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{{trope}}
[[File:2zf8i0y_11042zf8i0y 1104.jpg|frame]]
 
An amazingly large number of children in the media suffer from [[Parental Abandonment]]. Other children are "lucky enough" to have both parents, but unfortunately live in worlds where there are no [[Happily Married]] families. For most such children, life is an endless series of disappointments and let-downs. A lucky few, though, manage to find a [['''Parental Substitute]]'''.
 
A [['''Parental Substitute]]''' is an adult friend who fills the children's lonely life with [[Good Parents|guidance and (often) love]]. They guide the child and teach them how to stand on their own feet, how to have fun, and how to not be so bothered by the fact that Mommy or Daddy isn't around (or ignores them). If the parent is [[Deceased Parents Are the Best|dead]], they may have known him and are able to answer when the child says [[Tell Me About My Father]]. They often tell the kid they are [[So Proud of You]]. Usually, by the end of the story, the [['''Parental Substitute]]''' leaves as well, but at that point the kid is able to stand on their own two feet.
 
This trope is often a feature of [[Tear Jerker|Tear Jerkers]]s, especially if it follows [[Take Care of the Kids]]. If it's an older sibling who's taken over the parental role, that's [[Promotion to Parent]]. The [[Old Retainer]] may take over this role in event that his employer's children are suffering from [[Parental Abandonment]]. If an entire society has teens become parental substitutes, that's a [[Teenage Wasteland]]. If the child gets into a big argument with the substitute, expect to hear "[[You're Not My Father]]" by the time things get really heated.
 
[[Imaginary Friend]] is often involved. If the [['''Parental Substitute]]''' decides to make their status official, as it were, the kid becomes [[Happily Adopted]].
 
Compare [[Children Raise You]] (for less willing parental figures), [[Promotion to Parent]] (when the parental substitute is a sibling), [[Like a Son to Me]], [[Team Mom]], [[Team Dad]].
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* In ''[[Fruits Basket]]'', martial artist Kazuma Sohma takes Kyo in and serves as his father figure. Eventually, he also takes Rin in.
** And before that, Rin was "rescued" from her [[Abusive Parents]] by Kagura and her parents. The rescue of sorts ''was'' genuine, but poor Rin was so messed up by her abusive situation that she simply couldn't accept or fit in with a more stable/happy family, and distanced herself from them.
** Yuki's older brother Ayame offers to act as a literal [[Parental Substitute]], to make up for the years when he was an [[Aloof Big Brother]] to Yuki. He seals the deal by showing up the parent-teacher conference and stopping their domineering mother from planning Yuki's whole life. {{spoiler|And in time, Yuki realizes that Tohru, though his own age, was more of mother-figure to him than a love interest.}}
* Before the events of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'', [[Evil Matriarch|Precia's]] [[Catgirl]] familiar Linith takes this role for [[The Woobie|Fate]], showering her with the love that she didn't get from her [[Psycho Electro|psychotic]] mother. Linith eventually dies, fading away after her contract to train Fate and make Bardiche is fulfilled.
* In ''[[Mazinger Z (Anime)|Mazinger Z]]'', Dr. Juuzo Kabuto raised his grandsons after their parents died in a lab experiment gone wrong. After his death, Prof. Yumi took Kouji and Shiro in. However Kouji was Shiro's main parental substitute (although somewhat absent, since Kouji had to split his time between taking care of the household chores, going to school and fighting Mechanical Beasts). After the end of the series, Kouji and Sayaka left Japan for a while, and Shiro was left behind in the beginning of ''[[Great Mazinger (Anime)|Great Mazinger]]''. He was taken in by {{spoiler|Professor Kenzo Kabuto}}, which is ironic, since he {{spoiler|his -and Kouji- REAL father.}} In ''[[UFO Robo Grendizer (Anime)|UFO Robo Grendizer]]'', Dr. Umon found and took Duke Fleed in, treating him like his son.
* In ''[[Basilisk]]'', male lead Gennosuke Koga is raised and trained by both his grandfather Danjou and his maternal uncle Hyouma Muroga, who was just out of his teens when he took up the role. His girlfriend Oboro, on the other hand, is raised by a nanny (who later dies) and her grandmother Ogen. Also, Oboro's fellow Iga ninja Koushirou was pretty much raised by his [[Evil Mentor]], Tenzen.
* In ''[[Naruto]]'', Iruka Umino couldn't forgive Naruto for a long time since he was the living seal for the Kyuubi, which killed his parents. As years passed, though, Iruka slowly came to appreciate Naruto for the person he was, realized that aside of the Kyuubi issue they were [[Not So Different]], and by the time the series starts he acts like a surrogate father to him.
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** To a degree, Hungary and Austria were like this towards North Italy when he was a young child. Also Spain, to South Italy.
* In ''[[Shoulder a Coffin Kuro]]'', the titular heroine and her sidekick come across a pair of very young [[Children Are Innocent|and very naive]] twin girls and bring the two along on their journey. They find themselves having to run herd on the kids quite a bit, as well as teaching them about the outside world.
* ''[[Pokémon (Animeanime)|Pokémon]]'' is especially bad about this, with insane amounts of one-shot characters clearly being raised by a (often same-gendered) grandparent. With the original main cast, we also had Brock who experienced ''double'' [[Parental Abandonment]], and got [[Promotion to Parent|promoted to parent]] for all of his younger siblings. Reversed with Misty, whose parents are mysteriously not in the picture and her older sisters are the ones who got the [[Promotion to Parent|promotion]] instead and they're not good at it at all. Also, Gary is the only recurring character to have the "raised by a single grandparent" thing. Fleshed out a bit in the manga, where it's revealed that [[Conveniently an Orphan|both his biological parents are dead.]]
** Of the main protagonists, only May and Max have both their parents, but Brock and Cilan do have siblings. Of course that's something that's recurring with the games as well.
