Daddy Had a Good Reason For Abandoning You: Difference between revisions

* In the anime version of ''[[Angelic Layer]]'', Misaki's [[Missing Mom]] Shuko is revealed to have {{spoiler|been confined [[Ill Girl|to a wheelchair due to a neurological disease]], and she'd gone to Tokyo to do research on it to help look for a cure}} and hence hasn't seen her daughter for years. This is notably [[Pragmatic Adaptation|exclusive only to the anime]], while in the manga Shuko's excuse is that ''she's pathologically shy''. The manga explanation [[Moe|is cuter]], but the anime explanation makes more sense {{spoiler|[[Values Dissonance|considering Japan's treatment]] [[Disabled Means Helpless|of the disabled]]: Shuuko mentions that she doesn't want people to look down on Misaki for having "a useless mother"}}.

* Played mostly straight in ''[[Code Geass]]'' with Kallen Stadtfeld {{spoiler|and her birth mother, who is actually the incompetent family maid Miss Kouzuki. Kallen assumes her mother stayed on to continue to be her father's mistress, and [[Nice to the Waiter|treats her poorly]] and puts a sticker over her face on a family photo. Cue the [[Tear Jerker|dramatic moment]] when she discovers her mother actually remained out of love for Kallen, but didn't want to give away the fact Kallen is a [[But Not Too Foreign|half - "breed"]], and as her mother is jailed, she swears to make Miss Kouzuki her [[Morality Pet]], later taking the sticker out of the photo. Thank God, in the [[Grand Finale]] we see Miss Kouzuki free and in her path to recovery, living modestly but happily with a Kallen who's now back to Ashford Academy.}}

* In ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'', Fuu's father, {{spoiler|the Sunflower Samurai}}, has a very good excuse - {{spoiler|as a Christian in isolationist Japan, if he had stayed home, his entire family would be executed.}}

* In ''[[Naruto]]'', Naruto's father {{spoiler|Namikaze Minato,}} had [[Values Dissonance|what he believed was a good reason]]... {{spoiler|Sealing the Kyuubi inside of Naruto to protect Konoha with a [[Gambit Roulette]] against Uchiha Madara.}} Turns out that his mom is not only dead, but {{spoiler|[[Generation Xerox|was the ''previous'' Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails.]].}}

* In ''[[The Vision of Escaflowne]]'', [[Failure Knight]] Allen Schezar was ''badly'' traumatised by his sister's kidnapping and his mother's [[Death by Despair]], and hates his [[Disappeared Dad]] for leaving the family. {{spoiler|When he ''does'' have [[Calling the Old Man Out|a chance to call him out]], Allen finds out that Leon Schezar was ''[[Dead All Along]]'', having been murdered by [[The Empire]] because he didn't give them the information he had about the Dragonkin; Mrs. Schezar was depressed to death because she ''knew'' her husband was dead since the beginning. Allen then manages to posthumously forgive his dad, and later in the series he gets his still-alive but ''badly'' fucked up younger sister back. How badly messed up is she? It turns out that she was captured by Emperor Donkirk and turned over to his wizards, tranforming her into the [[Axe Crazy]] (and [[Gender Bender|male]]) Captain of the Dragonslayers; Dilandau.}}

* Played straight as an arrow in ''[[Mobile Suit Victory Gundam]]'' at least twice. Hangelg Ewin, the father of series protagonist Üso Ewin, was actually {{spoiler|Jinn Gehennam, the leader of [[La Résistance|the League Militaire]]}}. Likewise, Üso's mother, Mueller Miguel, {{spoiler|was also involved in League Militaire, in her case as a mobile suit engineer and spy}}. This rather neatly explains why Üso was practically left alone with his best friend Shakti Kareen, {{spoiler|whose own mother, Zanscare's Queen Maria Amonia, had abandoned her to Earth to protect her from Zanscare's rabid factionalism}}, to practically raise themselves during their early teenage years.

