Armitage III, Dual Matrix. The entire movie is Naomi Armitage having one giant Mama Bear moment (And her partner and lover Ross Sylibus makes an impressive Papa Wolf to back her up). To really drive home just how far Armitage goes with this: she gets hammered up and down by various 'bots and things unto being torn apart multiple times, her daughter Yoko discovers her mother is a robot by seeing her metal skeleton through a cut-wide-open shoulder and reacts with the prejudicial horror any child in that universe would feel, jerking away from Armitage and hiding behind Ross after Armitage has been badly injured by two clones of her with razor blades on murder-skates. Armitage swallows her tears, turns and goes to fight the clones again, knowing it's a fight she almost certainly can't win. At the end of the film, one of the clones is holding Yoko by the throat. Armitage, beaten and weary unto near unconsciousness, staggers up behind the thing and manages to grip its shoulder, and utters a line that exemplifies this trope.
Armitage: Let...Let go of my daughter, you bitch!
Followed by a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on Armitage, who is only saved when little Yoko re-accepts her as her mom and screams Mommy! in horror... Armitage pulls a Heroic RRoD.
After having been through a very horrific ordeal during the Great Eclipse that ended with her going completely insane, Casca has the mentality of a 2-year-old child and can't take care of herself. Right after the Eclipse, she miscarries the baby she was pregnant with due to the extreme trauma that she suffered but it turns out to be tainted with evil as a result of what Griffith, in his newly-incarnated demonic form of Femto, did to her. Guts, the father of the child who is there, immediately tries to kill it, but Casca, through a surprising act of maternal instinct, tries to protect the child, before it disappears by daybreak. Poor Casca is then left screaming and crying in grief, which leaves even Guts in a moment of despair.
The Child makes several more appearances to its mother in order to protect her. After another series of unfortunate events, the Child makes his first human appearance, which is far less appalling. He has taken a liking to both Casca and Guts, but Casca, in another surprising twist, acts very motherly toward him and is fiercely protective of him, not allowing anyone to touch the Child.
It's gets even more poignant and screwed up as in the center of Casca's mind where all the pain and turmoil that degraded her mental state is, the cause of it isn't just because of the Eclipse, losing all her comrades, getting raped while her true love is forced to watch... it's because she lost her child. That is why the last fragment of Casca's sanity is her child and only retrieving it truly heals Casca’s mind.
Besides Casca there’s: Shisu Gut's adoptive mother who saved him from dying under his biological mother’s corpse as a baby, Luca the Hooker with a Heart of Gold towards the younger prostitutes in her care and Farnese as Team Mom to Gut's companions in general.
Bitter Virgin. When Hinako's mother realizes that her daughter's (second) pregnancy was the result of rape, and that the rapist is her own second husband, the next time she sees him she chases him out of the house with a knife.
Licita: I won't let go! I'm never letting go again! I won't... I won't let you... TAKE MY SON!!!
In Black Lagoon...For the love of any deity you believe in, do not harm any of Balalaika's subordinates. If you do, she will hunt. you. down. Some may see that as twisted, but others may see that as what proves she's still human: those men are all she has anymore, so she protects them fiercely and will NOT let any harm to them pass. Proved when she engineers the traps that get Hansel and Gretel ultimately dead, and as Hansel talks to her and then bleeds to death when she has his arm and leg pretty much blown off, she keeps mentioning the reason why she's doing so: to punish the Vampire Twins for blowing up one of her soldiers, then horribly torturing another to death, and then mocking their deaths in front of her.
And Balalaika's quite reasonable and easy to deal with, compared to the Lovelace family Meidos, Rosarita Cisneros aka Roberta and Fabiola Iglesias. If you, the gods forbid, kidnap or harm a Lovelace, either or both of them will come. for. you. Roberta's explicitly compared to the Terminator, and later on shoots her way through a group of US Special Forces, single-handedly. Fabiola's not quite as formidable as her mentor, but she's still nobody to trifle with, and may be going the same way (if, you know, less psychotic than Roberta).
An interesting example of this trait being applied to a villain comes from Tier Harribel, the third Espada. Unlike most of the Arrancar, who love violence and don't give a damn about their comrades and subordinates, Harribel strongly believes in her True Companions and The Power of Friendship, having a very tight bond with her three subordinates. While Harribel doesn't typically fight often or very hard, when her three fraccion are in danger, she goes into a state of Tranquil Fury and shows why she's ranked as the third strongest in Aizen's army. Harribel's aspect of death is Sacrifice because of her willingness to sacrifice herself for her friends, but also because they're equally willing to sacrifice for her.
Ichigo reveals early in the manga that his Missing Mom gave her life to save him from a hollow. Subverted. Masaki was such a powerful Quincy, the hollow was absolutely no threat to her at all and she would have played the trope completely straight for Ichigo. Her power was stolen in the middle of the fight by the Quincy King, rendering her suddenly powerless. Instead of curbstomping the hollow, she was killed by it - while still trying to shield Ichigo despite having lost her powers.
