Sunday was Father's Day here in the U.S. and while we are both quite fond of our dads, we're not so sure they'd like a whole post on a blog about anime and kdrama to themselves. So we would like to celebrate by highlighting some of our favorite fictional dads!
Name: Pa Ingalls
From: Little House on the Prairie series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Qualifications for Awesome: Okay, I realize that Pa (Charles) Ingalls actually existed as a real person, but since Laura was a bit of a daddy's girl, we can assume that perhaps she put the best version of him in her books. But seriously, the man kept his family safe as they trekked across the prairie, single-handedly kept them fed, sheltered, and protected, valued their education and independence in a time when women weren't always supported in either, was involved in making his community a better place, and played a mean fiddle.
Special Skills: calling dance moves, making whatnots, scaring bears, eating all the Christmas candy.
Name: Pacha
From: The Emperor's New Groove
Qualifications for Awesome: Basically the entire reason Pacha even meets Kuzco is because he's concerned about his family's welfare. And throughout the entire story, he's still always concerned about them (his wife and kids are notably awesome as well). He does his fair share of alternately bragging on his kids and treating Kuzco like the errant teenage prodigal. It's no wonder Kuzco decides he needs a little more Pacha in his life after all.
Special Skills: Not being an idiot about the Amazonian Jungle, walking up cliffs, eating pillbugs. Llama herding.
Name: Uncle Oscar
From: Pandora Hearts
Qualifications for Awesome: Oscar is not, in fact, a dad but when Oz's dad rejects him (he has his reasons; whether they're good or not must be left up to the reader) it's Uncle Oscar who steps up and assumes the dad role in Oz's life. In fact, he seems willing to take on pretty much any stray kid - Gil, Alice, Ada - who might be in need of a decent dad.
Special Skills: Successfully combining goofy uncle with good dad, photography , and being able to handle pretty much anything, no matter how crazy (a must in Pandora Hearts).
Name: His Grace, His Excellency, The Duke of Ankh, Commander Sir Samuel Vimes
From: The Discworld Series, by Terry Pratchett
Qualifications for Awesome: Sam Vimes, the ultimate jaded copper, probably never thought about getting married, or becoming a dad for that matter, although he's basically adopted the entire Watch (albeit, begrudgingly.) But when he DOES become a dad to young Sam, the Disc better watch out. For one, he WILL be home to read this treasure of literary genius (with requisite noises) to young Sam at the appointed time come hell, high-water, or morphic distortions. And suddenly, making Ank-Morpork a better place to live has a very solid, very adorable reason.
Special Skills: Imitating animals, eating Dibbler's Sausages-Inna-Bun, arresting anyone, running.
Read an excerpt on Terry Pratchett's website!!!
Name: Kang Dong Hee
From: Wonderful Days/Very Good Days
Qualifications for Awesome: Okay, so Dong Hee didn't exactly start out as stellar dad material. He got his best-girl friend knocked up after an emotional night of drinking. Bad move # 1. To his credit, he DID want to take responsibility for his newborn twins, but through a mess of events (too long to go into here), his twins are raised as his younger siblings. It's not really until a few episodes into the show that he decides to get off his bum and be a proper dad, but when he does, he goes all in, despite quite a few major setbacks including continual uncomfortable questions from the whole family and his kids' refusal to acknowledge him. It's nice to see a portrayal of a young single dad who has the potential to be awesome and not just a loser. And it doesn't hurt that their scenes together are played simultaneously for chuckles and the FEELS!
Special Skills: Arguing with Grandpa (and everyone else in the family), Putting up tents, insulting boy bands, giving unwanted hugs, crushing on the teacher.
Name: Shiro
Name: Park Cheol
From: Doctor, Stranger
Qualifications for Awesome: So, I (S'ra) haven't caught up with the latest episodes of Doctor, Stranger, so there's always some chance that we find out something dastardly about poor Park Hoon's father. But after more or less accidentally getting his son stuck in North Korea - and then allowing him to be trained as a less-than-ethical doctor (I don't think either of them really had much choice.) he still instilled in him as much compassion, morals, and joy as he could. In the end, he even made the ultimate sacrifice by getting himself caught and killed by the authorities so that Park Hoon would not have any guilt about fleeing for his life.
