Basic Trope: A character's father is missing or absent, sometimes without mention.
- Straight: Bob's father is absent from his life.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob doesn't even know his father.
- Several characters were raised by single mothers.
- Bob somehow has ten fathers and they're all absent.
- Downplayed: Bob's father is around but emotionally distant, and/or always too busy to be a part of his life.
- Justified:
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You.
- He's dead.
- He lives far away.
- Bob was adopted by a single woman.
- He could be divorced.
- Glorified Sperm Donor.
- He's a wanted criminal.
- Inverted:
- Bob is completely absent from his father's life for reasons out of either of their control.
- Bob's dad is very involved with his life.
- Gender Inverted: Missing Mom
- Subverted: It initially seems like Bob's dad is never about, but then we see him and his father having a good time together, and showing that they are quite close. Apparently the dad was just at work all this time or something.
- Double Subverted: Until the villains kill the dad.
- Parodied:
- All the family photos have Bob's father cut out from them.
- Bob's father is brutally murdered during a family outing, and the family carries on as if nothing had happened.
- Bob's father literally vanishes into thin air.
- Zig Zagged:
- Perhaps because his work is seasonal, sometimes Bob's dad is at home and always there for him, and other times his dad is absent for long stretches and completely out of touch with Bob.
- Bob's dad is established to have died when Bob was 10. His mother remarried a few years later and his new step-dad helped raise him for the next 9 years until he died too.
- Averted: Bob's dad is always there for him, regardless of what happens.
- Enforced: "So far, it's all traditional households. Realistically, there should be at least one single-parent family among the main cast."
- Lampshaded: "We've never met your father, Bob. What's he like?" "I don't know, he left when my mom was pregnant with me."
- Invoked: Bob's dad purposefully walked out of his son's life, perhaps because he thought he would be a bad influence on Bob.
- Exploited: The villain tries to use Bob's father's absence to induce a breakdown in Bob.
- Defied: Bob's dad goes to great lengths to be a part of his son's life, regardless of what the world throws at him.
- Discussed: "No, my father isn't dead, or even a deadbeat for that matter. He's just at work all the time."
- Conversed: "Why doesn't that kid have a father? Are we to believe he was adopted or what?"
- Implied:
- Despite him being a kid, Bob's dad is never brought up in any way, shape or form, leading the audience to believe that this was the case.
- Bob's family is mentioned but never seen. Bob constantly tells his friends how much he loves his mother and siblings, but does not mention his father even once.
- Bob has a father figure he doesn't call dad, and in flashbacks the man who helped raise him not only looks completely different but has a noticeable cough. Later flashbacks only show Bob and his mother.
- Deconstructed: Bob becomes so curious about his missing father that he starts researching his disappearance and slowly becomes more distant.
- Reconstructed: Bob realizes that his father has been missing so long that it's extremely unlikely that he'll ever return to his life even if he found him alive, and starts to (re)appreciating those who still remain with him.
- Plotted A Good Waste: One of the writers was born after his father died (or his parents were divorced), and he decides to apply this aspect of his life to a character.
- Played For Laughs: Bob's father is a deadbeat who still lives nearby, but goes to great lengths to avoid his ex-wife and son.
- Played For Drama: In a Father's Day episode, most characters are shown bonding with their fathers, and everyone sympathizes with Bob, who feels left out because his father is dead.
Dad, if you get this, come find me at Disappeared Dad. I miss you.
