Oedipus Complex: Difference between revisions

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It's fairly difficult to use this trope explicitly, since the psychological aspects of the mother figure involved are usually lost to [[Freud Was Right|cruder imaginations]].

Compare [[Well Done Son Guy]], [[Calling the Old Man Out]], and "Atonement With The Father" from [[~~The Heros Journey|~~The Hero's Journey]]. If murder seems to be a viable solution, it's probably [[Patricide]].

Compare [["Well Done, Son" Guy]], [[Calling the Old Man Out]], and "Atonement With The Father" from [[The Hero's Journey]]. If murder seems to be a viable solution, it's probably [[Patricide]].

[[Oedipus Rex]], the Greek Tragedy dramatized in 429 BCE by [[Sophocles]], is the [[Trope Namer]], and [[Sigmund Freud]] is the [[Trope Codifier]]. Oedipus, however, is not a true example of the trope because Oedipus ''never'' knew who his mother and father were until it was too late. He does not discover until long after the fact that he has killed his father, or that he has married his mother, and is horrified on both counts.

== Anime and Manga ==

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** Episode 21 of R2 plays it straight: {{spoiler|His mother Marianne, who wasn't really dead, doesn't give a damn about either Lelouch or his sister, who in turn was actually crippled by their dad Charles, all because she was Charles' co-conspirator the whole time. In fact she spins around giddily while talking about their shared plans, not even greeting Lelouch. Talk about [[Abusive Parents]].}}

*** Somewhat twisted in that {{spoiler|Marianne and Charles ''did'' love their children. Said love, however, [[Love Makes You Evil|turned both of them into]] ''[[Love Makes You Evil|horrendously]]'' [[Love Makes You Evil|extreme]] [[Knight Templar Parent|Knight Templar Parents]]: their plans were about bringing [[Instrumentality]] to create a new world free from lies, where Lelouch and Nunnally would be "happy". Only they were willing to destroy the world as they did so and never ever bothered to ask their kids what they thought of, even going as far as doing... well, what they did to Nunners and Lulu.}}

*** {{spoiler|Especially ironic since the whole plan was based on lying to and tormenting the children they [[Love Makes You Evil|loved]], with Charles altering his daughter's memories and crippling her as well as ''traumatizing them for life'' in an attempt to keep V.V. from going after them and killing them too. Lelouch also calls them out for abandoning him and Nunnally in Japan and not bothering to look for them, instead focusing on finding C.C. and going forward with the plan, on the basis Lulu and Nunners didn't need to be ALIVE to be reunited with their parents in [[Instrumentality]].}} [[Big Screwed Up Family]], indeed.

*** {{spoiler|Especially ironic since the whole plan was based on lying to and tormenting the children they [[Love Makes You Evil|loved]], with Charles altering his daughter's memories and crippling her as well as ''traumatizing them for life'' in an attempt to keep V.V. from going after them and killing them too. Lelouch also calls them out for abandoning him and Nunnally in Japan and not bothering to look for them, instead focusing on finding C.C. and going forward with the plan, on the basis Lulu and Nunners didn't need to be ALIVE to be reunited with their parents in [[Instrumentality]].}} [[Big Screwed-Up Family]], indeed.

* The main theme of the manga ''[[Kamisama Kazoku]]'', as main character Samataro wants to prove that he doesn't need his father, a god, doing everything in his omnipotent (and [[Bumbling Dad|bumbling]]) power to make Samataro's life easier. Samataro's [[Hot Shounen Mom|goddess mother]] self-admittedly [[My Beloved Smother|adores her son like a lover]], and repeatedly shocks and embarrasses him with her [[Innocent Fanservice Girl]] ways.

* Female example from ''[[Iono the Fanatics]]'', the titular character's love of black hair was because of her mother. Made rarer by the fact that there is no father in the equation. And even weirder since Iono has black hair ''herself''.

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== Film ==

* [[Star Wars|Luke Skywalker]], who goes straight from [[Parental Abandonment]] into [[Oedipus Rex]] territory following the now [[It Was His Sled|famous]] [[Luke I Am Your Father]] moment.

* [[Star Wars|Luke Skywalker]], who goes straight from [[Parental Abandonment]] into [[Oedipus Rex]] territory following the now [[It Was His Sled|famous]] [[Luke, I Am Your Father]] moment.

** Actually, Luke doesn't seem to have much of a problem with this. He does ask Leia briefly about his mother, but he doesn't seem particularly attached to her. And once he learns Vader is his father he wants to save him, rather than kill him.

