History Main / MissingMom

** [[spoiler:Which is why it's so sad when she leaves the Bebop, because Jet was far better a father for her than her real dad.]]
* Even though ''{{Naruto}}'''s mother [[spoiler:Kushina]] Uzumaki is dead, she was never even mentioned until very late in the series. [[spoiler: This is because she was the previous container for the Kyubii. After Naruto was born, it escaped and Kushina had to seal it in her son's body at the cost of her (and her husband's) life.]] He shares her surname, though.

* ''VictorianRomanceEmma'', Richard Jones (William's father) has a portrait of his wife hanging in their mansion, but she is never mentioned except in recollections. [[spoiler:Although in the second season, her whereabouts are revealed along with an explanation.]]

** Winry Rockbell is raised by her grandmother Pinaco after ''both'' parents died during the Ishval War, though the exact circumstances of their death varies between the manga (killed by [[spoiler:Scar]]) and anime (killed by [[spoiler: Roy Mustang]].)

* Sho Fukamachi's father in ''Guyver'' is a single father; Sho's mother died years before. He does a good job raising Sho and even gets in on the action until [[spoiler:he gets turned into a Zoanoid that nearly kills Sho, forcing the catatonic Guyver to kill his own father in one of the most shocking twists in anime.]]

* In ''DigimonSavers'', Touma's mother [[spoiler:was hit by a truck on their way to a summer festival and died. Oddly enough, the mother of Touma's IllGirl half-sister Relena also died, apparently [[DeathByChildbirth in childbirth]].]]

** [[spoiler:Tamaki's dad managed to turn the tables recently, though how Anne's return will affect Tamaki is unknown]].

* In ''BloodPlus'', Saya and Diva's biological mother is only briefly mentioned, and only appears in corpse form. Though Saya ends up with a replacement or two for their biological father, who is never mentioned in the context of the story (though [[spoiler:Diva's chevalier Nathan makes some mysterious comments suggesting that ''he'' is their father]]), neither of the girls ends up with another mother figure (unless you count Julia).

* Ichigo Kurosaki's mother Masaki in ''{{Bleach}}'' died when he was nine years old, [[spoiler:protecting him from a Hollow that she couldn't even see.]] This led to him becoming quite a bit more aloof. Tatsuki notes that, when he was nine, he was a bit of a crybaby and a momma's boy, but after his mother's death he became horribly depressed and while he eventually got over his depression, he was [[BullyHunter a]] [[HotBlooded different]] [[PerpetualFrowner person]].

* Arika's reason for joining Garderobe Academy in ''{{Mai-Otome}}'' is to find out what happened to her mother. Near the end of the main series, she finds her [[spoiler:dead body in a jar]].

** Ace's own mother, Portgas D. Rouge, was introduced in the story [[spoiler:immediately prior to Ace's execution. There it was revealed that to prevent Ace from being found by the government (who sought him out because of his father), Rouge managed to delay giving birth and remained pregnant for ''twenty months'' to protect her son. [[DeathByChildbirth An act that ultimately killed her]].]]

** So did [[spoiler: Teddy's]], though he didn't know it for years, [[spoiler: and then the woman who raised him burned to death in front of him]].

* ''{{Armageddon}}'' begins with a MissingMom as Harry Tasker raises his daughter Grace with a bunch of oil rig roughnecks, but [[spoiler:it turns to an adult-onset ParentalAbandonment as Harry dies saving the earth from a giant meteor the size of Texas.]] We find out from Grace that mom left.
* In ''AsItIsInHeaven'' [[spoiler:Daniel and Lena]] both have lost their parents at a young age.

** The ''[[AGoofyMovie Goofy Movies]]''s and ''GoofTroop'' indicate Max Goof's mother is dead.

** Disney/TheFoxAndTheHound: Tod's mom is shot during the opening credits.

* In ''KungFuPanda'' we again see the titular panda and his father, and no mother. [[spoiler:And we don't even get to know what happened to her!]]

* In ''The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants'', Bridget's mother is dead, presumably having committed suicide because of mental instability. Her funeral is shown briefly when the characters are introduced. Later, after Bridget [[spoiler:gets it on with her soccer coach]], she cries and wishes her mom was still alive to talk things over with.

