Doting Parent

"I'mma talk 'bout my daughter, whether you like it or not!"

A Doting Parent is chiefly characterized by their rock-solid belief that no-one on Earth has better, smarter, more talented, or better-looking children and will continually gush about that "fact" to everyone. They are the kind of parents who are obsessed with following their children's love lives, fixing them up with members of the opposite sex, making sure they have the best opportunities in life to their eventual and complete embarrassment, sending them presents they don't want, and drive everyone around them insane by going on at length about the wonderfulness of their children!

Unlike the Helicopter Parents or My Beloved Smother, the Doting Parent is generally not controlling or overprotective and does not view their child's potential or actual love interest as a threat. They encourage dating and find it amusing to tease their child relentlessly about any progress or lack thereof in their relationship. They even go so far as to "adopt" their children's significant others into the family well before either of the parties involved are ready to make that sort of commitment because they are so confident in their children's ability to choose a fitting partner.

Likewise, they have no problems with children leaving the nest, however, there are similarities to Helicopter Parents and My Beloved Smother in that there may be some elements of smother. To this end, the Doting Parent may come to face some of the same situations, as their children tend to choose to live on their own as early as humanly possible in an (often vain) attempt to avoid their parent's embarrassing behavior.

Typically, the Doting Parents have no interest in actually running their children's lives... after all, their superior children should be able to accomplish anything on their own. However, from time to time they may unobtrusively lend a hand and they are always open to giving advice (and are usually disappointed when their children don't come to them for help when they need it). Doting Parents also generally do not concern themselves with what their children are actually doing when out of sight, as long as when they do get to see them they are healthy and doing well.

In darker circumstances, the Royal Brat, the Spoiled Brat, and the Enfant Terrible often have Doting Parents, who are so (innocently or willfully) blind to their children's many faults they often end up enabling them. The lack of boundaries set can sometimes lead to consequences down the road when the child reaches maturity. Compare with Doting Grandparent.

Please Note: this trope solely describes parents who are proud of their children; parents who only love and cherish their children but don't necessarily express pride in them generally fall under the Good Parents category. It's also worth noting that some Doting Parents don't qualify as being Good Parents; they might indulge their children and boast about them, but don't do things like offering guidance and emotional support, or disciplining their kids when necessary.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Ayakashi Triangle: Matoi is adoring of Matsuri to a rather creepy and possessive degree. Once Matsuri is turned into a girl, she even fawns over how cute he looks—which is a bit narcissistic, given it makes him look so much like her. Ironically, this doesn't keep Matoi from being quite neglectful and separate from him, either because of work, or even just because she doesn't like staying in the family's old house.
• In Cyberteam In Akihabara this is plot-relevant: Hibari's doting parents initially drives Tsubame to hate her, because Tsubame has never had anyone love her, much less dote on her. It comes to a head in a very heart-pulling "The Reason You Suck" Speech.

