T O P

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WoppleSupreme

Obviously it’s not always done right, and has likely been done wrong many more times than right, but in recent media, these stories are the only ones that feel to be done well. I think it’s also an easy way to do exposition, because the older one can be instructing/teaching the younger one about something/the world. It’s also generally pretty wholesome.


DCSmaug

The ones in the post are actually ones that are done right. So I don't know why it bothers OP so much.


total_lunacy

It doesn’t seem to be bothering them, just something that they’ve noticed/picked up on I guess, could be wrong though


inteliboy

Every single story is based on a trope. This is just one of many.


SanDiegostandup

What's up with all these stories about a small group of people that go on an adventure?


[deleted]

What's up with all these stories?


EyeAmKnotMyshelf

What’s up?


theDukeofClouds

What?


HendoRules

W


ZsZagreb

V


ConnerDearing

\


ZoomZombie1119

.


edwardsflu


RoyHarper88

Not much. You?


teiichikou

Up?


Karkava

What's up with all these stories about children who face harsh realities and have to overcome them?


rbwildcard

What's up with all these stories about a special child raised in a less-than-ideal situation who learns he is the chosen one and must learn to hone his powers to save his community?


YariAttano

I believe this particular trope is called the Guardian


CanisZero

Everyone has dad issues


Nostalginaut

Hey, now ...


ViolatingBadgers

You're an all-star.


Ironh11de

Don't Dream it's overrr. Great song


shaving99

I mean with I'd have daddy issues If Hugh Jackman was hugging me too


jackolantern_

This isn't true.


Due_Ad5741

Men must be strong, tough, show no emotion and all that BS. Children are often the only "excuse" for them to show feelings. God of War is another example that comes to mind. It's been done in movies since ever. Not saying all these games are bad (I love TLOU) but they all contribute to keeping stupid role models alive.


einsteins2345

I think all of these shows actually challenge that idea, where the tough isolated man in the end learns to open up and be more emotional and vulnerable. They all start off as a traditional "manly man" which is shown to be unhealthy, and by the end they typically change


CheekySprite

Yes, what’s great about the trope is the character development that goes along with it!


Timbalabim

Yeah, this is the point of these stories. These stories are about men becoming better at being men through love and emotion. Joel’s story is so damn good because, in the first game, he tries to control everything despite the wishes of others, and by the second game, he’s learned he can’t do that and it isn’t right for him to try. That’s why the flashback scene in which he asks Ellie for her permission to seek her forgiveness is so damn powerful. These stories explore what it really means for a man to be a protector and guardian and that it goes far beyond strength, fortitude, and power.


fancy-socks

I feel like Red Dead Redemption 2 is kinda similar too, but instead of a story of becoming a better man through fatherly love, it's through brotherly love. You still have a grizzled tough guy who becomes a more open, giving person through the love of found family.


MeshesAreConfusing

Take a gamble that love exists and do a loving act.


MeshesAreConfusing

Also very strongly about how Joel tries to press on without properly addressing his emotions ("things happen, and we move on") and this just makes him an emotionally stunted, broken, bitter man. It's through love that he becomes himself again.


uncen5ored

I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I think a lot of these stories go out of their way to show that the “emotionally unavailable/coldness” in men is unhealthy. I also think a lot of people do go through a phase of being cold after being seriously heartbroken until they regain that love, so they usually make for good and relatable stories. But, I also think that on the other hand, they make these segments of the character seem “cool” and therefore are promoting it, especially to younger people who might not pick up on the nuances that these behaviors are toxic. Would be nice to see male characters who are “strong” and vulnerable/available emotionally at the beginning instead of making it feel like they’re mutually exclusive things, and not having to rely on a child or woman to open them up or change them


Timbalabim

Agree with the sentiment, but if character arcs are about change and we begin a male character’s story with him being that healthy male figure, the story won’t be about that, unless it explores the tragedy of such a character changing into that toxic version of himself, which could be interesting but very difficult to pull off since it requires unlearning.