Retsu Unohana's angry stare can terrify even the 11th Division enough to stop bullying her squad. It's revealed she is the progenitor of the 11th Division when she trains her old protegè and rival Zaraki. She fights to the death to make sure Zaraki achieves his potential and it's both terrifying and Creepy Awesome to watch her fight.
Blood on the Tracks plays this for horror. Seiichi's mother Seiko is very doting toward him during a family hiking trip, earning laughs from the family about her being overprotective. Then she pushes her nephew off a cliff after he plays a prank on her son, and it all goes downhill from there.
Bokurano. Never EVER threaten or bully Kana Ushiro near to Maki Anou. She might not be her relative, but she'll still do her best to drive you away from here.
Ran Mouri went Mama Bear on several occasions over a suspect who tried to eliminate Conan as a witness. Since she knowsmartial arts, the result was quite painful. In the 4th movie, Ran was afflicted with Trauma-Induced Amnesia... and the trigger for her recovering her memories was seeing Conan threatened by the culprit. Another Curb-Stomp Battle followed. And the reason for said amnesia was witnessing how the other Action Girl, Miwako Satou, went Mama Bearfor her... by taking 4 shots from the same culprit.
Ran is known to go Mama Bear for any kid she is in any way in charge of. One episode has a creepy guy who turns out to have been employed by an Italian criminal following the Junior Detective League to try to steal a piece of paper from them. Ran throws a warning punch at him and says that if he doesn't leave them alone, she'll call the police. In another story, it looks like a client of her father's — a high-school girl — may have been kidnapped by dangerous people; Ran thinks she sees the kidnapper spying on her place... so she jumps out the window to confront him. When he runs, she chases him down the street and punches out the driver's window of his car, demanding to know where the girl is. He actually wasn't the kidnapper, but it was still pretty awesome.
Teresa of the Faint Smile in Claymore, after adopting Clare, breaks the taboo against killing humans after bandits raid the town where she left the little Clare, and refuses to accept the organization's punishment in order to stay with her.
Clarice ends up being one to Miata, despite the fact that, as the weakest Claymore, anything Miata can't defeat she certainly can't defeat. Nonetheless, she still stands up to protect her.
Rem of Death Note falls under this trope; having sworn to protect Misa after Gelus, another Shinigami, died doing so, she acts as a guardian of sorts and threatens to kill Light if he brings her harm. Of course, since this is Light Yagami, he immediately begins plotting a way to use that against her. He eventually succeeds, forcing Rem to kill L and Watari to save Misa, sacrificing herself in the process.
Don't Meddle with My Daughter!'s premise is about Athena Haruka, a retired superheroine turned housewife, who finds out her 17-year-old daughter Clara has unknowingly chosen to follow in her footsteps. It follows Athena as she comes out of retirement and shows everyone, from monsters and enemies of all kinds to her old allies who recruited her kid in the first place, the lengths she'll go to, to ensure Clara's safety.
Subverted in (of all series) Dragon Ball Z. Goku's wife Chi-Chi is odd in that she's both taken a level in badassand was Overshadowed by Awesome alongside half the cast, so she has her limits. But then again, she has her limits. Her Victorious Childhood Friend and husband has been dead for seven years, she's been led to believe that her older son has followed, and Chi-Chi is absolutely out of her mind with grief. While her father is able to hold her back the first time she tries to attack him, eventually she does walk right up to Super Buu, slaps him, and demands he bring Gohan back. Buu stares at her, turns her into an egg, and promptly crushes her. Worst of all, her seven-year-old son was watching the entire time.
In a filler episode just before the Trunks saga, however, Chi-Chi gets to play the trope straight. She hires a private tutor for Gohan by the name of Mr. Shu, unaware that he's a cruel Sadist Teacher who repeatedly kicks the dog by calling Goku worthless as a father and makes the poor kid bleed. Then she finds out. It does not end well for Shu.
In two filler episodes during the Namek Saga, there was a Giant Crab that antagonized Bulma, to which Bulma also led her to attack Blueberry and Raspberry later on. It's strongly implied that their being in close proximity to their offspring, and in the case of Blueberry and Raspberry, stealing them under the belief that they were dragonballs, was what resulted in the crab attacking them, as both times the crab attacked, the characters it attacked were near its eggs.
Really, all of the mothers in the series are this in one way or another. Chi-Chi might be overshadowed, but Goku, Krillin, Piccolo, and pretty much all of the main Z-Fighters are terrified of her, especially when anything involving her children is going on. Bulma has her moments as well, most noticeable when Trunks is training with Goten during the Buu saga. Really, no matter how Overshadowed by Awesome and Out of Focus many of the female characters are, you do not mess with them or their children.
Similarly in Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone Chi-Chi initially protects Gohan against Garlic Junior's Quirky Mini Boss Squad, even pulling her son behind her and taking off the apron, before attacking Ginger.
