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{{trope}}
Fathers can be a terribly bothersome bunch. If you're the hero of an epic tale, [[Luke, I Am Your Father|half the time they turn out to be your worst enemy]]. If you're not such a hero, then maybe your father found his own way of pissing you off. Maybe he's [[Arranged Marriage|set you up to marry the guy you hate]], or [[Gladiator (Film)|he plans to hand over his title and fortune to his favorite general rather than you, his eldest son]]. Even if the title and fortune are intended for you, they're still not yours until the old fart is dead. [[Oedipus Complex|Maybe he's got the woman you want (whether she's your real mother or not)]] or maybe he just doesn't appreciate the way you've been [[Brother -Sister Incest|ogling your sister]]. Maybe your father genetically engineered you to be a [[Super Soldier]] or [[Powered By a Forsaken Child|to power his super weapon]] and doesn't understand that you are [[A God Am I|so much more]]. [[Oedipus the King (Theatre)|Maybe you didn't even know it was him and he just got in your way]]. Maybe it was prophesied and [[You Can't Fight Fate]]. [[Abusive Parents|Maybe he beats you]]. [[Domestic Abuse|Or your mom]]. Maybe all of these. In any case, your old man made a big mistake when he didn't [[Offing the Offspring|off the offspring]] because his days are numbered. Daddy's goin down.
 
Patricide, the act of killing one's father, is one of the most serious crimes [[The Oldest Ones in The Book|throughout history]] (it being one of the ''other'' things Oedipus [[Parental Incest|is famous for]]). Such a taboo is therefore bound to be found in media. Often there is a degree of [[My God, What Have I Done?]] after the deed, reflecting exactly how horrible the crime is considered.
 
On the other hand, if you're not so very heroic, offing your dad may simply be the next big step in your long and promising political career. It could get you the woman of your dreams. And, lets face it, when you are the hero and your father is still alive, unless he's about to get kidnapped or murdered by the bad guy, then he probably is a horrible villain who deserves to die.
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[[Death Trope]], obviously, spoilers within.
{{examples|Examples:}}
 
== Anime and Manga ==
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** Lelouch has "kill Father" at the top of his to-do list for much of the series, partly out of revenge for some pretty severe [[Parental Abandonment]], partly because he's the head of [[The Empire|the evil empire]] that Lelouch despises. He eventually succeeds near the end of the series, [[Self Made Orphan|and decides to kill his mother too while he's at it]].
* In [[Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime)|the 2003 anime version]] of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (Manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', this is [[Antagonistic Offspring|Envy]]'s life's goal. He's also got a [[Cain and Abel]] thing going on with his half-brothers.
* In the original ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' [[Evil Prince]] Gihren Zabi murders his father, Sovereign Degwin Sodo Zabi in order to graduate from [[Dragon -in -Chief]] to [[Big Bad]]. Note that for [[Complete Monster|Gihren]] this is not a particularly shocking move. Neither is the fact that he uses a [[Wave Motion Gun]] [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|to do it]]. {{spoiler|And then his sister Kycilia confronts him ''and shoots him'', invoking the trope as her reason to do so; Gihren would've been executed for patricide anyway, according to her.}}
 
== Comic Books ==
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== Real Life ==
* [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] considered patricide to be the ultimate [[Moral Event Horizon]]. From [[The Other Wiki]]: "[[Ancient Rome]] had a unique punishment for patricide. The felon was severely scourged then sewn into a stout leather bag [[What Measure Is a Non -Human?|with a dog, a snake, a rooster, and a monkey]], and the bag was thrown into the river Tiber. Plutarch records that the old laws of Romulus had no penalty for patricide because it was considered [[Hilarious in Hindsight|a crime too evil ever to be committed.]]"
* According to [[Herodotus (Creator)|Herodotus]], the Persians believed that no man since the beginning of time had ever killed his own father, and that whenever this appeared to happen, it was evidence that the patricidal child was actually an impostor or changeling.
 
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== Tabletop Games ==
* One of the major elements in the cosmogony of ''[[Warhammer 40 K]]'' is that the Primarchs, genetically engineered [[Super Soldier]] sons of the [[God -Emperor]], were stolen and later corrupted by Chaos. His favored son Horus fell the hardest, and eventually led the rebellion against him, until they faced off in a duel. Though he (Horus) died in the attempt, the Emperor was essentially turned into a barely more than a corpse, hooked up to an enormous machine that allows his body to continue living while his spirit continues to guide humanity (literally, in the case of the Navigators).
 
== Theatre ==
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== Video Games ==
* Under the Lich King's influence, Arthas Menethil kills his father for the crown of Lordaeron after being turned into a Death Knight in ''[[War Craft]] 3''. A mook even calls him out on it, demanding to know "How could you murder your own father?"
* ''[[God of War]]'': Like in several Greek myths examples, Zeus hears a prophecy that his son Kratos would try to kill him and usurp his throne. This prompts Zeus to kill Kratos and send him to Hades, in turn prompting Kratos to escape [[Self -Fulfilling Prophecy|and kill Zeus]].
* ''[[Soul Series|Soul Edge/Soul Blade]]'': A young Siegfried Schtauffen and his band of rogues attack a group of knights that they believe to be deserting the army. Unbeknownst to them, the group in question was simply returning home after their victory. Siegfried engages in battle with the leader of this group and beheads him; holding up the head in the moonlight reveals the identity of his prey: ''his own father Frederick''. The realization [[Go Mad From the Revelation|pretty much shatters his mind]], forcing Siegfried [[Trauma Induced Amnesia|to go into denial]], believing that [[You Killed My Father|someone else killed his father.]] He decides to search for [[Evil Weapon|Soul]] [[Artifact of Doom|Edge]] in order to defeat this man, [[The Corruption|and]] [[Brainwashed and Crazy|the]] [[From Nobody to Nightmare|rest]] [[Face Heel Turn|is]] [[Big Bad|history]].
* Near the end of ''[[Exit Fate (Video Game)|Exit Fate]]'', Daniel kills his own father, Emperor Siegfried, who tried to [[The Pawn|determine his life]] via [[Demonic Possession|demonic ]][[Super -Powered Evil Side|possession]].
* In Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, the titular character kills his father Big Boss when he goes rogue. Snake is later called out on this in Metal Gear Solid by his support-worker Naiomi
 
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