* In ''[[Pokémon Special]]'', Ruby has a deep resentment for his father, Norman, for leaving the family for five years. {{spoiler|In reality, a frenzied Salamence assaulted Ruby and Sapphire, and the injuries inflicted by Ruby caused it to careen into the Weather Institute. Norman covered it up and was disqualified from his gym leader certification trial as a result. The change in Ruby's behavior left bad blood between both of them. Norman gave Ruby the go-ahead with his Contest campaign after a prolonged battle at the ruined Weather Institute five years later (would have been a birthday gift if Ruby stuck around). Then Ruby found out the motives for Norman's actions. Dood...}}

* Gale, from ''[[Rave Master]]'' left his family when Haru was one in order to find the Rave stones, which is revealed fairly early on in the manga (or 15 years after he left. Why did no one tell Haru sooner?) This explanation alone is still unacceptable to Haru. When he actually meets Gale and learns that he left to find Rave in order to stop his [[Big Bad Friend]], the leader of Demon Card, Haru accepts him as a father.

* In [[The DCU]], the Persuader's father left her mother because she was abusive towards both him and the young Persuader herself. However, her threats to [[Wounded Gazelle Gambit|rough herself up and say he did it]] if he even thought about taking their daughter convinced him that leaving her with that monster was a better alternative to living on the run with him. They eventually get reunited in a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] before the Persuader's boss kills her father just for kicks.

* Cyclops of the [[X-Men]]: Daddy had been kidnapped by aliens, and was too busy being a [[Space Pirate]], growing a [[Badass Mustache|kickin' stache]] and seducing his [[Petting Zoo People|feline]] [[Pirate Girl|first mate]] to find his way back to Earth. Well, we said he had a good reason for ''abandoning'' you, not necessarily for staying away.

* [[Sinestro]] left his family to spare them from being associated with an intergalactic criminal.

* [[Batman]] does [[Inverted Trope|the exact opposite]]: rather than abandoning his adopted sons, he tends to be just enough of a [[Jerkass]] that they go away themselves. In his mind, it's for their own good—the less attached they are to him, the less painful it will be when he dies, and Batman knows that all it takes is one lucky shot to finish him off. So it's more like Daddy Had a Good Reason To Be An Ass, [[Fridge Brilliance|which makes perfect sense when you think about how he became Batman in the first place.]]

== Fanfiction ==

* In ''[http://percyjacksonfanfiction.wikia.com/wiki/Whispers_in_the_Dark Whispers in the Dark]'', a popular [[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]] fanfiction, Taylor is told that her father is dead only to find out that all this time, he's been alive and on Kronos' side. Somewhat justified in the fact that Luke didn't even know that he had a daughter until he saw Taylor and noticed that she had his [[Blue Eyes]].

* All too often handwaved in the "Adopted Hermione" subgenre of ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fanfic: Hermione learns that she's not only adopted, but "really" a Pureblood. In roughly nine such stories out of ten, no reason is ever given for her birthparents' relinquishing her—except possibly a vague assertion that it was "for her own protection".

 

* In the ''[[Warchild Series]]'', Captain Azarcon isn't around to raise his son Ryan (boy do people in fiction have tough parental issues with that name) because he's busy fighting a war against pirates and aliens.

* In ''[[Harry Potter]],'' Dean Thomas's father was an example of this. {{spoiler|He was asked to join the Death Eaters, but refused and ran away to protect his wife and baby son. He ended up getting killed.}} Dean never finds out about this.

* Five words - ''[[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]].''

** Which includes its sequel series, [[The Heroes of Olympus]].

* The ''[[Knight Rider]]'' remake has the character from the original show giving his son an [[It's Not You, It's My Enemies]] excuse for not being around.

* Played with on ''[[Brothers and Sisters]]''. {{spoiler|Adulterer-patriarch William sired a bastard son with a married woman. The boy, Ryan, doesn't know this until both of his bio parents are dead. William couldn't be part of his life because both he and Ryan's mother were married to other people and weren't willing to destroy their marriages for the sake of their son.}} Here it's not really even a justification, but rather an explanation. Everyone still thinks William is a dick after this is revealed.

