History Main / ChasteToons

Note: The concept of an uncle at least looking after a child is an old tradition: if a parent died, the uncle would become the foster father (and in many cases marry the [[NotBloodSiblings mother]]). For instance: Literature/TheHobbit[[note]]Technically, Bilbo was Frodo's first ''and'' second cousin once removed, but for simplicity, and due to their 78-year age difference, they call each other "Uncle" or "nephew". [[/note]]Literature/HarryPotter, Franchise/SpiderMan, Franchise/StarWars, etc. In some cultures, (such as the [[{{Troperiffic}} ludicrously-often-used-for-examples]] Trobriand Islanders), the uncle is the "standard" parent while fathers have very little to do with raising their biological children (they're busy raising their sister's children instead, obviously).

** Averted with Goofy, who has a son, Max. Mrs. Goofy showed up in a variety of cartoons in the 1950s, along with Goofy, Jr, who eventually became Max Goof after decades of non-apperance. Goofy was widowed in ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'' per the background bible. Goofy also has an InsufferableGenius nephew in the comics named Gilbert.
** Also averted with Pete, as some version of Pete Jr. has existed since ''1942'', and, like Goofy, he had children in ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop''--but his wife was present [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome until the movies where she and his daughter both disappeared]], though his son hasn't been seen in anything since ''[[WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie An Extremely Goofy Movie]]'' (then again, before ''Goof Troop'' he had been missing for ''fifty years'').
** WesternAnimation/OswaldTheLuckyRabbit provides another aversion. In one of the Oswald shorts, "Poor Papa", Oswald has so many kids he tries to kill the stork. Under Walter Lantz, Oswald had two sons named Floyd and Lloyd.

* Max Goof, the son of Goofy, whose [[MissingMom lack of a mother]] was actually addressed a few times. Interestingly, he seems to have been [[GodCreatedCanonForeigner more or less accepted]] in the 'modern' (if not iconic) Disney canon. Goofy's wife (among other female... anthropomorphic dogs?) was shown and heard quite frequently in the old '50s cartoons, but as TheFaceless, probably because the animators of the time couldn't bring themselves to draw a sufficiently silly looking female face to match with the male characters.

** According to the ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'' episode "Clarabelle's Big Secret", [[WesternAnimation/TheAristocats Uncle Waldo]] is actually not only the uncle to Abagail and Amelia Gabble, but also a distant uncle to ''DonaldDuck''.

-->--'''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse''' to WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck in [[http://www.grimmy.com/images/MGG_Archive/MGG_2005/MGG-2005-08-31.gif this]] ''ComicStrip/MotherGooseAndGrimm'' strip (actually, Mickey has TWO nephews... at least that we know of)

** The Cutie Mark Crusaders, the main child-age characters in the show. Apple Bloom, being Applejack's younger sister, is cared for by her older siblings and her grandmother due to her parents being deceased. Sweetie Belle's mother and father have been clearly shown on-screen, but several episodes oddly imply that she lives with her older sister Rarity instead. Scootaloo's parents wouldn't appear until the final season, leaving many fans to assume she was an orphan until it was revealed that she was being raised by her aunts, as parents live abroad for their research work.
** Oddly enough, this seems to apply to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the rulers of the kingdom; at the end of the first season, we were introduced to [[PrinceCharmless Prince Blueblood]], previously established as Celestia's nephew, and in the second season finale Twilight Sparkle's brother marries Celestia and Luna's niece, Princess Cadence. Fanon was largely up in the air as to how such blood ties to an effective PhysicalGod are supposed to work, although WordOfGod says that Blueblood is only very, ''very'' distantly related to Celestia (hence why he's not an Alicorn), while Cadence was adopted by Celestia (though why she's considered an adopted ''niece'' rather than an adopted "daughter" is anyone's guess).

