Team Mom

Janeway: I'm not a parent!
Q: Maybe not in the biological sense, but you're certainly a mommy to this crew. Just look how quickly you house-broke that Borg drone.

—Star Trek: Voyager

In an Ensembles show, especially of the fighting kind, there needs to be someone to hold this Ragtag Bunch of Misfits together before they kill each other or wander off into the woods like so many Player Characters. Almost always a female, Team Mom basically acts as the mother figure for everyone else in the group, regardless of age or family relations. That said, the Overprotective Dad or older brother can qualify for Team Mom, and the same goes for a Cool Big Sis who grows Older and Wiser. In many cases, she actually is a mother or older sister to at least one other character.

Not always the leader in action or adventure, but the leader the team needs in everyday life and practical matters. Quells fights, makes sure everyone cleans behind their ears and eats their greens. Can be pretty bossy. Usually, they're Gentle Giant, cute, kind, and capable of stern mothering (or papaing, even).

Often enough, she's The Medic or The Heart. May be a Nice Girl, White Magician Girl, or The Messiah. If she's a more physical fighter, expect her to be a Black Magician Girl or a Lady of War (and maybe an Action Mom, if she's got her own kids aside of the group members). They are by definition never the loner, and will in fact tend to be the one who pulls them into the cast's orbit as a Sixth Ranger. If anyone can break through and bring about a Heel Face Turn or Cooldown Hug, it's the Team Mom.

While they tend to be less combat capable than their teammates, Beware the Nice Ones most definitely applies, if any of her surrogate children or siblings are threatened, she can snap into angry Mama Bear mode and kick ass. Their absence (be it emotional or physical) will most certainly put the team on edge as their ability to function as, well, a team, comes into jeopardy. Thus these instances serve as a reminder of her value when the team grows complacent. And by the way? Villains should NOT threaten or harm her. Ever. Her family will not be pleased.

The Team Mom is frequently shipped with the Team Dad, for obvious reasons.

See also the aforementioned Team Dad. If these two frequently work together, they serve as the Designated Parents. Her High School counterpart is the Cute Sports Club Manager. Subtrope of The Face. Compare and contrast Cool Big Sis, Morality Pet. See also Only Sane Man, Only Sane Employee, Harem Nanny, Promotion to Parent and Apron Matron. May be the person holding the Morality Chain.

Examples of Team Mom include:

