5 best (and 5 worst) dads from sci-fi and fantasy

Worst Dad: Tywin Lannister, from Game of Thrones

What is there to say about the man who forced his only daughter into a loveless, abusive marriage; who constantly berated, devalued and talked down to his eldest son; and who flat out despised his youngest son so much that he disinherited him and sentenced him to death?

The only thing that can reliably be said about that man, is that he is a very bad father.

While Tywin Lannister lived, he made shrewd political moves that increased the prosperity and wealth of his house, and solidified alliances that allowed him to brutally snuff out his enemies. He did all this while being the worst possible dad to his three motherless children that he could have been.

In the case of his daughter Cersei, Tywin refused to allow her to stay single after the death of her abusive husband King Robert. Instead, he forced her into a betrothal with Loras Tyrell because House Tyrell had more money than House Lannister.

Tywin wanted his eldest son Jaime to inherit the Lannister dynasty, but Jaime refused to foreswear the oaths he took as a member of the Kingsguard. So Tywin mocked him, belittling him for his lack of children and for loosing a hand during a dangerous journey to get back to him. And later, when Jaime was desperate to save his younger brother Tyrion from execution, Tywin agreed to help only if Jaime would abandon his oaths, basically extorting his own child, all so his legacy would be secure.

Speaking of Tyrion, he had it worst of all. Despite sharing Tywin’s shrewdness and ably serving as Hand of the King to Joffrey, Tywin refused to acknowledge him as his heir, making his intentions known in the most hurtful way possible:

"You are an ill-made, spiteful little creature full of envy, lust, and low cunning. Men’s laws give you the right to bear my name and display my colors since I cannot prove that you are not mine. And to teach me humility, the Gods have condemned me to watch you waddle about wearing that proud lion that was my father’s sigil and his father’s before him. But neither Gods nor men will ever compel me to let you turn Casterly Rock into your whorehouse."

Tywin’s open hatred for his youngest-born son tormented Tyrion to the point where, where he had the chance to escape King’s Landing after Tywin sentenced him to die for a crime he didn’t commit, Tyrion snuck into his father’s room for one final chat that ended with a pair of crossbow bolts lodged in Tywin’s torso, killing him.

That’s Tywin Lannister’s real legacy. Not that he was a brilliant strategist of the richest man in Westeros, but that he was an absolutely wretched father.