Top Ten Tuesday

The Best & The Worst Literary Dads And Father Figures {Top Ten Tuesday}

170613 TTT Dads

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Hi guys, and welcome to a new Top Ten Tuesday!

In honor of Fathers’ Day, today is all about fictional dads. So let’s talk about some of the best and some of the worst dads (and father figures) in fiction!

BEST: ARTHUR Weasley (Harry Potter)

Arthur Weasley

Just like Molly is the quintessential mom, Arthur Weasley is the quintessential dad. He’s always there for his kids, even the ones that aren’t really his kids, like Harry and Hermione.

WORST: Valentine (The Mortal Instruments)

I’m no expert, but experimenting on your kids seems like a big no-no in parenting.

BEST: Mr. Bennet (Pride & Prejudice)

Taking care of all his daughters and even protecting them from their well-meaning but overbearing mother if necessary, Mr. Bennet kind of rocks.

WORST: Marcus Eaton (Divergent)

Marcus Eaton

If you are one of your kids’ worst fears, you may need to work on your parenting skills.

BEST: Luke Garroway (The Mortal Instruments)

Luke Garroway

Aww, Luke. Though he may not be their real dad, he’s always there for both Clary and Simon and I love him for it.

WORST: The King (Throne of Glass)

Does he even have a name? Probably, but I can’t say. Anyway, beheading your son’s girlfriend and letting a demon control him just earned you “Worst Dad of the Year” award.

BEST: Hans Hubermann (The Book Thief)

Hans Hubermann

Is there any better adoptive father-figure out there than Hans Hubermann? Cue the tears.

WORST: Gaius Damora (Falling Kingdoms)

Gaius, Gaius. You’re just so dramatic. Also, trying to kill your son’s wife or lying to your daughter and using her for her powers won’t make you endear yourself to them.

BEST: Sam Quintana (Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of the Universe)

Okay, all parents are amazing in this book, and though I love Ari’s dad as well, I just adore Dante’s dad that tiny bit more.

WORST: Stannis Baratheon (A Song of ICe and Fire)

Stannis Baratheon

Okay, first place for “Worst Dad of the Year” award actually needs to go to Stannis Baratheon. The world of Game of Thrones has a lot of crappy dads, but Stannis, you really take the cake. Poor Shireen.

who are some of your favorite fictional Fathers and Father Figures? ANd some of your least favorites?

48 Comments

  1. Great list! I also chose Hans and Arthur as some of the best dads out there. There are just so generous and caring, and I adore them. I completely forgot about Mr. Bennet though!

    1. Arthur and Hans are definitely so amazing! <3 And Mr. Bennet as well!

  2. I’m not overly familiar with a lot of these books, but I love Arthur and Hans so much!! They were so wonderful ? And yes at Marcus Eaton being terrible. I remember being so mad at him when I read the Divergent series ?

    1. Arthur and Hans are amazing indeed <3 Yes, me too! I don't remember THAT much about Divergent as it's been a while since I read it, but I clearly remember my intense dislike for Marcus Eaton :)

  3. The dad’s in Aristotle and Dante were pretty awesome. I forgot about that book this week– and the HP series too. So many good and bad dad’s there to choose from. What was I thinking!

    1. Haha, yes I thought this was gonna be a tricky topic because I couldn’t think of that many literary dads right away, but it turns out there are still plenty out there that I hadn’t even thought of either 🙂

  4. Luke did take great care of Clary. 🙂 Great list!

    1. He did, I always loved him 🙂 Thanks!

  5. Great list! Mr. Bennett and Mr. Weasley are definitely favorites of mine and totally agree about Stannis Baratheon being the absolute worst.

    1. Thanks! Mr. Bennett and Mr. Weasley are definitely amazing <3 And Stannis is definitely far from it :)

  6. So on point! I keep forgetting about Hans and Marcus though, nice!

    1. Thanks! I actually had trouble coming up with ten dads for this list but now that I see everybody else’s lists I keep seeing others I forgot haha 🙂

  7. Poinsettia says:

    Great list! Arthur Weasley and Mr. Bennett are great. Here is my Top Ten Tuesday

    1. Thanks! They are really amazing indeed 🙂

  8. Great list, Mr Weasly and Hans we agree on. There where so many bad fathers in the Game of Throne books that I had forgotten about Stannis.

    1. Mr. Weasley and Hans are definitely among those literary dads everybody loves 🙂 And yes, there for sure are PLENTY of terrible dads in the Game of Throne books!

  9. What a great list! Totally agree with Arthur Weasley – he seems like a lot of fun! And Mr. Bennet is my favorite part of Pride & Prejudice!

    1. Thanks! Yes, both Arthur and Mr. Bennet seem like such fun dads! 🙂

  10. haha! Your commentary was great, and I 100% agree with them all. Mr. Bennet and Arthur made my list too, but I completely forgot about The Book Thief…oops.

    1. Haha, thanks! 🙂 When doing this post I had trouble coming up with ten dads, but when reading everyone else’s post I realized there are still so many I forgot about 🙂

  11. This is such a great list! Love Arthur Weasley and Mr. Bennett, two of my faves. Love that you included Stanis as one of the worst – that is spot on!!!

