History Main / ParentalSubstitute

* ''TheFlash'' Wally West considers [[CoolUncle Barry Allen]] as a more of father than his own biological one. In return Barry thinks of him as his own as well. Considering Barry's fate (or Wally's depending on universe), their relationship turns into {{Tear Jerker}} between them.

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'': In various ways Luke fon Fabre holds the current Parental Substitute record for the entire franchise, with ''five'' surrogate parental figures in total. First, there's Guy, who basically raises Luke after his traumatic kidnapping experience at age ten leaves him with complete amnesia. Then there's Van, who is Luke's mentor and combat instructor. [[spoiler:He also happens to be the one who created Luke, as he's the one who cloned him from the original Luke fon Fabre and, unfortunately, [[ExploitedTrope exploited]] this for the sake of his plans as an EvilMentor and resident BigBad.]] [[ColonelBadass Jade]] also counts, thanks to a scene in Keterburg where Luke calls him a "teacher and mentor". [[spoiler:Since he created fomicry, he's also Luke's unofficial scientific father, in a way]]. Jade, Guy, and Van are all [[LampshadeHanging explicitly pointed to as Luke's father figures in skits]]. Then, of course, we must include [[spoiler:the Duke and Duchess fon Fabre, who are not actually Luke's parents, again, because he's a clone, but accept him anyways as their son]]. And there is one more possible option in [[spoiler: ''[[PureMagicBeing Lorelei]] himself'' flat out calls Luke his "other self" and, by the rules of the verse, Luke ''[[GodInHumanForm is another Lorelei]]'', and Lorelei makes it pretty clear he thinks Luke is [[SoProudOfYou wonderful]].]]

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'': By my count, Luke fon Fabre holds the current Parental Substitute record for the entire franchise, with ''five'' surrogate parental figures in total. First, there's Guy, who basically raises Luke after his traumatic kidnapping experience at age ten leaves him with complete amnesia. Then there's Van, who is Luke's mentor and combat instructor. [[spoiler:He also happens to be the one who created Luke, as he's the one who cloned him from the original Luke fon Fabre]]. [[ColonelBadass Jade]] also counts, thanks to a scene in Keterburg where Luke calls him a "teacher and mentor". [[spoiler:Since he created fomicry, he's also Luke's unofficial scientific father, in a way]]. Jade, Guy, and Van are all [[LampshadeHanging explicitly pointed to as Luke's father figures in skits]]. Then, of course, we must include [[spoiler:the Duke and Duchess fon Fabre, who are not actually Luke's parents, again, because he's a clone]].

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'': Lloyd has no shortage of these. He was adopted by the dwarf Drik and sees Regal as a brother or father figure. Kratos also starts to fit this [[spoiler:until it's revealed that he's not a substitute [[LukeIAmYourFather but the real thing]]]].

* The three adult Crystal Gems (Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl) in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' serve as the titular character's guardians, mentors, and family after the [[DeathByChildbirth death of his mom]] Rose Quartz, who belonged to their team. Among them though, the general consensus is that [[ThePerfectionist Pearl]] acts the most like a mother to him and fits this trope the best, with the other two being {{Cool Big Sis}}ters in their own ways. Unlike most examples, Steven's (human) dad Greg is still alive, but despite his good heart he isn't really in the best shape to be raising a half magic kid.

* In ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'', George Washington is this for the protagonist, which causes no small aount of taunts from Hamilton's enemies. (It should be noted that, historically, Washington was aso a father figure to Lafayette and John Laurens.)

** In "Yuri and the Bear", set in the Arctic and before meeting Grizzly and Panda, a cynical Russian man named Yuri becomes one to baby Ice Bear when he trespasses in Yuri's tent and helps him when he breaks his leg. Afterwards, Yuri, who lost his wife and daughter, slowly warms up and bonds with Ice Bear, teaching him various skills and generally becomes a father figure for him. However, when Ice Bear gets hunted by poachers, Yuri comes to the cub's rescue, but then has to send him away floating on a piece of ice to keep him safe. As a result, a heartbroken Ice Bear never saw Yuri again, but kept Yuri's axe in remembrance of him.

