Top 10 Worst Parents in Anime

“Pokemon” (1997- )
Pretty much 90% of the parents in the Pokemon Universe could fit in this list. I mean, who just lets their kid run off into the wild without supervision? Delia, Mother of series hero, Ash Ketchum, is quite content with staying on the home front while her ten-year old son travels the world. She makes sporadic appearances throughout the series to check in on her son. But lady, why aren’t you with him? Ash repeatedly gets into danger involving wild animals and a borderline terrorist organization. Are you not concerned in the slightest? So long as Ash is changing his underwear everyday, Delia probably doesn’t mind at all.

“Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam” (1985-86)
Father of series protagonist, Kamille Bidan, Franklin is the main designer of the Gundam Mark II. Working for the Titans branch of the Federation, Franklin is a man obsessed with his own work. That leaves little time for family. It does, however, leave time for a mistress, curiously named Margarita. When Kamille rebels against the Titans and steals the Gundam Mark II for the Anti-Earth Union Group, Franklin ends up in their care as well. As Franklin makes an attempt to return to his employers, Kamille pursues him. This results in a brief skirmish between father and son that ends badly for daddy dearest.

“Hunter X Hunter” (2011-14)
Ging Freecss is easily one of the most bad ass Hunters in the world. He also happens to be filthy rich and in-charge of his own country. Such fame comes at a cost. He is the father of main character, Gon, and has been absent for much of his young life. We learn that Ging is pretty serious about keeping his distance from his son. Instead Ging opts to put his newfound wealth towards archeology and preservation. He just doesn’t see himself as father material. And given how Ging laughs off Gon’s wishes to find him, who are we to argue?

“Gurren Lagann” (2007)
This one is a father and tyrant who’s so far gone it’s a little scary. As a renowned ruler and warrior, Lordgenome was worn down from constant, and in his mind futile, battles with the Anti Spirals. Confining his people underground, he slowly descended into insanity. During his tenure as spiral king, Genome had a number of children, including the lovable Nia. However, upon learning these same children could potentially be envoys of the Anti-Spiral, Lordgenome had them executed. He’s lived a long time and has continued this same trend as time went on. Have kids, kill kids, repeat…that’s pretty twisted if you ask us.

“JoJo's Bizzare Adventure Franchise” (2012- )
Dario is the father of Joestar family arch nemesis, Dio. Looking back at this guys history, it’s no wonder Dio turned out so evil. Dario was an alcoholic whose hobbies included regularly beating his son and thievery. He also has no qualms about stealing from the dead, something that the gentleman, George Joestar mistakes as a heroic act. Though George, tries to steer Dario down a better path, Dario continues his wicked ways. When his wife dies from being overworked, Dario has Dio sell his dead mothers clothes for booze. So, what do you think of your papi Dio?

“Steins;Gate” (2011)
There’s nothing worse than having a parent who can’t stand being upstaged by his own child. Enter Shouichi Makise. He should have been proud of the fact that his amazing daughter, Kirisu, cracked the theory of time travel. Instead, Shouichi kills her in order to steal her research. Taking the name Nakabachi, Shouichi escapes with Kirisu’s theories and begins his own time traveling projects. This all leads to one disaster after another and eventually World War III. Good job, Nakabachi real proud of you.

“Kill la Kill” (2013-14)
Very few have a commanding presence like Miss Ragyo Kiryuin. She dresses like a Queen, walks like a God, and cares little for anything other than power. But even so, she still makes time for her children…the ones she decides to keep around anyway. That’s said, it’s not always for the best. After discovering the life fibers, she plans to use them to take over the world. The best way of doing so in her mind was by using her own kiddies as test subjects to test their power. Oh and one last thing, Ragyo – that is NOT how you bathe your child!

“Neon Genesis Evangelion” (1995-96)
As the leader of NERV, Gendo is a very busy man. He’s overseeing operations against the Angels, Taking secret meetings with the SEELE Illuminati, and he’s plotting the the fate of the world for his own selfish reasons. It’s no wonder Gendo doesn’t make time for his son, Shinji, unless absolutely necessary. Gendo is prone to treating Shinji as a tool rather than his son. No time to take him to the park? Maybe throw some ball? No? Ok, get in the robot Shinji.

“Code Geass” (2006-08)
As the main antagonist of Code Geass, the Emperor of Britannia was always shown as a powerful, towering figure. With a single word he could inspire troops and decimate entire countries. Loving his plethora of children…not quite as good at that. The blind eye and complete disregard Charles shows toward his offspring is as cold a feeling as it gets. Making things worse is his demented endgame. To bring about the Ragnarok Connection, he pushed his children away, even though he was intending to remake the world for them. Talk about a twisted kind of love. Can’t say we blame Lelouch for doing him in.

Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honorable, or rather dishonorable mentions.

King of Midland
“Berserk” (1997-98)

Dragon
“One Piece” (1999- )

Genma Saotome
“Ranma ½” (1989)

Tsukasa's Father
“.hack//Sign” (2003)

Daisuke Kousaka
“My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute” (2010)

Spirit Albarn
“Soul Eater” (2008-09)

“Fullmetal Alchemist Franchise” (2003-10)
So of all the parents we’ve seen, what places Shou Tucker above them all? He seemed like such a nice guy when the Elric brothers first met him. Tucker may have had a deceased wife but he still had a cute little daughter and her dog. Well the image of peace is shattered with one horrifying discovery. In order to keep Alchemic License, Tucker merged both his wife and daughter with animals to create talking Chimeras. And he’s proud of his work. The smack down he got from Edward was well deserved. Shou Tucker is not just a terrible parent, but a terrible human being as well.

Do you agree with our list? Which Anime parent do you think deserves to be locked away for bad behavior? For more character focused Top 10’s published daily, be sure to subscribe to Watchmojo.com.