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': The degree to which this trope is used varies between different main characters -- all main cast members' parents have shown up at some point, but only a few appear with regularity and several were absent for the bulk of the show's run.
** Among the main six's families, Twilight's parents have been present from the beginning of the show, and have appeared on and off for most of its run. Applejack's, by contrast, were conspicuously absent for several seasons -- something especially notable given her character's strong focus on family. They've since appeared in flashbacks, but are still absent from the present day and are strongly implied (albeit not confirmed) to have been dead for some time. Most other characters have had their parents show up for at least one family-centered episode.
** This trope comes more into play with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the main child-age characters in the show. Apple Bloom, being Applejack's sister, likewise never interacts with her parents and is cared for by her older siblings and her grandmother. Sweetie Belle's mother and father have been clearly shown on-screen, but they were only given speaking roles once in the second season and were relegated to background cameos thereafter -- for the most part, she's shown hanging out and seemingly living with her older sister Rarity. No trace whatsoever of Scootaloo's family was seen for the show's first eight seasons, during which she adopted Rainbow Dash as an honorary older sister, until her parents appeared midway through season 9 before moving to "Shire Lanka" on a permanent basis at the end of their debut episode.
** In a full-on subversion, a pair of minor characters actually had twins. The mother never appeared as pregnant onscreen, but their introduction was the episode's cold open, which took place in the maternity ward with the proud father looking disheveled (and giving an explanation of his children's anomalous traits which suggests that the twins are throwbacks to the ''in-laws'' of their ancestors).
** Oddly, though, this seems to apply to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the rulers of the kingdom; at the end of the first season, we were introduced to [[PrinceCharmless Prince Blueblood]], previously established as Celestia's nephew, and in the second season finale Twilight Sparkle's brother marries Celestia and Luna's niece, Princess Cadence. (However, Blueblood was only ever called Celestia's nephew once on-screen and never in the episode he ''actually'' appeared in, and Cadence was only ever called Celestia's niece in marketing -- ''never'' in the show proper.) Fanon is largely up in the air as to how such blood ties to an effective PhysicalGod are supposed to work. Although WordOfGod says that Blueblood is only very, ''very'' distantly related to Celestia, hence why he's not an Alicorn.

* The ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'' cartoon did this to both Sonic the Hedgehog, giving him Uncle Chuck, and to his nemesis Dr. Robotnik, giving him his nephew Snively. Neither Sonic nor Snively's actual parents are ever mentioned. However, the [[ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog comics]] adapted from the cartoon fill in the missing links, giving Sonic a father, Jules, and Robotnik a brother, Colin. The comics also have it that it's Uncle Chuck's own fault he suffers from {{Nephewism}}. He originally devised the roboticizer with medical applications in mind, and was forced to use his brother Jules, Sonic's dad, as a test subject when he was grievously injured. Ge abandoned the project when it turned his beloved brother into a mindless automaton as an unforeseen side effect of healing him, which ultimately allowed Robotnik to find it and use it to get cheap labor for his takeover campaign.

* While it doesn't directly involve children, one of the funniest variations on this idea appeared on ''TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles''. Or, rather, it's what ''didn't'' appear in the cartoon: a female ninja turtle. Why did we have to wait until the live-action series for a female ninja turtle? According to an old interview with the [[ExecutiveMeddling show's handlers]], apparently the presence of a female ninja turtle would inspire children to "ask where baby turtles come from." However, the real reason that there were no female turtles in the cartoon was that the original creators, Eastman and Laird, ''absolutely hated the idea.'' One shot character (and brief LoveInterest for Raphael) Mona Lisa was intended to be a turtle, but Eastman and Laird basically said "no way!", so she was changed into a lizard instead. When Venus de Milo was introduced in the live-action series, this was the result of ExecutiveMeddling. When Peter Laird got sole ownership of the Turtles later on, he made sure to remove her completely from canon and reinforce the "no female turtles!" rule. (Kevin Munroe, writer/director of the 2007 movie, said that you don't even ''joke'' about Venus to Peter Laird.)

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''{{WesternAnimation/MASK}}'', Matt Trakker has a son, Scott, with no sign of a mother. Although it's curiously never mentioned in the series, the comics, toyline and even the novelisations of cartoon episodes all identify Scott as being adopted.

