Bumbling Dad



"Mr. Bergstrom: Lisa, your homework is always so neat. How can I put this? Does your father help you with it?

Lisa: No. Homework's not my father's specialty.

Mr. Bergstrom: Well there's no shame in it, I mean, my dad--

Lisa: Not mine.

Mr. Bergstrom: You didn't let me finish--

Lisa: Unless the next word was "burped", you didn't have to."

- The Simpsons

Born out of the Sitcom Dysfunctional Family, he's a deliberate subversion of the Father Knows Best design. Now so ubiquitous the older trope is nearly forgotten.

Although he's clever at times, he's not usually allowed to be smart. He has no idea that Short Cuts Make Long Delays. He's lazy, gluttonous and has miscellaneous other glaring vices. His children may love him, but they often don't respect him. However, he is still a sympathetic character; the source of his charm is his complete love and loyalty to his family, even if the main way he shows it is by fixing problems he caused himself.

His family is made up of at least one child nearing or in their teenage years, and a wife (usually much prettier than Dad) who spends her time Parenting the Husband. If he has one or more teenage daughters, at least one will be a Bratty Teenage Daughter or a Daddy's Girl; whether they are or not, the dad will be an Overprotective Dad in regards to the girl(s).

Often used as an enabler of several Double Standards. Sometimes, on the rare occasions that a mom does something dumb, she's cut more slack than she otherwise would be, since the Bumbling Dad is there to make her look better by comparison. On the other hand, if everyone just gets used to tolerating Dad's incompetence, they might still hold Mom to the standards of a competent adult - in fact, she may end up being held responsible for fixing his screw-ups. After all, somebody's got to be the grownup in a family, and you can't hold Dad accountable for not acting like one if he's just an idiot. The frustrating and stagnant sexual roles enforced by this trope are often pointed to by feminists as a sign of how sexism hurts men as well as women.

This trope is still mostly seen in sitcoms and cartoons, along with many commercials, especially ones aimed at kids. In Anime, this type of character is taken more respectfully, since it usually consists of a goofier dad, more involved with his family than the stereotypical Salaryman. This is even more common when his children have no visible mother.

This is an example of how a Subverted Trope can end up becoming the norm. Back in the day, fathers were assumed to be wise and in charge, and the Bumbling Dad was something fresh and unusual. Today, sitcoms have made Bumbling Dad an Undead Horse Trope, and consistently competent fathers are a rarity.

Advertising

 * Popular in many, many television commercials -- especially for products associated with domestic tasks like cooking, cleaning and childcare, as this plays into the complementary trope and stereotype that Men Can't Keep House.
 * Recent Eggo Waffle commercials have dumped their live-action gimmicks in favor of crudely-drawn cartoon shorts featuring a Bumbling Dad trying to steal his daughter's waffles.
 * A commercial for Verizon internet showed a Bumbling Dad whose wife had to boss him around -- for the good of the family, of course -- to stop him from neglecting his chores in favor of playing with the new computer under the guise of "helping" his daughter with her homework. The way it was played out came across as so unfunny and pointlessly insulting it was actually removed from the air after complaints.

