Daddy Had a Good Reason For Abandoning You: Difference between revisions

** Chapter 31 reveals that {{spoiler|Antimony's mother literally gave her "fire" (A.K.A. life force) to her, and wasted away after the birth, ever so slowly, while Annie grew up. Reynardine implies even her soul "dried up" to the extent none of [[Psychopomps]] would consider her a valid "client".}} Not only that, but EVERY adult near Annie knew it would happen, {{spoiler|if Surma ever had a child.}} Also, Coyote reveals that {{spoiler|Annie isn't 100% human, but part Fire Elemental.}} And as such {{spoiler|she's in for exactly the same fate}}, eventually. Coupled with his wife's death and his inability to save her, it's a bit more understandable why Anthony left.

** Chapter 37 also reveals that he remembers and expects her to hang out with the few people he trusts. Also, a glimpse into his teen years shows Anthony always was detached and uncomfortable in situations he cannot understand or do anything about - and e.g. it's hard to imagine him engaging in white lies, so being a crappy father may simply be a downside of the qualities making him a good surgeon. For that matter, it would be quite in character for him to set his daughter up with people who would care about her better than he ever could and move on to the people he ''can'' help - he's smart enough to see he isn't good at this and may think that if you cannot do it right, you must not try. Anthony always was ''awful'' at communicating with people, so he may well be incapable of realizing how Annie could see this, and she won't say.

* In ''[[Drowtales]]'', Ariel comes to see her mother [[The Woman Wearing the Queenly Mask|Quain'tana]] as this. She is quite aloof towards her children, leaving them for months or even years at a time at boarding schools or under the care of a slave or older sibling. [[The Obi-Wan|Quil'yate]] explains to Ariel that this is not because the drow are evil, but because the clan believes that it is best for young nobles to learn to prove themselves, so that they can be strong leaders. This however [[Unreliable Narrator|should be taken with a grain of salt]], since it also turns out that {{spoiler|Quain isn't really Ariel's mother, but rather her grandmother; Ariel is the daughter of her 'crazy sister' Mel'arnach, and Zhor, an elf magically turned into a spider; Quain forced the unlikely couple to give up Ariel (including an apparent attempt to kill Zhor while they were at it), thinking the two could not provide a proper environment for a future clan matriarch and wanting to take the credit for herself. Quain is also unable to have children, and it's strongly implied that the desire to have a [[Heir Club for Men|suitable heir]] is part of her motivation as well.}}

* [[Averted Trope|Averted]] in ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]],'' where Eugene [[Pet the Dog|chooses not to follow a credible lead]] on [[Big Bad|Xykon]], whom he's sworn to destroy, because doing so would most likely mean abandoning his family and dying at best, and having Xykon hunt them down for revenge at worst. He ''did,'' however, continue to be a [[Parental Neglect|neglectful]] [[Jerkass]] to his oldest son, and [[Blatant Lies|specifically claimed that]] [[Hidden Heart of Gold|he would have abandoned the family for his quest if given a chance]].

* In the ''[[Paradise]]'' setting, in which people get turned into anthropomorphic animals, this is addressed. In the early days, a man gets turned into a polar bear, but doesn't realize it's happened to others (Since he lives out in the frozen boonies of Canada) and tries to live a normal life... until while on a Seal Hunting trip ends up mauling a seal with his [[Incredibly Lame Pun|bear]] hands, at which point he becomes terrified of what he'd become and runs out into the frozen tundra to live as the beast he had become, leaving his wife and two sons behind. Years later one of his sons changed into a wolf, realized what happened, and went looking for him.

* In ''[[The Gamers Alliance]]'', when Omaroch is reunited with his son Refan, he explains to him why he has been absent for so many years and wasn't around to save Refan's mother from death. He had in fact been kidnapped and imprisoned by demons and was thus unable to help his family when they needed him the most. Although he claims that he managed to flee from demons, the truth ends up being much more horrific: he was actually tortured and brainwashed to become a servant of the dark god Mardük and was ordered to return to the world of mortals to make sure his sons would fulfill an ancient prophecy which would result in Mardük's resurrection and a full-scale demon invasion. He eventually breaks free from the god's taint but at that point it's too late because his actions end up causing the Cataclysm as well as turning his son into a bitter person. He does his best trying to set things straight and regain his sons' trust.

* Homer's mother Mona on ''[[The Simpsons]]''. As it turns out, she was quite surprised when she found out that Homer believed her to be dead. The misunderstanding came up because (1) Grandpa Simpson was unwilling to reveal to young Homer that his mother was a criminal (she rolled her eyes at this reason), and (2) Homer's mistreatment of his mail carrier prevented any of her care packages from reaching him until he specifically asked about them. It's what happens when you don't tip them.

** Also, we're led to believe Nelson's father abandoned him. Turns out his peanut allergy caused circus dwellers to kidnap him and use him as an attraction. Thanks to Simpsons' negative continuity, he is never refered again.

** They didn't actually abandon her, the ending montage showed that they cared for and watched over her from the shadows.

* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' has a mild version of this; Hakoda hasn't been gone all that long, and explained his reasons to his kids ''first'', but Katara at least still felt abandoned. She even says that she knew and understood Hakoda did what he had to do, but she couldn't help feeling like crap for not having him there when she needed him the most. They make up at the end of the episode, though.

** Supposedly Ursa was meant to come back sometime during the series finale, but the Avatar team didn't want to have to waste a perfectly good plot by squeezing her in. This is probably the [[Fanfic Fuel|biggest unresolved plot thread]].

* In ''[[We Are the Strange]]'', Rain had his Robot servant take his son to be raised in the Forest because {{spoiler|[[The Big Bad]] had discovered his giant robot plans and had sent minions to kill him and his family. Unfortunately, the robot died on the way so the son had to grow up in total isolation.}}