* Happens a lot in ''[[One Piece]]'' as most of the characters are [[Parental Abandonment|orphaned or abandoned at a young age]]. The most powerful example would have to be Nami's foster mother [[Meaningful Name|Bellemere]] who sacrificed herself for her daughters because she refused to deny that they were hers.
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* In the ''[[Captain Tsubasa]]'' manga, Misugi's girlfriend Yayoi (who is stated to be a nursing student in university) temporarily becomes this to Hyuga's younger siblings when {{spoiler|Hyuuga's mother becomes seriously sick and, due to his conflicts at work, he can't take care of them.}} Hyuuga himself was one of these and still is to a degree, since his father perished when he was 10 years old and he insisted on working part-time to help his widowed mother raise the younger kids.
* The Baba Yaga arc of ''[[Soul Eater]]'' revealed that Sid took in Black Star after the Star Clan was destroyed by Shibusen. However, not much has been made of this relationship in a parent-child sense, though it's evident Sid looks out for Black Star. If his methods do [[Honor Before Reason|seem a]] [[Values Dissonance|little odd]] at times. The reveal made sense, given the attitude towards Black Star taken by both the meister and his partner Nygus.
** Continued in principle by Black Star {{spoiler|taking Angela back to Shibusen}}. More likely to be 'big brother' than 'parent' given the age difference, but Shinigami agreed {{spoiler|she'd be looked after}}, and most importantly the thought was [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold|there]].
* Minamoto, the male [[Team Mom]] from ''[[Zettai Karen Children]]'', is one of the best examples of this trope in recent memory.
** Kyousuke, his anti-villain counterpart, is this even more for his followers, at least those who are still pre-adolescent.
* ''Oboe'' is the [[Parental Substitute]] for Hamel in ''[[Violinist of Hameln]]''. It is not obvious for a long, long time, thanks to the Hamel's extreme [[Jerkass Facade]] and Oboe mostly keeping in the background (not without a reason), but in the end Hamel even directly states that Oboe is only being he'll ever call "father" when confronting his [[Big Bad]] [[Evil Overlord|biological]] [[Complete Monster|parent]].
* Bear in ''[[.hack Sign|.hack//SIGNSign]]'' is pretty much the [[Team Mom]]. In the real world, he grieves at his broken relationship with his own son, and in the end of the series {{spoiler|becomes Tsukasa's real self legal guardian.}}
* Although Nagi wishes he were more of a boyfriend, Hayate seems to be playing this role for her in ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler (Manga)|Hayate the Combat Butler]]''. Maria is her mother figure, though the role originally seemed to be that of big sister.
** Hinagiku and Yukiji found the Katsura's to be both willing [[Parental Substitute]] and get to play the [[Happily Adopted]] card when their parents dropped a large debt on them and disappeared.
** In the character profiles, Sakuya is said to have been raised by her two butlers and her nurse, instead of her parents, while also serving as the parents to her siblings.
* In [[Fullmetal Alchemist (Mangamanga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]], it's mentioned that even before their mom died, and ''especially'' after, the Rockbells' home was a home to the Elrics' as well.
** Izumi Curtis also seems to consider the Elrics to be surrogate sons... not that this means she's ever [[Tough Love|going to go easy on them]].
** There's also plenty of fanfic that promotes Roy Mustang to father figure for any of the teenage protagonists.
** In [[Fullmetal Alchemist (Animeanime)|the 2003 anime version]], Sloth is this to Wrath.
* In ''[[Bleach (Manga)|Bleach]]'', [[Blood Knight|Kenpachi]] could be seen as this to [[Cute Bruiser|Yachiru]].
* In the [[Hellsing]] manga and OVA, Alucard acts a little to a father surrogate and mentor to Seras Victoria, who is orphan and has lived in orphanages since her parents' terrible deaths. Integra Hellsing also fills in as [[Team Mom]] on occasion (at the ending is more prominent when literally she lectures Seras as if a child) when she's not having [[Les Yay]] with her.
** Hell, even the ''[[Les Yay]]'' moments made her seem motherly; feeding Seras her blood from her index finger as a mother would feed a baby from their...well, nipple. The way Integra spoke to Seras in the manga during that scene was also ''very'' motherly.
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** Kaoru tries to be this to Yahiko, an ex [[Street Urchin]] whom she and Kenshin rescued from being a orderline child slave to low-ranked delinquents. It doesn't always work.
** Similarly, Okina was a grand-parental substitute to Misao.
* In ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! 5 Ds5D's]]'', Yusei, Crow and Jack were taken in by Martha when they were young. Crow himself becomes one to several children.
* In ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'', Gilbert Durandal is maybe Rey's adoptive father, but at least he is a parental figure for both Rey and Shinn. It can be interpreted as manipulation, but he appears to genuinely love them. {{spoiler|He actually forgives Ray for ''shooting him'', as in "forgive just before dying"}}.
 
 
== ComicbooksComic Books ==
* ''[[Batman]]'' is chock full of [[Parental Substitute]] goodness. Alfred Pennyworth serves as a father-substitute for Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne serves as a father-substitute for Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake (for whom Dick Grayson also serves as a bit of a brother-figure).
** Bruce/Batman is also a father substitute for Cassandra Cain (Batgirl II), who also has a mother substitute in Barbara Gordon (Batgirl I/Oracle).
** [[Batman|Alfred]] has, through the years, gone back and forth between an objective servant to an adoptive-father-figure and back, depending on the writer. However, it's become very common to portray him as an amalgam of the two - officially a servant, but acting as Bruce's surrogate father. This is shown strongly by Alfred being the only one who can tell Bruce off without any repercussions, and is openly stated by Alfred in the recent ''"Battle for the Cowl"'' arc:
{{quote| '''Superman:''' Alfred, are you alright?<br />
'''Alfred:''' Alright?... No, sir, I'm not... [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|my son]] [[Tear Jerker|has died]]. }}
*** Bruce acknowledges this as well; in a ''Batman and the Outsiders'' special following ''[[Batman RIP]]'', Bruce has left a prerecorded message for Alfred in case of his death where he calls Alfred his second father, and takes the opportunity to say "Goodbye, Dad".