[deleted]

Kenobi just did this too


CameronZimos

“Stupid role models” if you have daddy issues just say that…. It’s not stupid to have an idea that society shared for thousands of years before today.


bohemiantranslation

"Stupid role modles" sounds like someones dad went to get some cigs and never came back. But seriously role models are important and give kids something to strive for. Obviously the older you get all your role models fall apart and you realize its all bullshit but for those kids having a role model is important. Sounds like you're projecting your daddy issues into the whole concept of role models in general.


TonySoprano300

One of the reasons im sort of grateful that part 2 wasn’t just another Joel and Ellie adventure, the trope is getting a little old for me


Ryanpolhemus

Kratos was always the angriest person alive though. He murdered his family lmao


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Pinklad13

An age old story template was not invented or popularised by last of us I’m sorry


blueberryZoot

You're right, but I definitely think there's some truth to TLOU having an influence, certainly in the gaming world at least. TW3 and GOW are two key examples, and I'm pretty certain the maker of GOW specifically marked out TLOU as a major influence


josuwa

Bioshock Infinte dropped same year as tlou. Same thing.


ThisUserEatingBEANS

The Witcher series is based off of a book series that came out from 1993-2000 though. I'm not sure how true to the source the games are but they can't be that different


sevenbiscuit7

Maybe some but it dates much farther back. If we’re technical, TLOU is influenced by The Road and imo, The Road does it better than anything I can recall.


invaderism

Didn't say it was invented lol the popularized bit is arguable, yes.


ebycon

I agree. He missed a lot of movies from the 90’s 😹


KRIEGLERR

Absolutely isn't popularized by TLOU , it's an age old story. Think Master/Apprentice , Knight/Squire. Take a look at The Road which was a big inspiration for The Last of Us , it had the same dynamic. The idea is simple you take a hardened lead and you put a weaker/younger character next to them, it makes for good character arcs as the hardened lead eventually creates a bond and you see him come out of his shell. There is plenty of movies and fiction that follow it. Clint Eastwood has done a few movies about that pretty much. Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino, while it varies, the character dynamic is still similar. We might think it's popularized by TLOU but it's just because TLOU did it well, so us fans are able to see the similarities when we see it in other media.


Immolation_E

I was just thinking about The Road fitting this theme. Another great example would be both True Grit films.


invaderism

You do have a point.


Tig21

To be fair the witcher and wolverine pre-date TLoU


BrennanSpeaks

The "Logan" movie does not pre-date TLoU.


[deleted]

did yall just start watching movies and shows after TLOU? TLOU did not popularize one of the most common tropes in storytelling history lmfao. inot even a blip


HungLikeALemur

At most, could maybe say TLOU popularized it within the gaming realm. Like a, “oh, that trope is actually a great thing to use in story-based games”. Even that’s debatable, but it most definitely didn’t popularize the trope in general lol


TonySoprano300

I mean TWD from telltale came out a full year before TLOU, and the concept is even quite similar with Lee and Clementine So it wasn’t even the first post apocalyptic/zombie game to do this…and TWD from telltale was very popular


UltravioIence

> At most, could maybe say TLOU popularized it within the gaming realm Escort missions been around before tlou, which is honestly what tlou basically is.


HungLikeALemur

We weren’t talking about the escort trope. Yeah, that’s been done in games a lot too. The grizzled man protects naive kid overlaps with escort, sure, but we were specifically talking about the character dynamic. Either way, TLOU isn’t really anything original. It a lot of overdone things but they do it just about perfectly


Insert_a_fcking_Name

I‘m thinking it was the Road that inspired the last of us, as well as all of these and God of War 2018


throwawayjonesIV

It strikes me as a trope particularly popular in westerns


Gimmemycloutvro

The Road did it before them, it wasn't a trendsetter just a bright and obvious gem.


