History Main / DisappearedDad

* In "Literature/MotherHolle", the main character's father dies, leaving her in the care of her abusive stepmother who (mis)treats her as a maid.
* "Literature/{{Cinderella}}": Depending on the version, Cinderella's father dies or leaves.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Violine}}'', this drives much of the early plot. Later, [[spoiler: this also applies to her mother]].

** ComicBook/{{Robin}} Tim Drake's biological father was always out of town on business or pursuing his hobby as an AdventurerArchaeologist giving Tim plenty of time to follow Batman & Robin before he ever approached them, train to become Robin, and work as Robin with his father none the wiser.

** Despite being a ParentalSubstitute to several characters, Batman doesn't actually meet his biological son, Damian, until he is about 10 years old. This is because Damian's mother Talia put a lot of effort into making sure Bruce had no idea the kid existed.
** ComicBook/{{Robin}} Tim Drake's biological father was always out of town on business or pursuing his hobby as an AdventurerArchaeologist giving Tim plenty of time to follow Batman & Robin before he ever approached them, train to become Robin, and work as Robin with his father none the wiser.

* As with the [[WesternAnimation/{{Jem}} original cartoon]], the women in the IDW ''ComicBook/JemAndTheHologramsIDW'' comic recently lost their father. He left Jerrica a present though: A supercomputer who can turn into a hologram named Synergy [[spoiler:who is based somewhat on his deceased wife.]]

** In most of [[ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton her]] [[ComicBook/SupermanBatman origin]] [[ComicBook/LastDaughterOfKrypton stories]], ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'s father Zor-El dies shortly after sending his daughter to Earth where she becomes a superhero.

* Teddy of ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' never knew his father. Cassie's was murdered.

* In ''Theatre/{{Anastasia}}'', when regaling his childhood to Anya, Dmitry mentions that his father was exiled to Siberia for being an anarchist when he was a child, and Dmitry hasn't seen him since. Since his mother was already dead, this effectively [[ParentalAbandonment orphaned Dmitry]].

* ''{{WebVideo/Grimbeard}}]]'': Disappeared dads are a common running joke on Grimbeard's reviews.

** Since [[ComicBook/ActionComicsNumber1 his first story]] until the 1986 reboot, Superman's birth father died when Kal-El was a baby/toddler, and is adoptive father Jonathan Kent died of disease when Clark Kent was a teenager.

* ''{{WebVideo/Grimbeard}}]]'': Disappeared dads are a common running joke on Grimbead's reviews.

* ''{{WebVideo/Grimbeard]]'': Disappeared dads are a common running joke on Grimbead's reviews.

** Since [[ComicBook/ActionComicsNumberOne his first story]] until the 1986 reboot, Superman's birth father died when Kal-El was a baby/toddler, and is adoptive father Jonathan Kent died of disease when Clark Kent was a teenager.

** In most of [[ComicBook/ActionComicsNumber252 her]] [[ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton origin]] [[ComicBook/LastDaughterOfKrypton stories]], ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'s father Zor-El dies shortly after sending his daughter to Earth where she becomes a superhero.

* In ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' Season 14's {{crossover}} with ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' it seems to hint that [[spoiler:Sarge is this towards Boomstick, who opted to join the army for the express purpose of getting away from Boomstick, whom he never wanted at all.]]

* Shaman of ''ComicBook/AlphaFlight'' abandoned his daughter to learn magic. Technically, she kicked him out of her life (angry that he'd failed to save her mother / his wife as promised); but given she was maybe 12 at the time, most of the blame lies with him.

** In most of [[ComicBook/ActionComicsNumber252 her]] [[ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton origin]] [[ComicBook/LastDaughterOfKrypton stories]], ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'s father Zor-El dies shortly after sending his daughter to Earth where she becomes a superhero. In ''[[http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com.es/2013/12/back-issue-holiday-box-dcu-infinite.html DCU Infinite Holiday Special issue #1]]'', Kara has to reunite a little girl with her absent father. It turns out that the man is a jerkass drunk who refuses to be around his daughter because he doesn't want her to realize her father is a screw-up. Supergirl convinces him maybe he can get his act together and be a good dad, if he stops trying to run away.

%% Image removed per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1429911425011126700&page=1#7

** UsefulNotes/GeraldFord's father was an abuser who threatened to kill his mother and him shortly after he was born. She quickly left, taking her son with her, before marrying a man whom Gerald took his surname from.

