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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"And the good guy doesn't have a mommy, 'cause his mommy died."''
|'''Zoe''', ''[[Baby Blues]]''}}
A subtrope of [[Parental Abandonment]]: The mother of a character or characters is missing or absent.
Perhaps she died. Perhaps she left and there's bitterness involved. Perhaps she's a [[
Missing Moms are often considered more unusual than a missing father, and may be more likely to have their absence explicitly explained. This might be because a man can technically leave his babymamma at any time after knocking her up (or she can leave him), but a woman carrying a child to term and giving birth, then disappearing, is rarer, especially if it was by her own choice, since it contradicts the [[Closer to Earth]] image most cultures have of women. If it was [[Death
However, the flipside is that if both parents are absent, the character is ''far'' more likely to be obsessed with her/his
Missing Moms are almost always remembered in a positive light, unlike Disappeared Dads. Expect the father to wax poetic about the times they shared, and to tell a female hero "You look so much like your mother." [[Death
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime
* ''[[
* ''[[
* Even though ''[[
** Also, lots of characters like Neji, Hinata, Shino, etc., are shown to have fathers but no mothers. Hinata's mom was seen once in the anime in a picture, but not much more is mentioned.
* ''[[
* Although much ado is made about the whereabouts of Negi's father in ''[[
** Similarly, of the students whose parents are shown, only their fathers are seen: Konoka's is only mentioned, while Yuuna's is dead {{spoiler|because Yuuko Akashi was an [[Action Girl]] from the Magical World and was killed in the line of duty}}.
*** The few most recent manga chapters have Negi starting to theorize on who his mother is. There's at least one very strong-looking candidate right now.
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** Also, {{spoiler|Anya's mother was turned into stone in the incident where Negi's hometown was destroyed. Alongside ''many'' other people.}}
* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' has more than a few examples.
** The Elric brothers' mother, Trisha, is dead, so both boys tried to rectify the
** Winry Rockbell is raised by her grandmother Pinaco after ''both'' parents died during the Ishval War, though the exact circumstances of their death varies between the manga (killed by {{spoiler|Scar}}) and anime (killed by {{spoiler|Roy Mustang}}.)
** Scar's parents are absent in the anime, and are killed by Kimblee when he attacks the area where Scar lives in the manga.
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** Mustang's birth parents died when he was a young child.
** The homunculi in the manga have a father, but no mother. This is first addressed by Pride, when he mentions that he never knew what it was like to have a mother until he was adopted by Mrs. Bradley.
* Brock's mother Lola in ''[[Pokémon (
** Jessie's mom Miyamoto went missing on an expedition to find Mew.
* Quint, the mother of Subaru and Ginga Nakajima in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'', was an [[Action Mom]] who was killed during a secret mission. Her death didn't seem to affect them in a negative way, and they remember her quite fondly. ''Nanoha'' is much more notable for ''[[
* Nadeshiko in ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Clannad (
** In After Story, {{spoiler|the main character works to keep it from repeating with Ushio after getting a wake-up-call. That's because Nagisa, Ushio's mother, [[Death
* ''[[Ranma
** The Tendo sisters' mother died when they were little, which especially affected Akane (and apparently Nabiki in the manga); Kasumi got a [[Promotion to Parent]] (or at least, homemaker) and Soun appears to have never gotten over it. (The Tendos' ongoing grief is played remarkably straight for a comedy series.)
** Ranma left to train with his father at such a very young age that until his [[Hot Mom]] [[Cloudcuckoolander|Nodoka]] showed up to visit he'd forgotten he ever ''had'' one.
** Shampoo's father was seen a time or two in the manga, but never her mother, and she is otherwise raised by her great-grandmother.
** Both of Ryoga Hibiki's parents are never around due to an [[No Sense of Direction|improbably bad sense of direction]] and we never meet them. Different from the ''[[Ranma ½
** Mousse's mother is
** The Kuno siblings' mother and Ukyo's mother are never seen or even mentioned.
* ''[[
** Inu-Yasha himself has a prominent older brother and father, but his mother is rarely
** Miroku's mother is never mentioned, only his father, grandfather, and caretaker, Mushin.
** Sango's mother is likewise rarely (if ever) mentioned, though she apparently had a close relationship with her father and brother.
** Kagome inverts this somewhat with ''[[Disappeared Dad|an absent father]]'' who died in a car crash when she was a little girl.
* In ''[[
* ''[[
* Sho Fukamachi's father in ''[[
* ''[[Wagaya no Oinari
* Let's examine ''[[
** This is used in [[Naoko Takeuchi]]'s earlier work, ''[[The Cherry Project]]'', in which Chieri's mother died in a plane crash and all she has left is her dopey if well-meaning [[Hot Dad]]. This was used again in ''Sailor Moon'', with Makoto's parents both dying in a plane crash.
* In ''[[
** Having no apparent mother relationship aside of this brief mention may have been intentionally significant to the plot. Consider the fact that Naota grew up in a totally male environment (his grandfather, father, and older brother) and most of the relationship problems he has in the show are with women.
* In ''[[
** Eventually it's revealed that {{spoiler|she isn't actually dead, having [[Body Surf|body surfed]] into someone else. Turning this from a case of
** Played straight with the never-mentioned variety when it comes to Suzaku's mother, who is never touched upon. His [[Disappeared Dad|dead father]] is the main tragic plot-point behind his story, {{spoiler|because ''Suzaku killed him''.}}
* In two of the three ''[[
** In the WYC manga, Brazilian star player [[The Quiet One|Carlos Santana]] was abandoned by his mother as a baby, since she was a teenager and couldn't raise him. {{spoiler|In the end of the Japanese cup, she actually appears and begs him for forgiveness, and Santana not only hugs her tearfully and accepts, he actually takes her to live with him in Spain to rekindle their relationship}}.
** Misaki's parents are divorced and he lives/travels with his dad. At some point his mom reappears and asks him to live with her instead of going abroad, but Taro decides not to take it when he learns that she has remarried and even has a daughter with her new husband. {{spoiler|However, when said daughter begs him to re-meet with their mom, Taro accepts and reconciles with her.}}
* The whole plot behind the ''1000 leagues to find Mother'' TV series. The [[Break the Cutie|melodramatic]] journey of 11-year-old Marco in search of his estranged mother Anna, who was working in South America, traumatized hundreds of Latin-American 80's children.
* ''[[
** Her classmate Shiori Nakayama is mentioned to have lost her mother when she was young, therefore her father is ''very'' overprotective.
* ''[[Yes!
* Tenchi Masaki's mother from ''[[Tenchi Muyo!
** Not exactly a bitch, just a [[Jerk
* Juri Katou from ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
** {{spoiler|Tamaki's dad managed to turn the tables recently, though how Anne's return will affect Tamaki is unknown}}.
* In ''[[
** This is only in the anime. In the manga, the only parents ever seen are Ichigo's, who have a bad case of [[Older Than They Look]], while Mint's ''mom'' is mentioned, but never seen. Ichigo's parents are seen twice in the series. [[There Are No Adults|Adults do not exist practically at all.]]
* In ''[[
** In the manga, this is expanded: {{spoiler|Mrs. Awayuki fell victim to [[Death
* In ''[[Blood+
** Actually, Nathan's comments suggest he was their mother's chevalier, not their father
** Later, {{spoiler|Diva pretty much becomes a
* Renton from ''[[
** Holland's mother fell victim to [[Death
** Renton's and Eureka's {{spoiler|son}} Ao also has this problem, though the reason behind this hasn't yet been shown. An interesting subversion of this trope; while Eureka is prominently mentioned, no one seems to really care about who Ao's father is.
* None of the four protagonists from the various ''[[Zoids]]'' anime have mothers; in fact, their mothers are never mentioned at all. It's particularly noteworthy with Van from ''Chaotic Century/Guardian Force''; his father is an oft-mentioned decorated war hero, but his mother's existence is never even hinted at.
