They always say it takes a village to raise a child. Various members of the community all come together offering certain aspects that one parent could not teach alone. These lessons eventually mold and develop children into functional members of society. These lessons of life are then passed from one individual to the next and are how many societies keep a sense of individuality or pass information onto the next generation.
This is a great method for teaching the next generation but no one ever said all of these father figures had to be people from your immediate surroundings. In fact, there are several anime and video game father figures that taught us lessons just as important as individuals in our daily lives. Not enough credit is given to these people and today I want to pay them the respects they deserve.
Joseph Joestar
Throughout each series, the Joestars went through hell. Each generation faced a threat in some shape or form with Dio probably being the worst. But, despite the dangers and risks associated with each adventure, Joseph Joestar not only faced them head-on but was also a guiding star and point of reference for many characters throughout the series. He had great connections, made terrible jokes and always gave his all despite not being one of the strongest characters in Stardust Crusaders. In fact, his stand Hermit Purple was really nothing more than some glorified weeds lol. Nevertheless, he charged headfirst into danger to save his family. Definitely a manly man.
Maes Hughes
I think we can all agree that a small piece of us died when Maes Hughes met his untimely end. The guy literally carried around pictures of his family and showed them to everyone he met. It didn’t matter if he knew you or the two of you were just introduced, you were going to get a face full of family pictures and you had better enjoy it. He was always cheerful and made sure to make the best of each day to the point that it actually became annoying. Slacking off on the job to cheer up friends and once again promote his love for his family was no different from breathing for this father. We didn’t deserve Maes Hughes and his character still resonates with cosplayers today.
Minato Namikaze
Not only was this man a legendary father, but he was also one of the strongest shinobi in the entire series. He valiantly protected his family and village until he met his unfortunate demise. Then he was revived and once again gave his all to protect his son. Sure you can bring up the fact that he sealed half of a giant demon fox inside his son but he did it for a good reason. More importantly, it all worked out in the end and actually allowed his son to become one of the strongest shinobi in the hidden leaf village. Minato Namikaze was definitely the definition of a stand-up father. A shining example of the lengths we should all go through to take care of our children.
Jecht
Ok I know you’re thinking what the hell on this one but just hear me out. Jecht was a complete asshole to Tidus but when things really mattered he always stepped up and came through. This should be obvious by the fact that he gave his life to bring about the calm. Also, Tidus still wears his father’s symbol around his neck. I believe this means he knows that deep down inside his father would be there for him. Sure he may have said some horrible things and wasn’t really there but saving the world requires such sacrifices.
Vegeta
All I really have to do is compare him to Goku and you will instantly agree that Vegeta is a great father. But seriously, Vegeta was a great father to trunks and deeply cares for Bulma and Bulla. We all know Gohan caught the short end of the parenting stick and had Piccolo not been around, Gohan would have been screwed. Vegeta, on the other hand, had an extreme emotional reaction to both news of Trunks being killed and Bulma being hit by Beerus. He may get constantly screwed over by the DBZ writers but they always get the parenting part right.
Tatsuo Kusakabe
This man is an OG. Hes been the shining example of a great father since 1993. For some reason, he is always forgotten when people rattle off a list of great anime fathers. He’s more like a grandfather at this point lol. Either way, he raised and provided for 2 girls on his own. To offer him even greater praise, he did all of this while having to bear the burden of knowing his wife was far away in a hospital. This was certainly not an easy feat as I don’t know if I would have been able to hold it together.
All Might
Every time someone mentions All Mights name you automatically picture a damn her perfect human being insurmountable by any other character. He was not only the strongest hero in the series but also possibly the hero with the most heart. He took young Midoriya under his wing and gave him a quirk. All Might did this despite knowing there were other great candidates that could receive one for all. Aside from training Midoriya, he also gave him some amazing advice on simply how to conduct himself and be a man. He rescued Midoriya from a dark place and has certainly earned himself a spot on the 8 Best Father figures list despite not being Midoriyas actual father.
General Iroh
Taking the number 1 spot we have General Iroh, aka the dragon of the west. Unfortunately, Iroh lost his son in the war and had since experienced a void that needed to be filled. His redemption came in the form of Prince Zuko and his quest to capture the avatar. Zuko was an emotional wreck and did not know anything other than hatred. Without Iroh I am not sure where he would have ended up. In the end, he was extremely thankful to Iroh for helping him turn his life around. Aside from coaching Zuko, Iroh simply had some of the greatest quotes and philosophies that any series has ever demonstrated and many of them can be applied to everyday life. We could all learn a thing or two from General Iroh as I’m sure it would make us better human beings.
Many of the individuals on this list have proved themselves many times over and definitely go down in history as legendary father figures. I look forward to any newcomers looking to join the list in 2020 as you can never have enough father figures to look up to. I hope you enjoyed this list and if you feel some others should have made the list, feel free to leave a comment below. For more awesome cosplay news, feel free to click Here. If podcasts are more your thing, definitely give mine a listen as it can be found HERE! That’s going to be everything for today, thanks so much for checking out my blog and until next time, stay BOUNDLESS!!!