Anime and Manga

 * In Ranma ½, both Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome were often Bumbling Dads more typical of the American form of the trope than the Japanese style (as opposed to the Egregious Principal Kuno in the same series, who was very much in the Japanese mold despite his obsession with Hawaii). This was even more pronounced for those times when they did act like the competent martial artists they were supposed to be.
 * In Bleach Isshin Kurosaki, Ichigo's widower father. . He is still, however, a complete incompetent boob when it comes to Yuzu and Karin.
 * Tenchi's dad Noboyuki in Tenchi Muyo!. He is a pretty competent architect, but when off-duty he exemplifies the trope.
 * Nanjiroh Echizen in The Prince of Tennis, though it can be said he's also a case of Obfuscating Stupidity.
 * In the manga, Tezuka's father Kuniharu is hinted to be a bit like this too. Quite a contrast with his kid and his dad.
 * Ouka, father of Recca Hanabishi, in the Flame of Recca manga is like this, . In the anime, however, he's just like a normal, stoic dad.
 * Recca's adoptive father, Shigeo Hanabishi, however, plays this trope straight in both versions.
 * All the fathers in Ojamajo Doremi, to some degree. Special mention goes to Kenji Senou, Aiko's single father.
 * Sojiro Izumi, Konata's widowed, perverted, gaming father in Lucky Star. The fact that he was nicknamed Awesome-kun is not surprising at all.
 * It should be mentioned that the manga implied Soujirou is actually the least Book Dumb living member of the Izumi-Kobayakawa household.
 * Hajime in Hell Girl at times.
 * Saiunkoku Monogatari has Kou Shoka, who fills the role not only for his daughter Shuurei, but also to a lesser degree for both Seiran and the young Emperor, Shi Ryuuki. He mostly comes off as kind and good-natured but hopelessly inept,.
 * Kogoro Mouri of Detective Conan is basically a loser, but his care towards his daughter Ran is utterly remarkable, which makes him a Papa Wolf all the way. He may burn through a bar's worth of alcohol and tobacco in a day, but threaten his little girl Ran and he will have your face for a doily.
 * In Soul Eater, Maka's father Spirit Albarn is... not the most competent father around.
 * But he is one of the more well meaning of the elder section of character. On that note...Shinigami-sama more than likely would qualify.
 * Most likely the case with Shinigami, given his overall character, although Kid does respect and fiercely defend him (he's been known to beat up people who insult his father). Also, it'd probably be a bad idea to injure the children of either the Grim Reaper or his Equippable Ally.
 * Justified in that he puts on that personality deliberately so as not to scare kids at the school. Also, he stated at least once he's come to like acting that way.
 * Ouran High School Host Club has Fujioka Haruhi's widowed father Ranka. He's an odd person considering he's a Wholesome Crossdresser, bisexual, and can be a bit silly at times (especially in some of Haruhi's flashbacks when she was little). His bumbliness is very much portrayed as endearing, and a trait he shares with Haruhi's Love Interest Suou Tamaki.
 * On the other hand, he's the rare Bumbling Dad who crosses to Good Father too. It's obvious that he loves Haruhi genuinely and has done his best to raise her ever since his wife/Haruhi's mother Kotoko died, working hard in his very uncommon work in the okama bar to support both of them - to the point that at least once Haruhi rebukes him not for leaving her alone, but for overworking himself for her.
 * Ichigo's dad in Tokyo Mew Mew is a bit...off his rocker, but nonetheless a very nice guy. Ichigo speaks of him and her mother as her "ideal couple", and hopes that she and her love interest Aoyama will be like them one day.
 * Inukami! Dai Youko, Youko's father, is the goofy dad type; described as an Adult Child, he throws tantrums when he finds out Youko's in love with her tamer. However he's far from incompetent. Instead he's the only one capable of fighting the Big Bad in single combat.

Film - Animated

 * The Father in The Movie of Coraline. In contrast, the Other Father is attentive, caring, and much cooler.
 * However, this one is potentially justified, as it's shown in the movie that both her father and mother are distracted due to the move, and her father is especially distracted since he needs to get a major project done for his job. That, and since it's all from a child's perspective...
 * In Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure Scamp sees his father as one of these, a lazy dad who could never understand his desire to be a wild dog. Little does he know that his father was THE wild dog back in the day.

Film - Live-Action

 * Played with in Juno, where the protagonists' father and stepmom look clueless in the beginning but appear wiser and emotionally supportive as the movie advances.
 * John Candy played at least a couple of characters like this, such as in Summer Rental and Great Outdoors.
 * Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Wayne Szalinski is a more highly intelligent version of the Bumbling Dad. But he is far from irresponsible, even though his inventions have done bizarre things to his loved ones. Big Russ Thompson, on the other hand...
 * Are We There Yet? movies has gangsta rapper Ice Cube in this role, of all people.
 * The clueless dad in the fluffy tween comedy Sleepover embodies this.
 * Every movie where Chevy Chase plays the dad, starting with Cops and Robbersons and going rapidly downhill. His role as Clark Griswold might have been an aversion if he could have kept his plans from going to hell, but that was rarely ever his fault; fate just doesn't like the Griswold clan.
 * Mr Mom is about a bumbling dad who has to stay at home and take care of the kids while his wife works.

Literature

 * Papa Bear of The Berenstain Bears.
 * Dad in Diary of a Wimpy Kid is pretty much a bumbling dad. He acts way older than he actually is...and by that, I mean he acts like he's in his 80s. Not only does he regularly yell "Dagnabbed rotten teenagers!", but in the webcomic, he tries to get Classical music playing throughout the entire town to scare the teenagers away, is apparently teenager phobic, is unable to figure out how Gregory's game system is even hooked up to the TV, and says people at drive-thrus are idiots...yet he tries to place his order through a garbage can.
 * To be fair, the book is meant to be written from the perspective of a 12 year old boy. This could just be an exaggeration.
 * This is the entire premise of Jill Murphy's Mr. Large in Charge.
 * In Harry Potter, Arthur Weasley (Ron's father) somewhat gives off this vibe, although he seems to be competent enough when it really counts. Ron possibly fulfills this trope during the epilogue era. Vernon Dursley might count as a rare villainous version.

