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

[Tuesday Night Fever]

Of the choices on the list, Peter Griffin is by far the worst father. I mean, hell, he actively hates one of his kids for seemingly no real reason.

All of the other dads listed have flaws, sure - but at least they're trying their best to be good fathers. All Peter cares about is Peter.

As for which one of them I'd say is the best dad? I don't know. None of them are particularly great dads... but I think Homer Simpson is probably the most realistic. Pre-Family-Guy-influence Homer Simpson, anyway. Back before they started to mimic Peter's antics in The Simpsons, Homer was actually a generally decent father. Y'know... except for the mutual strangling gag that they used to do from time to time between him and Bart (to this day that recurring "joke" seems to not only come out of left-field, but run completely counter to Homer's established character). He's the only one that seems to genuinely feel guilt and remorse whenever he does something wrong or upsets his kids, and he's the only one whose emotional support whenever they're hurt or feeling down seems to actually be from the heart. He's also shown time and time again that he wants the best childhood for his kids, and actively participates frequently in their hobbies.

 

[TheMightyBill]

He cheated on his friend wife and while making out, he fall onto Rusty cardboard house (can't remember), crushing him.

I liked to think his cause of death was suicude when someone shown him the future (Venture Bro present time) that his futurist ideal were dead and seeing the result of Rusty upbringing.

Actually, Colonel Gentleman knew and consented to what his wife and Jonas were doing. It was a swingers party.


Personally I like the theory that Jonas is the Sovereign. Considering lots of Jonas' scenes have Bowie references, the Venture family's importance to the Guild and the Guild's distinct avoidance of growing too powerful, it makes sense to me that Jonas turned into a shapeshifter after a superscience accident and faked his death to organaise, control and then slowly declaw the forces of evil with bureaucracy. Plus, that'd mean the shapeshifting alien from Twenty Years to Midnight actually was Jonas, which makes that scene even funnier to me.

 

[Little Woodsman]

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.

Tales of Ba Singh Se was amazing, and his segment was the most amazing part of it. Gotta love Iroh.

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.

Well, I've only seen maybe 3-4 episodes of Venture Brothers, so I can't really comment on that, but Ozai was actually attempting to kill over half of the world's population with fire. I think that goes a bit beyond "blatantly terrible person". As for Azula, while it's in theory possible that she reached that level of insanity/sociopathy on her own, it would be really strange for her environment/parents to not have had some impact on it. Actually, given that Ozai obviously rewarded her sociopathic behavior.... yeah, gotta stick with the idea that he influenced her mental problems.

 

[Ieyke]

Azula was nuts from when she was REAL little and well before Ozai revealed how batshit crazy he was.
And "blatantly terrible" isn't as bad as "secretly terrible that everyone treats as amazing".
Zuko was able to eventually see his father was a terrible person. Rusty never had that chance since everyone treated Jonas as a glorious hero to worship and look up to.

Ozai didn't hide his contempt for Zuko. He took fire to his face.
Doctor Venture was always "saving" and "teaching" Rusty in terrible ways.

When the supervillains taking Rusty hostage treated him better than his own father and felt sorry for the kid because of how big of a dick his father was....

 

[Armadox]

I have to side with the populous when it comes to the worse father being Peter Griffin, thought I can point to a single episode as why he's a terrible, irredeemable monster of a character. That episode is "Fresh Heir", after that there is nothing Peter Griffin can do that will surprise or offend me, as you can't find offense at the worst thing. Pity, perhaps, but not offense.

As for as the best father, I would have to go off the grid for that one, and say Bob Allman from God, the Devil, and Bob. Unlike Homer Simpson, Bob (Bob's Burgers), and Hank Hill who's flaws only effect anyone in their general reach. Bob's choices, needs, and desires are always being judged. He is a bad person, but not evil. Just not altruistic, self centered and ignorant of things and people. Despite that, when tempted with anything he could desire, he chooses to try as hard as he can to be a better person. He learns to pay attention to his family, and even seems to befriend not only God but the Devil too.

 

[Ieyke]

Uncle Iroh - Lost his own son to war, became a fatherly figure to numerous lost children, guiding them to be wise and better people who could save and lead the world, even long after his mortal life ended.

