History Main / BreakingTheCycleOfBadParenting

* Downplayed in ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' with [[Characters/TheOwlHouseAmityBlight Amity Blight]] (since she isn't a parent yet). She has a difficult relationship with both of her parents, [[spoiler:with her mother being a ControlFreak that dictates everything about her life down to the color and style of her hair, while her father (while nowhere near as bad and vastly improving in the tail end of the series) enables his wife's abuse and is at best emotionally absent]]. On the other hand, Amity herself is shown to be a FriendToAllChildren who regularly volunteers at the local library to read to kids.

* {{ComicBook/Emma Frost}} confessed in ''{{ComicBook/Warsong}}'' she tried to teach her daughters/clones, the Stepford Cuckoos, to survive in this world the same way her father taught her, which was to be cold and uncaring, but realises that this is not the best way and wants to encourage them to accept their feelings instead.
* ''ComicBook/GreenArrow'': Roy Harper to Oliver Queen. While Ollie does care for his ward, he was shown as neglectful and unable to notice Roy's drug addiction. And when he did, he disowned Roy. In contrast, Roy did everything he could for his daughter Lian, even though he was a single parent and did make mistakes.
* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': Bruce Banner had a horribly abusive father, so both he and Hulk (in one of those instances where both personas agree on something) try to be a kind and caring father to their son Skaar.
* ''ComicBook/{{Venom}}'' has Eddie Brock, whose father is emotionally and physically abusive. When Eddie learns he has a son, one who grew up under Eddie's father thinking that Eddie was his brother, he tries to damnedest to not continue the abuse, though his life as Venom makes this difficult at times.
* ComicBook/WallyWest's parents weren't the best. Their treatment of him ranged from emotionally to physically abusive, with a dose of manipulation when he became an adult. It got to the point that Wally, as a kid, would cherish his summer visits to his aunt Iris because it got him away from his parents. Once Wally became a father with twins, he was shown to be very loving and protective of them. He was even willing to confront the entire Justice League when he thought they were going to take them away.

* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/series/273834 The Naekawa Project]]'' has [[spoiler:[[Characters/DanganronpaTokoFukawa Toko Fukawa]] becoming a good mother to her children, recalling how bad her childhood was under her father and two mothers, and thus swearing to never be like them, and given that her children utterly adore her, she's succeeded, a big part of her [[EarnYourHappyEnding happy ending]] with Makoto]].

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Fire Lord Ozai was a pretty horrible father. His "love" was conditional, he turned Azula into a sadistic, manipulative {{Child Soldier|s}}, and he ''burned his son's face'' for "disrespecting him". While Azula doesn't get a happy ending, Zuko ends the series taking his father's place as Fire Lord. In a way, he's this trope in two ways: as a ruler, he strives to undo the damage the Fire Nation has done to the world and be a more benevolent leader. When he becomes a father in the sequel, his daughter Izumi is a stable, capable adult who rules her nation benevolently, showing that Zuko raised her far better than he was raised. Izumi also seems to have raised her children well, although her daughter was cut out of the show because of time constraints.
* ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'': Bob and Linda did not come from the best families. Bob's father was well-meaning, but distant, controlling, and cold, leaving their relationship strained well into his adulthood; Linda's mother is selfish and emotionally abusive towards Linda, with a father that won't stand up for his daughters against her. In heavy contrast to them, Bob and Linda are loving, self-sacrificing, ever-present, open-minded, and supportive to their children. Bob is doing it consciously, as he lampshades he tries to do better for his kids than his father did for him; Linda, however, does this unconsciously as she doesn't realize that her family is awful despite Bob's warnings.