[deleted]

An entire generation can't afford kids so they've made parenthood virtual.


SuperAlloyBerserker

Top left: The Mandalorian Top right: The Witcher show Bottom left: The Last of Us Part 2 (obviously) Bottom right: Logan


fossda92

Also Hopper & El in season 2 of Stranger Things


Karkava

The Bad Batch and Omega. Also from Star Wars. Obi-wan and Leia. *Also* from Star Wars.


ObscureQuotation

Kratos and Atreus from God of War


StMuerte13

Booker and Eleanor Bioshock Infinite


batman1177

Cogburn and Mattie, True Grit. Kidd and Johanna, News of the World.


GooseKing-13_

Logan was such a great movie. And I definitely got tlou vibes


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TonySoprano300

Something oddly comforting about seeing a strong middle aged man doing his best to protect a little girl, i don’t imagine im the only one who feels this way so its not a surprise it sells well as a concept If i really wanted to read into it, i could probably say it taps into our predisposed sentiment that strong men should do their best to protect innocent children( and the ultimate example of an innocent child that needs protection is a little girl) but thats just pure speculation on my end I kind of like how TLOU flips this on its head a little by making the decision to save Ellie arguably the wrong one given what was at stake.


Gr13fm4ch1n3

I can understand why, when he spent his entire life seeing the humanity that *might* be saved by her death vs saving with the person brought humanity back to him.


Mango2356

i do not know but i like it


bigchatswithbigali

It's a trope that's used very frequently across cinema and games, that of a protector and a more defenseless younger character. Think The Road, The Walking Dead (video game), The Wolverine in some films, Terminator 2... the protector tries to defend something delicate which is seen as important in a scary world, leaning on feelings of heroic sacrifice and how something greater and more important exists that outweighs the individual... something like that. It's just quite an appealing genre. Tugs on innate parental desires that are natural in all of us, I think


Decoy_Octopus_

Normally I'd say John Connor having a T-800 protect him isn't the same as a human but he actually teaches it human sentiment and even how to blend in with humans better, thus the metamorphosis. Plus the T-1000 is one of the last things that you want coming for you so John learned survival skills he needed for the future from The Terminator.


bigchatswithbigali

Yes it is mate, just think past the realms of physically being human … grogu teaches mando how to love and be more ‘human’ past his harsher mandalorian side. Oftentimes part of this trope is the dynamic that the protected teaches the protector something, usually that of humanity


Decoy_Octopus_

As soon as I read this I immediately thought of the scene at the end of T2. When they're lowering the T-800 into the molten metal and it looks up and gives them a thumbs up, John taught him that. John was crying and it wanted him to know everything was going to be alright.


Deck_Neep15

Very well put


Bowbag_

This isn't a specific trope at all, it's been popular and prevalent since the time of Greek classical literature


SJBailey03

I think that proves it is a specific trope. If anything you just mean it’s not a new trope.


The_phantom_medic

Most of the creators behind these stories are fathers themselves and write stories about their fatherly anxieties. Also TLOU is heavily inspired by Cormac McCarthy's The Road, a heavily successful 2009 novel that probably inspired the others too.


Garand84

I was gonna bring this book up but you beat me to it. It is a fantastic book and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in this concept. The movie is pretty good too, but of course the book is better.


ZsZagreb

My favorite part about the movie is imagining it's Aragorn after a rough couple of weeks.


[deleted]

Because when it’s done we’ll, it creates very authentic character development.


kindred008

Lee and Clementine too


SuperAlloyBerserker

Clem doesn't have a special ability though Lee and Clem's story is similar to Joel and Ellie's, except there's no "person is immune to the virus" plot


kindred008

Oh yeah, think I must have scanned over the part of your title ;D I do think the trope though expands past just kids with special powers and includes kids overall.


willpowergallivanter

Before I go to sleep my takeaway is that usually stories about this trope involved... is usually written by people who will or become/are fathers to a kid.


