Conveniently an Orphan: Difference between revisions
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'''Refia:''' "Too"? You mean--
'''Arc:''' I'm one, too!
'''Ingus:''' Wait a minute...I, too, have no parents...
|''[[Final Fantasy III]] DS''}}
All people come with a past, a family, friends, a heritage, in other words: Every person has roots!
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Conveniently, these heroes can answer the [[Call to Adventure]] because they don't have other responsibilities. This lack of older responsibilities is also exactly what allows the heroes to take on the new responsibilities that come from being hero.
Often used as character backgrounds in tabletop adventures: Such a character's background often consists of "My parents were killed by (insert [[
Handily prevents the sadistic [[Game Master]] from exploiting [[The Load|'weak links']] that can get [[Damsel in Distress|kidnapped]] or [[Player Punch|killed off]]. If the fates of the missing parents are left nebulous, it also opens the door for that infamous twist where one of them turns out to be a villain. [[Luke, I Am Your Father|You know the one]].
Oddly enough, family outside of parents is never mentioned. Apparently [[World of No Grandparents|no one ever has grandparents]] or cousins, although having an uncle (and sometimes aunt) as surrogate parents is a common mythological motif. Siblings seem to only show up for plot-based
The hero's orphaning is also a nice triggering point for the hero's journey. This part of the Hero's backstory is often covered in a [[Flash Back]]. If the orphaning happens at the very beginning of the story, instead of in the background, it's usually covered by [[Doomed Hometown]].
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{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==▼
* ''[[Combattler V]]'': Hyoma Aoi, the captain of Combattler team, lived in an orphanage after his parents' deaths. Seeing someone killing the parents of a child -or even an animal cub- is one of his [[Berserk Button
▲== Anime ==
▲* ''[[Combattler V]]'': Hyoma Aoi, the captain of Combattler team, lived in an orphanage after his parents' deaths. Seeing someone killing the parents of a child -or even an animal cub- is one of his [[Berserk Button|Berserk Buttons]]. His [[Love Interest]], Chizuru Nanbara not only was an orphan girl but also her only grandfather died shortly after the beginning of the series.
* ''[[Cutey Honey]]'': Honey Kisaragi lost her father early on the series. His death triggered her war against the terrorist group named Panther Claw.
* ''[[Daimos]]'': Kazuya lost her parents before the start of the series. Erika's father died shortly before Kazuya's father, and THAT is what starts off the history.
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* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'': Asuka and Shinji have been selected as the second and third children to pilot Evas ''because'' their mothers are dead. {{spoiler|Their souls were used in the creation of Eva-01 and Eva-02.}} Shinji's father couldn't care any less about his son as a person (given what Gendo told in End Of Evangelion {{spoiler|before dying,}} YMMV on this), while Asuka's father, almost immediately after her mother's death, married the woman with whom he was having an affair. It shouldn't surprise anyone that Rei [[Artificial Human|doesn't have any parents at all]]. Also Misato's father was killed with the entire rest of the Antarctic expedition, and Ritsuko's mother killed herself {{spoiler|after Gendo got her into his bed to exploit her}}.
** Kaji also discovers that Shinji's school is a front for the powers that be, and that ''all'' of Shinji's classmates are potential Children candidates, meaning many of them may be orphans as well. It's suggested for two side characters, and canonically stated for one, that their parents are dead as well.
*
* ''[[Sorcerer Stabber Orphen|Orphen]]''.
* Pretty much applies to most of the main characters in ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'':
** Rosette and Joshua's parents died in a ship wreck when they were young children, and after that they spent most of their life in an
** Azmaria's parents either abandoned her because of her powers, or were killed during the war, depending on which version you're following.
** Satella's parents were killed by a demon when she was a child. Her sister was also kidnapped by the
* In ''[[Slayers]]'', Zelgadis and Gourry both have no parents (Zelgadis' great-grandfather [[Affably Evil|Rezo]] killed his, and Gourry's were killed during a [[Big Screwed-Up Family|family feud]]), and Sylphiel, Filia, Pokota, Amelia, and {{spoiler|Naga}} only have one parent each (a father, actually); in Sylphiel's case, she falls under this trope when her father is [[Killed Off for Real]] in the third [[Light Novel]]/late first season of the anime in a [[No Kill Like Overkill|townwide explosion]]. Ironically, the main protagonist's ([[Red Headed Heroine|Lina]]) parents are both alive and well.