** Cotton was emotionally abusive to Hank which led him to repress most emotions. Hank tries to be a better father to Bobby, but Bobby is a very different person than Hank, and Hank ends up being somewhat abusive in his attempts to help him. While he does give genuinely good advice and loves his son, he has to [[AesopAmnesia relearn the same lesson]] (that accepting Bobby for who he is leads to a better outcome than trying to change him) multiple times a season. Hank once expressed worry that he is a bad father to Cotton who responded with this gem:

** Attempted by Toph: in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Toph was raised by extremely overprotective parents who had great difficulty in believing their blind daughter could handle herself, much less aid in ending a century-long war. So she raised her own daughters, Lin and Suyin, with a lot more freedom. Unfortunately, Toph's hands-off parenting style led to Lin and Suyin feeling like Toph didn't care for them and like they had to compete for their mother's affection. As a result, Lin became a humorless ByTheBookCop in an attempt to get Toph's affection by following in her footsteps, while Suyin became a criminal as a teenager as a rejection of her mother before leaving and founding her own city elsewhere. The two of them stopped speaking to each other when Lin was about 20 and Suyin was 14, and did not make peace with each other until thirty years later.

* Downplayed in ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' with Amity (since she isn't a parent yet). She has a difficult relationship with both of her parents, [[spoiler:with her mother being a ControlFreak that dictates everything about her life down to the color and style of her hair, while her father (while nowhere near as bad and vastly improving in the tail end of the series) enables his wife's abuse and is at best emotionally absent]]. On the other hand, Amity herself is shown to be a FriendToAllChildren who regularly volunteers at the local library to read to kids.
* [[MadScientist Dr. Doofenshmirtz]] from ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' had AbusiveParents who [[HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood put him through all sorts of comical abuse]], and he was eventually disowned by them and [[RaisedByWolves raised by a family of ocelots]]. Doofenshmirtz himself, on the other hand, is over-protective, if anything, to his daughter Vanessa, finding her one of the few things he loves outside of his evil schemes.
* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': [[spoiler:Adora and Catra both suffered under Shadow Weaver's [[AbusiveParents abuse, and she was the closest thing they had to a mother]]. According to a post-finale charity stream, when they have their own child, Finn, they do their best to make sure that they know that they're loved and have the childhood that the two of them were deprived of]].

** Despite Homer's many failures as a parent, several episodes show that he's actually striving to do this with his kids after a childhood of ParentalNeglect and verbal abuse at the hands of Abe. He slides between repeating Abe's mistakes and overcompensating upon [[JerkassRealization realizing he's done this]]. (For his own part, Abe [[TookALevelInKindness has softened up a bit over the years]] and gotten somewhat closer to Homer despite their sparring, even forming a bond with Bart.)

** In the episode "Moanin' Lisa", Marge gives a depressed Lisa the same advice her mother gave her: to repress her feelings and become a StepfordSmiler so that people will like her. However, upon seeing how this works out in practice, with others treating Lisa like a doormat, she immediately repents her actions, telling her it's okay for her to feel her emotions and her family will ride them out with her.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': During ''[[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture Future]]'', Greg was revealed to have lived with controlling and emotionally abusive parents and sought to be a fun and hands-free dad who let Steven have freedom. However, his actions serve as a {{Deconstruction}}, showing [[HardTruthAesop how doing this trope isn't inherently a good thing]]. [[spoiler:His rather loose manner of raising Steven in which he basically left Steven to his own devices and encouraged his freedom is revealed in "Mr. Universe" to be a result of him fighting back against the controlling environment he grew up in under his own. Unfortunately, this causes a whole new set of problems for Steven by then, as it led to Steven having a very atypical childhood. Due to the trauma that came from that time and his desire to have some kind of direction in his life, Steven ends up losing all respect for Greg after he finds out about how Greg ran away from his comparatively mundane home.]] Overall, while Greg meant well and desired to be a better parent than his own, he lacked the knowledge of how to properly raise his son and swung too far in the other direction from his parents. [[spoiler:This [[LaserGuidedKarma eventually bites Greg in the ass]] when his lackluster parenting contributed to Steven turning into a corrupted Gem monster, with Greg lamenting how he failed Steven as a father by not being there when he needed him most. He then [[TiredOfRunning resolves to make things right]] by joining in the massive group hug that turns Steven back into himself]].

