A Celebration of Fiction’s Unintentionally Horrible Fathers

fable eff a good bad dad . Not a father with nuance , but a father that unknowingly makes their minor ’s life miserable by give them a very specific plot function , whether that be literal ( he ’s been kidnapped ! ) or psychological ( he ’s never going to approve of you ! ) . These pappa jazz their small fry , but they ’re also terrible multitude .

And we ’ve lay them all out here ! Be cognisant that these are fathers who ruin things in more subtle ways than being outrightly physically and verbally abusive . These daddy do n’t specifically mean to be horrible — but that does n’t make thing easier on their poor kids .

The Dead Dad

The best unintentional awful father is the dead father . Why ? Because a dead father is n’t a character at all , he ’s a plot of ground machine . He ’ll provide his nipper an heritage irrespective of the burden it may put on them . Or an unfinished slap-up work for them to discharge . Or a bane . Yeah , beat dads always seem to have people who hate them who carry that hatred against the child , too .

If it ’s just the daddy who ’s dead , then the ill-fated last mother will get a lot of “ this would n’t hap if dad were around . ” If it ’s both parents who are dead , the fibre is potential to only manage about the portion of one of them . ( Caring about both parent is too intemperate , I guess . )

The dead dada does n’t mean to ruin their kid ’s sprightliness , but they still handle to take it over , even though they ’re not there . It ’s so easy to excuse anything a case needs to have for plot function by saying “ dead dad did it ” that it happens way too much .

Argentina’s President Javier Milei (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., holding a chainsaw in a photo posted to Kennedy’s X account on May 27. 2025.

The most gross example in my mind is actually the horrible Jem and the Holograms movie , where the titulary character reference and her sister live on with her auntie because their father die . Oh , what about their mum ? No cue . Also , he will something behind for Jem ( … just Jem , not Jem and her sister ) and Jem is obsessed with it . He hits moderately much every one of these tropes .

The Criminally Unaware Dad

If you ’ve suffer a floor where a kid is have amazing adventures and the dad ’s not stagnant or criminally fussy , then the only explanation for the kid getting away with things is that the begetter just . Does n’t . Notice .

It ’s always frustrating because these papa are portrayed as generally awesome , but the fact that they ’ve make out to miss that their kid is fighting ogre or betray around in a spandex lawsuit does make you question how competent they are . Because I retrieve being a kid and I suffer nothing past my parents . Nothing . And I get that maybe I was a bad liar , but still : how are any if these tiddler still hiding things from the people they survive with ?

The Comedy Dad

If I could eliminate one funniness image from the hands of bad writers , it would be the clowning daddy . The dad who tells embarrassing level , the dad who tries to be “ with it ” by using “ hip ” lingo , the dad who usher up at school day to yell “ Just picked up your medication for this individual condition ! ” Once in a while , sure , a papa will not agnise he ’s stymie his tiddler . But the dad who does literally nothing else ? Do n’t even have the character then .

I ’m looking at you , parents from the Transformers film .

The Workaholic Dad

Or , you may be apologise the things you do n’t notice by simply not being around . They do n’t mean to hurt their kids , they just have things to do . And , in some cases , what they have to do is work really hard to provide for their child . Or they ’re the ones working on something that will make unnecessary the human race . Or , you know , they ’re a supervillain . Supervillains do it their Thomas Kyd , too . ( And I name Norman Osborn as the patron holy man of the sorry dad . )

The rank sign you ’re lot with one of these ? If the tike asks them to be there for just this one thing — graduation , marriage ceremony , execution — and they do n’t make it . Or , they show up , but go forth halfway through with a cellphone to the ear . They may as well impart behind a sign that say “ everything is more important than you , son ! ”

On the scale of unintentionally bad dads , the workaholic is right in the middle in awfulness . There is no grounds they should n’t lie with that they ’re hurting their fry , but they ’re not actively trying to turn out emotionally stunt and/or needy kids .

William Duplessie

Hey ! Want to absolutely make your tiddler unhinged while conceive you ’re guarantee their legacy ? Well , then spend every waken moment talking about how they have to do well in school , marry the right individual , stay away from scandal , and just by and large be perfect in exactly the same way that pa was . Because dad has pick a successor , regardless of the small fry ’s actual temperament or attainment .

Again , they require what ’s serious for the household , so they ’re kind of blind to the fact that this is hilariously awful parenting . Bonus points if the dada ’s take root on the oldest / male - est child , even though they have another tike that in reality wants the problem . Another set of fillip points if the founding father pock the kids against each other to decide who is most worthy . ( Go watch out The Lion in Winter or Empire , for that issue . )

The Never-Pleased Dad

The Forbidding Dad

Again , this a father who want what ’s best for a baby but has a very specific view of what that is . Do n’t waste your prison term on music , please enjoy this maths problem rather . Stop reading fantasy book and get to work . No vocalizing , only basketball !

appear , just letting a kid do whatever all they desire all the time is bad , yeah , but this dad survive solely for the purpose of being finally demonstrate wrong . He ’s a walking example , not a pa .