* Ichigo Kurosaki's mother Masaki in ''[[
** While Uryuu's father and grandfather both appeared in the story, his mother wasn't even mentioned.
* In ''[[G Gundam]]'', Domon's mother Mikino {{spoiler|was shot by the government when trying to protect his brother}}. It's also full [[Parental Abandonment]], since the same incident led to [[The Professor|his father]] being arrested and sentenced to [[Human Popsicle|a cryogenic state]]. {{spoiler|Reversed later, when Dr. Kasshu is cleared of his supposed "crimes" (he was framed) and returns: he's shown as a good person who encourages and even helps Domon to fight against the true [[Big Bad]].}}
** Domon's close friend [[Boisterous Bruiser|Chibodee Crocket]] is also an example. {{spoiler|His [[Hot Mom]] disappeared during a riot caused by [[Monster Clown|terrorists dressed as clowns]] and is strongly hinted to be dead after that. No wonder Chibodee is a sort-of [[Momma's Boy]].}}
* In ''[[
** Despite the fact that Maka's parents’ divorce is mentioned, and Maka's estrangement from her father is a plot point, Maka's mother doesn't appear in the anime. The manga has even less information, not even showing that she and Maka are in contact.
** This is lampshaded in Death The Kid's case as people point out that his existence implies his father had a wife, but they and the audience have no idea who this is.
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** Black* Star is a case of [[Parental Abandonment]]: his family was wiped out for being dangerous psychopaths, and he was raised by the school.
** Tsubaki and Soul Eater, by contrast, seem to have practically normal families, albeit ones they don't have much contact with. Even though Soul dislikes his [[Embarrassing Last Name]], this seems to be down more to his issues with individuality than suggestion of a troubled history with his parents.
* Tamaki's mother in ''[[
* In ''[[
* A major plot point of ''[[
* ''[[
* Arika's reason for joining Garderobe Academy in ''[[
* In ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh (
** Jounouchi's mother left home with Shizuka after she divorced Jou's dad, and they've barely had contact. {{spoiler|Until Shizuka's operation, where they more or less make amends.}}
* In ''[[
** Likewise Broly's mother isn't shown either.
** None of the pure Saiyans' mothers are ever mentioned, in fact only a handful of Saiyan women are ever seen or heard of, and those are in the first Bardock special.
* Yoshimori Sumimura's mother in ''[[
* In ''[[
** In [[Word of God|an SBS]] Oda stated she's probably alive, but he hasn't decided if she'll actually make an appearance.
** In a more traditional case, Robin's mother Olvia left Robin as a young child to go and continue her late husband's ''very'' risky work in archeology. Robin is only given a brief time to reunite with her long-lost mother before all the archeologists are killed in a Buster Call by the World Government.
** Ace's own mother, Portgas D. Rouge, was introduced in the story {{spoiler|immediately prior to Ace's execution. There it was revealed that to prevent Ace from being found by the government (who sought him out because of his father), Rouge managed to delay giving birth and remained pregnant for ''twenty months'' [[Mama Bear|to protect her son.]] [[Death
** Other Straw Hats hit by the Missing Mom are Usopp and Nami. The death of Usopp's mother by illness started him on his tendency for lying. Nami's (adoptive) mother Bellemere sacrificed herself to save her and her sister Nojiko.
*** Actually, no Straw Hats are known for sure to have a mom who's still alive, while a few of them (Luffy and Usopp) still have their fathers and some infamous ones of those indeed.
* ''[[
* In the anime of ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro
** Actually, {{spoiler|Asumu is NOT his biological mother. Learning that sends Battler into an EPIC [[Heroic BSOD]] in both anime and games, and Ange snaps him out of it in an equally epic [[Heroic Sacrifice]].}}
* Kotoko's mother is dead at the start of ''[[Itazura
* Guts of ''[[
* Kouji Kabuto, the original [[Idiot Hero]] of ''[[
** Most of the young characters of the Mazinger trilogy are motherless: Sayaka -Kouji's [[Love Interest]]- and her father live alone, and it is often assumed her mother died -or left-; Tetsuya and Jun from ''[[
* ''[[
* Jeanie's mom in ''Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair''.
* [[All There in the Manual|In the manga]], Quatre Raberba Winner of ''[[Gundam Wing]]'' loses his mother ''twice''. First, [[Ill Girl]] Katherine Winner [[Death
** The sequel novel ''Frozen Teardrop'' does it thrice over: {{spoiler|for Heero (his parents were [[Hitman
* The death of Kei Enjouji's mother Hotaru in [[
* Numerous examples in ''[[
* Ur from ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
* ''[[
* Happens a lot in ''[[
* In [[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]], Setsuna F. Seiei lost his mother when he was no older than 10. {{spoiler|More exactly, when he was a [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] [[Child Soldier]] under the name of Soran Ibrahim, he killed her under the orders of his leader, [[Complete Monster]] Ali Al-Saachez.}} One of the reasons why he gets platonically close to Princess Marina is because [[Identical Stranger|she looks a LOT]] like his dead mom.
** Similarly, the conflict between {{spoiler|Sergei and Andrei Smirnov}} comes from the death of {{spoiler|Andrei}}'s [[Action Mom]] Holly, whom he ''never'' forgave his father for. {{spoiler|It ends up in horrible tragedy, as Andrei [[Self
* The death of Flit Asuno's mother happens right at the start of [[Mobile Suit Gundam
* In the [[Ace Attorney]] manga's "Turnabout From Heaven" case, the defendant, Diana Wheatley, says she was visited by the spirit of her mother, who was killed in an auto accident 16 years ago and promised to give her a necklace when she turned 20. {{spoiler|It turns out that her dead supposed birth mother was actually her stepmother, because the birth certificates were altered, and that her actual mother was working for her father in disguise}}.
* ''[[Your Name]]'': Mitsuha and Yotsuha's mother Futaba died of illness six years prior to the start of the film, but still casts a shadow on the family, especially as [[The Lost Lenore]] to widowed Toshiki. Taki's mother, meanwhile, is nowhere to be seen, with only a vague allusion late in the novel as to him having to get used to living with the father. Nothing is done with this commonality.
* ''[[Weathering with You]]'': Hina and Nagi's mother is hospitalized and bedridden at the start of the film and dies during the timeskip. This leaves them as orphans, as the father goes completely unmentioned.
== Comic Books ==
* [[Batgirl (2000
▲* [[Batgirl 2000 (Comic Book)|Cassandra Cain]]'s mother passed her to her father literally at birth, who in turn shot the midwife dead and took the infant to be trained as the [[Charles Atlas Superpower|ultimate]] [[Tyke Bomb|assassin]] in isolation from spoken language. Given that said mother became known as [[Blood Knight|Lady Shiva]], it is hard to imagine that her influence would have helped... and the kid seemed to have turned out emotionally together enough to [[Street Urchin|run away from home]] [[Thou Shalt Not Kill|rather than kill...]] [[The Atoner|again]].
* [[Batwoman]] lost her mother in a hostage situation when she was a kid. {{spoiler|She also lost her twin sister...or so she thought.}}
* Matt Murdock, aka [[Daredevil]], was raised entirely by his father (this turned into [[Parental Abandonment]] when the guy was murdered in the first issue of Matt's series). His mother went completely unmentioned for over twenty years before finally showing up out of the blue; turns out that she abandoned her child to become a nun.
** Darkdevil, Daredevil's [[Legacy Character]] in ''[[
* In [[The DCU]], Roy Harper once broke an [[Lotus Eater Machine|illusory world]] by asking about his
* Since there are [[Loads and Loads of Characters]] in ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'', the following are only a few examples. Elizabeth Howlett committed suicide after [[Wolverine|her son]] killed [[Abusive Parents|Thomas Logan]]. Katherine Summers was killed by [[Evil Overlord|D'ken]] of the Shi'ar empire. Rogue's biological mother would [[Ascend to
* Peppermint Patty from ''[[
* The children in ''[[
* Brian Fies' ''Whatever happened to the World of Tomorrow'' is more about the world at large than the unnamed main characters, but the fact that the son's mother is never ever mentioned stands out like a sore thumb when it's heavily implied his father is serving in WWII - so ''who'' is taking care of the teenaged or pre-teen kid?
