Prepare to be shocked by the prevalence of dysfunctional anime families and the role of the horrible anime parents. It’s not just the terrible parents from Yu-Gi-Oh! that stand out. Bad parenting is a common theme in anime, from My Hero Academia to Pokémon. This recurring trope is a fascinating aspect of the animation realm.
From compelling their children to take their own lives for insurance money to forcibly turning them into man-eating monsters, the prevalence of bad parenting in anime is truly staggering.
It’s not just a rare occurrence, it’s practically the norm. Let’s delve into the world of the worst parents in anime, and hope that their horrible parenting methods never make it into the real world. We might be venturing into spoiler territory with these parents so stay alert.
These are all the people who are black-listed from the Parent of the Year nominations. Presenting the hall of shame of parents, which will have you wishing you had Child Protection Services on speed dial.
10Charles Zi Britannia (Code Geass)
As the formidable antagonist of Code Geass, the Emperor of Britannia always loomed large, his power capable of inspiring troops and decimating entire countries with a single word. His approach to parenting, however, was not as awe-inspiring.
The blind eye and complete disregard Charles shows toward his offspring is as cold a feeling as it gets. Making things worse is his demented endgame, the Ragnarok Connection, a plan to unite all human consciousness into one. He pushed his children away to bring about this connection, even though he intended to remake the world for them. Talk about a twisted kind of love. You can’t fault Lelouch for what he did.
9Grisha Yeager (Attack on Titan)
Judging by the pure joy reflected on their faces at the birth of their son Zeke, we were lulled into a false sense of security that Grisha and Dina Yeager would be loving parents who would do anything for their child. But as it turns out, this misguided young couple intended to weaponize their son, molding Zeke into a self-sacrificial savior for themselves and their people.
To no ones surprise, Zeke failed, and Grisha’s disappointment becomes his personality trait. Even though Dina’s reaction is less severe, she doesn’t do enough to stop her husband’s outbursts of rage, making her equally guilty. When Zeke eventually snaps and turns his parents in, it’s not hard to figure out why. Although comparatively speaking, Grisha does a much better job of parenting his other son, Eren, he does ultimately inject the boy with Titan serum to carry out his life’s goal, which ironically reduced Grisha to a quick dinner.
8Shouichi Makise (Steins; Gate)
It’s a tragic tale of a parent who can’t bear to be overshadowed by his child. Meet Steins; Gate’s Shouichi Makise, also known as Dr. Nakabachi, the father of the brilliant Kurisu Makise. Kurisu pens a revolutionary paper on time travel, a feat that should have made any parent proud. But instead of celebrating his daughter’s success, Shouichi attempts to end her life, all to steal her work and claim it as his own. And tragically, he succeeds.
Taking the name Nakabachi, Shouichi escapes with Kirisu’s theories and begins his own time-traveling projects. This all leads to one disaster after another and eventually World War III. It’s a complex situation, to say the least. Good job, Nakabachi. Real proud of you. It’s definitely hard to get worse than that, parenting-wise.
7Enji Todoroki (My Hero Academia)
Endeavor is a father to several children, all strategically planned with Rei, an ice-quirk wielder, in order to create offspring with superior quirks, hoping to have at least one of them fulfill his failed dream of eclipsing All Might.
He’s also an abusive husband and father, forcing his son, Shoto Todoroki, to undergo rigid training since Shoto was the only one who possessed both his mom and dad’s Quirks. Endeavor neglected his other children and ruthlessly trained a young Todoroki to the point that he would vomit during their sessions. He also sent his wife to a mental asylum after his abuse caused her to snap and pour boiling water on the left side of Shoto’s face. Needless to say, Endeavor has a lot to make up for his past wrongdoings as a father and husband.
6Every Parent in Hunter x Hunter
Considering the main premise of the anime is a 12-year-old boy risking his life to find his dad, who gave him up to travel the world, you have your answer. Ging Freecss is the father who left to get milk and never returned. His absence has cast a long shadow over Gon’s young life, and Ging is resolute in maintaining his distance from his son, convinced he’s not cut out for fatherhood. His dismissive attitude towards Gon’s quest to find him only reinforces this belief, making his absence all the more painful for Gon. He is really not dad material.
While this parent isn’t involved in his son’s life at all, the one is a little too into it. Kikyo is much worse in the sense that she is obsessive, and her “caring” is just her being overbearing and trying to micro-manage Killua’s life according to her wishes, which is to make him a brain-washed ruthless assassin (not an ideal goal in life for a 12-year-old, I must say). Her failure to recognize her ‘supreme motherly affection’ as anything but toxic makes it so much harder for her to change her ways.