Anime and Manga

  • Lieutenant Filicia Heidemann from So Ra No Wo To fits this trope to a T, crossing it over with Mama Bear in the meantime.
  • Formerly the page image: Sarah Dupont in Kaleido Star, despite sometimes acting even more childish than her proteges.
  • Brock from the Pokémon anime is a Rare Male Example.
    • And Dawn's Togekiss looks to be one of these too, which is Lampshaded when she looks after Piplup as if it were, well, a little chick.
      • Played terribly straight in the final episode of the DP saga, when it comforts Pikachu and Piplup as they cry uncontrollably because Ash and Pikachu have to go back to Kanto.
    • In BW, we have Ash's Snivy, who seems to have taken up guiding the more childish pokemon in the group as its calling. Shown in BW 57, when she has to save Axew and Scraggy after they accidentally enrage a wild garbodor in the middle of the night.
  • Another male example is the male Yamato Nadeshiko Oishi Shuichiro of The Prince of Tennis—Vice-captain of Seigaku's tennis team, he is often nicknamed "Mother Hen of Seigaku" by his teammates for his motherly nature. In the parody where the teammates are portrayed as a large extended family, he gets to be the mother, predictably.
    • Jackal Kuwahara from Rikkai also is the Team Mom. More specifically, he's often asked to take care of his Bratty Half-Pint kouhai Akaya Kirihara.
    • A third male example would be Koujirou Saeki from Rokkaku.
  • Nami of One Piece, although she's a particularly selfish example. This ended when Robin pretty much took over the role of Team Mom over time, even managing to mother Nami herself.
  • Ouran High School Host Club - Kyoya is dubbed Team Mom by self-proclaimed Team Dad Tamaki, and Tamaki ups this a notch by addressing Kyoya as "Mom" quite frequently. Technically, however, Tamaki is more of the Team Mom, while Kyoya is the Team Dad.
  • Sora Takenouchi from Digimon Adventure fell into this rather frequently - near the end, she had a nervous breakdown about how she felt like she couldn't live up to everyone's expectations of her achieving this role.
  • Fai is not only frequently referred to as the team mom in Tsubasa but makes sure everyone knows Kurogane's the Team Dad, too. (Much to Kurogane's disgust and the Yaoi Fangirls delight.)
  • The Mobile Suit Gundam series, either from the Universal Century continuity or the numerous AU series, seem to REALLY love to apply this trope to their girls:
    • In the original Mobile Suit Gundam, we have both White Base helmswoman Mirai Yashima and Lieutenant Matilda Ajan. Mirai's place as Team Mom is acknowledged in canon when Ace Pilot Sleggar tells Cameron Bloom that he should respect Mirai's wishes, since she's the mother of the White Base and is confirmed when she gets involved with Bright, the Team Dad. Frau Bow also was a bit of a Team Mom, though younger and more childish than the other two.
    • In Zeta Gundam, Mirai is succeeded by AEUG female pilots Emma Sheen and Reccoa Londo ( though the latter has a Face Heel Turn). The Team Mom torch is then passed on Chinese Girl Fa Yuiri in Gundam ZZ, and to Ace Pilot Marvette Fingerhut in Victory Gundam. Who is actually pregnant with her child at the end of the series. Too bad the baby's father, Oliver Inoue, had already been killed through Heroic Sacrifice.
    • If we go to AU Gundams, G Gundam sometimes places Rain Mikamura in this role.
    • In Gundam Wing we have Action Girls Lucrezia Noin and Sally Po, as well as circus girl Catherine Bloom. They're joined by the no-longer psychotic Lady Une in Endless Waltz, and by the Older and Wiser Hilde Schbeiker in the Frozen Teardrop novels.
    • Murrue Ramius was not just The Captain, but also Team Mom for the Archangel's teenaged pilots and Bridge Bunnies in Gundam Seed. Her second-in-command Natarle Badgiruel wasn't too happy with this, but Murrue's example nevertheless prompted Natarle to act as a Team Mom to Fallen Princess Fllay Alster when she became her bridge bunny in the Dominion.
    • Leesa Kujoh aka Sumeragi Lee Noriega from Mobile Suit Gundam 00 pretty much fits this to a T, in addition to her role as the the captain of Ptolemaios.
      • Also Princess Marina Ismail, emphasized when she mothers a bunch of kids who are refugees from her destroyed Kingdom
  • Sakura Kakei from GetBackers, who is the Team Mom for several street gangs she's joined.
  • The Team Mom in Wa Ga Na Wa Umishi is more like the team grandpa, old Gramp. Without him there's a better than 80% chance that the rest of Nanba Salvage would have killed each other by now.
  • Shamal from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's. Notable in that she's the Team Mom of the Quirky Miniboss Squad...at least, that's how they start out.
    • Also, to an extent, Lindy Harlaown... and Nanoha and Fate themselves, in StrikerS.
  • Captain Retsu Unohana aka Captain Mom from Bleach, among the Shinigami, though she's really not less combat-capable than others. Kon lampshades the trope when he refers to her as "okaasan", aka "mom".
    • There's also a subversion in the Kurosaki family, where the one handling the housework and keeping the family fed and well taken care of is actually an eleven-year-old girl, Ichigo's little sister Yuzu.
    • We also have a villainous example in the Third Espada Tia Harribel, who seems to have a quite close relationship with her all female Fraccion.
