History Main / InvisibleParents

* ''Series/KenanAndKel'': Kel's parents are never shown on screen, but so is pretty much the entirity of Kel's life outside his friendship with Kenan. In one of the few episodes Kel mentions them, he says his dad is a [[ThisAintRocketSurgery rocket scientist]] and his mom is a [[ThisAintRocketSurgery brain surgeon]].

* Pretty much all the Scoobies' parents except Buffy's mom on ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', though Willow's mother, Sheila Rosenberg, does appear ''once'', playing a fairly big role in the Season 3 episode "Gingerbread." Xander's parents also did appear onscreen in the episode where he leaves Anya at the alter. Cordelia and Oz's parents were never shown onscreen once outside of a picture in Cordelia's case. And of course there's the various teenage [[MonsterOfTheWeek villains]] or [[VictimOfTheWeek victims]] of the week, especially in the high school-set early seasons, from which we hear not a peep from their parents (with [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E3TheWitch one notable exception]]).

* Out of the protagonist’s and Johanna’s classmates, none of their parents appear in person until late in the story. This is justified with Amy, who takes pains to keep her family situation secret from her classmates, and with Dennis, whose wealthy father pays for an apartment for his son to live in alone. Through everything, only these two are seen talking to their respective parents in the main part of the story, while Lauren’s mother almost catches her daughter having sex with the protagonist. Ironically, though, Lauren ends up as the one for whom this trope is ultimately played the straightest: Amy’s and Rachel’s moms, Morgan’s uncle, and even Dennis’s dad all appear in person late in the story, while neither of Lauren’s parents ever appears properly; nor are they ever heard again after they nearly catch their daughter in the act.

* In ''VisualNovel/{{Melody}}'', it is known that Sophia lives with her parents, but they are never shown, not even when the two girls are at Sophia's house together.

* In ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta's parents are almost non-existent, as these kids can go off to a dangerous mystery case on a whim, as long Professor Agasa is at least supervising. There was an earlier episode where [[http://www.detectiveconanworld.com/wiki/File:Detective_boys_parents.jpg the parents]] are seen for a few seconds, then they don't really make an appearance ever again. Ayumi's mom's voice spoke once when leaving her apartment, and Genta's dad was a suspect on a episode. Also Genta's mom does appear, but mostly in background or flashback every time Genta talks about his mom.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBackyardigans'' are little kids playing in their backyard so it's presumed their parents are inside. While they are mentioned a few times, the audience never sees them.

** Pretty much ALL the Sailor Senshi who aren't orphans have this problem, except for Usagi. In the [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]], Sailor Mercury is one of the very few ''aversions'' to the trope, [[AmicableExes where both her mother AND father are shown sympathetically despite being divorced]].

** Happens in a lesser way to some other characters- Joey's complicated family set up is mentioned but the parents in question are never seen, and the abusive dad only briefly in the Toei anime, and Atem's mother appears in a single panel in the manga and not once in the anime (despite his father having a large role in the Millennium World arc).

* None of the characters' parents in ''WesternAnimation/{{Grojband}}'' are ever seen. Trina mentions her and Corey's father in the pilot (who is confirmed by WordofGod to be a single adoptive father), while Kin and Kon mention their parents on two separate occasions and absolutely no word is ever dropped regarding Laney's parents.

* ''Series/Kenan&Kel'': Kel's parents are never shown on screen, but so is pretty much the entirity of Kel's life outside his friendship with Kenan. In one of the few episodes Kel mentions them, he says his dad is a [[ThisAintRocketSurgery rocket scientist]] and his mom is a [[ThisAintRocketSurgery brain surgeon]].

** The HighSchoolAU ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'' has all the characters as teenagers, but the parents are still never seen due to most plots taking place at Canterlot High or school events. Sunset Shimmer is assumed by fans to [[MinorLivingAlone live alone]], since she naturally doesn't have any family in the human world. For that matter, it's never addressed in the movies or specials if she even has family back in Equestria either, with the only mention being a throwaway line in one of the comics where she says she was never close with them.

* Most of the parents in ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'', again since the action is within a BoardingSchool. The exception is the Ishiyama family, who have a bit more screen time since Yumi isn't a boarder. Ulrich's, Odd's and William's parents do appear over time, as well as Jérémie's father. By the end, Jérémie's mother has only been mentioned in conversations with his father and Sissi's mother is completely unaccounted for.

* Two of the main characters in ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' are Madame Foster, the house's founder, and her granddaughter Frankie. Frankie's parents aren't ever mentioned, though she is old enough to live on her own. The show's creator [[https://twitter.com/CrackMcCraigen/status/612061383434219520 said they are still alive]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', [[PolarOppositeTwins Dipper and Mabel]]'s parents are only seen at the very beginning of the series, and then, [[TheFaceless only their arms]] as they get the kids ready for their trip to Gravity Falls. We do know that it was their idea to send them (while Dipper, at least, was reluctant to go), and WordOfGod says that this decision was due to the false belief that [[spoiler:[[TwinSwitch Stan was Stanford Pines]], not the [[FakingTheDead supposedly-deceased]] Stanley]]. Stan talks to them on the phone in one episode, but we don't even hear their side of the conversation, much less see them.

* Despite numerous scenes of ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'' set in their homes, we never see Brad and Tuck's or Sheldon's parents.

