History Main / DisappearedDad

!!Examples:

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Among U.S. Presidents:
** UsefulNotes/AndrewJackson's father died in a logging incident three weeks before he was born.
** UsefulNotes/RutherfordBHayes's father died ten weeks before his birth. He found a father figure in his maternal uncle.
** UsefulNotes/GeraldFord's father was an abuser who threatened to kill his mother, him and his nursemaid shortly after he was born. Ford said he'd also hit her before. She quickly left, taking her son with her, before marrying a man whom Gerald took his name from (his birth name was Leslie Lynch King Jr.). He did not know about what happened until age 17, and Ford had only sporadic contact with him after that until his father died in 1941.
** UsefulNotes/BillClinton never got to meet his biological father, as he was killed in a car accident three months before Bill's birth.
** 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. His father left when he was two, and the pair only met once after that.
** Conversely, at least two US Presidents have fathered children whose lives they weren't involved in.
*** UsefulNotes/GroverCleveland admitted fathering a son out of wedlock, Oscar Folsom Cleveland, with Maria Crofts Halpin, and paid child support although they had no other contact. It was used against him in his first campaign for US President in 1884, but Cleveland's frank public admission defused this (his opponent being [[CorruptPolitician heavily corrupt]] while Cleveland was known for his rectitude helped make it less damaging too).
*** UsefulNotes/WarrenGHarding fathered a daughter, Elizabeth Ann Blaesing, with his mistress Nan Britton, in the year before (1919) he was elected President. While this was denied by his family and historians had long been divided on the matter, DNA tests in 2015 confirmed he was her father.
* Notorious outlaw Billy the Kid's father died when he was young. Years later, his step-father abandoned the family to continue his gambler's life, and his mother died also, [[PromotionToParent forcing Billy to care for his younger sibling]] and driving him to petty theft to put food on the table.
* Creator/WCFields was not directly involved in the raising of either of his sons. His first son, W. C. Fields Jr., was born to his wife, Hattie Hughes, in 1904, but they separated (never divorced) in 1907. He had a second son, William Fields Morris, in 1917 as part of an extramarital affair with long-time partner Bessie Poole. But against his acting stereotype as a ChildHater, he financially support both; he paid a stipend to Hughes for the rest of his life, and supported Morris until he turned 19 (his mother had died in 1928). He was also known to be an involved grandfather.
* UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi rarely had time for his four sons, even neglecting their formal education. His estranged first son Harilal became a vagrant and died an alcoholic.
* Creator/SylvesterMcCoy ([[Series/DoctorWho The Seventh Doctor]]) never knew his father, who was killed in World War II a month before he was born.
* Not only was Creator/MarilynMonroe's father, Charles Stanley Gifford, certainly not present in his daughter's life (and prevented from being so), but it took until ''2022'' for him to be officially revealed as her father through a DNA test using a hair sample from Monroe and saliva samples from some of Gifford's other descendants.
* There has been a [[TruthInTelevision well-documented rise in single motherhood]] in recent decades. There appears to be an effort to avert this trope in the U.S., though, judging by the [[PublicServiceAnnouncement PSAs]] on TV urging men to "take the time to be a dad."
* Music/XXXTentacion's son Gekyume was born seven months after his father's murder.
* Website/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)]], as a couple of the US Presidents noted above had.
* Music/{{Cher}}'s biological father left the family when she was ten months old, and she considers her mother's second husband to be her real father.
[[/folder]]

[[caption-width-right:280:"Dad always was good at providing... {{Freudian Excuse}}s, [[TragicBackstory tragic backstories]], [[SingleIssuePsychology abandonment issues...]]"]]

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Compare and contrast this with MissingMom. Combine the two, and you get ParentalAbandonment. Sometimes, though, DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou. If Dad is dead, we may see a HappierHomeMovie. If he is simply too busy to be with his child, it's WhenYouComingHomeDad. If he doesn't have a lot of time but is willing to spend money on gifts and trips for the kids, it's DisneylandDad. If he's wanted by the authorities, then he's a NotoriousParent. IF he had some excuse to leave in the short term and then never returned, its ParentNeverCameBackFromTheStore. NoFathersAllowed is this on a societal level. See also TellMeAboutMyFather, SoProudOfYou, TurnOutLikeHisFather, GlorifiedSpermDonor, and AmbiguouslyAbsentParent. Contrast WellDoneSonGuy.

* Not only Creator/MarilynMonroe's father, Charles Stanley Gifford, certainly wasn't present in his daughter's life (and prevented to do so), but it took until ''2022'' for him to be officially revealed as her father through a DNA test using a hair sample from Monroe and saliva samples from some of Gifford's other descendants.

* Not only Creator/MarilynMonroe's father, Charles Stanley Gifford, certainly wasn't present in his daughter's life (and prevented to do so), but it took until ''2022'' for him to be officially revealed as her father through a DNA test using a hair sample from Monroe and saliva samples from Gifford's other descendants.

* It's unknown who Creator/MarilynMonroe's father even was (different biographers have different candidates) but he certainly wasn't present in his daughter's life.

** In the first ''Figment series'', Blair Mercurial/The Dreamfinder is working to support his mother and siblings due to his father being absent for unknown reasons.