** On the subject of Luanne, her parents put Peggy's and Hank's to shame! Luanne's mother, Leanne, is a violent drunk that stabbed her husband Hoyt in a fit of rage that eventually lead to the two divorcing. Hyot, himself, is a two strike (now three strike) felon that is willing to try and have his own daughter be put in prison in place of him. As one college woman said in a previous episode, it's a miracle Luanne didn't end up a felon herself. Much later when Luanne and Lucky have thier daughter Gracie, they both do their best to raise her. Luanne isn't the [[DumbBlonde brightest tool in the shed]] and Lucky is pretty much [[TheSlacker an overall lazy man]], but the two clearly love and care for their daughter.

* ComicBook/WallyWest's parents weren't the best. Their treatment of him ranged from emotionally to physically abusive, with a dose of manipulation when he became an adult. It got to the point that Wally, as a kid, would cherish his summer visits to his aunt Iris because it got him away from his parents. Once Wally became a father with twins, he was shown to be very loving and protective of them. He was even willing to confront the entire Justice League when he thought they were going to take them away.

* [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]] had a horribly abusive father, so both he and Hulk (in one of those instances where both personas agree on something) try to be a kind and caring father to their son Skaar.

* {{ComicBook/Emma Frost}} confessed in ''{{ComicBook/Warsong}}'' she tried to teach her daughters/clones, the Stepford Cuckoos, to survive in this world the same way her father taught her, which was to be cold and uncaring, but realises that this is not the best way and wants to encourage them to accept their feelings instead.

* ''FanFic/HowTheLightGetsIn'': Dean's mother was murdered before she could be much of a mother, and his father then became a vengeance-driven and emotionally abusive man. Laurel's parents both [[ParentalFavoritism preferred Sara to her]], were emotionally abusive (her father could get downright cruel when he was drunk), and her mother [[spoiler:kept some ''very'' vital secrets from her]]. They have both sworn to be better parents for their daughter, and have succeeded admirably.

* In ''Fanfic/LanSizhuiSeesDeadPeople,'' Wei Wuxian avoids the Parental Abandonment he suffered as a child by staying behind as a ghost to help raise Lan Yuan. Lan Wangji, in spite of his mother's death and father's neglect, makes sure to maintain an active role in Lan Yuan's upbringing and to be open in his affection for him.

* In Michael’s segment of the ''ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse'' fanfiction ''The Unauthorized Litographies Of The Patterson Family'', he looks at himself in the mirror one day after shooing his children away from his study and sees that he has the same scared and cheated expression his mother Elly wore often. After looking at various photo albums and thinking about his childhood, Michael realizes he's become his emotionally abusive, neglectful, and perpetually unhappy mother. [[spoiler:he goes to family therapy with Deanna and the kids and becomes a better father after that.]]
** Side stories imply that Elizabeth is also working to be a better parent to her son James [[spoiler:especially after divorcing Anthony.]]
* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/42777099 Breaking the Cycle]]'' has a three generation variant. Jotaro Kujo's father Sadao had been practically absent from his son's life, so much that Jotaro's daughter Jolyne only knew him from her grandmother's wedding picture and the rather negative reception from her dad and her great-grandfather Joseph. She and her girlfriend Hermes figure that Sadao's neglect [[ParentsAsPeople is why Jotaro isn't the most effective parent]]. Hermes also notes that Jolyne is working to break this cycle in regard to [[LikeASonToMe Emporio]], such as putting a lot of thought in finding the perfect present for his first birthday outside of Green Dolphin Prison, regardless that Emporio would enjoy any gift he gets from her.

* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:

** In ''Endgame,'' it also turns out that Howard's father was even more abusive, and while Howard may have subjected Tony to some emotional abuse, he was never that bad. Howard tried to invoke this trope but unfortunately wasn't able to.

