10 Worst Parents in Marvel Comics, Ranked By Toxicity

There are many reasons that Marvel Comics characters become superheroes, and the tougher their childhood, the better a hero they become. This is especially true when the hero had one or two terrible parents, people who pushed the kids so hard, or were so brutally cruel, that their child had no choice but to lash out and fight back. Sadly, not all the kids became heroes, and some parents were so bad that their kids ended up becoming villains instead, and the parents were completely to blame. These toxic parents were both regular people making terrible decisions, or in some cases, superpowered characters themselves.

Here is a look at the 10 worst parents in Marvel Comics, ranked by their toxicity.

10) The Runaway’s Parents

The Runaways debuted in 2003 in their own original Marvel Comics series from the creative team of Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona. They were just kids who spent time together while their parents were involved in an annual gathering. What these kids never knew was that their parents were supervillains known as the Pride, and they only had the kids to pass on their legacy and powers to them.

These kids learned about their parents’ dark secret when they walked in and saw them in the middle of a human sacrifice, and they all ran away. While that was bad enough, the Pride attempted to hunt down their children to make them pay for turning their backs on them. They even convinced one of The Runaways, Alex, to betray the others, fracturing the group of friends. Tragically, the Runaways had to help kill their parents to stop them.

9) Mephisto

It should come as no surprise that Mephisto would be a terrible parent. He is the lord of his own realm of the underworld, and he has proven to be the master of deception every time he makes any kind of deal with someone. Mephisto has destroyed the lives of countless people, from Johnny Blaze to Spider-Man. He has done the same to his own son, Blackheart. Blackheart is the son of Mephisto and Abigail Housman, the first sin absorbed in Christ Crown’s Hill.

It was through the hatred and cruelty that caused her murder that he created Blackheart. For many years, Blackheart did everything his father told him to, but nothing was ever good enough for Mephisto. Blackheart chose not to capture the time-displaced Tommy and Billy (Scarlet Witch’s kids) for his dad. Mephisto banished his son instantly, turning him into a human and abandoning him on Earth.

8) Reverend Sinclair

Reverend Sinclair is someone who isn’t a big name to most fans. However, he is one of the worst fathers ever to appear in Marvel Comics. Reverend Craig Sinclair is the father of Rahne Sinclair, Wolfsbane from the New Mutants. Reverend Craig was a single father, as Rahne’s mother was a sex worker who died while giving birth. However, he didn’t let Rahne know he was her father, claiming she was an orphan to protect his reputation.

He raised her with a strict religious upbringing and was ruthless in his punishment. When Rahne developed her mutant powers to turn into a wolf, Reverend Craig helped lead the mob in hunting her down to kill her. Moira MacTaggert saved Rahne and helped her escape Reverend Craig. When Reverend Craig returned, he was working with the Purifiers, who wanted to kill all mutants, including his own daughter. Tragically, it had to end with Rahne mauling and killing her own father, destroying her mentally.

7) Wolverine

Wolverine might not be a wonderful dad, but sometimes, it’s really not his fault. For his son Daken, he never knew the boy existed until Akihiro came to kill his father for abandoning him. Laura Kinney (X-23) is Logan’s genetic daughter and a clone whom Wolverine did everything he could to help when she showed up on his doorstep to kill him. However, other kids were not so lucky.

There was a time when a group of villains known as the Mongrels attacked Wolverine. This was a group that Daken put together when he was trying to get revenge on his father. He then gave the Mongrels to the Red Right Hand, who sent them to kill Wolverine. During the fight, Wolverine killed almost all of them, and the survivors died by suicide. After this ended, the Red Right Hand also died by suicide, leaving a recording and telling Wolverine that the Mongrels were his children.

6) Professor X

Professor X is one of Marvel Comics’ worst mentors, and he is just as terrible a father. Charles Xavier has been polarizing since he took in teenage mutants with the sole purpose of turning them into soldiers, and he has caused the death of more young mutants than even some X-Men villains. Xavier has three children: Legion, Xandra Neramani, and Charles Xavier II.