* The title character of ''TheDresdenFiles'' lost his mother to DeathByChildbirth [[spoiler:apparently; it later emerged that she was murdered when she happened to be giving birth]]. He then became a full ParentalAbandonment case when his [[DisappearedDad father died]] some years later.

* Elena Bothari-Jesek from [[LoisMcMasterBujold Lois McMasterBujold's]] ''VorkosiganSaga'' stories is an especially tragic case: Miles and Elena go looking for Elena's MissingMom totally unaware of the AwfulTruth that her father [[PrisonRape raped her mother]]. And when they finally do find her Mom [[spoiler:she rejects Elena as an abomination and shoots her father dead.]]

* ''[[TheCuriousIncidentOfTheDogInTheNightTime The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time]]'': Christopher, an [[{{Understatement}} eccentric]] boy, is raised by his father because his mother has died. [[spoiler:Or so he's been told, and the fact she hadn't]] is a major plot point.

* ''{{Series/Heroes}}'':
** Hiro Nakamura's mother is absent. [[spoiler:We find out she's dead later on, and that it completely shattered Hiro's father. Further, in the novel ''Saving Charlie'', we find out that Kaito being devastated by his wife's loss is why he's so emotionless and hard now. When the adult Hiro gets his memories reverted to that of his 10-year-old self, he visits his dead mother via TimeTravel who uses her powers to heal him and give him the {{MacGuffin}}.]]

* ''{{Privileged}}'': Megan and Lily's mother ran out on the family when they were little, sparking the father's alcoholism and Megan's PromotedtoParent status. History repeats itself when [[spoiler:Shelby returns, only to con Megan's boyfriend out of quite a significant (to her if not to Will) sum of money and run off once again]]
* ''{{Psych}}'': Shawn Spencer's mother is absent, but we find out from a bitter remark on Henry's part that [[spoiler:she left]].

** Chuck: Missing... it seems that way, doesn't it? [[spoiler:Or maybe not, as Aunt Lily confesses on a [[MushroomSamba holistic drug trip]] that she's really Chuck's mother.]]

** [[spoiler:Geordi's]] mother dies in the series.
** As does the mother of [[spoiler: Alexander]].

* In the pilot episode of ''{{Bones}}'', Brennan tells Booth that her parents disappeared when she was fifteen. In the season one finale, [[spoiler: they discover that Brennan's mother is one of the Jane Does in Limbo at the Jeffersonian.]]

** The absence of the mothers of [[RedHeadedHero Roy]] and [[MagicalGirl Lilina]] gets around having to decide upon a canon pairing for either his or her father [[spoiler: Lyn, in any of these cases. Ninian or Fiora, in the case of Roy. Florina or Farina, in the case of Lilina.]].

* Lloyd Irving of ''{{Tales of Symphonia}}'''s mother [[spoiler:was turned into a monster and]] died long ago, killed by [[spoiler:Kratos, who turns out to be Lloyd's birth father. It was because of the aforementioned "turned into a monster" thing, a mercy killing/protecting Lloyd from the rampaging monster.]]

* In OverlordII, [[spoiler:Rose left the [[EnfanteTerrible Witch-boy]] in Nordburg in order to help Florian Greenheart establish his Empire from behind the scenes, believing that the latter will at least bring some semblance order to the world.]] She attempted to drive her son away from evil initially from behind the scenes, but by the end accepts him as NecessarilyEvil. Overall she doesn't show much love to her son, but she does have one motherly act near the end: [[spoiler:After defeating Florian and exploding him into ooze all over, she orders him to clean it all up himself.]]

* ''WinxClub'' has this: Stella's mom divorced with her father, Musa's mom died, and for Roxy, [[spoiler:her mother is revealed to be Morgana, the Queen of Fairies.]] That explains how she gets her powers.

** If you interpret it differently, it could be argued that their mother is [[spoiler:Mojo Jojo.]]
*** Or [[spoiler:the toilet]]

* In ''{{The Venture Brothers}}'', the mother of Hank and Dean was unknown until [[spoiler:the second season when it was revealed that it might be Myra Brandish, Dr. Venture's former bodyguard who fell in love with him and went insane.]]

