The six most typical parent/mentor types in literature and other media (by my subjective observations)
Beware of the spoilers to many books, movies and tv series! Proceed at your own caution.
1. The dead/absent parent(s) is one of the most used types of parents (in fantasy and sci-fi anyway). It creates a why the main character doesn’t know about their past or powers or something along those lines. It brings the traumatic past aspect to the story and motivates the character to take revenge on the villain who killed their parent(s) aka join forces with the good guys. If the parent does briefly show up later in the story, they usually don’t affect it too much. It’s mainly to explain why they abandoned the main character and get some closure (“I only wanted to protect you”) only to sacrifice themselves two seconds later to get a (usually) not deserved redemption arc.
An example: Balinor and Merlin (still bitter Merlin didn’t have more time with his dad, the poor lad deserved it, imagine him training Merlin and them having to hide it in Camelot). Also, Lily, James and Harry Potter (the most famous dead parents of all time).
2. The first type of evil parent(s) do wish to have a relationship with their child, or they do, but their worldview and goals don’t align with the main character’s worldview and goals. It creates conflicts which can only end when one of them is dead. It doesn’t matter whether the child becomes a better person and begins to question the actions they have so far approved of or not done anything about, or the parent(s) methods become more extreme, or perhaps they met already having different views. The parent couldn’t convince the child to join forces aka abandon their conscience and accept that killing innocents is the right way to a better future etc. Their relationship goes gradually downhill during the duration of the story or is never good to begin with. Sometimes mutual respect is found, and a civil conversation is had, but ultimately their principles tear apart every sincere intention they might have had towards one another. It is a bittersweet exploration of two individuals united by blood divided by stances and you can’t help but wonder how their relationship would have turned out if their views weren’t so different whether they be good or bad. The parent may face turn in the end to save the child only to die. These kind of parents can be really strong characters on their own, the leader of the bad guys etc., or they can also be relevant to the bad side only because their child is the main character aka they are more in the role of the parent, who is evil, rather than an evil character, who happens to be the parent of the main character.
An example: Anakin (Darth Vader) and Luke Skywalker (the most famous face turn of all time). Uther and Arthur Pendragon (they had good moments as well, but most of their conflicts rose from different worldviews and beliefs, is magic evil or not).
The second type of evil parent(s) are just villains with children fighting on the good side. The parent(s) is just pure evil, and the fact they have a child fighting for the other side plays such a minor role in the story you couldn’t identify it with a magnifying glass. They may want the child dead for whatever reason. Maybe they didn’t know they had a child and are afraid they might become more powerful than them, but it is not so different from any other bad guy trying to destroy the main character. Maybe during the last battle a few manipulating sentences about their other parent are muttered, but that’s pretty much all we get.
Don’t have a good example for this one, sorry.
3. The mentor is the most frustrating type out of the six because this character is sentenced to death in the first or second bigger standoff between the main characters and the bad guys. They are there to give the main character introduction to this hidden world and/or powers and train them a little because the parents are either dead or absent. But most of all they are in the story to further motivate the character to swear to destroy the villain when they die in the first book or season. Their death leaves the character on their own or with a friend group and has to persevere and get better without a trusted mentor by their side. You just know they are going to die the second they swear to train the main character because the last battle has to be between the main villain and main good character not between the villain and the mentor (and maybe the main character on the side).
An example: Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker in the “New Hope” (Obi-Wan has become a massive character on his own, but just in the context of this first release he was a mentor who sacrificed himself, we can debate how much the force affected his decision in a way “my time has come”, but my point still stands). Now, one mentor, who doesn’t die, is Haymitch Abernathy (Hallelujah, we love to see it)!
