History ParentalSubstitute / Literature

** ''Literature/TheChildrenOfHurin'': Turin's mother sent her son to Doarith for his own safety, and King Thingol treated him as his own son.

** Sylvie views Arthur and Tessia as her "Papa" and "Mama" respectively given that they were there when she first hatched (although Arthur spends much more time caring for her as she acts as his bond). Given that Sylvie's relatives would not be able to take care of her for one reason or another (her mother died saving Arthur, her father [[spoiler:is the BigBad]], and her grandfather [[spoiler:is a tyrannical ruler]]), it is safe to assume she is fine with this arrangement.
** Due to acting as his childhood tutor during his stay in Elenoir and helping him recover from prematurely awakening his Mana Core, Arthur comes to view Tessia's grandfather Virion as an honorary grandparent, and even refers to him "Gramps".

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Nearly every adult who has any interaction with Harry is a Parental Substitute to one degree or another. They range from mentor/grandfathers like Albus Dumbledore to doting/supportive uncle figures like Sirius Black and Remus Lupin (both of whom knew his father) or Hagrid. Minerva [=McGonagall=] was the head of his house and might possibly be the most consistent adult in his life and always does right by him. Harry thinks so highly of her that he [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness uses an illegal curse]] on someone in the seventh book for spitting at her. Arthur and Molly Weasley basically became his parents once he got away from the Dursleys. Because this is ''Harry Potter'', [[spoiler:things don't [[DeathByNewberyMedal end well for the first three]]]].

** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' makes it completely explicit; Molly is the mom Harry never had. [[https://www.pottermore.com/features/chapter-that-made-us-fall-in-love-with-molly-weasley This Pottermore article explains in depth.]] In the following book, Molly states that Harry is "just as good as" a son to her.

* Bush towards the decade-younger Hornblower in the ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' books, evolved out of a BigBrotherInstinct from early in their careers; he's constantly worrying that his captain isn't getting enough rest or credit or human contact and Hornblower compares him to a mother hen at one point. Not that Bush quite realizes this since he's [[BritishStuffiness Britishly]] out-of-touch with his own emotions.

* Creator/JRRTolkien's ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' and ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' feature many parental substitutes: Bilbo (for Frodo), Théoden (for Éomer, Éowyn and arguably Merry), Elrond (for Aragorn), Maglor (for Elrond and Elros), Annael (for Tuor), Thingol (for Túrin) etc. Maglor's fostering of Elrond and Elros is perhaps especially notable in that Maglor had been (twice, reluctantly) involved in the slaughter of the boys' family before that, and that he had contributed to their mother's attempted suicide...

* ''Literature/MuchAdoAboutGrubstake'': SaloonOwner Everdene cared for Arley and taught her how to read when her mother died in childbirth and the {{Schoolmarm}} left town. She also throws out paying customers whenever they harass Arley.* ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'': In one of the last chapters, Dame Eyola takes the role of Bastian's deceased mother for a time.

* ''Literature/{{Centennial}}'' (by Creator/JamesAMichener): A section of chapter 3, later reprinted in ''Literature/CreaturesOfTheKingdom'' as "Portrait of Rufous", tells of a baby bison who imprints on one of the bulls, the eponymous Rufous, instead of his mother. It doesn't last; once the younger bull reaches maturity, he comes to see Rufous as a rival rather than a parental figure.

* ''Literature/{{Centennial}}'' (by Creator/JamesMichener): A section of chapter 3, later reprinted in ''Literature/CreaturesOfTheKingdom'' as "Portrait of Rufous", tells of a baby bison who imprints on one of the bulls, the eponymous Rufous, instead of his mother. It doesn't last; once the younger bull reaches maturity, he comes to see Rufous as a rival rather than a parental figure.

** ''Literature/{{Emma}}'': Mrs Woodhouse died when Emma and Isabella were small children. Miss Taylor becomes a governess at the Woodhouses and she was like a mother to both girls. They all lucked out: Miss Taylor was lucky to be hired by such a loving family who treated her more like a friend and family member than an employee; the Woodhouses were lucky to find such a treasure of a woman who loved the girls like her own. Although she was supposedly a mother-figure, she was more like a sister to Emma because they adored each other so much. This in turn resulted in Emma not really having a lot of parental discipline growing up. When she marries, as Mrs Weston she also becomes a devoted stepmother to adult Frank Churchill, who clearly loves her.

*** Mrs Norris somehow manages to meddle in upbringing of the Bertram children, especially Julia and Maria. Their parents are both alive, but their mother is too lazy to bother. Her constant flattering does not improve their character.
*** Sir Thomas, Lady Bertram and Mrs Norris are all Parental Substitutes to Fanny Price, being her uncle and maternal aunts. They adopt her because Fanny's parents are poor and have too many children to take care of. Neither of them does a very good job as Fanny's guardians. Sir Thomas is too strict (and unreasonably so, considering how scared Fanny is), Lady Bertram can't be bothered, and Mrs Norris is downright emotionally abusive. The real Parental Substitute to little Fanny is her older cousin Edmund, who is the only really affectionate person in the house.

** ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'': Mr and Mrs Gardiner are Parental Substitutes to Elizabeth and other girls, despite the fact that their parents are very much alive but their parenting skills are less than excellent and the girls are lucky they can approach such understanding, reasonable and affectionate adults. Mrs Gardiner is their favourite aunt and provides great advice and much comfort to Jane and Elizabeth (Lydia disregards all such attempts, however).

* After her parents go to war in ''Literature/DirgeForPresterJohn'', Sefelet is cared for by Vyala, her mother's friend's mother. They appear to bond more than Sefalet did to her real parents.