  • Francoise Arnoul aka 003 of Cyborg 009, more in the 2001 adaptation than the others. Not only she takes care of baby Ivan/001 as if he was either her child or baby brother and aids Dr. Gilmore when he's gotta take care of the others, but at some point she talks to a disgruntled Jet/002 as if she was lecturing a whiny kid, despite them being the same age (they were both made cyborgs when they were teenagers). Lampshaded in a 2001 episode where she's kidnapped by a Mailer Daemon with huge Mommy Issues, and one of the reasons behind that is speculated to be Francoise's motherly behavior.
  • Yuka, Kouta's cousin from Elfen Lied. Lampshaded in the anime, where she's sometimes referred to as the "mother" of the group.
    • Even more when she and Kouta are given custody of Mayu, making her the girl's adoptive mother.
  • Megumi Takani from Rurouni Kenshin.
    • Also, Ill Girl Sayo Magdaria in the anime.
  • Kurenai Yuuhi from Naruto, especially towards Hinata, and is also literally a mom now, being pregnant with the deceased Team Dad Sarutobi Asuma's child.
    • Iruka Umino counts as a male example.
    • Princess Tsunade turns into this after becoming the Fifth Hokage. The Mizukage might fit in as well.
  • Raquel Casull of Scrapped Princess. If there is one perfect mother figure who isn't actually a mother, it's her.
  • Chrono sometimes falls into this role in Chrono Crusade—humorously so, considering he's only male member of his group and appears to be much younger than he really is. Fiore also seems to take on this role for the villain's group. After Mary Magdalene, anyway.
  • Colonel Volcott from Galaxy Angel takes on this role even though he's a guy. Since it's played for comedy, he completely fails at being a Team Mom, and ends up being more of a 'team maid' doing all the menial chores.
  • Saori Kido aka Athena from Saint Seiya. Occasionally, Aquila Marin also fills in. It shall be noted that both are teenagers, with Marin being as much 17 and Saori being 13: this means that Saori is younger than some of the guys she mothers around.
    • Polaris Hilda was the Team Mom for the whole Ansgard, until she was brainwashed into becoming the Dark Messiah. She gets better.
    • A more down to Earth example is Miho, Seiya's Unlucky Childhood Friend, who plays the role for the kids from the orphanage she grew up in.
  • Mega in Transformers Super God Masterforce is a rare villainous example.
  • Cordelia in Romeo X Juliet, despite being only two years older than Juliet. She becomes a literal mom in the epilogue.
  • On her most focused days, Midori Sugiura from My-HiME fills this role.
  • Yukine of Clannad, who plays this role for both her brother's gang and their rival gang.
  • Tea Gardner/Anzu Mazaki from Yu-Gi-Oh!!
  • Mamori Anezaki from Eyeshield 21. She even manages to (sort of) mother Hiruma, machine guns and all.
    • What's more, her affection for Sena is explicitly maternal in nature.
  • Sanae Nakazawa, Yukari Nishimoto, Yayoi Aoba, Yoshiko Fujisawa, Machiko Machida and (in the videogames) Youko Katagiri from Captain Tsubasa. Justified trope since they're all the managers of their respective teams, so they're literally the team moms. Kumi Sugimoto is an exception: she's an assistant too, but doesn't fill in since she's actually a newbie to the sport.
    • Also, Tsubasa's mother Natsuko (specially in the first tournament arc) and Hyuga's manager Kaori Matsumoto.
  • Axis Powers Hetalia has a male and two females in the Team Mom role. The male is Antonio/Spain, who raises Lovino/South Italy almost on his own. The females are Elizaveta/Hungary (who starts as Feliciano/North Italy's Cool Big Sis and is promoted to Team Mom when she marries Team Dad Roderich/Austria) and Ukraine (who is less lucky since her younger siblings are both Yanderes)
    • England tries to be this for the Allies, but whether it works or not...
      • He's more of a Team Dad, arguably. China fits better as Team Mom, and even more if we consider his relationships with the other Asians.
      • Occasionally, Vietnam will play this role in fanon towards the Asians with China s the Team Dad.
  • Mia Kouji/Nasuti Yagyuu from Ronin Warriors.
  • Vega in GEAR Fighter Dendoh, literally.
  • In Fruits Basket we have two. Kyoko Honda nee Katsunuma (a rare loner example, who because of her past she recruits quite the Ragtag Bunch of Misfits, including her own daughter after her future husband, Honda Katsuya, healed her with the Power of Love) and Kyouko's daughter Honda Tohru (a more traditional example, who also heals and held the Ragtag Bunch of Misfits together with the Power of Love).
  • Isabella Yamamoto in Paradise Kiss... who's actually a Transsexualism.
  • Older example: Megumi Ouka from Voltes V.
  • If it were a regular giant robot anime this ought be the role Misato fills in Neon Genesis Evangelion, but since it is Evangelion she fucking sucks at it.
    • Under "normal circumstances", Misato's Hot Scientist best friend Ritsuko Akagi would be a secondary Team Mom, and in fact she does fill in during the more light-hearted first part of the series and even manages to mother Misato herself... but you said that already, this is Evangelion
  • In Cowboy Bebop, Jet Black is an odd masculine Cool Old Guy male version of this trope. Though he has plenty of Badass moments, he is very much the Team Mom in domestic concerns aboard the Bebop, especially when it comes to feeding the crew. He's also a good example of a Team Dad as well, particularly when it comes to Spike and Faye.
    • This is at least in part due to a truly massive lack of competition for the job. Who else is going to do it? Spike? Faye? Ed?! The second most responsible person on the crew is probably Ein, and he's a damned dog.
