Anime fathers play crucial supporting roles in the growth of their children. Often, their children are the stars of the show, so their impact on their kids reverberates across the anime. There are so many examples of fathers supporting their kids in positive ways. Sometimes, their bonds are full of genuine affection and quite nuanced.However, there are a lot of anime dads who are just walking tropes. They represent the most cliché aspects of patriarchal parenting. It can get tiring to watch the same hashed-out stereotypes play out again and again in anime. These clichéd anime fathers are one-note characters with nothing new to offer the medium. Even bad anime fathers possess more nuanced motives and keep things fresh.
10 Ataru's Father Wants Nothing To Do With His Son (Urusei Yatsura)
Urusei Yatsura's Ataru causes nonstop trouble and brings misfortune right into his own household. His dad openly detests him for it. Ataru causes quite a bit of psychological and financial damage. Ataru's hijinks wrack up debt, pose bodily damage, and draw the ire of neighbors.
However, Ataru's dad is content to be upset and complain about it. When he is not angry at his son, he is a bit of a pushover with his wife. He is an exaggeration of the whipped family man trope. Resigned to his position as a father with no real passion for his family, he whines about the difficulties of his life without doing anything to improve it.
9 Nagi Springfield Is An Irresponsible & Absent Father (Negima!)
For most Negima!, Nagi existed only in tales and legends. Nagi was the greatest wizard of time who disappeared mysteriously. Many believed he died, while others insisted that he would have been too strong to kill off. Negi takes it on himself to find his father.
It is unfortunate for Negi that his dad is more suited for adventure than parenthood. He embodies the most standard and boring ways absent father figures are written: being nothing more but a career goal to aspire to. When they reconnect, Negi and Nagi have no moment of genuine parenting. They are reduced to their powers as wizards, instead of their bonds between father and son.
8 Jotaro Kujo Has No Idea How To Talk To His Daughter (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
Jotaro is considered the great main protagonist of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, but in Stone Ocean, he is a pretty lousy father. Not only is he absent for most of Jolyne's life, but he has no tact. Jolyne hopes to get an apology or some form of atonement, but Jotaro is beyond that. There is not a hint of softness or compassion in him.
It is typical to have father figures who do not value verbal communication. Jotaro does care about the well-being of his daughter, but he shows it far too late with no verbal affirmation.
7 The Perpetual Philandering Adventures Of Spirit Albarn (Soul Eater)
Prestige and charm alone cannot save Soul Eater's Spirit as a father. His own daughter cannot stand the sight of him. His perverse and womanizing ways drove away his ex-wife and estranged him from Maka. That should have been a wake-up call for him, but throughout Soul Eater, Spirit experiences very little growth.
It is clear that Spirit loves Maka, but he is unable to mend the core strain in their relationship. She wants a dad who can fix their family and Spirit wants to take it easy and fool around. He embodies anime fathers who have nothing to offer their children.
6 Charles Zi Britannia Is A Tired Monarch & An Awful Dad (Code Geass)
Charles zi Britannia is the main villain of Code Geass, as well as Lelouch's father. It is far too common to portray both patriarchs and monarchs as cartoonishly callous. In some ways, this depiction is true to life, but it is also overused in anime. There is no real hint of humanity in Charles' character. Even his ultimate goals were unmistakably villainous.
Lelouch sets out to overthrow his father and it is obvious why. Charles plays his children against each other, believing in social Darwinism. He shows no compassion for the pains and woes of his kids.
5 Hiroshi Morenos Did Not Deserve The Effort (Michiko And Hatchin)
Michiko and Hatchin is the story of two women who go through the entire fictional country of Diamandra looking for Hiroshi Morenos. He is Michiko's ex-lover, as well as Hana's absent father. Many people believed he died in a bus accident, but Michiko trusted that he lived. Together, the two go on a quest to find him.
When they find Hiroshi, he is just a carefree and aloof guy; nothing ties him down. By the end of Michiko and Hatchin, he abandons Hana again to go with his new lover. He is the anime example of the joke where dads go to a grocery store to buy cigarettes or milk only to never return. Hiroshi is a textbook case of paternal apathy in anime.
4 Ging Freecs Pushed His Ideals On His Son To A Dangerous Degree (Hunter X Hunter)
Hunter x Hunter's Ging Freecs is a hazardous influence on Gon's life. While he might be one of the greatest hunters to ever live, he left his son at a young age with nothing but his legacy to admire. Gon was born gifted, but did not have his father's guidance. Gon grew up to be Hunter x Hunter's reckless protagonist.
If that was not enough, Ging's thoughtless ideologies lead Gon and Killua right into the Chimera Ant Arc. He believed his son would not be worth seeing if he tried to bring a friend over. Ging is a clichéd portrayal of dads who only love their kids conditionally instead of inherently.
3 Azami Nakiri Tries Too Hard To Be A Bad Guy (Food Wars!)
Food Wars! takes a very unexpected turn when it introduces Azami Nakiri. He has an extremely classist view of cuisine, so he enters the story hellbent to kick out those he views as riffraff. He changes the tone of the anime drastically. Instead of a silly anime about cooking in exaggerated ways, it becomes really edgy.
Azami is the definition of a controlling father — but dialed up to absurd levels. While raising Erina, he sculpted her taste and mannerisms regarding food. This caused lasting trauma in Erina. She freezes up when she sees her father. He is comically ghoulish as a father and as a character.
2 A Whole Family Traumatized By The Ambitions Of Endeavor (My Hero Academia)
My Hero Academia's Endeavor started his family to fulfill his ambitions. He wanted to be the top hero so badly that he was willing to breed genetically superior children who could potentially dethrone All Might. This put a lot of stress on his kids who were all negatively impacted by Endeavor's dream. Toya dies, Natsu cannot bring himself to forgive his father, and Shoto rebels.
Even though Endeavor knew his family was unstable, he still showed Shoto favor by isolating him as his successor. This led to Toya's death, as well as the decline of his wife's mental health. It is a hamfisted way to write the career-driven father.
1 Kyo's Dad Is Uncomfortably Close To Representing The Worst Of Abusive Fathers (Fruits Basket)
Among all the characters in Fruits Basket, Kyo Sohma might be carrying some of the heaviest baggage. The blame for a hefty amount of that baggage lies with Kyo's father. He drinks and physically attacks his wife and son. He gaslights them. Openly, he detests Kyo for being born with the Zodiac spirit of the cat.
Kyo's father is a wreck of a man. He has spent his whole life being miserable and denying his own failures and faults. He shuns his own son and blames him for the death of his wife. There is no trace of nuance or dimensionality within his character. While there are parents who are like this, that does not absolve him from being the amalgamation of all of the tropes of a bad father.