Live Action TV

 * Phil Dunphy of Modern Family, mainly as a result of his attempts to seem cool.
 * Al Bundy of Married... with Children is a more caustic version of this.
 * Steven Keaton on Family Ties.
 * Tim Taylor in Home Improvement. Unlike most bumbling dads, however, he is actually very competent at his job. At least, he would be if it weren't for his almost mental illness level compulsion to 'improve' things. When he isn't creating outdoor grills that can achieve geosynchronous orbit, he's actually a very skilled handy man. He's far more "No concern for safety or moderation" than "Doesn't know what he's doing".
 * In other words, he fixes things the way a Mad Scientist would.
 * As far as his family goes, Tim is a little closer to the standard for this trope, usually not always understanding how he should act in various circumstances, as having effectively raised himself after his dad died, he's not clear how a family works. This conversely means that in any episode where someone dies, Tim ends up being much more competent and capable.
 * Everybody Loves Raymond, though the kids there were much younger.
 * The kids are scenery.
 * Hal from Malcolm in the Middle. However, he shows great intelligence and patience for an example of this trope - his relationship with his family is as far as the similarity goes. Certainly his wife is more of an antagonist than him. In fact, it's frequently hinted that Hal used to be a happy, intelligent, emotionally stable guy before marrying Lois.
 * There's also a great episode were Hal becomes increasingly reckless and carefree when Lois isn't around to temper his more compulsive attributes.
 * Hal is the INSTIGATOR for most of the madness in the Middle household, and the part of the equation the kids get their mischief from. Lois might be more strict and punishing, but Hal is the one with all the crazy schemes..
 * Mr C in Happy Days. Not quite as bumbling as later examples, but an early subversion of "Father Knows Best" type dads (to quote one meddling executive: "He doesn't look like a father. He looks like my father.")
 * Jim of According to Jim.
 * It's easier to just include every father from Family-Based sitcoms than naming then, from Still Standing to Grounded for Life.
 * Michael Rappaport's character in The War at Home managed to combine this trope with Jerkass.
 * Cliff Huxtable from The Cosby Show was created specifically as an antidote for this. Bill Cosby was tired of all the father figures on TV being essentially dominated by their kids, and created a competent, intelligent, but still funny father character for himself.
 * Michael from My Wife and Kids, on the other hand, was an subverion of the Bumbling Dad trope Gone Horribly Wrong, or perhaps true to life. Instead of being a Bumbling Dad whose controlled by his wife and children... his relationship with them throughout the series can be summed up with this quote, "I Bugs Bunny'd you."
 * The very first Bumbling Dad on television may have been Stu Erwin, in a show that's known as The Stu Erwin Show or Trouble with Father or Life with the Erwins depending who you ask.
 * A stock trope on The Munsters was that Herman Munster would screw up in some well-meaning way as a father/family patriarch and the rest of the family would rally around to get him out without damaging his ego (too much). Also from the series was Grandpa, who didn't let the fact his daughter was All Grown Up stop him from acting just as bad as Herman in the fatherhood department.
 * William Shatner plays one in his most recent TV series, $h*! My Dad Says.
 * In an odd dramatic example, Don Draper of Mad Men tends to be cluelessly oblivious, if well-meaning, towards his children (particularly Sally), in sharp contrast to Betty (who is generally quite cold and hits Sally for her acts of rebellion).
 * Many people in the 1950s and 60s complained of a "Dad is a helpless lunkhead, Mom holds the real power, and the children triumph" stereotype on sitcoms like Father Knows Best, Leave It to Beaver, My Three Sons, and especially The Danny Thomas Show and Bewitched. However, these dads were not bumblers in the modern sense. The complaints seemed to arise from the fact that the women were shown as competent, and the fathers were shown learning as much from their kids as the kids learned from them.