  • Fuu in Samurai Champloo, keeping Mugen and Jin to bitch/kill each other.
  • Kagome Higurashi in Inuyasha. As The Chick and The Lancer in the Five-Man Band, she keeps The Hero in line ("SIT, BOY!"), acts like the Tagalong Kid's Parental Substitute, offers The Big Girl moral support and ships her with The Smart Guy.
  • Lussuria of Reborn refers to himself as the "Mommy" of the Varia, so much so that his underlings actually call him "big sis" * shudder* .
  • Namiko of GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class-- Lampshaded by her version of the ending that said she practically "mothers" the others.
  • Flute becomes this in The Violinist of Hamelin. It's even commented on by others, and pointed out that since most of them lost their own mothers at a young age, Flute just sort of naturally becomes a surrogate parent to them. Flute's own mother Queen Horn seems to be this for all of Sforzando.
  • Kitty Kitten from Space Runaway Ideon was this to the orphans she took under her wing. To a degree, Lin and Karala fit in too.
  • Farnese becomes this in Berserk, as Casca's caretaker and because of her willingness to take care of everyone's basic needs.
  • Trunks acted as a male version of this trope for Goku, Pan, and Gill/Giru during the first half of Dragon Ball GT.
    • One or twice, Goku's wife Chi-Chi found herself in this position.
  • Believe it or not, Haruhi Suzumiya takes up the role from time to time. Like when she takes care of Kyon after he falls off a cliff during the Mystery Murder, plays with Kyon's little sister and other kids, stays by Kyon's bedside for three days when he's hospitalized during Disappearance or watches over the sick Yuki in the beginning of Volume 10.
  • Marie Mjolnir from Soul Eater.
  • Nana "Hachi" Komatsu, who is usually the childish one in most of her relationships, is actually quite motherly towards the members of Blast (with the exception of Yasu, who is this type of character too), even before she finds out she's pregnant. Afterwards, it only increases especially in regard to her taking care of Nana O. after Ren's death in the current story arc. Shin even starts referring to her as his mother.
  • Both Captain Misumi Tanaka and Maki Anou in Bokurano.
  • In Mahou Sensei Negima, Evangeline, of all people, has been known to act like this. Of course, she will vehemently deny this if you bring it up.
    • Also Chizuru Naba, and more recently Akira Ookochi.
    • Ayaka was already the Class Representative, but fits more as team mom after it's revealed that Negi gave her a sort-of role in his plans.
    • Chisame fills the role in the Magic World Arc, making sure everybody stays on track and keeping the more Cloudcuckoolander characters in check.
    • If the various flashbacks are any indication, Alebreio Imma was Team Mom for Ala Rubra with Konoe Eishun serving as Team Dad.
  • Cleao Everlasting from Orphen, and formerly Stephanie.
  • Hellsing's Integra acts this way sometimes in the manga, in particular as contrast to "Team Dad" Alucard in their guidance of Seras Victoria. While he tries to be harsh, lying down the rules and teaching her practical matters in his twisted way, Integra nurtures her in own way, gives Cool Down Hugs and feeds her (via her own blood) with more diplomacy. At the epilogue, she chides at her like a mother would to a naughty child.
  • In Sailor Moon, Setsuna/Pluto fits this role as a mediator between the idealistic Inner Senshi and the pragmatic Outer Senshi.
    • Among the Inner Seishi, Makoto/Jupiter and Ami/Mercury have shades of this. Mako is the one who takes care more of housekeeping stuff and the Senshi as a whole adore her cooking, and Ami is the more Closer to Earth of the girls and often keeps her teammates grounded. And God help you if you look at the other Seishi wrong: either of these girls will FUCK YOUR SHIT UP.
    • In the Slice of Life settings, Haruna Sakurada was this and a Stern Teacher. Too bad she got Demoted to Extra after the R season.
    • Even Luna the Cat has the Team Mom ball on her kitten back more than once, specially towards Usagi since she lives with her.
  • Ichiyo from Cross Game.
  • Tiger and Bunny has two maleexamples. Kotetsu tries to "mother" his partner Barnaby and make sure he eats properly (somewhat ironic considering the fact that Barnaby's an orphan), but ends up being more successful in the case of Ivan, Pao-Lin and Karina. The other "mom", Nathan, is more than happy to listen to his fellow superheroes' woes—lending helpful and worldly advice whenever possible.
  • Ayako Matsuzaki in Ghost Hunt, with Bou-san as Team Dad.
  • Shizuka from Hana Yori Dango seems to have formerly filled this role for the F4, and her absence may have something to do with the extreme levels of jerkassery they've fallen to by the beginning of the series.
  • Karen Kasumi from X 1999, with Seiichiro Aoki as the Team Dad.
  • Himari Takakura from Mawaru Penguindrum, despite being the youngest of the Takakura household. Not to mention, she mothers penguins around too.
  • Ibuki of Asu no Yoichi fits this to a T, as a natural result of Promotion to Parent after thier parents left her and her sisters alone as children.
  • In Saint Beast, Rey tries to fulfil this role, being the cook, The Heart, and the mediator, but occasionally fails thanks to his Foil Gai, who is good at bringing out his immature side.
  • In Fairy Tail, Erza fits this role among Team Natsu as well as The Big Guy. As far as the entire guild goes, Mirajane shares this role with her, but she's also their cover girl.