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** Wolverine has a tendency to become this to young teammates, especially female ones (Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Jubilee), but also e. g. to Colossus (in a more "tough love" kind of way).
** Also from the X-Men, there's foundling Nightcrawler and his adoptive gypsy family, and his kinda-stepsister Rogue, raised by supervillain couple Mystique and Destiny after running away from home.
* [[Doctor Strange]] has served as this for the [[Incredible Hulk (Comic Book)|Incredible Hulk]]'s simple and childlike Savage Hulk incarnation.
* ''[[The Avengers (Comic Book)|The Avengers]]'' has [[Hawkeye]] and [[Captain America (comics)]], which has been alluded to several times in canon. Hawkeye, who had an abusive, alcoholic father and several irresponsible successors of that field, unconsciously sees Captain America as a father figure. This is highlighted whenever Hawkeye has a tough time and Cap is there to give him a pep talk or lecture. The earliest examples of the relationship, in fact, took place as soon as Hawkeye joined the team. He jokingly called Cap "dad" and Cap felt a responsibility to look after him. It doesn't help that Stan Lee initially intended for Hawkeye to be Cap's long-lost illegitimate son.
* Donald Duck to Huey, Louie and Dewey, and Uncle Scrooge to all four of them. Being raised by uncles or aunts is seen as such a big Disney convention that German Duck fans even coined a pseudo-scholarly term for the process: ''Veronkelung'' ([[Nephewism|"uncleification"]]).
* In the ''[[Runaways]]'' series, Nico and Karolina serve this function for Molly and Klara, {{spoiler|particularly in the last arc, "Home Schooling", in which Old Lace dies and Chase abandons the team.}}
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== Films -- Animated ==
* ''[[The Iron Giant]]'': Dean is a father-figure/mentor to Hogarth. Hogarth himself has a [[Kid Withwith the Leash|fatherly/big-brother relationship to the giant robot in the title]], who has the mentality of a very young child.
* Silver is a mentor and father-figure to Jim in ''[[Treasure Planet (Disney)|Treasure Planet]]''. Considering how the story goes, is one of the more turbulent examples, but [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|it all worked out in the most satisfying way possible.]]
* In ''[[Titan AEA.E.]]'', the [[Parental Substitute]] relationship between Kale and Korso is made even more complicated by the fact that Korso is [[The Mole]].
* In Disney's ''[[Lilo and Stitch (Disney film)|Liloand Stitch]],'' Lilo's big sister serves as a mother figure [[Promotion to Parent|after their parents are killed in a car crash]].
* In ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'', Shifu is to Tai Lung and later Tigress, and Mr. Ping to Po.
** According to [[All There in the Manual|the Manual]], the Soothsayer to Lord Shen in ''[[Kung Fu Panda 2]]''. It's never stated in the film, though it does explain their interaction throughout the movie.
* Baloo acts as this to Mowgli in ''[[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|The Jungle Book]]'' for the brief time they are together. Prior to him, he was [[Raised Byby Wolves]], his adoptive father Rama even refering to him as being "like a real son".
 
 
== Films -- Live-Action ==
* In ''[[E.T. the Extraterrestrial (Film)Extra-Terrestrial|ET the Extraterrestrial]]'', E.T. himself (itself?) serves as a two-pronged [[Parental Substitute]], offering fatherly advice and motherly attention simultaneously.
* Part of what makes [[Aliens]] so touching is Ripley's 'adoption' of Newt. Ripley, being frozen for 50+ years, lost her daughter, and Newt's family were killed by the Xenomorphs, so the two fill the empty spaces in each other's lives.
* In ''[[Terminator]] 2: Judgment Day'', the T-800 Terminator serves as a father-figure for John Connor. Lampshaded when Sarah Conner notes that the killing machine is a better father for John than any of her old "boyfriends".
* ''[[Cloak and Dagger (Filmfilm)|Cloak and Dagger]]'' features super-spy Jack Flack, an [[Imaginary Friend|imaginary mentor]] who amazingly enough looks like Davey Osborne's real dad.
* In ''[[Star Wars|Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace]]'', Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jin fills this role in the life of young Anakin Skywalker. {{spoiler|Then Qui-Gon dies at the end, leaving Obi-Wan Kenobi to step in as a substitute [[Parental Substitute]]. Later, Obi-Wan and Anakin become more like [[Heterosexual Life Partners|bro]][[Ho Yay|thers]].}} Though, it's worth noting that perhaps in a strange, twisted way, Watto was also almost akin to a father-figure to Anakin. Almost.
* Agammenon in ''[[Time Bandits]]''. Unlike Kevin's slothful, stupid, greedy parents, he watches out for Kevin and instructs him.
* Tom Sawyer acquires one of these in Allan Quatermain during the course of ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]''.
* Siblings Eomer and Eowyn from ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Filmfilm)|Lord of the Rings]]'' look at their uncle Theoden as this. Frodo has his Uncle Bilbo and Gandalf too.
* Maria Kutschera from ''[[The Sound of Music]] in became one of these towards the von Trapp children and officially became their mother once she married their father.
* In ''[[Finding Neverland]]'', the Llewelyn Davies boys increasingly look to James Barrie as a father figure.
* In ''[[Secondhand Lions]]'', young Walter ends up getting raised by his two great uncles, Hub and Garth.
* Uncle Ben is this to Peter Parker in the ''[[Spider -Man (Filmfilm)|Spider Man]]'' films.
* ''[[Babe]]'' the pig is adopted by Fly, a sheepdog. When Fly's pups were put up for sale and she was heartbroken, Babe comforted her by asking if he could call her Mom, which she said yes.