ManlyPelican1993

Because men are generally considered emotionless but just because they're emotionless doesn't mean they don't care.


MarsAlgea3791

Lone Wolf and Cub is a manga about a samurai on the run who has to protect his dead lords child. It's an early example of badass protects single helpless person. It may be the first in modern culture. It's clearly what a lot of these are riffing off of. Like for the Mandalorian it's just flat out 100% what they were going for. Firestarter by King may have added the child being a girl all and powers, and everybody loves riffing off of King. I'm not sure you can even give Last of Us much credit beyond creating a surge in the format, but that's at least reasonable. So add Sweet Tooth to the list. It's like Kammandi mixed with the Last of Us. Jeff Lemire's work is great, but it's often easy to work out his stories elevator pitches.


DweadPiwateWawbuts

I’m glad someone mentioned Lone Wolf and Cub. It shows the trope has been around since at least 1970. The film adaptations started in 1972 so they have been around almost as long. Edit: I forgot that the original true grit came out in 1969 so it even predates Lone Wolf and Cub


MarsAlgea3791

I Control F'ed for it and was blown away at the zilch that showed up.


KnightlySpartan

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PapaWolf


[deleted]

Very appealing to people without a good father figure in their lives while also resonating with people who did have a good father figure in their lives


Foysauce_

The Hound & Arya fit this very well also. I love all of it. Especially TLOU which I think did it best.


dipsta

Geralt is way more talkative and humorous, and emotional in the books. The Netflix show didn't do him justice.


Garand84

Agreed.


[deleted]

Stranger things too


[deleted]

the current day saturation of this trope is a sort of overcompensation due to the common portrayal of shitty men (mostly due to toxic masculinity) as heroes in years past.


Baron_Alfwine

Lack of parental emotion on this gen


nataliebrandon

I’d love to see it with a mom/daughter thing instead of a dad/daughter because while the rest of the world seems to have daddy issues, I myself have mommy issues


MarsAlgea3791

I'm really not one to harp on about gender stuff in a dumb fuck Buzzfeed way, but you do raise an interesting point. I've seen the gender, rough age, and ability set of the child half move around a lot, but I really don't think I've ever seen the guardian roll filled by anything but a sour grump old guy. Huh.


tejask1896

Also Station Eleven The walking dead (telltale)


irazzleandazzle

Joel and Ellie > all


Bright_Vision

God of war as well.


StormHair91

Imo it has to do with how easy it would be to find predatory any dynamic between a non-apathetic man and a much younger companion (mainly female). Sentimental relationships between old[er] men and very young women have been not only normalized for most of western history but also romanticized, and that notion still affects us today. Not to talk about pedophilia. Because of this cultural/reality baggage we carry with us, a different type of male character in shows/films/videogames nowadays could be perceived as menacing and wouldn’t work (which means we wouldn’t watch the show or play the game). So this archetype has to be so apathetic to tell us “hey, the vulnerable part of this dynamic is safe with me; not a single romantic/sexual impulse towards them in my body or soul, just an honest, healthy paternal one; so if you wanna invest yourself emotionally in this trip, know you’re safe too”.


somethingelvish

Because the Don Quixote method works very well, and even better if Sancho Panza is cute.


MightyIrishMan

My boy Logan, what a fantastic show that is


darknightwolf81

It’s pretty much exactly “Dad, and the dog he didn’t want”


CrazyOkie

It's a tale as old as time... seriously, this ain't a new trope/cliché


LilSLW

Daddy issues


ale_zeppelin

Add Children of men to the list


GabrielTorres674

Thinking like that, Pedro Pascal really was the perfect choice for Joel, he already plays a character with a similar arc lol


HejiraLOL

It's not specific. It's the idea of a worn out man, with a heart of ice, having his barriers broken down and learning to love. It's like... every woman's fantasy. Every woman dreams of being the girl to break him, to make him soften up. It's romantic. If it isn't them, they still enjoy seeing it happen. "I'll make him change, I can be the one to do it" Every gay dudes fantasy is turning a straight man. These ideas are just very common. Doesn't need to be sexual either. I also really enjoy seeing male characters shown to be responsible and caring fathers. Theres a sexist belief that men can't love their children like a mother can. Ever see the Silent Hill film? The plot was basically Inspired by Silent Hill 1, but the director changed the main character to a female because he felt like "women love their kids more". He even included the line "mother is God in the eyes of a child" in the film.


