Bad Parents In Animation (Anime, Western Animation, Eastern, etc)

Tarzan/Lord Greystroke was an unlikable Gary Stu? I thought he was originally conceived as an Escapist Character. <Frowns>

Oh, yeah, and about Avatar The Last Airbender, I would say that Mai's parents are pretty lousy. The father has a one-track mind about a political career and an It's All About Me attitude. The mother is incredibly strict and makes Mai into the person she is today to not upset her father's career. Yes, because it's always about daddy and nobody else. They clearly favoured Tom-Tom over Mai. I know that Tom-Tom is a cute toddler and there is that whole thing about wanting a son instead of a daughter, but it's sad that they have more affection for him than her. The comic Rebound simply had the father cross the line by deciding to become a terrorist and brainwash Tom-Tom. I'm frankly glad Mai told him off and took Tom-Tom out of there.

I hope a lot of people out there don't have lousy parents like that.

One hundred years will do that to a character's perception.

In surprised that nobody hasn't brought up Sheila Brovloski from South Park (in the earlier seasons at least). It bugs me how she gets less hate for her parenting, but she started World War 3 over a freaking movie.

edited 13th Sep '13 4:28:57 PM by MsCC93

I remember that once upon a time, she was listed under the Abusive Parents trope (somebody has since removed her, at least the last time I checked). That always seemed a bit excessive in my opinion. She's more of a Well-Intentioned Extremist.

Well it's not surprising, considering that Tropers use the Abusive Parents trope to whine about parents in fiction they don't like. I mean sure it was well-intentioned, but it was still bad.

edited 14th Sep '13 12:59:06 PM by MsCC93

BUMP

I kind of disagree with her being a superb mom. Shes a bad case of My Beloved Smother. I mean what good example is she setting for her kids? Starting rallies over a stinkin' TV show? Really??

edited 14th Sep '13 3:26:00 PM by MsCC93

I generally don't condemn Overprotective Dad or My Beloved Smother type characters the same way I do genuinely Abusive Parents anyway. They aren't necessarily good parents, but there is a middle ground between "a great role model for parenting" and "terrible to their kids."

I agree that she isn't entirely bad as a mother, but Kyle is shown to be ashamed of her actions sometimes.

It's the fact that people don't see anything wrong with her being too protective to the point that she doomed the entire Earth just to protect her kids from a freaking TV show that baffles me.

I noticed that other overprotective/imperfect parents get criticized harshly, but fans ignore or try to excuse Sheila's method of parenting and consider her a perfect "Parent Of The Year" mother.

edited 14th Sep '13 4:15:33 PM by MsCC93

There is at least some unsettling implications with her. Kyle is Wise Beyond His Years and stubbornly righteous, but he will betray every moral fiber in his body just to prevent his mother's wrath (this bordered willing to murder in "Good Times With Weapons"). Either this is just a reminder of Kyle's childishness, or Sheila is that damn terrifying a figure to cross.

Dexter's parents have borderline moments, being fairly stupid, outright sinister when angered, and at least one episode heavily implies they neglect to feed him. I suppose some defect must go into them not noticing that huge friggin' lab in their house.

edited 14th Sep '13 4:18:16 PM by Psi001

I kind of agree with you.

I never knew an episode that they refused to feed them. That's bizarre

edited 5th Nov '13 11:41:57 AM by MsCC93

It might be based on Rule of Funny due to being that weird nature documentary parody episode. Though there was that other case where Dexter was very shrilly ordered to get bathed before his dinner (granted this was from his Neat Freak mother). Because he took too long, his mom throws his food down the sink.

edited 14th Sep '13 4:58:49 PM by Psi001

Dexter seems to regularly wipe his parent's minds to keep them from finding out about his lab. .

.

.

These things made sense when I was 8.

I don't think Dexter's parents are bad, just stupid sometimes. At least they aren't too lenient or posessive over their kids.

Anyway, how come nobody has brought up Liane Cartman, Randy Marsh, and Kenny's parents. Being a pushover parent is just as bad as being overprotective (well many articles say it, but still). To me, the only good parents on that show is Stan's mother and Token's parents..

edited 15th Sep '13 7:57:15 AM by MsCC93

Even Sharon has some horrid moments (eg. "Clubhouses").

