Parents Just Don't Understand

The Crown Prince of Lordaeron, Arthas Menethil was once an honorable paladin with incredible courage. Arthas demonstrated steadfast loyalty to his kingdom and bravely fought to defend his people against the Scourge. Sadly, the Prince was driven to madness by a rapidly-spreading plague. Hoping to destroy the Scourge once and for all, Arthas sought out a cursed runeblade, believing it would help save his people. Unfortunately, the power of the blade was too much for Arthas to handle, and his soul was overwhelmed by the power of the demonic Lich King. Overcome by paranoia, Arthas killed his old friend and mentor before leading the Scourge to battle against his own kingdom. With his soul cast aside and his mind corrupted, Arthas committed the ultimate act of betrayal by killing his father, King Terenas.

Ivy’s adopted father was driven to insanity by his pursuit of power, and she nearly went down the same path. In a misguided attempt to create an animated weapon, Ivy was assisted by Nightmare and the demonic sword, Soul Edge. The power of the Soul Edge brought Ivy’s weapon to life, but it also corrupted her very soul. Working with Nightmare, Ivy helped gather souls for the Soul Edge before learning of the sword’s evil properties. Ivy also discovered that she had cursed blood. Her biological father was the notorious pirate, Cervantes de Leon – who once had possession of the Soul Edge himself. In order to purify her soul, Ivy decided that she had to destroy the Soul Edge and confront her father. Ivy was later killed by Cervantes, but managed to keep herself alive with an artificial soul she had constructed.

Tidus was an ordinary professional athlete living an easy-going celebrity lifestyle when his homeland was attacked by a massive, whale-like creature called Sin. After the attack, Tidus was seemingly transported away to an unfamiliar land. Feeling lost and confused, Tidus met up with some hot chicks before setting out on a pilgrimage to stop Sin’s destruction. Along the way, Tidus discovered that the mysterious creature Sin was actually his father, Jecht. As it turned out, Jecht had also set out on a pilgrimage to destroy Sin. In order to defeat Sin, Jecht paid with his life before being reincarnated as the very monster that he destroyed. This cycle had been going on for a thousand years, and each warrior who defeated Sin was born anew as the creature. Learning of his father’s fate didn’t even phase Tidus, and decided to fight Sin regardless.

The relationship between Rayne and her vampire father, Kagan, was strained from the very beginning. After raping and murdering Rayne’s mother, Kagan killed the rest of her family so that he would be the only one left to turn to. This pissed Rayne off for some reason, so she spent her teenage years trying to hunt her father down. Rayne murdered a string of vampires along the way before being apprehended. Surprisingly, the authorities didn’t buy that her victims were all vampires, so Rayne had to escape from the law in order to continue her hunt. After years of searching, Rayne finally came face to face with her father. Before Rayne had a chance to avenge her mother, Kagan was blown up by a grenade. Unsatisfied with how Kagan died, Rayne spent the next six decades seeking out and destroying Kagan’s other offspring.

When the King of All Cosmos goes on a drinking binge and accidentally erases all the stars from the sky, he sends his son on a mission to rebuild the celestial bodies. To achieve his goal, the diminutive prince has to roll a highly adhesive ball around in various locations in order to pick up increasingly large items until the ball is large enough to form a star. It’s a daunting task to be sure, and the King doesn’t appear to have any faith in his son’s ability to succeed. The King constantly watches over his son’s work, and is never short on insulting and condescending remarks. If the prince is unable to finish a task, his father will either verbally berate him or blast him with eye lasers. The King of All Cosmos is not all bad, however. Like his father before him, the King is only trying to push his son to reach his full potential.

When Segre was attacked by a panther, his father Wazuki immediately set sail to find help. After being caught in a violent storm, the pair found themselves in the strange land controlled by a computer known as FATE. After Serge came into contact with a magical artifact called the Frozen Flame, his wounds were healed. Serge’s contact with the Frozen Flame also prevented FATE from accessing it. FATE was unhappy with the power bestowed upon Serge, but needed a physical form in order to stop him. Gazing into the flame had weakened Wazuki’s mind, and he was forced to succumb to FATE’s power. After Wazuki’s mind was taken over, FATE transformed into a physical manifestation of Serge’s greatest fear – a panther. Now known as Lynx, the brainwashed Wazuki set out on a mission to kill his own son.

Big Boss and Solid Snake are not father and son in the traditional sense of the word. Rather, Snake is a genetic clone of Big Boss and was created from a secret government project. Big Boss acted as Snake’s commanding officer in the first Metal Gear game and provided assistance via radio contact. At this point, Snake was unaware that a genetic link existed between them. This did not make it any less surprising when Big Boss betrayed him and revealed himself as the leader of an enemy militia group. After their confrontation in the first game, the two faced off against each other in the sequel. This time, Snake went after him with a flamethrower and left him for dead. Remarkably, Big Boss survived the attack and was nursed back to health via genetic engineering. Before dying for good, Big Boss reconciled with his son/clone.

When Kratos found himself outnumbered in battle, he called on the god of war, Ares, for help. Kratos was unable to control the power he had been given, however, and ended up killing his family as a result. Kratos sought vengeance and eventually overthrew Aers to take his spot as the new god of war. Kratos had trouble making friends on Mount Olympus though, and really seemed to piss Zeus off. After tricking Kratos into giving up his powers, Zeus killed him and sent him down to Hades. The reason for the betrayal was that Kratos was Zeus’ son and Olympus had a history of sons killing their fathers in order to ascend to the throne. Zeus was only hoping to break the cycle by killing Kratos before Kratos had a chance to kill him first. Kratos responded to the betrayal with an epic temper tantrum. What an emo bitch, right?

The relationship between Heihachi and Kazuya is full of drama. Heihachi once threw his son off a cliff in order to eliminate his weaknesses. Apparently, he felt that any son of his would be able to survive the fall and climb back up. Kazuya not only survived, but he returned to defeat his father in a fighting tournament. In a classic case of role reversal, Kazuya then threw his father off a cliff, only for Heihachi to return and defeat him in the next tournament. In addition to the physical abuse, Heihachi also played mind games with his son. Heihachi adopted an orphan and specifically raised him as a rival to Kazuya. He also tried to kill Kazuya’s own son after taking him in and training him. Kazuya’s not exactly a saint in all of this. On one occasion, he threw his father to an army of androids that they had been battling in order to create a diversion.

As the son of a male vampire and a female human, Alucard finds himself caught in the middle of a ideological war. Dracula blames humans for the death of Alucard’s mother, but Alucard retains his faith in humanity. Even though Alucard fully understands his father’s hatred for humans, he still chooses to take up arms against him. Alucard’s battles with his father span several centuries, and he has helped many generations of vampire hunters rise up against Dracula’s armies. Alucard doesn’t take the act of patricide lightly. In fact, he voluntarily goes into a protracted sleep at the end of Castlevania III in an effort to ease the pain of confronting his father. Alucard is sympathetic to Dracula’s position, but he opposes everything his father stands for. Fittingly, even his name is the opposite of his father’s.