• Cyril Kamelot of D.Gray-Man is most definitely, without a doubt, this towards his adopted daughter Road. It's creepy at times.
• Daisuke's mother in D.N.Angel is a great example of this. She's a genuinely loving mother that wants the best for her son—both in typical young teen problems and his activities as a Phantom Thief. Sometimes she's a little too eager to help, to the point where she (and her husband and father) once followed her son on a school trip to make sure a thieving attempt turns out alright.
• Kiri's parents in Double Arts are not only Happily Married and making a warm, loving home for their son—they immediately adopt his new friend, Ellie, into the family, and promptly begin loving, spoiling, and feeding her just as enthusiastically as their own child, if not more so. (When they're not exchanging knowing looks behind both teenagers' backs.)
• Dragon Ball:
  • Most of the parents, to some degree or another.
  • Of note is Mr. Satan, who makes no secret of the fact that he absolutely adores his daughter and granddaughter. Krillin and #18 also deserve a special mention. Also a participation award for Goku, who devotes himself fully to being the best father he can... but spends so much time dead and/or training that he's still gone for most of his children's childhood, and when he is there he makes some rather significant well-intentioned mistakes. Points for effort, though.
  • Son Gohan adores his daughter Pan and regularly dons his Great Saiyaman persona to play with her. His phone background is her picture, and he later is seen turning down a job that would have kept him away from his family, because he would rather be able to spend time with her. He admits that he spoils Pan too much, but can't stop himself since she's so cute.
• Byakuya acts this way towards Rei at the start of Dr. STONE reboot: Byakuya. Shamil even comments on it.
• Maes Hughes (pictured) in Fullmetal Alchemist is the epitome of a doting papa. He just loves to brag about his adorable daughter to anyone and everyone within earshot, and showers her with affection when he is not on duty (or is on duty but she happens to be with him at the time).
• Gakuen Babysitters:
  • Ryuuichi has shades of this in how he treats his little brother and the daycare children. He is generally very patient and accommodating of their childish beliefs and behaviors, and goes out of his way to ensure that Kotarou doesn't feel lonely or invalidated in any way. He's terrified of the thought of any of the children getting hurt, and will come running the instant he hears Kotarou crying. Inomata even points out that he might be a bit too accommodating, which sometimes leads to the kids getting out of hand with their ideas.
  • Usaida is this to Midori as he has to supervise her constantly since she's an infant. He's almost always seen either holding her or having her strapped to his back, and he proves himself very protective of her when he walks to the daycare with a burning fever just because he thought Midori was in trouble. He's actually really happy when Midori's first word is his name, but downplays it as a fluke when he sees how cross Yukari is about it.
• Gintama: Surprisingly, Jirocho develops into one after reuniting with his daughter Pirako after the Four Devas arc. It's Played for Laughs when they return in the Silver Soul arc.
• Mrs. Katsura of Hayate the Combat Butler, as Hinagiku's foster mother, is often seen acting this way. She's probably the first one who adopted Hayate into their family, despite Hinagiku just being a leading member of Hayate's unnoticed harem, and actually tells him to resist her attacks when she's probably the only young woman who hasn't taken any action towards him.
• Hello! Sandybell: Mr. and Mrs. Shearer wouldn't trade Kitty for the world and adore her. They behave more like friends than parents, which has led her to grow up into a Spoiled Brat. When Kitty is kidnapped by drug dealers, Mr. Shearer gets a heart attack on the spot.
• Hetalia: Axis Powers:
  • Spain is a volatile combination of this trope and paedophilia in regards to his ward, South Italy.
  • To a degree, England was like this towards his adoptive brother America. He's now quite the Tsundere towards him.
  • China, too, acted as a Parental Substitute for the other East Asian countries, and with him, being a Manchild Cute Bruiser that he is, was very devoted to them (even if only Korea returns his affections). In a more literal sense, he is even given Mister Seahorse status in the fandom as he and England being Hong Kong's actual parents.
  • Rome was (and still is when he comes back from heaven) this to North Italy. He also tries to be this to South Italy/Romano, but being a Tsundere Romano ends up crying and hiding.
  • Lampshaded with Germania in the Hetalia Bloodbath 2011:
    Rome: You're a doting parent yourself aren't ya!
  • Norway is always "needlessly attentive" to his younger brother Iceland, in the latter's words. At one point, when the Nordics get together with alcohol that the teenage-looking Iceland cannot drink:
    Norway: Oh, don't worry, I brought you a very special beverage. [offers Yoggi^note A yogurt juice from Sweden] Aren't you lucky to have such a capable big brother?
    Iceland: [thinking] There he goes, with his gratuitous consideration. I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear him...
• Kyouko Tsunashi from I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying is a weird example since she's an inversion of Obnoxious In-Laws. She positively adores her daughter-in-law Kaoru, but thinks her son Hajime is a lazy bum who needs to get a job and make her a grandmother.
• Is It My Fault That I Got Bullied?: Deconstructed.
  • Shinji's belief that his daughter can do no wrong is what prevents him to see there's something seriously wrong with Shiori's school life, even when she outright tells him that she is completely isolated from the rest of the class. Combined with his Blaming the Victim mentality this is also what prevents her from telling him she is being bullied.