* [[Young Avengers/Characters|Kate Bishop]]'s mother died some time before ''[[Young Avengers]]'' started. So did {{spoiler|Teddy's}}, though he didn't know it for years, {{spoiler|and then the woman who raised him burned to death in front of him.}}
* Happens to both of the heroes in ''[[Quantum and Woody]]''. Quantum's parents went through a divorce after an auto accident, and she happily left after securing a huge alimony payment. Woody's mother divorced out of an abusive relationship and became an impoverished drug addict, emotionally absent as she left Woody to fend for himself.
* In ''[[Spider
== Fairy Tales ==
* The mothers of the title characters of "[[Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (
** In the earliest version published by [[The Brothers Grimm (
== Films ==
* ''[[
* In ''As It Is In Heaven'' {{spoiler|Daniel and Lena}} both have lost their parents at a young age.
* In ''[[
* ''[[Disney Animated Canon]]'' movies are rife with this trope:
** ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'': The Sultan's wife is only mentioned once: she's dead. Even more directly, ''Aladdin's'' mother, who appears in the original story, was going to be in the movie as well, but was dropped early on. In the third movie he mentions that his mother died when he was a kid.
** [[Two Words: Obvious Trope]]: ''[[
** ''[[Beauty and
** In ''[[
** ''[[Cinderella (Disney film)|Cinderella]]'': Mother is dead, hence the [[Wicked Stepmother|stepmother.]]
*** [[Prince Charming]]'s mom is also absent. We can probably assume she's dead.
** ''[[
** The ''[[A Goofy Movie|Goofy Movies]]'' and ''[[
*** The movies disposed of PJ's mom, Peg. [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome|She's not seen or even mentioned.]]
** ''[[
** The title character of ''[[
*** [[
** See the Literature section for ''[[Peter Pan (Disney film)|Peter Pan]]''.
** ''[[The Fox and
** ''[[
** ''[[Pinocchio (Disney film)|Pinocchio]]'' is a [[Artificial Human|wooden puppet]] created by Gepetto BEFORE becoming a "real boy". As such, no mom ever existed. The closest to a mother would be the Blue Fairy, who gave him life with her magic.
** ''[[Snow White and
*** Snow White's mother, the Good Queen, probably died during the childbirth, and her father, the King? The Evil Queen probably killed him.
** Mowgli from ''[[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|The Jungle Book]]'' is a feral child [[Raised
** Penny from ''[[The Rescuers (Disney film)|The Rescuers]]'' is an orphan.
** Quasimodo's Roma mother in ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' [[Death
** ''[[Tarzan (Disney film)|Tarzan]]'''s loving mother ''and'' father are eaten by a [[Cats Are Mean|leopard]]. [[Family-Unfriendly Death|How lovely.]]
*** And no mother for Jane Porter, who's been raised by her father.
** Kuzco from ''[[The Emperor's New Groove
** The female eponymous character from ''[[Lilo and Stitch (Disney film)|Liloand Stitch]]'' lives with her older sister. Apparently their parents died recently, as she remembers things they used to say. Given her explanation ("It was raining, and they went for a drive"), we can assume they died in a car accident.
** ''[[The Princess and
** ''[[
*** Inverted with [[Last of Her Kind|Baylene]] however. She, despite being one of the oldest dinosaurs in the film, actually lost her spouse, as well of all of her siblings and her descendants to the meteorite, therefore making her the last surviving Brachiosaurus on Earth. Also, Plio, the lemur girl that adopts Aladar, despite her father being the chief of the lemur clan, actually doesn't have a mother as well. Inverted with Plio herself, where even though she already has a daughter named Suri, she actually doesn't have a husband.
** ''[[
** ''[[Atlantis:
** Li Shang from ''[[
** In ''[[Sleeping Beauty (Disney film)|Sleeping Beauty]]'' while Aurora's mother survives the movie, Prince Phillip's mother is never seen nor mentioned.
*** Is it just me, or does Disney have the biggest hard-on for
**** To be fair, for the most part the
* ''[[Ella Enchanted]]'': As a partial send-up of ''Cinderella'', Ella also lost her mother and ended up with an [[Wicked Stepmother]].
* ''[[Independence Day]]'': Russell Case is raising his kids alone. By a comment he makes, she probably died of a chronic illness, possibly the same one his child suffers from.
* ''Jersey Girl'': The title character's mother (played by Jennifer Lopez) dies early on in the film.
* ''[[Sleepless in Seattle]]'': Jonah's mother died more or less recently, which prompts him to find his dad a new wife and himself a new mother.
* In [[The Movie]] version of ''[[The Spiderwick Chronicles]]'', the children's mother is a rare case of a
* ''[[Stardust (
* ''[[Juno]]'' has this, but the eponymous character has a stepmother, who she has a pretty close bond with, as the film continues.
* ''[[The Land Before Time]]'': Both Littlefoot and Cera's mothers are dead, though Cera gets a stepmother several movies later (and a little stepsister).
* In ''[[
** According to [[Word of God]] Selena had to kill her entire family in one afternoon. No wonder she's so cold.
* ''[[Underdog (
* In ''[[Charlie and
** Inverted in the first film. While Charlie had both parents in the book and his father getting laid off was a big part of the setup, they decided to ax his father from the movie to increase the tragedy.
* In ''[[Hancock]]'', Aaron's mother died shortly after his birth, but he has a stepmom who may as well be his mother since she's known him from his infancy.
* ''[[Repo!
* Let's not forget ''[[Finding Nemo]]'': Nemo's mom is missing because she was killed by a barracuda, along with all of Nemo's unhatched siblings. This is why his dad, Marlin, is so overprotective.
* There is no mention of Remy's mother in ''[[Ratatouille]]''. Early production art shows that she was intended to be a character (named Desiree), but was dropped to allow greater focus upon the father-son relationship between Django and Remy.
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* ''Fly Away Home'' begins with the heroine's mother dying in car crash.
* This is the plot of ''Grace Is Gone''. The mother died in Iraq, and the father tries to explain this to kids.
* This is Hallie's fate in ''[[The Parent Trap (1961 film)|The Parent Trap]]''.
* In ''[[
* The heroine of ''[[Whale Rider]]'' has no mother.
* In ''[[The Sound of Music]]'' we see a von Trapp family: Father, seven children, and no mother. Captain Von Trapp is explicitly referred to as a widower.
* In ''Forward, Gardemarines'', one of the heroes is a bastard, whose mother, a poor woman, died in
* In ''[[
* [[Jackie Chan]] in ''[[Drunken Master (
* ''[[Amelie]]'' also features an eponymous heroine who is motherless. Her death is explained at the beginning of the movie.
* The child protagonists of ''[[Millions]]'' lost their mother before the events of the film.
* In ''[[
** According to ''[[All There in the Manual|The Art of Kung Fu Panda]]'', the directors originally intended to put Po's mother into the story, but decided in the end that it distracted from the main story and wasn't very interesting. The fact they didn't want to make Po seem special for having a goose father, and that they wanted [[The Un-Reveal|to play silly buggers]] with the audience about the [[Oblivious Adoption]] may also have had something to do with it.
* In ''[[The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants]]'', Bridget's mother is dead, presumably having committed suicide because of mental instability. Her funeral is shown briefly when the characters are introduced. Later, after Bridget {{spoiler|gets it on with her soccer coach}}, she cries and wishes her mom was still alive to talk things over with.