* ''Film/TheIronClaw'': Kevin eventually decides to be a more present and emotionally available father to his sons than his father Fritz had ever been to him and his brothers.

* Mentioned in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles.'' At one point, Harry helps a woman realize that her child is being abused, and Uriel confirms that she will take her child and get out of there, breaking a cycle of abuse a couple centuries old. Harry, being the HumbleHero he is, [[ButForMeItWasTuesday barely even remembered doing it]].

--> I never thought that I’d see the day when I sang Quentin Sawyer’s praises, but compared to his father Grady, Quent’s a SAINT! I mean, Quent’s mean, but he works hard, makes a decent living for his family, and he doesn’t hit your mother- leastways, not as I could ever tell. But your Grampaw Grady? *Phew!* Now THERE was a mean old man! I remember back in Middle School, he never missed a chance to humiliate Quent in front of the other kids. He wasn’t ever quite drunk, but he always had a beer or two under his belt. Never spent a penny on his family that he didn’t absolutely have to. And he put Quent and his sister in the hospital a couple of times that I’m sure of.\\
“If Quent has a single redeeming trait, it’s that he’s not as bad as his father was. And I shudder to think of what Grady’s father was probably like. But Quent never really managed to get out from under his father’s thumb. The old man’s been dead for twelve years now and on some level, Quent’s still trying to please the old rip.

* ''{{Series/Bones}}'': Seeley Booth was abided by his alcoholic father for years until his grandfather rescued him. Hank seems to have raised him well, as Booth is like him rather than his birth father, a loving father who would do anything for his kids and they love him.

--->'''Judy:''' Do you know what it's like to grow up with someone who is [[{{ObliviousToTheirOwnDescription}} critical of every single thing you say?]]\\

'''Judy:''' It's a wonder your mother turned out to be the [[{{BlatantLies}} positive, life-affirming person she is.]]\\

* ''Series/MamasFamily''

* "I Have a Right" by Music/SonataArctica:
-->Father, there's a little flower\\
Beautiful and different, all alone, all alone\\
Is it so, Dad? I'm not supposed to\\
Make the world anew, and be like you? Am I you?\\
[...]\\
You made it clear right from the start\\
I am to take your sour heart within, one sad day\\
But I will never teach my son\\
Embittered history, tried and true, 'cause I'm not you!

* "Family Tree" by Matthew West:
-->Are you gonna be like your father was and his father was?\\
Do you have to carry what they've handed down?\\
No, this is not your legacy\\
This is not your destiny\\
Yesterday does not define you\\
No, this is not your legacy\\
This is not your meant to be\\
I can break the chains that bind you

* John Marston from ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' and its {{Prequel}} ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'' rarely talks about his long-dead biological father but makes clear that he wasn't a good parent. He was a pimp who got blinded in a bar fight and died from the complications, leaving John to grow up in an orphanage and then join a gang. John certainly has his issues as a parent (at least at the start) but is determined to give his son, Jack, a better life than he did and ultimately succeeds in doing it, including [[spoiler:[[HeroicSacrifice giving his own life]] so Jack can be free of his (John's) past]].
* ''VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus'' introduced Rip Blazkowicz, B.J.'s {{abusive|parents}} father. A man who made his son's life a living hell by wanting him to become the same racist and misogynistic bag of crap like him and [[spoiler:who sold his wife to the Nazis by the time the game took place]]. B.J., whose partner was expecting twins as revealed at the beginning of the game, said that he could expect to die and would be a better parent than him. Come ''VideoGame/WolfensteinYoungblood'', and B.J.'s twin daughters, Jess and Soph, who hold their father in high regard, are introduced.
* Ultimately subverted in ''[[VideoGame/{{LISA}} LISA]]''. Brad's father Marty was a terrible parent, a raging alcoholic who verbally and physically abused him and sexually abused his little sister Lisa. When, several decades later, he's tasked with parenting an orphaned baby girl who he names Buddy, he vows to be a better parent than his father ever was. But his extreme overprotectiveness and his drug addiction make him almost as bad of a father as Marty. As soon as Buddy gets her first taste of the outside world, she realizes that her childhood wasn't normal and comes to despise her father, and pretty much every other character in the game -- evil and heroic -- agrees that Brad is a terrible dad.