Comic Books

  • Susan Storm from the Fantastic Four
  • Nico Minoru of the Runaways, as noted above. In her case, she actually is the Team Leader in battle, after Alex betrays the team and then dies.
  • Many X-Women have fallen into this trope, most famously Jean Grey, but also Storm and, most recently, Emma Frost.
  • Before her leaving Gotham during the 'War Games' arc, Barbara/Oracle fulfilled this role to the Bat-Family. Which made things slightly odd given that Batman is one of her father figures. And that for a long while she was dating Nightwing.
    • Aside from the minor fact that he's male, Alfred fits the role much better for the Bat-Family, to the point that Dick once actually called him his mom.
  • The absent-minded cleric Piffany provides the moral center for the group in Nodwick (she's also The Medic). Her status as a likable, ditzy Purity Sue (by canon!) has her teammates be able to identify who the truly evil people in the setting are by them being mean to her. Gods save you from these Sociopathic Heroes if you make her cry.
  • Bane is trying to be this in the new Secret Six series. Seeing him mother assassins is... interesting, to say the least especially given that he's The Big Guy.
  • Heather Hudson of Alpha Flight.
  • When Robin, Superboy, and Impulse first started out as Young Justice, Robin remarked with disgust that they were acting more like Impulse's parents than his teammates. To which Superboy responded "Whoa, hey! I am not the mom, okay? I am NOT the mom!"
  • Both Catherine Cobert and Sue Dibny played this role for the Justice League of Europe.
  • Mother of Champions is this to the Great Ten, serving as a paragon of wisdom and emotional strength. It takes some kind of woman to have lose 25 children eight days after they're born and remain in control. She's actually had sex with most of her teammates - but that's because these couplings produce soldiers with even greater abilities.


Fan Works

  • Unohana is this towards Squad 4 in Bleach canon. In Downfall, she manages to be this to the arrancar in an... odd way.
  • I can't think of a more obvious example of this in any story, than Aeris in The Unfamiliar
    • Also, arguably Jenova. In a weird, creepy way.
  • Of all people, Vexen is completely this in Fill the Moon; he basically raised the incredibly dysfunctional Badass Family that was the Apprentices during their time in Radiant Garden, and continues to do so after they all become Nobodies. Once the Organization's ranks begin to swell, he manages to accept the others as surrogate children. Well, except for Marluxia, but he's his lover.
  • In "post-rescue" Galaxy Rangers scenarios, Eliza Foxx often steps up for this role. Her husband added three more "kids" to the roster during her absence.
  • In fitting with the Comic Book example above, Sue Dibny is the Team Mom of almost the entire superhero community in DC Nation. It helps when you're the political liaison for the Justice League and used to take the senior Titans out for ice-cream after report cards.
  • Jeri Katou in the Tamers Forever Series is a Team Mama Bear, as even when she Takes a Level in Badass and becomes an Action Girl she is still the most protective of the tamers.
  • In Vocaloid fanon, Meiko tends to take this role when not being a drunkard. Due to her shared status as The Ladette, however, she tends to be either a My Beloved Smother or Mama Bear as well. When it's not her, it's usually Luka.


Film

  • According to his toy bio, Demolishor from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen acts as a den mother guardian to a leaderless group of Decepticons on Earth. Giant. One-wheeled. Rampaging. Demolishor.
  • Hal Moore's wife does this in We Were Soldiers personally handing the notifications to the families of the fallen.
  • Helen (aka, ElastiGirl) on The Incredibles, literally and figuratively, although the upcoming sequel seems to suggest she's becoming more of a career-mom. (As in, one that's never home.)