** This is explored a bit more in the sequel, when she visits her grandmother and has a nightmare about her mother abandoning her. {{spoiler|Apparently there had been one last chance for them to get her to get help for her mental problems, but the only way to convince her to do so was if her mother lied that she was alright. Bridget's grandmother confessed that she was unable to lie to her daughter about it.}}
* In ''[[The Dark Knight Saga
* In ''[[Over the Hedge (
* From the western comedy ''[[Support Your Local Sheriff]]'':
{{quote|
'''Jason McCullough:''' Mother died, huh?
'''Mayor Perkins:''' Nope, she just departed. }}
* ''[[Cloudy
** Although this was an important plot point. She encouraged him to pursue his scientific dreams and his dad never understood him. His mom was essentially their translator.
* In ''[[Letters to Juliet]]'', Sophie's mom "left" when she was nine.
* It is discussed in ''[[How to Train Your Dragon (
* More like missing foster mom, but we never actually see Robert's wife in ''[[Mystery Team]]''.
* Polly's mother is never mentioned in the two early animated [[Polly Pocket]] movies but her absence is a plot point in "Pollyworld". Polly's father would remarry. Lorelei, Polly's [[Wicked Stepmother|stepmother-to-be]], planned to send her into a boarding school out of jealousy and tricked Polly's father into thinking it'd be good for Polly. Fortunately, he saw Lorelei's true colors on time to call off the engagement.
* Marian has been dead for years at the start of ''[[Princess of Thieves]]''. Her absence is one of the reasons Gwyn grows up such a tomboy.
* ''[[
* Lilli's mother dies at her birth in ''[[Snow White:
Line 260 ⟶ 262:
** Each of the four main protagonists in ''[[Circle of Magic]]'' (and Evvy) have no mother. Every. Single. One.
*** Well, Tris has a mother. The family simply disowned her after the numerous incidents of quicksand pits and dining room hailstorms.
* The title character of ''[[Peter Pan]]'' is a runaway, but when he gets Wendy and her brothers to come with him to Neverland, he tries to fit Wendy into the role of the
* In ''[[Harry Potter (
** And of course, Harry's mother Lily, who died along with his father in a pair of [[Heroic Sacrifice
** Also, at the end of the last book, {{spoiler|Teddy Lupin}} suffers from the trope when his parents die in battle.
** And Voldemort's mother Merope, of course, who suffered [[Death
*** To be fair, this was more a case of her [[Despair Event Horizon|being destitute and heartbroken]] and running to an orphanage as it was known as a safe place for mothers and children and then dying in childbirth than choosing to leave.
** Hagrid's mother, a giantess, left him when he was three. Hagrid mentions her death casually, as he hardly even remembers her.
** Neville's mother (and father) are technically [[Fate Worse Than Death|still alive]], but certainly the poor woman was in no condition to raise her son {{spoiler|after having been tortured into insanity by Barty Crouch Jr. and the Lestranges}}.
* The title character of ''[[
* [[Nancy Drew]] is famously being raised by her attorney father and housekeeper Hannah Grue. Mom died when Nancy was
* Pip in ''[[Great Expectations]]'' lost his mother and was left to be raised by his older sister and her husband.
* In ''[[
* ''[[The
* In ''[[
** Don't forget the death of Joanna Lannister while giving birth to her youngest son, the dwarf Tyrion. This completely wrecks the [[Big Screwed-Up Family]]'s balance.
* Vlad Taltos of the ''[[Dragaera]]'' series was raised by his father and his paternal grandfather. He has no memories of his mother, has no idea how old he was when she disappeared and doesn't know if she died or left his father, because his father keeps changing stories and avoiding talking about her altogether.
* Brutus in Conn Iggulden's ''Emperor'' series was abandoned by his mother after his father died. However they establish some form of relationship once he's an adult.
* Elena Bothari-Jesek from [[Lois McMaster Bujold|Lois McMaster Bujold's]] ''[[
** Discussed in the later book ''A Civil Campaign''. In the context of explaining why she doesn't want to marry yet, Kareen Koudelka says:
{{quote|
*** Ironically, Kareen herself is named after Emperor Gregor's
* The heroine in ''[[The Secret Life Of Bees]]'' has what might as well be the type specimen for the realistic fiction subtrope. Her father never speaks of her missing mom, he practically ignores her, and she assumes that mommy must have been amazing. However, Lily is also wracked with angst because according to her clearest memory of her mother, Lily accidentally shot her dead.
* The heroine of ''[[To Kill a Mockingbird]]'' grows up with father (and brother), but her mother is dead.
* [[
** ''[[The Silmarillion]]'': Fëanor's mother [[Death
** ''[[
* In the ''[[Alice, Girl
* In [[Diana Wynne Jones]]' [[Chrestomanci]] story ''Charmed Life'', Cat and Gwendolyn's parents are killed.
* In Chris Roberson's ''[[Warhammer
* ''[[
* ''[[The City of Ember]]'' by Jeanne DuPrau is a double load. Lina Mayfleet has a missing mom that died when her younger sister Poppy was born ''and'' a [[Disappeared Dad]] that died shortly after the mother. But her friend Doon Harrow has a missing mom that has no explanation whatsoever. Many fans' favorite excuse is that she died when Doon was young.
* In ''[[
* Lyra, the heroine of ''[[The Golden Compass]]'', has no mother and a mostly absent father-figure, Uncle Asriel ( {{spoiler|actually her father}}). Later we find out that {{spoiler|her mother is Mrs. Coulter, the main villain of the book}}.
* John Taylor, the main character of the ''[[Nightside]]'' series of [[Urban Fantasy]]/[[Film Noir|Gothic Noir]] novels, was raised by his father {{spoiler|because his mother is [[Eldritch Abomination|Lilith]].}} His mom coming back is actually a plot that spreads over several books.
* [[Discworld
** The mother of Tomjon, heir to the throne of Verence I, is absent without explanation in ''Wyrd Sisters''.
* [[Alfie Atkins]] mother is never mentioned in the books. Her absence is not mentioned either. Alfie seems to have a completely normal kid's life, with friends, cousins, and a loving father. Just no mother. When [[Moral Guardians]] and other curious people wanted to know where she is, the author replied: "[[Shrug of God|Maybe she's dead. Maybe the parents are divorced. Maybe she's in the laundry room.]] [[Death of the Author|It's up to the reader.]]"
* In ''[[Belgariad]]'', Poledra let her husband Belgarath think she had died in childbirth while he was away for... some reason. Her daughters Polgara and Beldaran, and the god Aldur, knew the truth. Belgarath only found out over three thousand years later.
* Gunilla Bergström, author of the popular Swedish ''Alfons Åberg'' books, is often asked where Alfons's mom is (Alfons appears to be living alone with his dad). Her answer is...[[Shrug of God|anti-climatic]]: Alfons's mom is absent from the books because Bergström has never written a story that required her presence.
* In [[John C. Wright]]'s ''[[The Golden Oecumene
* In the books of [[Dale Brown]] {{spoiler|1=Bradley McLanahan's}} mother {{spoiler|1=Wendy McLanahan}} is dead because she was killed by an enemy of his parents.