** And the status of the parents of Lina's later allies in the novels (Luke and Milina) is unknown.
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* Nearly all of the members of the ''[[Science Ninja Team Gatchaman|Gatchaman]]'' team are orphans, except for Ryu {{spoiler|and Ken prior to his father's [[Heroic Sacrifice]]}}. This is the main reason Ryu is usually left tending the Phoenix while the others get all of the action; he still has a family that would miss him if anything happened to him.
* Sousuke Sagara of ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]'' being rendered an orphan helps justify why he can keep risking his life with no regard for consequences. Although his mother dying for his sake and her dramatic [[Last Words]] telling him he must "live," "never give up," and "fight!" does have the other purpose of making him the [[Crazy Survivalist]] he is today, it mainly seems to serve as a plot device to allow the readers to realize he simply has no one waiting for him.
* At one point in ''[[Hellsing]]'', during the [[Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene|Quiet Drama Scene]], while discussing Seras' progress Alucard asks Walter how they covered up her death and how her family is taking it. When Walter replies that she has none and is an orphan, Alucard sardonically replies "Of ''course'' she is". However, since Seras was already an adult by the time she died, the circumstances and consequences of her parents' deaths turns out to be a major part of her character and the series veering into [[Crapsack World]] territory and running on [[Black and Grey Morality]], it's a justified trope.
* Son Goku of ''[[Dragon Ball]]''. Some time before the series began, he accidentally killed his adoptive grandfather after transforming into a giant were-ape. As for blood relatives, ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' reveals {{spoiler|that pretty much his entire ''race'' were wiped out along with their home planet}}.
* ''[[Kimba the White Lion]]'': Played straight with [[Love Interest|Lyra]] who is able to play and go on adventures with Kimba, but the trope is [[Deconstructed Trope|deconstructed]] with Kimba due to his [["Well Done, Son" Guy]] relationship he has with his father who [[Death by Origin Story|was killed off before Kimba was born.]]
* In ''[[Pokémon Special]]'', Red is the only Dex Holder to have no family even alluded to, leaving him free to travel the world where ever and whenever he wants.
* ''[[Gunslinger Girl]]''. Done plausibly as the Social Welfare Agency only selects girls for its secret killer cyborg program who don't have extended families who'll be concerned about them. As a victim of child sex trafficking, Triela's background is unknown even to the Agency. Henrietta's entire family was murdered and Angelica's parents are in prison. Petra's family are too poor to travel from Russian to see their
* In ''[[Berserk]]'', all of the main cast have [[Parental Abandonment]] issues, but Griffith is the only one who has absolutely no mention of any sort of guardianship in his early life, making it quite convenient for him to up and decide that he was going to become a king someday and to get there, he needed to start a ragtag bunch of misfit mercenaries.
* Ciel Phantomhive's parents are dead in ''[[Black Butler]]''. This not allows him to go on missions from the Queen, in the past his father's job, but Ciel also gets to be an earl and a [[Grade School CEO]]. He has other relatives though, but the other inhabitants of the Phantomhive Manor have no known family at all.
== Comic Books ==
* [[Golden Age]] and [[Silver Age]] [[Superman]] is orphaned by both his biological ''and'' adoptive parents. Other versions have Martha and sometimes Jonathan alive as well.
* [[Iron Man]]
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== Film ==
* In [[Idiocracy]], Joe is chosen for the freezing experiment partially because he is orphaned, so nobody would come ask questions if something went wrong with the experiment. {{spoiler|It does.}}
* [[James Bond]] is an orphan.
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* {{spoiler|Flynn Rider}} has this trope as part of his backstory in ''[[Tangled]]''. His motivation behind {{spoiler|being a thief}} is because of growing up poor.