  • The unshakeable belief of Nagumo's mother that her daughter is nothing but an innocent angel is what prevents her from understanding that she’d bullied Shiori out of her own volition. She chooses to scapegoat Aizawa instead with disastrous results for her professional life after Aizawa's Engineered Public Confession goes terribly wrong for her.
• Surprisingly, it's Marie-Joseph Sanson from Innocent who is this, macabre raising ways aside. She doesn't restrict her child, Zero's life and she allows them to wear what they like.
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
  • Holly Kujo is very affectionate towards her son Jotaro and insists he's a nice, sweet young man even when he's acting like the violent, foul-mouthed delinquent he is.
  • Holly's own father, Joseph Joestar, is extremely protective of her and helps do things like brush her teeth, comb her hair, trim her nails and clean her feet when she falls ill. Joseph also makes an effort to be a good father to his illegitimate son, Josuke Higashikata, though he is somewhat impeded by his senility.
  • A darker example is Part 4's Yoshihiro Kira, who is completely devoted to ensuring his son Yoshikage Kira lives a happy, safe life, to the point of living beyond death as a photograph to watch over him. Said son is a remorseless Serial Killer, so this protection takes the form of becoming the accomplice to dozens of murders by providing Kira his Stand to make his murders cleaner and attempting to kill anyone investigating him.
• In Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl Hazumu's dad is this. It comes off as somewhat incest-ish though.
• Lady!! has a grandparent example with Victor Reynolds. He enrolls Mary at St. Patrick's school at her request, and also expresses concern that Thomas hates London now because of the Russells. He is oblivious to the fact that both children are Spoiled Brats.
• Lyrical Nanoha:
  • The Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Comics à la Carte official anthology book has the one-shot comic "2nd Mother's Day", which portrayed Fate as this.
    Fate: [after getting a Father's Day gift from Vivio] Dear neighbors... OUR DAUGHTER IS CUUUUUTE!!
    Nanoha: Fate-chan, you're disturbing the neighbors.
  • According to the INNOCENT manga, she gets it from her mother; Alternate Universe Precia is a very loving and doting parent who tends to occasionally go to slight extremes. Although, considering what Preica was like in the main continuity, there's also a strong case of I Am Not My Father at play.
• In March Comes in Like a Lion, the Kawamoto sisters' grandfather has very soft spot towards his youngest granddaughter, Momo.
• Reika's father in Ojamajo Doremi. In a twist, it's because he accidentally caused baby!Reika to get badly burned. Thus he swore to himself to never ever make her cry again and spoiled her in an attempt to make her happy. This is the reason why she's the Alpha Bitch.
• Oku-sama wa Mahou Shoujo has Shioya, who when he talks about something that isn't work, it's about his daughter. And often instead of work.
• One Piece:
  • The anime-only character Daddy "the Father" Masterson. He quit his job as a skilled and high-ranked Marine Officer and reduced himself to taking out some of the One Piece world's more pathetic criminals for a living, all so he wouldn't run the risk of getting killed and leaving his daughter with no-one to take care of her.
  • Bartholomew Kuma is eventually revealed to have been this in spades to Jewelry Bonney, his adoptive daughter. Sadly, outside factors would see the two separated.
• Ouran High School Host Club:
  • Tamaki's father Yuzuru, who gets sad when Tamaki won't spend enough time with him.
  • On the other hand, Haruhi's Crossdresser father Fujioka 'Ranka' Ryoji makes Yuzuru look tame with his doting and overprotective traits.
• Chiaki's father in Phantom Thief Jeanne marries woman after woman because his son "needs a mother" but (reluctantly) lets Chiaki live on his own and is very fond of Chiaki's girlfriend, Maron.
• Sekainohate de Aimashou plays with this trope when involuntary Gender Bender Ryouma dreams of being a doting mother and is horrified to realize that the prospect isn't as disturbing as he thinks it should be.
• In Shugo Chara!, Amu's parents crank this up regarding Amu's little sister Ami.
• Tsuruga Ren's father in Skip Beat! can wax on for pages about how his son is the most wonderful child on Earth. Ren used to like it, but when he went into adolescence the pressure to stay at the same height of his father's hopes and claims cracked him, eventually leading him to leave his home country and beginning again in Japan, away from his family.
• Spirit Albarn from Soul Eater, to his daughter Maka. Thinks she's an angel, insists on her general loveliness (and in a misguided moment of parental support, attractiveness). This is not appreciated by Maka. Shinigami doesn't count in practice, but could be seen as this from at least his and Kid's first exchange in the series. Well, Kid's stripes are cute...
• Tiger & Bunny's Kotetsu T. Kaburagi might not be able to see his daughter very much due to his line of work, but so much as putting him on the phone with her leads him to devolve into a sting of syrupy, Cuteness Proximity-induced praises.
• 'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess: The Hell-Lord towards his daughter Mao-Mao. When she manages to get valuable information out of the Princess, he refuses to actually use it because he wants to frame and display it in his room. In another instance, he watched a video about her playing in the park so much he forgot where he put the Imperial Army's password book.
• In Tokyo Ghoul:Re, Mirumo Tsukiyama is absolutely devoted to his son. His diary entries in the 4th volume reveal that he believes he needs to double the love given to his son, to make up for the absence of his late wife. He's shown to be incredibly proud of anything and everything his son does, and devotes everything to helping his son recover from his lengthy Angst Coma.
• In Toriko Melk dotes on his adopted daughter Melk II. Unfortunately since his voice is so quiet she never heard any of his praise for years and thought that he didn't approve of her skills. They both feel like complete idiots when they realize the truth.