Android 18 also shows this in Dragon Ball GT when her Brainwashed and Crazy brother Android 17 murders Krillin in front of her and nearly does the same to their daughter Maron (whom 18 orders to leave the battlefield and shields from 17's blast). The whole ordeal sets 18 off so much she actually helps Goku in blowing 17 to hell.
Gine, Goku's mother was this as well as seen in Dragon Ball Minus and Dragon Ball Super: Broly as she is adamantly against sending Goku to Earth despite Bardock's insistence that Freiza is a threat to Planet Vegeta. Gine even says she'll go to Earth (along with Bardock) to bring Goku back, if her husband turns out to be wrong... he wasn't. Gine gets to play this straight when she meets Kid Goku in Dragon Ball: Fusions, doing her best to protect him as a Action Mom.
Towa is a villainous example, despite being a cruel and tyrannical demon lady she does genuinely love and care for Fu her son (that she had with Mira), much like Chi-Chi and Bulma with their kids. This is seen in Super Dragon Ball Heroes where Towa makes sure Fu escapes the destruction of the Demon Realm, by sending him through a time rift.
In Fight! Iczer-One, when the title character and her partner Nagisa are getting their butts kicked in a mecha battle against Iczer-Two, Sayoko (the little girl whom Nagisa met and decided to protect in the previous episode) tries to encourage them. Iczer-Two, in annoyance, responds by stepping on poor Sayoko with her mecha. Nagisa's resulting fury gives her mecha a massive power up, and she and Iczer-One proceed to wipe the floor with their opponents. Afterward, it turns out Sayoko was protected by the bracelet Iczer-One gave Nagisa (who in turn gave it to her), and thus survived.
In Fruits Basket, we have Kyoko Honda, Tohru's mom. She was in a gang before her marriage to Katsuya, and while we never get to see her in action, it's heavily implied that she wouldn't think twice about reverting to her darker days to protect her daughter. Now Tohru's friend Arisa, who greatly admired Kyoko and once was saved by her, steps in to be the Mama Bear; her other friend, Saki, friend is like that too, even more so than Arisa as she scares the SHIT out of the Alpha Bitch and her Girl Posse if they try to bully Tohru when she's near.
When Tohru was a little girl, she once went missing. As Yuki can testify, Kyoko was so worried and upset at how the police couldn't find her daughter that she was seriously about to beat the shit out of a policeman if he didn't find her in time.
Izumi is practically Ed and Al's second mother. She barges into Greed's hideout to rescue Al after taking down one of the homunculus' cronies. Add to that her furious introduction and, well...they learned why it's an extremely bad idea to piss off one of the most badass characters in the entire story.
An episode of Futari wa Pretty Cure gave Honoka's grandmother a chance to be Grandma Bear. Pretty impressive feat for an non-superpowered elderly woman.
In Gokusen The Rookie Teacher Yankumi is this to Her students, even coins the phrase, "Mess with My Kids I...Will ...Kick ....Your ...ASS!!"
Hajime no Ippo actually featured a very literal Mama Bear that tries to kill Takamura. It doesn't end well...For the bear.
Haré+Guu. Amazingly, (but awesomely) Weda, with the bank robbers
From Hell Teacher Nube, aside of the Teacher Wolf male lead Meisuke Nueno aka Nube...a more traditional Mama Bear example is his co-worker and Ritsuko Takahashi, who fought a demon alone to protect a student of hers. Notice that Ritsuko had NO powers (unlike Nube), clearly knew she wouldn't be able to win the fight, was grievously injured...and she fought anyway, successfully holding off the monster until Nube came to her aid.
Izuna eventually becomes one to a "boze" (the soul of an unborn baby that she accidentally misplaced during an exorcism) who then takes refuge in her body (and makes her look really, really pregnant), since they're haunted by a boze-eating monster.
Farangis in the anime/manga version of The Heroic Legend of Arslan is this to Arslan and Alfarid. Similar to Daryun, she is fiercely protective over Arslan and has little patience or sympathy for anyone who means harm to Arslan. On a more humorous note, she dislikes how indecisive Narsus is regarding Alfarid's obvious affection towards him and has lectured him for not treating it seriously.
Inuyasha offers a played with example in the Nothing Woman/Unmother. She's a youkai who originally is The Blank but has Master of Disguise skills, so Sesshoumaru has her impersonate Inuyasha's Missing Mom for his own purposes. However, the Unmother still has a strong maternal instinct; after being uncovered by Kagome and severely injured, she goes Mama Bearfor Inuyasha and is killed protecting him from Sesshoumaru himself.