* In ''[[Tron Legacy (Film)|Tron: Legacy]]'', after Kevin disappeared, his friend Alan take over this role for Sam. It is made more prominent during the news montage after Kevin's disappearance, Alan looked like he was going to go [[Papa Wolf]] on the news reporters hounding a young Sam.
* In the film ''[[Dark City]]'', {{spoiler|Dr. Shrieber literally injects himself into protagonist John Murdoch's life via an "imprint", creating memories of a father figure who taught Murdoch the skills that he uses to fight the Strangers.}}
* Lilli in ''[[Snow White: aA Tale of Terror (Film)|Snow White a Tale of Terror]]'' was raised by a nurse, who was an acceptable substitute for her mother. Lilli holds Nannau's death against her stepmother.
 
 
== Literature ==
* Celia and Tam Lin in ''[[House of the Scorpion (Literature)|House of the Scorpion]]'' who are Matt's caretaker and bodyguard respectively, are pretty much his Parental Substitutes, since being a clone, he has no parents, unless you count his original's parents, which would be technically, but they have been dead for over a century.
* [[Tamora Pierce]]: What with her penchant for [[Parental Abandonment|killing off/extremely distant parents]], it only makes sense that...
** [[Tortall Universe|Alanna]] has [[Old Retainer|Coram]], who likes to remind her of the fact that he changed her diapers
*** Myles also takes the role too during Alanna's training and would eventually adopt her as his daughter.
** [[Tortall Universe|Daine]] gets "mothered" by three different women: [[Modest Royalty|Queen Thayet]], K'mir warrior Buri, and horse trader Onua.
** [[Tortall Universe|Kel]]'s parents are not dead, but she spends all of her adolescence separated from them. Lord Raoul, her knight-master, essentially pulls her through the crappy, 15-1815–18 years.
*** Kel herself to Tobe.
** The four main characters in the ''[[Circle of Magic]]'' series are raised by two women who, after a time, they refer to as their 'foster mothers.'
* ''[[Harry Potter]]'' is crawling with [[Parental Substitute|Parental Substitutes]]. Nearly every adult who has any interaction with Harry is a [[Parental Substitute]], especially Albus Dumbledore, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Arthur & Molly Weasley. And because this is ''[[Harry Potter]]'' things don't [[Death Byby Newbery Medal|end well for all but the last two]].
** Harry's friends are not immune either. Neville Longbottom is raised by his grandmother due to his parents having been tortured to madness by Death Eaters. Harry himself also becomes one to Teddy Lupin. Although he seems to be living with his grandmother, he often visits the Potter-family.
*** More stories of this are told for reoccuring background characters like Susan Bones who seems to have also been raised by her grandmother as nearly her entire family were killed by Deatheaters
* Running a galactic government and occasionally saving it alongside one's scoundrel husband leaves little time for parenting, as [[Star Wars Expanded Universe|the children of Han Solo and Princess Leia]] learn. Much of their parenting is done by Leia's longtime friend and aide Winter Celchu.
* John Cleaver's therapist in ''[[I Am Not a Serial Killer]]'' acts like a father figure for John.
* [[JRRJ. TolkienR. (Creator)R. Tolkien|JRR Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' and ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' feature many parental substitutes: Bilbo (for Frodo), [[Th Ã]]©oden (for Eomer, Eowyn and arguably Merry), Elrond (for Aragorn), Maglor (for Elrond and Elros), Annael (for Tuor), Thingol (for Turin) etc. Maglor's fostering of Elrond and Elros is perhaps especially notable in that Maglor had been (twice, reluctantly) involved in the slaughter of the boys' family before that, and that he had contributed to their mother's attempted suicide...
* In [[Jim Butcher]]'s ''[[Dresden Files]]'', this features twice in the orphaned Harry's [[Backstory]]. Justin exploited his need for one. Afterward, Ebneazer did a much better job of it; he is still protective of Harry and deploys such tropes as [[So Proud of You]].
* In [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]]'s ''[[John Carter of Mars|The Chessman Of Mars]]'', U-Thor received a slave woman from his jeddak; he freed and married her, and regards the son she bore the jeddak, A-Kor, as like a son to him. When the jeddak, a [[Royal Brat]], has A-Kor imprisoned out of fear and envy, U-Thor demands an accounting.
{{quote| ''I have made of her a free woman, and I have married her and made her thus a princess of Manatos. Her son is my son, O-Tar, and though thou be my jeddak, I say to you that for any harm that befalls A-Kor you shall answer to U-Thor of Manatos.''}}
** Also, in the earlier books ''Gods of Mars'' and ''Warlord of Mars'' Tars Tarkas, Tardos Mors, and Mors Kajak are implied to have served this role for John Carter's son, Carthoris, after Carter was returned to Earth.
* In ''[[Wuthering Heights (Literaturenovel)|Wuthering Heights]]'', Nellie Dean serves as a parent to the second generation. As both children lost their mothers practically in childbirth, Nellie is the only mother either has ever known.
* In ''[[The Witches of Karres]]'', Captain Pausert fills this roll for Goth and The Leewit while they are sailing with him.
* In ''[[A Little Princess]]'', Sara becomes this to Lottie.
* In the novel ''[[Malevil]]'', the main character Emmanuel is adopted by his uncle Samuel after he runs away from home. Samuel is far more of a father to Emmanuel then his cowardly, hen-pecked brother Simon ever was.
* Halt from ''[[RangersRanger's Apprentice]]'' is a father-figure to both Will and Horace. It comes up several times in the books that Will and Halt think of each other as father and son.
* Peter is very much Neal Caffrey's [[Parental Substitute]], teaching him about how to be a responsible member of society and by coincidence giving him a less anti-social outlet to his thrill seeking impulses.
* ''[[Septimus Heap (Literature)|Septimus Heap]]'': Marcia Overstrand is this to Septimus, according to [[Word of God]].
* In Teresa Frohock's ''[[Miserere An Autumn Tale]]'', Lindsey contrasts Lucian's pride in her to her own father.
