Parental Abandonment/Video Games: Difference between revisions

** ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]'': [[Parental Abandonment]] plays a big role in Theodor's transformation into Golbez and Cecil's adoption by the King of Baron. On the same day, Kluya died at the hands of angry humans and his wife Cecilia [[Death by Childbirth|died giving birth to Cecil]]. In addition, Rydia's mother is inadvertently killed by Cecil's hands near the start of the game. {{spoiler|She later finds a new family of sorts in the Land of Summoned Monsters.}} Kain's mother is never mentioned, and it's [[All There in the Manual]] that his father died when Kain was a child. Edge's parents {{spoiler|are turned into monsters by Dr. Lugae, and commit suicide upon realising what they have become.}} Edward's parents are both killed in the assault on Damcyan and are never seen by the player. Rosa's father is dead, but remarkably, her mother is still alive.

*** Also inverted, since Anna dies before her father, Tellah, {{spoiler|albeit not by very long.}}

** ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'': Relm's mother died and her father ran away and became a [[Ninja]] mercenary with a pet dog who's [[Made of Iron]], although Relm was raised by her grandfather - Relm's true parentage is never explicitly stated, averting a [[Luke, I Am Your Father]] scene. Gau's mother died in childbirth, causing his father to go insane and abandon him on the Veldt. Terra {{spoiler|loses her parents both at the same time--her mother [[Dub Name Change|Madeline/Madonna]] is killed when [[The Empire]] raids the Esper world, and her father Maduin, being an Esper, is taken by the Empire's scientists as a laboratory subject who dies over the course of the game}}. Edgar and Sabin {{spoiler|lose their mother in their very early childhood, and their father dies in their teens, strongly implied to have been killed by [[The Empire]]}}. Locke's mother is never mentioned and his father is dead by the start of the game.

** ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'': Tifa's mom died when she was six years old, leading her to throw herself off a mountain, Cloud's mom and Tifa's dad were killed by Sephiroth, Cloud's dad is never mentioned. Aeris is not only an orphan, but the ''[[Last of His Kind|last of her race]].'' Barrett is raising a little girl, Marlene, the orphaned daughter of a former friend of his. Red XIII's father was turned to stone by monsters... am I forgetting any more?

** In ''[[Disgaea Hour of Darkness]]'', Flonne's parents are never mentioned. Etna is an orphan, and the closest thing she had to a father figure, the Overlord and Laharl's dad, died two years ago. Laharl's mother died before the game began {{spoiler|when she sacrificed herself to cure him of an incurable disease}} and his father, the Overlord, died choking on a black pretzel {{spoiler|which is just a rumor and actually died after sealing away Baal. Both his parents, however, do return to watch over him...though his mother is a Prinny and his father is [[The Dandy]] [[Goldfish Poop Gang]]}}. Jennifer was orphaned, and her adopted father is [[The Dragon]].

*** Flonne's parents are met in [[No Export for You|the Japan only]] [[Disgaea Novels|novels.]]

*** In the [[Updated Rerelease]], you have Carona, {{spoiler|a Marona from an [[Alternate Universe]] who loses her parents ''and'' Ash.}}

** In ''[[Makai Kingdom]]'', we see Alex's family during the credits, but they're never mentioned nor do they appear in the game. Pram took her Netherworld from her father at the age of two (Making this a case of the ''child'' abandoning the ''parent'') and depending on how you interpret King Drake's accusation of her taking his Netherworld, he may be her father. Other than that, none of the Overlords have visible parents.

** In ''[[Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories]]'' , Adell reveals to Rozalin early on that he was adopted, and likely abandoned by his blood-parents. It turns out that {{spoiler|Adell's parents are the masked man and woman serving under Overlord Zenon against their will}}. Triggers a rather tragic case of [[Self-Made Orphan]]. Rozalin shamefully admits that she never met her father in person {{spoiler|and really the "father" was an old foe with a grudge who got off on the idea of the God of all Overlords being subservient to him, who was actually Rozalin in her past life. It's also implied that he killed her mother in his attack on the Snow Tribe that also claimed the lives of Yukimaru and Fubuki's parents.}} Tink's parents are never mentioned at all, but presumably aren't there as he seems to live with Rozalin instead.

*** According to the [[Updated Rerelease]]'s Axel Mode, it's very common for a demons to abandon their children. {{spoiler|Axel himself and the rest of his siblings are all revealed to be orphans and their mother actually adopted them.}}

** Danette's parents in ''[[Soul Nomad and The World Eaters]]'' were killed by Thurists. Gig has no parents, being a god, and Revya has no parents. In his/her ''past'' life, {{spoiler|his/her mother died 200 years and his/her father, Lord Median, is currently a zombie.}} {{spoiler|Tricia}}, Levin, and Euphoria were also orphaned at a young age. {{spoiler|It should be noted that Trish was eventually adopted for the purpose of being raped at the age of 17 (Whether or not this happens depends on which path you chose) and Levin and Euphoria were being used by the World Eater Raksha so that he could put his [[Evil Plan]] into action as his body couldn't move.}}

** In ''[[Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten]]'', {{spoiler|Fuka's mother died long ago and her father is always at work, though it turns out that her father was creating a little sister for her.}}

* It's easier to list which [[Nintendo]] characters actually ''have'' parents or explain the lack of them.

