A Father to His Men: Difference between revisions

{{examples}}

* The [[Ur Example]] of this in anime is of course, the ''[[Gundam]]'' saga's Captain Bright Noah. One of the Universal Century's [[Mobile Suit Gundam|most]] [[Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam|recurring]] [[Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ|main]] [[Chars Counterattack|characters]], Bright is world-famous for both the fatherly atmosphere he projects towards those under his charge, as well as for [[Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!|smacking the fail out of the more angsty ones]]. However he [[Irony|utterly fails]] to [[Parental Abandonment|raise his own son]], apparently, if we are to believe ''Hathaway's Flash''.

** The series also provides antagonistic examples such as Char Aznable, who remembers the names of every man under his command and mourns the loss of everyone lost to the pilot of the white mobile suit, and Prince Dozle Zabi, who actually does a badass [[Last Stand]] in order to get everyone in Solomon out to safety, from his wife and baby girl to the rookies.

* The plot of ''[[Dorohedoro]]'' begins when the central character, Kaiman, kills a magic user. He does this every day, and in fairly large amounts, but this one was working for En, a major player in the Magic World, and he is ''very'' angry to find out someone's picking off his men. Later chapters show that En regularly treats his employees to various special events.

* Just about every leader, or just high ranking member, of the [[X-Men]] is this.

** Xavier, the founder, was a surrogate father to both Scott and Jean, as well as everyone else in the original five, he cares deeply about them and their safety, with one issue showing, in detail, every person Xavier let die and show how it effected him emotionally.

* Another Marvel example who has appeared in various titles (mostly ''[[The Avengers]]''), the High Evolutionary. He tends to treat almost everyone in a rather paternal way, but he looks upon the Knights of Wundagore this way moreso than others. And seeing as he created them, one could say that he is their father.

* [http://www.fanfiction.net/u/55667/Erico Erico's] fanverse for ''[[Mega Man]]'' features Doctor James Cain of the Maverick Hunters, who the troops revere as a father. For some, such as X and Zero, he's the closest thing to a real father figure they have.

* Col. Edwards in ''[[The Return (fanfic)|The Return]]'' combines this with [[Colonel Badass]].

* It's not uncommon in ''[[The X-Files]]'' fics for Skinner to be cast in a substitute-father role to Mulder and/or Scully, and Scully's mother, while a civilian, frequently mothers Mulder as well.

* [[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|The Mustangs]] are a father and mother pair to the men of both their old unit and their current one, in the ''[[Elemental Chess Trilogy]]''.

* [[Metal Gear|Big Boss]] fills this role in ''[[Stray]]'', for FOXHOUND. {{spoiler|1=Literally, since FOXHOUND's membership includes two of his cloned offspring.}}

* In the ''[[Buzz Lightyear of Star Command]]'' [[Fan Verse]] of ''[[For Good]]'', [[Evil Overlord|Evil Emperor Zurg]] is considered a twisted sort of father figure to his "freak show staff".

* Used in ''[[K19: The Widowmaker]]'': [[Liam Neeson|Mikhail Polenin]], the first captain of the K-19. All his men love him, he takes an interest in them and is a great submarine captain... then five minutes in, he's demoted and replaced by [[Harrison Ford|Alexei Vostrikov]], who is a drill-obsessed hardass. Not only do the men hate him because he overworks them, they feel that their "rightful" captain has been wronged.

** Almost called out by name when the Vostrikov is incredulous that the sub's crew would bring their fears directly to his predecessor.

* Major West in ''[[28 Days Later]]'' is a dark version of this.

* [[Sun Tzu]]'s ''[[The Art of War]]'' suggests a "Stern Father" approach to leading one's men. One commentator relates a story of a general who personally cared for an ill soldier. When the soldier's mother heard of it, she burst into tears: her husband, who served the same general, never abandoned the man afterward and died in battle as a result—and now her son was going to be the same way.

* Sima Yi from ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]'' has shades of this.

* General Belisarius in David Drake and Eric Flint's [[Belisarius Series|''Belisarius'' novels]] is this, right down to the military genius part.

* Captain James T. Kirk in ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' exemplifies it: he often berated himself when he lost any of his crew.

** Spock risks both his and Kirk's lives to help Captain Pike, who is portrayed as having ''been'' this trope before becoming a bit of a vegetable.

* Emile Danko, the Volume Four [[Big Bad]] on ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', zigzags this. On the one hand, he chews out Nathan Petrelli when he thinks Petrelli is being insensitive about the loss of those who were killed when Petrelli's family members interfered with their operations, and later gives a [[Rousing Speech]] calling for vengeance against a [[Voluntary Shapeshifting|shapeshifter]] who killed several of his men. On the other hand, it is ''very'' heavily implied that he {{spoiler|allowed Sylar to kill one of his men so that he could steal his identity and take his place}}.