** [[ChildSoldiers Rickert]] has looked up to Guts ever since he saved the boy during Gut's first siege on a castle so it's natrual he should see Guts as a heroic father figure/BigBrotherMentor. Rickert always defended Guts from Corkus's jibes and upon his departure from the Hawks and vouched for him and Rickert was just as upset as Casca at the swordsmen leaving the Band of Hawk. Rickert was delighted at Guts's [[DynamicEntry timely return]] and expresses his disappointment that he couldn't help Guts save Griffith, but horrified to discover Guts and Casca as the only survivors of the [[{{Hell}} Eclipse]] which Griffith caused. Guts deeply cares for Rickert deeply since he is one of the very few surviving Hawks, Guts leaves Casca in his care without telling him what happened (not wishing to terrify him). Rickert hates disappointing Guts, blaming himself when Casca wandered off. When Guts goes into detail of Griffith's betrayal, Rickert seeks the leader of the Hawks out in [[FalseUtopia Falconia]] and [[ArmourPiercing slaps]] him and rejects Griffith's offer to join the new band of hawk showing UndyingLoyalty to Guts.
** Jill came to see Guts in this light, especially since her own father Zepek was a gambling, abusive piece of shit. After Guts saved her from bandits, covering her in his cloak like [[ComfortingComforter blanket]] (something he's does with Casca later), Jill hardly wants to return to her home life and seeks Guts again. She trusts Guts so much [[https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/berserk/images/7/74/JillSleeping.png/revision/latest?cb=20150301233559 she falls asleep on him]] and still trusts Guts after seeing and experiencing [[AxCrazy the worst of him]]. Despite Jill's wish that Guts take her away from her village and horrible homelife, but Guts refused saying she would just get swallowed by his darkness and that she should be fight her own battles.
** [[SideKick Isidro]] could be Guts jr and nobody would think twice, Isidro left his village in pursuit of legend of the [[OneManArmy "hundred man-killer"]] (who is Guts). Isidro was drawn to the swords men and claimed he'd follow in Guts's foot steps and become legendary. Guts, liking the boy's spirit trains him halfheartedly [[http://www.mangareader.net/berserk/24/15 in very similar manner]] to how Gambino (Gut's adoptive Dad) [[http://www.mangareader.net/berserk/3/189 trained]] him [[note]]though thankfully without the horrific abuse[[/note]]. Neither Isidro or Guts admits how much they care for each other, Guts even keeps watch of him in secret, after Isidro storms off in Enoch Village.

** The mother figures of ''Berserk'' are [[MissingMom Shisu]] (for Guts), [[ActionGirl Casca]] (for the [[GooGooGodlike Moonlight boy]] -who may be her actual son-), [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold Luca]] (to the girls under her care) and [[SpoiledSweet Farnese]] (for Guts' younger TrueCompanions [[spoiler: and [[TheOphelia the traumatised]] Casca]]).

** Happens a lot in the series as most of the characters are [[ParentalAbandonment orphaned or abandoned at a young age]]. The most powerful example would have to be Nami's foster mother [[MeaningfulName Bellemere]] who sacrificed herself for her daughters because she refused to deny that they were hers. Genzo is sometimes seen as a father-figure to Nojiko and Nami.

** Sanji originally despised his surrogate dad [[HandicappedBadass Zeff]], completely justified since Zeff raided the ship Sanji was sailing on and beat up Sanji when he tied to defend it. However, when Sanji let slip his dream of [[GoalInLife finding the all blue]] which was Zeff's dream as well so when Sanji was swept overboard, Zeff dived in after him. Sanji and Zeff were subsequently marooned on a rock for over 80 days, and survived due to Zeff eating his own leg while Sanji got the actual rations. Overwhelmed, Sanji demanded to know the reason for this kindness, and Zeff simply replied that it was because he and Sanji shared the same dream. Sanji though he still fought with the old pirate, was deeply indebted Zeff for his sacrifice, teaching how to cook and [[MentorArchetype training]] him to be a baddass. [[spoiler: Sanji's care for Zeff even rivals his loyalty to Luffy and when his actual biologic [[ArchNemesisDad asshole father]] black mails Sanji using Zeff's safety, Sanji is briefly forced to violently sever ties with the crew despite being the [[LoveHurts last thing]] Sanji wanted]].
** Robin and both Clover and Saul, maybe Zoro and the dojo owner, Chopper and Hiriluk... in fact, the only two members of the main crew that don't appear to have ever had a parental substitute of some sort are Usopp and Brook.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''