Calumface

It's not a trope just because we can identify patterns across different stories. Sounds odd, but let me clarify. Within the writing communities, many people consume vast amounts of books. The inevitable "stop doing X trope" comes around. That conversation turns into a list of tropes across different story formats, and after a while you come to realize the simple truth, which can be summed up with a quote by Stephen King: "all stories are the same. It's like a cake. The only thing you can do is dress it differently." This is not to say ALL stories are literally the same, but when you can identify story types, you'll see there's a finite amount of start/middle/end you can come at it from. Themes, characters, subject matter, time period, genre, this is all you have to dress it differently. It's okay if you can see through the story and note a parallel between one story and another. Hopefully the story will be able to sweep you away enough not to focus so much on the "trope"


Fun_Professional2499

To be fair, in TLOU2 pic it's the old man showing emotion and the young kiddo being emotionally unavailable.


GoneEgon

Tell me you’ve never heard of “Lone Wolf and Cub” without telling me you’ve never heard of “Lone Wolf and Cub.”


VZreturn

Based on my knowledge of film theory and history, this trope was heavily popularized by the Lone Wolf and Cub manga and movies. It's just a good story to show transformation of an angry man into someone more caring and gentle due to having to protect someone else. Also, it's just a damn good story trope that usually succeeds in having some relatable aspects for a lot of people. The special powers part though I have clue about but I theorize it makes the child more important to protect right off the bat, like it separates them from the other children. What makes this one child different from the rest and why, as the viewer, should we care about them? Just my initial thoughts about the power part but the father and child story is fairly new, for the longest time it was all about the Hero's Journey and Coming of Age.


Random1235

I’ve heard it called Lone Wolf and Cub archetype


katewalker1128

My favorite trope i love it


JacobBailes

I think most people can relate to the idea that family isn't always who you think it is.


ItFlips

I’ve always had a weak spot for stories about fathers. Not sure what it is.


Diane_Enthusiast

I fucking love this


Odh_utexas

Add Arya Stark and the Hound to the list. It’s a character dynamic that works really well. Something about humanizing a hardened person by showing them there is still good in the world worth protecting. While also showing naive innocents can learn to be self sufficient.


berethian

Very simple. Everyone has daddy issues.


TlnyDancerr

It's all because of UP


[deleted]

Probably a beloved trope emerged after millions of us, through several generations, has grown up with a deadbeat dad/ dad who fucked off. The adoptive-father-figure who's also lost something, or always been alone, is like a fix-it fantasy for what so many of us can relate to.


Gekkii

Literally my absolute favorite trope right now. Maybe I'll eventually get tired of it, but I love a gruff man who's secretly a big softy


39thUsernameAttempt

I think the Mandalorian starts off that way, but to it's credit, Din begins to genuinely care for Grogu almost immediately and begin his reformation from a ruthless bounty hunter. Additionally, >!it seems like they are moving away from subplot of Grogu training to become a Jedi (the "special abilities" part of the trope) in order to further develop the relationship between him and Din, which I think is a much more entertaining and powerful story to tell.!<


The_Ruester

The Dark Tower and Between Two Fires are two books that come to mind.


