Poll: Who is the best and worst adult cartoon father?

[Evonisia]

I don't really watch family guy did he somehow become mother also? I'd feel bad for the kid.


Belcher that's his last name I completely forgot it. And you make a good point about being willing to accapt his kids more then Hank.

Well he breast fed Stewie once, does that count?

 

[Kolyarut]

I think an awful lot of people mentioning Peter Griffin are forgetting just how much American Dad's Stan Smith is an insane supervillain.

Peter Griffin may have farted in Meg's face (and on her cereal) on more than one occasion, but he's never built a robot surrogate in order to seduce his own son.

 

[Ieyke]

Not sure about best, but my vote for worst dad has to go to Dr Jonas Venture Senior from the Venture Bros. Despite his reputation as a brilliant scientist and adventurer, as a parent he was at best negligent, at worst sociopathic. When he wasn't delegating his son's care to a robot, he was dragging him off into the life of a boy adventurer, whether he liked it or not, with no concern for the effect constant danger and death would have on a child's psyche.

Spoiler: His appalling parental decisions include;

- Testing his experiments on his son
- Putting him in situations where he had to kill people (including making him kill a man with a house key when he was ten years old)
- Letting his equally deranged adventuring companions mistreat the boy (such as waking him up every morning by putting an unloaded gun to his head, pulling the trigger, and saying "Not today, Rusty")
- Hosting a birthday party for his son, and inviting playboy bunnies, models and actual prostitutes instead of other children
- Completely ignoring a ransom demand when his son was kidnapped, to the point where the kidnappers felt so sorry for the boy they pretended the whole thing was actually part of a local festival to cheer him up

As a result, his now adult son is a neurotic pill-popping failure, doomed to live forever in the shadow of a father the world thought was brilliant, while ironically putting his own sons through a similar childhood (although never to the same extent, despite his seeming lack of care he has gone to great lengths to ensure they are better cared for, and they mostly enjoy themselves)

Not sure about best, but my vote for worst dad has to go to Dr Jonas Venture Senior from the Venture Bros. Despite his reputation as a brilliant scientist and adventurer, as a parent he was at best negligent, at worst sociopathic. When he wasn't delegating his son's care to a robot, he was dragging him off into the life of a boy adventurer, whether he liked it or not, with no concern for the effect constant danger and death would have on a child's psyche.

Spoiler: His appalling parental decisions include;

- Testing his experiments on his son
- Putting him in situations where he had to kill people (including making him kill a man with a house key when he was ten years old)
- Letting his equally deranged adventuring companions mistreat the boy (such as waking him up every morning by putting an unloaded gun to his head, pulling the trigger, and saying "Not today, Rusty")
- Hosting a birthday party for his son, and inviting playboy bunnies, models and actual prostitutes instead of other children
- Completely ignoring a ransom demand when his son was kidnapped, to the point where the kidnappers felt so sorry for the boy they pretended the whole thing was actually part of a local festival to cheer him up

As a result, his now adult son is a neurotic pill-popping failure, doomed to live forever in the shadow of a father the world thought was brilliant, while ironically putting his own sons through a similar childhood (although never to the same extent, despite his seeming lack of care he has gone to great lengths to ensure they are better cared for, and they mostly enjoy themselves)

Bingo.
The entirety of The Venture Bros is literally a show all about how shit of a father Doctor Jonas Venture was, and how it wrecked at least two generations of his family as a result.

The best?
Hmmm....
I'd have to give it to Tenzin.
The Legend Of Korra was such a fantastic show that they managed to make Tenzin flawed and a little messed up by his father being the Avatar, but also an extremely wise mentor, and a great, hard working and well-meaning, but not perfect, father himself.
There might be another cartoon father who's more perfect, but I'm hard-pressed to think of one more realistic, complex, and dedicated than Tenzin.

 

[Little Woodsman]

So far as horrible cartoon dads go I'm amazed that no-one has brought up Firelord Ozai yet.

There's not only the open and blatant abuse that he piled on Zuko, but Azula's descent in to full-blown insanity is in no small part due to his influence.

Also

Spoiler: spoilers for the comic book sequel

In the comic book sequels to A:TLA it is revealed that his abuse of Zuko was deliberate, and not done to teach Zuko or make him stronger, or even born from some resentment of Zuko himself, but all done to punish his wife because he discovered that she had continued to write letters to the young man she was in love with before Ozai forced her to marry him!