* On ''InvaderZim,'' Dib and Gaz have a father, world-famous scientist Professor Membrane, but no mother is ever mentioned.

* On ''PhineasAndFerb,'' no explanation is ever given for what happened to Ferb's biological mother (or Phineas and Candace's [[DisappearedDad biological father]], for that matter). Their happy blended family makes this something of a non-issue, however.

** The homunculi in the manga have a father, but no mother. This is first addressed by Pride, when he mentions that he never knew what it was like to have a mother until he was adopted by Mrs. Bradley.

* Renton from ''{{Eureka 7}}'' has no mother to speak of. In addition, Renton's replacement mother figure and older sister, Diane, is gone by the beginning of the series, which directly and indirectly causes angst for several members of the main cast.

* In ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}!'' Marik's mother died giving birth to him and was raised by his strict father whom he later killed when he became possessed by the Millennium Rod.

** Other Straw Hats hit by the Missing Mom are Usopp and Nami. The death of Usopp's mother by illness started him on his tendency for lying. Nami's (adoptive) mother Bellemere sacrificed herself to save her and her sister Nojiko.

* Kate Bishop's mother died some time before ''YoungAvengers'' started.

*** Prince Edward has a missing mom too, hence his stepmother.
** The ''Goofy Movie''s and ''GoofTroop'' indicate Max Goof's mother is dead.

* The heroine of ''WhaleRider'' has no mother.
* In ''The Sound of Music'' we see a von Trapp family: Father, seven children, and no mother.

** According to ''[[AllThereInTheManual The Art of Kung Fu Panda]]'', the directors originally intended to put Po's mother into the story, but decided in the end that it distracted from the main story and wasn't very interesting. The fact they didn't want to make Po seem special for having a goose father, and that they wanted [[TheUnreveal to play silly buggers]] with the audience about the ObliviousAdoption may also have had something to do with it.

* ''CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs'': Flint's mother dies when he was young.

* Good God, TamoraPierce you don't let us down.

*** To be fair, this was more a case of her being destitute and heartbroken and running to an orphanage as it was known as a safe place for mothers and children and then dying in childbirth than choosing to leave.

** Ned: Missing, then back, then gone for good.

* Averted in ''TheSarahJaneAdventures''. Yes, Maria's parents (Alan and Chrissie) are divorced because her Mum ran off with the judo instructor, and yes, Maria lives with her Dad, but Chrissie is a DropInCharacter and is only absent in one story: the same one Alan doesn't appear in.

* The mother of ''VeronicaMars'' ran off before the show began, when Keith lost his job as sheriff. Veronica ends up tracking her mom down and forcing her to enter rehab, and then she returns later in the season to restart her relationship with Keith... only she's still on the booze, so Veronica forces her to leave before she ruins things for Keith again.

* One important motive for [[TheAdventuresOfShirleyHolmes Shirley Holmes]] is to solve the mystery of her Mother's disappearance. [[spoiler:And she does, eventually.]]

* {{TheNanny}} Sara Sheffield died before the show started in a car accident caused by a drunk driver.

** Zelda's (or rather, [[spoiler: Tetra's]]) deceased mother is seen as a portrait in TheWindWaker (But you can only access the room containing this portrait once, so most people miss it). She looks similar to the Zelda from TwilightPrincess, except for doning a very short hair-cut and even darker hair.

*** From the same series, although their respective fathers are key characters to the plot and BackStory, neither Franziska's nor Edgeworth's mothers are ever even mentioned. [[{{Fanon}} The fandom's explanation for this]] is that they're either dead or were not connected to law.

* ''JonnyQuest'''s mother is absent, presumably dead.

* ''{{Rugrats}}'': Chuckie's birth mother died of illness, so Chaz's second wife Kira kinda becomes his surrogate mom.

** We see more than her hands. We see the rest of her when she and her husband found out about Ben going alien.

* On ''InvaderZim,'' Dib and Gaz have a father, world-famous scientist Professor Membrane, but no mother is ever mentioned.

