"Well Done, Son" Guy: Difference between revisions

[[File:list small 472.jpg|link=Austin Powers|frame|[[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|Well, at least he has his priorities in order]].]]

 

 

Our hero may be a perfectly [[Nice Guy]], respectable, successful, a loving husband and a good father. But what he really wants is for this ''one guy'' to [[So Proud of You|acknowledge]] [[Like a Son to Me|this]].

 

{{examples}}

* In ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', Shinji Ikari is desperate for any kind of approval from his father Gendō. (What's arguable is whether Gendō knows, and if so, whether he cares. {{spoiler|In the movie ''[[End of Evangelion]]'', it is revealed that Gendō may actually have cared about Shinji, at least as much as [[Magnificent Bastard|someone like him]] is able -- but may also have been ''as afraid of his own son as Shinji was of him''. His last words before his head gets chomped are basically "sorry [for all that crap I put you through], Shinji."}})

** Gendo does praise Shinji once -- ''just once''—over the phone. "Good work, Shinji." That one tidbit of approval is still ringing in Shinji's ears episodes later.

* In [[Umi no Misaki]], Shizuku puts her all into being a proper cape maiden to try to get her ''mom'' - a previous cape maiden - to approve of her.

* A [[One Piece|younger Luffy]] wanted to be friends with Ace, the older kid living with him, {{spoiler|and Ace's friend Sabo,}} who found him to be a weak, annoying crybaby, and lead him into tons of deadly situations to escape him, but he kept coming back. Eventually, Luffy shows how tough he really is, and they become brothers.

 

== Fan Works ==

* Given the importance of this trope to the [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|source material]], one can hardly fail to mention ''[[Nobody Dies]]''. Asuka is the gender-inverted version of this trope turned [[Up to Eleven]], to the point where Kyoko is an outright [[Abusive Parent]], but it also remains a facet of Shinji's relationship with his father; Gendo might be a lot less messed up with Yui still at his side, but he isn't prone to overt displays of emotion and it's not always obvious that yes, he ''does'' love his son. They spend a fair chunk of the story working through this.

 

 

* ''[[Batman]]'', being the emotionally reclusive obsessive vigilante that he is, is generally shown as not showing gratitude, approval, or pretty much any emotion towards his adoptive sons (a.k.a., the Robins), at least for anything short of saving his life. However, they've known him so long that they've can tell when a small nod and an urge to get back to work really means "I'm proud of you." And it often does (how touching).

** It also helps that he does ''tell'' them when they've done good work. He won't gush, but he'll say it. When they have been exceptionally resourceful, he isn't above saying so either:

* Ajak from [[Marvel Universe|Marvel's Eternals]] used to be the only Eternal who could directly communicate with the Golden Celestial. Ajak took this as a sign of favoritism and did all he could to learn about the Celestials. After the series had a reboot, it was revealed that Makkari was the Celestial's favorite. Ajak did not take the news well.

** Ajak was made to talk to the Celestials whenever they show up, it's just ''this'' one isn't like the others and likes Makkari (and [[Iron Man]]) better.

* Subverted in the [[Furry Fandom|furry comic]], ''[[Associated Student Bodies]]'', where one of the main characters told the story of his childhood being physically abused by his drunken father so badly that he was driven to drink himself, stealing his father's booze. Eventually, the wolf cub grew up tall and strong enough to fight back effectively enough give his father a furious beating. However, even while he was lying in a pool of blood, his father's only comment was an admiring one, "'Bout time you were a man." For his part, the cub was completely disgusted by this perverse admiration of bloody violence and left his father to enlist in the military as soon he could.

* Harry Osborn of ''[[Spider-Man]]'', anyone?

* Again from [[Pixar]], Remy from ''[[Ratatouille]]'' tries his best to show his father that he can be a chef and get along with humans, despite both these things seeming impossible due to them being rats.

* In ''[[Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs]]'', Flint wants his father's approval, and {{spoiler|finally gets it with the help of a monkey translator. Revealing he was always proud of his son, he was just unable to say it}}.

 

== Films -- Live-Action ==

 

== Literature ==

** Also, to some extent, Ron Weasley. He's always been [[Overshadowed by Awesome|overshadowed by his brothers]] and simply wants to be set apart, and earn the recognition of his parents. However, the Weasley family is an extremely loving one, so while he doesn't necessarily feel "special" in their eyes, he does know that he's loved.