4. The parent parent(s) is just there because a teenager can’t live on their own. They have no other purpose than to fill the parent role. They don’t question why their child has been absent for the last two-three days or let it be for the most part when they get some off-hand comment. They don’t appear much, they don’t do much, they bring very little to the story itself. They are not confided in the secrets till the last moment, if at all. They only give relieved hugs in the end when their kids come home all bloody having saved the world, saying how much they love them. They just exist because you can’t have a bunch of fourteen-year-olds living alone. Now, not every side character can have their own storyline, it’s impossible and not every story has to include a parent (most don’t) character. However, if it’s so obvious no coherent thought has been put towards the parents’ reactions and actions to make it even a little bit realistic, it comes off as lazy writing. If their whole purpose is to be a parent to the main character(s) in the story, then have them at least be good at that.
An example: the entire “Stranger Things” parent group, especially in the earlier seasons (like what were they doing the entire time their children were fighting Demogorgons and evil scientists, dinner?, oh wait, one was flirting with a half younger guy while being married).
5. The character parent(s) is one of the most underused character tropes of all time. They are characters in their own right who just happen to be parents. They have their own aims, storyline, character arcs – they are treated as characters rather than only as parents. They are not evil parents as they don’t commit mass murder on the side, and their worldview is not polar opposite of their child’s. Their character and conflicts with the main character aren’t built upon the fact that they are evil. They may be a grey character, or just not as soft-hearted as their child but they still fight on the good side. The relationship with their child can vary from dislike and no communication to being best pals and very close. This type includes parent(s) that we don’t see that often in a series but nevertheless they are their own recurring characters (they may be side characters, but they are not absent). These sorts of parents also seem to die more often than not, but at least their character got depth and actual development (hopefully).
An example: Tamas and Taniel from the “Powder Mage” series (12/10 series, no notes, lies I have many, would have liked more scenes with them bonding or just talking, but what we had was so satisfying).
6. The adoptive parent(s) of the group are someone(s) who are usually older, more experienced and are in on it. The younger ones look up to them and look for them for guidance and safety, but they are not actually adoptive parent(s). The situation has forced them to take on the guardian role. Not every older character who interacts and doesn’t necessarily want to kill the main character is an adoptive parent of the group. The person who gives advice once because the main character appeared on their doorstep and shows up in the final battle isn’t who I would call this sort of adoptive parent. The adoptive parent of the group cares for the well-being of the younger ones and is always there for them or at least wants to be. They are not mentors because most of the time they aren’t more powerful than the main character, but they still do everything in their power to help them and shield them from danger. It would deeply hurt them if one of the main characters died and not only because the world would lose the only power it has to stand up to the evil. The adoptive parents of the group actually care about the person wielding the power, not the power itself. They are not stepparents; they are parents who stepped up and rose to the occasion. These sorts of adoptive parents don’t die that often (at least at the beginning) because they assume the role while being more and more involved. We usually don’t see what happens after the story ends, but if they survived, I imagine they would have a good relationship with the younger ones. They don’t have to jump in front of the danger for them anymore, but they absolutely would.
An example: Steve Harrington, Jim Hopper and Joyce Byers seem to be the adoptive parents of the group for the younger kids (“always the babysitter”).
The real adoptive parent(s), who have legally (or not) adopted the main character, can fall into every category (Luke Skywalker has dead adoptive parents, Rapunzel from “Tangled” has evil adoptive parent who only cares about her hair etc).
These are just the most typical parents/mentors I have encountered, obviously there are parents that are a mix of these, and some do not fit in any of these etc. Also, this observation is based on the stories where the child is an active character and not a baby in which case rather the parent is the main character.
I will never understand why the writers choose to always kill off the parents/mentors. It’s like an unwritten rule. I get it fulfils a purpose of motivation, but most of the time it’s predictable and cheap. The relationship growth or the regression (imagine the angst) between the parent and the child, when possible, would be much better than another dead parent or mentor.
That being said I appreciate books and shows that actually put an effort in developing the relationships and if the parent dies it feels justified and not just a plot device. Some book series I have read where the parent-child dynamic actually evolves: “Vampire Academy”, “Vorkosigan Saga” and “Powder Mage” series. Not to mention giants like “The Lord of the Rings” and the “Game of Thrones”. Of course, there are many more (you can recommend them), but these are just the ones that popped into my mind while writing this.
Give me more parent-child dynamics!