** Anakin Skywalker is a much better example. He's practically obsessed with his mother. He marries an older woman who looks like his mother. His mother's death is one of the things that drives him to the Dark Side. He supposedly doesn't have a biological father, but Palpatine is hinted to have used the Force to create him and acts as a father figure. Obi Wan is also a father figure to Anakin. Guess what happens to both of them.

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== Video Games ==

* ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' is the most Oedipal game ever. Tidus, [[The Hero]], hates his father, [[Jerkass|Jecht]], with a passion. Not only has his entire blitzball career played out in the shadow of his famous father, as a child he was also constantly competing with him for the mother's attention. The fact that his father was basically an insensitive, alcoholic bastard might also have had something to do with it, though... and of course, {{spoiler|Tidus ends up killing his father in the semi-final boss-fight -- in the very best Oedipal tradition.}} Compounding the Freudian <s>sub</s>text is one of the game's primary antagonists, [[Corrupt Church|Maester Seymour Guado]]. To sum up: He loved his mother deeply, but she out of misguided love for him felt that the only way for [[Half Human Hybrid|him to be accepted in a xenophobic world]] would be for him to become a [[Heroic Sacrifice|High]] [[Senseless Sacrifice|Summoner]] and use [[Heroic Sacrifice|her]] as his [[Metamorphosis|Final]] [[Cosmic Horror|Aeon]]. The end result was Mommy dearest becoming [http://guidesmedia.ign.com/guides/14008/images/ffx_s_anima.jpg this]. As for his father, Jyscal, Seymour kills him before the game even starts to [[Klingon Promotion|gain his position]] as Maester (think fantasy!pope, or maybe just a cardinal) as part of a long and convoluted [[Evil Plan]] to [[Mercy Kill]] [[Omnicidal Maniac|the]] [[Dark Messiah|entire]] [[Nietzsche Wannabe|planet]], and presumably as revenge for his father exiling him. In addition to the practical gains made by removing Jyscal, the backstory hints at how Jyscal was not a loving parent--nor even a presence in his life, really, as he spent his childhood in seclusion with his mother--hence Seymour grew to resent and hate him. And none of this is going into [[White Magician Girl|Yuna's]] ...relationship with ''her'' father. Truly, the ''issues'' of the characters in this ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' iteration are staggering.

* ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' is the most Oedipal game ever. Tidus, [[The Hero]], hates his father, [[Jerkass|Jecht]], with a passion. Not only has his entire blitzball career played out in the shadow of his famous father, as a child he was also constantly competing with him for the mother's attention. The fact that his father was basically an insensitive, alcoholic bastard might also have had something to do with it, though... and of course, {{spoiler|Tidus ends up killing his father in the semi-final boss-fight -- in the very best Oedipal tradition.}} Compounding the Freudian <s>sub</s>text is one of the game's primary antagonists, [[Corrupt Church|Maester Seymour Guado]]. To sum up: He loved his mother deeply, but she out of misguided love for him felt that the only way for [[Half-Human Hybrid|him to be accepted in a xenophobic world]] would be for him to become a [[Heroic Sacrifice|High]] [[Senseless Sacrifice|Summoner]] and use [[Heroic Sacrifice|her]] as his [[Metamorphosis|Final]] [[Cosmic Horror|Aeon]]. The end result was Mommy dearest becoming [http://guidesmedia.ign.com/guides/14008/images/ffx_s_anima.jpg this]. As for his father, Jyscal, Seymour kills him before the game even starts to [[Klingon Promotion|gain his position]] as Maester (think fantasy!pope, or maybe just a cardinal) as part of a long and convoluted [[Evil Plan]] to [[Mercy Kill]] [[Omnicidal Maniac|the]] [[Dark Messiah|entire]] [[Nietzsche Wannabe|planet]], and presumably as revenge for his father exiling him. In addition to the practical gains made by removing Jyscal, the backstory hints at how Jyscal was not a loving parent--nor even a presence in his life, really, as he spent his childhood in seclusion with his mother--hence Seymour grew to resent and hate him. And none of this is going into [[White Magician Girl|Yuna's]] ...relationship with ''her'' father. Truly, the ''issues'' of the characters in this ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' iteration are staggering.