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

I'll go for Hank Hill. He has a son with keen interests and yet his ridiculously narrow principles threaten to destroy him. He shows no interest in what his son likes and actively tries to convert him to what his own principles dictate. It's basically "his way or the highway". I'd be surprised if Bobby makes it past his teens without committing suicide, such must be the state of his confusion and alienation.

To be fair, more than half of the time the principles Hank tries to instill in Bobby end up being wholly positive things you'd expect from most well-adjusted adults like a work ethic, integrity, and a strong sense of honor/duty. Of course Hank ends up being a bit more obtuse towards some of Bobby's hobbies but a lot of the time it's just Bobby being lazy and irresponsible. Not only that, but Hank invariably ends up accepting most of Bobby's quirks and usually recognizes his failings in regards to how he raises Bobby.

The problem I have with the later seasons is that it turns the show into a soapbox for conservative values. The early episodes showed the hypocrisy of these kinds of parents and families without outright criticizing them - they tried to understand them and empathize with them, tried to show why they behave as they do. That's what made it a unique cartoon. I don't know why they felt they needed to have Hank becoming the 'good guy' and everything he came up against 'bad', maybe it was too hard to do otherwise?

 

[Little Woodsman]

So far as horrible cartoon dads go I'm amazed that no-one has brought up Firelord Ozai yet.

There's not only the open and blatant abuse that he piled on Zuko, but Azula's descent in to full-blown insanity is in no small part due to his influence.

Also

Spoiler: spoilers for the comic book sequel

In the comic book sequels to A:TLA it is revealed that his abuse of Zuko was deliberate, and not done to teach Zuko or make him stronger, or even born from some resentment of Zuko himself, but all done to punish his wife because he discovered that she had continued to write letters to the young man she was in love with before Ozai forced her to marry him!

Well,

Spoiler

I think it was because he wasn't sure Zuko was actually his son, though if that was the case it would have wrecked a giant size of the original series's morals.

Spoiler: More spoilers for the comic

Actually towards the end of The Search in the flashback where Ursa confronts Ozai about it, Ozai says "Of course I know he's my son! I had spies track your every move for months before we were married!". He knew Zuko was his, he was abusing Zuko purely because he knew how much it would hurt Ursa.

 

[MiskWisk]

For shame Escapist. I expected Gendo Ikari but I am ashamed no one has brought up this ass of a father.

Best father is a little sketchy for me. I guess I would go with Professor Utonium as brought up earlier on though.

Captcha: Box kitty

No captcha, you can not make more chimeras.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Really? Because I always thought that Hank Hill was overall a pretty good upstanding guy, if a bit flawed. Outside of his extreme prudishness, temper(though to be honest, he dealt with idiots daily so I don't find his temper all that surprising), and occasional ignorance, he was always portrayed as the model boyscout to a fault. I may be a bit biased since Hank Hill reminds me of my own father at times, but I rarely saw anything wrong with the "conservative values" he held outside of the attitude towards Bobby's hobbies.

You're right, he's not a bad guy. The values he tries to instil are ones he believes are best for Bobby. Of course hard work can be good, but Hank doesn't realize his idea of 'work' is different for Bobby. Hank's 'work' isn't really work for him because he loves propane and his job. Bobby loves the performing arts but Hank refuses to see anything but sports, crafts, things he loves, as 'appropriate'. There's the hypocrisy. I think there are a handful of episodes where he transcends this - like letting Bobby perform in a show or dress up as a girl (but only because it's sports-related). I think that's what the show was really about - exploring the conflict between the 'old way' which has always worked, and a confusing new America where the old way is no longer the only way. Trying to understand it and live with it. Bobby and Hank trying to come to terms with each other was the best part of the show.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Really? Because I always thought that Hank Hill was overall a pretty good upstanding guy, if a bit flawed. Outside of his extreme prudishness, temper(though to be honest, he dealt with idiots daily so I don't find his temper all that surprising), and occasional ignorance, he was always portrayed as the model boyscout to a fault. I may be a bit biased since Hank Hill reminds me of my own father at times, but I rarely saw anything wrong with the "conservative values" he held outside of the attitude towards Bobby's hobbies.