* The two aliens of ''[[Megamind]]'' are both orphans in the extreme, given that their entire home planets have been destroyed. This allows them to experience two very different childhoods upon arriving on Earth.
* An extreme number of Disney characters have missing or killed parents. The characters where both parents are absent are: [[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]], [[Lilo and Stitch|Lilo and Nani]], [[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney film)|Snow White and all seven of the Dwarfs]], [[Cinderella (Disney film)|Cinderella]], [[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|Quasimodo, Esmerelda]], [[The Jungle Book|Mowgli]], [[Peter Pan|Peter Pan and the Lost Boys]], [[Tarzan]], [[The Sword in the Stone|Arthur]], and [[The Fox and The Hound|Tod]].
* Subverted in ''[[Ordinary People]]'' (the novel more than the film, though it's mentioned in both). Calvin, the father, grew up in an orphanage in Detroit. While he lives a very stable life as a successful tax lawyer with a wife and children, he's haunted by his past and admits to feelings of rootlessness when he talks to his son's psychiatrist.
== Literature ==
* ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'': Frodo Baggins was orphaned at twelve, but was raised in his family's home by said extended family; when he turned 21 (adult-ish but not yet legally adult for hobbits) he was adopted by and went to live with his 'uncle' Bilbo (who, of course, conveniently leaves).
** Bilbo himself, though not an orphan, manages to avoid marriage, and thus has no family ties holding him back when he goes on his adventure.
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* Molly Moon from the Molly Moon books, as well as most of her friends.
* Kinsey Millhone loves being an orphan (was raised by her aunt).
* [[Harry Potter]] is an orphan, raised by his aunt and uncle. [[J. K. Rowling]] has admitted to using this trope in interviews, and that the original drafts of the first book killed off Harry's parents rather
* ''[[Warhammer
** Commissiars are required to be orphans. As a consequence:
*** [[Sandy Mitchell]]'s [[Ciaphas Cain]]. Amberly Vail notes that he gives out little information about his past, and that about his parents contradicts known facts.
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* ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'': Ford Prefect is not only an orphan but the [[Last of His Kind]], which provides a convenient explanation for why his original alien name is totally forgotten.
* Subverted in [[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]; Dorothy is stated to be an orphan, but lives with her foster parents in Kansas. She loves them enough that despite all the beauty of Oz and the friends she made, she is determined to go back anyway.
== Live Action TV ==
* [[Bones]] - Dr. Brennan's emotional interface may be glitchy, but any one she deals with who comments on her inability to sympathize gets slammed when they find out she lost her parents at a young age, conveniently explaining why she might come off disturbed but assuring everyone that she understands.
* [[Doctor Who]] companions in the classic series are often orphans - sometimes with [[Death by Origin Story]], or else have [[Parental Abandonment]]. Companions in the new series have parents. Oh man, [[My Beloved Smother|do they have parents]].
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== Tabletop Games ==
* This is about as frequent as [[You All Meet in An Inn]] in this medium. In any given party, someone probably has this as his or her backstory.
* Demotivational posters refer to parents as "DM Hostages".
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** ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' has {{spoiler|Lion}}, Prishe, Aphmau, and Lilith. (Although the last one is trying to avert the trope through [[Time Travel]].) Can we get Square into a 12-step program to deal with their addiction to this trope?
** Both Vaan and Penelo from ''[[Final Fantasy XII]]''
*** Ditto with [[Ascended Extra
** Lightning, Serah, and Snow in ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]''. Presumably Fang and Vanille as well, since they {{spoiler|were in crystal stasis for several hundred years}}. Only Hope is the exception, and both his parents are seen during the course of the game, though his mother dies less than an hour in.
*** Though this is totally averted with the [[Big Bad]]. {{spoiler|It's unclear if, as a [[Mechanical Lifeform]], it really has parents, but the game is fond of related symbolism in regards to it, and at the very least it was abandoned by the gods who created it. Unlike the heroes, it took the [[Orphan's Ordeal|trauma]] of this situation rather badly. [[Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum|very badly]] actually.}} Unfortunately the heroes never [[Not So Different|discuss this]].