Right, so I realize that one could argue the emotional trauma of all of that just outweighs any good he did his son. But I still maintain that he truly loved his kid and wanted nothing but a better, happier life where Hoon wouldn't be haunted by his father's mistakes.
Special Skills: Passing on genius Doctor skills, major stealth in breaking into secure medical facilities (secret tunnels!), recognizing the importance of proposals over routine checkups.
Be warned. Major Spoilers Ahead.
Other warning: this is not by any means a comprehensive list, but is simply the result of a casual conversation followed by a lot of work by S'ra. And since the conversation was casual (and good parents are hard to come by in fiction, bad parents making for better drama and more trauma), this encompasses all of fiction rather than any specific genre.
Other warning: this is not by any means a comprehensive list, but is simply the result of a casual conversation followed by a lot of work by S'ra. And since the conversation was casual (and good parents are hard to come by in fiction, bad parents making for better drama and more trauma), this encompasses all of fiction rather than any specific genre.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Maes Hughes
From: Fullmetal Alchemist
Qualifications for Awesome: No dad adores his little girl the way Maes Hughes adores little Elicia. His co-workers in the military run in fear from his gushing phone calls and pockets full of photos. Here's a real family man whose little girl is always in his thoughts even when fathoming the depths of military mysteries. Of course, he'll be quick to tell you - he's not just proud of this daughter. He's proud of his wife, too!
Special Skills: protecting his daughter from any toddler boys who might be making a move on her, offering hospitality and advice to stray automail mechanics, and taking on Homunculi armed with nothing but throwing knives
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Little House on the Prairie series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Qualifications for Awesome: Okay, I realize that Pa (Charles) Ingalls actually existed as a real person, but since Laura was a bit of a daddy's girl, we can assume that perhaps she put the best version of him in her books. But seriously, the man kept his family safe as they trekked across the prairie, single-handedly kept them fed, sheltered, and protected, valued their education and independence in a time when women weren't always supported in either, was involved in making his community a better place, and played a mean fiddle.
Special Skills: calling dance moves, making whatnots, scaring bears, eating all the Christmas candy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Pacha From: The Emperor's New Groove
Qualifications for Awesome: Basically the entire reason Pacha even meets Kuzco is because he's concerned about his family's welfare. And throughout the entire story, he's still always concerned about them (his wife and kids are notably awesome as well). He does his fair share of alternately bragging on his kids and treating Kuzco like the errant teenage prodigal. It's no wonder Kuzco decides he needs a little more Pacha in his life after all.
Special Skills: Not being an idiot about the Amazonian Jungle, walking up cliffs, eating pillbugs. Llama herding.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Uncle Oscar
From: Pandora Hearts
Qualifications for Awesome: Oscar is not, in fact, a dad but when Oz's dad rejects him (he has his reasons; whether they're good or not must be left up to the reader) it's Uncle Oscar who steps up and assumes the dad role in Oz's life. In fact, he seems willing to take on pretty much any stray kid - Gil, Alice, Ada - who might be in need of a decent dad.
Special Skills: Successfully combining goofy uncle with good dad, photography , and being able to handle pretty much anything, no matter how crazy (a must in Pandora Hearts).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: The Discworld Series, by Terry Pratchett
Qualifications for Awesome: Sam Vimes, the ultimate jaded copper, probably never thought about getting married, or becoming a dad for that matter, although he's basically adopted the entire Watch (albeit, begrudgingly.) But when he DOES become a dad to young Sam, the Disc better watch out. For one, he WILL be home to read this treasure of literary genius (with requisite noises) to young Sam at the appointed time come hell, high-water, or morphic distortions. And suddenly, making Ank-Morpork a better place to live has a very solid, very adorable reason.
Special Skills: Imitating animals, eating Dibbler's Sausages-Inna-Bun, arresting anyone, running.