Pretty well sums the guy up perfectly.
The guy basically raised the future of his world. "Father" to his nephew, "uncle" to a generation of heroes and two Avatars.

Also, one of the most legendary and powerful warriors to ever live.

 

[Armadox]

Uncle Iroh - Lost his own son to war, became a fatherly figure to numerous lost children, guiding them to be wise and better people who could save and lead the world, even long after his mortal life ended.
Pretty well sums the guy up perfectly.
The guy basically raised the future of his world. "Father" to his nephew, "uncle" to a generation of heroes and two Avatars.

Also, one of the most legendary and powerful warriors to ever live.

I'm.. actually going to play devil's advocate here and say that Iroh was actually kinda a bad guy. He had every opportunity to do the right thing, and end a massive conflict before it became a worldly threat and instead fled into exile then take up the responsibility of fighting himself. He walked away from his own destiny and allowed children to clean up his mess. Sure, he gave out wise advice in the same way a chain smoker will tell teens not to smoke. Do as I say, not as I do.

His only desire was to ignore the struggle outside his own selfish bubble and make a tea shop where he could be at peace without responsibility. He went with Zuko because of guilt, as he treated the boy as a surrogate son and used him as the means to expunge himself of the guilt of failing his own son. Words of inner peace and pacifism to get him to do anything but be a soldier. If he truly cared so much for his family, he'd have seen the venom boiling long before and done something about it. Where was his calm hand on Azula's shoulder as a child? Guy had 66 years to fix this wagon and ran off with the wheel.

Hell, meeting any of the other children and helping was coincidence and engaged only if it didn't effect his own path. He was one of the greatest warriors (dude was the only one on the planet who could check off "use lightning" on his skills sheet. I don't care how tough Ozai is, use lightning would have won when they was young), and could have stood up for his nation and his honor and punked right the hell out. Hell, even his own damn secret order chose to skirt responsibility and allowed a threat to go unchecked. They could have easily killed the order of the red lotus, and made the world safer but instead taxed their own resources to prolong a fight that could have been stopped before it even started.

......

When given the chance to ignore all mortal conflict, he jumped ship and decided to hang with the spirits then to help rebuild the world after the fire nations defeat. Helping Korra was again coincidence. Few words of encouragement and off to drink tea and not give a damn...

 

[Ieyke]

He had no guilt about his son. The loss just crushed him and his will to take part in war.
NO ONE knew Ozai was an evil psychopath until after Iroh had given up the throne to him and Ozai was already the Fire Lord. At most, he knew Ozai was a jealous asshole.
Iroh tried with Azula as a child the same way he did with Zuko, but he was a general and not physically present to know how she responded. She was always like her father, a little psychopath who acted all polite and thankful while meaning none of it.
When Iroh realized the monster Ozai was and that Zuko needed guidance, he also realized Azula was just as insane and beyond helping.

He chose to save the future of the Fire Nation by breaking the cycle of evil Fire Lords, rather than attempting to single-handedly take on his brother and the entire Fire Nation military, and possibly starting civil war. A Very wise decision, as it turns out, since he is directly responsible for Fire Lord Zuko working with the Avatar in uniting the world, and subsequently Fire Lord Izumi directly refusing to lead the Fire Nation to war, AND his great-grandnephew - the United Republic hero, General Iroh II who would repeatedly help save the world.
He may have happened across the other children MOSTLY by coincidence, but he always did what he could to guide them. He himself had no path other than to keep Zuko from becoming like his father, grandfather, and great grandfather. Though he loved his teahouse, it was only a tool for showing Zuko another way of life. One of peace and wisdom, instead of war and rage.
He ALWAYS practiced what he preached - striving for peace and wise solutions, but being accepting that sometimes you can't find a peaceful solution, and the battle must be fought.
Honor is not important - a point Iroh goes to great lengths to try and teach.

That is not the responsibility of the White Lotus.

 

[Rabbitboy]

I noticed that Timmy's dad from Fairly Odd Parents is conspicuously absent in the poll

 

[ObserverStatus]

I'm going to second Shou Tucker for worst dad. For all his faults, Ozai didn't turn Zuko into a damn dog.