* ''Manga/OnePiece''

** Sanji originally despised his surrogate dad [[HandicappedBadass Zeff]], completely justified since Zeff raided the ship Sanji was sailing on and beat up Sanji when he tied to defend it. However when Sanji let slip his dream of [[GoalInLife finding the all blue]] which was Zeff's dream as well so when Sanji was swept overboard, Zeff dived in after him. Sanji and Zeff were subsequently marooned on a rock for over 80 days, and survived due to Zeff eating his own leg while Sanji got the actual rations. Overwhelmed, Sanji demanded to know the reason for this kindness, and Zeff simply replied that it was because he and Sanji shared the same dream. Sanji though he still fought with the old pirate, was deeply indebted Zeff for his sacrifice, teaching how to cook and [[MentorArchetype training]] him to be a baddass. [[spoiler: Sanji's care for Zeff even rivals his loyalty to Luffy and when his actual biologic [[ArchNemesisDad asshole father]] black mails Sanji using Zeff's safety, Sanji is briefly forced to violently sever ties with the crew despite being the [[LoveHurts last thing]] Sanji wanted]].

** [[ChildSoldiers Rickert]] has looked up to Guts ever since he saved the boy during Gut's first siege on a castle. Rickert always defended Guts from Corkus's jibes and upon his departure from the Hawks and vouched for him and Rickert was just as upset as Casca at the swordsmen leaving the Band of Hawk. Rickert was delighted at Guts's [[DynamicEntry timely return]] and expresses his disappointment that he couldn't help Guts save Griffith, but horrified to discover Guts and Casca as the only survivors of the [[{{Hell}} Eclipse]] which Griffith caused. Guts deeply cares for Rickert deeply since he is one of the very few surviving Hawks, Guts leaves Casca in his care without telling him what happened (not wishing to terrify him). Rickert hates disappointing Guts, blaming himself when Casca wandered off. But when Gutsgoes into detail of Griffith's betrayal, Rickert seeks the leader of the Hawks out in [[FalseUtopia Falconia]] and [[ArmourPiercing slaps]] him and rejects Griffith's offer to join the new band of hawk.
** Village girl Jill came to see Guts in this light, especially since her own father Zepek was a gambling, abusive piece of shit. After Guts saved her from bandits, covering her in his cloak like [[ComfortingComforter blanket]] (something he's done with Casca), Jill hardly wants to return to her home life and seeks Guts again. She adores Guts so much [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/berserk/images/7/74/JillSleeping.png/revision/latest?cb=20150301233559 she falls asleep on him]] and still trusts him after seeing and experiencing [[AxCrazy the worst of Guts ]]. Despite Jill's wish that Guts take her away from her village as her new murderous pappa, but Guts refused saying she would just get swallowed by his darkness and that she should be fight her own battles.
** [[SideKick Isidro]] could be Guts jr and nobody would think twice, Isidro left his village in pursuit of legend of the [[OneManArmy "hundred man-killer"]] (who is Guts). Isidro was drawn to the swords men and claimed he'd follow in Guts's foot steps and become legendary. Guts, liking the boy's sprit. trains him halfheartedly [[http://www.mangareader.net/berserk/24/15 in very similar manner]] to how Gambino (Gut's adoptive Dad) [[http://www.mangareader.net/berserk/3/189 trained]] him. Neither Isidro or Guts admits how much they care for each other, Guts even keeps watch of him in secret after Isidro storms off in Enoch Village.