• Voltes V: Prince Heinel's father was sent to the gallows for being a traitor and his mother died in childbirth. He was Raised by Grandparents, and tells Katherine that they were the only people in his life that showed him genuine love, though they refused to tell him of his father's crimes.
• In Wild Rock, Nava has some incredibly doting uncles, but his dad is even worse.

Comic Books

• Batman:
  • Bruce Wayne has repeatedly said that his adopted son Dick Grayson was the only thing he ever did right. He treats his adopted daughter Cassandra similarly, when the writers remember she exists, though the fandom tends to exaggerate his treatment of both for comedic effect.
  • Jim Gordon is a caring father to his daughter Barbara Gordon, especially after the 2011 reboot, where it's revealed that Jim was the one who found the clinic in South Africa that helped Barbara regain her ability to walk follow being shot by The Joker in The Killing Joke.
  • He isn't this to his son James Gordon Junior, but that's understandable since Junior is a murderous lunatic.
• Green Arrow: Roy Harper was a great father to his daughter, Lian, functioning as a single parent (granted he sometimes hired nannies) longer than most superheroes. Then Justice League: Cry for Justice happened and she died. And then the reboot happened and she was retconned out of continuity. Then another retcon happened and Lian was alive, but with memory less followed by her mother abandoning her and letting everyone think Lian was dead so now she's a homeless teenage pickpocket working for Catwoman under the name "Shoes."
• Runaways: Inverted, as the Pride honestly care greatly about their own children, just not the children belonging to the other members. In fact, when Gert's parents found out about her death, they went mad and tried to completely wipe out a major section of early New York because they really, really hate superheroes and blame them for a major part in everything horrid that has happened in the world, including being a factor in Gert's death. The Pride also generally tried backstabbing each other constantly in the first 18 issues, including the other kids. It was for the sake of their kid so they would survive in paradise when the world ended.
• Spider-Man: J. Jonah Jameson is an irritating curmudgeon, but he REALLY cares for his son, the astronaut John Jameson, praising him every chance he can get. He may be compensating.

Fairy Tales

• "Morozko": The old woman loathed her stepddaughter but had her biological daughter completely and utterly pampered: "The daughter had her own way in everything, and whatever she did was right in her mother's eyes".
• In "Mother Holle", the stepmother "greatly favors" her daughter over her stepdaughter and enables her laziness and selfishness.
• In "The Three Little Men in the Wood", the stepmother's "dear little daughter" is given milk to wash in and wine to drink every day when she awakens. Likewise, the woman will not let her go out in the woods without wearing a "splendid fur coat", and without giving her bread, butter and cakes to eat on the way.

Fan Works

• Child of the Storm:
  • Thor/James walks the line between this and Good Parents, happily teasing and spoiling Harry. Harry is, unsurprisingly, not in the least averse to this (though rather embarrassed about the teasing).
  • Wanda Maximoff, his godmother, becomes his substitute mother, after an understandably rocky start (being the apprentice of the Sorcerer Supreme, she couldn't take him in because of the very high chance that he'd be eaten by demons or some such. The fact that she's Magneto's daughter doesn't help on child safety, either), frequently hugging him. Since Harry's a bit of a Cuddle Bug, what with not really having known much in the way of affection during his childhood and opening up a bit from his repressed canon self, he's more than happy to reciprocate.
  • Sadly subverted with Carol's father Joe Danvers: He thinks he's being a Doting Parent, and according to his mother-in-law, was when his children were small. However, he wants his quiet, withdrawn son to be more sportsmanlike, and his Action Girl daughter to be more feminine and ladylike-essentially, for them to swap roles. An old-fashioned viewpoint is one thing, but psychologically abusing them-even unintentionally-is something else entirely. And asking the daughter's best friend to use his psychic powers to repogram them is definitely out.
• In the Mass Effect's fanfic Crucible, if a parent isn't abusive, they would either be this trope or Good Parents. The most obvious examples would be Garrus for his son Gaius or Miranda and Adrien for Tiberius. Later, it turns out that The Bare-Faced Turian/Samikis/Sam Shepard, is also one (with a huge dose of Knight Templar Parent and Manipulative Bastard added into the mix). As he knows that the universe needs a savior who can lead people to fight against enemies in and outside this world, he decided that the best person to do it is his daughter and thus, has manipulated her life behind the screen so that she could get the best mentors from the moment she enlisted. He lured her to Alchera to die so she could be reborn with a better body and an immunity to the Aegrus's infection while he could live with her in the afterlife during the waiting time. And he gave chances for her and her future-husband to meet, fell in love and later married into the man's family since he knows all of them will love and protect her no matter what.
• Hetalia: Axis Powers fanfic Kimyōna, Komisch, Caldo, a sequel to Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità: Italy is this to Kugelmugel. After a heart-to-heart talk with Germany and Japan, they became doting parents to Kugelmugel as well.
• In the DuckTales (1987) fanfic Little Brother, Gladstone Gander takes care of a certain egg. He is greatly affectionate toward the unhatched infant, to the point of silliness (wrapping it in blankets, singing to it, and God knows what else). Affection is not enough though, as this particular character - naturally - doesn't know how to take care of an infant.
• While she still raised the Turtles to be resilient ninja, Master Shard in Shards of a Memory is shown to be much more of an affectionate parent than canon!Splinter, being much more physically affectionate (which is not unusual for a cat) and refer to them by Affectionate Nicknames like "her babies."
• The Simpsons: Team L.A.S.H.: Principal Skinner, full stop. If his son Simon wasn't so clingy, he would be the ultimate Embarrassing Relative Teacher. He showers his "golden child" with praise and affection, he gives his son preferential treatment compared to the other students at his school, and he often brags about his son's great grades and numerous talents. Then again, considering his mother Agnes is the Trope Namer for My Beloved Smother, you can see why he spoils his son so much.
• In the Skyhold Academy Yearbook series, all of the characters who eventually become parents have shades of this. The standout example, however, is Cullen Rutherford, who loves his children more than just about anything.
• The central concept of Such a Doting Father is that it changes Enji Todoroki/Endeavor, canonically an Abusive Parent, into one of these, with a heavy side of Amazingly Embarrassing Parents.
• Loki in Tony Stark is Not a Supervillain spends every poker night showing off pictures of his children to the other villains, much to their dismay. Thankfully, Tony Stark joins the group and loves seeing what Hel, Slepnir, and Jörmungandr get up to.
• The Touhou Project fanbase often portrays Shinki as this to Alice Margatroid. Some fanfictions portray Shinki as the one who adopted Alice since she was a baby and taught her magic; some fanfictions portray Alice moving to Gensokyo as she matures; and so on. Sometimes this overlaps with My Beloved Smother as well.
• Jade Chan from the Jackie Chan Adventures fanfiction Web Work after turning into a spider demon goes from hating her eggs to talking to them like she would talk to human babies, even calling them her 'sweeties'. Her mentor finds this odd since their kind are not normally so doting on their young. She even treats her henchwomen more like little girls than grown women after she turns them into spider women, too.
• White Sheep (RWBY): Salem is this for her son Jaune, being willing to defend him from any perceive slight. It's kind of deconstructed, as Salem hasn't given Jaune the street smarts to survive in the real world, when he decides to venture into Vale.