** [[Metroid|Samus Aran]] had parents that were murdered by Space Pirates when she was very young, and she was adopted by the Chozo. And it's strongly implied that the Chozo are now all extinct. This would make Samus an orphan ''twice over!''

** ''[[Fire Emblem]]'': Ike's {{spoiler|mother was killed by his father after he touched his wife's magical pendant that made him go berserk, and his father was killed by one of his former students in a duel in front of Ike.}} Then there's Soren, {{spoiler|whose father abandoned him because he couldn't turn into a dragon [[Half-Human Hybrid|like his mother]], and who befriended Ike and ultimately killed his father and later his grandfather (mother's side) as a result...}}

** [[Super Mario Bros.|Mario and Luigi]] have parents - Just don't expect to see them. [[Invisible Parents|Ever]].

* ''[[Devil May Cry]]''. Dante and Vergil's father, the uber-Devil Sparda who [[Defector From Decadence|awoke to justice]], has been missing since their early childhood and both are bitter about it. It's never explicitly stated what happened, but it is suggested that he was either killed or captured by the demons. Their mother Eva was killed some time later in a demonic attack on their house. Lady's mother was {{spoiler|killed by her father as part of a sacrifice, and later pays him back in turn.}}

** Nero was not only abandoned in Fortuna at an early age by his biological parents (who are dead now, kthx), his ''adoptive'' parents end up dying from a demonic attack in ''his'' early childhood. No protagonist is safe from this trope.

* From the makers of ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' we then get [[Ghost Trick]] wich goes all out in taking away poor Camila's parents in the cruelest ways imaginable. {{spoiler|However, thanks to the timeline-altering efforts of the two most loyal pets ever she ends up living happily ever after with both of them alive. Fans of [[Ace Attorney]] collectively cried tears of joy upon witnessing this unexpected outcome.}}

* Many fans of ''Zelda'' have expressed curiosity as to where Link's parents are during ''any'' of his adventures. This is perhaps most glaring in the original game in the series; since ''[[Zelda II: The Adventure of Link|Zelda II the Adventure of Link]]'' is stated to be taking place a couple years after the original game, and the game's manual clearly remarks that Link is now sixteen years old, one has to wonder how young he was the first time around.

** The original games also have your rival, Blue -- who is supposed to be Professor Oak's grandson, but appears to live with his ''sister''. Where did the Professor's son/daughter go?

** The player character's father is ''mentioned'' in Platinum, but only so that Mum can say that you're just like him. What happened to him is, as ever, not explained.

*** Your rival's father also appears as the Battle Tower Tycoon. He also brings up that fact that he and the player's father started their adventure in a similar manner to the player and their rival.

** A special event in the recent remakes of Gold and Silver actually shows you the very moment Silver's father, {{spoiler|Giovanni}}, abandoned him.

** Professor Birch of Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald is the father of one of your rivals (the player character you didn't choose, not Wally).

* The obscure platformer ''Scaler'' has the main character, a human boy [[Animorphism|transformed into a lizard]], who has decided to go by Scaler. He lives with his mom; his dad, a scientist, disappeared in the backstory; it's implied that he was sucked into the "reptile world" that Scaler now finds himself in. Naturally, he finds his father. {{spoiler|It's Leon, his [[Older Sidekick]].}}

* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in ''[[Earthbound]]''. Ness's parents are alive and present throughout the adventure, apparently pleased that their son is engaging in a potentially lethal quest to save the world. However, his father is never seen for the entirety of the game, only talking to Ness through phone conversations to save the game.

* To elaborate on the brief example for ''[[Fire Emblem Tellius]]'' listed above, aside from Ike, Mist, and Soren being parentless (well, Soren had both parents alive for some time, but unknowingly participated in the killing of his actual father, who had disowned him at birth)...

** Elincia had both her parents killed in the events starting Path of Radiance.

** Micaiah's parentage is unknown through most of Radiant Dawn, though she's understood to be an orphan of sorts. {{spoiler|Her true heritage, making her the true Apostle of Begnion, means she was forced to flee her family when the assassination was carried out against her grandmother, though presumably either her mother or father or both remained alive long enough to conceive Sanaki, her sister, and it was never explained why the Apostleship skipped a generation like that.}}

** There's actually implications that {{spoiler|she was not aware of her heritage as Apostle of Begnion. Micaiah is not the kind of person who would order the death of her own sister, even under threat of the Blood Pact. Due to Miacaih's [[Older Than They Look|age being unkown,]] there is a window of error for the events and how they unfold. There is actually more reason to theorize that she lost her memory, as that would explain her ignorance of her heritage as well as help accomodate Micaiah's aging.}}

** Jill is an inversion. She abandoned her father, a Daein General, to fight for the other side when she figured out that what he was doing was wrong. Doubly inverted in that Shiharam knew what he was doing was wrong, but had to fight for the good of the people of the Daein fiefdom that he ruled. Indeed, if Jill is made to fight her father, she'll turn into an Enemy unit.

* ''[[Animal Crossing]]'' inverts this trope. Your mom still writes to you.