Family Tropes That You Love

[cherrystark]

Since there was a chain about family tropes that you dislike, I wanted to start one about family tropes that you love.

1. I love stories where an adultier adult meets a young adult (teen, 20s, etc) and decides that they are going to fill the parental role for the younger person and the younger person is 100% okay with their surrogate parent. Ways that I've seen it done that I love: a grumpy old man that never had the opportunity for a family the traditional way meets a late teens or a 20-something young woman who decides they should be best friends. And he's like "okay". The other way I love is when the MC's mom retroactively adopts all of the MC's friends. *Bonus: the mom and one of the friends team up on shenanigans and the friend goes along with it because they want their surrogate mother to be happy.

2. I love stories where the entire family (friends/adopted relatives included) get involved in the adventure. Adventures can be a million times more fun when you can talk about it with your loved ones. (IRL: I love the idea of families having group chats to share the random highlights in their lives. My relationship with my siblings greatly improved with our group chat.)

3. Tie into Number 2. I love it when siblings (and/or cousins) in stories act like a complete unit instead of rivals. (ex. Belcher Kids from Bob's Burgers) Family relationships are important but I'd much rather see siblings spending time to get because they want to instead of forced to by some magical bond like the "bond of brothers" or the "power of sisters". We don't often hear about brothers and sisters acting as each other's friends or protectors, just the weird "overly protective to the point of obsessive" older brother.

[Prometheus]

Those are all great tropes! I really like family dynamics in stories. That second trope is one that I LOVE. A couple good movies/TV shows that I've seen that incorporated that kind of a family dynamic are: Summer Wars and Fullmetal Alchemist. I'm not sure how common that trope is, but it's also one that I plan to put into my story because I love it so much! I think Mob Psycho touches on that trope a teeny bit, too.

[nathanKmcwilliams]

I like the "Dysfunctional family who truly cares for each other." Trope.

Malcolm in the Middle is the perfect example of this. My wife and I make it a tradition to watch the whole series at least once a year.

[R.n.P]

Where the parents do something the child would hate but later the child discovers the reason why their parents acted that way in order to help them

[cherrystark]

I like the "Dysfunctional family who truly cares for each other." Trope.

Malcolm in the Middle is the perfect example of this. My wife and I make it a tradition to watch the whole series at least once a year.

I never really got into Malcolm in the Middle when I was younger but a lot of the familial relationships in that series were relatable.

[MeltingCORE]

Yes, I love stories where the whole fam goes on an adventure! I'm also fond of stories where a character is close to their aunt or uncle. (Misuzu and Haruko from "Air" immediately come to mind.) Also, stuff like Drake & Josh is forever hilarious to me as someone with a brother.

[Prometheus]

@nathanKmcwilliams

That's a pretty good trope, too!

For some reason, the one that I also really like, is the disapproving father that the son ( the main character) tries to make proud. It causes a lot of issues, but in the end they come to terms and realize the love that they have for each other. Of course, I don't think the father is ever right in what he views as correct, as that kind of relationship is toxic, but it's the resolution that I love: where the father comes to accept the child, and the child accepts the father.

I also really like how Treasure Planet portrays the surrogate father trope.

[Pony_wearing_a_hat]

Protective/mentor older siblings, and just siblings who are best friends. Oh, also sarcastic moms who are still nice to their kids. Those are always fun. (oh, also I posted in the "family tropes you hate" tab that I hated siblings who hate each other, that's not really accurate, I hate older siblings who seem to be annoyed by their younger siblings for no real reason, I love me a good sibling rivalry or slow burn resentment) I also love found families, the more unlikely the better.

[cherrystark]

oh, also I posted in the "family tropes you hate" tab that I hated siblings who hate each other, that's not really accurate, I hate older siblings who seem to be annoyed by their younger siblings for no real reason, I love me a good sibling rivalry or slow burn resentment)

I agree about having a good reason for animosity between siblings. I have a bundle of siblings and a plethora of cousins and it always seemed weird to have two siblings as enemies without more than "Mom liked sibling better".

I also love found families, the more unlikely the better.