You're right, he's not a bad guy. The values he tries to instil are ones he believes are best for Bobby. Of course hard work can be good, but Hank doesn't realize his idea of 'work' is different for Bobby. Hank's 'work' isn't really work for him because he loves propane and his job. Bobby loves the performing arts but Hank refuses to see anything but sports, crafts, things he loves, as 'appropriate'. There's the hypocrisy. I think there are a handful of episodes where he transcends this - like letting Bobby perform in a show or dress up as a girl (but only because it's sports-related). I think that's what the show was really about - exploring the conflict between the 'old way' which has always worked, and a confusing new America where the old way is no longer the only way. Trying to understand it and live with it. Bobby and Hank trying to come to terms with each other was the best part of the show.

Well of course there was that, but being in love with the preforming arts doesn't mean you have to be extremely lazy. More than half of the time Bobby was given work or a certain task unrelated to his hobbies he'd more than likely end up blowing it off, taking the easy way out, or just doing a half-assed job. He pretty much shirked most of his responsibilities in general to the point I can completely understand Hank when he says "that boy aint right". Of course there are a few moments where Bobby actually puts a fair amount of effort into what he does but in almost every instance I can recall Hank ended up supporting him or showing a fair amount of pride. In the end though, Hank was pretty much the only character in the show I didn't end up disliking to some degree since he was pretty much the whipping boy of most of the conflicts in the show.

Well he's a kid, of course he's lazy. I'd say any boy "ain't right" who'd rather clean gutters than play with his friends. But the fact is, he has tremendous enthusiasm for the arts, and his father refused to support that because it went against his stubborn views. If there are two things parents should do for their kids it's 1. protect them and 2. support them in what they choose to do. And Hank doesn't even succeed at 1, remember when he made Bobby smoke a whole carton of cigarettes?

Of course it's not that clear cut and that's why I like the show. It wasn't about holding up anyone as a beacon of parenting, but I felt it sort of drifted that way later on.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

I'm giving my best dad award to Iroh, he clearly loved his own son Lu Ten and treated Zuko as his own; that there was any capacity to do good left in the prince was Iroh's doing.

"Leaves from the vine
Falling so slow
Like fragile, tiny shells
Drifting in the foam
Little soldier boy
Come marching home
Brave soldier boy
Comes marching home."

 

[Artina89]

Also, Judge Claude Frollo.

Yeah, he gets my vote for the worst parent (or foster parent at least). He

Spoiler

murders Quasimodo's real mother, tries to drown him in a well, only takes him in out of fear of damnation, then locks him away in a bell tower, refusing him to speak to anybody while taking time to point out his flaws, and then refuses to intervene when the townsfolk turn on Quasimodo in the festival of fools. Oh, and then tries to murder him again, after burning down half of Paris and then breaking into Notre Dame just to get his hands on one gypsy.

...He is still my favourite Disney character though. I don't quite know what that says about me.

 

[Veldel]

Also, Judge Claude Frollo.

Yeah, he gets my vote for the worst parent (or foster parent at least). He

Spoiler

murders Quasimodo's real mother, tries to drown him in a well, only takes him in out of fear of damnation, then locks him away in a bell tower, refusing him to speak to anybody while taking time to point out his flaws, and then refuses to intervene when the townsfolk turn on Quasimodo in the festival of fools. Oh, and then tries to murder him again, after burning down half of Paris and then breaking into Notre Dame just to get his hands on one gypsy.

...He is still my favourite Disney character though. I don't quite know what that says about me.

That you like the rest of us love great villians and how Disney used to make such amazing films and foes.

 

[Artina89]

Also, Judge Claude Frollo.

Yeah, he gets my vote for the worst parent (or foster parent at least). He

Spoiler

murders Quasimodo's real mother, tries to drown him in a well, only takes him in out of fear of damnation, then locks him away in a bell tower, refusing him to speak to anybody while taking time to point out his flaws, and then refuses to intervene when the townsfolk turn on Quasimodo in the festival of fools. Oh, and then tries to murder him again, after burning down half of Paris and then breaking into Notre Dame just to get his hands on one gypsy.

...He is still my favourite Disney character though. I don't quite know what that says about me.

That you like the rest of us love great villians and how Disney used to make such amazing films and foes.

That is true, Frollo is definitely one of the more complex villains out there. In my view Disney don't do characters like them any more.

 

[Ieyke]

I'm giving my best dad award to Iroh, he clearly loved his own son Lu Ten and treated Zuko as his own; that there was any capacity to do good left in the prince was Iroh's doing.

"Leaves from the vine
Falling so slow
Like fragile, tiny shells
Drifting in the foam
Little soldier boy
Come marching home
Brave soldier boy
Comes marching home."

I can agree to Iroh.
He's probably even better than Tenzin.