** Of course, by the end Tidus' mother is long since dead and he {{spoiler|''does'' manage to reconcile with his father, who in turn genuinely repented of his actions before becoming Sin}}. It's more explicit in ''Dissidia'', where Tidus is explicit about his feelings. {{spoiler|"I'd always thought I'd prefer if you weren't there, but honestly... I only became strong so you would approve of me. ... That's all I ever wanted."}}

* ''[[Persona 2]]'' had a [[Five Man Band]], and their fathers... {{spoiler|[[The Lancer|Eikichi]]'s disapproves of him wearing makeup and starting a [[Visual Kei]], [[The Smart Guy|Jun]]'s died and was impersonated by Nyarlathotep, [[The Big Guy|Lisa]]'s tried to raise her as a traditional Japanese girl, and acted "Japanese", [[The Hero|Tatsuya]]'s was forced to resign from the police force, and [[The Chick|Maya]]'s was a war correspondent who died during a conflict. Not to mention Yukino, Tatsuya Sudou...}}

* ''[[Persona 2]]'' had a [[Five-Man Band]], and their fathers... {{spoiler|[[The Lancer|Eikichi]]'s disapproves of him wearing makeup and starting a [[Visual Kei]], [[The Smart Guy|Jun]]'s died and was impersonated by Nyarlathotep, [[The Big Guy|Lisa]]'s tried to raise her as a traditional Japanese girl, and acted "Japanese", [[The Hero|Tatsuya]]'s was forced to resign from the police force, and [[The Chick|Maya]]'s was a war correspondent who died during a conflict. Not to mention Yukino, Tatsuya Sudou...}}

* Hinted at with Sephiroth of [[Final Fantasy VII]] but [[Flanderization|completely exaggerated]] in the fandom. That said, he ''is'' obsessed with what he perceives as his "mother" and he absolutely ''hates'' his father, (even if he doesn't know who his father is) {{spoiler|[[Mad Scientist|Professor Hojo]]...}}

** Funnily enough, he doesn't seem to pay much attention to his birth-mother (well, of the regular kind), Lucrecia, most likely not even knowing she existed.

* ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'' (as noted above) not only features a streamlined (but ultimately less hostile) version of the Tidus/Jecht conflict, but has another example that you need to read inbetween the lines to uncover. [[Original Generation|Cosmos]] and [[Final Fantasy I (Video Game)|Chaos]] have a substantial amount of [[Foe Yay]] going on between the scenes. It is later on revealed that despite their status as the [[Order Versus Chaos|Goddess of Harmony and God of Discord]], the two once benevolently ruled the world together in bliss, [[Beast and Beauty|apparently as lovers]]. [[Unfortunate Implications|Now here comes the]] [[Squick]]: {{spoiler|It is heavily implied that Cosmos is some permutation of [[Interactive Narrator|Cid of the Lufaine]]'s [[Hot Mom|wife]], [[Ascend to A Higher Plane of Existence|her memories transferred into]] [[Artificial Human|a construct made in her image]]. This was done to soothe the soul of Garland, Chaos' [[The Dragon|Dragon]] and a former [[Tyke Bomb]] [[Child Soldiers|Kid Soldier]] who was [[Happily Adopted]] by Cid and his wife. [[Late Arrival Spoiler|For those not in the know]], Garland and Chaos (via a [[Stable Time Loop]] [[Plan]]) ''are one in the same''. In other words, Chaos' [[Like Parent Like Spouse|partner is also]] [[Parental Incest|his adoptive mother]]. When he kills her, his act throws the multiverse into whack and [[Despair Event Horizon|shocks him]] into a [[Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum]], as [[Woobie Destroyer of Worlds|he]] [[My God What Have I Done|didn't want to live with the atrocities he committed]]. [[Love Makes You Crazy|Without the presence of Cosmos]], [[Death Seeker|he saw no more meaning in his existence, actively seeking for the heroes to kill him, not only as a way to restore the balance, but to ease his torment]], and perhaps [[Together in Death|allow him to reunite with his beloved once more]].}} There are so many Freudian and Oedipal overtones just ''oozing'' from this.

* ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'' (as noted above) not only features a streamlined (but ultimately less hostile) version of the Tidus/Jecht conflict, but has another example that you need to read inbetween the lines to uncover. [[Original Generation|Cosmos]] and [[Final Fantasy I (Video Game)|Chaos]] have a substantial amount of [[Foe Yay]] going on between the scenes. It is later on revealed that despite their status as the [[Order Versus Chaos|Goddess of Harmony and God of Discord]], the two once benevolently ruled the world together in bliss, [[Beast and Beauty|apparently as lovers]]. [[Unfortunate Implications|Now here comes the]] [[Squick]]: {{spoiler|It is heavily implied that Cosmos is some permutation of [[Interactive Narrator|Cid of the Lufaine]]'s [[Hot Mom|wife]], [[Ascend to A Higher Plane of Existence|her memories transferred into]] [[Artificial Human|a construct made in her image]]. This was done to soothe the soul of Garland, Chaos' [[The Dragon|Dragon]] and a former [[Tyke Bomb]] [[Child Soldiers|Kid Soldier]] who was [[Happily Adopted]] by Cid and his wife. [[Late Arrival Spoiler|For those not in the know]], Garland and Chaos (via a [[Stable Time Loop]] [[Plan]]) ''are one in the same''. In other words, Chaos' [[Like Parent, Like Spouse|partner is also]] [[Parental Incest|his adoptive mother]]. When he kills her, his act throws the multiverse into whack and [[Despair Event Horizon|shocks him]] into a [[Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum]], as [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|he]] [[My God, What Have I Done?|didn't want to live with the atrocities he committed]]. [[Love Makes You Crazy|Without the presence of Cosmos]], [[Death Seeker|he saw no more meaning in his existence, actively seeking for the heroes to kill him, not only as a way to restore the balance, but to ease his torment]], and perhaps [[Together in Death|allow him to reunite with his beloved once more]].}} There are so many Freudian and Oedipal overtones just ''oozing'' from this.

* Like Luke Skywalker, it goes for Lloyd Irving from ''[[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia]]'' (although, of course, considerably less famously).

* ''[[Devil May Cry (Video Game)|Devil May Cry]]'' bleeds Oedipal subtext, no shortness of thanks going to Dante's love interest who looks exactly like his mother. The new game looks poised to continue this tradition with the new main character's non-blood mother-figure.

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* Electra complex in ''[[Silent Hill Shattered Memories]]''. "I love my daddy," indeed.

* A good part of the reason why {{spoiler|Lord Alvis of Velthomer}} from [[Fire Emblem Jugdral]] is so fucked up comes from this, since {{spoiler|his father Viktor was a philandering asshole who killed himself once he found out his wife Cigyun cheated on him with Kurth Prince of Grandbell, and said mother ran away in shame afterwards and never returned (She was pregnant with Kurth's child, and ultimately fell victim to [[Death By Childbirth]]). All of this happened when Alvis was seven years old: he grew up into a conflicted [[Magnificent Bastard]] with ''serious'' issues with almost every female (except for his aidé Aida and his half-brother Azel's mother) to the point of ''killing'' whoever mentioned his idealised [[Missing Mom]] in a bad light in front of him.}}

** But wait! There's more! It's pretty much all but stated in the Oosawa manga and side materials that {{spoiler|one of the reasons why he married Diadora was because of [[Replacement Goldfish|how much she looked like Cigyun]]. (And for worse? Diadora ''was'' the baby whose birth killed Cigyun. So yup, [[Brother Sister Incest]] here too.)}}

** But wait! There's more! It's pretty much all but stated in the Oosawa manga and side materials that {{spoiler|one of the reasons why he married Diadora was because of [[Replacement Goldfish|how much she looked like Cigyun]]. (And for worse? Diadora ''was'' the baby whose birth killed Cigyun. So yup, [[Brother-Sister Incest]] here too.)}}

*** [[It Got Worse]]. That was ''planned'' by a [[Complete Monster]] [[Magnificent Bastard]], and {{spoiler|the child that resulted from this union turned out to be the host for a [[God of Evil]]. [[Does This Remind You of Anything|An "incest is bad" metaphor, much]]?}}

*** [[It Got Worse]]. That was ''planned'' by a [[Complete Monster]] [[Magnificent Bastard]], and {{spoiler|the child that resulted from this union turned out to be the host for a [[God of Evil]]. [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|An "incest is bad" metaphor, much]]?}}

*** But then again, {{spoiler|the ''[[Half Identical Twins|other]]'' child that resulted from the union became the host for [[Crystal Dragon Jesus|the holy god Narga]], so, bit of a mixed message there.}}

*** But then again, {{spoiler|the ''[[Half-Identical Twins|other]]'' child that resulted from the union became the host for [[Crystal Dragon Jesus|the holy god Narga]], so, bit of a mixed message there.}}