    1. Thanks! Yes, Stannis is pretty terrible!

  12. Valentine is def up there as one of the worst. Like what a butt munch. And Luke made my list of best fictional fathers as well. I loved the way he took care of Clary.

    1. Haha, I just LOVE that you called Valentine a butt munch! Because he totally is 😉 Luke on the other hand, is amazing indeed!

  13. Great list, surprisingly difficult for me this week. Maybe I should have included all the worsts too. My TTT link

    1. I so understand, I had trouble coming up with ten as well!

  14. Arthur Weasley <3 Great list!!

    1. Arthur is amazing indeed <3

  15. Aww this is such a great post! I LOVE Arthur Weasley, he’s such a great father figure for everyone <3 And YES to Dante's dad just as well. I just love it when there are fantastic families / parental relationships in books, it's the BEST thing 🙂

    1. Thanks Marie! Arthur Weasley and Dante’s dad are both some amazing dads indeed. And I completely agree that we should definitely have more great parental relationships in books! It’s so important and the missing/uninvested parent trope is so annoying 🙂

  16. Hi! I totally agree about Mr. Weasley and Mr. Bennet! Great choices 🙂
    My TTT
    Leslie

    1. Thanks so much 🙂

  17. Hans Huberman is probably my favourite father figure in literature, he’s so generous in times of need, the glue that keeps the family together. ^.^

    1. I completely agree, Hans Hubermann is definitely one of the best literary dads/father figures out there <3

  18. I’ve only read the first Harry Potter but I do see Mr. Weasley pop up quite a bit, he must be alright. 🙂 And Mr. Bennet- great choice! Marcus though from Divergent- ugh what a creep. Forgot about him.

    Stannis- yeah. I was horrified. That hasn’t happened in the books and I hope it doesn’t, but I’m not holding my breath…

    1. Arthur Weasley is definitely quite alright! Though I absolutely adore the entire Weasley family, so he’s no exception 🙂
      Ah, I kind of hope the books won’t go there with Stannis and Shireen because I’m still hoping for some kind of redemption for him there, but like you said, those chances are pretty slim…

  19. Such a great list! So glad to see ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE show up on a list this week – I loved this book so very much. <3

    1. Oh, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is one my all-time favorites as well! 🙂

  20. Yes, I completely agree with all of these! 🙂 Arthur Weasley and Hans Hubermann are both such great fathers. Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous choices! <3

    1. They are amazing indeed <3 Thanks so much for stopping by!

  21. I love a couple of the dads on Sense8 but that will be canceled. Loved Arthur Weasley!!

    1. I haven’t seen Sense8 yet, but it has been on my to-watch list for a while because I heard so many amazing things about it. Such a pity that it’s been cancelled!

  22. Aww! I don’t even “know” these dads well, but agree with you!

    From the TV show (haven’t read the books), I was loving Luke. He seemed like a great character, and like you, I appreciate that he has Clary as the priority (even when she doesn’t want it). Sticking with that world, YEAH! I’d say Valentine’s brand of parenting is a BIG NO-NO. Plus, let’s face it, he’s just plain CREEPY. ;D

    Thanks for visiting Finding Wonderland, Lindsey!

    1. Thanks so much Rissi! Yes, I think that the “parenting skills” of Luke and Valentine are pretty comparable between the show and the books, so you’re completely correct! Luke is such a great character, while Valentine is just creepy 😉

  23. OH MY GOODNESS yes to Stannis. That was totally horrific. It almost (almost) put me off the show! There’s been a few things in the show that I’m hoping won’t be replicated in the books. That and ‘Hold the Door’ being my top two.

    I definitely need to read Falling Kingdoms.

    I don’t think that the king from Throne of Glass even has a name… The King of Adarlan … Something Havilliard obviously!

    And I agree with Mr. Bennet too! What an awesome dad.

    Ugh, Valentine! So not a good father. 🙁

    And yes… Absolutely Arthur. Absolutely.

    Super list as always!

    1. I haven’t actually read the Game of Thrones books yet (I know, I know, I really should and I have them on my shelf but for some reason I just keep procrastinating…), but I do indeed hope those two moments won’t happen in the books. The Stannis one is just pure horror and the ‘Hold The Door’ is just so unbelievably sad.
      I’d definitely recommend the Falling Kingdoms series! The last one is coming out in December so that would be a good time to binge-read if you’d want that 🙂
      Haha, yes it would be something Havilliard 🙂 I was thinking maybe I missed his name somewhere but I guess we were just never told!
      Mr. Bennet and Arthur Weasley are definitely the TOP amazing fictional dads out there! Valentine… definitely not.
      Thanks so much Di!

  24. Aaaah I love Arthur, Mr. Bennet, and Luke! You picked some seriously amazing fathers! I’m trying to think of some other fictional fathers I love but it’s actually really hard. I can think up several mothers but not so much fathers…if father figures count though, I’d definitely count Sirius and Lupin from HP and Mr. Kadam from the Tiger’s Curse series.

    1. I know, it was really difficult to come up with ten amazing fathers or father figures so that’s why I ended up throwing a few terrible ones in there as well 🙂 But you’re totally right about Sirius and Lupin, they’re both amazing! I haven’t read the Tiger’s Curse series yet, but I’ll be sure to check it out!

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