* ''[[Jeeves and Wooster (Literaturenovel)|Jeeves and Wooster]]'': Since the issue of [[Man Child]] Bertie Wooster having parents is never dwelt on, there are plenty of implications that he regards ''[[The Jeeves|Jeeves]]'' as something of a father figure. Jeeves, for his part, is often noted to cast a "paternal" eye on Bertie's antics.
* In [[Gene Stratton Porter]]'s ''[[Freckles (Literature)|Freckles]]'', Freckles acquires two: [[Mc Lean]]McLean is a father figure, and Mrs. Duncan as a mother figure who assures him that she loves him like a son and weeps over how desperately he needs the affection.
* [[The Brothers Karamazov|Fyodor Karamazov]] cares little for any of his three sons; young Dimitri goes half-naked and unfed until [[Old Retainer|Grigory]] steps in and virtually raises him himself; Ivan and Alexei are adopted by their uncle Miusov.
* George serves as this to Lennie in ''[[Of Mice and Men]]''
* Mrs. Alowo becomes this to her orphaned students in ''[[Someone Else's War (Literature)|Someone Elses War]]''.
* After her parents go to war in ''[[DirgeA for Prester John (Literature)|Dirge for Prester John]]'', Sefelet is cared for by Vyala, her mother's friend's mother. They appear to bond more than Sefalet did to her real parents.
 
 
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** The Mayor takes a similar role for Faith after her [[Face Heel Turn]].
*** In the comics, Giles does for Faith what he did for Buffy.
* On ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'', little Naomi Wildman's father is 70,000 light years away when she is born, so several of the male crewmembers try to fill a paternal role in her life, usually her godfather Neelix.
** You could also argue that Captain Janeway serves as a positive parent to young Kes, rehumaned Seven of Nine, B'Elanna Torres (whose father abandoned her), Tom Paris (ditto, just not physically), and Harry Kim (made even more pronounced in "Endgame").
*** Lampshaded in "Barge of the Dead" (where B'Elanna's mother appears in a vision wearing a Starfleet captain's uniform) and "Dark Frontier" where Janeway 'tucks Seven into bed' (plugs her into her Borg alcove) after she <s>wins the custody battle</s> rescues Seven from the Borg Queen.
** Seven of Nine later became this to four [[Creepy Child|creepy-ass borg children]] they rescued. She wasn't very good at it.
*** She wasn't terrible either. Their interaction was as much about Seven's continued [[Character Development]] as the kids', if not more.
* ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'' featured several [[Parental Substitute|father figures]] for John Connor, including Charlie Dixon and Derek Reese. (Of course, since Derek is John's uncle, his falling into such a role is kind of natural.)
* Since John Winchester of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' spent a lot of time away from his boys when they were young, and {{spoiler|then died at the beginning of the show's second season}}, fellow hunter [[Only Sane Man|Bobby Singer]] has served as Sam and Dean's adviser, backup, and primary father figure throughout the series. They referred to him as "Uncle Bobby" when they were children, and Dean even says on two occasions (in season three's "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and season four's "Lazarus Rising") that Bobby's been like a father to him. For his part, Bobby seems to see the boys as surrogate sons, saying in the season three finale "No Rest for the Wicked" that "family don't end with blood."
* In ''[[The Big Bang Theory (TV)|The Big Bang Theory]]'', [[Man Child]] Sheldon often views Penny as a substitute for his mother (who is alive, just lives away from him); he wants her to take care of him when he's sick, or sing him a lullaby. This is especially emphasized in the episode "The Guitarist Amplification", when Sheldon runs away to the comic book store, because he can't bear Leonard and Penny fighting, and Penny makes it up to him by buying him a robot and a comic book.
** Leonard takes on a fatherly role at times: taking care of his transportation needs, shopping for food and clothing, making sure he goes to bed on time and is often the one he goes to for advice on relationship matters. When he and Penny were dating they served as surrogate parents, when they broke up Sheldon was like a child in a divorce. That led to a lot of [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]] dialogue as Leonard and Penny renew their friendship for Sheldon's sake.
* In [[The Sarah Jane Adventures]], it is revealed that Sarah Jane's parents died when she was only three months old, and she was raised by her Aunt Lavinia. Exactly how much of a mother figure Lavinia was is somewhat debatable, as Sarah Jane once described her as "always so busy, never in one place long enough to lick a stamp." It can be argued, of course, that that doesn't necessarily mean that she was uncaring or uninvolved. In fact, the pilot for the failed spin-off series K9 & Company gives us a small glimpse into their relationship, and they do generally seem to care about one another.
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* Sweets from [[Bones]] was adopted by an elderly couple, but both died before he began working with Bones and Booth. After Season 4, he begins to see Booth as a father figure and also Bones something like a sister.
* [[NCIS|Gibbs]] is pretty explicitly this to Ziva - during the episode "Dead Air," Tony and McGee have been teasing her about not knowing much about baseball. At the end of the episode, this exchange ensues:
{{quote| '''McGee''': Well, look at this! She ''do'' know a little somethin' 'bout baseball, huh?<br />
'''Ziva''': Yeah. My father taught me.<br />
'''Gibbs''': ''*face-splitting grin*'' }}
** Gibbs expresses his side at the end of the episode "Safe Harbor", after giving her some fatherly advice.
{{quote| '''Ziva''': Are you lonely Gibbs?<br />
'''Gibbs''': You're never lonely when you have kids. (''Kisses her on the forehead'') Goodnight, kid. }}
*** There's some [[Fridge Brilliance]] in the relationship if you know that Ziva is the age Gibbs' daughter would have been if she hadn't been killed.
** To a lesser extent, Gibbs to Tony. Tony does care for his real father (even after finding out he was/is a con artist) but doesn't really need his approval. Disappointing Gibbs is something that bothers him immensely, and when Gibbs gives him a [[So Proud of You]] comment, you can see Tony practically swell.