Films — Animation

• In Aladdin: The Sultan is this way to Jasmine. It's clear he loves her more than anything else, with an episode of the TV series even calling her his most precious treasure. He may be rather dim-witted and childish, but mess with his daughter and he WILL hunt you down. He does try to force her to get married, but he doesn't force her to marry anyone in particular; he isn't trying marry her off for political gain, as most monarchs would do at the time, but because he wants somebody to care for and protect Jasmine after he dies. He even changes the law to allow her to marry a commoner and treats her fiancé with nothing but respect.
• In Barbie and the Secret Door, Malucia's parents spoil her rotten and let her do whatever she wants.
• In The Princess and the Frog, "Big Daddy" La Bouff gives his daughter, Charlotte, everything she wants. Luckily, she grows up to be Spoiled Sweet rather than a Spoiled Brat. Honestly, she's more oblivious than anything.
• Shrek:
  • Harold and Lillian are both this to Fiona. Both are shocked by Fiona's choice to marry Shrek, and respond in very different ways at first. It's stated in the fourth film that nothing is more important to them than her.
  • Fiona as well when she becomes a mother in Shrek the Third when she gives birth to her and Shrek's triplets. She very quickly adapts to motherhood and dearly loves her sons and daughter. She even says in Shrek Forever After how she always dreamed of having a daughter named Felicia. Shrek has a harder time adapting to parenthood than her, due to his upbringing, but loves their children very much.
• In Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Peter B. Parker is this with his toddler Mayday, showing his friends her baby pictures even when she's right in front of them and carrying her with him while he works, with a knitted mask.
• In Turning Red, Ming adores Mei despite her overprotectiveness and tries to foster a close relationship between them. It winds up being deconstructed, as this affection contrasted against her high expectations is why Mei has so many difficulties confiding anything in her or putting her foot down whenever she needs to.

Films — Live-Action

• Cherrybomb (2009): Malachy's family (especially his mother) are a relatively subtle version of this trope.
• Part of the tragedy of The Good Son is that the title character's parents and sister love him to pieces, and don't realize what a complete psycho he is until it's almost too late.
• Gunn's Mom, and his dad to a degree, in Make the Yuletide Gay. This actually drives most of the plot, as Gunn doesn't want to lose this by coming out to his parents for fear of being rejected by them. The parents don't care and actually placed a bet on whether or not he actually is.
• Charlie Baileygates from Me, Myself & Irene is an incredibly loving father to his three sons, none of whom are even his. Notably, they're from when his wife had an affair and ran away, yet he still cares for them. In return, they love him back and go to great lengths to help save their dad.
• Governor Swann in Pirates of the Caribbean is this from his first scene, even dropping it by name:

Elizabeth: [of a dress he's gifting her] It's beautiful. May I inquire as to the occasion?

Governor Swann: Does a father need a reason to dote upon his daughter?

• John Sargent's mother, and his Aunt Emma by extension, in Remember the Night, are both proud of their hardworking John that came from poverty to a distinguished lawyer in NYC. They protect him from anything — even if it's the girl he loves.
• McKayla's parents in Tragedy Girls obviously adore her, and are fawning over her in every scene they're in. Clearly, they don't realize what a sociopath their daughter is.
• Sam's parents in the Transformers Film Series are this, along with being Amazingly Embarrassing Parents.

