Cookie Run's Dark Cacao Cookie Is A Better Example Of A Flawed, But Well-Meaning Father
Yeah, I know Cookie Run is one of those franchises that is slept on but you really should check out Cookie Run Kingdom because it really has mature storytelling for something supposed to be aimed at kids and whose themes are around cookies. But in my opinion, one examples of it's mature storytelling is the relationship between Dark Cacao Cookie and his son Dark Choco Cookie. Basically they have such a strained relationship that Dark Choco went to work for a villainess named Dark Enchantress Cookie. One of the biggest things is that Dark Cacao has to realize that his strict parenting caused his child to go on a dark path because his father didn't give him open love. Things haven't fully recovered but it's making its way. But it shows that a kid's game actually better understands how it's an adult's responsibility actually to be one.
A parent is supposed to own up to their mistakes when it's the cause of their child's estrangement with them. That is something Helluva Boss refuses to do with Stolas because of its creator's pet status. They try so hard to woobify him that it glosses over the fact that he destroyed any good will he had with his daughter in pursuit of his own gratification. This contrasts with how Dark Cacao at first sacrificed so much of an openly loving relationship with his son so he could better his kingdom. However, in the end the actual mature parent grew to see he was wrong and tried to do right by their child. However, Stolas still sees himself as the victim and focuses more on self-pitying himself rather than do whatever he did to recover with the child he set aside for his lover.