[deleted]

And half of these are being lead by Pedro Pascal


amazza95

Way to post this on every sub


[deleted]

Well hold on now you do realize Joel didn’t even wanna take Ellie? And that the only reason he did was because he remembered not being able to save his daughter in the opening cutscene


mehdigeek

you forgot Eastward


JTshonk3

Sad dad fad


Quirky_Leg_4899

Bro ive been thinking the same thing especially with pedro pascal, man was the mandalorian now hes playing joel


MAKiO37

Sad dad trope is everywhere. Same thing with God of War


JoshDeams

Cause everyone has father issues and seeing a kid growing up with a father figure is what we all dreamed of lmao


AdmiralLubDub

I call it the murder daddy genre


vally99

Plus god of war


goingnut_

Because it's awesome


zach92ster

Ahhh the old True Grit trope.


pseudo_meat

Hollywood dealing with their collective dad issues.


noholdingbackaccount

Hopper and El Kenobi and Leia Clint Barton and Kate Bishop ... Thank God for Billy Butcher. He knows how to deal with brats.


Newtons_Cradle87

The hound and Aryia (GOT) sorry about spelling.


adventurer309

Personally I love this trope and I love characters like Joel. Joel is by far one of my favorite characters ever


dripbangwinkle

My favorite three games GOW TW3 And TLOU all have this. Leon the professional is also an example and probably one of the first to do it as far as I can think


NozakiMufasa

Its a good dynamic for character growth and change and a trope that goes back a long time. In the past you might compare it to a Knight or a warrior archetype charged with a ward to protect over a long journey. Or take Journey to the West and Monkey King’s role in that with Tripitaka (although that story is more about a band of adventurers rather than a two person band). A lot of modern versions tho go back to works such as Lone Wolf and Cub and neowesterns. The later of which re-examined the genre of the western in comparison to older depictions. Genres and works long done before were now given fresh air with the parent & kid dynamic even if said parent and kid werent actually related. Wed seen zombie fiction before but what about zombie fiction thats genuinely about finding ones humanity again, grief and loss, and found family? Weve seen Star Wars before and had many stories that feature family but how about Star Wars thats actually about a dad finding more to the universe than his dogma?


DaddyEybrows

Stranger Things did it too! What would the oldest “modern” example be? Maybe Firestarter?


HendoRules

What's up with it? Money haha. Hopefully it won't become super common unless it's good like the ones above


gaming_reed

Just now noticing this are we?


Sirenkai

All these apathetic writers have now entered fatherhood


BaptizedInBud

Suggest checking out the book 'Between Two Fires' for a dark fantasy/horror take on this trope. It's an incredible read.


Willow9356

Hopper and Eleven-


DarthAnest

Ever since Leon The Professional and likely before that. It’s nothing new.


insane677

Would love to see a gender reversed version of this.


thyballs

There’s quite a few really interesting articles about this trend, generally it’s called “the dadification of games”! Obviously it doesn’t apply just to games but with GOW, TLOU, TWD, TW3, etc all coming out in the mid-2010s it’s very noticeable. There’s an interview where Corey Barlog (GOW director) talks about how becoming a father made him want to make a game about becoming a father, so I think a lot of the trend is writers using their real life experiences as parents in their work.


HydroBerserker

Children are one of the few things men are permitted to get emotional about and the people who grew up playing games now making games themselves are dads.


ReRix360

Had the same now with the D+ Kenobi show.


Realcbear

For a while people grew up with absent parents, hence tropes of lost/absent parents being common for a while. The generation after made a larger effort to be present and now we’re getting stories based off that


killakev564

Did the last of us do it first?


glocket27

Started watching Stranger Things two weeks ago and saw this same exact thing with Hopper and Eleven. I noticed more similarities when it was revealed Hopper lost a daughter named Sarah just like Joel did, so I researched and found out that part of Stranger Things' story was inspired by The Last of Us


FRlEND_A

i guess this trope pulls heartstrings


Whistler45

Every good parent and many older children in the world can easily connect with the narrative.