** It's not quite as bad in this cartoon as the main characters are young adults living away from home. Outside the six main characters, this trope is played very much straight with Scootaloo, leading to fan theories that she may be an orphan and that she wants Rainbow Dash to treat her like sister because she never had a family. In season 4, the house she lives in is shown, looking pretty ordinarily, but still no parent in sight. It is even more noticeable when [[spoiler:they are absent when their daughter celebrates getting her Cutie Mark]]. The season seven episode "Parental Glideance" muddles this up further. Scootaloo mentions that she always dreamed of having supportive parents like Dash's and that she had never been told she'd be the best at anything growing up. This suggests that her parents are either [[WhenYouComingHomeDad busy]], [[ParentalNeglect neglectful]], or [[ParentalAbandonment dead]] (and being given [[NeverSayDie similar treatment as Apple Bloom's parents]]). The book ''Ponyville Mysteries: Riddle of the Rusty Horseshoe'' revealed that Scootaloo's parents are often busy so she's usually under the care of her two aunts, Aunt Lofty and Aunt Holiday.
** Sweetie Belle's parents have only appeared in one episode. Sweetie spends more time around her older sister than she does them. One establishing shot of her house has her father sitting outside, but he has no interaction with her.
** The HighSchoolAU ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'' is less justified. We only ever see the teenagers or their siblings. It's especially confusing with Sunset Shimmer. She presumably doesn't live with the "real" Sunset's parents so presumably she [[MinorLivingAlone lives alone]].

* ''Series/OddSquad'' enforces this trope and then plays it straight by the end of Season 2. Tim [=McKeon=] and Adam Peltzman, the show's creators, made the intentional decision to never show any of the characters' home lives because of the "All Kids are Equal, All Kids Belong" modus operandi -- hence, almost none of the main characters' parents are seen. The only main character who is known to have parents in any capacity is Otis, confirmed in the Season 2 finale when he reveals his backstory. However, his family, including his parents, are [[spoiler:villainous ducks who adopted him and raised him from childhood,]] and when [[spoiler:they committed a major and lethal act of oddness, he ratted them out to Odd Squad, causing them to become captured and sent to a zoo in Missouri while he was taken in by Ms. O.]] It's never explained what happened to his biological parents.

* All the children in ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}'' are apprentices of a particular trade who live with their masters. No parents are ever mentioned.

** Darkwing ''does'' mention his parents momentarily whilst arguing in one episode, claiming that they [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar created him]], which would imply that they're still alive.

** In ''Anime/WeatheringWithYou'', Hodaka's parents are known to exist because [[spoiler:they call on the police to get him back]] and it is implied abuse is one of the reasons he ran away, but apart from an obscured photograph, they are never depicted onscreen in the film proper. As for Hina, while it is known her mother is dead by the time of the main part of the film, her father is nowhere to be seen.

* Supposedly Kousei from ''Manga/YourLieInApril'' has a father in his life but he never appears in any flashbacks or even calls (not even when Kousei's mother dies). Kousei lives by himself despite being fourteen.

* So far in ''Manga/AnoKoNiKisuToShirayuriWo'', none of the girls' parents were seen or mentioned, even when they are at home (except Ayaka's mother during a brief flashback, but faceless). Yurine and Sumire do mention their "family" a few times, but it seems like it consists of just the two of them.

* Sasagawa Ryohei and Kyoko from ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn''. The manga has never even hinted at them having parents.

* In ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', out of all the 3-A students, we only see the fathers of Yuuna and Konoka. The former has her dead mother appearing in flashbacks, but that's it. Evangeline and Misora are stated to be orphans, Hakase and Chao might count as Chachamaru's co-mothers, Sayo's parents most likely died decades ago, and Asuna's past is so obscure it's unknown if she ever actually had parents in the strict sense of the word.

* Supposedly Kousei from ''Manga/YourLieInApril'' has a father in his life but he never appears in any flashbacks or even calls (not even when his Kousei's mother dies). Kousei lives by himself despite being fourteen.

* In ''Anime/{{Zegapain}}'', the absence of parents is explained, Everything is a computer program. Most of the "actual people" are teenagers or adults. Parents would just take up more data space. "Does not seeing your mother really have much effect on your everyday life?" is actually said by one of the characters who is pointing out that the hero has never seen his mother, though he hears her voice as she leaves for work and she leaves food for him in the mornings.

* Many of the parents on ''Series/{{Glee}}''.

* In ''WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja'', parents are only very rarely seen, with Howard's dad and [[JerkJock Bash Johnson]]'s mom being the sole exceptions (Bucky's mother [[TheVoice is only heard]]). Mostly, the only characters the audience sees are the kids, their teachers, and the villains. In fact, Randy's parents are not seen in at any moment, although he names his mom sometimes.

* In ''WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja'' parents are only very rarely seen, with Howard's dad and [[JerkJock Bash Johnson]]'s mother being the sole exceptions (Bucky's mother [[TheVoice is only heard]]). Mostly, the only characters the audience sees are the kids, their teachers, and the villains. In fact, Randy's parents are not seen in at any moment, although he names his mom sometimes.

* In ''WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja'' parents are only very rarely seen (Howard's dad and [[JerkJock Bash Johnson]]'s mother being the sole exceptions), and mostly the audience see is the kids, their teachers, and the villains. In fact, Randy's parents are not seen in at any moment, although he names his mom sometimes.