* In "[[Stargate SG -1]]" Samantha Carter acts as a mother-figure for Cassandra. Even after Dr. Fraisier adopts Cassandra, the girl retains a strong attachment to Sam. O'Niell also acts as a second father-figure for Skaara (though it might be more fair to say that Skaara acts as a surrogate son for O'Neill, who's {{spoiler|son accidently killed himself with O'Neill's gun.}}
* On [[Leverage]], [[Gentleman Thief|Archie]] was this to [[Classy Cat Burglar|Parker]] as a teenager even calling himself her father. [[Team Dad|Nate]] and [[Team Mom|Sophie]] also have elements of this towards both Parker and Hardison.
* Peter to Neal in [[White Collar]]. Peter is always giving Neal "shape up" lectures, but at the same time has an affection and protective feeling toward him, and Neal starts looking to Peter for guidance.
* In the first season of [[The X -Files]] Deep Throat is something of a father substitute for Mulder {{spoiler|even though Mulder's father is still alive at this point}}.
* Gaius for Merlin on ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]''. He did meet his real father briefly, but Balinor died before the ep was over. And his mom is still in Ealdor.
* Gil Grissom to Warrick Brown on [[CSI]]. Warrick talks a lot about it in the video found after his death. "If I could have chosen my father, I would have chosen Gil Grissom" or something close to that.
* [[Cool Old Guy|Bobby Singer]] on ''[[Supernatural]]'' seems to have been this to a small extent even when the boys were kids. He is, for example, the only person who ever took Dean out to play ball. He'd been estranged from the family for a while when the series started, reentered toward the end of Season One because everyone they were actually in contact with had been killed off. Then [[Crusading Widower|John]] died. Two seasons later the first episode has Dean saying, "you're about the closest thing I have to a father," and in season six the phrase "it needs the father's blood, but the ''father'' need not ''be'' blood" sends [[Came Back Wrong|Soulless Sam]] hunting Bobby through his own house in the attempt to commit patricide.
** That latter episode gave us the hilarious [[Fridge Horror]] line "Nobody kills me in my house but me!"
** The midseason finale of season seven {{spoiler|killed Bobby off, and he spent a whole episode dying in a fascinating [[Battle in Thethe Center of Thethe Mind]] way. The boys handled it better than losing John, but they have had a lot of practice since then. The loss has been devastating, and unlike the loss of John it's been as devastating in ''practical'' ways as it has been emotionally, because Bobby was always ''there'' for them, whereas they'd been coping without John in various ways for ages, and almost completely for a few years.}}
* Clarke is this to Madi in ''[[The 100]]'' during the time skip between seasons 4 and 5. By the time we catch up with them, Madi's gone all the way to [[Happily Adopted]].
 
 
== Mythology ==
* In Greek myth, the philandering Zeus fathered a number of sons, none of which he actually helped raise. Some of them were lucky enough to find substitute father figures who took care of them: Heracles was raised by Amphitryon, his mother's mortal husband, while Perseus was raised by the fisherman Dictys, who took his mother Danae in when she was abandoned by her own father, and Dionysius was raised by the mortal woman Ino and her husband, who Zeus gave to them to take care of so his jealous wife Hera wouldn't find out about his affair.
** Zeus himself was raised on a secluded island by nymphs, a goat, and his grandmother Gaia. He liked the goat best -- enoughbest—enough to make it the constellation Capricorn after its death.
 
 
== Theatre ==
* In ''[[Philoctetes (Theatre)|Philoctetes]]'', Neoptolemus is mostly a good guy who is lacking in guidance. While Odysseus first takes on this role for him, Philoctetes becomes a more sincere parental figure to him by the end.
 
 
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* ''[[Jak and Daxter]]'' don't have any parents to speak of (until the third game, at least), and Samos is the one who raised them.
* In ''[[Disgaea]]'', the late King Krichevskoy acted as one to the orphan Etna, taking pity and raising her as a daughter.
* [[Mass Effect 2]] features a really bizarre version of this. [[The Hero|Shepard]] recovers a "perfect" [[Blood Knight|krogan]] that was created via cloning, but is essentially born in front of his/her eyes. While the creation process taught him things, and Grunt is fully grown, he obviously has no role model--kroganmodel—krogan or otherwise--exceptotherwise—except for Shepard. After his loyalty mission, this relationship becomes clearer that Shepard is Grunt's mentor.
** If you don't play Shepard as a potential love interest, the same sort of dynamic appears with Tali during her loyalty mission, especially [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|that hug]]. Mixed with [[Cool Big Sis]] if Shepard is a woman.
* Very little "parenting" in the [[Kingdom Hearts]] series is done by the [[Invisible Parents|unseen biological parents]] of any of the characters. [[The Obi-Wan|Master Eraqus]] serves as a mentor and father figure to Aqua and Terra, who themselves can be seen as older siblings or parental figures in [[The Heart|Ven's]] life (the Japanese version of ''Birth by Sleep'' has Scrooge give Ven three tickets and telling him to bring "his parents" along; he gives them to Aqua and Terra). Later on in-universe, Axel's extremely over-protective behavior towards his best friend Roxas is revealed to be the result of Axel basically ''raising'' him, once again blurring the line between a big brother and father figure in Roxas's life.
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** [[Fire Emblem Jugdral]]: In the Seisen game Ayra takes her nephew Shanan out of Isaac on request of her older brother Crown Prince Mariccle, {{spoiler|before their kingdom gets destroyed in the war}}. Later, Adean and Oifaye take Shanan in as well as many other children, including Oifaye's cousin Celice and Adean's own children Lana and Lester. {{spoiler|Trabant}} is a darker example, as {{spoiler|he ''killed'' Altenna's parents before taking her in as his war spoil}}; at the same time, his retainer Hannibal takes care of a young boy named Corple (or his [[Expy]] Sharlow {{spoiler|in case Corple's mother Sylvia died childless}}.