Literature

  • Kel takes this role from the start and escalates it through the series. From the leader of a study group in book one to refugee camp in book four. She's even a full-fledged Parental Substitute for Tobe.
  • There's Molly Weasley of Harry Potter who is the mother of seven children. She consider Harry like a son, treats Hermione like a daughter and acts as hostess to the whole Order of the Phoenix as well.
  • Wendy Moira Angela Darling from Peter Pan (currently pictured above), which makes this Older Than Radio. You know when Maggie in Hook berates Dustin Hoffman for "needing a mother very badly"? It effectively harks back to the original novel.
  • The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Edmund Pevensie claims Susan always tries to act like Mother, bossing the two youngest Pevensies around. He's right. Her goal is to keep them safe.
  • Margaret "Meg" March, the oldest sister in Little Women. In Little Men, her middle sister Jo becomes the Team Mom of the Plumfield children.
  • All of the aunts in Louisa May Alcott's Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom try their hands at this, but the ones who grasp the concept the most are Aunt Jessie, Aunt Plenty and Aunt Jane.
  • Susan in the Swallows and Amazons series.
  • Max from Maximum Ride fits this to the letter. And she does frequently go Mama Bear, particularly when Angel is involved.
  • 'Mother' from several Matthew Reilly novels isn't actually named for being maternal (her codename is an abbreviation of a slightly longer word...), but nevertheless often fills this role, along with truly terrifying Mama Bear moments. Paraphrasing the author: "A six foot shaved bald female Marine with a heart of gold."
  • In Robert Asprin's Phule's Company series of books, the female Legionnaire Rose is a painfully shy soldier who can only communicate when using a radio. She is apparently becomes very good at it and becomes the main communications point of the company, with everyone calling her "Mother" for being the kindly nag that she is, about things like eating and sleeping. She even mothers Phule and Brandy.
  • Renie Sulaweyo adopts this role to some extent in Otherland, acting as the leader, spokesperson, and Mama Bear for the Ragtag Bunch of Misfits infiltrating the computer network. Of course, she's not (with a few exceptions) herding around a bunch of kids, and so the others frequently resent this behavior.
  • Fitz Kreiner, from the Doctor Who Expanded Universe Eighth Doctor Adventures, once brought three meals a day to the Doctor's door when the Doctor was mourning the death of a loved one, for almost four whole days. The Doctor never actually ate any of them. He also once carried around a pair of clean socks for days while the Doctor was wandering through a jungle—when the Doctor reemerges, he finds he does in fact need them. Whenever the Doctor gets hurt, it's almost inevitably Fitz's job to get him to take a break and then tend to him. He's also the first character to start treating Trix civilly, even though she stowed away on the TARDIS, and he often functions as The Heart of the group when the Doctor is making morally-dubious decisions. When the Doctor develops Trauma-Induced Amnesia, Fitz ends up with the most functional seniority on the TARDIS. Although the Doctor is also the Team Chef and often protective of the other characters, Fitz is so overly loyal to the Doctor that he doesn't always call him on his shit, and Anji is responsible for the vast majority of the series' sensible decision-making, see the following exchange, in which Fitz behaves like Molly Weasley and the Doctor lampshades it:

A moment later, she heard the footsteps on the stairs and Fitz banged in. He glared at the Doctor.
'Here you are! I've been all over the bloody place not knowing what had happened to you. You ever hear of leaving someone a note?'
'Sorry, Da,' murmured the Doctor.

  • Cassie in Animorphs.
  • Vanity, from John C. Wright's Chronicles of Chaos is universally recognized as team mom, despite being the third youngest member. She cemented her status by getting fire, food, and dry clothes for the team after their previous leader inadvertently dropped them into a river.
  • Antonia is this to the Theodoran Cohort in Belisarius Series.
  • Mommy fills this role in The Fire-us Trilogy for a group of orphans trying to survive in a post-apocolyptic world.
  • In Death: Dr. Mira. She has explicitly told Eve in Judgment In Death that she considers her a surrogate daughter.
  • Mina Harker serves this role in Bram Stoker's Dracula. It's a little muddled at times, what with her also being the Damsel in Distress, but it really shows at the beginning of the third act. With team morale failing, Mina talks to each of the men and convinces them to keep fighting, not just for her sake, but to avenge fallen friends and to cleanse the world of evil.
  • Rosalind in The Penderwicks, being the eldest of four sisters with a Missing Mom.