** Popeye would later gain a biological son, Junior, with Olive Oyl in an animated series from Creator/HannaBarbera.

%%* Then there's WesternAnimation/AugieDoggieAndDoggieDaddy. No mother in sight or ever mentioned.%% That's MissingMom, not this trope.

[[caption-width-right:350:We believe this should answer where Huey, Dewey, and Louie came from... but then, just ''who'' is their dad?]]

Many cartoon characters intended for children, especially the "iconic" ones, always seem to be surrounded by kids when the plot calls for it. These children are never their own, however, but the offspring of a brother or sister of the main character we never get to see. For whatever reason, they also tend to be the result of [[SendInTheClones multiple births]].

* The ''WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM'' cartoon did this to both Sonic the Hedgehog, giving him Uncle Chuck, and to his nemesis Dr. Robotnik, giving him his nephew Snively. Neither Sonic nor Snively's actual parents are ever mentioned. However, the [[ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog comics]] adapted from the cartoon fill in the missing links, giving Sonic a father, Jules, and Robotnik a brother, Colin. The comics also have it that it's Uncle Chuck's own fault he suffers from {{Nephewism}}. He originally devised the roboticizer with medical applications in mind, and was forced to use his brother Jules, Sonic's dad, as a test subject when he was grievously injured. Ge abandoned the project when it turned his beloved brother into a mindless automaton as an unforeseen side effect of healing him, which ultimately allowed Robotnik to find it and use it to get cheap labor for his takeover campaign.

** Some 1960s TV shorts had Olive's bratty niece Diesel.

Note: The concept of an uncle at least looking after a child is an old tradition: if a parent died, the uncle would become the foster father (and in many cases marry the [[NotBloodSiblings mother]]). For instance: Literature/TheHobbit, Literature/HarryPotter, Franchise/SpiderMan, Franchise/StarWars, etc. In some cultures, (such as the [[{{Troperiffic}} ludicrously-often-used-for-examples]] Trobriand Islanders), the uncle is the "standard" parent while fathers have very little to do with raising their biological children (they're busy raising their sister's children instead, obviously).

** Even Characters/DisneyVillains aren't immune to this trope. In the ''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'' TV series, Cruella had an EnfantTerrible niece named Ivy (and several other relatives who only showed up once). And in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewSchool'', Yzma employed the help of her twin nephews, Zim and Zam. Also, in comics, [[WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987 Magica de Spell]] had a niece named Minima.

** According to the ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'' episode "Clarabelle's Big Secret", [[Disney/TheAristocats Uncle Waldo]] is actually not only the uncle to Abagail and Amelia Gabble, but also a distant uncle to ''DonaldDuck''.

* {{Averted}} in ''VideoGame/EpicMickey''. In the 80+ years that Oswald has been in Wasteland, he and his [[LoveInterest wife/sweetheart/girlfriend Ortensia]] (It's never really specified) have had ''[[ExplosiveBreeder 420 Bunny Children]]''. And to his chagrin, they all look up to their [[MickeyMouse Uncle Mickey]].

*** This PlayedForDrama in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', Donald's sister (again called Della) adventured with Scrooge and Donald, then disappeared right before the triplets were hatched and raised by Donald, it would eventually turn out that [[spoilers:Della got stranded on the moon.]] Their father, however, [[AmbiguouslyAbsentParent remains unmentioned]].

** [[WordOfGod Sherri Stoner]] recently answered this question ([[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments while in character]]). Skippy's parents are apparently on sabbatical and send Slappy an alimony check every month.

*** This is averted in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', as Donald's sister (again called Della) is a known character who adventured with Scrooge and Donald, then disappeared right before the triplets were hatched and raised by Donald. Their father, however, [[AmbiguouslyAbsentParent remains unmentioned]].

* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' knowingly references this with Looney Leo, a cartoon character who was brought to life by a bit of indiscrete mad science. He remembers having three rascally nephews before entering our reality, but no apparent siblings. Subverted later on, as, having grown depressed from the decades in our world, he is confirmed to have had countless sexual relations... including with a prostitute who turned out to be Really17YearsOld.

