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'''[[Superman|Clark Kent]]:''' I'm ''not'' his father!|''[[Young Justice (animation)|Young Justice]]'', "Schooled"}}
 
A trope common to [[Science Fiction]] or [[Horror]], in which a victim finds their genes, DNA, soul, or "essence" taken or copied without their permission, resulting in an offspring which is either unnatural or unwanted--orunwanted—or ''both''. This being could be a [[Cloning Blues|Clone]], [[Humanoid Abomination]], or a [[Designer Babies|Designer Baby]] created by a [[Stalker with a Test Tube]]. Sometimes, the villainous party may take what they want from the character's ''real'' offspring instead, twisting it with [[Body Horror]], [[Demonic Possession]] or [[The Corruption]], prompting the parent to now consider it a different entity entirely and deny any kinship. In any case, the clear message is that the parent DOES NOT WANT.
 
Things can get even [[Squick|Squickier]]ier if the "offspring" is a full-size, adult clone. Many people in real life have identical twins, so most would consider a copy that's close to their age (or even older) a "sibling" rather than a "child"... although that's moot if this trope is played straight, of course.
 
This can become the progeny's source of angst or their [[Freudian Excuse]] for turning evil. For this trope to be in effect, it has to be clear that the "child" is considered a new creation outside of the "parent's" control (i.e., rape, cloning, or some sort of freak accident). If the parent willfully mated, cloned themselves, or did [[For Science!|brutal experiments]] on their own child, only to disown them later, that is a different matter.
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** Ironically, Cable himself is the son of Madelyne Pryor, aka "The Goblin Queen", the [[Evil Twin|Evil Clone]] of Jean Grey. She handled it better.
*** Considering her husband/his father abandoned him in Alaska to explore his feelings for her, it's the least she could do.
* Averted with [[Superboy]] in the comics, whom [[Superman]] intially accepts as a buddy, and then as a cousin--butcousin—but never as a ''son''. (Although an in-universe newspaper article written after Superboy came [[Back From the Dead]] states that Superman felt Superboy's death was "like losing a son".) Even [[Lex Luthor]], who created the boy and donated the other half of the DNA, considered him a son... [[I Have No Son|at first]].
* Averted with [[Batman]] and Damien Wayne, the [[Legacy Character|fifth Robin]], who may or may not have been the result of a [[Stalker with a Test Tube]].
* Played with between [[Spider-Man]] and his clone, Ben Reilly. The two eventually resolve their differences and come to see one-another as brothers... even if half the time they aren't even sure who the original is.
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* This is [[Superman]]'s reaction to [[Superboy]] in ''[[Young Justice (animation)|Young Justice]].''
** Though he's at least nicer than most examples of this trope--sotrope—so far he has never blamed Superboy or considered him a "thing," but he also clearly doesn't want to consider him his child (see page quote). He's also rationalized this as a way to avoid giving Superboy [[Cloning Blues]], claiming that it would be better if [[Batman]] or someone took on a mentoring role instead.
* In ''[[Gargoyles]]'', Xanatos created a clone of Goliath, who reacted in disgust, calling him a "thing" and an "abomination". Elisa immediately pointed out that "[[Sdrawkcab Name|Thailog]]" could be considered his son, and Goliath reluctantly agrees they should help free him from Sevarius. Unfortunately, Thailog had already learned [[Xanatos Gambit|a few tricks]] from his [[The Chessmaster|other]] [[Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate|daddies]]...
** Which actually makes this an [[Inverted Trope|inversion]]--it—it really only takes Goliath about a minute or two to accept Thailog as a son, but Thailog refuses to accept Goliath as a ''parent,'' claiming he's too weak for him to admire. He rejects Xanatos and Sevarius too, but that's more because his own ambitions oppose theirs.
 
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