Basic Trope: Female characters never accomplish anything by themselves. They always have a man to thank for their achievements in one way or another.
- Straight: Maureen, a seasoned Action Girl who achieved a lot through continuous endeavours and training, never could have gotten to where she is now if she wasn't the daughter of Bruno, a Retired Badass who taught her how to master her emotions and make rational decisions, and the lover of Tobias, an Action Hero, who trained her and taught her how to fight and survive.
- Exaggerated:
- Maureen wouldn't even know how to handle herself on a daily basis without a man around.
- Maureen is an Action Girl who was designed to be the perfect fighter in a lab by her father, trained by her father, and despite being a grown, badass woman, acts like a Daddy's Girl.
- Downplayed:
- Maureen owes her fighting skills to her father Bruno...who paid for her to go to Amazon Fighting School.
- Maureen is a clan diplomat, arbitrator, matchmaker or similar office, in a tribal society, so of course her success comes from family. Family is her job. But she would not have had the job if she had not impressed people with her intelligence and wisdom.
- Maureen would never had become a fighter had her father Bruno not died and drove her to revenge.
- Justified:
- Maureen comes from a culture where Lineage Comes from the Father and who usually dismisses females as second-class citizens.
- Maureen followed in her father's footsteps, because she believed that he always wanted a son to follow in his footsteps, and she wanted his approval.
- Maureen is the protagonist of a Jackie Robinson Story. There were no female teachers.
- Maureen is a professional in a field that requires a teacher. Her teacher happened to be male.
- Maureen is just as self made as the men who make that claim. It is more a case of At Least I Admit It.
- Males were more culturally encouraged to engage in fighting related games meaning that 'self taught' still had more experience thus she was more dependent upon a teacher. The reverse is shown to apply as well. Nathan the chef had to rely upon a teacher more for cooking.
- Inverted:
- Bruno trained hard to become the best fighter, but could not get to where he is now if he wasn't the father of Maureen.
- Alice would be very powerful... if it weren't for her father and boyfriend, who have (intentionally or not) torpedoed her every chance of making something of herself.
- Gender-Inverted: Tobias, an Action Hero, honed his fighting skills and survival techniques thanks to his mother who trained him from childhood.
- Subverted:
- Maureen knows all too well that No Guy Wants an Amazon. Hence, she makes believe that she got into the business thanks to parental pressure. But in actuality, she chose that lifestyle herself, without using any connections to get to her current position.
- Maureen starts out as "Bruno's student," but makes a name for herself as her own person and eventually Surpassed the Teacher.
- Double Subverted: ...However it turns out that, even with her best efforts, she still ends up needing her dad or Tobias to help her dealing with her everyday tasks.
- Parodied:
- Maureen's father and boyfriend are both incompetent idiots who accidentally teach Maureen several moves, yet she still has them to thank for.
- Maureen and Bruno are both black belts in the same dojo. Their teacher says that Bruno owes his skills to his own hard work, and Maureen owes her skills to her teacher.
- Maureen learned Good Old Fisticuffs on the street. Her detractors say that she couldn't have been strong without all the men in her life fighting her.
- Zig Zagged:
- Maureen only became a good fighter with the help of Tobias, but Tobias is actually revealed to be Tabitha, who herself had to be trained by her father. However, Tabitha's father was only successful because he was taught by his sister...
- The male and female are skilled in different fields. They therefore rely upon each other on something they don't expertise. Thus there are moments and prospects where this trope is played straight and subverted.
- Averted:
- Relationships to the men in her life are irrelevant to Maureen's line of work, whichever it is.
- Maureen, a seasoned Action Girl who achieved a lot through continuous endeavours and training, never could get to where she is now if she wasn't the daughter of Michelle, another Action Girl.
- Enforced:
- The writer believes that women can't be successful (for whatever reason(s)) without a man by her side.
- "Male viewers/readers always feel threatened by strong female characters. Make Maureen's father and husband stronger and better than she is, else she will never appeal to the male audience."
- Lampshaded: "Maureen, honey, don't fool yourself. Without your dad and your man, you're pretty much a nobody."
- Invoked:
Maureen's mother to a very young Maureen: "Maureen, I know you won't like this, but if you don't want to end up a spinster, you should know that the men that you may find attractive don't like being in the backseat. And the ones that like this position will bore you sooner or later. Don't flaunt your skills too much and always remember to present yourself as your father's daughter, else you just might end up alone and constantly challenged to prove yourself."
- Exploited: "Don't worry Chancellor Bob. Every haughty Feudal Overlord in the Kingdom will think my girl Alice just got the throne because I have no sons. She'll eat them all alive while they are underestimating her."
- Defied: "You know, just because I'm Bruno's daughter doesn't mean my dad has anything to do with me being good at what I'm doing."
- Discussed: "What's up with all the questions about my father, uncles and brother? It's like you can't accept that I got my physics degree on my own effort."
- Conversed: "Why can't all these "strong women" exist by themselves without being some guy's daughter or whatever?" "Maybe because there are many women like this in Real Life. Or just because men don't like seeing a woman more successful than they are, something women don't like much either apparently."
- Deconstructed:
- Because everyone believes Maureen is only a Daddy's Girl with no actual skill of her own, everyone disregards her input and her skills whenever she comes up with a solution.
- Maureen feels Overshadowed by Awesome by her father, and eventually quits or even joins the villains in order to step out of his shadow.
- Reconstructed:
- ...and then it is revealed that it's not just her father who taught her, but her mother as well.
- Her father only taught Maureen the basics; she developed her own moves by herself.
- The men in her life gave her her start; she eventually evolved to stand on her own.
- Hypocritical Humor, where a Fridge Horror occurs to everyone afterwards that they couldn't be what they are today without either of their parents, loved ones and friend's support.
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