** The mother figures of ''Berserk'' are [[MissingMom Shisu]] (for the young Guts), [[ActionGirl Casca]] (for the [[GooGooGodlike Moonlight boy]] -who may be her actual son-), [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold Luca]] (to the girls under her care) and [[SpoiledSweet Farnese]] (for Guts' younger TrueCompanions [[spoiler: and [[TheOphelia the traumatised]] Casca]]).

* In ''Theatre/HenryIV'' Falstaff likes to think that he is this to Hal. If anything, it is the other way round, at least in ''Theatre/HenryIVPart1'', where Hal is usually the one deciding what they're going to do, protecting Falstaff when he's in danger from the police, and telling him off when he behaves inappropriately. This makes Hal's rejection of Falstaff at the end of ''Theatre/HenryIVPart2'' a devastating example of [[Parental Abandonment]].

* ''XMen'': Professor Xavier gave this the original five, but especially serves as a father substitute for Cyclops.
** ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} has a tendency to become this to young teammates, especially female ones (Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Jubilee), but also e. g. to Colossus (in a more "tough love" kind of way).

* Lee Everett becomes this to Clementine in ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' video game. While he never gets officially PromotedToParent, several characters think Lee is Clementine's father when they first meet them, and at the end of the game, it's Lee who's going to find Clementine, no matter what. And God help anyone who [[PapaWolf tries to hurt her]]. In Season 2, [[spoiler:Kenny]] tries to fulfill this role towards Clementine, but it becomes clear that he's not nearly as cut out as Lee. ''A New Frontier'' has main character Javier taking over as a father figure for his niece and nephew Mariana and Gabriel.

* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', Hannes acts as a father-figure to Eren and his adoptive sister Mikasa after their mother Carla is killed and their father Grisha goes missing. Eren even calls him "Uncle" despite him just being a close family friend.

** Nearly every adult who has any interaction with Harry is a Parental Substitute, especially Albus Dumbledore, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Hagrid (maybe more of an uncle figure), Minerva [=McGonagall=], and Arthur and Molly Weasley. Because this is ''Harry Potter'', [[spoiler:things don't [[DeathByNewberyMedal end well for the first three]]]].

* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': Nunnal Enaz is a second mother to Kallen Selios because she adopted the girl at a young age and she was already an HonoraryAunt at that point.

** Kel of ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'' actually has living GoodParents, but obviously they're not around while she's training for knighthood and they're ambassading. Lord Raoul, her knight-master, essentially pulls her through the crappy, 15-18 years. And Kel herself becomes a substitute parent to Tobe when she basically adopts him by [[IndenturedServitude buying his indenture]] from an abusive master.

* [[GenreDeconstruction Twisted like most things]] in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. Sansa Stark is forced to masquerade as [[MagnificentBastard Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish's]] bastard daughter for the sake of her own survival, which would be okay except Littlefinger can't seem to work out if he views Sansa as a daughter or as a [[ReplacementGoldfish younger, more beautiful version]] of the woman he'd loved obsessively since childhood.

** The Doctor's relationship with his latest companion Bill, an orphan, is like a fun but slightly irresponsible grandad or a cool teacher. Bill even compares him to her foster mother.

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': WordOfGod from the staff as well as C.C.'s Japanese voice actor categorize [[MagnificentBastard Lelouch]] [[ChessMaster Lamperouge]] and C.C.'s relationship as mother and son. In lead-up finale episode, she remarks to an Ex-comrade in the final battle that she doesn't know if she loves him. Multiple times she has been shown to be there for him. She's seen comforting Lelouch in non-romantic ways [[spoiler:like after he performed a MercyKill on an accidentally Geassed Euphemia.]] In Season 2 when the audience [[spoiler:gets a look at Lelouch's mother who is revealed to be just as much of a ManipulativeBastard as his father]] you can easily see who is the more genuinely affectionate and maternal figure. [[spoiler: Hint: C.C. and not the [[AbusiveParents actual mother.]]]] In fact,[[spoiler: 10 min into episode 21 of R.2 Marianne is peppering her words with [[BlatantLies sugary bullshit]] to get him to agree to hand over C.C. so that she and Charles can finalize their AssimilationPlot]]. But thanks to RelationshipWritingFumble, it look like [[ShipTease something else]] to some fans.

