Basic Trope: A character kills his or her father.
- Straight: Bob kills his father Andrew.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob dedicated all his life to the task of killing his father.
- Bob kills his father, father figure, step-father and grandfather in quick succession.
- Downplayed:
- Bob turns his criminal father over to the police, knowing that Andrew will likely get the death penalty.
- Bob commits Murder by Inaction on Andrew or drives him to suicide.
- Justified:
- Bob didn't know Andrew was his father.
- Andrew is evil beyond redemption, and Bob is the only one in position to kill him.
- Alternatively, Andrew isn't evil, but he and Bob get on so terribly that he's killed in an act of rage.
- Bob is a Self-Made Orphan.
- Inverted:
- Andrew kills his son Bob.
- Bob saves Andrew from certain death.
- Charlie kills Bob's father Andrew.
- Gender Inverted: Bob kills his mother Mary.
- Subverted: Bob attacks his father with murdering intentions, but backs away then...
- Double Subverted: ...Because he is not actually good in swordfight. He poisons Andrew an hour later.
- Parodied: Just before Bob murders anyone in the story, he says, "You know, I think of you like a father."
- Zig Zagged: Subverted + Double Subverted + Andrew surviving from the poison and Bob poisoning him again and the cycle repeating over and over.
- Averted: Bob doesn't kill his father.
- Enforced:
- The author has some... rather serious issues with his own father, and takes them out in his writing.
- The father is an Archnemesis Dad. Killing him is one of the logical conclusions.
- Lampshaded: "What have you done, Bob? He was your father!"
- Invoked: His death by his son's hand is part of Andrew's Thanatos Gambit.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied:
- "You are my father. I won't kill you, no matter what you've done".
- "I don't need to kill you, father. All I need to do is wait for the right moment to put you into a home, paid with your own money, where you will slowly rot to death as you grow older, weaker, more pathetic and powerless. And I'm gonna watch."
- Discussed: "What sort of man could be horrible enough to kill the very man that raised him?" "A man like Bob, apparently."
- Conversed: "I don't feel sorry for Bob. Killing one's father isn't something to be proud of, even if he happened to be a complete asshole."
- Implied: "Bob, how's your dad?" "Dead. And good riddance."
- Deconstructed:
- Society (including Bob's family) labels Bob as the ultimate scum of humanity for killing his father. This doesn't help that society considers a person killing their own father worse than those who killed thousands of people, including children.
- Bob hates his father or needs him out of the way, and believes he'll get his way by killing Andrew. Instead this fills him with guilt and conflicting emotions, utterly traumatizing him and rendering it a hollow victory.
- Reconstructed:
- Bob comes to the conclusion that he no longer cares what society thinks about him and feels his deed was Worth It.
- Bob reveals that his father Andrew was the true scum of humanity for his unforgivable crimes. This meant he had to be killed before too many lives are lost. The society then hails him as a hero for his deeds.
- Played For Drama: Bob and Andrew have a nasty argument. After exchanging a few heated words, both father and son begin to fight each other. Knowing that he was losing, Bob grabs a knife and stabs Andrew multiple times, killing him in the process. Knowing that he has committed a heinous crime and realizes that he can't turn back from it, Bob exiles himself from society, knowing that the consequences of his actions will be too much for him to bear should he be found out about his father's death.
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