In the anime medium, quality parents come at a premium. Countless anime characters are born to fractured households, and as a result, they often lack any sort of concrete parental guidance. That’s not to say that there aren’t amazing parents in anime — Maes Hughes from Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Minato Kamikaze from Naruto: Shippuden are both solid examples of parents who love, protect, and challenge their children.
However, for every great parent, there are countless others who fall well short of their parental duties. In particular, the anime medium includes many absentee fathers, several of whom are the primary antagonist of their respective series.
Updated on June 24, 2023, by Kennedy King: With each passing season, new anime emerge that include subpar fathers. These fathers range from misguided to outright evil, but above all else, they are unified in their failure as parents.
15 Judge Vinsmoke (One Piece)
Although Sanji joins the Straw Hat Pirates during One Piece's preliminary saga, the specifics of his background aren't revealed until the events of the Whole Cake Island Arc. Sanji's relatives, the Vinsmoke Family, are front and center during this arc, allowing his father to finally show his true colors.
Judge Vinsmoke rules over Germa Kingdom with an iron fist. Unfortunately, his approach to parenting — especially in regard to Sanji — is very similar. He disowns Sanji when the Straw Hat Pirate is still a young child, and the only reason that Judge welcomes his son back into the family is to curry favor with Charlotte Linlin. While Judge could still redeem himself by the end of One Piece, he's easily the least supporting father in the series.
14 Shouichi Makise (Steins;Gate)
Shouichi Makise is a gifted scientist, and in the decades preceding the events of Steins;Gate, he earned a stellar reputation as part of the scientific community. However, things quickly changed after the birth of his daughter, Kurisu.
Kurisu's aptitude for science is even greater than her father's, and at a young age, she disproved one of his most prominent theories. Rather than embracing Kurisu's natural talents, Shouichi becomes bitter that she undermined his discoveries, blaming her and alienating himself from the other members of his family.
13 Ging Freecss (Hunter x Hunter)
Like many shonen anime protagonists, Gon Freecss strives to follow in the footsteps of his father, Ging. Ging is one of the preeminent Hunters in the world of Hunter x Hunter; however, while his talents as a Hunter are undeniable, his skills as a father leave much to be desired.
Instead of spending time with Gon, Ging travels the world, plying his craft as an adventurer. While it's possible that Ging cares for Gon in his own way, his actions are anything but that of a caring father — as most clearly evidenced by his disinterest in Gon following the Chimera Ant Arc.
12 Bondrewd (Made In Abyss)
Made in Abyss is defined by the series' titular landmark, the Abyss. This chasm holds countless secrets, housing a host of terrifying creatures and heinous criminals, including the series' primary antagonist, Bondrewd.
Bondrewd is one of the most experienced explorers to ever venture into the Abyss, and over time, he becomes enamored by the allure of the landmark's secrets. He starts to experiment on a various beings in search of answers, eventually devolving to the point that he even uses his own daughter as fuel for his pursuits.
11 Muzan Kibutsuji (Demon Slayer)
In the very first episode of Demon Slayer, Tanjiro Kamado's family is brutally murdered, leaving his sister as his only living family member. Although the specifics of this event have yet to be confirmed, it's virtually guaranteed that Muzan Kibutsuji, the father of all demons, is behind it.
Given his violent predisposition and evil intentions, Muzan is far from an ideal parent. He has yet to harm his child on-screen, but considering his track record, it wouldn't be shocking for him to display his true colors in the near future. At the very least, he sets a poor example for any child who looks up to him.
10 Goku (Dragon Ball Z)
Dragon Ball Z is an incredibly popular series, and it played a significant role in the proliferation of anime around the world. However, no matter how many times Goku and the Z Fighters save the world, it doesn't make up for Goku's highly questionable parenting strategies.
Goku forces Gohan to become a warrior against his will, pits his son against an all-powerful being from the future, and spends a significant amount of time in the Other World. Given the number of times Goku dies or leaves for training, Gohan grows up without his biological dad for a significant portion of his life.
9 Dario Brando (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure)
Dario Brando is the father of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure's main villain, Dio. This fact alone speaks to his parenting style, as Dio is one of the most evil villains in anime history. Dario is an alcoholic, a gambler, and an abusive man not only to Dio but also toward his wife. In fact, he literally forces her to work herself to death.