I love this one too. I still think its a little weird when TV shows portray a cast of coworkers as family but on the other hand, a good portion of my friends turned siblings have been coworkers.

[gempompadour]

I don't know the name of the trope but I'm a sucker for burly, big, scary men (and women) finding in their icy hearts room for an orphan child they've saved.

Like, the guy slays monsters or does jobs for the shady underworld. One day he crosses paths with a pathetic, vulnerable and abandoned child/ youth/ thing and he's ready to leave them to die but that day something prevents him from doing that. And he saves them, and he's gruffy and mean at first cos it's all new to him. He's not used to showing his softer side - he's forgotten he even had one. And they bond 🥰 both learning from each other and giving the other strength and eventually love. Then something horrible happens and his ward is in danger! But damnit he would rampage through hell to make sure his child was safe because he's a daddy now

It's too much for me. I love that they have a family bond that's not based on blood but it might as well be because it's just as strong.

[mcclaskeywriting]

The "Nobody can hurt them, but me" I just love seeing it... mainly because that is my family dynamic.

[cherrystark]

not used to showing his softer side - he's forgotten he even had one. And they bond 🥰 both learning from each other and giving the other strength and eventually love. Then something horrible happens and his ward is in danger! But damnit he would rampage through hell to make sure his child was safe because he's a daddy now

I love this one so much. It's basically the reason why I like Wolverine. Yes, he's one of the coolest Marvel heroes but he has like seven adopted daughters and would move heaven and earth to make his little girls happy.

[cherrystark]

The strongest of all sibling relationships. I like it.

[laudly]

i like the accidentally getting adopted trope, like in ashi girl manga, fl replaces a dead soldier and that moment when the mother of said soldier says the fake person is their son even after realizing that her actual son is dead..that kinda thing is touching. i like it best if the adopted protagonist receives familial love from said family and helps the family to recover or rise in status

[DasIstWunderblyat]

• I think dead or negligent parents can be a necessary evil if you want the story to move especially those action or adventure types, else protagonist will have 7 unanswered missed calls every 5 hours from their parents or not even allowed magic boarding school or adventure at all.
• Parents or any guardian figure that are messed up terrible people but will do their best to put on a façade for their children and want them to grow up better.
• Siblings that are not close with each other or are enemies, but have mutual respect and will stand for other sibling if a common enemy attacks or their sibling is being badmouthed. Kind of "Only me can mess up with/bully/hurt/or kill my sibling."
• Wholesome familial relationship between adult male character being guardian to kid female character. Society is repulsed by such thing and quick to call pedo.
• I like secret twins LOL
• Have we talked about pet enough? Family pet!

[PaleOcra]

I like the "surrogate parent" concept, when another adult teaches a child what they otherwise could not get or figure out themselves. It is especially warm to see such a relation.

Many times, a child just does not have the proper people to guide them, and when they do find one, they leap ahead high and learn to stand as high as their peers.

A comic I am making do have this trope, do check it out if you are interested!
Tapas
Webtoon

[alextsarace]

I'm really fond of stories where parents DO understand (or at least really try to) what their children are going through. I mean when it's ok to share your feelings, failings, thoughts with each oher and no one critisizes you or gives you unnecessary advices. This includes vice versa version, the killer of the "I'm rebellious teen, no one knows me and I hate/want to get rid of my parents" trope. Teens love their parents and feel like they're their friends and it's absolutely ok to them to spend your weekend with parennts or invite them to party/concert/whatever. No kid/parent shame!

[cherrystark]

Teens love their parents and feel like they're their friends and it's absolutely ok to them to spend your weekend with parennts or invite them to party/concert/whatever. No kid/parent shame!

I like this one. Stories need a lot more positive parent/child interactions. The parents in Easy A were the best part of the movie. If they had a superpower, it would be being super supportive.

[Crusoe]

I like it when pets or maybe close friends to the children who might be in an unlucky homesituation are truly part of the family, being included in dinners, adventures, etc.

[Van]

A broken old/middle aged man with low morals and crippling depression comes across a soft and pure cinnamon roll and adopts them