* The eponymous character of Dispatch's "The General".

* [[The Bible|Abraham]], a father to his people '''and''' at least four ethnicities (at least two of which are extant).

** ''[[Only War]]'' has attitude of the commanding officer as a property of a regiment, since it affects how the unit acts in and out of combat. Some of the types fits in - Choleric ([[Hot Blooded]] "lead-from-front" type, but also easily angered or provoked; soldiers are hard to surprise), Maverick ("one of the men" type considered ill-disciplined and unpredictable by other brass; soldiers are resistant to fear) and Sanguine (optimistic sort who inspires with speeches and personal heroism, but also underestimates danger; soldiers are better at surviving injury).

* ''[[Cyrano De Bergerac]]'': This trope is Deconstructed by Carbon de Castel-Jaloux' attitude (see the quote of Sun Tzu in literature above): He is the captain of the [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Cadets of Gascony]], a nobleman who pays his own company, so he only is obliged to obey his superiors in military matters. He is troubled at the Siegue of Arras, because all his men (to whom he refers as his sons!) are starving. His superior, The Marshal of Gassion, Count De Guiche, asks him to punish his men for disrespecting a superior officer (himself). Using his prerogative, Carbon de Castel-Jaloux chooses not to. After that, De Guiche informs him that his company is the bait in a gambit that can win the battle. Carbon de Castel-Jaloux is completely willing with the plan to send all his company to death because that is what a [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Gascon soldier is supposed to do]]. Notice that if he has punished his men – soldiers in an army are supposed to respect a superior, no matter how despicable they found him - his company would not have been picked to fight a suicide mission.

* General Leo of ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]''.

* ''[[Metal Gear]]:''

{{quote|'''Wesker:''' "The Tyrant virus leaked, polluting this whole place... and unfortunately, I had to give up my lovely members of S.T.A.R.S...."}}

* Despite there technically being no real cohesive [[Super Team|team]], [[Gentle Giant|At]][[Genius Bruiser|las]] fills this trope for the ''[[Metro City Chronicles]]'' heroes (noted especially for [[Lovecraft Lite|Squid Kid]]).

* When {{spoiler|Robert E. Lee}} turns out to be unfit for a combat command in ''[[The Salvation War]]'', General Petraeus alludes to this in assigning him to head a convalescent home for traumatized {{spoiler|"Second Life," aka undead}} [[Fish Out of Temporal Water|American soldiers from past wars]].

* Captain Flowers of ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'' isn't just a [[Father to His Men]]; he's a [[Good Parents|pathologically paternal]] [[Nice Guy]].

* ''[[Kristoph Gavin Ace Attorney]]'' has a somewhat literal example with Kurtis Gavin.

* ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'': When standing between Miko and Belkar, Roy says that he learned in school that the commander does not abandon one of his people in the face of the enemy.

* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' Captain Kaff Tagon cares for and takes care of his men this way. And insulting him is a good way to get a faceful of fist from the men

* ''[[Transformers]]'': Optimus Prime. Several versions, anyway.

** In ''[[Transformers Prime]]'', it is hinted that Breakdown is this to the Decepticon [[Mooks]] under his command.

** [[Da Chief|Lin Bei Fong]] from ''[[The Legend of Korra]]'' is like this to her metalbending police officers.

* Robert E. Lee of the [[American Civil War|Confederate States of America]]; his men actually referred to him as "Marse Bob" ("Marse" being an old word for "Mister").

* And general William Tecumseh Sherman for the North. Known to the troops as 'Uncle Billy'.

* [[Gaius Julius Caesar]]. The man would do the grunt work alongside his men at times, the result being absolute loyalty to him.

* [[George Washington]] was not just America's first president, but also one of her most beloved generals.

* Hans Langsdorff, the final commander of [[Cool Boat|Graf Spee]], sacrificed his honour in the eyes of the German Navy by refusing to take his crippled ship into the waiting guns of the [[Brits With Battleships|Royal Navy]]. He chose instead to scuttle her and keep her from the hands of the enemy whilst saving the lives of his 1100 crew. His great [[Honour Before Reason|'sin']] in the eyes of the [[Those Wacky Nazis|establishment]] was to not go down with his ship, he was in fact prevented from doing so by his own officers. When he got back to shore he ensured his men were safe and looked after and then followed her into history with a shot to his own head. His crew mattered more to him than his life or his honour.

* Chester Nimitz, who commanded the US Pacific Fleet for World War II, was frequently described by those who worked with him as remarkably even-tempered. Many people described him as an almost grandfatherly figure, utterly lacking in the ruthlessness that was usually associated with reaching an Admiral's rank; the only burden he would place upon his subordinates was that of his unwavering faith in their abilities. He frequently served as a moderating influence on some of his more acerbic subordinates, and also as shield from the mercurial behavior of his own superior, Ernest King.