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#5FandomFriday: Favorite Fictional Fathers

June 12, 2015

It's Friday! And it is almost Father's Day. Because I did the favorite fictional mothers post for Mother's Day, I am doing this post: favorite fictional fathers. I admit, at first I had some trouble thinking of fictional fathers that I truly admired! I don't know why, there are a lot. After brainstorming for a little while, I couldn't pick only five, so I had to cross a few off my list. Here are my top five favorite fictional fathers, blood-related or not. 


5) Rupert Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

 

A father does not have to be the one who gave his genetic material, but someone who guides, teaches, lets you make mistakes, loves you, and cares about your well-being, while letting you be an individual. Rupert Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer has each of these characteristics. When we first meet Giles, he is the librarian of the school, who soon revealed himself to be the person meant to guide Buffy through the trials and tribulations of slayerhood. Giles quickly becomes the one to go to when the kids are in trouble. He develops what the Watcher's Council called "a father's love" for the slayer, which gets him fired from his job. He quickly becomes a stronger parental figure than Buffy's biological father, and throughout the seasons he appears to fulfill that role for the rest of the group as well. 

4) Marlin from Finding Nemo



Marlin lost his wife and most of their children in a tragic accident, which left Nemo "disabled," or at least this is how Marlin treated Nemo for most of his life. Because of Nemo's injured fin, Marlin wanted to protect his son from everything, but in doing so, shielded him from normal life experiences. Marlin lived his biggest fear when Nemo was taken, and then faced his other biggest fears to get him back. This journey repaired both Marlin's soul and his relationship with his son. 


3) Mayor Richard Wilkins III from Buffy the Vampire Slayer



Two from the same show! Mayor Wilkins, despite being evil, had one weakness: Faith. He initially hired Faith ("the dark slayer") to be one of his underlings, but quickly began to see her as family. In a short amount of time, he grows to love her like a daughter and expresses great pride in her. He tries to instill important values, like drinking her milk or not using the "H-E-double hockey sticks" word in front of the girls she's supposed to lead. He is the only individual who sees and respects Faith as a person, a wayward girl perhaps, but one with strengths and big potential. Mayor Wilkins truly believes in Faith. The few moments when we see the Mayor lose his composure are when he believes Faith to be in danger. One of the most touching moments in my opinion, is when he reflects on his wife who passed away many years before and the fact that they could never have kids, and he tells Faith that his wife would have been proud of her as well.

2) Zaknafein Do'Urden from Legend of Drizzt series


Zaknafein is Drizzt's dad and the one assigned to train him to be a warrior. In the society they live, men do not have a say in anything and exist only for the pleasure of the sadistic drow priestesses. The society as a whole values evildoings and take pleasure in the misfortune of others, and that's putting it lightly. Drizzt stands out like a sore thumb because he does not hold those values, and it is Zak who sees him for who he truly is. It is implied that Zak probably holds the same values, but never had the opportunity to break free of the drow world. So he helps Drizzt escape, and dies twice doing so. Twice.

1) Bobby Singer from Supernatural



Bobby is not the Winchesters' biological father, but he sure is more of a father than John Winchester ever was (in my opinion). When they were boys, Bobby used to watch them sometimes when John left. Once, Bobby was supposed to teach a young Dean (9-ish? 10ish?) how to shoot a double-barrel, but he took him to the park to play a game of catch instead, and then had to deal with John's anger. Bobby had a traumatic childhood, which made him choose not to have children of his own out of a fear that he would be just like his alcoholic father. However, Bobby was always there for the Winchesters, both in life and in death, even though helping them in death meant losing his own bit of heaven (or whatever punishment the angels had in store for him for breaking the rules). He believes it was worth it to help them one more time.




4 comments on "#5FandomFriday: Favorite Fictional Fathers"
  1. Fantastic picks! I love that you thought of Mayor Wilkins--his relationship with Faith really was his one redeeming virtue. Also love that I'm not the only one who included a Disney dad! :-)

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  2. Great list I love all these picks and I miss Bobby so much, I love that people consider him more "Daddy Winchester" than John "Family don't end with blood" is probably one of his most memorable and the most powerful line on the whole show xoxo

    Cateaclysmic

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  3. Great list. Marlin!! Adorable choice.

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  4. Great list! I loved that you picked Marlin!
    xoxo
    dePepi.com

    ReplyDelete