So far as horrible cartoon dads go I'm amazed that no-one has brought up Firelord Ozai yet.

There's not only the open and blatant abuse that he piled on Zuko, but Azula's descent in to full-blown insanity is in no small part due to his influence.

Also

Spoiler: spoilers for the comic book sequel

In the comic book sequels to A:TLA it is revealed that his abuse of Zuko was deliberate, and not done to teach Zuko or make him stronger, or even born from some resentment of Zuko himself, but all done to punish his wife because he discovered that she had continued to write letters to the young man she was in love with before Ozai forced her to marry him!

I considered Ozai, but Azula was a complete nutbag on her own, and Ozai wasn't remotely NEAR as bad as Doctor Jonas Venture.
Ozai was just a blatantly terrible person.
Doctor Venture systematically undermined and wrecked every aspect of Rusty's psyche and CONSTANTLY put him in terrible danger.

 

[Relish in Chaos]

The worst cartoon father?s probably Peter Griffin from Family Guy. He constantly abuses his daughter both physically and mentally, for no other reason than his own amusement. Then again, Stan Smith from American Dad seems to pretty much crush his son?s self-esteem and attacks his sense of masculinity every turn he can get and, basically, is a much less morally ambiguous character than Peter (who?s just a self-centred retard).

The best cartoon father? I don?t know. I?ve never watched King of the Hill or Bob?s Burgers. Er? Spider-Man?

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

For all the sympathy for Bobby from King of the Hill... are we watching the same cartoon? If I remember from the time I watched it, I remember Bobby having stupid ideas. Also, being a slave to anything that's popular and often trying to shrug off school and whatever to be a comedian. A good father isn't someone who goes "That's ok, Son, those are your dreams and stick to them!". A good father steers a child to at least be able to feed themselves WHILE pursuing his or her dreams.

Now, he doesn't become the best father because he is often against things that are out of his interest. I can agree with that. Hank Hill is a conservative. I can agree with that (although I don't know if that's a bad thing because everyone has the right to be what they want). But Hank Hill is literally one of two fathers on that list that is actively trying to be there for his child.

Hank's views might be different from ours, but think about it; Bob Belcher is really concerned about his restaurant to the point he uses his kids as unpaid labor (not to mention often calling his family 'horrible'), Don't need to go into Homer or Peter, Stan Smith is almost the same as Hank but at a much more cartoony level, and to be honest I never watched the Cleveland show. We already had enough from Seth.

Not sure about best, but my vote for worst dad has to go to Dr Jonas Venture Senior from the Venture Bros. Despite his reputation as a brilliant scientist and adventurer, as a parent he was at best negligent, at worst sociopathic. When he wasn't delegating his son's care to a robot, he was dragging him off into the life of a boy adventurer, whether he liked it or not, with no concern for the effect constant danger and death would have on a child's psyche.

Spoiler: His appalling parental decisions include;

- Testing his experiments on his son
- Putting him in situations where he had to kill people (including making him kill a man with a house key when he was ten years old)
- Letting his equally deranged adventuring companions mistreat the boy (such as waking him up every morning by putting an unloaded gun to his head, pulling the trigger, and saying "Not today, Rusty")
- Hosting a birthday party for his son, and inviting playboy bunnies, models and actual prostitutes instead of other children
- Completely ignoring a ransom demand when his son was kidnapped, to the point where the kidnappers felt so sorry for the boy they pretended the whole thing was actually part of a local festival to cheer him up

As a result, his now adult son is a neurotic pill-popping failure, doomed to live forever in the shadow of a father the world thought was brilliant, while ironically putting his own sons through a similar childhood (although never to the same extent, despite his seeming lack of care he has gone to great lengths to ensure they are better cared for, and they mostly enjoy themselves)

Spoiler: Except for you know...

The whole part about them being clones and having died about 16 or so times beforehand... I think Rusty takes the prize over Jonas Sr. At least Jonas never got Rusty killed... In that way, its the only time Rusty has ever outdone his father in achievements.

Besides that though, yeah... Jonas was a shitty parent.

It honestly seems to me that Rusty never got killed due to luck and his actual skill being a boy adventurer. Skills that Hank and Dean really don't have. Not to mention it seems a lot of Rusty's kidnappers just had pity about how bad Jonas was at being a dad.

I don't think you can teach Boy Adventuring. More over, I don't think Rusty would even know how to. No one taught him. And Rusty is a pill popping maniac with the worst case of PTSD I have ever seen. What would he really have to impart?