Live Action TV

  • Carla of Scrubs. Frequently complains about it, but in all honesty, "it's like crack" to her.
  • Dr. Grace Foley in Waking the Dead.
  • Captain Kathryn Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager was likewise both The Captain and Team Mom, settling disputes, ordering her officers to get along, and helping "raise" several characters like Kes and Seven of Nine. Openly Lampshaded in "Barge of the Dead" when B'Elanna encounters her mother in the Klingon afterlife—wearing a Starfleet uniform and using phrases Janeway had said earlier in the episode. Q calls her on it as well, when trying to dump his own teen rebel son on Janeway. In "Favorite Son", Kim dreamed that his mother said she was suspending him from duty (a line that the Captain had given him that day). There's something about this crew....
  • Lucy on Hey Dude.
  • Joyce Summers on Buffy. She took care of Willow and Xander when sick, soothed a brokenhearted Spike with cocoa and marshmallows (while he was still evil!), and once clubbed Spike unconscious with an axe in an awesome display of Mama Bear.
  • iCarly: Carly takes the "parental" role towards the other 3 main characters: to Sam in iWas a Pageant Girl, to Freddie in iWill Date Freddie and to Spencer in majority of the episodes. iKiss had her to be a "mom" to all 3 of them in a single episode by motivating Spencer's workout, sympathising with Freddie and later reprimanding Sam for her on-air attack on Freddie.
    • Mrs. Benson also fills in this role, most especially in iGo to Japan.
  • Dr. Lisa Cuddy of House.
    • And, to some extent, Dr. James Wilson. House's "ducklings" are frequently running to him for help, comfort and guidance when House is making their lives miserable. Lampshaded in a season two episode where House is out of town and calls Wilson, beginning the conversation with: "Hi, honey. How are the kids?"
  • Lana Hawkins of Strong Medicine.
  • Aaron Hotchner of Criminal Minds is another male example, although he doesn't fit the role perfectly: if anyone on the team breaks FBI protocol, he'll chastise them for that before he tells them how proud he is.
    • Lampshaded in an early episode when Elle starts referring to him as 'mom'. He gets mad and tells her to stop.
    • Lampshaded again after Rossi has joined the team, with the others referring to them as Mom and Dad.
  • Stacie Monroe from Hustle, arguably.
  • CSI (original series) has Catherine (who usually takes the role of Cool Big Sis, but she has her "Mom" moments); CSI: Miami has Alexx, who even acts matronly to the corpses that come her way. CSI NY had Stella Bonasera for a while, though Jo Danville is kind of taking over on occasion since she replaced Stella.
  • Jon Stewart ends up in this role from time to time as a result of being the Only Sane Man at The Daily Show.
  • Despite being male, Ren from Engine Sentai Go-onger fits this pretty well, to the extent that other characters on the show have actually dubbed him the mom of the group.
  • Laura Roslin of Battlestar Galactica Reimagined fulfills this role. Up to and including schooling people when necessary.
  • How I Met Your Mother's most prominent Team Mom is Lily, although Ted has strong shades of this trope too.
    • In fact, while Ted is Lampshaded in-canon as being the Team Dad, he seems to better fit the Team Mom trope. Both he and Lily spend a lot of time worrying and fussing over the others, making them talk their problems out, bossing them around or doling out much-needed advice.
  • The Big Bang Theory's Penny is occasionally roped into this, as she is too sympathetic to refuse the job. Usually ends up getting stuck with Sheldon when no one else wants to deal with him. She's even taken to calling him "honey" and "sweetheart" in a kind, yet extremely patronizing, manner. This was especially emphasized in the episode The Guitarist Amplification, where Sheldon runs away to the comic book store, because he can't bear hearing Penny and Leonard fighting.
  • Male example: Sergeant Carwood Lipton (played by Donnie Wahlberg) from Band of Brothers, as he most often is the one looking out for Easy Company.
  • Alex of Noah's Arc generally falls into this role, being the more warm and nurturing one of the group.
  • Both Alyssa Enrile/White Tiger Ranger and Princess Shayla from Power Rangers Wild Force. Alyssa is even seen reading fairy tales to her friends and becomes a schoolteacher after the Grand Finale
    • Also Hayley from Dino Thunder, Dr. Kat Manx from SPD and Udonna from Mystic Force.
    • Katie, the Yellow Time Force Ranger. And her legendary hugs.
  • Super Sentai example: Miyuki, aka MagiMother from Mahou Sentai Magiranger. However, after falling in battle, her daughter Urara takes her position.
  • Madeline Westen, of Burn Notice, is the literal (to Michael and Nate) and figurative (to everybody else) Team Mom.
  • In That '70s Show, Eric Forman's mother Kitty mothers everyone in the gang.
  • Monica Geller in Friends.
  • Dwayne Wayne's mom (played by Patti Labelle) on A Different World mothers all of Dwayne's friends and brings her famous prune cobbler. Lettie and Stevie are this at Gilbert Hall.
  • Alex Eames (and, also, Megan Wheeler) of Law and Order: Criminal Intent. When you consider who their partners are - the completely neurotic Bobby Goren and the madcap Zach Nichols - it's easily understandable. Even Captain Danny Ross isn't above acting like a little boy most of the time.
  • Amber of The Tribe mothers or bosses everyone she comes into contact with. To such an extent that she's the de facto leader of the Mall Rats, no matter who else is technically in charge.
  • Blair is the team mom of Gossip Girls Non-Judging Breakfast Club, which Nate points out in one episode (though Blair denies it).