---> '''Thor:''' WE don't change. We... are ''destroyers.''
---> '''Kratos:''' ''No more.'' No more. For the sake of our children, [[ArcWords we must be better.]]

---> '''Cotton:''' Oh, Hank. You ain't in competition with me! Hell, if it's a contest on who's the better daddy, you win. I mean, you made Bobby! All I made was ''you''.

** In the episode "Moanin' Lisa," Marge gives a depressed Lisa the same advice her mother gave her: to repress her feelings and become a StepfordSmiler so that people will like her. However, upon seeing how this works out in practice, with others treating Lisa like a doormat, she immediately repents her actions, telling her it's okay for her to feel her emotions and her family will ride them out with her.

** In ''Film/{{Guardians of The Galaxy|2014}}'' Yondu is not a good parent by any stretch of the imagination. However his parents sold him as a slave when he was just a boy. For all his faults Yondu genuinely loved Peter and at least tried to be a good father, and Peter loves him in turn.

* ''Manga/SpyXFamily'': In a chapter where his past is explored further, in the years leading up to the Westalis Ostania war, when Twilight was a young boy, his mother was as loving and supportive as could be, but his father was a strict disciplinarian who berated and even beat him in the hopes of toughening him up. Years later, following the end of the war, Twilight took up the moniker of Loid Forger, and adopted Anya with the hopes of using her to get close to his target, the reclusive Donovan Desmond, who's confirmed to only socialize during his son's school functions. Since Loid Forger is supposed to be a loving husband and father, Twilight seems to have taken his upbringing as a lesson of what NOT to do as a father, because although he does often get frustrated with Anya, when he tries to discipline her it's mostly in the form of not allowing her to watch [=TV=] so she can concentrate on her studies and scolding her lightly when she misbehaves. It's also neither shown, nor implied in the least, that he hits her and he also makes it a point to have fun and play with her from time to time. When he finally meets Donovan at a school function, Twilight, aka. Loid, just cannot simply stand by while Donovan speaks about Damien, [[ParentalNeglect his own son, as if he were nothing more than another burden he has to put up with]], and Loid subtly calls him out for being so neglectful towards his own family.

* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'': Due to his deep frustration at having life planned by the family elders in his youth, including choosing his wife for him, and the inability to be with the woman he truly loved, The Ushiromiya patriarch Kinzo became a negligent and extremely abusive father both verbally and physically towards all his legitimate children. His wife wasn't quite as bad, but she had no qualms about calling her youngest daughter Rosa a living disgrace whenever she didn't excel in school. [[spoiler:And the less said about [[ParentalIncest what Kinzo did to his illegitimate daughter]] the better.]] As a result Krauss, Eva and Rudolf tried to avoid, with the support of their respective spouses, making the same mistakes with their own children to varying degrees of success. Tragically subverted with Rosa, who had the odds stacked against her from the beginning (constant bullying from her older siblings, Maria's father running out on her while she was pregnant, Maria's odd behaviors, etc.).

--> Judy: "Do you know what it's like to grow up with someone who is [[{{ObliviousToTheirOwnDescription}} critical of every single thing you say?]]
--> Monica: "I can imagine."
--> Judy: "It's a wonder your mother turned out to be the [[{{BlatantLies}} positive, life-affirming person she is.]]"

* In ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'', Bloodsport may not have the best relationship with his daughter Talia, but he's still a PapaWolf willing to save her from going to prison for shoplifting a watch. His own father, on the other hand, was so cruel he even trapped him in a barrel full of starving rats as punishment, causing his crippling fear of rats.