** Averted with Goofy, who has a son, Max. Mrs. Goofy showed up in a variety of cartoons in the 1950s, along with Goofy, Jr. That character eventually became Max Goof. Goofy was widowed in ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'' per the background bible. Goofy also has an InsufferableGenius nephew in the comics named Gilbert.

* ''ComicBook/TheDandy'' had this with its two most popular characters. Desperate Dan lives with his Aunt Aggie and also had two children, his nephew Danny and niece Katey, who occasionally lived with him. It was also the case with Korky the Cat, who was often featured alongside his three nephews - Nip, Lip, and Rip.
** Biffo the Bear in ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' is also a good example with his two nephews Bruin and Bertie. The character also strangely had a human aunt, which is still much less surreal than the [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi]] ostrich aunt of Big Eggo, the unloved ostrich who Biffo replaced.

** The show proper has a throwaway gag featuring Mr. Krabs' "three adorable nephews" who "solve mysteries".

* [[Series/TheMuppetShow Kermit the Frog]] often looks after his nephew, Robin, whose parents have never been shown. When Robin (as a tadpole) is introduced on ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies'', there's a very brief mention of his mother being Kermit's older sister. She doesn't get a name or anything, but she exists.
** In the movie ''Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol'', Robin plays Tiny Tim, while Kermit plays Bob Cratchit. So in this story, Robin is Kermit's son - via ''Miss Piggy''. (However, this is one of the Muppet movies where the Muppets are ''actors'' playing ''characters'', so make of it what you will.)

* ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' lives with her spinster aunts, Hilda and Zelda. Her parents do show up at times (these roles are rather prone to TheOtherDarrin), but she doesn't live with them. Her mortal mother has a good excuse - if Sabrina claps eyes on her, she'll turn into a ball of wax. This actually happened, although this didn't impede her mother's ability to speak, or try to have a sense of humor about it. And she did get better. Sabrina just can't look at her anymore or it will happen again. Her father just doesn't seem to be around; he lives with his second wife (Sabrina's parents are divorced) and his stepson.
** His job keeps him far away. There was an episode or two where she moved in with him in Paris, until his job got him [[ReassignedToAntarctica reassigned to Pluto]]. Sabrina thought that was a ''little'' far out of her comfort zone.

** ''WesternAnimation/CatDog'' actually used this trope a lot - the episode "Harasslin' Match" features Winslow's nephews, Brat and Runt.

* The most famous example is probably DonaldDuck and his triplet nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Scrooge [=McDuck=] also took over this role in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987''. Since Scrooge was supposed to be ''Donald's'' uncle, this means the boys now live with their uncle's uncle -- ''their'' great uncle.
** Donald had a sister (called "Dumbella Duck" in "Donald's Nephews", the theatrical cartoon that introduced Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and "Della Duck" in the comics by Al Taliaferro), who apparently saddled him with her kids and then [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome dropped off the face of the Earth]]. Unusually for the trope, Donald does ''not'' have the luxury of giving the kids back to their parents when the plot calls for it. He claims them on his taxes in one short, explicitly refers to himself as their parent in ''WesternAnimation/QuackPack'', and the Disney comics often mention the fact that he is their legal guardian and solely responsible for their care and upbringing.
*** According to one source, she ''literally'' dropped off the Earth--she was an astronaut who left them in Donald's care before a mission. Maybe the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evroniani Evroniani]] got her?
*** Creator/DonRosa developed the [=McDuck=] family history into a generation-spanning saga that's one of the deepest Disney comic works. You can get the official family tree [[http://duckman.pettho.com/tree/american.html here.]]

** So that the boys had someone to play with, the Disney comics gave Daisy three nieces, April, May, and June.
** And Mickey Mouse has twin nephews, Morty (whose full name is Mortimer) and Ferdie (whose full name is Ferdinand), though this is seen mostly in the Disney comics.

