View source for Alcoholic Parent

{{trope}}
[[File:drunk1_8820.jpg|link=The Simpsons|frame|[[Metaphorgotten|"Son, a woman is like a beer..."]]]]


{{quote|''"Don't you know you've got your daddy's eyes? Daddy was an alcoholic."''|'''Alcoholic''', ''Starsailor''}}

[[The Alcoholic]] with children. When it's the mother, it's usually [[Lady Drunk]]. When it's the father, it's usually [[Abusive Parents]], although there's a fair number of abusive alcoholic ''mothers'' in fiction as well.
Unfortunately also [[Truth in Television]]. 

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=== Dramatic Examples: ===

== [[Anime]] ==
* Tomoya's father in ''[[Clannad]]''.  {{spoiler|He gets better.}}
* Aiko "Anko" Tokosumi's mother in ''[[Bokurano]]''. Specially when  {{spoiler|her husband is caught cheating on her and, since he's a popular [[Intrepid Reporter]], it becomes a ''very'' public affair.}}
* Jounounchi's father in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]''; we never see him in person, but there's a pile of bottles outside his door and his only interaction with his son is drunken ranting.
*  {{spoiler|Kevin Smith's father, George}} in ''[[The Prince of Tennis]]''
* Miyata's father in ''[[Hajime no Ippo]]'' was this after losing his boxing career, which causes his wife to divorce him. He gets better when he sees his son has inherited his talent and decides to help him, becoming both his coach and a [[Good Parents|good single father.]]
*  {{spoiler|Sakuya Ookuchi's mother Reiko}} in ''[[Sensual Phrase]]''.  {{spoiler|Who actually drank herself to death.}}
* Junko Kaname from ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' is both a [[Hot Mom]] and a [[Hard-Drinking Party Girl]]. Episode 3 has her arriving home late and so sloshed that [[House Husband|her husband]] and kids have to tuck her into bed, but otherwise she's a pretty normal person.
* In ''[[Future GPX Cyber Formula]] ZERO'', Henri Claytor's [[Unnamed Parent|unnamed father]] picked up the drinking habit after  {{spoiler|Hayato won first championship and being the youngest CF champion instead of his son.}} This was also Henri's [[Start of Darkness]], and the seeds of his hatred for Hayato were planted from there.
* {{spoiler|Yuri's father, Mr. Legend}} in ''[[Tiger and Bunny]]''. [[Domestic Abuser|He was not]] [[Abusive Parents|a good parent]] when drunk.
* {{spoiler|Ichiro Misaki, Taro's father}} in ''[[Captain Tsubasa]]'' was this in the past. While not a bad person, {{spoiler|it still caused friction in Taro's family and led his wife to divorce him.}}
* Christina Gabriel in ''[[Heat Guy J]]''. 

== [[Comic Books]] ==
* [[Jonah Hex]]'s father, Woodson Hex.
* [[Captain America]]'s father was an alcoholic but Steve still loved him.
* [[Iron Man]] might have gotten his alcoholism from his father, and the second movie made sure to include a scene of Howard drinking while shooting a film clip.

== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[I Accuse My Parents]],'' a movie featured on ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]],'' is [[Narm|an attempt at a dramatic example]]. The lead character, Jimmy Wilson, claims that his alcoholic parents' loveless marriage and lack of attention was responsible for his life of crime. However, anyone who watched the movie, including Joel & the 'Bots, can tell that [[Broken Aesop|it has more to do with his own stupidity and lying to cover up what his home life was like.]]
{{quote| '''Laughing Girl:''' ''"She's drunk!"''<br />
'''Joel:''' "It's funny!" }}
* Any time [[Robert Downey, Jr.]]. plays someone with kids, such as in ''[[Charlie Bartlett]]'', where he plays the father.
* In ''[[Forrest Gump]]'', it's implied that Jenny's father is an alcoholic (as well as sexually abusive).
* ''[[Cherrybomb]]'': Luke's father is a shambling, drunken wreck who  {{spoiler|unsuccessfully [[Driven to Suicide|tries to kill himself]], and then [[Parental Abandonment|abandons his son]] altogether.}}
* Amy is going to [[Tropaholics Anonymous|AA meetings]] in ''[[Men With Brooms]]'', though she ends up falling [[Off the Wagon]]. Her son's rather [[Wise Beyond Their Years|blunt and understanding]] response to Chris Cutter's attempt to explain it away as her being sick implies that this happens relatively often.
* In the original ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street]]'', Nancy's mother. She isn't the abusive sort; once, she slaps Nancy after Nancy calls her out on her booze habit, but she immediately regrets it. In ''Nightmare Part 6'', however, we see in a flashback that Freddy's step-father definitely ''was'' of the abusive persuasion.