* In ''Literature/FireAndHemlock'', Pollys grandmother is her parent substitute, as her own parents are in an unhappy marriage and fight a lot.[[spoiler: They divorce later in the novel]] There is also Mr. Lynn and to a lesser extent his friends, who treat Polly more like a friend, but still qualify, as they readily step in when Polly's actual parents neglect her and her grandma is not nearby.

* ''Literature/GirlsDontHit'': Joss told Greta, her mentor, she was like her mother [[spoiler:before killing her. She was very sad to.]] Her birth mother was "hardly maternal" to her apparently, so Greta filled the void a bit.

* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''Literature/TheHermeticMillennia'', Soorm recounts how Asvid became for him the only father he had ever known, and taught him filial piety. [[spoiler:He's lying.]]

** Also, in the earlier books ''Gods of Mars'' and ''Warlord of Mars'' Tars Tarkas, Tardos Mors, and Mors Kajak are implied to have served this role for John Carter's son, Carthoris, after Carter was returned to Earth.

* Liz Pennykettle for David Rain in ''Literature/TheLastDragonChronicles''. Later, it turns out that [[spoiler:she actually is his mother in an parallel universe.]] She even acts as a mother to Zanna at times.

* In ''Literature/LoyalEnemies'', Rest spent most of his childhood as a poor kid whom nobody wanted to care about, constantly kicked out of every apprenticeship he tried. Then Veres (badass monster hunter MagicKnight) came, said the kid has a magic gift and took him on as his student. At the end of the book another wizard mistakes them for father and son. Rest corrects him, but states that he'd be proud to be Veres' child and he regards the wizard as a substitute parent.
* In ''{{Literature/Malevil}}'', the main character Emmanuel is adopted by his uncle Samuel after he runs away from home. Samuel is far more of a father to Emmanuel then his cowardly, hen-pecked brother Simon ever was.

* In ''Literature/PetSematary'', Louis Creed, who lost his father at age three, meets Jud Crandall who becomes a father figure to him when he's an adult (although age-wise, Jud is at 83 closer to an grandfather- substitute).

* ''Literature/APrayerForOwenMeany'': Owen's real parents don't take much interest in Owen, so Johnny's mother pretty much takes care of him. [[spoiler: This makes her accidental death at Owen's hands all the more heart breaking.]]

* Halt from ''Literature/RangersApprentice'' is a father-figure to both Will and Horace. It comes up several times in the books that Will and Halt think of each other as father and son. Similarly, Pauline thinks of Alyss as a daughter.

* In ''Literature/TheRedAbbeyChronicles'', girls who newly join the Abbey usually choose a girl who has been there for longer, and follow her around all the time. Apparently, the Sisters do not formally control this, but encourage it by assigning the same duties to both girls. (The Sisters also serve as parental subsitutes, but cannot focus on one girl; only the very young ones have a Sister specifically devoted to caring for them.)

* In ''Literature/TheShatteredKingdoms'', Lahlil survived an attempt to [[OffingTheOffspring kill her by exposure]] and was taken in by the Nomas people, acquiring some parental substitutes. However, some misapplied Nomas religious practices resulted in her being cursed with an illness, and she realised that at least some of them knew the source of her problem but were unwilling to admit it to her. She left, and didn't stay in touch. As such, she's estranged from both birth and adoptive parents.

* In the ''Literature/VillageTales'' novels, the Duke of Taunton is this to his nephews and niece – rather to his sister-in-law's vexation, she being after all their mum, and present, living, and in her right mind. Then again, he ''is'' the duke, ThePatriarch, head of TheClan, and, most importantly, the man whose lands, money, and titles the eldest nephew will presumptively inherit, so....

* In ''Literature/TheWitchesOfKarres'', Captain Pausert fills this roll for Goth and The Leewit while they are sailing with him.

-->'''Hagrid''': “Well. Hello. Yeh must be Harry. Hello, Harry Potter. I’m Rubeus Hagrid. And I’m gonna be yer friend whether yeh like it or not. ’Cos yeh’ve had it tough, not that yeh know it yet. An’ yer gonna need friends. Now yeh best come with me, don’t yeh think?”

* ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'': In one of the last chapters, Dame Eyola takes the role of Bastian's deceased mother for a time.

* Subverted in ''Brotherhood of the Rose'', by David Morrell. The two protagonists meet in an orphanage from which they're recruited by CIA chief Elliot, who presents himself as a surrogate father figure. They later discover that Elliot (and other members of his worldwide conspiracy) have done the same thing with other orphans, in order to create a team of EliteMooks who'll obey their orders without question.

* Dr. Montgomery in ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' is a good example. In ''The Penultimate Peril'', volunteers Kit Snicket and Dewey Denouement answer ''some'' of the Baudelaires' questions and the latter offers to become their guardian. All three of them die.

** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' makes it completely explicit; Molly is the mom Harry never had. [[https://www.pottermore.com/features/chapter-that-made-us-fall-in-love-with-molly-weasley This Pottermore article explains in depth.]]

** In the DistantEpilogue, [[spoiler:Harry is this for Remus' orphaned son, Teddy]].

* In ''Literature/PetSematary'', Louis Creed, who lost his father at age three, meets Jud Crandall who becomes a father figure to him when he's an adult.

* Liz Pennykettle for David Rain in [[Literature/{{Dragons}} The Last Dragon Chronicles]]. Later, it turns out that [[spoiler:she actually is his mother in an parallel universe.]] She even acts as a mother to Zanna at times.