5Gendo Ikari (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
Gendo is a very busy man as the leader of NERV, who’s plotting the fate of the world for his own selfish reasons. No wonder Gendo doesn’t make time for his son, Shinji, unless absolutely necessary. Gendo is prone to treating Shinji as a tool rather than his son. His verbal abuse toward Shinji, which involves telling his son that he doesn’t want him, is disappointed in him and has no interest in seeing him, is only eclipsed by his utter apathy after throwing Shinji in a robot to fight against the angels.
As 14-year-old Shinji grapples with his daunting and terrifying responsibilities, his father offers no guidance or support, only a barrage of vague insults and neglect. Gendo’s later confession that his treatment of Shinji is rooted in self-loathing does little to excuse his complete failure as a parent.
4Ragyo Kiryuin (Kill la Kill)
Ragyo Kiryuin is the antagonist of Kill la Kill. She’s also an objectively terrible mother. Ragyo is a seemingly immortal monster whose body is a combination of human flesh and Life Fibers, which are basically clothing from space. Her goal is to destroy all of humanity and let Life Fibers take over the earth, a goal her older daughter Satsuki pretends to support until she managed to gather adequate forces to take her down. While she’s biding her time, she has to endure her mother violating her.
You would think her whole supervillain gig would be enough for Ragyo, but she goes beyond that, displaying a shocking disregard for her children’s lives. When she mistakenly believes her second daughter, Ryuko, died as an infant due to Life Fiber experimentation, she disposes of the body without a hint of grief, viewing it as nothing more than a failed experiment. Later, she is unfazed by the prospect of murdering both Satsuki and Ryuko for attempting to thwart her plans. She even orders her third daughter, Nui, to sacrifice her life. It’s a stark contrast to the nurturing role one would expect from a mother. But I guess she’s just built different.
3Every Parent in Fruits Basket
Fruits Basket is one of those series with so many bad parents it’s hard to choose just one. Ren Sohma is the absolute worst mother ever. She hated her daughter because she didn’t want her husband to love another girl, even when said girl was their own child. She forced Akito to live as a boy and, before I forget, slept with the person Akito was in love with.
Hold on though, because there’s also Yuki’s mother, who basically sold her son to the family’s god for personal clout. There’s also Kyo’s father, who thinks his son is a monster who is solely responsible for his mother’s suicide. There’s also Rin’s parents who played pretend until they couldn’t keep up the mask of a perfect family anymore and immediately abandoned her. One of the worst of the bunch is Momiji’s mother, who was so disgusted by her son’s curse that she had her memories erased so she wouldn’t remember Momiji existed.
2Akemi Hinazuki (Erased)
Akemi Hinazuki’s actions had a profound impact on her daughter, Kayo. She not only made her daughter suffer but also physically abused her, using her as a vent for her own frustrations. Kayo was so neglected that she burst into tears when Satoru’s mom cooked her breakfast, a simple act of kindness that she was not used to. Akemi’s usual practice was to leave a small amount of money for Kayo to buy her own food, further highlighting her neglect.
Kayo would rather stay alone at a park for hours after school than return home and suffer another beating. It’s a relief that Akemi’s parental rights were taken away, and Kayo went to live with her grandmother. This intervention was crucial in breaking the cycle of trauma that had engulfed Kayo’s life. The story’s unfolding reveals the depth of Akemi’s denial of motherly love and basic needs. Akemi’s journey serves as a stark reminder that failing to recover from trauma can lead to becoming the person you feared and hurting the people you love. This cycle of trauma can perpetuate across generations if left unchecked, underscoring the importance of timely intervention.
1Shou Tucker (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Shou Tucker is, far and away, one of the worst parents in fictional history. What makes him so awful, you ask? Prepare yourself- In order to keep his Alchemic License, Tucker merged both his daughter and dog to create a talking Chimera. And he’s proud of his work. Let that sink in. Through a horrifying deduction, we also discover that Shou has done the same to his wife (who he claimed had abandoned him and Nina), which earned him his professional position in the first place.
Tucker briefly passes off his nightmare creation as an “ethically” created chimera capable of speech, but it’s quickly discovered he couldn’t possibly have done this morally. While he’s waiting to be arrested for his crimes against both humans and animals, he tries to solicit sympathy from his mutated child by telling her he’s misunderstood. The absolute audacity of this man-you’re willing to destroy your own child and your beloved family pet for a job, you deserve the worst. The smackdown he got from Edward was well deserved. Shou Tucker is not just a terrible parent but also a terrible human being.
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