Fantasy-Forbidding Father: Difference between revisions
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A father, [[My Beloved Smother|mother]], or [[Parental Substitute|guardian]] (these last two are less common) disapproves of their child or ward reading "fairy stories", playing fantasy or scifi games, sports, and even such "useless" hobbies as astronomy, boxing and ''being literate''. In extreme cases, anything the child likes that isn't directly and concretely tied to whatever it is their dad does for a living (or that he wants ''them'' to do for a living) is seen as an utter waste. The dad may even break, burn or sell anything of this nature their child owns, possibly even punishing or locking them up.
"Fantasy" in this trope isn't [[Fantasy|about the genre]], but "fantasy" from the father's perspective. To the [[Overprotective Dad]], any and all of these "distractions" are a [[Tragic Dream]] waiting to happen that will ruin their child's chances at life. For narrative purposes, this is basically anything that the kid likes that'll move the plot forward via alienating them from their dad (possible later reconciliation optional but heartwarming), which puts the
What's cruelest about this attitude is he probably ''does'' hold his child's best interests at heart, but is too close-minded to consider that there are many valid careers and hobbies for their child, and that they are capable of choosing for themselves. In these cases the dad does come around to accepting their child's interests and vocation with a little coaxing. A [[All Take and No Give|more sinister possibility]] is the dad is trying to somehow make their child co-dependent or at least clip their wings so they never leave or get out from under his thumb, either forcing them to follow a family legacy or just out of sheer malice.
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* In ''[[Otomen]]'', the main character Asuka secretly loves knitting, embroidery, cute things, cooking and girls' manga. It's a secret, because Asuka's a guy, and his mother constantly warns him he must be ''manly'', lest he ends up like his father who decided he wanted to be a woman and consequently left Asuka's mother.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'': A flashback reveals that Gozaburo asked his adopted Kaiba what he would do if he was in charge of Kaiba Corp. Kaiba says that he wants to make Kaibaland (which is very much like Disneyland) for kids to enjoy. However, Gozaburo is an [[Arms Dealer]], so he is completely unable to comprehend such a thing. So he decided to take away Kaiba's toys. Considering that Gozaburo was very abusive towards Seto Kaiba at least, this would indicate that he simply wanted to keep Seto under his thumb.
* Hiroko's father in ''[[AKB49: Ren'ai
* [[Ranma
== [[Comics]] ==
* [[Promotion to Parent|Walter]] of ''[[ClanDestine]]'' disapproves of Rory and Pandora's superhero aspirations, going so far as to threaten to have them raised separately in order to negate their [[Wonder Twin Powers]] until they're adults. However, while he does think that "superhero" is an impractical job choice, he's also worried that they could get
* ''[[The Far Side]]'' has a cute inversion: the father's shirt has been grabbed and he's being lifted up by a large (and invisible) assailant, while his son grumbles, "Big Bob is tired of you saying he doesn't exist!"
* Dr. Manhattan's Father in [[Watchmen]] could be seen as an example, forcing his son to pursue a career as a scientist instead of watchmaker.
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* Willy Wonka's dad from the new ''[[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory]]'' movie was like this.
* ''[[Dead Poets Society]]'' - Neil's father thinks anything that could detract from his son's future as a doctor is an utter waste. He goes ballistic when he finds out Neil is playing Puck in ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]''. {{spoiler|When he punishes him by sending him to military school, Neil is pushed over the edge and takes his own life.}}
* The lord of Swamp Castle in ''[[Monty Python and
** Actually the son's not fit for doing much of anything else.
* ''Rad'' has the mom disapprove of her son's BMX'ing, and doesn't want him to participate in a local competition. The reason? It might interfere with him taking his SAT test ''months down the line.'' It wasn't even a question of the son having to balance school and biking, just random opposition to pad the movie.
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'''s King Varian Wrynn is this regarding his son's class choice, wanting him to be a warrior like he is rather than the priest Anduin wants to be. At one point in the novel ''Wolfheart'' we literally see him thinking about how he needs to start discouraging his son from spending so much time with their ''religion'', which is "''obviously'' a bad influence".
* ''[[Dragon Quest VII]]'''s King Burns regards his son Kiefer as an irresponsible [[
* ''[[Inazuma Eleven]]'' surprisingly has {{spoiler|[[The Ace|Gouenji's]]}} father disapprove of his playing soccer. The sport can't save lives, so apparently it doesn't mean anything compared to becoming a doctor.
* Bianca's father in ''[[Pokémon Black and White]]'' is this until Elesa sets him straight.
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* ''[[Thundercats 2011|ThunderCats (2011)]]'' has Claudus feel this way towards Lion-O's fascination with mythical technology in Thundera's world of [[Medieval Stasis]]. Of course, it comes in ''very'' handy once it's revealed that there are pockets of [[Lost Technology]] in the outside, and the [[Big Bad]] is invading with it.
* The antagonist of ''[[Disney Fairies|Tinker Bell & The Great Fairy Rescue]]'' is Lizzy's father, an overly skeptical scientist who gives her grief for her 'flights of fancy'. When he learns she's filled her journal with everything she's learned about fairies, he starts ripping down all her pictures and throwing everything all, claiming it's 'high time she grows up'. Because being nine years old ''clearly'' equals adulthood.
* This is a recurring trend on [[King of the Hill]], where Hank's reaction to whatever Bobby's current interest is varies somewhere between annoyance, shame, and outrage. How extreme of a
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