Conveniently an Orphan: Difference between revisions

Often used as character backgrounds in tabletop adventures: Such a character's background often consists of "My parents were killed by (insert [[Always Chaotic Evil]] race here), so he's out for revenge". Aside from conveniently leaving no 'annoying' ties to the past to keep the character away from the [[Call to Adventure]], it can also result in a [[You Killed My Father]] moment should the villain race (or the [[Big Bad]] if he's responsible) appear.

 

 

Oddly enough, family outside of parents is never mentioned. Apparently [[World of No Grandparents|no one ever has grandparents]] or cousins, although having an uncle (and sometimes aunt) as surrogate parents is a common mythological motif. Siblings seem to only show up for plot-based reasons -- and not [[Promotion to Parent]], which would give them responsibilities. One wonders how the world manages to get populated when every couple only has one child. Surrogate parents show up more regularly in the form of [[Raised By Natives]], they [[Death By Origin Story|tend to]] [[Friendly Target|die a lot]] too.

Not to be confused with [[Self Made Orphan]].

 

 

== Anime ==

** Azmaria's parents either abandoned her because of her powers, or were killed during the war, depending on which version you're following.

** Satella's parents were killed by a demon when she was a child. Her sister was also kidnapped by the demon--leading her on a journey similar to Rosette's. However, since her parents' deaths ''are'' such a turning point for Satella in her backstory, she leans closer to [[Orphans Ordeal]] instead.

** And the status of the parents of Lina's later allies in the novels (Luke and Milina) is unknown.

* 80% of all characters in ''[[G Gundam]]'' are orphans, major and minor characters, and a few of them have only one parent. The rest are undetermined. For many of them, this plays a role in why they became Gundam Fighters.

* At one point in ''[[Hellsing]]'', during the [[Action Film Quiet Drama Scene|Quiet Drama Scene]], while discussing Seras' progress Alucard asks Walter how they covered up her death and how her family is taking it. When Walter replies that she has none and is an orphan, Alucard sardonically replies "Of ''course'' she is". However, since Seras was already an adult by the time she died, the circumstances and consequences of her parents' deaths turns out to be a major part of her character and the series veering into [[Crapsack World]] territory and running on [[Black and Grey Morality]], it's a justified trope.

* Son Goku of ''[[Dragonball]]''. Some time before the series began, he accidentally killed his adoptive grandfather after transforming into a giant were-ape. As for blood relatives, ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' reveals {{spoiler|that pretty much his entire ''race'' were wiped out along with their home planet}}.

* In ''[[Pokémon Special]]'', Red is the only Dex Holder to have no family even alluded to, leaving him free to travel the world where ever and whenever he wants.

* ''[[Gunslinger Girl]]''. Done plausibly as the Social Welfare Agency only selects girls for its secret killer cyborg program who don't have extended families who'll be concerned about them. As a victim of child sex trafficking, Triela's background is unknown even to the Agency. Henrietta's entire family was murdered and Angelica's parents are in prison. Petra's family are too poor to travel from Russian to see their daughter -- which is just as well as her appearance has been altered completely. Presumably the occasional forged letter is sent back. As Rico is one of the few cyborgs who retains memories of her previous life, the occasional visit from her estranged parents is no doubt enough to reassure them that their [[Ill Girl]] is receiving the best of care; the Agency would have no trouble getting Rico to play along.

** The Plutonian was also abandoned by his subsequent foster parents, after he accidentally crippled their biological son. They even devoted themselves to ''never speak again'' just so he wouldn't pick up their voices by superhearing.

* [[Tom Strong (Comic Book)|Tom Strong]]. Orphaned at around age 8, after being raised in a gravity chamber by his parents.

 

== Film ==

** His ''mother'' left before he was born.

*** Lampshaded/mentioned in Unseen Academicals when only people with a note from their mother are excused from playing football. Rincewind asks the Arch-Chancellor for permission to go ask his mother for such a note. "I thought you said you didn't have a mother." [beat] "Permission to go find her, Arch-Chancellor?"

* In the Replica series, Nancy Candler is an orphan with no living relatives, making it easy for her to pass off an adopted genetically altered clone as her biological daughter without anyone raising eyebrows.

* The title character in ''[[James and The Giant Peach]]'' was orphaned at a young age, and is being raised by his two evil aunts until they get squashed by the peach.

** Actually, Moses biological parents weren't only alive when they cast him off, his mom wound up becoming his nurse, so they raised him too.

* [[Doc Savage]] lost his father in his very first adventure, The Man of Bronze, and his mother had died at some point prior to that. Which begs the question, if you're full grown when your parents die, are you still an orphan?

* The protagonist in Holiday Wars is one, which can be seen [http://www.holiday-wars.com/blog/2010/07/26/episode-11/ in this episode.]

* Characters from [http://www.goldcoincomics.com Gold Coin Comics], such as Lance and Theo.

* Hanna of [[Hanna Is Not a Boys Name]] never mentions his family, but it's implied that he has no immediate relatives in the city.

* [[The Dreamland Chronicles]]: [http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/the-dreamland-chronicles/chapter-05/page-284/ Felicity lightly mentions that she was orphaned.]

[[Category:Orphaned Index]]

[[Category:Conveniently An Orphan]]