History Main / DesignatedParents

%% The following {{Zero Context Example}}s have been commented out and copied to the Discussion page. Please don't uncomment them or add them back unless you add enough information to show how they fit the trope.
%% * Meiko and Kaito in ''Music/{{Vocaloid}}'' fanon.

* Hikitsu and Inami from ''FushigiYuugiGenbuKaiden'' were recognized as the parental figures of the Genbu Celestial Warriors.

* Joe and Sora from ''Anime/DigimonAdventure''.
* Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye to their subordinates in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''.

* Meiko and Kaito in ''Music/{{Vocaloid}}'' fanon.

* Eric and Donna from ''Series/That70sShow'' were noted in an episode where the gang were dining and ditching a restaurant to be the parents of the group.
** After they broke up there was an episode where they fight over their friends' attention with clear overtones of divorcés working out a custody dispute.

* '''Marshall and Lily''' from ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' to the point that they question Ted's new girlfriends to see if they are right for him. In the few times where Marshall and Lily don't fill this role, it's usually taken up by '''Robin and Ted.'''
* '''Eric and Donna''' from ''That70sShow'' were noted in an episode where the gang were dining and ditching a restaurant to be the parents of the group.

* '''Franky and Robin''' from ''Manga/OnePiece'' act as the parents of the Straw Hats
* '''Joe and Sora''' from ''Anime/DigimonAdventure''
* '''Hikitsu and Inami''' from ''FushigiYuugiGenbuKaiden'' were recognized as the parental figures of the Genbu Celestial Warriors.
* '''Piper and Leo''' from ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' started to fulfill these roles after they got married and Prue died.
* '''Ross and Monica''', though brother and sister, act as the grownups on ''{{Friends}}'' in earlier seasons. Later, Ross becomes [[{{Flanderization}} more childlike,]] while '''[[{{DeadpanSnarker}} Chandler]]''' [[{{CharacterDevelopment}} matures]] and marries Monica so they become the adults of the group.
* In ''Series/{{Community}}'', '''Jeff and Britta''' serve as the mom and dad of the study group in several situations. Repeatedly {{Lampshaded}}, [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]], and PlayedForLaughs in the show's typical BetterThanABareBulb fashion.
* In ''TsubasaReservoirChronicle'', '''Fai''' accurately identifies himself and '''Kurogane''' as the "[[TeamMom mommy]]" and "[[TeamDad daddy]]" of the group.
* '''John Sheppard and Elizabeth Weir''' on ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' are this to the entire expedition, especially the command team.
* '''Tamaki''' from OuranHighSchoolHostClub constantly refers himself as the club's "[[TeamDad dad]]" and calls '''Kyoya''' the "[[TeamMom Mom]]". Their actual roles are the reverse, though.
* An interesting example: On ''Series/{{Buffy|TheVampireSlayer}}'' when Buffy was dead, '''Willow and Tara''' became sorta the [[TeamMom surrogate mothers]] while '''Xander and Spike''' became somewhat of the [[TeamDad substitute fathers]] for Dawn. Buffybot became the public face of Buffy for Dawn at school before [[MakesSenseInContext Buffy was brought back from the dead.]]
* On some episodes of ''TheBigBangTheory'', '''Leonard and Penny''' assume the role of parents to Sheldon, especially Penny. Not so much with Howard and Rajesh, since they don't live in the apartment complex.
* '''Senator Lance and Valerie Prevert''' on YouCantDoThatOnTelevision, they appear to be ALL the child cast members' parents.
* In ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** '''The Doctor and''' (when she's around) '''River Song''' are like this, especially with Amy and Rory. Winds up being a bit ironic, since [[spoiler:Amy and Rory are River's parents]].
** Played for similar irony in the very first series, where '''Ian''' and '''Barbara''' are the "parents" of both Susan (and later Vicki) and the Doctor, even though he's by far the oldest and Susan's grandfather.
** Played more straight with '''the Doctor''' and '''Romana''' to Adric (child) and K-9 (pet) in Season 18.
* In the Season Four premiere of ''Series/{{Angel}}'', "Deep Down," most of the Fang Gang of Angel Investigations have gone their separate ways, with Angel, Cordelia, Lorne, and Wesley all enmeshed in some situation that keeps them from seeing the group. Subtracting these characters from the group left us with '''Gunn, Fred''', and Connor: i.e., a romantically involved adult couple and a teenage boy. Gunn and Fred were clearly growing into the role of acting as Connor's parents, worrying about his tendencies toward destructive rebellion in the way that his own parents might worry about it.
* '''Nate and Sophie''' on ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' act as the TeamDad and TeamMom respectively, with Eliot as the older brother, and Hardison and Parker as the younger siblings.
* '''Carlisle and Esme Cullen''' of Literature/{{Twilight}} are the adoptive parents of Edward, Emmett and Alice Cullen, as well as Rosalie and Jasper Hale despite the fact that everyone except Carlisle is about the same age.
* '''Meiko and Kaito''' in Music/{{Vocaloid}} fanon.
* '''Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye''' to their subordinates in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''.