* [[
** 2 dead mothers (''[[Emma]]'' and ''[[Persuasion]]'')
** 2 absent mothers (''[[
** 2 incompetent mothers (''[[Pride and Prejudice]]'' and ''[[Sense and Sensibility (
** 1 evil mother (''[[Lady Susan]]'')
* In ''[[The Phantom of the Opera]]'', both of Christine's parents are dead. However, the father is discussed in great detail and features in prominently in the [[Flash Back]] sequences of Raoul's and Christine's childhood; there is even a visit to his grave <ref>
* In ''[[Strange Angels]]'', Dru's mom is dead and she was left by her father with her grandmother who also died. {{spoiler|Her mother was killed by the Vampire Sergej and her Grandmother died of natural causes}}
* In ''Laura Leander'', the heroine starts the series with both parents missing: Her mother presumably drowned when she was five and her [[Disappeared Dad|dad disappeared]] about a year ago. However, rescuing her dad is relatively straightforward, (he is "only" held captive by [[Big Bad]]...) and from then on, she fits this trope... Until she manages to [[Rescued From Purgatory|rescue her mother from some realm between life and death]], {{spoiler|at a price of [[It Seemed Like a Good Idea At
* In ''Spell Fall'', the [[Kid Hero|heroine's]] mother also drowned when she was little, presumably by accident (she was blind). Actually, she was {{spoiler|killed by Hawk and his people. Her soul lives in the giant tree, which makes it so important to stop Hawk later on. And boy [[Fate Worse Than Death|did Hawk pay]] for this...}}
* In [[Kate
* In ''[[Detectives in Togas]]'', Caius' mother is dead, so his sister has to care for the household instead.
* Chichikov's in ''[[Dead Souls]]''.
* In ''[[
* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''[[
* ''[[In Death]]'': Eve's mother is missing and her fate has not been elaborated on. {{spoiler|She appears in ''New York To Dallas'', reveals what a [[Complete Monster]] she is, and gets killed off}}. Roarke's {{spoiler|non-biological}} mother has not been seen since she left.
* Common in [[Brandon Sanderson|Brandon Sanderson's]] books as well. In [[Elantris]], Raoden, in [[Mistborn]], Elend Venture, in [[Warbreaker]], Vivenna and Siri, in [[The Stormlight Archive]] ,Shallan, Adolin and Renarin. There's quite a few absent moms here.
* In ''[[White
* In [[Michael Flynn]]'s ''[[Spiral Arm
== Live Action TV ==
* ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'': There was a
* ''The Courtship of Eddie's Father'': Eddie's mother died, hence the reason for the title.
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[My Three Sons]]'': Another dead mother.
* ''[[
* ''[[Smart Guy (TV series)|Smart Guy]]'': Ditto with the above examples.
* ''[[Sanford and Son]]'': Lamont's deceased mother Elizabeth, who Fred is always claiming he's "coming to join" during his fake heart attacks.
** Also Harold's mother in the [[Trans
* ''Make Room For Daddy'': The 1956-1957 season fits this trope, as Danny Thomas' original co-star Jean Hagen, left the show after the end of the third season and her character was [[McLeaned]].
* ''[[Step
* ''[[Little House
* ''[[
* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'':
** Hiro Nakamura's mother Ishi is absent. {{spoiler|We find out she's dead later on, and that it completely shattered Hiro's father Kaito. Further, in the novel ''Saving Charlie'', we find out that Kaito being devastated by Ishi's loss is why he's so emotionless and hard now. When the adult Hiro gets his memories reverted to that of his 10-year-old self, he visits his dead mother via [[Time Travel]]: Ishi turns out to have been [[Healing Hands|a healer]], who uses her powers to heal Hiro's memories and give him the [[MacGuffin]].}}
** Played with in the case of Claire Bennet, who had a
* ''[[Privileged]]'': Megan and Lily's mother ran out on the family when they were little, sparking the father's alcoholism and Megan's [[Promotion to Parent]] status. History repeats itself when {{spoiler|Shelby returns, only to con Megan's boyfriend out of quite a significant (to her if not to Will) sum of money and run off once again}}
* ''[[Psych]]'': Shawn Spencer's mother is absent, but we find out from a bitter remark on Henry's part that {{spoiler|she left.}}
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*** In the season two finale, {{spoiler|Shawn opens Henry's front door at the very end and simply says, "Mom." So it looks like she's not so missing after all.}}
**** During this time we also find out that, contrary to what Shawn thought, {{spoiler|She did actually leave them; it wasn't his dad that initiated the breakup.}}
* ''[[
* ''[[Chuck]]'': Mama Bartowski left her husband and children for unknown reasons years before the series started. {{spoiler|But it looks like we'll finally get to find out more about her next season.}}
* ''[[Pushing Daisies]]'':
** Ned: Missing, then back, then gone for good.
** Chuck: Missing... it seems that way, doesn't it? {{spoiler|Or maybe not, as Aunt Lily confesses on a [[Mushroom Samba|holistic drug trip]] that she's really Chuck's mother.}}
* ''[[Starman (TV series)|Starman]]'': We know Jenny Hayden freaked out shortly after birthing her half-alien child and ran off, leaving the title character to [[Walking the Earth|Walk The Earth]] raising his son alone. The show's premise was built on this.
* Averted in ''[[
* ''[[
** Jesse later gets married and Aunt Becky becomes [[Parental Substitute|a mother figure]] to the Tanner girls.
** The sitcom the Olsen Twins were in some years after ''[[
* A card of narration before the first scene of the short-lived [[Citizenship Marriage]]-based sitcom ''I Married Dora'' explained that the mother had been on a plane that mysteriously vanished. This editor doesn't recall the exact phrasing, but it was pretty clear even to a child that they were [[Lampshade Hanging|hanging a lampshade]] on the device.
* In the TV series of ''[[The Naked Brothers Band]]'', the mother is dead despite the fact that [[The Movie]] (which was actually a cute indie film...) had them address the camera operator as "Mom".
* The ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' boys have another dead mother and if ''Home'' and ''What Is And What Should Never Be'' are anything to go by, then they still have issues aplenty regarding her.
* In the TV western ''[[Bonanza]]'', Ben Cartwright has three sons- Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe- by three different wives, and all of the mothers died within a few years of their son's births.
* The mother of ''[[Veronica Mars]]'' ran off before the show began, when Keith lost his job as sheriff. Veronica ends up tracking her mom down and forcing her to enter rehab, and then she returns later in the season to restart her relationship with Keith... only she's still on the booze, so Veronica forces her to leave before she ruins things for Keith again.
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* ''[[Hannah Montana]]'': Miley and Jackson's mother died a while ago, prompting Miley to become upset with Robby Ray when he wants to go out with another woman.
** It doesn't seem to bother her when Miley tries hooking her dad up with Lilly's [[Hot Mom]]. But things don't work out as planned.
** Also worth noting that several episodes hinge around [[Parents
* Teen dramas tend to adore this, and ''[[The Secret Life of the American Teenager]]'' is no exception.
** Ben's mom is dead before the series starts. His dad later marries an [[Hooker
** Madison's mom is dead before the series starts as well. She has a stepmom, but the two aren't particularly close due to Madison resenting how "soon" her dad remarried after mom's death. The two eventually do attempt to find some common ground.
** Adrian's mom also applies to a certain degree. While she is alive and there for Adrian, her job as a flight attendant takes her away for long periods of time.
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]'': Sydney's mother is gone and everyone thinks that she died in a car accident. It's later revealed that she was a deep cover Soviet agent sent to spy on Syd's [[Knight Templar|American Spy father]] and that the car accident happened when she was being pursued by Federal Agents. And she's not dead. It gets more convoluted from there.
* In ''[[The Tenth Kingdom]]'', this is rather masterfully pulled off. {{spoiler|Virginia finds out her mother is alive, and is actually pretty much the person responsible for her and her father getting pulled into the plot. She already knew that her mother had left, but she didn't know that she'd wound up as a wicked step-mother in a parallel fairy-tale world.}} This leads to a rather realistic rant after she finds out.
* One important motive for [[The Adventures of Shirley Holmes
* In ''[[Battlestar Galactica
** Likewise, Kara Thrace's mother was so abusive that she {{spoiler|once broke all of Kara's fingers by slamming her hand repeatedly in a door. She later refused to congratulate Kara's graduation, focusing on her mistakes instead.}} This made Kara so angry that {{spoiler|she never went to see her mother as she was dying of lung cancer.}}
* ''[[Star Trek]]'' loves this:
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** Kathryn Janeway appears to be raised by her father alone.