Charles Xavier II was born to Mystique (who was impersonating Moira MacTaggert) after Cyclops killed Professor X and was given up for adoption. Xandra is Xavier and Lilandra’s daughter, created using their genetic materials, and she barely knows her father. However, Xavier’s worst moment came with Legion, who was born to Charles and Gabrielle Haller, and whom Xavier has treated David with such dismissal that the young man has never had a chance when he grew up. Even when Xavier took an interest, he used his son the same way he always used the X-Men.

5) Norman Osborn

What makes Norman Osborn such a terrible father to Harry isn’t how he treated his son. It has nothing to do with him being a supervillain for much of his son’s childhood, and it wasn’t because he alternated between neglecting and humiliating his son. Norman is one of Marvel’s worst parents because of something that happened when Harry was a young child.

Norman Osborn was about to go bankrupt and was going to lose his company to his partner. As a result, Mephisto showed up and offered Norman a deal where he would ensure that Norman’s financial life was successful for two things. One was that Norman would kill someone with a Soul Dagger. However, the second was young Harry Osbpornb’s soul, and Norman sold his son’s soul to Mephisto for financial security.

4) Magneto

When Magneto first appeared in Marvel Comics, he showed he would do anything to ensure the mutants were always the superior species on the planet, and when his history storyline added his time as a child in concentration camps, it showed why. This is also why he was so harsh on his two children, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, because he wanted to raise them to be strong enough to survive the hateful human population.

However, it turned out that neither of the twins was Magneto’s child, and he was just made to believe this, which doesn’t change how poorly he treated them. Magneto has an actual daughter in Polaris. Her mother was Suzanne Dane, a woman who had an affair with Magneto and hid her daughter’s existence from him. Magneto never treated her right and often belittled her, but they did finally grow closer on Krakoa.

3) Thanos

Thanos had a terrible upbringing. When he was born, his mother took one look at him and realized he was a Deviant, and she tried to kill him. Thanos defended himself and killed her before she could continue hunting him. Seeing how his parents didn’t care about him, he was not much of a parent himself to any of his children. He has a son named Thane and foster daughters in Gamora and Nebula.

Thanos also had several other children, but he set out with his Black Order to raze worlds so he could kill all his secret children, which he succeeded at until he reached Earth, and his son Thane defeated him. However, as Thanos’s son, Thane ended up becoming almost worse than his father. Even worse were his foster daughters. He raised Gamora to be a cold-blooded killer and experimented on Nebula, horribly disfiguring her, and neither woman came out of the situation mentally well.

2) Odin

Odin has always been one of the worst fathers in all of Marvel Comics, a god who puts his role as the ruler of Asgard ahead of his own children. Thor got the least brunt of Odin’s wrath, as most of what Odin did to Thor was to make him a better god. He stripped him of his powers and banished him to Earth. Odin also forced Thor to share the body with a human that he created, and he was brutally vindictive anytime Thor stepped out of line.

However, Odin’s actions toward his adopted son, Loki, were even worse. It was a Shakespearean tragedy in that Loki wanted acceptance and love, and Odin always dismissed him. Odin was as much to blame for Loki turning evil as anyone else. It says a lot that Loki didn’t become a hero until Odin was out of power and Loki finally worked alongside his brother.

1) Brian Banner

There is a reason that the Hulk is the only gamma-powered mutate who can’t keep control. Bruce Banner has DID, and many of his problems stem from childhood trauma that his father, Brian Banner, caused. When Bruce was born, Brian had been working with gamma radiation, and he was worried it had affected his son. When Bruce turned out to be a genius as a child, it convinced Brian that he had ruined Bruce.

Brian emotionally and physically abused Bruce because the boy was smart. When Bruce’s mother tried to stand up to Brian, he killed her in front of Bruce and blamed his son. This marked the start of Bruce’s mental disintegration, as he blocked out the moment from his mind. When Bruce became the Hulk, they ended up as two beings since the Hulk was Bruce’s suppressed rage. It was all Brian Banner’s fault, and when Brian returned later as a demon, torturing Bruce mentally years after his death.

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