Absent fathers are a go-to trope in anime, but that doesn’t always mean that these absent fathers are always deceased. While many protagonists are orphans, many others live in single-parent homes and one parent is simply, inexplicably, out of the picture. Few fans realize Deku’s father is alive and well, apparently working overseas, because he simply doesn’t factor into the story.
A father doesn’t need to be dead to be absent. Many anime dads simply don’t stick around. These protagonists have fathers who are perpetually away: either lost, on the run, or just living elsewhere.
10 Ash Ketchum’s Dad Went Wandering And Never Returned (Pokémon)
If Ash Ketchum feels like an aimless protagonist, he’s got nothing on his father. The story implies that Ash’s unnamed dad left Pallet Town in much the same way Ash later does. Beyond that, little is ever said about the character, though theories have abounded within the fandom.
A storyboard artist working on the series once said that Ash’s father left to become a Pokémon trainer, and apparently, his grandfather did the same. It’s hard not to feel bad for Delia Ketchum, Ash’s mother, who has to watch all her relatives walk out and leave forever.
9 Gon Searches For His Father, Ging (Hunter X Hunter)
From the very start of the series, Gon wants to become a Hunter in order to find his absent Father, Ging. Hunter X Hunter gives Ging his own backstory, and there are certainly parallels between father and son.
Ging left Whale Island before he was twelve in order to become a Hunter, and returned ten years later with a toddler Gon in his arms. He left Gon in the care of his grandmother and cousin Mito, and then Ging embarked on a mission to excavate various archaeological ruins. While Gon was raised to believe his parents perished in an accident, he soon learns that’s not the case, and sets out on a quest to find his father as well as obtain his own Hunter license.
8 Kamina’s Father Vanished Above The Ground (Gurren Lagann)
When Kamina was a child, his father asked him to accompany him to the surface world, but Kamina shied away, afraid. His father promised to meet him again one day, but then never returned. His father’s departure left Kamina determined to follow in his footsteps one day.
Even after Kamina and Simon drill through the ceiling of their village and emerge on the surface of the world, Kamina doesn’t find his father. However, fans theorize that Kamina’s father was one of the first spiral warriors, betrayed and killed by Lordgenome.
7 The Elrics Have a Complicated Relationship With Hohenheim (Fullmetal Alchemist)
The Elrics have suffered more than their fair share in their youth. Their father, Hohenheim, abandoned them as children, returning every few years like a stranger. After the death of their mother, the Elrics were raised by their neighbor, Pinako, and later their teacher, Izumi. When their father returns, Edward Elric is hostile, and he has every right to be.
But Hohenheim’s backstory is complex: as an alchemist, he became a human Philosopher’s Stone and gained immortality, but also inadvertently created the Homunculus and arch-villain known as Father in the process. He’s an absent father, but a decent person, intent on righting the wrongs of his past.
6 Luffy’s Father Is A Wanted Man (One Piece)
Luffy certainly comes by his penchant for piracy naturally. Raised by his grandfather without a parent in sight, Luffy seems indifferent to the history of his own family, never questioning his parents’ absence; this is Luffy, after all.
However, during the Water 7 arc, Luffy learns that his father is alive and, in fact, notorious: he’s the pirate Monkey D. Dragon, the leader of a rebel organization that’s trying to overthrow the World Government. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
5 Deku’s Dad Works Abroad, Apparently (My Hero Academia)
Anyone watching My Hero Academia, with all its diverse character backstories and complicated family dynamics, might assume Midoriya’s father is either dead or hiding in plain sight, perhaps even a major Hero with a secret. Deku’s mom, Inko Midoriya, features frequently in the show and has become a fan favorite, a fantastic and lovable mother archetype.
So it comes as something as a surprise that in the My Hero Academia universe, Deku’s dad is neither dead nor mysterious. He’s just working abroad, and that’s all there is to it — for now. If that’s truly all there is to the story, it’d be one heck of an anticlimax.
4 Kyoko Mogami’s Father Skipped Town Before She Was Born (Skip Beat)
Of all the obvious deadbeat dads in anime, few are as fundamentally crappy as Kazushi Misonoi of Skip Beat. The father of protagonist Kyoko, Kazushi abandons his pregnant wife, the lawyer Saena Mogami, leaving her to raise their daughter alone. To make matters worse, he also leaves with vital court documents that Saena needed in order to win an important legal case.
Later, Kyoko’s mother also chooses not to raise her, leaving her with the musician Sho Fuwa’s family instead. Kyoko deserves better, like so many other protagonists.
3 JoJo’s Protagonists Don’t Get To Have Dads, As A General Rule
There seems to be an unspoken law in the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure franchise: all dads are doomed. In Phantom Blood, Dio kills Jonathan Joestar’s father. His grandson, Joseph Joestar, is raised without parents. In Stardust Crusaders, Jotaro’s father never features and he himself becomes Jolyne’s absent father. The fourth JoJo, Josuke Higashikata, finds out he’s the illegitimate son of Joseph Joestar.
Characters are known to die in the franchise, and basically, dads in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure are mostly absent across the board. The pattern seems as unbreakable as, well, a diamond.
2 Nanami’s Father Abandoned Her And Left Her In Debt (Kamisama Kiss)
As bad dads go, it doesn’t get much worse than the nameless father of Nanami in Kamisama Kiss. Due to his gambling addiction, Nanami’s father accrues a lot of debt and then flees town, leaving his teenage daughter to contend with the bills.
Sadly, her mother warned a young Nanami never to trust her father with money, but after her mother’s demise, Nanami had little choice. At the start of the anime, Nanami is far too comfortable with her father’s behavior but is shocked when she’s evicted from her home.
1 Misaki Ayuzawa’s Father Left Her Extremely Bitter (Maid Sama!)
Maid Sama! feels like a dated series for many reasons, but a lot of that comes down to basic characterization. Given this, it’s not surprising that one of the heroine’s major defining characteristics develops as a result of her father’s abandonment. Misaki loathes all men because her father left her family high and dry, struggling to contend with a heinous mountain of debt. Misaki and her mother work hard to keep the family afloat, but the hole he’s left them in proves a steep one to climb out of.
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