Played with in Battle Tendencyin regards to Lisa Lisa towards her only son, Joseph. She doesn't go easy on him during his Hamontraining and overall treats him pretty coldly, however, when one vampire, Wired Beck, gives Joseph a surprise attack, Lisa Lisa swiftly moves in front of her son and obliterates the vampire with her Hamon infused scarf. It's also more apparent whenever her son is in danger, as she expresses her concern and even shouts guidance to him in the heat of battle, as well as the Tears of Joy she cries when she sees her son alive again after the Final Battle. It's probably a Downplayed Trope because Lisa Lisa became a criminal as a result of being an Action Mom in the past, and she knows her son can look after himself. In fact, when shit hits the fan in the climax, the roles are switched.
While she's not actually his mother, Reimi Sugimoto from Diamond is Unbreakable acted this way towards a young Rohan, going as far as to sacrifice herself in order to protect him from Kira.
While she starts out as a vainJerkass, Mitsuba Higashikata from JoJolion turns on Wu Tomoki after learning that his experiments with the Rokakaka Fruit may threaten her unborn child.
The Legend of Mother Sarah. The story is basically about Sarah, a widow who lost her children Tsurumi and Harato years ago, and is now Walking the Earth to find them again. Needless to say the "reunion" won't be that easy: their "Earth" is a Mad Max world after a terrorist attack threw it into confusion - so to find the kids, Sarah kicks ass. Hard.
Madlax: What ever you do; DO. NOT. EVER. lay a finger on Margaret. Unless you really like getting the snot kicked out of you by her Ninja Maid Elenore.
"What the HELL did you do to my brother and my friend, YOU MONSTER?!"
An unusual example, since the child in this case is already dead, but Scheherazade for Titus.
"You've stolen Titus' magoi! And that's how you've grown so much in size! Now, you give me back—MY SON!"
The villains of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS make the mistake of letting their Living MacGuffin, a little tyke named Vivio, get adopted by the heroines and then trying to steal her back. One of these is the same lady known in the fandom as "The White Devil" for beating the crap out of the people she likes when they don't listen to her. The other is a Dark Magical Girl who is no less dangerous, if a bit less confrontational, but just as dedicated to her loved ones as her partner. They...don't take it well. The resulting Roaring Rampage of Rescue has at least one cyborg wondering if Nanoha is even human (especially ironic as she is one of the very few mages in this series who, in fact, is).
Seriously, it's best not to mess with Vivio. In A's, the season before StrikerS, Nanoha loads three cartridges into Raising Heart as a prelude to blasting an Eldrich Abomination that has a habit of destroying entire worlds; just before she lets all hell loose on the poor sap who kidnapped Vivio, she loads five- then slaps in a second clip. The results are satisfyingly explosive.
Medaka from Medaka Box is like this towards the members of the Student Council. When Unzen attacks the Student Council with his explosive superballs, Medaka goes ballistic, nearly killing him in the process, if it wasn't for Zenkichi, Akune and Kikaijima to stop her on time.
Kobayashi from Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid acts as a Parental Substitute for Kanna and is normally in control of her emotions, so it's rather telling when she finally meets Kanna's father (who had already been established as being a hands-off parent to the point of neglect), hears him refer to his daughter as "a necessity", and she becomes visibly angry.
Karma Abyss, from the light novel Mom, please don't come adventuring with menote Japanese title is Bōken ni tsuite konaide okāsan! is almost a literal example, given that she is the same lvl 9999 dragon that aided a hero (who had long since died) in saving the world in human form. It's also averted in that she only adopted her son, Ryuuji... not that that little detail stopped her from replacing the blade half of a sword with a note saying she did so, barking at a slime, and all but nuking a whole mountain's dungeon from the inside out as well as the forest outside of it.
My Home Hero has Tosu Kasen. When her husband Tetsuo tells her that their daughter's boyfriend, that he just murdered for hitting said daughter, is a Yakuza who has gotten away with murdering two past girlfriends, her reaction is to help him hide the body and try and find out how to make sure her husband and daughter won't pay for it.
Kushina Uzumaki is confirmed as one when she finally appears and completely chains the Kyuubi, which she once was the host for, for the sake of her son Naruto aka the actual host. And then when the Nine Tails tries to kill Naruto, she (and Minato) shield him by LETTING THE FOX IMPALE THEM WITH ITS CLAWS.
Oh, it's much more than that. When she realizes that their bodies alone won't stop the Kyuubi, Kushina reaches out and grabs hold of the claw, physically stopping it through sheer force of will. This thing is much too big for even Tsunade to lift, and Kushina is at the weakest she's ever been in her life. She then proceeds to taunt Minato by saying if the father can die for his son the mother can do it even better.
Speaking of Tsunade, she herself has an often overlooked Mama Bear moment towards Naruto in her introduction arc. While initially she couldn't care less about him when Jiraiya brings Naruto along to meet her, upon discovering how similar he is to her dead little brother Nawaki and dead boyfriend Dan, Tsunade's attitude gradually changes. The crowning moment comes when Orochimaru directly tries to kill Naruto, and Tsuande continuously shields him with her bodygetting badly slashed◊ and even impaled by Orochimaru as a result... and this was when she had haemophobia by the way. Through this action Tsunade actually gets her strength back allowing her to beat the crap out of Orochimaru, with Jiraiya joining her.