** Played more straight with '''the Doctor''' and '''Romana''' to Adric and K-9 in Season 18.

* '''Meiko and Kaito''' in Music/{{Vocaloid}} fanon.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jeffbrit_7031.jpg

Examples

* '''Carlisle and Esme Cullen''' of Literature/{{Twilight}} are the adoptive parents of Edward, Emmett and Alice Cullen, as well as Rosalie and Jasper Hale despite the fact that everyone except Carlisle is about the same age.

** Played more straight with '''the Doctor''' and '''Romana''' to Adric in Season 18.

** Played for similar irony in the very first series, where '''Ian''' and '''Barbara''' are the "parents" of both Susan and the Doctor, even though he's older than them and Susan's grandfather.

* In ''Series/{{Community}}'', '''Jeff and Britta''' serve as the mom & dad of the study group in several situations. Repeatedly {{Lampshaded}}, [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]], and PlayedForLaughs in the show's typical BetterThanABareBulb fashion.

* On some episodes of ''TheBigBangTheory'', '''Leonard and Penny''' assume the role of parents to Sheldon, especially Penny. Not so much with Howard and Rajesh, since they don't live at the appartment.

* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', '''the Doctor and''' (when she's around) '''River Song''' are like this, especially with Amy and Rory. Winds up being a bit ironic, since [[spoiler:Amy and Rory are River's parents]].

* '''John Sheppard and Elizabeth Weir''' on StargateAtlantis are this to the entire expedition, especially the command team.

* In the Season Four premiere of ''Series/{{Angel}}'', "Deep Down," most of the Fang Gang of Angel Investigations have gone their separate ways, with Angel, Cordelia, Lorne, and Wesley all enmeshed in some situation that keeps them from seeing the group. Subtracting these characters from the group left us with Gunn, Fred, and Connor: i.e., a romantically involved adult couple and a teenage boy. Gunn and Fred were clearly growing into the role of acting as Connor's parents, worrying about his tendencies toward destructive rebellion in the way that his own parents might worry about it.
* Nate and Sophie on ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' act as the TeamDad and TeamMom respectively, with Eliot as the older brother, and Hardison and Parker as the younger siblings.
* Carlisle and Esme Cullen of Literature/{{Twilight}} are the adoptive parents of Edward, Emmett and Alice Cullen, as well as Rosalie and Jasper Hale despite the fact that everyone except Carlisle is about the same age.

* '''Joe and Sora''' from Anime/DigimonAdventure
* '''Hikitsu and Inami''' from FushigiYuugiGenbuKaiden

* Stargate Atlantis: '''John Sheppard and Elizabeth Weir''' as the expedition leaders.

* '''Ross and Monica''', though brother and sister, act as the grownups on ''{{Friends}}'' in earlier seasons. Later, Ross becomes [[{{Flanderization}} more childlike,]] while '''[[{{DeadpanSnarker}} Chandler]]''' [[{{CharacterDevelopment}} matures]] and marries Monica so they become the [[DesignatedParents adults]] of the group.