*** In the Thracia game, Evayle {{spoiler|aka the amnesiac Briggid}} is this to Leaf, Nanna and Mareeta; the first two also have a father figure in Fin, who {{spoiler|was a retainer to Leaf and Altena's dead parents (and is all but stated to be Nanna's birth father)}}. Selphina is said to have become this in the ending, taking care of war orphans; this would get her called "Mother of Thracia" after her death.
** [[Fire Emblem Elibe (Video Game)|Fire Emblem Elibe]]: Douglas is this to the dancer Lalam. Lugh and Chad also mention a kindhearted priest who raised them until he died in the hand of Bernese troops {{spoiler|and who may or may not have been Lucius}}. Twenty years earlier, during ''Blazing Sword'', Pent and Louise are parental figures for the magician Erk, whose real parents are never mentioned, while his potential [[Love Interest]] Priscilla was raised by House Caerleon.
** ''[[Fire Emblem: the Sacred Stones (Video Game)|Fire Emblem theThe Sacred Stones]]'': Pontifex Mansel from Rausten raises his niece L'Arachel after the death of her parents. Franz, the fledgling knight of Renais, was revealed in his support conversations to have been brought up by his older brother Forde.
* In ''[[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia]]'', Lloyd is not short of these. He was adopted by the dwarf Drik and sees Regal as a brother or father figure. Kratos also starts to fit this, {{spoiler|until it's revealed that he's not a substitute [[Luke, I Am Your Father|but instead the real thing.]]}}
* This also comes up in ''[[Tales of Vesperia (Video Game)|Tales of Vesperia]]'', and mainly serves to make [[The Reveal]] that {{spoiler|Raven is Schwann and has been working for [[Big Bad|Alexei]] the whole time}} even more of a [[Tear Jerker]]. {{spoiler|Luckily, [[Heel Face Turn|he]] [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|gets]] [[Redemption Earns Life|better]]}}.
{{quote| '''[[Cute Shotaro Boy|Karol]]:''' Damn it, I really liked you, {{spoiler|Raven}}. {{spoiler|I couldn't tell you before, but if my dad were--}}<br />
'''{{spoiler|Schwann}}:''' {{spoiler|[[Kick the Dog|How unfortunate, "Raven" isn't here]]}}. }}
 
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== Webcomics ==
* Agatha Heterodyne, the titular ''[[Girl Genius]]'', was raised by Adam and Lilith Clay<ref>i.e. Punch and Judy, the Heterodyne Boys' most famous constructs</ref> after the supposedly tragic deaths of her parents and the disappearance of her uncle Barry.
** The Castle Wulfenbach kids had a similar relationship with Otilia Von Pinn, construct with mind from a clank made by Van Rijn ("the greatest [[Mad Scientist|Spark]] of all time") in the body made by Lucrezia Mongfish (Agatha's biological mother, who went dangerously insane beyond common [[Mad Scientist]] level either not long before or soon after Agatha's birth), who seem to have been in a foul mood for as long as she was stuck in a [[Wetware Body|part-organic body]]. [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100512 They got rather attached to her]<ref>spoilers!</ref>.
* Given that the titular character's biological family moved to the United Kingdom in the comic's prologue ''[[Coming Up Violet]]'' one-ups this trope by having an entire substitute family for Ms. Oaks, complete with a mother, father, and two sisters.
** [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/bdaniel/violet/series.php?view=archive&chapter=35843 But not everyone can be a momstitute].
* In ''[[Last Res 0 rtRes0rt]]'', the powerful Vaeo Family is made up of Vince, his daughter Cypress, and their cousins / nephews Nate and Damien, even though Vince will refer to and treat all three like his children.
* In ''[[Order of the Stick]]'', Elan sees Roy this way, though Roy sees him as more of an annoyance. [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0388.html The third row down of this comic is a beautiful example.]
* Antimony Carver of ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' has ''four'' substitute fathers. First is her gym teacher, who used to date her mother. Then there's Reynardine, a fox spirit, who was in love with her mother. [[Trickster Archetype|Coyote]] is more of a crazy uncle, but he is still protective of her. Oh, and her actual dad [[Disappeared Dad|should show up eventually]].
** Eglamore (the gym teacher) [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=478 sometimes forgets he's not Annie's father].
** Ysengrin has (reluctantly) begun entering that category as well, with some wonderful advice (despite his grumpy gruff [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold|apparant distaste]] for the idea)
* [[Blade of Toshubi|Toshubi]] is becoming this to Jessica.
* In ''[[Something Positive (Webcomic)|Something *Positive]],'' Davan initially believed he might be Rory's biological father, but a DNA test proves otherwise. The real father doesn't step up, though, so Davan becomes Rory's father figure anyway. In one recent strip [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold|he admits]] [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|he wishes he]] ''[[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|was]]'' Rory's father.
** Faye and Fred were Monette's Parental Substitutes for several years before [[Happily Adopted|officially adopting her]].
* In [https://web.archive.org/web/20190717190935/http://www.tnemrot.com/ Tnemrot], Dae is like this for Mia, who actually has a father, he just flat out ignores her.
* Obadai alternates between this and [[Trickster Mentor]] with respect to Elysia in [[Rumors of War]].
* In ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|El Goonish Shive]]'', Mr. Verres is this for Grace when she moves in with the Verres. Previously Damien was an [[Abusive Parents|Abusive Parental Substitute]] to her and before that Dr. Sciuridae took care of her because she was his [[Replacement Goldfish]] though Grace views him as a grandfather. The only real biological parent Grace ever had to care for her was Mr. Guyur (who was killed by Damien) as the other biological parents were either already dead when she was born or non-sapient.