* In ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'', Sarah Jane's parents abandoned her to [[Heroic Sacrifice|kill themselves by car crash, fixing the]] [[Timey-Wimey Ball]] and saving the world from being devastated by aliens.

** Likewise Rose's dad, on ''[[Doctor Who]]''.

*** {{spoiler|Further along the plotline, the initial reason she left them was to bring the guy ''back'' to the CIA, since he was the initial Intersect, that had failed.}}

* Done very sympathetically on an episode of ''[[Lie to Me (TV series)|Lie to Me]]'' where the team investigates a congressman who has spent 80 grand on a prostitute. However, they find out that he's never had sex with her, and was giving her the money to get her out of that business. She doesn't know that he's her father, and he is portrayed as someone who gave up his child for adoption but regretted it. The fact that he has no hesitation to sacrifice his reputation and political career in order to protect her from the scandal counts a lot toward making him so sympathetic.

* The episode "Family" on ''[[Cold Case]]'' {{spoiler|the girl's father was killed the night she was born and her mother, who was distraught over what she thought was dad's abandonment, also abandoned the girl.}}

** And the episodes "The Thin Blue Line" and "Into The Blue" reveal that Lily's dad abandoned her because {{spoiler|he was a recovering alcoholic and felt that his staying married to Lily's mom (also an alcoholic and refused to get sober) would jeopardize his sobriety. Lily's mom threw him out and refused to allow him to have contact with her or her sister}}.

* Averted in [[The Movie]] of ''[[Black Hole High]]'' when {{spoiler|Avenir}} tries to pull this on Josie. {{spoiler|It doesn't work.}}

* Used in season three of ''[[Gossip Girl]]'' when {{spoiler|Chuck Bass' supposedly dead}} mother shows up. Serena desperately wants to believe that her reason for leaving would play into this trope, since that would make Serena feel less horrid about having been abandoned by her own father. {{spoiler|Chuck's maybe-mama}} crushes Serena's hopes and fantasies however by simply explaining "I didn't want to have a kid and I never regretted giving my child up."

* ''[[Married... with Children|Married With Children]]'': Seven's folks stick the Bundys with the kid, but for a good reason: They felt Al/Peggy would be better parents. Of course, he ended up on the side of a milk carton, so...

 

== Music ==

 

{{quote|And he said, "Son, this world is rough/and if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough/and I knew I wouldn't be there to help you along..."}}

 

== Videogames ==

 

* In ''Growlanser III'', one of your party members had a father who disappeared one day; being half human and half Featherian, this lead to some [[Fantastic Racism]] among her relatives. (You eventually learn that the [[Big Bad]] killed him.)

* Subverted in ''[[Disgaea]] 2'' with Adell's parents. They left to defeat fake Overlord Zenon and failed. The subversion is in how they intended to return (assuming they won).

* In ''[[Trace Memory]]'', Ashley's father left her with her aunt to pursue research on memory to find out about his wife's death.

* ''[[Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time|Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Echoes of Time]]'' has an unusual case, in that they actually DIDN'T have a good reason, as far as we know. However it's pointed out multiple times that, had you not been abandoned, it would certainly mean [[The End of the World as We Know It]].

* ''[[SaGa 2|Final Fantasy Legend II]]'' opens with a scene where your father is last seen leaving through your bedroom window. Throughout the game, you wind up bumping into him repeatedly, finding out he's trying to save the universe just like you are. (And you try to convince him to come home more often.)

* In ''[[Xenogears]]'', Jessie claims to have a justifiable reason for abandoning his wife and children. In the game itself, the trope is subverted, as the explanation is not very thorough and the player is left with the impression that he's making excuses. After reading the explanation given in [[All There in the Manual|Perfect Works]], though, it becomes clear that he had to leave in order to protect them and the trope is played straight.