** Also Draco Malfoy, although more so in the films than in the books. Draco obviously worships his father and is constantly trying to live up to his considerable reputation.

*** President Bartlet may not have been able to get his own father to love or approve of him, but his real "well done, son" guy is his chief of staff, Leo McGarry- (played by the late John Spencer). Just before a debate between Bartlet and the Republican candidate, Leo gives Bartlet a beautiful smile and says "There's no such thing as too smart. There's nothing you can do that's not going to make me proud of you."

** The President himself is the guy to [[The Unfavorite|his daughter Ellie.]] [[Tear Jerker|"The only thing you ever had to do to make me happy was to come home at the end of the day."]]

* On ''[[The Adventures of Brisco County Jr]].'', Brisco gets his "Well done, son" moment after an encounter with the ghost of his father (who was murdered in the first episode of the series).

* Subverted in the ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' episode "Better Than Life", when Rimmer reflects he never heard his father say he was proud of him, before entering the titular [[Lotus Eater Machine]]. In the fantasy world he is an incredibly popular and successful figure, but when his father appears, it's to fulfill the Cat's fantasy of hearing him call Rimmer a total smeghead.

** This is also a huge issue of Barney's, as multiple episodes show, most notably 'Showdown' and 'Cleaning House', and he doesn't even know who his father is.

** He has now met his father, and after getting radically worse, he may actually be getting better.

** The show also features the less common mother-daughter variant of this trope, when Kara Thrace goes to see her mother {{spoiler|after earning her commission as a Colonial officer - the first in her family to do so - only to be berated for not graduating higher in her class}}. The fact that her mother was frequently abusive during her childhood in the belief that Kara had a [[Because Destiny Says So|"special destiny"]] means their relationship was already....''strained'', [[It Got Worse|to say the least of it]].

* ''[[Gossip Girl]]''s Chuck Bass.

* ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]''. Legs in "The Greatest Mother of them All"/"Ma Parker."

 

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* The ''[[Ace Attorney]] Investigations'' game focusing on Miles Edgeworth shows that this is most likely true for Franziska. In the fourth case, 13-year-old Franziska competes with Miles, presumably to receive her father's attention. Considering he barely seems to acknowledge her skills compared to Miles, this explains a lot about how caught up she was in Manfred's worldview.

* ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'' has Eva Ushiromiya, towards [[Abusive Parents|her father Kinzo]]. [[Drunk with Power|This]] [[Cain and Abel|causes]] [[Kill'Em All|problems]].

* In ''[[Katawa Shoujo]]'', it is very strongly implied that Shizune Hakamichi's [[Spirited Competitor]] personality stems largely from a desire to earn the approval of her [[Jerkass]] [[Abusive Dad]] Jigoro. Unfortunately, he seems to view most of her accomplishments, including her position as [[Student Council President]], with contempt.

 

** Nale also feels this way to his [[Evil Overlord]] father. Nale wants to prove that he can be even better [[Big Bad]] material than the old man, and he wants him to acknowledge that.

* In ''[[Endstone]]'', [http://endstone.net/2009/02/21/issue-1-page-4/ Cole stole her mother's Endstone to attempt to win her father's love.]

* In ''[[The Specialists]]'', [http://thespecialistscomic.com/page-85/ Henry]. He's a jerk, a bigot and a Casanova Wannabe—but you still feel sorry for him.

 

** Goliath and Angela get a moment of this when he finally acknowledges her as his daughter - not because he hadn't approved of her, but because gargoyles in his clan traditionally didn't keep track of their own offspring, and he really doesn't like abandoning or changing 'the gargoyle way'.

*** Not to mention that he doesn't want her focusing on her [[Fantastic Racism]]-fueled biological ''mother''...

** Don't forget poor Grim! He pretended to become a country rock star just to please his father, only to discover later that his father would have preferred having the Grim Reaper for a son (and, of course, now will not believe Grim to be the Reaper).

* In ''[[The Simpsons]]'', it's been often implied through flashbacks and certain episodes that Homer very much had a relationship like this with his father Abe, which would explain why Homer has such a numb and uncaring sentiment towards his dad now during Abe's old age. This was particularly looked at in the episode "Grandpa vs. Sexual Inadequacy".