Kurenai looked after and cared for Hinata after her father disinherited her. She (along with Kakashi and Gai) also physically stopped Neji from beating Hinata to death during the Chunin Exams
The other female Jonin Anko briefly protected Naruto from the disguised Orochimaru albeit in freaky fashion.
Gaara's mother Karura. She was determined to protect her son, enough so that dying wasn't enough to stop her. Remember how Gaara said that he believed his sand was commanded by his mother's spirit? It turns out that he was right.
Several years later, in Naruto Gaiden, a veryangrySakuraHaruno uses her Super-Strength to punch out an enemy who was about to harm her and Sasuke's daughter Sarada, injuring him so much that he needed an organ transplant.
In Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Chizuru slaps a high-ranking Demon when he breaks into their house and attacks Kotaro, whom she has decided to adopt. Although it wasn't really all that effective in the end, the fact that she managed to stop his attack cold is rather impressive for one who is supposed to be an Ordinary High-School Student...
Once they get to the Magic World, there's a literal Mama Bear. As in, a bear-woman that the characters call "Mama". And she will wreck anyone who mistreats the slave girls (Ako, Natsume and Akira) she's watching over: when their actual owner Tohsaka tried to subject them to Electric Torture, she immediately pimp-slapped him until he stopped.
Shinji and Asuka's mothers are locked inside their respective Humongous Mecha. So that, when the Evas go berserker it is actually their pilots' mothers going berserker:
Unit 01 goes berserk whenever Shinji is in trouble? That's actually Yui Ikari.
Youtube comment: Shinji ain't happy, so mama ain't happy. We're all not happy if mama ain't happy.
And what helped Asuka avoid being killed by the JSSDF? The half of her mom Kyouko's soul that remained in Unit 02 after the failed experiment that rendered her insane.
Asuka: Idonwannadie, idonwannadie, I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!...Mama, you've been here all along?! MAMA! (giant cross of light erupts from the lake) Soldier: What the hell is that?! (Unit 02 rises from the lake, holding a NERV battleship).
In a more down-to-Earth (sorta) example, we have Misato Katsuragi. She's not only a strong Action Girl, but fiercely devoted to her Children Shinji and Asuka, and especially to Shinji.
Ojamajo Doremi gives us the Ojamajos for Hana during Sharp and beyond. To wit:
Try to kidnap her? They will track you down and use your established weaknesses to lure you into a trap and take her back.
Break out of said trap? They'll use their newfound powers to kick your ass. And they will do this each and every time you try, even when it's the fault of your subordinates.
Run off with her when said subordinates are having a Heel–Face Turn? They will trail you back to your home realm and stop at nothing to get her back.
Threaten her life? They will go against all odds to get the cure even at the cost of their lives.
Instill a hatred of vegetables needed to make her healthy and strong? They will break that curse by any means necessary.
Possess one of the girls so as to bring Hana straight to you so you can kill her directly? The others will follow and do everything to snap their possessed friend out of the spell and will fight tooth and nail to keep you from killing her.
In short, if you mess with Hana and the other Ojamajos find out, be prepared for a world of hurt.
Bellemere, who when given the choice to buy her life or those of her daughters, offered hers in Heroic Sacrifice to ensure Nami and Nojiko weren't killed by Arlong. Even more when you realize that it wasn't until after this proclamation that the bad guys even knew about her daughters who aren't actually her blood. She adopted the girls when Nami was still an infant and Nojiko just barely a toddler, and ultimately decided she would rather die than pretend she had no daughters in order to spare her own life.
Can't forget Bellemere was dying on a battlefield when she found Nami and Nojiko, but they gave her to will to live, sail all the way back to Cocoyashi Village and hysterically demand they get medical attention first even if she was more wounded. Then adopt both girls when she was back to full health.
Portgas D. Rouge, the mother of Ace. To escape detection by Marines searching for children being born at that time in an attempt to find the child of Gold Roger, Rouge withheld giving birth and bore her baby in her womb for twenty months out of sheer willpower before finally having him. The act ultimately killed Rouge, but allowed Ace (who would take up her surname instead of his father's to honor her) to grow up in relative safety under the care of Garp and alongside his grandson, Luffy.
Nami like Bellemere, becomes a Mama Bear herself likely due losing her adoptive mother at such early age. In Arlong Park she stops a village boy from trying to take revenge on Arlong for killing his father by whacking him down with her bo-staff, but then she also drops a huge stack of money next to his head and Nami almost never gives money away. In Punk Hazard Nami is a complete Mama Bear to the children who were being experimented on, as she cannot bring herself to run away from the Caesar's men while the kids beg for help, she stands her ground and inspires Sanji and Franky to respectively go Papa Wolf.