Oh, I had no clue at all. I'll check out the episode later. Heck, even Sharon has her Not So Above It All moments ...

Anyway, what about Ghetisis from Pokemon Black & White.

They do? I've been watching South Park since the first season and have been a part of the online fandom for almost as long and I've never seen one person defend her. People aren't saying that she's a GOOD mom, we're simply saying that citing her as an example of Abusive Parents is going a bit overboard. Yes, Sheila is very, VERY flawed, but she's not a Complete Monster, at least not intentionally.

edited 15th Sep '13 12:41:58 PM by redhed311

In a series even the most lucid character can maim or kill someone for the heck of it, it's hard to really judge her. Even Stan and Kyle themselves have done some completely atrocious things throughout the show's run.

edited 15th Sep '13 12:43:26 PM by Psi001

Related to earlier discussion of Sheila Broflovski getting undue parenting praise... the Goof Troop fandom has plenty of Pete defenders, despite the fact that he was intended to be a bad father. ^{unbridled gushing} So we can 'awww' when Goofy plays Parental Substitute to his kid, laugh (along with his son) when he thinks he'll win the "best father" award and then gets proven wrong, cringe when he attempts to give parenting advice to Goofy and cheer when Goofy brushes him off. And always, always feel bad for his son. Which in turn highlights the relationship between Goofy and Max as much more positive in comparison.

Umm I never said that she was a Complete Monster. I dont notice the South Park fandom that much either. I just find it appalling and hypocritical how when the topic of bad parenting comes up, people ignore the fact that she doomed the Earth to protect her kids from a freaking TV show, but yet other overprotective parents who did less extreme things to protect their kids get far more criticism for their parenting than she does.

I know it's only a cartoon, but I just dislike hypocrisy.

I don't watch the show that much. I stopped watching because I dislike the new seasons, so I can't judge the others either.

Just like how Disney does with Mother Gothel's parenting towards Rapunzel from Tangled. This is why I despise the Draco in Leather Pants trope.

edited 15th Sep '13 11:00:35 PM by MsCC93

They're quite comparable. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same people.

Now, Pete does have some redeeming qualities to his parenting in the form of a Papa Wolf attitude^note dampened by both the fact he tends to quickly revert and that the majority of the time he notices PJ is (ostensibly) in danger it's his own fault to begin with, Hypocritical Heartwarming^note which unlike many examples features a victim who pointedly does not approve of the abuse from this source; it (understandably) seems that PJ honestly thinks Pete's abuse cuts harder than that he receives from others, very rare Pet the Dog moments, and the fact he's only actively abusive one or more times in slightly over a third of the episodes.

Still, PJ is a Nervous Wreck, is obedient to a fault, has terrible self-esteem, is often afraid of Pete and generally doesn't like him, seems far too mature for his age, and is negative about almost everything. Slapstick cartoons are always better with a heaping helping of child psychology! ^citation See "signs of emotional abuse".

How have we gone this far without mentioning Professor Jonas Venture? The guy drags his son on dangerous adventures before he can even stand, left his own employees and innocent children to their own devices whenever his experiments, and generally makes Rusty look like the most caring dad in the world.

I still don't think he's a good father. His son grew up to be a nervous wreck.

Fans always debate if Mother Gothel loves Rapunzel, but the answer is and will always be NO. Man, what's with the DILP'ing now a days and bashing non-evil, imperfect parents?

edited 16th Sep '13 7:32:36 AM by MsCC93

Yep. My point exactly. Dude's not a monster but he's still awful.

Now I realize that I have a stronger emotional response to Pete than a lot of people merely because of the fact that PJ is my favorite character. In general, I would say people whose favorite character is PJ are harder on Pete's parenting than those with other favorite characters. I'm not sure whether it's because we're paying more attention to the way Pete treats him or because we see more clearly how badly affected he is.

Now as for Mother Gothel, I'm sorry, I just can't see her as loving Rapunzel at all.

she didn't. she only kept Rapunzel alive because her magic hair granted longevity.

And yet the Fan Dumb insist that she was the perfect mother.

There are a few fans who say that Ariel and Simba are bad parents, which I really disagree with. At least they had good reasons to protect their kids.

edited 16th Sep '13 12:14:55 PM by MsCC93