** B'Elanna's mother died when she was five.
* ''[[
** Walt's mother dies mysteriously just before the crash.
** Locke's mother gives him up for adoption. Later, his foster mother dies.
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** Shannon's mother is dead, and her stepmother cuts her off after her father dies.
* The first two seasons of ''[[Round the Twist]]'' have this the case for the Twist kids. The circumstances of their mother dying are never mentioned in the series (then again, there likely isn't time with all the weirdness going on).
* [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer
* Kurt on ''[[
* In the pilot episode of ''[[Bones]]'', Brennan tells Booth that her parents disappeared when she was fifteen. In the season one finale, {{spoiler|they discover that Brennan's mother is one of the Jane Does in Limbo at the Jeffersonian.}}
* The eponymous character of ''[[Sabrina the Teenage Witch (TV series)|Sabrina the Teenage Witch]]'' is prevented from seeing her mother by witch law (her mother is mortal) and if she sees her, the mother will turn into a ball of wax. Roxie's mother is also later revealed to have been in prison for years though the two patch things up. The aunts' mother Lydia and her [[Parental Favoritism]] is also a plot point in a few episodes but she doesn't actually appear until the fourth season.
* ''[[
** Yeah, ''NCIS'' is bad about this. We know so much about Tony, Gibbs and Ziva's fathers, but where are any of their mothers?
* ''[[The Nanny]]'': Sara Sheffield died before the show started in a car accident caused by a drunk driver.
* In ''[[Castle]]'',
* In ''[[China Beach]]'', [[Hooker
* Two ''[[Ghostwriter (TV series)|Ghostwriter]]'' team members have missing moms. Lenni's mom died when she was little and Rob only lives with his dad.
* The main characters' mother in ''[[
* On ''[[M*A*S*H (
* ''[[Being Human (
* ''[[Power Rangers Turbo]]'': Justin's mother died before he debuted in [[The Movie]], and it's implied that his relationship with his father also enters [[When You Coming Home, Dad?]] and [[Parental Abandonment]] territory at times.
** The fate, as well as the identity, of Rita Repulsa's mother are a mystery to this day.
* Played hilariously on ''[[The Amanda Show]]'' in ''Moody's Point.'' Moody's mom disappeared in a hot air balloon, and it's presented as a case of [[Never Found the Body]] that was quite
* ''[[
* [[Punky Brewster]], anyone? Her mom abandoned her during a shopping trip and she wound up living alone with her dog Brandon in an empty apartment until she was discovered by Henry Warnimont.
* Abed on ''[[
* Poor [[Gossip Girl|Chuck Bass]]. The first eighteen years of his life he thought his mother [[Death
* George-Michael's mom died from unknown reasons in ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]''. In classic missing mom fashion, her cause of death is never explained.
* Explored thoroughly in ''[[
* ''[[Home and Away]]'' has had a few:
** Sally, Steven, Frank, Lynn and Carly were all fostered (Lynn, at least, subverts this before leaving)
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** April and Bianca's mother lives in Italy.
** In an odd twist, some of the fan favourites are parents who outlasted their kids' stay on the show. Miles may or may not qualify, given that Rabbit was actually a ghost.
* Samantha's mother on ''[[
* The premise of ''[[My Two Dads]]''.
* [[
* Elaine's mother on ''[[
* Carrie's mother on ''[[The King of Queens]]''.
* Buddy's mother/Mr. Ernst's wife on ''[[
* Sean's mother on ''[[
* Tessa from ''[[
* Yoko/Yellow Buster from ''[[
== Radio ==
* In ''[[
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** Same in ''Naked King'' (again the princess) and ''The Shadow'' (both the princess and Annunciata).
* In ''[[Pygmalion]]'' by [[George Bernard Shaw]] (and thus, in film ''[[My Fair Lady]]''), Elisa has has no contact at all with her mother.
* In ''[[Wicked (
* [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] is full of missing moms: Ophelia and Laertes of ''[[
** In ''[[The Tempest]]'', Miranda's mother is mentioned once.
{{quote|
She said thou wast my daughter;'' }}
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== Video Games ==
* Ashley's mom in [[Trace Memory]] disappeared ten years prior to the game's start and it's only until 2/3s of the way into the game that she finds out what happened to her. {{spoiler|She wound up getting murdered.}}
* Both played straight and inverted in ''[[
** Lucca's mother isn't well. Unless you do the sidequest of course. [[Set Right What Once Went Wrong|Blasted time travel]].
* Almost all main characters in the ''[[
** Of the main characters, Ike's mother Elena actually has plot significance, including her death. She died {{spoiler|while trying to recover Lehran's Medallion from her husband Greil, as the relic turned him into a mindless berserker that slaughtered everything that crossed his path.}} Of course, by the time he learns of this, his father was already dead as well.
** Eliwood has the distinction of being the only Fire Emblem lord whose mother, Eleanora, is alive, well, and visible. {{spoiler|but in exchange, it's his ''father'' who dies.}}
** The absence of the mothers of [[Redheaded Hero|Roy]] and [[Magical Girl|Lilina]] gets around having to decide upon a canon pairing for either his or her father {{spoiler|Lyn, in any of these cases. Ninian or Fiora, in the case of Roy. Florina or Farina, in the case of Lilina.}}
** The death of {{spoiler|Joshua}}'s mother is an important plot point in Eirika's path. {{spoiler|She is Ismaire, the Queen of Jehanna, who is murdered by General Caellach when she tries to keep him from shattering the Stone of Jehanna.}}
** ''Several'' cases happen in ''[[Fire Emblem Jugdral
** Seisen Gen 1: The wives of the bad guys aren't seen, and a good part of {{spoiler|Lord Alvis}}'s backstory is centered in regards to his mother Cigyun, {{spoiler|who left him after his dad Viktor is [[Spurned Into Suicide]]... and succumbs to [[Death
** Seisen Gen 2: {{spoiler|If you got the girls from Gen 1 to get married and have kids, almost all of them except for Adean become
** ''Thracia 776'': Aside of {{spoiler|Leaf and Nanna}}'s mothers, we have {{spoiler|Mareeta's mother, who fell to [[Death
* In the early 90's ''[[
* In ''[[Nintendo Wars|Advance Wars]]'', Sonja's mother is implied to have died before the events of the first game, and none of the other COs (save Sasha and Colin) mention their parents. Also, Sonja and her father Kanbei are the only COs with a parent/child relationship.
* In the ''[[Half-Life (
* Don't forget Sonia from ''[[
* ''[[
** Rikku's mother is never mentioned outside of one unlockable scene, where it is revealed that she was killed years ago by a rampaging machina.
** Seymour Guado, the game's [[The Dragon|Dragon]] (or at least The Dragon's Dragon), is parentless, and not entirely by accident. The death of his mother serves as his [[Freudian Excuse]].
** Tidus, lost both his parents in one swoop. When he was a child, his father became one of the [[Disappeared Dad]] variety, which caused his mother to die of grief. This becomes the source of much angst and whining throughout the first half of the game.
** Yuna's situation is similar, if reversed. Her mother was killed by the [[Big Bad]]'s monster suit, which prompted her father to go on a suicidal mission to destroy it, and thus make the world a better place for his daughter. This greatly influences Yuna, who follows in his footsteps.
* Like ''X'', ''[[
** [[The Hero|Lightning]] (and by extension, her [[My Sister Is Off
** [[Boisterous Bruiser|Snow's]] parents are never shown, [[Conveniently an Orphan|nor given explanation for their disappearance]], so he falls into this by default.
** [[Token Minority|Sazh]] lost his wife at some point before the story, leaving him to care for their son, Dajh, and in return leaving him without a mom.
** [[Age
** [[Hide Your Lesbians|Fang and Vanille's]] families are never brought up, though considering that {{spoiler|they've [[Human Popsicle|spent 500 years frozen]] [[Taken for Granite|as crystals]]}}, any parents they had are probably dead.