Nami: When I'm asked by crying kids to save them I can't just turn my back on them!
If that weren't enough Oda says Nami would be a child care worker if she weren't a Pirate.
Robin while usually not as explicit Nami can be a Mama Bear as well. In Filler she takes care of a little girl called Lil for the most of the arc to the point where Lil refused to let Robin leave her. Robin also helps take care of the kids in Punk Hazard and looks after Rebecca in Dressrosa, like Nami this care for children appears to stem from losing her mother at a tender age. Played straight in Wano as when little Toko is about to get killed by Shogun Orochi and Robin (despite being hunted by ninjas herself) picks Toko up and protects her, she even makes sure Toko gets back her home safely. Robin’s Mama Bear tendencies also extend to other crewmates, she greatly cares for Chopper and used her Devil Fruit power to rescue Luffy when he was suffering Heroic RRoD after beating Lucci. Most memorably in Onigashima when Sanji is tortured by Black Maria and unable to fight back calls for Robin’s help, she immediately arrives to smack Black Maria across the room. Then as Sanji is escaping, Black Maria cries that she let won’t him go at which Robin threatens that’ll be her last words if she doesn’t leave him alone.
Robin: Seeing my friends mistreated... brings out the devil in me.
Sanji's mother, Vinsmoke Sora, was a pretty impressive one as well. Her husband Judge experimented on Sanji and his brothers (Ichiji, Niji and Yonji) when they were still in Sora's womb to make them sadistic little tyke bombs, and he had already experimented on their older daughter Reiju. So she prepared and ingested a very dangerous drug to undo said enhancements, fully knowing that it would ruin her health. Even when only Sanji was saved, Sora (who became Delicate and Sickly and died a few years afterwards) believed this to be completely Worth It.
Special mention to Kozuki Toki who used her Story-Breaker Power to send her only son Momonosuke 20 years into the future to save him from getting burned alive. Toki's daughter Hiyori follows her mother's example protecting Toko fiercely.
Big Mom is a strange case, as she treats all 85 of her biological kids terribly. But in Wano she does genuinely care for Tama when she had Easy Amnesia and even after getting her memory back she still cares for Tama, and delivers the mother of all curb stomps to Ulti upon seeing her hurt Tama. Possibly a case of Because You Were Nice to Me.
Curly Dadan is a notable example. At first, she’s loathed that she’s forced to raise Ace and Luffy in place of their grandfather, Garp, but greatly fears inciting his wrath. A lot of the time she could care less whenever the boys left for a long period of time. That is, until they’re kidnapped by the feared pirate captain, Bluejam and his crew. Dadan didn’t hesitate to come charging at Bluejam and beat him up when he nearly kills the boys. She even clobbers Garp without any shred of fear due to her grief of Ace’s death and the pain it caused Luffy, all the while chewing out the former Vice Admiral over his fence-sitting while Ace was imprisoned and eventually killed. Garp could have easily beaten her up, but he didn’t even bother to so much as raise a hand against Dadan like he usually does, since he felt extremely guilty over Ace’s death.
Penguindrum: Chiemi Takakura, like her husband Kenzan, loves and cares very deeply for her kids. In episode 9 she's seen shielding her daughter Himari without hesitation when a huge mirror falls on her; for that, Chiemi sustained severe cuts in her face and arms and had to be hospitalized.
In Plastic Memories, Kazuki is this toward Isla. She is very angry at their section chief when he suggests pairing Tsukasa and Isla up together and is quite vocal in her opposition to letting Isla back out into the field so quickly. She also scolds Tsukasa after his first job resulted in complaints filed against them due to Isla destroying a trash can in the first episode.
Mrs. Delia Ketchum of Pokémon: The Series would be a more prominent example if Pallet Town was focused on more often. The one time in which her home was threatened, though, she proved to be a formidable force, scaring off Team Rocket and getting a Mr. Mime (her current housekeeping Pokemon) to boot.
Also, there's the pivotal role she had in Pokémon 3: Spell of the Unown. Delia may have not taken physical action, but she was a Guile Heroine who became a key player in helping the emotionally fragile Molly, who had the legendary Pokemon Entei's leash, come back to her senses, which would be vital to controlling the damage made later.
Another example: in the 13th movie, Zoroark is one of these. She apparently has such extreme motherly instincts that she can FEEL Zorua getting kicked around, and promptly gets so pissed off that she (in roughly the following order): punches her way out of a thick metal box that gives her a nasty shock every time she touches the walls (a box that she's been trying and failing to escape for the past half-hour of the movie or so), fights the Legendary Beasts to a standstill on her own, and then utterly trounces Kodai without laying so much as a claw on him.
To make it even more impressive, Zoroark isn't even a Legendary Pokemon and yet she managed all that. On top of that, Kodai can see the future and she outwitted him completely.