*** Minnie got a pair of nieces, Millie and Melody.
** One origin story revealed that Donald was apparently orphaned as an egg and adopted by Scrooge and Grandma Duck (who were brother and sister); the monikers of "uncle" and "grandma" were mostly because Scrooge objected to the idea of becoming a father at his age. Later on, Scrooge found out they were actually blood relations (while not mentioning anything about the parents), prompting him to reduce Donald's salary.
*** Of course, now that nearly every artist takes Rosa's stories as canon, the old idea of Scrooge and Grandma Duck being siblings has pretty much died -- its origin was apparently in Italy, where the Duck-stories have gone in a very different direction from the American and Scandinavian ones.
** A fun example occurs with Jose ("Zé") Carioca. Back in the day when they were running out of stories, they started inserting Zé into unlocalized Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse comics. Thus, Zé's Nephews, Zico and Zeca, exist solely because they needed to replace Huey, Duey, and Louie in stories where Zé was taking Donald Duck's place.

* ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'' is the guardian of his niece, Penny, for reasons never explained.
** [[WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget2015 The 2015 cartoon]] gives Dr. Claw a nephew named Talon.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' it's pretty much averted, since parents have shown up. Though we still haven't seen Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Applebloom's parents yet, just their granny and a lot of cousins. WordOfGod says she'd like to say the Apple-parents are dead but since Hasbro would never let that fly, it's up in the air for now.
** And for a full-on subversion, a pair of minor characters actually had twins. The mother never appeared as pregnant onscreen, but their introduction was the episode's cold open, which took place in the maternity ward with the proud father looking disheveled (and giving an explanation of his children's anomalous traits which suggests that the twins are throwbacks to the ''in-laws'' of their ancestors).
** Oddly, though, this seems to apply to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the rulers of the kingdom; at the end of the first season, we were introduced to [[PrinceCharmless Prince Blueblood]], previously established as Celestia's nephew, and in the second season finale, Twilight Sparkle's brother married Celestia and Luna's niece, Princess Cadence. (However, Blueblood was only ever called Celestia's nephew once on-screen and never in the episode he ''actually'' appeared in, and Cadence was only ever called Celestia's niece in marketing - ''never'' in the show proper.) Fanon is largely up in the air as to how such blood ties to an effective PhysicalGod are supposed to work. Although WordOfGod says that Blueblood is only very, ''very'' distantly related to Celestia, hence why he's not an Alicorn.
*** Also averted in ''My Little Pony Tales'' way back in 1992, where all ponies from main cast had parents (although Patch was adopted)
* In an episode from the last season of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', Fuzzy Lumpkins went on a camping trip with his three nephews - Wuzzy, Buzzy, and Scuzzy.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaLegendsOfAwesomeness'' was about Po the panda befriending a young snow leopard cub named Peng, who want to be a famous kung fu master like Po. At the end of the episode, Peng tells Po that he is actually the nephew of [[spoiler: Tai Lung]], causing the panda to freak out.

* ''[[Franchise/ScoobyDoo Scooby-Doo]]'''s nephew Scrappy arrives as one, calling Scooby his "Uncle," even though at that point a Scooby sibling had yet to materialize.
** In his second series a flashback episode reveals that Scrappy's mother is Ruby Doo (Scooby's sister). Ruby later returns in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/APupNamedScoobyDoo''. Her name's presumably a reference to Joe Ruby, one of the co-creators of Scooby Doo.
* The ''WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM'' cartoon did this to both Sonic the Hedgehog, giving him Uncle Chuck, and to his nemesis Dr. Robotnik, giving him a nephew, Snively. Neither Sonic nor Snively's actual parents are ever mentioned.
** However, the [[ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog comics]] adapted from the cartoon fill in the missing links, giving Sonic a father, Jules, and Robotnik a brother, Colin.
*** Better: the comics explain that it's Uncle Chuck's own fault he suffers from {{Nephewism}}. Chuck originally devised the roboticizer with medical applications in mind, and is forced to use his brother Jules, Sonic's dad, as a test subject when he's grievously injured. When it turned his beloved brother into a mindless automaton as an unforeseen side effect of healing him, he abandoned the project, which ultimately allowed Robotnik to find it and use it to get cheap labor for his takeover campaign.
* ''Stargate Infinity'' has Gus and Stacy Bonner.
* WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker also had a nephew and niece named Knothead and Splinter, respectively ([[ThemeNaming Get it?]]) They started off in the early 1950s comics as Woody's adopted wards rather than any kind of real relatives. The retcon took place when they made some cartoon appearances in the late 1950s. It gets weirder though; for the first two months of the comics appearances (''New Funnies'' 182 and 183, both 1952), both kids are boys. One simply changes gender without explanation in month three (''NF'' 184).

* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Stanley S. [=SquarePants=]", in which Mr. Krabs mentions his "three adorable nephews" who "solve mysteries". Krabs, for the record, does also have a daughter, Pearl... who's a whale. Presumably either ObliviousAdoption or one hell of an InterspeciesRomance was involved.

* British children's comic ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' completely avoided this in its ''Dennis the Menace'' strips (''not'' to be confused with the American character of the same name) - Gnasher, Dennis's dog, had an actual son named Gnipper. He also had a lot of other children, but Gnipper is the only one who really features. Then there's Dennis's baby sister Bea, who arrived in the mid-90s after an entire arc of Dennis wondering why the adults were acting differently.

* In the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers'', we see the main characters' pregnant mother. Not even a minute later, she goes off-screen to give birth.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' started out with an unusual solution to this trope: while Ben's and Gwen's parents were mentioned occasionally, ''every'' adult to appear on the show who was related to a child was a grandparent. (Eliminating the middle man, indeed.) The first depiction of a direct parent/child relationship occurred in the third season, and the trope was abandoned entirely in the fourth season.
* ''WesternAnimation/DefendersOfTheEarth''. Rick, Jedda, and L.J. are clearly the offspring of three of the adult heroes (Kshin is Madrake's adopted son) and the fate of Rick's mother is even explored in detail. (She's ''murdered on screen'' by Ming, and later becomes the team's BenevolentAI. Yeah, this is a kid's show.) Ming averts it too, but he's clearly not the best parent, seeing as his son became TheStarscream when he appeared.

* WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat is a weird example. He had three kids named Inky, Dinky and Winky, and they inexplicably got [[RetCon retconned]] into his nephews to preserve this trope.
** The first Felix the Cat Cartoon [[note]]from 1919, which actually featured a precursor named Master Tom whose name was later changed to Felix[[/note]] had the character find out his girlfriend (or wife) is pregnant, which causes him to [[DrivenToSuicide commit suicide]]. No, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbX-BeSY_18 really.]]

* Phil Mendez's "Kissyfur" had a surprisingly well-written father-son relationship at its core. (Incidentally, the show was originally to be named "Bear Roots" and to this day nobody knows how Mendez was convinced "Kissyfur" would be a better title.)
** The prime time special that preceded the ongoing series established that the mother died while performing in the circus the family originally belonged to. That was why the father decided escape with his son to the swamp.

* Averted with Clara Cluck in ''WesternAnimation/MickeyAndTheRoadsterRacers''. She has two chicks, a male one and a female one.

* Swedish comic character ''ComicBook/{{Bamse}}'', a super-strong anthropomorphic bear, not only eventually ended up getting married and having children, but so did some important supporting characters.
** And considering the educational aspirations of the comic, they took the opportunity to explain the basics on pregnancy and childbirth...

* While it doesn't directly involve children, one of the funniest variations on this idea appeared on ''TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles''. Or, rather, it's what ''didn't'' appear in the cartoon: a female ninja turtle. Why did we have to wait until the live-action series for a female ninja turtle? According to an old interview with the [[ExecutiveMeddling show's handlers]], apparently the presence of a female ninja turtle would inspire children to "ask where baby turtles come from."
** There were no female turtles in the cartoon because the original creators, Eastman and Laird, ''absolutely hated the idea.'' One shot character (and brief LoveInterest for Raphael) Mona Lisa was intended to be a turtle, but Eastman and Laird basically said "no way!", so she was changed into a lizard instead. When Venus de Milo was introduced in the live-action series, this was the result of ExecutiveMeddling. When Peter Laird got sole ownership of the Turtles later on, he made sure to remove her completely from canon and reinforce the "no female turtles!" rule. (Kevin Munroe, writer/director of the 2007 movie, said that you don't even ''joke'' about Venus to Peter Laird.)
*** Now that the TMNT have been sold to Nickelodeon, we'll see what happens...