Literature

• Jerin in A Brother's Price has those. He is sure that his mothers would marry him to nice girls. However, as his marriage will influence whom his sisters can marry, they leave that choice to their daughters, on whom they dote almost as much.
• In Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, all the bratty kids have doting parents who indulge their vices. They aren't so much embarrassed by this attention as encouraged by it.
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Susan is this to Manny, especially, but she's also shown to be a loving parent to Greg and is also soppy to Rodrick, being the only person in the family who actually likes his music.
• The Dresden Files:
  • Harry's friend, Michael Carpenter is this when he's not working his construction job or his other job as a Knight of the Cross saving the day from supernatural threats.
  • Harry becomes this once he's given the chance to enter into his daughter, Maggie's life, eventually taking on responsibility of caring for her full-time.
• Harry Potter: The titular character’s Muggle aunt and uncle are the bad version of this trope to his cousin Dudley. They spoil him so much that he’s a juvenile delinquent by about the mid-point of the books, whereas when he was younger, he was a more stereotypical spoiled kid. Malfoy’s parents are also like this to an extent, but they do have high expectations for him whereas the Dursleys let Dudley do whatever the hell he wants.
• In The Heroes of Olympus, Mars (a marked contrast with his Greek counterpart, Ares), Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Hades/Pluto all take time to speak to their children even when Zeus has forbidden it. Aphrodite and Hephaestus make a point of arguing with Zeus so that Jason, Piper, and Leo can finish their quest.
• Jack Ryan in The Hunt for Red October. In the midst of a world crises he manages to remember to bring his daughter a teddy bear for Christmas.

• Valjean is this to Cosette in Les Misérables; raising her becomes his whole reason for living, and her company is by far his greatest joy. He almost falls into the overprotective dad trap several times, but ultimately avoids it thanks to caring most about Cosette's happiness and autonomy.
• Sara Crewe's father in A Little Princess loves and spoils her but actually insists that she live at a boarding school.
• Roald Dahl spends the first several paragraphs of Matilda sticking it to this type of parent, and suggests increasingly creative ways for a teacher to inform them that their little darling isn't as wonderful as they think. However, he does note that doting parents are on the whole preferable to the neglectful kind, offering up the Wormwoods as a case in point. All this is dramatized in the song "Miracle," the opening number in the stage musical adaptation.
• In On the Life and Character of Julius Agricola, the titular character's mother, Julia Procilla, is described as being this to him. When Otho's raiders kill her, Agricola immediately joins Otho's enemy.
• Beth Jarrett accuses her husband Calvin of doting unhealthily upon their son Conrad in the novel/The Film of the Book Ordinary People, claiming he indulges his every whim and treats him like a child. While Calvin is a little overprotective, it only bothers Beth because Conrad is The Unfavorite and she can't bear to show him affection after the death of her beloved firstborn.
• King Duncan of Ranger's Apprentice is a little bit overprotective to Princess Cassandra, but given that his wife died in childbirth and that she's his only child as well as the heir to the Kingdom, he can be excused. He genuinely cares about her well-being, is proud of her accomplishments, and is highly protective without smothering her. Of course, given that she's a very strong-minded and independent young woman, she doesn't always agree on that last point, but overall they have an excellent relationship. He even plays a little of the Shipper on Deck for her and Will in Book 4, offering him a position in the Royal Scouts so that he can be closer to her, but that doesn't go anywhere. And when Cassandra ends up with Horace, all indications are that he's completely fine with his daughter marrying a commoner.
• Hugh and Simon Renegades dote absolutely on Max and Adrian, doing their best to make both of them feel like they're family. They're also heavily shipping Adrian and Nova, and are genuinely happy when he brings her home.
• In Lewis Carroll's Sylvie and Bruno, the Sub-Warden's wife toward Uggug.
  "He is a charming boy!" my Lady exclaimed. "Even his snores are more musical than those of other boys!"
• This Side of Paradise: Beatrice was quite loving towards Amory. She gave him a highly specialized education, bragged about how sophisticated and charming he was to other women, and spoiled him excessively such as forbidding him from leaving bed too early just so their servant can bring him breakfast.
• Sam Vimes in Thud! will let absolutely nothing keep him from reading his son his six o'clock bedtime story... not an impending war between dwarves and trolls, or even the personification of Unstoppable Rage itself.
• The father of Louis the swan, in The Trumpet of the Swan, steals a trumpet and hurts his own honor so his mute son can trumpet as well as the rest of the swans.
• Gino in Where Angels Fear to Tread is indifferent to his English wife Lilia; but after she dies in childbirth, he is absolutely devoted to his newborn son.