One of the DP episodes featured a Froslass that took Meowth and Dawn's Piplup hostage to get Ash, Dawn, and Brock to help her find her missing Snorunt child, who had been kidnapped by a Pokémon poacher.
In the Johto series, a Tyranitar was seen trying to protect her Larvitar child twice, even going as far as attacking Ash and his friends when they showed up to return Larvitar.
Whether Lugia fits this Trope or Papa Wolf better is uncertain, but it was one or the other when Team Rocket member Dr. Namba tried to kidnap its child to lure it into his clutches and capture both of them. Lugia itself wasn't able to take revenge against Namba, but for the heroes - and James, Jesse, and Meowth, who sided with them - trying to help it turned Lugia into an Androcles' Lion for them.
The Kangaskhan as a whole. They are very protective of their children and will attack anyone who threatens them.
Tommy's mother was very upset that her husband dropped their child, even though he wore a parachute and was saved by the Kangaskhan.
In the Sun & Moon series, Bewear is literally a Mama Bear. She is extremely fond of both her cub and Team Rocket and if she feels any of them are in danger, she will go berserk and even annihilate an Ultra Beastsingle-handedly (Pheromosa, whose physical attacks would have been halved anyway thanks to Bewear's ability Fluffy)
In Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Rebellion, Cool Big Sis Mami Tomoe doesn't seem to have Taken A Level In Badass at first... but then Homura kidnaps her friend Bebe (because she thinks Nagisa/Bebe is the witch controlling the labyrinth). Mami somehow saw this coming, had attached a ribbon to Homura so she couldn't escape via Time Stands Still, and proceeds to fight the heavily-armed Time Master to a draw. Wait, no, Mami wins easily, because she did all that with a clone of herself made of ribbons which suddenly engulfs Homura when she finally lands a hit on "Mami".
In Private Actress Shiho is just 16-17 years old, but when she has a Private Acting job that involves taking care of someone, she becomes fiercely dedicated to that person. So when she's hired by the father of a troubled Child Prodigy and realizes that the dad's girlfriend/the kid's manager is a potential Wicked Stepmother, she takes the decision to protect the younger girl at all costs — which includes dealing a passionate performance (where she's supposed to be channeling the spirit of the kid's Missing Mom) to bring the girl back from a huge Heroic BSoD and then pulling a Diving Save to save her from being run over by a train.
In Private Prince, Kyouko Sakuragawa is nagging and all, but when her daughter and the lead character Miyako goes into a massive Heroic BSoD because she thinks her boyfriend Will will not fulfill his promise to marry her and that severely adds up to her already present emotional turmoil, Kyouko not only lets her return home without any questions, but doesn't hesitate to call the culprit out and kick him outta the ryokan to protect Miyako's currently non-existant emotional stability. She's doing this to someone who's royalty, and it could get her potentially in LOTS of trouble. Too bad he wanted to clear all up back then, so Miyako's dad has to fix it up.
Woe betide anyone who hurts someone Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon cares for. Whether it's her boyfriend, her Kid from the Future, her fellow scouts or her muggle friends/family. One of the most beautiful examples is the end of the first anime's Super S season, where the defeated Nehelenia exacts "revenge" on Moon by throwing an unconscious Chibi Moon off the edge of the floating battlefield...and after (understandably) BSOD-ing a little, Moon defiantly says "You...you won't defeat me!" and throws herself off the same field to catch and rescue Chibiusa, even transforming into Princess Serenity to save her Kid from the Future. And it ultimately works.
Also Makoto Kino/Sailor Jupiter. Her title of Senshi of Protection isn't just for shits and giggles: when she's feeling dizzy after donating blood in one episode, she immediately goes outside to fight, and when Moon is pinned down by the Monster of the Week, Jupiter goes berserk, forces herself to stand up, keeps attacking and singlehandedly kills the monster.
Minako Aino/Sailor Venus Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury have Mama Bear moments in the R season, where they get their first power-ups after facing Cardians who had taken kindergarten children (Minako) and babies (Ami) as hostages.
Moon: W-wow, Mercury! I had not seen that power! How did you get it? Mercury: I'm not sure. I only know that she made me angry when she threatened the babies!
Senyuu. has Cecily in later chapters. Seriously, don't mess with her son Lake or do anything that might endanger him if you want to see the next day.
In Shaman King, the spirit moving the Golem turns out to be Redseb and Seyram Munzer's mother. It is unknown why she only appears to respond to Seyram's commands, and the cause of her death is rumoured to be related to the creation of the Golem, as she is clearly dead by the time the children's father was killed. However, even when her children's bodies have been destroyed and only their spirits remain, she activates the Golem on her own to try to prevent Hao from feeding Seyram's soul to SOF. It is shown that when Hao voices this realisation, Redseb at least was not aware of their mother's presence.
Hao: Impressive. Even in death, a mother fights to protect her children.