* In ''Literature/GeronimoStilton'', Geronimo has a nephew, Benjamin, who apparently lives with him. The whereabouts of Benjamin's parents is not known - Geronimo has a sister and a cousin, but ''they're'' Benjamin's aunt and uncle as well. In fact, Geronimo ''himself'' has no acknowledged parents, either. He has a grandfather and various relatives in different parts of the world (principally Scotland and an {{Expy}} of Transylvania) but no mother and father.

* Max Goof, the son of Goofy, whose [[MissingMom lack of a mother]] was actually addressed a few times. Interestingly, he seems to have been [[GodCreatedCanonForeigner more or less accepted]] in the 'modern' (if not iconic) Disney canon.
** Goofy's wife (among other female... anthropomorphic dogs?) was shown and heard quite frequently in the old '50s cartoons, but as TheFaceless, probably because the animators of the time couldn't bring themselves to draw a sufficiently silly looking female face to match with the male characters.

* ''ComicBook/TheDandy'' had this with its two most popular characters. Desperate Dan lives with his Aunt Aggie and also had two children Danny and Katey his Nephew and Neice who occasionally lived with him. It was also the case with Korky the Cat who was often featured alongside his three nephews, Nip, Lip and Rip.

* Uncle Jesse on ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'' goes the same way as "Series/FamilyAffair". In addition, the whole extended Duke family seems to be made up almost entirely of cousins.
* In ''Series/FamilyAffair'', Uncle Bill, a bachelor, acquired his nieces, Cissy and Buffy, and nephew Jodie after his brother and sister-in-law died in a car crash.

* [[Series/TheMuppetShow Kermit the Frog]] often looks after his nephew, Robin, whose parents have never been shown. When Robin (as a tadpole) is introduced to ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies'', there's a very brief mention of his mother, Kermit's sister. She doesn't get a name or anything, but she exists.
** In the movie ''Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol'', Robin plays Tiny Tim, while Kermit plays Bob Cratchit. So in this story, Robin is Kermit's son - via ''Miss Piggy''.
** In ''Series/MuppetsTonight'', Miss Piggy acquired two nephews Andy and Randy Pig.
* ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' lived with her spinster aunts, Hilda and Zelda. Her parents do show up at times (these roles are rather prone to TheOtherDarrin), but she doesn't live with them. Her mortal mother has a good excuse - if Sabrina claps eyes on her, she'll turn into a ball of wax. This actually happened, although this didn't impede her mother's ability to speak, or try to have a sense of humor about it. And she did get better. Sabrina just can't look at her anymore or it will happen again. Her father just doesn't seem to be around; he lives with his second wife (Sabrina's parents are divorced) and his stepson.

* The Franchise/{{Barbie}} line has had a lot of kid's dolls over the decades however none are ''Barbie's'' kids. Barbie's first sibling, Skipper, was introduced for [[KidAppealCharacter girls who wanted a doll more similar to their age]]. Skipper was made as Barbie's sister instead of her daughter because it was considered that being a mother would tie Barbie down too much and make her domestic. Since then Barbie has had a rotating door of siblings ranging from infants to preteens: Tutti, Todd, Stacie, Chelsea, Kelly, and Krissy. Despite this, [[InvisibleParents their parents]] [[ToylessToylineCharacter never appear in the toy line itself]]. Barbie's friends, such as the HappilyMarried Midge and Alan, have had children in past playsets but Barbie and Ken never do despite their [[ArtisticAge ever-changing ages]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' featured elderly Slappy Squirrel, who lived with her young nephew, Skippy. How he came to live with her is never explained; this is probably intentional, considering the number of other cartoon tropes the show satirized.
** One (more dramatic than usual) episode, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo Clock" actually brought this up: after Slappy goes crazy from overexposure to bad daytime TV and gets put in a home, the local Child Welfare agency actually takes Skippy from his aunt when they can't locate his parents.

