It’s Tough Being a Video Game Dad
It’s Tough Being a Video Game Dad
In honor of Father’s Day, be glad your family dynamic is happier than it was for these 10 game dads.
Happy Father’s Day, video game nerds. Whether you are a father yourself, passing along your love for the medium to the next generation, or simply have fond memories of playing games with your dad when you were a kid, fathers have always been a part of video games. And in the games, too!
Family relationships can be tough sometimes, but it seems like fathers really have it rough in video games. In honor of this esteemed holiday, we’d like to offer tribute to some video game dads who do their best... despite everything.
Kratos
God of War
When we first met Kratos, he was really, really angry about fatherhood—namely, that the eponymous god of war, Ares, caused the death of Kratos’ wife and kid... by tricking Kratos into killing them! Who wouldn’t be mad? The more recent God of War games have followed Kratos later in life, after he worked out his familial rage by eviscerating entire pantheons, settled down, and started a new family. These days, Kratos is exploring more constructive ways to channel his feelings in order to be a positive example to his son, Atreus, teaching him that tearing the entire reigning deities of multiple religions apart with your bare hands is not always the most effective way to work through the bad times.
Dr. Light
Mega Man
All Thomas Light wanted to do was create robots to help humanity. It’s not his fault that his business partner, Albert Wily, decided that a better way to use those robots would be to subjugate humanity. So Dr. Light assigned his favorite robot, his ersatz son Rock, to spend the rest of his existence battling Wily’s increasingly ludicrous schemes until he was seemingly destroyed by Wily’s ultimate invention, Zero. Then, Light set about creating a second robot son, X, with whom he invested a sense of morality and purpose... which inspired X to eventually sacrifice himself to protect humanity, while a copy of X declared himself the de facto ruler of Earth. Probably not the legacy any father wants for their kids! But you certainly can’t accuse Light of being an absentee parent—he went so far as to create a holographic duplicate of himself to guide and protect X through his many adventures.
Laguna Loire
Final Fantasy VIII
On the other hand, Squall Leonheart’s father Laguna is the very definition of an absentee parent. He let his kid languish in an orphanage and be recruited as a memory-wiped teenage soldier, while Laguna disappeared into a hidden, Wakanda-like futuristic utopia to become its president. Really, the only admirable thing about Laguna is that he has a totally rippin’ battle theme when Squall experiences those inexplicable visions of his father’s exploits as a younger man. Interestingly, Squall doesn’t realize that Laguna is his father while witnessing those flashbacks, yet he still finds Laguna’s behavior and personality to be heart-stoppingly cringe: true proof of their blood bond.
Christopher Belmont
Castlevania (Game Boy)
After grinding his way through perhaps the most difficult Castlevania of all time (Castlevania: The Adventure for Game Boy), Christopher Belmont settled down into a comfortable family-focused retirement and had a son named Soleil. But wouldn’t you know it, before Soleil had truly mastered the vampire-hunting arts, Count Dracula corrupted his spirit and attempted to use him as a cat’s paw in order to restore his own castle and return from the grave. Christopher was forced to fight his own teenage son and shatter Dracula’s control. But you know, Christopher was just skilled enough to pull it off, saving both his son’s soul and all of mankind from Dracula. He didn’t even ground Soleil until his 25th birthday for falling under the vampire’s dark spell. Now that’s a great dad.
Hugh Williams
Pragmata
Hugh finds himself unwittingly thrust into the role of father and protector when he meets Diana, a robot with the body and mind of a young girl, during his investigation of the Cradle lunar facility. Perhaps because he himself grew up without knowing his own parents, Hugh immediately takes Diana under her wing and becomes a sort of surrogate father to her. It probably helps that, as an experimental robot, Diana doubles as both an adopted child and a powerful weapon and hacking tool against the deadly entities that have taken control of the moon base. But it’s clearly not just a transactional connection; in the end, Hugh makes a tremendous sacrifice while ensuring that Diana enjoys the happy ending she always wanted.
Joel Miller
The Last of Us
Joel has a lot to work through. Losing his daughter to the apocalyptic pandemic that destroyed American society did a real number on him, and when he reluctantly takes responsibility for the safety and well-being of a one-of-a-kind young woman named Ellie, he maybe overcompensates a bit. He cares for her, but he can be a little overbearing! Assuming you read “overbearing” to mean “goes on blood-soaked murder rampages to keep her safe.” It’s a dog-eat-dog (or maybe mushroom-eat-dog) world out there, Joel, but that kind of relentless bad energy is gonna come back to haunt you someday.
Big Boss
Metal Gear
Technically, Big Boss (aka Naked Snake, aka Vic Boss) is not a father, due to a whole lot of injuries and radiation exposure that make it impossible for him to have kids. But he’s kind of like a father to his clone “sons,” the Snake trio (Solid, Liquid, and Solidus). And to his many soldiers, including war orphans like Gray Fox. The lengths he will go to for his “family”! Forming an independent nation in order to take down the earth’s ruling political hegemony, hijacking cutting-edge nuclear deployment tech, even gaslighting a surgeon who nearly died trying save his life into thinking that he was the real Big Boss. You can blame it on the Cold War. Those “duck and cover” school drills really did a number on an entire generation, huh?
Bowser
Super Mario
Bowser’s not a nice guy. Remember the time he used his dark Koopa magic to transform the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom into bricks and horsehair plants? And then Mario unwittingly broke those bricks hoping to score some pocket change for an extra life? That’s pretty awful behavior, Bowser. But he’s trying to be a good dad, at least. He wants his son, Bowser Jr., to grow up with a mother figure who can nurture him. And, look, it’s not great that Bowser’s solution is just to kidnap teenage princesses and force them into marriage. But at least he’s trying. And Bowser Jr. gets it. He clearly loves his dad—enough that when Mario melts the flesh from Bowser’s very bones in the fiery magma of Castle Koopa, his son masters necromancy sufficiently to bring Bowser back to... well, not quite life. But unlife, at least. That’s what family is all about.
Kazuma Kiryu
Yakuza
As a tough and stylish warrior of the Japanese criminal underground, Kazuma Kiryu doesn’t have a lot of opportunities to settle down to become a parent. There’s always some dishonorable knucklehead out there aiming to besmirch the good name of the Yakuza, or else some dangerous killer out there to satisfy the generational blood feud after Kiryu curbstomped their parents’ or grandparents’ criminal ambitions. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care! Kiryu has a soft spot for the innocent, and his paternal protection of organizations like the Morning Glory Orphanage reveal the tender heart beating beneath all those cool dragon tattoos.
Pac-Man
Pac-Man
Actually, Pac-Man has it pretty good compared to these other dads. He wanders around eating whatever he likes—dots, fruit, Galaxian flagships—and as long as he doesn’t let the ghosts catch him, his diet-busting antics have no boundaries. Which is why there’s no excuse for Pac-Man being such a delinquent father, allowing his son to experience far more harrowing experiences than he ever encountered. As an infant! Have you ever played Baby Pac-Man? One half barebones maze chase, one half middling pinball table... that’s no way to let a young child live. Do better, Pac-Man.