** {{spoiler|The reason Kratos abandoned Lloyd was because he saw him, Noishe, and the monster version of his wife fall over a cliff, and after fending off the nearby Desians, found nothing but half-eaten corpses at the bottom. He thought they had died.}}

** Genis and Raine got abandoned because {{spoiler|Raine was so intelligent, the Imperial Research Academy wanted to kidnap her and keep her imprisoned with other half-elves to work on science projects for them. Their parents sent them through a magical portal to the "mythical land" of Sylvarant, where they hoped the children would be safe from [[Fantastic Racism]]. They had no way of knowing that Sylvarant was poor and mana-starved, and suffered from just as much racism as Tethe'alla...}}

* In ''[[Quest for Glory IV]]'', the Burgomeister's grandfather disappeared shortly before he was to marry the Burgomeister's grandmother, leaving her alone and pregnant. This resulted in the child and grandchild becoming rather bitter individuals. When playing as a paladin, you end up finding the grandfather's sword in a wraith's barrow, proving that his abandonment was not intentional - Piotyr had been killed before the wedding.

* ''[[Legend of Dragoon]]''. One would think that being possessed by the spirit of a near-12,000 year old megalomaniacal Wingly dictator and forced to set off a series of events that would lead to [[The End of the World as We Know It]] is a good reason for [[Parental Abandonment]].

== Visual Novels ==

* In the backstory of ''[[Fate/stay night]]'', {{spoiler|Kiritsugu}} had very good reasons for abandoning his Ilya. It's also not completely his choice: {{spoiler|his father-in-law got ''really pissed off'' that he destroyed the Holy Grail in the Fourth War, and forcibly cut off all contact between him and his daughter. All of his efforts to retrieve her failed, and he eventually dies a broken man, his only comfort his adopted son Shirou.}} It's not completely clear how much Ilya knows about his motivations - the Ilya path which would have focused on her was cut out of the final game, but she's still a lot less naive than she appears - but she angrily spent the ten years after he left plotting revenge. {{spoiler|Irritatingly, Kiritsugu was ''dead'' by the time of the Fifth War, so she focuses her attentions on the adopted Shirou, whom she hates for getting Kiritsugu in her stead. Shirou, though, being the involuntary [[Chick Magnet]] that he is, turns out to actually be pretty likeable once they actually meet properly, which deflects her motivations from "torture him for the remainder of his natural life" to "be rather friendly and spend time with him in the park". This is not good news for Shirou though, as Ilya tends to make people she likes into her "Servants"; which generally involves sticking their souls into inanimate dolls so ''they can never ever leave her''. Ever.}}

* In ''[[Ever 17]]'', {{spoiler|Tsugumi}} had a good reason for abandoning her son and daughter: if she didn't, they'd be captured and researched upon in the hopes of finding a way to immortality, or at the very least would never be able to attend school or have friends due to constantly being on the run. It didn't really work out, but they ''did'' get more normal lives out of it. Oddly enough, she's the only one who really has a problem over it. The kids don't care in the slightest.

** Their father also had a good reason, namely {{spoiler|doing a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to save their mother and spending several years [[Human Popsicle|in cryostasis]] after that.}}

== Western Animation ==

 

** Also, we're led to believe Nelson's father abandoned him. Turns out his peanut allergy caused circus dwellers to kidnap him and use him as an attraction. Thanks to Simpsons' negative continuity, he is never refered again.

* On ''[[Futurama]],'' Leela grew up thinking she was a one-eyed alien, when in reality she was an unusually normal-looking human mutant. Realizing she could [[Pass Fail|pass for "normal,"]] her parents had abandoned her at an Orphanarium when she was a baby with a note in an alien language, allowing her to live on the surface rather than as a second-class citizen in the sewers. When they reunite years later and this is revealed it's quite the [[Tear Jerker]].

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Parental Issues]]