** Perhaps most significant, though, is the plot of {{spoiler|the fal'Cie, and their ringleader [[Big Bad|Barthandelus]]}}, which is to {{spoiler|bring back the Maker to their world [[End of the World Special|so that she can hit the]] [[Reset Button]] [[Neglectful Precursors|after the fal'Cie and humans screwed the world up so much]]; more so, however, they want to be reunited with her, [[Have You Seen My God?|since after everything was fine and dandy after creation, she left without a word]], leaving the stability of Cocoon in the hands of the fal'Cie [[Rule of Symbolism|Orphan]]. In other words, ''[[Mommy Issues|they want their mommy back]]''.}}
* Tifa Lockhart of ''[[
* [[The Legend of Zelda|Princess Zelda]] fits the trope, as she is never seen as having a mother. ''A Link to the Past'' and ''Ocarina of Time'' gave her a father, and she usually has a mother figure in the form of her nursemaid/protector Impa, but never a mother. And Link is never shown as having any parents at all (though he occasionally has other relatives).
** Not completely true. While Link's parents are never shown, the Great Deku Tree mentions in ''Ocarina of Time'' that Link was left in Kokiri forest by his mother as she tried to escape a war that ended before the game's beginning. She promptly dies after leaving Link in the GDT's care.
** Link also has a younger sister in ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
** Zelda's (or rather, {{spoiler|Tetra's}}) deceased mother is seen as a portrait in Wind Waker (But you can only access the room containing this portrait once, so most people miss it). She looks similar to the Zelda from [[Twilight Princess]], except for donning a very short hair-cut and even darker hair.
** This trope runs rampant in the N64 games especially. In ''Ocarina of Time'', besides Link and Zelda, Malon and Ruto both have fathers but no mothers. ''Majora's Mask'' continues the "present father absent mother" trend with the Deku princess, the baby Goron, and Pamela (from the Music Box House). This tendency's inverted with Anju: she lives and works with her mother and grandmother, but her [[Disappeared Dad|father disappeared]] years before. Cremia and Romani are orphans who have to fend for themselves.
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* The three kids in ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' appear to have no parents whatsoever. I mean, at the beginning of the game, they're teenagers building a boat to sail away from their island home. Are we just supposed to assume their parents are okay with this?
** Not really correct: The voice of Sora's mother is heard in an early cutscene (she tells him to come down for dinner, and is surprised, when her son doesn't answer). And Riku mentions that he's willing to abandon his parents and home for traveling the worlds. Kairi is a true orphan, since she is living with the mayor (also mentioned in one cutscene). It's implied that the heartless or Xehanort killed her parents, when they took over Radiant Garden.
* ''[[World of Mana]] 2'', the hero has a
* Mia and Maya's mother, Misty Fey, in the ''[[Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
** Pearl's mother, Morgan, becomes a
*** From the same series, although their respective fathers are key characters to the plot and [[Backstory]], neither Franziska's nor Edgeworth's mothers are ever even mentioned. [[Fanon|The fandom's explanation for this]] is that they're either dead or were not connected to law.
*** Kay Faraday has a similar problem. After {{spoiler|her father is murdered}} she says she "went to live with her mom's family" in another town, which indicates either a death or a divorce. Someone on the writing staff had serious mom issues.
** ''[[Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
* Aside from the eponymous protagonist of ''[[Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army]]'', whose past has no details (probably on purpose), Kaya Daidouji, the game's [[
* Lloyd Irving of ''[[
* In ''[[
* Amelia Croft in the ''[[Tomb Raider]]: Legend'' arc. At the end of ''Underworld'', Lara finds that her mom is now a zombie.
** And [[Disappeared Dad|her dad was disappeared/killed by the]] [[Big Bad]].
* Throughout ''[[
** And Rosalina's mother in ''[[
* Both of the heroes in ''[[Dark Cloud
* Apparently, if you're going to be a mom in the ''[[Jak and Daxter]]'' series, you will at some point in your child's youth drop completely out of their life, probably through death, and will only be mentioned once in a while.
* In ''[[
* ''[[
* Mothers really don't fare well in ''[[Yoake Mae Yori Ruriiro
* ''[[
** The Player, Harden Simms, Amata, Angela Staley, Sarah Lyons, Brian Wilks, Sydney, Derek Pacion
* In ''[[Golden Sun
** She is at least said to be in a city that the player doesn't visit. Tyrell and Karis' mothers aren't even named.
*** Karis however does make references to her parents in the plural sense, so her mother is at least implied to be present in her life even if the player doesn't know who she is.
* The absence of Fei Fong Wong's mother in ''[[
* In [[Katawa Shoujo]], a few characters have lost their mother.
** {{spoiler|Hanako}} lost her mother {{spoiler|in the same fire in which her father was killed and she received her scars, because [[Mama Bear|her mother]] [[Heroic Sacrifice|shielded her from the flames at the cost of her own life]].}}
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== Web Comics ==
* Ash, from ''[[
* Fiona's mom has been dead for many years at the start of ''[[
* Requisite ''[[
** [http://egscomics.com/?date=2007-11-24 Serious] [http://egscomics.com/?date=2004-09-15 issues].
*** Although the second one [[Alternate Universe|isn't actually the same]] Tedd...
* Sam(antha) from ''[[
** And both of Alex's parents are pretty distant with her.
* [http://www.goldcoincomics.com/?id=11
* In ''[[
** Similarly, we've never met Tarvek's mother and don't know much about her beyond her connection to an illustrious family.
** The ultimate fate of Agatha's mother is also unknown (Along with the fate of her father and uncle). We only know that she used to be a moderately evil and very narcissistic [[Mad Scientist]], and then turned into an abomination incredibly dangerous and insane even by [[Mad Scientist]] standards — not even the [[God-Emperor|God-Queen]] who met both versions of her understood how, but most likely [[Professor Guinea Pig|through her own experiments]]. Either way, she remained only as some sort of [[Brain Uploading|upload]] for longer than Agatha remembers herself, and then a moderately successful body snatcher.
* In ''[[Seekers (
* Sandra's mother Julie of ''[[
▲* In ''[[Seekers (Webcomic)|Seekers]]'' Giselda's mother died when she was rather young. The reason hasn't been explained yet, just that Takchi took care of her like a brother through it.
* ''[[
▲* Sandra's mother Julie of ''[[Sandra and Woo (Webcomic)|Sandra and Woo]]'' died of an yet unknown cause several years ago.
* In ''[[Strays]]'', Meela's mother never appears; she also [[Dreaming of Times Gone By|dreams]] of a boy [https://web.archive.org/web/20110830151547/http://www.straysonline.com/comic/162.htm whose mother was murdered] by her [[Stalker
▲* ''[[Wooden Rose (Webcomic)|Wooden Rose]]'': The sisters live with only their dying father. [http://www.woodenrosecomic.com/comic/chapter2/40.html Their mother died when Nessa was only four.]
* [[Dreamkeepers]] Prelude [
▲* In ''[[Strays]]'', Meela's mother never appears; she also [[Dreaming of Times Gone By|dreams]] of a boy [http://www.straysonline.com/comic/162.htm whose mother was murdered] by her [[Stalker With a Crush]].
* In ''[[Nip and Tuck]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20120511095655/http://www.rhjunior.com/NT/00574.html Mom ran off. So did Granma. Perhaps the man in question might ponder why they might have done that.]▼
▲* [[Dreamkeepers]] Prelude [http://www.dreamkeeperscomic.com/Prelude.php?pg=122 And Dad exploits as a "struggling single parent."]
▲* In ''[[Nip and Tuck]]'', [http://www.rhjunior.com/NT/00574.html Mom ran off. So did Granma. Perhaps the man in question might ponder why they might have done that.]
