Arthur: The episode Arthur's Perfect Christmas introduces clumsy, but well-meaning Uncle Fred, whom both Arthur and D.W. find hilarious. After Arthur accidentally breaks the Christmas present he got for his mom, Fred saves the day by passing off his own gift to Jane (a tea set he broke last Christmas) as being from Arthur.
  • American Dad!: One of Roger’s many personas, a relative known as "Uncle Cappy", has shades of this. When adopting this persona for Thanksgiving dinner (as a precaution against Stan's half-brother recognizing him as an alien), Roger discreetly slips Steve a switchblade knife and a nudie magazine.
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender: Uncle Iroh was this to Zuko during his childhood. As a teenager, Zuko initially sees his uncle as more of a buffoon, but eventually comes around to accepting Iroh's guidance, which encourages Zuko to reject his father's philosophies and lighten up a bit. Iroh is implied to have continued this trend with his great niece, Izumi, considering that she named her own son after him.
    • In the Sequel Series, The Legend of Korra, Bumi II is this for Meelo, Ikki and Jinora, much to Tenzin's annoyance. Tenzin's sister, Kya II, is also a Cool Aunt to Jinora. Iroh continues to be a mentor from the Spirit Realm, although he and Zuko don't meet.
  • Bobby's World has Uncle Ted, who between being a Large Ham and something of a Manchild gets along really well with the title character.
  • Daria: Daria's Aunt Amy (Helen's younger sister) is a Cool Aunt due to having much more in common with Daria than anyone else in her family.
  • The Davincibles: Leo Davinci is this to Pablo and Zoë, though he combines it with being the Cloudcuckoolander.
  • Donald Duck is one to Huey, Louie, and Dewey. He in turn has two uncles, Professor Ludwig von Drake, the Absent-Minded Professor, and Scrooge McDuck, who appeared more in the comics before DuckTales (1987) made him the cool granducle of the triplets when Donald had to join the Navy.
    • Inverted in the Duck Tales reboot with Donald and Della's relationship to Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Donald is their uncle, but he has been taking care of them since before they hatched, so they know him as their only parent regardless of how they address him. Donald's twin sister Della is their mother, but they didn't meet her until they were eleven; and because she is still learning how to be a mother, most of her attempts to bond with her children involve fun and exciting activities more associated with a Cool Aunt.
    • Also in the reboot, Gladstone Gander takes on this role for the triplets (while technically he's Donald's cousin and the boys' first cousin once removed, they still call him "Uncle" in an honorary sense). Louie especially idolizes him, as his easy get-something-for-nothing lifestyle is the young duck's dream. However, after the boys get a front-row seat to how self-centered he can be and how his easy life has stunted his personal growth, he loses a lot of their respect, and his subsequent appearances show the boys as much less excited to spend time with him.
  • Gravity Falls: Grunkle Stan is actually the children's great-uncle, but he fits this trope to a T anyway: unmarried, knows lots of cool magic tricks, and allows them to climb on the roof. Oh yeah, and he's also a wanted criminal and the shifty owner of a run-down tourist trap. Not the most responsible uncle in the world, but still a good guy. Later, we meet his brother Ford, the local Mad Scientist slash monster hunter, who takes very little time to charm the kids with his various cool inventions, particularly Dipper who idolized him because of his writings long before he knew they were related.
  • Jackie Chan Adventures: Despite his name, Uncle is more like Jade's grand uncle because he is her uncle's uncle. However Jackie fits the trope quite well. No matter how much Jade gripes, it's shown on multiple occasions how much more freedom Jade has with him than with her traditional parents in China, and how much she idolizes Jackie.
  • Little Bear: Little Bear has his Uncle Rusty, Father Bear's 'little' brother, a huge and rustic red bear who works as a logger and visits occasionally; Little Bear admires him greatly.
  • Molly of Denali: "Molly of the Yukon" has Uncle Cliff, Nat's little brother. Cliff is a nice guy who shares Molly's enthusiasm for fishing.
  • After going through a Heel–Face Turn and Character Development, Lilith Clawthorne from The Owl House settles into this role, especially to her honorary niece Luz. The episode "Elsewhere and Elsewhen" focuses on them going to an adventure to find Philip Wittebane in the distant past, with the two geeking out over their discoveries together and Lilith punching Philip in the face after they act threatening and dismissive towards Luz.
    Lilith: Let's boogie down to history town [does awkward dance and scats].
    Luz: [completely genuine] She really is cool aunt Lilith.
  • PB&J Otter: Aunt Nanner, who is a very cool aunt to Peanut, Baby Butter and Jelly. Around the end of the series, she gets married to Redolfo, who is rather cool in his own right. Discussed in one episode where they worry about how boring they must seem compared to all of her adventures. She assures them that coming home to be with them is precisely what she looks forward to while on those adventures.
  • Ready Jet Go!: Uncle Zucchini. He's a fun and friendly guy who is an intergalactic garbage-man.
  • Rosie's Rules: Rosie's aunt, Tía Margarita is exuberant about pretty much everything. She also owns a Mexican fusion restaurant.
  • Scooby-Doo: Scrappy-Doo thinks of Scooby as a Cool Uncle, despite Scooby's cowardice.
  • The Secret Saturdays: Doyle Blackwell, Zak's uncle from his mother's side. Zak even said in the fourth episode he might be "the coolest guy he's ever met", before knowing they were related and while he was still an enemy nonetheless.
  • The Simpsons:
    • The titular family has Homer's half-brother "Uncie Herb", a wealthy entrepreneur who's fortune seems to amass and crash periodically after his first appearance.
    • Milhouse apparently has two: In Special Edna, one is a military pilot who takes him and Bart riding in a Blackhawk helicopter; and his uncle Zack who took him in when Milhouse thought his parents had died at sea.
  • Tangled: The Series: Rapunzel's aunt Willow is an energetic, impulsive lady who Prefers Going Barefoot; a complete contrast to her sister Queen Arianna. Rapunzel bonds with her over their shared free-spirited nature. In doing this, they accidentally make Arianna feel left out on her birthday.
  • Taz-Mania: Taz and his siblings have an Uncle Drew, whom they adore. Maybe because he's an Expy of Bob Hope.
  • Uncle Grandpa: Takes this trope to a whole other level. He's a cool uncle and grandpa to everyone in the world.
  • Young Justice: Green Arrow may not be Artemis's biological uncle, but he takes on this role in her life when he becomes her mentor. He also held this role for Supergirl in a different series, Justice League Unlimited.
    • Like their comic book counterparts, The Flash is an uncle by marriage to Kid Flash. Unlike comics though, his Parental Substitute role has been downplayed due to Wally's own family being already functional.

    Real Life 
  • King William IV was this to his niece, the future Queen Victoria, and rather infamous for being a casual man. He was blistering to Victoria's emotionally abusive mother and made sure to live until Victoria was 18 to ensure that Victoria's distant and controlling mother and advisors couldn't become a Regent for Life for her.
  • In queer culture, a "guncle" (gay uncle) is a gay man with no kids who dotes on his nieces and nephews with his worldly ways, unorthodox wisdom, and, often enough, disposable income. Stereotypically he embodies this trope to the fullest. Unfortunately, there's no widely-recognized lesbian or gender-neutral equivalent, though lesbians are generally more likely to have kids of their own.

Alternative Title(s): Cool Aunt

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