Newspaper Comics

 * Roger Fox from FoxTrot. In one strip, he managed to burn his silhouette onto the wall trying to light the furnace. In another, even more ridiculous strip, Roger flooded the house when he tried to use the dishwasher, and that was while Andy was out of town.
 * Regarding the furnace: that's merely an exaggeration of a very plausible scenario; dunno if it counts.
 * That's not even mentioning his regular failure to properly operate a grill... using a "whole bottle of lighter fluid" at a time, more or less.
 * Surprisingly, Roger wasn't always like this; there was a period of the strip where he was rather competent (at least 60% of the time, as opposed to 10% in the later ones) as a father and not just at chess. (Now it's a Running Gag that anyone can beat him unless they're trying to lose like Paige and Peter)
 * There was one gag that was constant from the strip's beginning -- his need of youngest son Jason's help to operate the computer because he can't even remember how to turn the thing on.
 * One grill strip brought it to Epic Fail levels. After he piles on the lighter fluid and charcoal, it makes a fire blast that continues upward into space.
 * Usually averted by Darryl MacPherson of Baby Blues. We're talking about a guy who changed a diaper in the men's room at the mall.
 * Wally of Stone Soup is another notable aversion. He takes care of the kids as much as his wife, and he can cook.
 * Larry the crocodile from Pearls Before Swine. He is completely idiotic, even compared to the rest of Zeeba Zeeba Eata, and he is quite an Alcoholic. Once, he didn't even bother to rescue his wife, Patty, when Zebra kidnapped her, and they only got her back when Zebra realized he was only hurting their son Junior.

Theatre

 * Played to tragicomic effect in Canadian playwright Ed Riche's one man show Possible Maps. While the protagonist's father, a university professor, wasn't stupid by any means, he was somewhat scatterbrained at best and manic depressive with what looks like a touch of autism at worst. Most of the play revolves around the protagonist remiscing about what a chore it was for the family to put up with him and his own anxieties about the possibility of inheriting the man's mental frailties.
 * Old Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice. Of course, this arises partly from the fact that he's too blind to recognize his own son.

Video Games

 * Viewtiful Joe's father, Jet Black.
 * The Irresponsible Dad in Happy Wheels.

Webcomics

 * Ben Winchester's father in Loserz. See this strip
 * A recurring theme in I Harth Darth was Darth Vader being a well-intentioned but understandably awkward dad to Luke and Leia.

Western Animation
"Jack: (to Undergrowth) Get your filthy roots off my town, you horticultural terror! (to Maddie) Thanks for writing down the word "horticulture," sweetface.
 * As noted above, Homer Simpson of The Simpsons.
 * Sometimes, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, when the eight octuplets become more than he can handle, much to the baggage he receives from Manjula.
 * Peter Griffin (Family Guy)
 * Stan Smith (American Dad)
 * Drake Mallard, AKA Darkwing Duck, from Darkwing Duck and his adopted daughter Gosalyn.
 * "Numbuh One" or Nigel Uno's dad in Codename: Kids Next Door
 * Goofy in Goof Troop, A Goofy Movie and, earlier, in his '50s cartoon shorts where he is named George Geef. However, he can probably be forgiven for this; bumbling has always been part of his personality.
 * Jake Morgendorffer (Daria), who grew increasingly clownish as the series progressed.
 * In a way, Baloo, from the animated series Tale Spin, though he wasn't married to Rebecca, and wasn't Kit's actual father.
 * Cosmo and Mr. Turner of The Fairly Odd Parents. The show is fair enough to show that Mrs. Turner isn't that much brighter... That may explain Timmy.
 * Practically all the dads (and adults, for that matter) are bumbling. Special mention goes to Chester's dad.
 * And in one episode . Ironically, despite normally being a Child-Hater, he's shown to genuinely care for . Though, his parental skills are quite questionable since tried to teach him how to shave in total darkness and how to drive...despite the latter being an infant.
 * Jack Fenton of Danny Phantom. One good look at him and you can tell he's not meant to be treated seriously... at least until he gets dangerous (specially if his family is at risk). He is also something of a Genius Ditz, having invented at least half the Fenton gadgets, which go between being useless (The Fenton Ghost Gabber) and working a little too well. (Fenton Ghost Catcher, Ghost Peeler, Ectxo-Skeleton).
 * However, he still manages to be a sympathetic character by the fact that he's (usually) aware of his bumbling-ness and tries his best to not mess up.

Maddie: I didn't want you mispronounce it during the battle cry, hun. First impressions are very important.

Jack: And you married me anyway."