Live-Action TV

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: despite being not her true father, Mayor Richard Wilkins acts this way towards Faith, stepping into Papa Wolf mode whenever she's in danger.
• Richard Castle tends to vary between this and the Boyfriend-Blocking Dad when it comes to his daughter Alexis; as long as boys or activities that might attract boys aren't involved, he's often indulgent and keen to actually encourage his daughter to break the rules and let her hair down a bit.
• Doctor Who: In "The End of Time", billionaire Joshua Naismith's life seems to revolve around his daughter. Stealing an "immortality gate" from the ruins of a secret government organization and kidnapping a dangerous alien for the sake of a Christmas present is pretty creepy.
• Simon Tam in Firefly is sort of like this, except he's not a parent; he's a doting big brother. "She wasn't just gifted, she was a gift."
• Hester Crane from Frasier is described as this. In her one appearance on Cheers, she threatens Diane (who is Frasier's girlfriend at the time) because she thinks Diane isn't good enough for her son.
• It's become something of a running gag in Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende how much of a doting parent Matsumoto Hitoshi is. One drawer gag in a batsu game involved calling out how he went to the trouble of learning how to make balloon animals for his daughter.
• Glee: What with the larger-than-life-size portrait in the entryway, the custom-built stage in the basement, the dance lessons and singing competitions practically from the moment she came out of the womb and the fact that they have only ever been seen on-screen in a couple of photographs in the pilot episode, it's heavily implied that Rachel Berry's two dads are like this.
• Marshall Ericksen's parents in How I Met Your Mother are like this, which gives Lily a lot of anxiety about not being able to live up to their expectations for how well their beloved son's wife should treat him. Barney and James's mother Loretta also is this, although she was rather inept at it when they were kids.
• Interview with the Vampire (2022): Louis positively adores Claudia, loving her more than anything, which really pisses off his boyfriend Lestat. Louis can be willfully blind to her worst qualities, and is sometimes overly-indulgent, which leads to trouble later on, but he sincerely loves and wants the best for her... until it comes time to actually kill the abusive Lestat.
• A running theme in Power Rangers is that even villains have family, and no matter how evil they are to the heroes, they can be this trope to their children. Shows up in particular with Ecliptor towards Astronema in Power Rangers in Space, Scorpius towards Trakina in Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, and Ransik towards Nadira in Power Rangers Time Force.
• Raising Hope: While Burt and Virginia tease and mock their son Jimmy at every opportunity, they genuinely love and care for their son and help him become a Doting Parent in his own right to his infant daughter.

Professional Wrestling

• Papa Briscoe taught his boys to work as soon as they could walk, and he also gave them the material needed to build a wrestling ring, and he also got them tapes to study, and he also drove them out to training during high school after football practice, and he also cuts promos for them in Ring of Honor about how great they are.

Video Games

• Disgaea:
  • It is hinted that King Krichevskoy from Disgaea: Hour of Darkness was one of these. His son Laharl seems to have distanced himself from Krichevskoy after his mother’s death, but that did not stop Krichevskoy from thinking very highly of his son and having great faith in him. He also thinks Laharl inherited his own “sparkling good looks”. He also executed a plan that evidently involved getting Laharl two pretty girls and willingly acts as a “rival” to help his son get stronger. Laharl is also a Royal Brat, no idea where that came from.
  • Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten has a rather bizarre example in the form of Petta's father Overlord Zetta, who spoils his daughter rotten while trying to look like a strict, hardass taskmaster in the process, because he's a Slave to PR.
    Zetta: Keep in mind my training menu is the most difficult in the universe! I only allow you to wear designer clothes! Also, 3PM snack time is mandatory, every day! You may only nap two hours each day!
    Emizel: ... That's like a joke...
    Fuka: Not only is he the strongest in the universe, he's the biggest tsundere, too!
    Zetta: S-Shut your mouths!
• Dragon Age: Origins:
  • Bryce and Eleanor Cousland are very Good Parents, but Bryce in particular is a doting parent to his younger child, the Human Noble Warden.
  • Similarly, King Endrin Aeducan is a doting parent to the second of his three children, the Dwarven Noble Warden.
• Dragon Quest:
  • Dragon Quest V: Rodrigo Briscoletti lavishes his daughter Nera with love and praise and cares very much for her wellfare. He puts her suitors through an Engagement Challenge so Nera will be married to someone strong enough to protect her if the demon Bjorn breaks its seal.
  • Dragon Quest VIII has King Trode, who dotes over "his precious Medea" at any opportunity and cares far more about her welfare than anything else in the world. One of his most sympathetic moments is when he begs a Royal Brat who was beating the party's horse (which is Medea's cursed form) to beat him instead.
• In I Was A Teenage Exocolonsist: Tonin pays as much attention to Tammy as he can manage to make up for her mother's absence. Tammy's large doll collection is the result of him providing her with a new doll per month after her mother's death. He then becomes a Doting Grandparent to Echinacea and all the kids after her.
• Deconstructed in Silent Hill: Homecoming with Doctor Fitch and his daughter, Scarlett. He loved and spoiled her as a desperate way to make up for the fact that she was destined to become a Targeted Human Sacrifice and be killed by him.
• Hakan from Street Fighter IV has seven little girls, apparently septuplets. His ending shows him as being this through and through to all of them.

Visual Novels

• After adopting Trucy Enigmar following some unfortunate circumstances seven years before Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright grows into one of these as it helps him move on from losing his attorney's badge.