Shiki gives us a couple of darker takes on this trope. The more straightforward is Chizuko Murasako, sister-in-law to Masao Murasako, who eagerly takes up the mantle of killing vampires once they learn that they're the ones who killed her son, and who even kills Masao when he comes to her begging for help at the end (having become a vampire sometime previously). Then there's Motoko Maeda, who is driven into deep insanity as her children are picked off one by one, and eventually retaliates by burning down the entire village!Shiki being Shiki, neither one is a truly heroic character, though both are fairly sympathetic as these things go.
Ishida's mother Miyako goes Mama Bear on him when she connects the dots, his oddly cleaned room, his sudden lack of possessions, the ripped in half calender marking down to the day when he without reason left a huge bundle of money by her bedside... and realized her son had been planning to commit suicide. She absolutely rips into him, screaming to high heaven at him for even thinking of doing so and completely freaks out Ishida. She even literally threatens to (and accidentally does) burn the money, saying she’d never want it at the cost of his life.
Shoko’s mother Yaeko is even more extreme and veers into overprotective territory. Though given Shoko is deaf and has been tormented throughout her childhood because of it, you can’t fault her harsh attitude. It’s for this reason that she initially doesn’t forgive Ishida or tolerate him hanging out with her daughter (due to him actively bullying Shoko in elementary childhood) despite his genuine attempts to make amends, even slapping him. Though later on, when Ishida gets accidentally hospitalised preventing Shoko’s suicide attempt she completely forgives him and encourages Ishida to be with her daughter. Played straightest, when Alpha Bitch Ueno is assaulting Shoko for unintentionally getting Ishida hurt, Yaeko steps in and beats the shit out of Ueno to protect her daughter. This was a huge change in Yaeko, because in the manga she’s extremely strict on Shoko because she wants to toughen her up against the ableist society they live in, but once she sees how helpless Shoko is against Ueno’s beatings, the claws come out.
In Sound of the Sky, mess with any of the girls of the 1121st Helvetian Tank Platoon and you'll get a deadly serious Felicia Heideman.
Marie Mjolnir in Soul Eater is a perky Team Mom to her students. When traitor Justin Law comes to Death City to kill one of them, she transforms into a frightening and protective figure.
SPY×FAMILY: Yor Forger is Anya's new adoptive mother, but nonetheless loves the little girl as if she were her biological daughter. Being a Professional KillerWith a Heart, she's absolutely ferocious whenever someone upsets or endangers Anya. Case in point, a bunch of scumbags who try to kidnap Anya in one episode get a very rude awakening when she lays out one of them and then stabs through a pumpkin another tries to throw at her with one hand. Before then viciously disabusing them of any notions of her being a "maid" and making it very clear what they can expect if they lay another hand on Anya, which makes them all run off with their tails between their legs.
Sword Art Online: Asuna, the female protagonist of the series, and her dear boyfriend/in-game husband Kirito adopts Yui as their daughter after they found her alone wandering in the woods. Even after learning the truth about her being an artificial intelligence, it doesn't change a bit how they feel about her. Asuna loves Yui like she was her own child and she is a very sweet and affectionate mother. Mess with her, however, and may God have mercy on your sould, especially since Kirito is just as much a Papa Wolf.
In Toriko we have the female Battle Wolf who has just gave birth to her puppy, Terry. At the same time she ignores the massive, rampaging Devil Serpent who's gorging on the other animals in the arena. However, as soon as the monster look at the cub, she stands up, slowly walks towards him, and then shred his whole body to tiny fragments in one bite.
Lady Chiyo had a Face–Heel Turn and joined the Bishokukai because she wants to use one of the ingredients they are seeking, a legendary rumored ingredient capable of reviving the dead, to bring back the son she lost years ago.
In Trigun, Rem Saverem is the reason why Vash and Knives weren't killed as babies since they were Plants and Rem protected them from the asshole humans and took it upon herself to look after them. In both the manga and anime, it can be argued that Rem could've done a better job as Mama Bear at least in regard to Knives, whose Start of Darkness began when he witnessed/experienced the worst of humanity while Vash was helped and coddled by Rem, therefore gaining a sense of righteous goodness.
Also, a rare male example, Fai. Don't mess with his Little Kitty or you can go and count your bones. Guess who the Papa Wolf role falls to. Right, Kurogane
In Witchblade Rihoko's biological mother Reina Soho sacrifices her life to protect Rihoko from Maria, a psychotic Neogene. Also, Rihoko's adoptive mother Masane Amaha sacrifices her life in order to destroy the Witchblade in order to ensure that Rihoko will not become the Witchblade's next host.
In Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds, there's the Almighty Mom Martha, who runs the orphanage in Satellite, whose past charges have included Yusei, Jack, and Crow. Not only is she fiercely protective of her charges (past and present), she's one of the few authority figures whom the three protagonists respect and obey without question; she earned the respect. (Some of this has clearly rubbed off on Crow, who has become a Papa Wolf towards the children of Satellite as an adult.)
to Gohan's surprise.