* It's not explicitly stated in the story itself, but ''[[Akai Ito]]'' can be approximately summarized as [[Oedipus Complex]] meets [[Girls Love]]. Of the girls that the main character (a girl named Kei) can end-up living together with, two of them are as if mother to her. Another one come from a family of her mother. {{spoiler|Kei has the memory of killing her own father. The memory is real... [[Fake Memories|just not hers]].}}

* There's an interesting example in [[Metal Gear Solid]]. The members of the Cobra Unit all regard [[Action Girl|The Boss]] as a mother figure... including The Sorrow who would go on to become her [[Love Interest]] and the father of her child. This is, unsurprisingly, made fun of in [http://www.gigaville.com/comic.php?id=333 this] strip of [[The Last Days of Foxhound]].

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* Another [[Two Words]]: [[Avatar: The Last Airbender|Prince Zuko]].

** His sister, Princess Azula, could be argued to have something of an [[Electra Complex]] herself.

*** Azula is [[~~Daddys~~ Little Villain]] and doesn't have a prevailing complex about him, which stands in stark contrast to Zuko, who's borderline obsessed with earning his love up until his Heel Face Turn (and, notably, has no complex toward his mother as this trope may imply at first glance).

*** Azula is [[Daddy's Little Villain]] and doesn't have a prevailing complex about him, which stands in stark contrast to Zuko, who's borderline obsessed with earning his love up until his Heel Face Turn (and, notably, has no complex toward his mother as this trope may imply at first glance).

* Thailog of ''[[Gargoyles]]'' is an [[Evil Twin]] of Goliath, cloned by Doctor Sevarius and trained by Xanatos; his goal in life is to upstage all three fathers (or at least Goliath and Xanatos, Sevarius not so much). Taken to unsettling extremes concerning the women in Goliath's clan, as he has seduced Goliath's ex-mate Demona and made a pass at his daughter. At one point, he cloned Evil Twins of the rest of the clan, and while he was at it he cloned a concubine, Delilah, for himself, made from a combination of DNA from both Goliath's previous and current love interests. ''Creepy...''

** The latter was one of Thailog's major [[Kick the Dog]] moments, since Demona had no idea he would create Delilah (she was involved with the cloning of the others), and he more or less stated outright that Delilah was her ''replacement''.

* Tai Lung and Shifu of ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]''. Though never explicitly stated in the film (par for the course for this trope), both the [[Subtext]] and [[All There in the Manual|information revealed elsewhere]] imply that by [[Meaningful Name|naming Tai Lung "Dragon"]] and filling the snow leopard's head with dreams and fantasies about becoming the Dragon Warrior, Shifu was living vicariously through his son -- trying to turn the foundling into what he was not and could never be. By the same token, it's fairly clear that aside from [[Well Done Son Guy|wanting to earn the red panda's pride and approval]], Tai Lung fully intended to prove himself Shifu's better and replace him, both at the Jade Palace and as the ultimate kung fu warrior in the valley.

* Tai Lung and Shifu of ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]''. Though never explicitly stated in the film (par for the course for this trope), both the [[Subtext]] and [[All There in the Manual|information revealed elsewhere]] imply that by [[Meaningful Name|naming Tai Lung "Dragon"]] and filling the snow leopard's head with dreams and fantasies about becoming the Dragon Warrior, Shifu was living vicariously through his son -- trying to turn the foundling into what he was not and could never be. By the same token, it's fairly clear that aside from [["Well Done, Son" Guy|wanting to earn the red panda's pride and approval]], Tai Lung fully intended to prove himself Shifu's better and replace him, both at the Jade Palace and as the ultimate kung fu warrior in the valley.

* Clay from ''[[Moral Orel]]'', largely courtesy of the fact his mother spoiled him rotten and ignored his father to the point of leaving him to eat Clay's leftovers. His [[Oedipus Complex]] is played quite disgustingly in the episode [[Rule of Symbolism|Nesting]], in which {{spoiler|he has a High Octane [[Nausea Fuel]] moment in which he imagines himself naked climbing the legs of a chicken - [[Animal Motifs|representing his mother]] - and bathing in the egg fluids. Also [[Complete Monster|Miss Censordoll]] takes advantage of him, only adding more [[Squick]]}}. Needless to say, Clay's antagonism towards his father is also very intense.

* Walt from [[Futurama]]. It's supposedly what keeps him in line, although he's not especially bright in any case. Most worryingly, when he shamelessly admits it, his brothers actually smile in a manner that suggests they agree with him.

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