Webcomics

• In El Goonish Shive, Mr. Kitsune is this way toward Akiko. When he finally gets speaking lines, he's promising Akiko three cookies when they get home, in spite of her protests that she only wants one. He's yet to show this behavior towards Nanase, however.
• John's Dad in Homestuck positively smothers John with cakes, and his house is filled with notes informing John how proud he is of him, just in case John happens to perform the feat involved to reach the note. However, given John is traumatized by a doll version of Jack Noir, and subconsciously scribbles things like "Lame Kid" and "FOOL" all over his walls, it's very understandable. Post-Scratch Dad is similarly supportive of Jane, although assassination attempts have forced him to be a bit more protective of her.
• Commander Badass, from Manly Guys Doing Manly Things, is an absolute marshmallow where his two kids are concerned. It's seen more often with his daughter, who is old enough to insist that Daddy join her watching Jem, help her bake the most ridiculous muffins ever, and bring her a pet from his stay on a planet full of millipedes (which he's grown to hate due to his stay on a planet full of millipedes), among other things. He is also a stern but fair and supportive Parental Substitute to his Manchild intern Jared, who has grown immensely as a human being under the Commander's wing.
• In Misfile, Ash's father is like this post misfile, which leads to some extremely embarrassing moments for Ash, considering dad's the gynecologist for all of Ash's friends. For a time, it was also caused some true grief, as Ash implies that their life pre-misfile was barely cordial.
• Tower of God:
  • Ha Jinsung towards his student Viole.
  • Shibisu towards Anaak. Neither are related to their children, but it is that kind of relationship.
• The father who didn't bring enough money for both his cigarettes and his daughters chips in this Welcome to the Convenience Store chapter. He returns sixty chapters later to buy a packet of cigarettes and a snack for his daughter, but then she breaks something (which he needs to pay for) and so he's stuck choosing between a snack for her and his cigarettes again.

Web Original

• Hank of Off the Page and into Life is generally a Hot-Blooded Jerkass to everyone... except his "little girl," Gail. In turn, "Gaily" is a major Daddy's Girl.

Western Animation

• In the DuckTales (1987) episode "Top Duck", Launchpad's mother Birdy keeps a wallet full of photos of her son, which she proudly shows to Scrooge.
• On The Fairly OddParents!, Wanda sometimes allows Poof to grant some of Timmy's wishes, despite how much he messes them up.
• Bud Gleeful is one to Li'l Gideon in Gravity Falls. Until it's revealed that Gideon is a power-crazed Enfante Terrible and Bud is absolutely terrified of his son.
• Jellystone!: Doggie Daddy is such an overprotective, loving father to his daughter Augie, to the point where he can give Maes Hughes a run for his money.
• Kim Possible has Mr. and Mrs. Drs. P, Kim's loving parents who encourage their children with the family creed of "Anything's possible for a Possible."
• In My Adventures with Superman, Martha is especially loving toward Clark, calling him the "perfect" son, framing his first front-page article on the wall, and talking about how proud she is of him while having guests over. She loves him so much that she soon learns to hate Sam Lane for being critical of Clark and needling him with questions.
• Dr. Doofenshmirtz of Phineas and Ferb has a bit of this towards his teenage daughter Vanessa, such as when he throws her an embarrassingly childish birthday party and invites all her friends. She finds this annoying in early episodes, but later their relationship becomes warmer. The turning point comes when he presents her with a doll she'd said she wanted when she was seven, and reveals he spent the last ten years scouring garage sales and the internet looking for it.
• Rick and Morty: One of the only humans for whom Rick seems to have any respect is his daughter, Beth. While he isn't above insulting the rest of the family, he doesn't seem to do this to her usually. He even calls her "Sweetie" sometimes. For Rick at least, that's showing a great deal of respect.
• The Simpsons: Chief Wiggum, of all people. While he may be a horribly inept and corrupt cop, he genuinely cares for his son, Ralph Wiggum. He's the only one who actively encourages his son, and their interactions usually end up with Ralph coming out better for it. He's even willing to turn a blind eye to Fat Tony's operation if he and his crew come to his son's birthday.
• Cartman's mother in South Park gives in to his demands, even if she tries to protest. As revealed in "Tsst!", she's like this mainly because she thinks of her son as her only friend, so she's willing to bend over backwards for him.
• Out of all the Crystal Gems on Steven Universe, Pearl fits the bill the best. Garnet and Amethyst act more like cool older sisters to Steven. Pearl is the one who fusses over him and cares the most about his safety. Considering that she was straight-up in love with his mother, Rose Quartz, it's clear she expresses that same affection in a different way. Fans have even given her the nickname "Bird Mom" since her hairstyle and long, pointed nose makes her look kind of like a crane.
• Galfore is this to Starfire in Teen Titans, an interesting case of a inverted trope as Doting Parents are actually frowned upon in Tameranian culture.
• Work It Out Wombats!: Fergus Fishman is tremendously proud of his three babies. It goes with his Family Man personality.

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