* In ''[[Endstone]]'', both [http://endstone.net/2010/07/15/4-06/ Kyri] and [http://endstone.net/2010/05/24/issue-3-webpage-36/ Jon] lost their mothers.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Exiern]]'' Princess Peonie's mother is described as ...[http://www.exiern.com/?p=1830 significant pause]... "disappeared". The King is on the hunt for a replacement mother figure for her.
* In ''[[Sinfest]]'', Lil' E's mother has appeared,
* In ''[[Our Little Adventure]]'', [http://danielscreations.com/ola/comics/ep0248.html Julie and Angelika's]. Angelika doesn't even remember her, and the family fell apart soon after her death.
== Web Original ==
* Both Generator and Heyoka, in the ''[[Whateley Universe]]''. Generator's mom died when she was 11, and Generator hasn't physically aged since then.
* Played for horror in the creepypasta [http://www.creepypasta.com/my-fear-of-water/ "My Fear of Water."]
* Half-sisters Ruby and Yang from ''[[RWBY]]'' get this twice over. First, Yang's mother, Raven Branwen, simply [[Parental Abandonment|ups and disappears on her and dad Taiyang]]. Then, several years later, Ruby's mom, Summer Rose, died. There's even a song from Volume One, "Red Like Roses Part II", which explores the nominally perky and chipper Ruby's well-hidden anger and grief at her mother's death.
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Avatar: The
** Aang had Monk Gyatso as father figure (and has the spirit of Roku, plus King Bumi as current day father figures), but there was no indication of a mother in his [[Backstory]] to date.
*** During the opening of his fourth chakra in "The Guru", Aang confronts his guilt about abandoning his people a century before and there is [http://piandao.org/screencaps/ep39/ep39-500.png a woman]{{Dead link}} shown sitting to the right of Monk Gyatso. She doesn't look like [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/avatar/images/c/c8/Yangchen001.png Avatar Yengchen]{{Dead link}}, so most fans who noticed it assume she is in fact Aang's mother.
** Katara and Sokka begin with a
** Toph is a forced inversion. Her parents were both present, but emotionally and supportively absent. They were overprotective to the point of the outside world not knowing that Toph existed. And they left her caretaking to servants, so they never realized until the Avatar showed up that she was a master earthbender. Upon finding this out, seeing that their child was not only ''[[Cute Bruiser|not]]'' [[Cute Bruiser|helpless]] but able to hold her own against much bigger, older and seemingly stronger opponents, Mr. Bei Fong reacted by tightening the yoke of overprotectiveness. His wife did nothing but go along with it, which resulted in Toph abandoning them and running away.
** Teo, the son of the [[Mad Scientist]] occupying the Northern Air Temple is also missing his mother, killed in the same natural disaster that left him a paraplegic.
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** Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe [[Captain Obvious|had a mother once]]: we see her in [[Flash Back]]. By the time Team Avatar arrives at the North Pole, though, she is nowhere to be found.
** Iroh's wife, the mother of his son Lu Ten is never mentioned. But it's a safe assumption she's dead as Lu Ten's death is regarded as the end of Iroh's bloodline.
** The sequel, ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
** The first TOS episode states that Jonny's mom
** The first of the two 90's TV movies (''Jonny's Golden Quest'') that preceded ''Real Adventures'' revealed that {{spoiler|Dr. Zin killed Jonny's mom}}, although it has since been filed under the [[Canon
*** According to comic-book side story (drawn and written by Wendy Pini of [[Elf Quest]] fame back in the mid 80s) she died of illness (presumably cancer).
*** Apparently the details of her disappearance in ''[[The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest]]'' would have been dealt with in the third season. The one which never happened.
** Whereas Jessie Bannon's mother, Jezebel Jade, is alive and well. And named Jezebel.
*** In ''[[Jonny Quest:
* ''[[Legend of the Dragon]]'': Played with, as the twins Ang and Ling are a [[Parental Abandonment]] case. Both parents are dead, and they end up being raised by Master Chin. It then turns out that their mother, believed dead, is alive with a case of amnesia. And finally, inverted, because the twins' father really ''is'' dead.
* ''[[Oban Star-Racers]]'': Eva goes from a kid with a
* ''[[
** The Rowdy Ruff Boys are the identical example. No woman necessary! Mojo Jojo, lacking Chemical X, made his [[Applied Phlebotinum|phlebotinum]] out of... more mundane and disgusting substances.
** If you interpret it differently, it could be argued that their mother is {{spoiler|Mojo Jojo.}}
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*** An issue of the comic book had the girls excitedly discussing what kind of mommy they'd want and who'd be right for the Professor to where the Prof couldn't get a word in edgewise. At the story's end, they tell the Professor to not rush at finding a mom for them.
* ''[[Rocket Power]]'': The first Mrs. Raymundo Rocket was finally revealed to have died in one of their telemovies very late in the run. Ray re-married, but the series ended practically immediately afterwards (as in, there was one full regular episode with the new wife as stepmom).
* ''[[
* ''[[The Simpsons (
* In the Original ''[[Transformers Generation 1]]'' cartoon, no mention is ever made of Spike's mother.
* Averted with Sari Sumdac of ''[[
** In an official bio, it is blatantly stated the she was adopted, it is likely this is what Sumdac told everyone to explain him randomly having a baby one day.
* ''[[
** We see more than her hands. We see the rest of her when she and her husband found out about Ben going alien.
* ''[[
** Averted by Jeremie's mother. She is the only Lyoko Warrior parent who remains unseen at the end of the series, but she is mentioned just enough for us to know that she is not this trope.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Darkwing Duck (
* On ''[[
* In ''[[
* Pretty much everyone in ''[[
* There's actually quite a few on ''[[The Fairly
* The mother of the protagonists of ''[[Street Sharks]]'' is never seen and her absence is hardly mentioned at all. All that is known is that she gave their father a watch for his birthday, which he valued greatly (implying that she was dead).
* ''[[Kid
* On ''[[
** [[Word of God]] says that before the show was cancelled, the creators were considering an episode where Dib finds out he is an [[Artificial Human]], which may indicate he has no mother. Where Gaz is supposed to have come from in this scenario is unknown. The fandom seems fairly divided on the issue; some give them a mother (usually a dead [[Mary Sue]]), some make them experiments (Dib is usually said to be [[Truly Single Parent|a clone of his father]]), and some try to reconcile the two theories.
* On ''[[
* [[Porky Pig]] had a daughter in two recent ''[[
* ''[[
* Let's not forget to mention Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy, the [[Hanna-Barbera]] father and son duo. But where is the mother of the family?
* In ''[[Mighty B]]'', Penny seems to be living alone with her dad. We've never seen Gwen's mom either, but since Gwen has five younger siblings, including one who's still an infant, one suspects that she can't be that far away.
* Virgil's mother on ''[[
** Another episode deals with the family preparing a memorial service in her honor. We see that Virgil still has trouble dealing with her death. By the end of the episode, he seems to have come to terms with it, and we see that [[Surrogate Soliloquy|the entire story's narration was him telling it to her]].
* ''[[
* On ''[[Jimmy Two
* ''[[
* Nutsy from ''[[
* Mr. Chan in ''[[
* Sylvester the Cat and his son in the Robert McKimson-directed [[Looney Tunes
* Reggie Bullnerd from ''[[
* [[Only Sane Man|Jeera]] and [[The Ditz|Zariah]] from ''[[Tak and
* Keo from ''[[
* ''[[
* On ''[[
* In ''[[
* Lion-O and Tygra ''[[
* ''[[Speed Racer:
* In ''[[Herself The Elf]],'' the protagonist's father is mentioned (the elf king who died recently) but nothing about her mother or whether she had one at all. Similarly, on the antagonist side we have an evil King Thorn and his daughter the wicked Creeping Ivy but no mention of a mother.
* Arnold's mother Stella ''and'' his father Miles are missing on ''[[Hey Arnold!]]''.
* On ''[[
* [[Averted]] partially in ''[[The Spectacular Spider
* On ''[[Batman:
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