{{quote| '''Grace''': [[Like a Son to Me|You're like a father to me]]!<br />
'''Mr. Verres''': [http://egscomics.com/?date{{=}}2005-04-27 ...But you're my son's girlfriend.]<br />
'''Grace''': We're a strange family. }}
* In ''[[Endstone]]'', [{{[https://web.archive.org/web/20120625182359/http|://endstone.net/2009/06/15/issue-1-page-22/ Lord Quandal had welcomed Cole to his family as a daughter}}]; it's enough that when she's about to [[Mind Rape]] him, [[Heel Realization|Cole wonders why she is doing these terrible things]] -- [[Ignored Epiphany|for a panel]]. And even afterwards she keeps him with her and cares for him in his comatose state.
* In ''[[Manly Guys Doing Manly Things (Webcomic)|Manly Guys Doing Manly Things]]'', Commander Badass is this for Jared.
{{quote| '''Commander:''' Hey kid, how about from now on before you put anything else in that bag you pretend y' hear your dad's voice in yer head sayin' ''"Do you really need this?"''<br />
'''Jared:''' My dad never cared about me enough to give me stern fatherly advice like that.<br />
'''Commander:''' Okay, look't me now, Jared. Do ya ''really'' need this? ''Really?'' }}
* The original 4 characters of Homestuck have several examples of this, including Dave's older brother and [[Physical God|Bequerel]], Jade's dog. {{spoiler|The subversion is that Dave's brother really is his genetic father through the paradox that is ectobiology, while John's father is actually his half-brother}}.
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* Zuko in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' finds his parental substitute in his eccentric [[Badass Grandpa]] uncle, Iroh.
** Also, shown in flashbacks, [[Cool Teacher|Monk Gyatso]] for Aang.
* On ''[[The Fairly Odd ParentsOddParents]]'', Cosmo and Wanda act more paternal than his [[Parental Neglect|amazingly neglectful parents]] could ever hope to.
* Starfire's "Knorfka" Galfore, who raised her from childhood. Her and Blackfire's parents are never mentioned in the series.
** Of course, the comic books are another story. Koriand'r's (and, naturally, Komand'r's and Riand'r's) parents are alive and well and living on Tamaran.
* Ye-Ye in ''[[Ni Hao, Kai -Lan]]'', who seems to be the only family member she lives with. Her parents never appear on the show. Kai-Lan's grandfather is always there when she needs him, and he helps both Kai-Lan and her friends when they need it.
* While Brock is a [[Papa Wolf]] to both of the boys in [[The Venture Bros]], Season 4 has made it evident that Hank look towards Brock as this. It's slightly tragic when you take into consideration that Hank is [[The Unfavorite]] with his actual dad.
* Rather cruelly subverted (but [[Played for Laughs]] at the same time) in ''[[Futurama]]'': Farnsworth is the closest thing to family Fry has (he's Fry's very distant great-nephew), and Fry has a grandfather-like relationship with him. Except instead of being a [[Good Parents|Good Parent]], Farnsworth is [[Parental Neglect|neglectful, abusive and uncaring]]...in a harmless sort of way.
** Also subverted in that Farnsworth seems to view the technically-several-thousand-years-old Fry as the caretaker in their relationship, and so his behavior toward Fry is like that of a bratty know-it-all teenager.
** In the episode "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings", Bender acts as a parental substitute to Fry, going so far as to attend his holophone recital and yell at the teacher when she drops Fry as a student.
{{quote| '''Bender''': Sometimes I wish your real parents were alive. ''[Hugs Fry]'' [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|Not often though.]]}}
* Twilight Sparkle to baby dragon Spike in ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]''. It is revealed in "Cutie Mark Chronicles" that she was the one who hatched his egg making her his mother for all intents and purposes.
** And Princess Celestia to Twilight, since she effectively adopted her.
*** According to Lauren Faust, Spike's original backstory had him raised by Celestia as well, which makes a little more sense than a filly like Twilight raising him at the time.
**** Possibly [[Subverted]], as [[Word of God|Lauren]] herself said that this is merely a concept that was never officially added into the show yet. And so the writers may change this backstory.
** Mr. and Mrs. Cake seem to serve as this for Pinkie Pie.
* ''[[FostersFoster's Home for Imaginary Friends]]'': [[Cool Big Sis|Frankie]] is this to [[Cute Shotaro Boy|Mac]], whose mom is hardly ever home.
* In ''[[Tale Spin (Animation)|Tale Spin]]'' Baloo mirrors this relationship with Kit. He also has moments of this with single mother Rebecca's daughter Molly.
* In ''[[Alfred J Kwak (Animation)|Alfred J Kwak]]'', Henk (a mole) functions as this to Alfred (a duck) after Alfred's parents and siblings were killed in a car accident. [[Discussed Trope|Discussed]] by Dolf, who thinks Alfred is weird or even inferior for having been raised by someone not his own species.
* In ''[[Transformers Prime]]'', although Cybertronian culture lacks conventional "parents" in general, [[The Medic|Ratchet]] tends to act in this way to [[Kid Appeal Character|Bumblebee]]. In Season 2, it's revealed that {{spoiler|Ratchet had saved Bumblebee's life after he was critically wounded by Megatron and still blames himself for being unable to fix his vocalizer.}}
* In ''[[Young Justice (Animationanimation)|Young Justice]]'', Bruce Wayne is very much this to Dick Grayson. Dick actually gets jealous in one episode when Bruce privately lectures Aqualad after a disastrous mission. Bruce then alleviates Dick's concerns by playing basketball with him (claiming that it's "training"). Suprisingly enough, this series ''averts'' the parental relationship between Bruce and Alfred. [[Word of God]] states that Alfred deliberately remained emotionally distant from Bruce in his youth because he felt it was inappropriate for a butler to act as a father to his "master". Alfred regrets that and has since become closer to both Dick and Bruce.
* In ''[[Star Wars: theThe Clone Wars (Animation)|Star Wars the Clone Wars]]'' Plo Koon seems to be filling in this role for Ahsoka.
 
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Orphaned Index]]
[[Category:Adopt an Index]]
[[Category:Parental Substitute{{PAGENAME}}]]
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/595890...1736321"