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Top Ten Tuesday: Worst Dads In Fiction


Happy Tuesday and welcome back to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!  This week's topic is a Father's Day related freebie - the topic I've selected is Worst Dads In Fiction.  All of these dads below are from some of my favorite books (and adaptations).  Here we go, in alphabetical order by character:


Denethor II from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien


Harry Wormwood from Matilda by Roald Dahl


Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte


Jack Torrance from The Shining by Stephen King


King Lear from King Lear by William Shakespeare


Lucius Malfoy from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling


Marvin Burke from Scowler by Daniel Kraus


Old Nick from Room by Emma Donoghue


Tywin Lannister from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin


Victor Frankenstein from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley


Who would make your list of worst dads?  Have you read any of these books, or seen any of the movie adaptations?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog, and perhaps even commenting down below!

Comments

  1. I agree with so many of the dads on your list - they really are the worst! Denethor is possibly my most-hated father figure in fiction, and Harry Wormwood, Heathcliff, Lucius Malfoy and King Lear are all just awful. Great list!

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    1. Thanks for coming over Jess! Denethor sets a pretty high bar!

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  2. I can't believe I forgot Matilda's father when I made mine! He destroyed a library book! That's the most evil act of all!

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  3. Matilda! I recently bought my kid a multipack of Dahl's books. I can't wait to steal them one at a time and read em.

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    1. Yay! I hope they love Dahl! I grew up on his books! :)

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  4. Ugh, Old Nick! And Matilda's father...good (well, not good!) list!

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  5. I don't know most of these, but OMG was Denenthor a bad dad! As was Lucious Malfoy. I like to think Draco will be a much better dad. I'm having trouble coming up with other names to add to the list. I think fathers are most often absent, especially in YA. OH, but Kyle from the Liveship Traders series is definitely one of the worst dads I've ever read about. Have you read any of Robin Hobb's books?
    My TTT

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    1. I'd like to think that's the case about Draco. Parents in general seem to be far too absent in YA unfortunately. I haven't read any Hobbs, but I really want to. Thanks for coming over, Maraia!

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  6. What a great roundup of not-so-great ( and downright terrible) dads!

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  7. Oh my gosh yes Denethor was TERRIBLE! Couldn't stand him. And Tywin is no walk in the park either...

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  8. Noooooooo! I forgot to add Lucius Malfoy to my list. Great list!

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  9. I agree - Harry Wormwood and Lucius Malfoy were the absolute worst. Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous post! <3

    ~ Zoe @ Stories on Stage

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  10. Oh my goodness HARRY WORMWOOD IS SO EVIL. He is so awful, it killed me as a child. Now that you've reminded me, I must go repair my heart.
    It drives me crazy how awful Lucius is to Draco. Like stop it you big blonde meanie.
    Also, I love the idea that Frankenstein is a dad. I never thought of him that way! I mean, he DID create the monster, so he's definitely dad material. Poor monster, he even became cultured and well-read and Frankenstein still hated him :(

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    1. Right before I made this list I was totally watching The Bride of Frankenstein, so Victor was definitely at the forefront of my mind! :D

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  11. I didn't even think about Victor Frankenstein being a father, but he is the probably the worst of them all. Poor Adam. :( UGH! Denethor...no one got a better end then he did. Great List!!

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    1. It's quite a way to go out, huh! Thanks for coming over, Kayla!

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  12. Oh wow Harry Wormwood sure was a bad one, great list!

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    1. He scarred me as a kid!

      Thanks for visiting, Kei. :)

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  13. Lucius Malfoy was so bad!! And Old Nick too. Great list!

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  14. I definitely should have thought of Tywin and Lucius! I was struggling to think of anything for this week's topic, so it's the first week I've skipped since I started doing TTT.

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    1. It took me a while to come up with this one too - I was so close to doing a best list until I realized I did that last time.

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  15. I love your choice of Victor Frankenstein - so appropriate!

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  16. UGH, Heathcliff is the worst...BOO times a bajillion, lol.

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  17. Awesome list! I still am mad at myself for not remembering about Old Nick *shudder*

    www.noveldescent.com

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  18. When was Gandalf (er um Ian McKellen) in King Lear? I must have totally missed that. Also I don't know if he's a bad dad or that two-thirds of his daughters are total evil.

    My TTT: http://books.thetechchef.net/top-ten-tuesday-29/

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    1. It was probably 9 or 10 years ago - I remember watching it on PBS - excellent performance! Yeah, it's kind of hard to decide on that front isn't it. :)

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  19. Ugh at Wormwood and Malfoy, they are the worst. Though Denthor was also pretty terrible. Great list.

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  20. I hated Denethor II!!! His treatment of Faramir had me fuming. I was not sad to see him fall to his demise. Great spin on this weeks topic.

    - Lois @ My Midnight Musing

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  21. Denethor was so awful. That scene with Faramir was so unforgivable. Jack from The Shining, you are giving me chills!

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  22. Ooh, you're in for a treat. Robin Hobb's books are amazing! If you're interested, a few friends and I are hosting a readalong of all Realms of the Elderlings books (16 altogether) on Instagram. No pressure, but it would be great if you joined in! The account name is @hobbsquad.

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