On top of his many vices, Dario is also a thief. He even tries to steal from Jonathan Joestar’s father, but due to a misunderstanding, Jonathan’s father thought that he was trying to save his life. This is how, after Dario’s death, Dio ends up living with Jonathan.
8 Rasa Of The Sand (Naruto)
As the fourth Kazekage, Rasa of the Sand is forced to make some hard choices. Due to the warring nature of Naruto's Land of Fire, he has to place a Tailed Beast — the Sand Spirit Shukaku — inside his own son, Gaara. However, this isn’t what makes Rasa a truly terrible father.
Instead of trying to help Gaara control his powers and the Tailed Beast inside of him, Rasa pushes his son away, even trying to have Gaara assassinated multiple times. This ultimately results in severe anguish for Gaara, especially after the young boy accidentally kills his beloved uncle, who was sent to kill Gaara by the Kazekage.
7 Grisha Yeager (Attack On Titan)
Attack on Titan's Grisha Jaeger is the type of dad that puts his own ideals ahead of the health and well-being of his own children. Zeke, his first son, is groomed to become a spy in the military. However, when the military proves to be more of a family to him than his own, Zeke betrays his mom and dad.
After miraculously surviving his execution and starting a family inside the walls of Paradis, Grisha decides to transform his second son, Eren, into a Titan. This burden may have helped save their friends and family, but it's an awful burden to willingly place on one's own son.
6 Shou Tucker (Fullmetal Alchemist)
As the Life-Sewing Alchemist, Shou Tucker is known for his knowledge regarding alchemy, chimeras, and biology. In his preliminary appearance during Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, he seems like a quiet and kind father. However, when the State threatens to revoke his license due to a lack of scientific breakthroughs, his true colors emerge.
Edward and Alphonse learn that Shou not only merged his own wife with another living being but also his young daughter as well. These experiments transformed them into living abominations, cementing Tucker's status as one of the worst fathers in shonen anime.
5 Tokiomi Tohsaka (Fate/Zero)
As the head of the Tohsaka Mage Family, Fate/Zero's Tokiomi appears to be a somewhat decent father, husband, and teacher. However, beneath the surface is a man with many personalities — not all of them are pretty. Instead of training his daughter Sakura in the ways of Magecraft alongside Rin, he abides by tradition and allows a rival family to adopt Sakura and train her in their ways.
This doesn’t sound too bad until it’s discovered that their form of training involves throwing Sakura into a pit of parasitic worms. She is put through so much pain that she becomes a husk of her former self.
4 Gendo Ikari (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
Neon Genesis Evangelion's Gendo Ikari professes himself to be someone who exclusively loves his wife. Unfortunately, this excludes his son, Shinji, from normal fatherly affection, and even when Shinji begs Ikari to embrace him, his father turns the cold shoulder and abandons him for an extended period of time.
When Gendo Ikari eventually re-enters his son's life, he keeps Shinji at a distance and doesn’t even try to get to know him. Eventually, it is revealed that Ikari only made contact with his son in an effort to bring his wife back to life.
3 Charles Zi Britannia (Code Geass)
Charles Zi Britannia, the father of Code Geass' protagonist, is a horrible dictator. To make matters worse, he's also terrible to his children, primarily because of his core belief that those who are weak should be thrown aside for the strong. This is why he basically shuns his daughter, Nunnally, after she becomes paralyzed and blind.
When Lelouch vi Britannia, the main character of Code Geass, protests his sister's treatment, Charles disowns them both. On top of that, Charles sees his children as his own personal form of entertainment, and he frequently pits them against each other.
2 Enji "Endeavor" Todoroki (My Hero Academia)
My Hero Academia's Enji Todoroki — better known by his hero moniker, Endeavor — is obsessed with being the World's No. 1 Hero. When it becomes apparent that he will not be able to exceed the mark set by All Might, he settles on producing a child with (by Endeavor's standards) the perfect Quirk.
In order to accomplish his goal, Endeavor marries a woman with the sole purpose of combining their Quirks. This leads Endeavor to view his children as glorified science projects, eventually alienating him from most of his own family members.
1 Gambino (Berserk)
Even in the cutthroat, demon-infested world of Berserk, Gambino is an incredibly horrible father. He adopts Guts, a young boy that serves as the protagonist of the series, and trains him to fight, which is effectively the only nice thing that Gambino ever does.
Every form of abuse that Gambino could possibly think up, he employs against Guts. He shows his adopted son absolutely no love and even sells him into sex work at one point, earning him the title of the worst father in seinen anime.