== [[Literature]] ==
* ''[[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]'': Thalia's mother.
* [[Huckleberry Finn]]'s "Pap".
* Bob Ewell, in ''[[To Kill a Mockingbird]]''.
* Johnny Nolan from ''[[A Tree Grows in Brooklyn]]''.
* Jay-Jay's foster mother in ''The Prince of Central Park''.
* Jack Torrance in [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[The Shining]]'' had an alcoholic father and himself was one.
* Both of Christopher Hitchcock's parents in ''[[Everworld]]''.
* Peter's father in ''[[Rivers of London]]'' is a pretty serious drug addict, he isn't a bad father though just relatively ineffectual (that Peter's mother is a serious [[Apron Matron]] probably meant she picked up the parenting slack pretty effortlessly though).
* Catherine's and Heathcliff's foster father in ''[[Wuthering Heights (novel)|Wuthering Heights]]''.

== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Jack Shepard's father [[Meaningful Name|Christian]] on ''[[Lost]]''.
** Workman Roger {{spoiler|Linus, father of Benjamin Linus}}.
* Sue Ellen in ''[[Dallas]]''
* Tara's single mother in ''[[True Blood]]''.
* John Winchester in ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]''. You never actually see him drinking, but it's mentioned many times.
{{quote| '''Sam:''' "So he’s working over-time on a “Miller Time” shift; he’ll stumble back in sooner or later."<br />
'''Sam:''' "You don't want to see him [John] when he's drinking."<br />
'''Sam:''' "Yeah, he’s just deer hunting up at the cabin and he’s probably got Jim, Jack, and Jose along with him. We’re just gonna go bring him back." }}
* Xander's parents (and entire family, really) on ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. Played both for laughs and drama.
** Also, Faith's mother.
* Leo on ''[[The West Wing]]'' had an alcoholic father who committed suicide when Leo was a kid. Leo grew up to be an alcoholic and drug-addicted parent himself (though with a good relationship with his daughter, who only says how proud she is when he confesses to it in a press conference). He got better.
* Olivia Benson's mother on ''[[Law and Order Special Victims Unit]]'' was [[Flanderization|Flanderized]] from a single mom with an implied drinking problem to a violent, non-functional drunk.
** Also Mike Logan's mother [[Law & Order|in the original series]]
** Ben Stone's father as well.
* Shawn's father from ''[[Boy Meets World]]'' was a recovered alcoholic.
* Megan and Lily's father in ''[[Privileged]]''. Though he's recovered when we first see him, he relapses when {{spoiler|Shelby abandons them a second time}}
* Meredith & Lexie's father in ''[[Grey's Anatomy|Greys Anatomy]]'', to the point where eventually  {{spoiler|he needs a liver transplant from Meredith to survive}}.
* Lianne Mars, mother of the titular character in ''[[Veronica Mars]]''. {{spoiler|Which is why she is [[Put on a Bus]] by Veronica, after failing to complete rehab.}}
* Robert Chase's mother on ''[[House (TV series)|House]]''; his father then pulled a [[Disappeared Dad]] when Robert was 15, leaving Chase alone for 5 years to watch as his mother slowly drank herself to death.
* Kelly's mother on ''[[Beverly Hills, 90210]]'', although she got better.
* Carolanne Adama from ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined|Battlestar Galactica]]'' is implied very strongly to have been this.
* On ''[[Castle]]'', Beckett's father fell into alcoholism after his wife's murder, but recovered thanks to his daughter.
* Ray Vecchio on ''[[Due South]]''. He brought it into the open during 'North' when he [[Calling the Old Man Out|got in an argument with]] his dad's ghost.
* Pretty much spelled out when Nadia makes Drunken Peaches on ''[[Bitchin' Kitchen]]'':
{{quote|  '''Nadia:''' My dad used to make this recipe all the time, but instead of port, he'd use homemade wine! ...and there were no peaches. [[[Beat]]] *quietly bites into a peach*}}

== [[Music]] ==
* The John Denver song "Please Daddy (Don't Get Drunk This Christmas)".
* Billy Currington's "Walk a Little Straighter, Daddy."

== [[Theater]] ==
* Vanessa's mother in ''[[In the Heights]]'', who drinks away Vanessa's wages that were to be spent on their electricity bill.

