Basic Trope: Parents who (seemingly) don't care about their own children.
- Straight: Bob's parents are generally neglectful to their son, and in some cases, their siblings, rarely showing concern about where he is or what he's doing.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob's parents occasionally forget that they even have children.
- Their neglect reaches levels of Abusive Parents anytime Bob tries to get them to take care of or even acknowledge him.
- Downplayed: Bob's parents do look after their children, but they're distant.
- Justified:
- Bob's parents are workaholics, so they cannot spend time with Bob/their children.
- Bob is a heartless Enfant Terrible.
- Bob's parents has to work 60 hours a week in minimum wage jobs and have to pass the home responsibilities on him. His attitude when it comes to helping around wasn't helping much either.
- Bob's parents Stopped Caring.
- Inverted:
- Bob's parents only care about Bob's well-being.
- Bob's parents do care about their son; he is the one to never look after his own parents.
- My Beloved Smother / Papa Wolf
- Subverted: Bob's parents hardly look after him, but they do hire a sitter for him.
- Double Subverted: ...but said sitter ignores Bob too. If only they hadn't hired a random person of the street for a few bucks and food.
- Parodied: Bob walks into the room and his parents say "Who are you, again?"
- Zig-zagged: Something causes Bob's parents don't spend time with Bob and when they are finally able to,Bob rejects them wanting alone time. As a result, they continue being neglectful, triggering Bob's reaction, and so on.
- Averted:
- Bob has Good Parents.
- Parental figures are neither present nor mentioned by the cast.
- Enforced: The author wishes to either send a message to children that their parents should spend more time with them & that parents should always look after their children.
- Lampshaded:Bob: "My parents don't even know I'm hanging out with y'all, they're apparently too busy."
- Invoked: A certain event causes Bob's parents to stop paying attention to their children.
- Exploited: Bob uses his parents' apathy to get away with all sorts of crime.
- Defied:Bob's father: "You know, honey, we need to set aside time to look after Bob."
- Discussed:Alice: "Bob, why are your parents so apathetic and ignorant of you and your brothers?"Bob: "...and when they come home and are tired, they're not able to pass time with me."
- Conversed: "Those parents on tv act like their children don't exist."
- Implied: Bob appears to be malnourished, but his home life is never shown.
- Deconstructed:
- Bob is always trying to make a good impression to his parents, but they hardly acknowledge his interests and/or achievements due to events like constant work or their hobbies. Baffled, Bob tries to find out the reason to why, hoping to gain their parents' attention.
- Bob realizes that neglect is a form of abuse, and gives his parents a "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
- The long-term effects of parental neglect (such as self-esteem issues) begin to appear in Bob, and he becomes depressed.
- Reconstructed: Bob's parents slowly realize the consequences of their neglect, and try to win Bob's affection once more, promising him to be more understanding of his interests and/or achievements.
- Played for laughs: Bob's parents outright tell him they'll be doing an activity that doesn't include him, leaving Bob dejected.
- Played for drama: Bob's parents' constant neglect is the last straw for him, and is the reason the story's plot is kicked.
Back to Parental Neglect