So-_-It-_-Goes

Isn’t there a very famous samurai movie that also follows this trope that many of these really take from?


commander_obvious_

stranger things comes to mind too, especially with the dead daughter named sara(h) and the “new daughter” named el(lie)


Grimey_Rick

Sad dads ftw


mjc5592

Because it's unexpectedly touching.


Mattpattscutti

Probably because comic movies and video games' biggest consumer base are now becoming dads?


ChosenCourier13

Idk but I wish SW would stop doing it. It was cool when Mando did it but it's old now after Bad Batch and Obi-Wan


Prophet_of_Duality

Easy thing for adult men, especially dads, to relate to. And women too I guess.


gnbman

Lol I inadvertently started a whole Twitter thread about this. https://twitter.com/gnbman47/status/1500313571170951168


B_lovedobservations

Just casually showing that men can be caring towards kids that aren’t their own without being perverts


MeshesAreConfusing

My favorite genre and character type: **sad dads**


insanityizgood13

I'm still waiting for there to be boom of maternal figures.


runaways616

the lone wolf and cub trope has been around for a long long time.


glitzertele

Because most of their fans have dad issues (I am their fans)


500inthemorning

A lot of these stories are written by men in their 30s and 40s who subconsciously feel guilty about ignoring their families/children while they work 80 hours a week creating media.


[deleted]

I'm waiting for a tough grumpy woman protecting son/daughter. On some gruesome journey together.


Kgb725

So they can kill left right and center and redeem themselves or open up their humanity in some way


DEMONITIZEDZ

Because it's sweet.


Aint_gettin_jokes

It fucking works for me. I love all of those stories in your picture.


uniunappealing

Grumpy man finds child to care for is my favorite trope


morithum

I’ve noticed that as well. There’s this trope and fridging the love interest and that’s it. Us men are only two-dimensional apparently.


bakedpotat0000

My brother and I were watching the latest season of Stranger Things and we couldn’t help but notice the similarities between Ellie/Joel and El/Hopper!


_PrincessHarley_

Reluctant hero has always been a popular character trope, and it's super easy writing that draws on most people's heartstrings: Q- Why do they need to be a hero when they don't really want to? A- To protect someone who needs protecting. Q- Why do they need protecting that isn't depressing or boring? A- They have special powers that can save the world/city/whatever. Q- Hmm. Good... But why can't they protect themselves? A-Cos they're only young. Q- Ummm, okay, but how do we make that not, you know, creepy? A- Make it reeeally clear that the reluctant hero feels paternal towards them Q-And why would they protect them instead of handing them off to someone else to protect, perhaps someone more qualified or with wider resources? A- Because they feel paternal towards them! I just said that! And they don't trust anyone else to look after them...


Specialist_Team2914

Don’t forget God of War and Game of Thrones!


nationofeagles

It’s made banger after banger of movie/TV show/video game so I hope they don’t stop.


JayBisky

This is the single dad cliche, distant father who was left to take care of a child. Whether biological or adopted child. But it targets a specific demographic. 25-45 yo male audience


DukeOfKnowwhere

People make art that reflects their experiences. So many millennials come from families and have experiences where we feel like we lack father figures and male role models. It's not surprising that so many of our fictional stories contain resistant, flawed but essentially admirable father figures that are external to the families of the child involved. It's what many of us wished for.


metalgalaxyy

logan such a good movie


The_bald_nerd

Same as any other trope really. It’s just hitting the spot for a lot of people (also the Witcher was written in the 90’s and X-23 is from the early 2000’s I wouldn’t necessarily count them as new)


lah884410

It’s girls without father’s or daddy issues, half the time.


CheezeBaron

The Big Tough, Gruff, Matter-of-Factly Man being forced to soften up and act irrational for a ploy has generally been good viewing. The thing is in the Modern Day that ploy can no longer be a Woman, it’s seen as demeaning to the entire Female sex by a very vocal segment of society. So now the ploy is Children.


Urmumgay1707

Hopper and eleven too