* In TheMightyB, Penny seems to be living alone with her dad. We've never seen Gwen's mom either, but since Gwen has five younger siblings, including one who's still an infant, one suspects that she can't be that far away.
* Virgil's mother on {{Static Shock}} died when he was little. He tried to save her in a {{time travel}} episode [[TearJerker/WesternAnimation but wasn't successful]].

<<|TheParentTrope|>>

--->"She had three sons before Catherine was born; and instead of [[DeathByChildbirth dying in bringing the latter into the world, as any body might expect, she still lived on" ''Northanger Abbey'', '''Jane Austen'''.

** Kuzco from ''TheEmperorsNewGroove'' lacks in the parental department as well.

* On ''{{Jimmy Two-Shoes}}'', Beezy only has his father, Lucius. He's still a step up from Jimmy and Heloise, [[ParentalAbandonment who have no mothers at all]].

If the mom is dead, the surviving male protagonist is almost obligated to have a HappierHomeMovie about her, such as a wedding video.

In terms of story, a missing mother facilitates the [=~Hero's Journey~=] by being missing. The lack of a stabilizing family life spurs him on to adventure and away from a mundane life, to find and forge a new stability by getting married and forging a new family. A missing mother also makes it easier for an adult hero to go on an adventure without having to worry about leaving an elderly woman to fend for herself. Presumably, widower dad is fine in his old age, but mom would want the hero at home to help her do chores. Or at least all of this is what writing teams like Disney would have us believe.

In terms of story, a missing mother facilitates the [[HerosJourney Hero's Journey]] by being missing. The lack of a stabilizing family life spurs him on to adventure and away from a mundane life, to find and forge a new stability by getting married and forging a new family. A missing mother also makes it easier for an adult hero to go on an adventure without having to worry about leaving an elderly woman to fend for herself. Presumably, widower dad is fine in his old age, but mom would want the hero at home to help her do chores. Or at least all of this is what writing teams like Disney would have us believe.

If the mom is dead, the surviving male protagonist is contractually obligated to have a HappierHomeMovie about her, such as a wedding video.

* In the books of DaleBrown [[spoiler: Bradley [=McLanahan=]'s]] mother is dead because she was killed by an enemy of his parents.

** This is used in NaokoTakeuchi's earlier work, ''TheCherryProject'', in which Chieri's mother died in a plane crash and all she has left is her dopey if well-meaning HotShounenDad. This was used again in ''Sailor Moon'', with Makoto's parents both dying in a plane crash.

* ''CodeLyoko'' has two. Antea Hopper, Aelita's mother, was [[spoiler: kidnapped by the "Men in Black"]] some time before the series timeline. Her fate remains uncertain. Sissi's mother is never seen or mentioned at all.

** And [[DisappearedDad her dad was disappeared/killed by the BigBad]].

* ''HanaukyoMiadTai''. Taro's mother dies in the BackStory just before the series begins. Oddly enough she's very rarely mentioned during the series itself.

* In WheelOfTime, Rand's mother Kari died when he was a baby, and it is later revealed that [[spoiler: she is not his real mother and Tam is not his real father, and his real parents are also dead]]. Later [[spoiler: Perrin]] loses his whole family in a Trolloc attack and [[spoiler: Elayne's]] mother is presumed killed by Rahvin. We also get to know in book 10 that Aviendha has lost her mother. There might be more even more examples, but considering that the series has more than a thousand named characters and the setting is quasi-medieval, this may not be a very prevalent trope in WoT after all. [[spoiler: Elayne's]] mother's death is also a major plot point, SoYeah.

* ''{{Movies/Armageddon}}'' begins with a MissingMom as Harry Tasker raises his daughter Grace with a bunch of oil rig roughnecks, but [[spoiler:it turns to an adult-onset ParentalAbandonment as Harry dies saving the earth from a giant meteor the size of Texas.]] We find out from Grace that mom left.

* One important motive for Shirley Holmes is to solve the mystery of her Mother's disappearance. [[spoiler:And she does, eventually.]]

* Very common in ''{{Naruto}}'': the title character's mother [[spoiler:Kushina]] Uzumaki is nowhere to be found, she was never even mentioned until very late in the series. The popular fan theory being she is still alive, though probably she dies in childbirth. He shares her surname, though.