== [[Video Games]] ==
* Ethel Prune, Lillian's mother, in the first ''[[Laura Bow]]'' game. It's somewhat played for laughs, although we are shown the damaging effect it has on her daughter and the way the family ostracizes them both because of it.
* Junpei's father in ''[[Persona 3]]''. In ''The Answer'', one flashback shows Junpei at Paulownia Mall, having fled his father's drunken ravings, wondering how pathetic you have to be to get hammered on cooking wine.

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=== [[Played for Laughs]]: ===

== [[Anime]] ==
* Yusuke's mom Atsuko in ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]''.
* Ryuuji's mom Yasuko in ''[[Toradora!]]''. Somewhat more understandable as she actually works as a bar hostess, thus her ''job'' includes drinking quite a bit.
* Kogoro Mouri of ''[[Detective Conan]]'', whose alcoholism is being quite comedic.

== [[Film]] ==
* Lorraine McFly in {{spoiler|the beginning of}} ''[[Back to the Future (film)|Back to The Future]]''.

== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Lucille Bluth in ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]''
* Kitty on ''[[That 70s Show]]''. (It was pretty subtle in the beginning, but it reached near [[Incredibly Lame Pun|lampshade]] proportions by the end of the series)
* The ''[[Strangers with Candy]]'' episode "Dreams on the Rocks" is all about this. [[Spoof Aesop]]: "It's better to be a [[Drowning My Sorrows|happy, gin-soaked grape]] than an anguished [[Title Drop|raisin in the sun]]." ([[It Makes Sense in Context]]. Well, it doesn't, but... you know.)
* On ''[[Scrubs]]'', Dr. Cox can be a pretty heavy drinker even after having his son Jack. Cox controls himself at home and is a loving father, but it didn't keep Jack's first full sentence from being "Daddy drinks lots." Not that mom-Jordan is exactly a light drinker either mind you.
** [[Played for Drama]] as part of Dr Cox's back story. His father's favorite hobby was to get drunk and beat him and his sister through every room in the house, while his mother did absolutely nothing to stop him. A loving gesture was when he threw an empty bottle at young Perry and deliberately missed.
* ''[[ICarly]]'': Sam's mother is implied to be this, with lines like her being passed out on the couch, and various other subtle indications that she's an alcoholic wreck.
* Edina Monsoon (in addition to drug use and other dysfunctional habits) in ''[[Absolutely Fabulous]]''.

== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[Homestuck]]'': Mom Lalonde is definitely this, almost never being seen without a martini in hand. Clearly for laughs, though - the worst she does to Rose is offer her a sip of the martini in an act of ironic negligence.

== [[Web Original]] ==
* One of the many squicky things that [[Ask That Guy With The Glasses]] has revealed about his parents is that his hated mother drinks too much. And from what Critic's (now known to be ATG's twin) told us about her, all the more reason to think of her as an [[Evil Matriarch]].
* [[The Nostalgia Chick]]'s parents were both drinkers, which explains her own alcohol problem better.

== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Homer Simpson from ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]''. To the point that one of the contact numbers at Springfield Elementary is at Moe's Tavern.
* Drinky Crow in one episode of ''[[The Drinky Crow Show]]'', until he gets drunk and {{spoiler|makes omelets out of them}}.
* Clay Puppington on ''[[Moral Orel]]'' starts off [[Played for Laughs]]. Then we start seeing the effects it has on his family and Orel in particular, and it veers right into [[Dude, Not Funny]].
* Pickles Oblong (the mother) on ''[[The Oblongs]].''
* According to [[Word of God]], Miriam Pataki on ''[[Hey Arnold]]!'' The show hints it fairly strongly with her overall lethargic and depressive personality, as well as her allusions to [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|"coffee", "tabasco" and "smoothies."]] It's also stated in "The Beeper Queen" that she's lost her driver's license, which could be inferred to be due to a DUI violation.
* Peter Griffin from ''[[Family Guy]]'', who got that from his biological [[Stop Being Stereotypical|Irish father]]. It's a great honor in Ireland to be the town drunk.
* A possible subversion on ''[[South Park]]'' Randy Marsh likes to drink with friends, but is only seen drunk in a couple episodes. In one episode he gets a DUI, has to attend AA meetings, where instead of taking responsibility and controlling his behavior, he is told he has a "disease." At the end of the episode, he possibly learns discipline and self-control.

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Parental Issues]]
[[Category:Hard-Drinking Tropes]]
[[Category:Alcoholic Parent]]