Read an excerpt on Terry Pratchett's website!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 |
| I'm sorry, I thefted this off the google. But it was perfect! |
From: Wonderful Days/Very Good Days
Qualifications for Awesome: Okay, so Dong Hee didn't exactly start out as stellar dad material. He got his best-girl friend knocked up after an emotional night of drinking. Bad move # 1. To his credit, he DID want to take responsibility for his newborn twins, but through a mess of events (too long to go into here), his twins are raised as his younger siblings. It's not really until a few episodes into the show that he decides to get off his bum and be a proper dad, but when he does, he goes all in, despite quite a few major setbacks including continual uncomfortable questions from the whole family and his kids' refusal to acknowledge him. It's nice to see a portrayal of a young single dad who has the potential to be awesome and not just a loser. And it doesn't hurt that their scenes together are played simultaneously for chuckles and the FEELS!
Special Skills: Arguing with Grandpa (and everyone else in the family), Putting up tents, insulting boy bands, giving unwanted hugs, crushing on the teacher.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Shiro
From: Blue Exorcist
Qualifications for Awesome: There are parents out there who are ready and willing to adopt "problem" children. Then there's Shiro. He decided to take on a pair of boys who are half demon (and we're not talking Inuyasha here). You couldn't have a worse birth father than Satan. But it would be hard to find a better adoptive dad than Shiro. Neither demons nor exorcists had better mess with his kids. Oh, and he's also willing to eat Rin's horrible cooking until the kid learns to cook, and to insist that he let little Rin break his ribs in a temper tantrum so he could go to the hospital and meet hot nurses (well, okay, this is Shiro ... there's a chance that was the truth ...)
Special Skills: Let's start with Paladin, Dragoon, Tamer, Aria, Doctor, Priest ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Park Cheol From: Doctor, Stranger
Qualifications for Awesome: So, I (S'ra) haven't caught up with the latest episodes of Doctor, Stranger, so there's always some chance that we find out something dastardly about poor Park Hoon's father. But after more or less accidentally getting his son stuck in North Korea - and then allowing him to be trained as a less-than-ethical doctor (I don't think either of them really had much choice.) he still instilled in him as much compassion, morals, and joy as he could. In the end, he even made the ultimate sacrifice by getting himself caught and killed by the authorities so that Park Hoon would not have any guilt about fleeing for his life.
Right, so I realize that one could argue the emotional trauma of all of that just outweighs any good he did his son. But I still maintain that he truly loved his kid and wanted nothing but a better, happier life where Hoon wouldn't be haunted by his father's mistakes.
Special Skills: Passing on genius Doctor skills, major stealth in breaking into secure medical facilities (secret tunnels!), recognizing the importance of proposals over routine checkups.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Richard Castle
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Richard Castle
From: Castle
Qualifications for Awesome: Despite his many character flaws (including notoriously bad relationship skills and general skullduggery to get what he wants - not really) Castle is a pretty all-around awesome dad to his intelligent, feisty daughter, Alexis. And while he eventually grows up quite a bit during the show, one thing he didn't (miraculously, considering his mother, Martha's parenting skills) need to improve (much) on was how much he cared for, cheered on, and generally protected his little girl. Everything from father-daughter dates to being hilariously (and justifiably) over-protective regarding her boyfriends wins him major bonus points. And let's not forget that in a rather obvious (but still totally awesome) nod to another excellent Dad *cough Liam Neeson in Taken cough* Castle basically goes AWOL and storms Paris when his baby girl goes missing.
Special Skills: Annoying Beckett, interrogating hippie boyfriends, wearing badass longcoats, snarky repartee, gourmet meals, and being entirely too Meta (oh, wait, that's just Nathan Fillion).
Name: Splinter/Sensei
From: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Qualifications for Awesome: He's an somewhat elderly rat raising four unruly teenage turtles in the sewers of New York City. I don't really need to go on, but I will. Not only does he spit in the face of helicopter parenting, his firm, but loving discipline turns Leo, Donatello, Mikey, and Ralph into ... how does it go, "... the world's most fearsome fighting team (we're really hip)!" Even though they're continually beset by Shredder, the Foot Soldiers, Beebop, Rocksteady, the Brain (I could go on), Splinter still has time to love, discipline, and train his boys with the methods that will be most effective to their personalities.
Also, I'm pretty sure he made them clean their "den" at least once.
Special Skills: Being Splinter, allowing massive consumption of pizza, probably inspiring Mr. Miyagi (Or vice versa? Both characters debuted in 1984.).
Comments
Post a Comment
Comment away. Coherence is not required, basic social etiquette is appreciated.