In some series, the young hero lacks a mother or father. In others, the parents are present, but are so incompetent that they might as well not exist.

The ambiguously absent parent arises when a character has a Disappeared Dad or a Missing Mom but the creator doesn't feel like explaining the specifics of their ...

The Parental Abandonment trope as used in popular culture. A stunningly large number of heroes and their coteries are lacking in the parent department, …

Someone brings up a potential topic about someone close to them. Another one asks what happened to them, and the former frowns, saying, "They're dead".

In storylines involving children or teenagers, the issues raised by the Adults Are Useless trope sometimes are handled more dramatically.

This trope also covers a character just finding out that their parent died horribly, was found living in some place undesirable, or simply, anything unpleasant.

This trope is often just the most obvious symptom of a world where the main character apparently has absolutely no relatives other than their parents.

Alone Among Families: A character with no family is surrounded by happy families. Anachronistic Orphanage: A traditional orphanage in a setting where there ...

Characters are typically adolescent and live with their parents but despite the fact that they all know each other and go over to each others houses frequently, ...

Variations of this can cover any missing relative or anyone who is sufficiently close enough to a character that they consider each other family. A relatively ...