* Then there's WesternAnimation/AugieDoggieAndDoggieDaddy. No mother in sight or ever mentioned.

* ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'' was the guardian of his niece, Penny, for reasons never explained.

* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' shows a multi-generational example of this; the title character has both an Uncle and a niece he lives with. Jade's parents are referred to a few times, however; in the first episode, they drop her off with Jackie and are rarely seen thereafter. In a TimeTravel episode, Jade goes back in time and meets Jackie as a child, who tells her he has been sent to the United States by his parents to live with Uncle. In another episode Jade's parents actully appear and refer to Uncle as Uncle, resulting in Jade being utterly confused.

* The title character of ''WesternAnimation/JamesBondJr'' is actually Bond's ''nephew''. Of course, this hasn't stopped rampant speculation that he's an illegitimate son (this is ''James Bond'' we're talking about here, so there are many opportunities for such children, Bond even impregnated Kissy Suzuki in Ian Fleming's Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice).
* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipisMagic'' it's pretty much averted, since parents have shown up. Though we still haven't seen Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Applebloom's parents yet, just their granny and a lot of cousins. WordOfGod says she'd like to say the Apple-parents are dead but since Hasbro would never let that fly, it's up in the air for now.
** And for a full-on subversion, a pair of minor characters actually had twins. The mother never appeared as pregnant onscreen, but their introduction was the episode's cold open, which took place in the maternity ward with the proud father looking disheveled (and giving an explanation of his childrens' anomalous traits which suggests that the twins are throwbacks to the ''in-laws'' of their ancestors).

* WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}} was sometimes seen with his nephews, Pipeye, Pupeye, Poopeye, Peepeye, although Sweet Pea arguably filled this role anyway.

* ''[[Franchise/ScoobyDoo Scooby-Doo]]'''s nephew Scrappy arrived as one calling Scooby his "Uncle" with at that point a Scooby sibling had yet to materialize.
** In his second series a flashback episode revealed Scrappy's mother is Ruby Doo (Scooby's sister). Ruby later returns in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/APupNamedScoobyDoo''. Her name's presumably a reference to Joe Ruby, one of the co-creators of Scooby Doo.

* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Stanley S. [=SquarePants=]", in which Mr. Krabs mentions his "three adorable nephews" who "solve mysteries". Krabs, for the record, does also have a daughter, Pearl...who's a whale. Presumably either ObliviousAdoption or one hell of an InterspeciesRomance was involved.

* Swedish comic ''ComicBook/{{Bamse}}'', featuring a super-strong anthropomorphic bear, not only eventually ended up getting married and having children, but so did some important supporting characters.

* In the Scrappy Age of Animation (1980s), ComicBook/PlasticMan in his animated series was given a son in the second season. Unlike most of his contemporary toons, Plas actually married his long-time girlfriend and had a kid. An odd fate for Hugh Hefner's favorite superhero.

* Aside from the throwaway gag mentioned above, it's averted with Mr. Krabs on ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', since he has a daughter, Pearl…who's a ''whale''. We can safely assume she's adopted.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': Averted strongly- Jake and Lady Rainicorn not only have kids together, they also aren't married. They're boyfriend and girlfriend, although they've been together for over 6 years and move in together when they have kids.

* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': Despite the confusion with the Koopalings as seen above, as of ''VideoGame/MarioSunshine'', Bowser does have an explicit son in Bowser Jr. It is unknown who the mother is, though Bowser tricked Jr. into thinking Princess Peach was his mom to encourage him to help kidnap her.

* In *VideoGame/WiiParty U,* the host, Party Phil, gains a new sidekick named Party Penny. She's not his daughter, she's his much younger sister.