The third Sunday of June marks the day families come together to celebrate Father’s Day. A day dedicated to honoring paternal bonds and the influence fathers have in society. But just as there are great dads in literature, it is also safe to say that there are some terrible, terrible, dads. So bad in fact that they gave the characters in these stories a whole lot of trauma and daddy issues. Here is a list (in no particular order) of characters that definitely do not celebrate Father’s Day.
Warning: spoilers ahead.
1. Oedipus from Oedipus the King
While we may more quickly relate Oedipus to mommy issues (if you allow me the euphemism), he had some serious daddy issues too. I mean, his father, King Laius, upon learning about the prophecy, sent a servant to kill his son instead of, I don’t know, acting like a decent person? Then, unaware of his lineage, Oedipus accidentally fulfilled the prophecy by killing him and marrying his mother.
I know the thing about prophecies is that they’re kind of unavoidable and no matter what you do they will come true, but I still think it could’ve gone down differently is King Laius wasn’t a terrible person.
2. Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia from King lear
It takes a special kind of father to demand your daughters to love only you, and another one to try to set your daughters against one another on your deathbed. King Lear was both, so Goneril’s, Regan’s, and Cordelia’s relationship with him was dysfunctional at best and extremely toxic at worst. Perhaps they would celebrate Father’s Day, but it would probably be because he demanded they did and then he would go on to say who his favorite daughter was depending on who gave him the biggest gift, showed more devotion to him, or something else crazy like that.
3. Maltida from matilda
Harry Wormwood is one of those characters that we equally hate as children and adults. Matilda was constantly mistreated by him, and even though she was a very smart child and often got back at Harry for whatever mean thing he did or said to her, one can only imagine the kinds of issues that sort of treatment can give to a child. But thank God (that being Miss Honey, obviously) Matilda was able to get out of that family and can spend her days reading books and practicing her telekinetic powers instead of celebrating her terrible dad.
4. Dolores haze from Lolita
I previously said that this list had no particular order, but if it was organized depending on how bad the fathers were, Humbert Humbert would be number one for being hand-down the WORST father in literature. I hope I don’t have to explain why he is the worst. The things that Dolores had to go through during her young and short life are vile, disgusting, and unimaginable.
Dolores Haze will not be celebrating.
5. jack and Danny torrance from the shining
These daddy issues are generational. Mark Torrance was an alcoholic and abusive father, and even though he is not alive he is very present in Jack’s mind, who was very afraid of repeating his father’s mistakes. The love-hate relationship Jack had with his father and the issues he had with him eventually led him to become the next monster in the family and traumatizing poor Danny. So, yeah, they’re also skipping this holiday.
6. Linton heathcliff from wuthering heights
Not only was he abused by Heathcliff, but he is also basically just used by him as a tool in Heathcliff’s revenge plot. And he also lost his mother at the young age of thirteen, so bonus points for the mommy issues too. I hope he never celebrated.
7. celia from the night circus
Prospero never showed any real interest in his daughter Celia, that is of course until she proved to be useful to him. But he showed that interest by binding her into a magical competition that could end in her death just to one-up his former teacher, Alexander. So Celia grew up in a loveless household, abused in the name of developing her magical abilities, and forced into a terrible game for her father’s gain. She better had stayed away from this holiday in her magical circus.
8. theo from the goldfinch
This kid just went through so much. Losing his mother in a terrorist attack and then having to return to his deadbeat dad who neglects him, beats him, and tries to take his money so he can pay off his debt? Come on now. If he chooses to celebrate, it better be because of his much better father figure, Hobie, and not because of his biological dad.
9. various from game of thrones
Game of Thrones is so full of bad fathers that it is kind of hard to pick just one or two characters with severe daddy issues. Between Craster, Stannis, Randyll, Walder, Tywin, etcetera, etcetera, a whole bunch of kids were traumatized or straight-up murdered. The Seven Kingdoms is not a great place to look for father figures.
10. every Young adult hero (and villain) ever
Young Adult fathers are notoriously bad. Or dead. Yes, there are a lot of great dads too, but generally, characters in Young Adult have daddy issues in one shape or form. Jace Herondale from the Shadowhunters series, Jude Duarte (and her siblings) from The Cruel Prince, Warner from the Shatter Me series, Thomas Cresswell from the Stalking Jack the Ripper series, Kate Hawker from This Savage Song, Wylan Van Eck from Six of Crows, Khalid from The Wrath and the Dawn…just to name a few.
Bad dads. All of them.
They will not be celebrating.
What other characters with daddy issues can you think of?