History Main / OedipusComplex

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[[caption-width-right:336:[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylctv5BXmJo "I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm getting a total Sigmund Freud thing here."]]]]

* A good part of the reason why [[spoiler: Alvis of Velthomer]] from FireEmblemJugdral is so fucked up comes from this, since [[spoiler: his father Viktor was a philandering asshole who killed himself once he found out his wife Cigyun cheated on him with the Prince of Grandbell, said mother ran away in shame afterwards and never returned. All of this happened when Alvis was seven years old: he grew up into a conflicted MagnificentBastard with ''serious'' issues with women as a whole, to the point of ''killing'' whoever mentioned his idealised MissingMom in a bad light in front of him.]]

* Shinji Ikari from ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is an interesting example. His mother is dead and he wants approval from his father, and resents him for not giving said approval. It would be a lot healthier for Shinji if he just straight up hated his father. And while he doesnn't want to sleep with his mother, Shinji is [[spoiler: [[PoweredByAForsakenChild piloting her]], which is all sorts of intimate]].

* Shinji Ikari from ''NeonGenesisEvangelion''.

* Clay from ''MoralOrel'', largely courtesy of the fact his mother spoiled him rotten and ignored his father to the point of leaving him to eat Clay's leftovers. His OedipusComplex is played quite disgustingly in the episode [[RuleOfSymbolism Nesting]], in which [[spoiler:he has a [[NightmareFuelUnleaded High Octane]] NauseaFuel moment in which he imagines himself naked climbing the legs of a chicken - [[AnimalMotiffs representing his mother]] - and bathing in the egg fluids. Also [[CompleteMonster Miss Censordoll]] takes advantage of him, only adding more {{Squick}}]]. Needless to say, Clay's antagonism towards his father is also very intense.

* In ''HarryPotter'', Voldemort killed his [[DisappearedDad Disappeared Muggle Dad]]. [[spoiler:Barty Crouch was also killed by his son, although [[AdaptationDecay you'd never figure it by watching the ''Goblet of Fire'' movie.]]]]

* ''{{Hamlet}}''. Although the title character ostensibly wants to kill his stepfather/uncle in order to avenge his father, generations of {{Shakespeare}} scholars, directors and actors have seen a deeper, less conscious motive. Let's just say that Hamlet may have more than the normal filial affection for Gertrude. (MelGibson's 1990 film version especially plays up this aspect of their relationship.)
** Hamlet is actually a male version of Electra; the Oedipus complex is a result of AdaptationDecay and LostInImitation. Case in point: their fathers were both murdered by cheating wives, and then Hamlet/Electra killed off the cheating wife and her lover for revenge.

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* Tsuna from ''KatekyoHitmanReborn''. He develops a huge crush on Kyoko, whom he [[ShallowLoveInterest hardly interacts with]] or [[ExtremeDoormat knows much about]]. One thing is very noticeable about her, however: [[http://www.onemanga.com/Katekyo_Hitman_Reborn/123/15/ she looks]] ''exactly'' [[http://www.onemanga.com/Katekyo_Hitman_Reborn/123/12/ like his mother]]. Even their ''personalities'' are very much alike. In addition to that, he's ''very'' uncomfortable with talking with his father (who was pretty much a DisappearedDad for a lot of his life).

* Hinted at with [[FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth,]] but [[{{Flanderization}} completely exaggerated]] in the fandom. That said, he ''is'' obsessed with what he perceives as his "mother" and he absolutely ''hates'' his father, (even if he doesn't know who his father is) [[spoiler:[[MadScientist Professor Hojo]]...]]

*** Um, no, he wasn't squicked at all. Because, for everyone who's clearly never actually seen the movie, he never ''was'' in love with her. All he had was the most innocent of casual attractions, the kind any normal young man could have on a young woman who he was friendly with, and which had completely evaporated by the middle of Episode V. [[WallBanger Why does everyone keep saying the two of them were embroiled in constant incestuous coupling all through the series?]]

The Oedipal archetype deals with any conflict between father and son, particularly where the son must supplant the father or must extricate himself from his father's shadow and find his own place in the world.

OedipusRex is the TropeNamer. Oedipus, however, is not a true example of the trope because he does not discover until long after the fact that he has killed his father, or that he has married his mother, and is horrified on both counts.

* ''{{Merlin}}'' - [[spoiler: Arthur in ''Sins of the Father'' borders on this. He meets a (young and beautiful) ghost of his mother, who tells him that his father is to blame for her death. So he tries to kill Uther.]]

** In the manga, [[spoiler: Greed]] also has issues with his dad and seems complacent about his role as 'daddy's rebellious son', even going as far as to tell him something along the lines of [[spoiler: "Father should be the one who understands best, ain't I the manifestation of his greed?"]]. To be honest, though, [[spoiler: Father]] is one hell of a tyrannical father.

** In the anime, [[spoiler: the homunculus Envy]]'s goal in life is [[spoiler: killing Hohenheim]]. At the same time, he's immensely jealous of [[spoiler: Edward because he is Hohenheim's ''real'' son -and, presumably, because he is the most similar to Hohenheim and [[FanNickname Hoju]] in appearance and personality]]. In the movie, he even succeeds not only in [[spoiler: killing Hohenheim before Ed's very shocked eyes]], but also in ''not'' crying "Daddy, why don't you love me?". Interestingly, [[spoiler: Ed looks absolutely shell-shocked for about ''two minutes'']] and he later doesn't seem to care much, which might or might not mean a lot about how he really feels towards his old man. Then again, he doesn't seem to care much about [[spoiler: Alfons's death]] either and [[{{DisContinuity}} maybe the movie never happened]].

* In a rare maternal case, in ''TwoAndAHalfMen'' Charlie and Alan loathe [[EvilMatriarch their mother, Evelyn]].

* Lelouch Lamperouge, the protagonist of ''CodeGeass'', has the ultimate goal of learning who killed his mother, and then killing his father the Emperor, whether or not he's responsible. Of course, since momma Marianne is portrayed as [[PuritySue only two steps short of sainthood]], and poppa Charles is a {{Darwinist}} {{Jerkass}}, his attitude may be justified.

The female equivalent, of wanting to kill the mother and sleep with the father, was called the Electra complex by Carl Jung, but this term was rejected by Freud, saying that 'feminine Oedipus complex' sufficed[[hottip:*:a bit HilariousInHindsight since most modern Freudian apologists claim girls ''also'' want to supplant their fathers]]. This makes sense, since the character of Electra in the plays of both ''[[{{Theater/Ptitletbpi557r}} Sophocles]]'' (who wrote Oedipus) and Euripides saw her more in filial love and deep mourning for her father and in need of some good revenge against her murderous mother. The story of this family is another trope altogether, anyway.

The female equivalent, of wanting to kill the mother and sleep with the father, was called the Electra complex by Carl Jung, but this term was rejected by Freud, saying that 'feminine Oedipus complex' sufficed[[hottip:*:a bit HilariousInHindsight since most modern Freudian apologists claim girls ''also'' want to supplant their fathers]]. This makes sense, since the character of Electra in the plays of both Sophocles (who wrote Oedipus) and Euripides saw her more in filial love and deep mourning for her father and in need of some good revenge against her murderous mother. The story of this family is another trope altogether, anyway.

OedipusRex is the TropeNamer, but not a true example. Oedipus [[strike:was unconscious of the fact that]] did not know he had killed his father and become his mother's lover until later, at which he was horrified.

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