* A RunningGag in ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' has Boomstick occasionally bring up his absent father, who's whereabouts are currently unknown. The ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' {{crossover}} episode seems to hint that his father is [[spoiler:Sarge, who opted to join the army for the express purpose of getting away from Boomstick, whom he never wanted at all]]. Season 8 of the show has an arc centered around Boomstick trying to locate his dad, with it finally culminating in the series' 150th episode, "[[Wrestling/RandySavage Macho Man]] VS Kool-Aid Man", which [[spoiler:definitively confirms that Sarge is indeed Boomstick's missing father]].

* ''WebAnimation/SpookyMonth'': Family photos in Skid's house have his father either missing or his picture torn off, and neither Skid nor Lila seem to care or be affected by it despite the troubled implications. If the occult robes and summoning artifacts are any indication, there'd be a chance Skid's family having ties to the occult had something to do with it.

* ''{{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.

* A RunningGag in ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' has Boomstick occasionally bring up his absent father, who's whereabouts are currently unknown. The ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' {{crossover}} episode seems to hint that his father is [[spoiler:Sarge, who opted to join the army for the express purpose of getting away from Boomstick, whom he never wanted at all]]. Season 8 of the show has an arc centered around Boomstick trying to locate his dad, with it finally culminating in the series' 150th episode, "[[Wrestling/RandySavage Macho Man]] VS Kool-Aid Man", which [[spoiler:definitively confirms that Sarge is indeed Boomstick's missing father]].

* 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)]], as a couple of the US Presidents noted above had.

* Bruce Banner, the ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'', had once realized that he himself became one, as two or more of his Hulk personas have made children under contrived situations; Bruce in one self-introspecting moment felt he should be responsible for them, awkwardly attempting to connect with his estranged children. It didn’t quite work as none of them felt a connection to Bruce Banner and he didn’t try to push things much further, just accepting it as one of the many things that never works out in his life.

* In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', during Chiaki Nanami's Free Time Events she mentions her father in the past tense, making Hajime wonder if he died. [[spoiler:It turns out Chiaki's "father" is Chihiro Fujisaki, the Super High School Level Programmer who died back in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc''; Chiaki is an ArtificialIntelligence that he created, based on a real Chiaki who [[DeadAllAlong was killed before the events of the game]]. We have no clue on what happened to the actual Mr. Nanami, but with [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the Tragedy]], his chances of survival are slim.]]

* ''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 for unknown reasons.

* ''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 for unknown reasons. 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.

*** Carl never met his biological father, as he abandoned his mother before he was born. In the first few seasons, Carl would often imaginate a shadow image of himself dubbed "Carl Sr." who would often try to boost up Carl's confidence and give him advice whenever he needed it. As the series went on, [[CharacterDevelopment Carl has become more confident in himself and thus doesn't need "Carl Sr."]] anymore.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' became a crime fighter after his uncle Ben, who acted as a father, was killed by a burglar.

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

** In most of [[ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton her]] [[ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton2004 origin]] [[ComicBook/LastDaughterOfKrypton stories]], ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'s father Zor-El dies shortly after sending his daughter to Earth where she becomes a superhero.

*** Lady Jane Phoenix's son, James Solberg, never met his father because he died after he fell from his mustie while drunk before he was born. This supposes a problem, as Jane will have to remarry in order to be able to financially support herself, but she will be separated from her son when she does so because the law of the time (the year 1475) states that when a woman's husband dies and she remarries, her child will become a ward for someone in the crown. Jane refuses to give James to either her uncle Sigmund or her cousin Blayne [[{{Jerkass}} because they are unpleasant and self-centered]] and [[AdultFear she's afraid that they will do something bad to him]]. Fortunately, Jane's brother-in-law Rodrick offers to take James in as his ward and make sure nothing bad happens to him.

*** Lady Jane Phoenix's son, James Phoenix, never met his father because he died after he fell from his mustie while drunk before he was born. This supposes a problem, as Jane will have to remarry in order to be able to financially support herself, but she will be separated from her son when she does so because the law of the time (the year 1475) states that when a woman's husband dies and she remarries, her child will become a ward for someone in the crown. Jane refuses to give James to either her uncle Sigmund or her cousin Blayne [[{{Jerkass}} because they are unpleasant and self-centered]] and [[AdultFear she's afraid that they will do something bad to him]]. Fortunately, Jane's brother-in-law Rodrick offers to take James in as his ward and make sure nothing bad happens to him.

*** Lady Jane Phoenix's son, James Phoenix, never met his father because he died after he fell from his mustie while drunk before he was born. This supposes a problem, as Jane will have to remarry in order to be able to financially support herself, but she will be separated from her son when she does so because the law of the time (the year 1475) states that when a woman's husband dies and she remarries, her child will become a ward for someone in the crown. Jane refuses to give James to either her uncle Sigmund or her cousin Blayne [[{{Jerkass}} because they are unpleasant and self-centered]] and [[AdultFear she's afraid that they will do something bad to him]]. Fortunately, Jane's brother Rodrick offers to take James in as his ward and make sure nothing bad happens to him.

*** Lady Jane Phoenix's son, James Phoenix, never met his father because he died after he fell from his mustie while drunk. This supposes a problem, as Jane will have to remarry in order to be able to financially support herself, but she will be separated from her son when she does so because the law of the time (the year 1475) states that when a woman's husband dies and she remarries, her child will become a ward for someone in the crown. Jane refuses to give James to either her uncle Sigmund or her cousin Blayne [[{{Jerkass}} because they are unpleasant and self-centered]] and [[AdultFear she's afraid that they will do something bad to him]]. Fortunately, Jane's brother Rodrick offers to take James in as his ward and make sure nothing bad happens to him.

** '''Carl''':