** UsefulNotes/BarackObama's parents were rarely together even when they were still married, as they were college students who studied separately. Barack was raised by his maternal family all his life.

* Wiki/TheOtherWiki has a list of famous people born after the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posthumous_birth death of a biological parent (usually a father)]].

** UsefulNotes/GeraldFord's father was an abuser who threatened to kill his mother and him shortly after he was born. She quickly left, taking her son with her, before marrying a man whom Gerald took his surname from.

* President UsefulNotes/BillClinton never got to meet his biological father, as he was killed in a car accident three months before Bill's birth.

* Franchise/{{Batman}}, despite being a ParentalSubstitute to several characters, doesn't actually meet his biological son, Damian, until he is about 10 years old. And then Bruce gets [[spoiler: lost in time]] shortly after, setting off ''Battle for the Cowl'', which is mostly about former, current [[spoiler: and next]] Comicbook/{{Robin}}s Dick, Jason, Tim and Damian dealing with his disappearance.
** Of Bruce's many, many failings as a parent, not being in Damian's life is not one of them--Talia put a lot of effort into making sure Bruce had no idea the kid existed. She put equal effort into making sure Damian was obsessed with his father's legacy, since he's a bit of a ReplacementGoldfish for her vis-a-vis Batman ever loving her.
*** He wasn't there for Damian during the Batman Inc. period, either. Even when they were working together. Possibly a prepubescent who thinks of homicide as a valid problem-solving technique just gives him the wiggins.
** [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim Drake's]] biological father was [[ParentalAbandonment always out of town]] on business or pursuing his hobby as an AdventurerArchaeologist giving Tim plenty of time to follow Batman & Robin before he ever approached them, train to become Robin, and work as Robin with his father none the wiser.

* ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}''. [[StevenUlyssesPerhero Elissa Megan 'Emp' Powers]] knows exactly what happened to her father. [[TheWoobie She watched him drop dead of a brain hemorrhage one fine morning while she was eating her favorite breakfast cereal]].

* This was a thing in the original ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' dealing with the Guardians as the former Guardian would leave his son to guard the island by his lonesome. This would really backfire on Knuckles, especially since his time as Guardian coincided with Robotnik's rise to power. And let's not get into all of the Disappeared Dads caused by Robotnik and Eggman.

* In most continuities, ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'s father Zor-El dies shortly after sending his daughter to Earth where she becomes a superhero. In ''[[http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com.es/2013/12/back-issue-holiday-box-dcu-infinite.html DCU Infinite Holiday Special issue #1]]'', Kara has to reunite a little girl with her absent father. It turns out that the man is a jerkass drunk who refuses to be around his daughter because he doesn't want her to realize her father is a screw-up. Supergirl convinces him maybe he can get his act together and be a good dad, if he stops trying to run away.

* In ''Theatre/AChorusLine'', Maggie's father left the family sometime after her birth when he realized Babies ''Don't'' Make Everything Better.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': [[ComicBook/WonderGirl Cassie]] has been given conflicting information as to whether or not her father is alive over the years, and doesn't even meet him until she's already in high school. He's Zeus, so the fact that he was waffling on whether to meet or acknowledge her and goes against her mother's wishes the first time he encounters her while maintaining his lie to Cassie by claiming not to be her father for years afterwards is par for the course.

* As with the [[WesternAnimation/{{Jem}} original cartoon]], the women in the IDW ''ComicBook/JemAndTheHolograms'' comic recently lost their father. He left Jerrica a present though: A supercomputer who can turn into a hologram named Synergy [[spoiler:who is based somewhat on his deceased wife.]]

%%
%%
%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
%%
%%
%%
%%
%%
%%

%% Image removed per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1429911425011126700&page=1#7
%% Please see thread to discuss a new image.
%%

* ''{{Machinima/Anon}}'': Dani's father has never appeared on screen, but it's implied that he lives in a trailer and is outright stated the only time they talk is on her birthday.

* ''{{WebVideo/AFK}}'': Brendon's dad "went on a fishing trip" and never came back, leaving him with his mom. Q's partner left her with their daughter after she caught him cheating. [[spoiler: Possibly it's the other way, because her true gender is unclear.]]

* ''ComicBook/DisneyKingdoms'': In the first ''Figment series'', Blair Mercurial/The Dreamfinder is working to support his mother and siblings due to his father being absent. The sequel series ''Figment 2'' shows Capri Harmony living with her single mother Jess, but no information is given as to why her father is out of the picture.