"Mandy: I guess we know which side of the family Billy got his brain from..."
 * Oscar Proud from The Proud Family. Oscar Proud is an unsuccessful inventor of snack foods. He regularly engages in, and loses, competitions with his Rival "The Wizard." He is the frequent victim of cartoon-slapstick mishaps. His mother, the "cool" grandmother Sugar Momma, insults him constantly. And to top it all off, many episodes portray him foolishly overprotective of his daughter Penny.
 * Hugh Neutron from Jimmy Neutron. Many times, Hugh would screw up one of Jimmy's inventions.
 * Dexter's father in Freakazoid takes it to ditz levels. When imprisoned, he can't even learn to do tally marks correctly.
 * Mr. X from The Xs is your typical bumbling father, who knows 50 ways to destroy a man with his bare hands alone.
 * Really, both parents, though their primary flaw was being clueless to Dexter's Laboratory (and even then, he has a memory erasing gun, so its more like they look stupid by comparison to their supergenius son.)
 * Also, Dexter's father turns out to be a stunt biker when his job is finally revealed (up to then, he left every day dressed for an office job), making him much cooler and more competent than the typical example.
 * Cow and Chicken's Dad who is more insane than bumbling. Mom too.
 * Dick Daring in The Replacements.
 * Although that's one case where the wife isn't that much better. Oh, sure, Agent K is competent, but she's also paranoid and confrontational.
 * Randy Marsh in South Park has drifted in this direction over the years; in the beginning he rarely appeared (and the first episode he played a major part in needed him because he was a scientist); now, he usually gets caught up in every stupid fad, and is frequently portrayed as the single dumbest individual in any of the kids' families, while his wife is one of the sanest (...of the adults, at least).
 * Becky Botsford's adoptive father has no idea she's the titular Word Girl, and often makes stupid mistakes and screw-ups. But to be fair, her mother isn't shown to be incredibly bright, either.
 * Really, the show has no intelligent adults in it at all. Well... none that aren't also either insane or evil.
 * Great aversion in the form of Hank from King of the Hill. Although he is rather ignorant about cultural fads and the like, this is shown to be a result of his hatred of superficiality. He is respected by all of those who surround him, and is the Only Sane Man in his circle of friends. He is closer to Earth than his wife Peggy who qualifies as a Bumbling Mom at times, and can get anyone out of any jam. Of course, it helps that the show is normally shown from his perspective - Hank still has a tendency to find himself in all kinds of trouble because of his lack of cultural savvy and sense of denial. Because of his rather staunch viewpoints, he sometimes becomes a bit too worried that his son is a sissy, and has a very narrow view of how to raise him. Mostly however, Hank has a hard time with showing emotions, though this is mostly because of his father Cotton; this does change, however, especially as Hank realizes how bad a father Cotton has been, and calls him on it.
 * Billy's dad in The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. We're talking a guy so dumb he can make Billy look good by comparison.


 * Bob Oblong from The Oblongs.
 * Pop of Happy Tree Friends. Its usually fatal for Cub when he's Distracted By the Shiny. He means well, but he doesn't exactly live in a world which pities mistakes or oversights. (Or seemingly safe and sensible decisions for that matter.)
 * The Amazing World of Gumball: Gumball and Anais' dad Richard.
 * Lawrence Fletcher of Phineas and Ferb. While he is neither dumb nor irresponsible nor lazy, he can be quite dorky.
 * Dr. Doofenshmirtz is also a glaring example of this trope, highlighted In Vanessa's song
 * Kim Possible averts this trope with Kim's father, who is, quite literally, a rocket scientist, and who has often dispatched sage advice, even if he does still refer to her as "Kimmy-cub". Ron's Dad, on the other hand, once showed up in public wearing a cape.
 * Looney Tunes: Foghorn Leghorn is not Egghead's dad, but his eagerness to play father figure to Egghead always lands him in slapstick mayhem.
 * Mr. Large in the cartoon version of The Large Family.
 * The Nostalgia Chick: In her episode on Disney Princesses, The Chick notes that there's a trend in "infantile, impotent fathers" that the Disney girls have to put up with.
 * Both Fred and Barney from The Flintstones were bumbling dads when Pebbles and Bam-Bam came along, of course they'd been bumbling husbands since the start of the show it wasn't really new for them.
 * In a similar vein, George from The Jetsons is also quite bumbling.
 * Sylvester of Looney Tunes is this to Sylvester Jr.
 * Peppa Pig's Daddy Pig is a rare pre-school kid's show example.
 * El Tigre's father Rondolfo Rivera, AKA the legendary hero White Pantera, isn't as bumbling as most examples, but he comes off as way too goody-goody, especially for his Anti-Hero son and Card-Carrying Villain papi.