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** Mia would be a straight example, having simply no mentioned family at all... but she is the one character who is sad to leave (she says farewell to her two young apprentices) and it's more a case of "conveniently rid of her town-healer duties".
** And Garet is a complete aversion: he's the only cast member who has a large, living and functional family, but they all encourage him to save the world and fatherless Isaac gets more angst; then in the ''epilogue cutscene'' of the second game {{spoiler|Garet comes home, finds the town destroyed, and thinks for a moment that they all died}}.
** The first four heroes of ''[[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn]]'' all have at least one parent still alive and caring for
* In the ''[[Metal Gear]] Solid'' games, the circumstances which led to Otacon being an orphan are a significant aspect of his [[The Woobie|woobie status]].
* Averted to a certain degree for some of the Origins in ''[[Dragon Age]]: Origins''. The character does have relatives, and not all of them die in the prologue. For practical purposes, it still amounts to the same, though.
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== Web Comics ==
* The protagonist in Holiday Wars is one, which can be seen [https://web.archive.org/web/20141007082220/http://www.holiday-wars.com/blog/2010/07/26/episode-11/ in this episode.]▼
* Characters from [https://web.archive.org/web/20171212154432/http://www.goldcoincomics.com/ Gold Coin Comics], such as Lance and Theo.▼
▲* The protagonist in Holiday Wars is one, which can be seen [http://www.holiday-wars.com/blog/2010/07/26/episode-11/ in this episode.]
▲* Characters from [http://www.goldcoincomics.com Gold Coin Comics], such as Lance and Theo.
* "Onion Kid" alias "Rex" alias {{spoiler|"Sarda"}} from ''[[8-Bit Theater|Eight Bit Theater]]'' was orphaned so often, that he's stopped looking for foster parents or even an orphanage who'd still take him in. This trauma is actually the cause for pretty much everything that happened in the comic to begin with, thanks to a [[Stable Time Loop]].
* Hanna of [[Hanna Is Not a Boy's Name]] never mentions his family, but it's implied that he has no immediate relatives in the city.
* [[The Dreamland Chronicles]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120810050240/http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/the-dreamland-chronicles/chapter-05/page-284/ Felicity lightly mentions that she was orphaned.]
* Jade Harley from [[Homestuck]], who was raised by her pet dog after her grandfather died. {{spoiler|Technically speaking, John is an orphan too: both his and Jade's biological parents are long dead. He is raised by his 'father', who is technically his half-brother. Oh, and his and Jade's biological parents are John's grandmother and Jade's grandfather. [[Mind Screw|Confused yet?]]}}
** And as of {{spoiler|2/19, all of the kids are orphans in both the traditional and technical sense. [[Funny Aneurysm Moment|Damn.]]}}
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** [[Hypercompetent Sidekick|Gary Stu]] appears to have taken the [[Promotion to Parent|parental role]] for his brother.
** Walter, Tiren, and Elly have fond childhood memories, but appear to no longer have ties to their families. [[Homeless Hero|They]] were visibly distraught when Sal asked if they had a home.
* Pepper and Saffron from ''[[Pepper&Carrot]]''.
== Western Animation ==
* Ronaldo from the Brazil episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]''. Conveniently as an orphan, he doesn't have parents hogging his money he gets from perfoming on ''Teleboobies'', and he assists the Simpsons in paying Homer's ransom.
* Sinedd of [[Galactik Football]] is able to run off and join The Shadows despite a large song and dance being made in the very same episode about the need for parental permission. His departure isn't justified with this trope for another 18 episodes.
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** Robin's parents are dead as always, but this incarnation heavily implies that he even ditched his "father" [[Batman]] so he could move on. (And ended up gathering a bunch of friends around him instead, but no adults. The closest thing to a parent he has is [[Big Bad|Slade]] purring about what a great apprentice he could be...)
* Buck and Larry 3000 of ''[[Time Squad]]'' needed Otto from the 20th century since he knows more history than they do. Since he's an orphan with no real roots, they adopted him despite the fact that it might alter history.
== Real Life ==
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Parental Issues]]
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Orphaned Index]]
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