** Naked Snake, in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'', answers Eva's question about his relationship with the Boss by saying that she was like his mother, [[spoiler:only making the inevitable end of the game an even bigger twist of the knife]].

** As part of the same scenario, Sansa's cousin Lord Robert Arryn comes to view her as something between a parental substitute (for his late mother Lysa, who was murdered by Littlefinger after marrying her) and a CoolBigSis (since Robert believes that "Alayne" is his stepsister).

* Urbosa veers between this and CoolBigSis for Zelda in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild''. After Zelda's kind and encouraging mother dies while her daughter is still a young child, Zelda's [[FantasyForbiddingFather stern father King Rhoam]] is left to try and guide his daughter to unlock her RoyaltySuperPower needed to defeat Calamity Ganon. In their interactions with each other in the recovered memories, Urbosa fills a similar role for Zelda to her mother, gently encouraging the princess, sticking up for her (and her appointed knight Link) against badmouthing from people like [[{{Jerkass}} Revali]], and asks Link to convey [[SoProudOfYou how proud she is of Zelda]].

* Samus Aran of the ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'' franchise has the Chozo elder Old Bird as her adoptive parent and mentor after her biological parents are killed by Space Pirates.

** In "The Island", a shipwreaked young woman named Karla becomes a motherly figure to the three bear cubs during their time on the titular island, including singing a lullaby to them and putting them to bed. But when they escape the island, they are separated when a sleeping Karla is taken in by a rescue crew while the bears surface to Japan, losing the closest person they had as a mother.

** Stewie admitted in a dream that he see's Brian this way in "A Lot Going On Upstairs" Chris also once had this relationship with the evil monkey so it seems Peter has a tendency to be repaced with talking animals.

*** actually {{Subverted}} with Chris in an earlier episode Peter decided that he'd failed as a father to Chris and tries to make up for it by being this to Cleveland Jr. but finds he cant control him. Later he tries to make Chris smart by having him spend time Brian but when Chris realizes that Brian is a KnowNothingKnowItAll he decides that he would rather be like Peter.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Grojband}}'' Trina Riffin is this to her [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling younger biological brother]], Corey Riffin, whose adoptive father is never seen on the show.

** Much of Superboy's season 1 character arc deals with him struggling to come to terms with being Superman's clone, and he frequently laments the fact that Superman is unwilling to serve as a parental figure, [[spoiler: which is further complicated by the fact that some of Connnor's DNA is actually Lex Luthor's, and Luthor does actually consider Connor his son- [[FauxAffablyEvil at least when it serves his purposes]]]]. Season 2's TimeSkip mostly resolves the issue, with Clark and Connor settling into a fraternal relationship, with the implication that the Johnathon and Martha Kent became Connor's parternal figures.

** Tsunade is Naruto's sole mother figure, though she didn't think much of him at first when Jiraiya brought him along to recruit her for the role of Hokage. Naruto's personality reminded her of her deceased little brother Nawaki and lover Dan, especially since [[CommonalityConnection they all shared the same dream of becoming Hokage]]. Tsunade gradually grows to care for the youth and gives Naruto Harshirama's (the first Hokage) [[TragicKeepsake necklace]], and she is also the first woman in {{canon}} to kiss Naruto...[[AnywhereButTheirLips on the forehead]]. Even as the fifth Hokage, Tsunade does occasionally give Naruto special treatment and lets him get away with saying his opinion or acting rebellious. Naruto calls her "Granny", which is both insulting (though she is [[OlderThanTheyLook old enough]]) and kind of endearing. Tsunade even has some mother hen moments endangering most of the village from Pain by keeping Naruto hidden (and [[TrainingMontage training]]} and vouches for Naruto when A (the fourth Raikage) doubts him, [[TheGambler betting]] that Naruto will be able to save the ninja world.