* '''Ross and Monica''', though brother and sister, act as the grownups on ''{{Friends}}'' in earlier seasons. Later, Ross becomes [[{{Flanderization}} more childlike,]] while [[{{SadClown}} Chandler]] [[{{CharacterDevelopment}} matures]] and marries Monica so they become the [[DesignatedParents adults]] of the group.

* '''Ross and Monica''', though brother and sister, act as the grownups on ''{{Friends}}'' in earlier seasons. Later, Ross becomes [[{{Flanderization}} more childlike,]] while [[{{SadClown}} Chandler]] [[{{CharacterDevelopment}} matures]] and married Monica so they become the [[DesignatedParents adults]] of the group.

* '''Ross and Monica''', though brother and sister, act as the grownups on ''{{Friends}}'' in earlier seasons. Later, Ross becomes [[{{Flanderization}} more childlike,]] Chandler and Monica get married, and they become the [[DesignatedParents adults]] of the group.

* In the Season Four premiere of Angel, "Deep Down," most of the Fang Gang of Angel Investigations have gone their separate ways, with Angel, Cordelia, Lorne, and Wesley all enmeshed in some situation that keeps them from seeing the group. Subtracting these characters from the group left us with Gunn, Fred, and Connor: i.e., a romantically involved adult couple and a teenage boy. Gunn and Fred were clearly growing into the role of acting as Connor's parents, worrying about his tendencies toward destructive rebellion in the way that his own parents might worry about it.

* Nate and Sophie on ''{{Leverage}}'' act as the TeamDad and TeamMom respectively, with Eliot as the older brother, and Hardison and Parker as the younger siblings.

* An interesting example: On [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]] when Buffy was dead, '''Willow and Tara''' became sorta the [[TeamMom surrogate mothers]] while '''Xander and Spike''' became somewhat of the [[TeamDad substitute fathers]] for Dawn. Buffybot became the public face of Buffy for Dawn at school before [[MakesSenseInContext Buffy was brought back from the dead.]]

* '''Joe and Sora''' from DigimonAdventure

When there is a group of friends all the same age, generally there is the couple in the group who act as the adults, sorta the parents of the group. Together they are like the superego of the gang and are actually recognized as the "[[TeamMom Mom]]" and "[[TeamDad Dad]]" of their friends.

----
Examples

* '''Marshall and Lily''' from ''HowIMetYourMother'' to the point that they question Ted's new girlfriends to see if they are right for him. In the few times where Marshall and Lily don't fill this role, it's usually taken up by '''Robin and Ted.'''
* '''Eric and Donna''' from ''{{That 70s Show}}'' were noted in an episode where the gang were dining and ditching a restaurant to be the parents of the group.
** After they broke up there was an episode where they fight over their friends' attention with clear overtones of divorcés working out a custody dispute.
* '''Franky and Robin''' from ''Manga/OnePiece'' act as the parents of the Straw Hats
* '''Joe and Sora''' from DigimonAdventure
* '''Piper and Leo''' from ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' started to fulfill these roles after they got married and Prue died.
* '''Ross and Monica''', though brother and sister, act as the grownups on ''{{Friends}}'' in earlier seasons. Later, Ross becomes [[{{Flanderization}} more childlike,]] Chandler and Monica get married, and they become the [[DesignatedParents adults]] of the group.
* In ''Series/{{Community}}'', '''Jeff and Britta''' serve as the mom & dad of the study group in several situations. Repeatedly {{Lampshaded}}, [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]], and PlayedForLaughs in the show's typical BetterThanABareBulb fashion.

* Carlisle and Esme Cullen of {{Literature/Twilight}} are the adoptive parents of Edward, Emmett and Alice Cullen, as well as Rosalie and Jasper Hale despite the fact that everyone except Carlisle is about the same age.

* '''Tamaki''' from OuranHighSchoolHostClub constantly refers himself as the club's "[[TeamDad dad]]" and calls '''Kyoya''' the "[[TeamMom]]". Their actual roles are the reverse, though.