Don't mess with them.
In a lot of media, if the main character has a father, he usually is out of the picture, doesn't care what's going on with his child(ren), or just doesn't notice what's going on.
This guy, however, is not any of those things.
This is the father who realizes something is happening, and isn't going to stand for it, particularly if it poses any kind of threat to his family. Often overlaps with Papa Wolf. May also be paired with Action Mom, in which case they could easily be a Battle Couple.
Usually shows up in Action/Adventure Series shows, with the kid protagonist being followed by his or her protective father. May only show up every once in a while, being absent most of the time but showing up when something the protagonist can't handle arises to lend a hand, or just beat the snot out of whatever was trying to touch his kid.
Only examples where the guy in question is actually closely related, please!
See also Papa Wolf, Knight Templar Parent and Family Man.
Examples
- Anime & Manga
- Comic Books
- Fan Works
- Film
- Literature
- Live-Action TV
- Video Games
- Webcomics
- Western Animation
- Real Life
- The Dungeons & Dragons play podcast Dungeons & Daddies features four suburban dads who, after being transported through a vortex to the Forgotten Realms, have to become Action Dads in order to survive and rescue their sons.
- Magic: The Gathering has quite a few, such as Jarad vod Savo, towards his son Myc.
- In the Ravenloft setting, Rudolph van Richten went Papa Wolf on the Vistani band that kidnapped his son, and then hunted down the vampire who'd hired them to deliver the boy. It's revealed in Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani that the originally kindly and very forgiving doctor's curse of vengeance upon that particular Vistani clan for what they did is the reason why they can never rest in one place for more than a day or two. Because with his curse that "the undead take you" as they took his son to the undead, every surviving member of the clan is forever hunted by the undead until Van Richten lifts the curse with his forgiveness.
- The biography of Marc Oberlindes, a sample character of Traveller, tells how once when his son was imprisoned he recruited a band of mercenaries to rescue him.
- Warhammer 40,000: Kill one of Sanguinius' Blood Angels (ergo: Sons) and he WILL break your spine. Likewise, if you hurt Sanguinius, the Blood Angels will tear you apart.
