Rick Castle – Image © ABC Studios

I think we can all agree: The best dads are geek dads. After all, we generally share a lot of interests in common with our kids—like, reading comic books, playing video games, and building Lego— and we are far more likely to want to play a game of D&D with our kids on a Saturday morning than, say, go play a round of golf with “the guys.” So, why are there so few geek dads in fiction? When I first proposed a list of fictional geek dads, there were many here in the slave pits at Geek Dad who didn’t think I could find 10 fictional dads geeky enough to make the list. “Pshaw,” I said, “stand back.” It turned out to be tougher than I thought.

The problem with being a fictional dad (especially a fictional geek dad) is that, to make a compelling story, there has to be some element of danger. Someone’s life has to be on the line. Some tragedy has to be hanging over everybody’s heads. The protagonist (often the kid) has be risking certain death, or the story is just not going to be very interesting. Yet, one of the primary goals of being a dad (or at least a good dad) is to keep your kids out of danger. So, when looking for fictional geek dads, my criteria included how much time they spent with their children, how cool a geek they are and finally how often they place their children’s lives in mortal danger.

10. Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker, Star Wars

Marital Status: Widower

Geek Type: Gear Head

Kids: Luke and Leia

Grade: F/A+

Ok, I concede that his list of villainous crimes is lengthy: killing billions of people, torturing his own daughter, and cutting the careers of many a promising Imperial officer tragically short, to name just a very few. He may have even killed his own wife (of a “broken heart,” really?!) and tries at various times to kill his own children. But Anakin Skywalker comes through in the end, saving his boy from the Emperor and restoring balance to The Force. That’s got to be worth at least a few thousand points. And, yes, Anakin is a total gear-head geek: Even as Darth Vader, he loved his tricked out TIE Fighters.

9. The Doctor, Doctor Who

Marital Status: It’s complicated

Geek Type: It’s complicated (Varies depending on regeneration)

Kid(s): It’s complicated

Grade: N/A

We know he had a granddaughter, Susan, but her mother and father are never mentioned. At least she called him “Grandfather.” But, “Grandfather” might have been more an honorific rather than indicative of their actual relationship. And recently when asked if he had any children the Doctor said “no.” But, then there’s that episode called “The Doctor’s Daughter.” But she was actually a clone. But clones are people, too. As I say, it’s complicated.

8. Arthur Dent, Mostly Harmless

Marital Status: Single

Geek Type: Hitchhiker

Kid: Random (no, not random children. Her name is Random — Random Frequent Flier Dent).

Grade: D

Arthur Dent may be the worst father this side of a father who is actively trying to kill his own children (see above). More than neglectful, he seems incapable of anything close to a paternal feeling.

7. Wayne Szalinski, Honey, I Shrunk The Kids

Marital Status: Married

Geek Type: Inventor

Kids: Amy and Nick

Grade: C

Wayne is trying to create a shrink ray, which, of course, is best left in an attic where your nosey kids can easily find it. Talk about not kid-proofing your house!

6. Kevin Flynn, Tron: Legacy

Marital Status: Widower

Geek Type: Hacker

Kid: Sam

Grade: B−

Kevin may be the ultimate absentee father, but he does sacrifice himself to save his son. Plus, it’s not like he wanted to be trapped on the Grid for all of those years. Just the line “We’re always on the same team” chokes me up every time I hear it.

5. George McFly, Back to the Future

Marital Status: Married

Geek Type: Nerd/Sci-fi Author

Kids: Marty, Dave, Linda

Grade: B

George is hard to nail down as a dad. He starts out as a nerdy dad who loves his kids, but is basically ineffectual at every level (Grade: C−). However, through the magic of time travel, he ends up being the cool sci-fi author dad who buys his kids jeeps (Grade: A+). Averaging things out, we’ll call that a B.

Image © TBS

4. Dr. Benton Quest, Johnny Quest

Marital Status: Widower

Geek Type: Scientist

Kid: Jonny

Grade: B+

Benton is really smart, loves his son, and takes him to some cool out of the way places. We shouldn’t hold it against him too much that those places generally have giant lizards, flying saucers, and frog men trying to kill Jonny. But we will a little.

3. Caractacus Potts, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Marital Status: Widower

Geek Type: Inventor

Kids: Jeremy and Jemima

Grade: A−

Caractacus (no relationship to Galacticus) is an inventor, and, although his kids sometimes feel a bit neglected, he has a flying car to take them on picnics and tell them cool stories. His stories involve the children being abducted by a creepy child catchers, imprisoned in dungeons and then saved by Benny Hill. Minus a few points for that.

2. Gomez Addams, The Addams Family

Marital Status: Married

Geek Type: Goth

Kids: Wednesday and Pugsley

Grade: A

Gomez loves his wife (a lot!), stays at home with the kids, and is always available for fun and games. The games generally involve sharp objects, explosives, or predatory flora and fauna, but do you really think that Child Services is going to be stopping by to ask any questions? I don’t think so.

1. Richard Castle, Castle

Marital Status: Divorced

Geek Type: Literary & Secret Fanboy

Kid: Alexis

Grade: A+

Rick is always there with the father-knows-best advice, yet still finds time to listen to his daughter’s own words of wisdom. He has a cool Manhattan apartment, sends his daughter to the best schools, and only occasionally gets paranoid about her boyfriends. What’s not to love? Okay, so he needlessly endangers his own life fighting crime with the New York City Police Department, thus risking leaving his daughter fatherless. Nobody’s perfect.

OK, I’m sure I left some great geek dads out (what about Arthur Weasley?) and maybe you disagree with my ratings (Anakin got an A+?!). Let me know in the comments.

]]> http://www.jasonspeaking.com/index.php/2011/08/top-10-fictional-geek-dads/feed/ 0 http://www.jasonspeaking.com/index.php/2011/08/thus-spoke-jason-for-the-week-of-2011-08-19/ http://www.jasonspeaking.com/index.php/2011/08/thus-spoke-jason-for-the-week-of-2011-08-19/#comments Fri, 19 Aug 2011 07:59:00 +0000 Jason Cranford Teague http://www.jasonspeaking.com/index.php/2011/08/thus-spoke-jason-for-the-week-of-2011-08-19/