There are a lot of great dads out there in the world of anime, and there are some that are, in one way or another, scumbags who either cant even look after themselves or are too self-absorbed to care about anyone but themselves. Sometimes even both.
Obligatory – Gendo
Pretty much the benchmark for bad parenthood, Neon Genesis Evangelion’s Gendo is the worst. Not only is he absent for most of Shinji’s childhood, their reunion starts out with Gendo manipulating Shinji into piloting the Eva and doesn’t stop there.
Kamon Nandaba – FLCL
Kamon, unlike many of the fathers on this list, actually has a relationship with his son Naota. This doesn’t stop him from being an irredeemable greaseball.
Kamon is immature, spending his days reading porn magazines and writing for his ‘zine. He is a spineless lech with little, if any, willpower. Thus, he is handily manipulated by Haruko, easily baited into competing with his own son over her.
Not exactly a decent role model, explaining Naota’s complex about his brother in the US.
??? – Pokemon
The unnamed father of Ash straight up dipped before the anime even started, leaving Ash’s mom to raise a child on her own.
To date, nothing is known about the Ash’s father. He has been mentioned only a few times, suggesting that he is on a Pokemon journey himself.
Perhaps he didn’t get to go on a Pokemon adventure as a kid and decided that a few years into Ash’s life was the perfect time to get it out of his system.
We will probably never know who he is, but he has to be one of the worst dads in anime history.
Shou Tucker – Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
While most of the bad dads on this list are generally just dirtbags and manipulative assholes, Tucker is a complete psycho. No spoilers, but his actions are downright spine-chilling. Likely the worst parent, and spouse, in all of anime.
Charles Zi Britannia – Code Geass
Charles is, for all intents and purposes, the most powerful man in the world. He has a lot of children, but he has no meaningful relationship with any of them and is an absolute megalomaniac seeing them as pawns in some kind of sick game.
Goku – DBZ
Goku might be childlike in his innocence, a pure-hearted hero who would put his life on the line to save even a single person, but he isn’t a great father.
DBZ kicks off with his son getting kidnapped, and while Goku does basically rescue him, throughout the rest of his child’s life he is either dead or off training somewhere. Even when his grandkids are born, he loves them and everything but isn’t really much of a family guy. Granted, he is a Saiyan and perhaps that’s just how they are, but Goku is still a pretty lousy father by any standard.
Dio – Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
You’d think that when Giorno was conceived, Dio would have thought, “Maybe it’s time to chill on this world domination stuff, get a decent job and settle down.”
But no, Dio probably wasn’t even aware of Giorno’s existence before he died, and if he did know about Giorno, he either wouldn’t have cared about him or would have used him for his own selfish ends.
Regardless, Dio is probably the worst kind of person to have as a parent.
Who is the worst anime dad you can think of? Am I wrong about any of the dads on my list? Let me know in the comments!
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