Nate: You're really sweet with him. Worrying about him, offering him food, it's... downright maternal.
Blair: I'm not maternal, I've just been spending too much time with Cyrus and I'm turning Jewish.

  • Raquel Turner becomes the team mom of the Trotter Family in Only Fools and Horses.
  • The 30 Rock episode "Khonani" was about how Liz Lemon is this, in addition to being the Only Sane Woman, to her co-workers.
  • In Firefly, Inara fills in this role for Serenity's crew from time to time, most commonly with River.
  • On Leverage, "Sophie" fills this role to a tee.
  • Mr. Schue on Glee is a male-example. Even more rare is that he is also the main character.
  • The Sarah Jane Adventures: the title character, besides being Luke's adopted mother.
  • Alex from Ashes to Ashes. Pretty much her entire role in the third series is to sort out the problems of the other characters, and she is the one who offers advice and a shoulder to cry on throughout. There is the distinct implication throughout the first and second series of a lack of balance in the team when she isn't there which is supported by the way it falls apart after Gene shoots her, and the team members are so protective of her that physical or verbal slights towards her committed by outsiders have resulted in severe beatings, death, and an eleven-year-old school boy being thrown in a cell. Almost lampshaded twice:
  • hits man holding a knife to Gene's throat over the head with a crowbar*

Alex: Say hello to mummy bear

    • And:

Gene: I left the children playing

  • Lt Nate Fick in "Generation Kill", he's their superior but he's a Mom in so many ways.
    • Sgt Colbert "The Iceman" take the part when his superior's not here. Even other team's leaders listen to him.
  • In Kamen Rider OOO, Mezool was a villainous version of this role for the original four Greeed, particularly Gamel.
  • Henrietta 'Hetty' Lange in NCIS: Los Angeles is very much the Team Mom. The short, sweet, scary, seventy-year-old spy of a Team Mom. Don't get on her bad side.
  • Deconstructed in Community episode Comparative Religion; Shirley usually fulfills the role in a more benevolent fashion, but here she explicitly does so in a passive-aggressive and emotionally manipulative manner designed to guilt trip and browbeat her friends into doing what she wants to do how she wants to with little consideration for their thoughts on the subject. It's also pointed out that she's not actually their mother, no matter how much she acts like it, and so has no right to do this sort of thing.
    • "You can't talk to me like that. You're not Shirley!" [Beat] "And Shirley's not my Mom!"
  • On Bones, Cam sometimes fills this role. She even said to Hodgins and Vincent "You know you're both grounded, right?" after they fired a cannon indoors.
    • And rather than firing them, she just bans them from being in the same room without supervision.
  • One episode of the British documentary Coppers was about a Territorial Support Group - a van load of cops who act as mobile backup. Their sergeant was a woman. She said "I don't actually have any children, but I sometimes feel like a parent when I'm with this lot."
  • Billie in "Here Come the Double Deckers!" often assumes this role towards the other kids in the gang, particularly towards Tiger, the youngest member and her fellow female.


Religion

  • In the Gospel of John (19:25-27) Jesus, on the cross and near death, made his mother Mary the Team Mom for the early Christians.
    • And now she's considered Team Mom for the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches; the Protestant churches tend to downplay her importance.


Toys

  • Gali from Bionicle tends to fill this role as the voice of reason, peacemaker for her team-mates.


Video Games

  • Damsel, the Tsundere Brujah of the Anarchs from Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines explicitly identifies herself as the "den mother" of the other Anarchs, and given how she's the one who gives you missions geared towards looking out for vampire community and trying to help you stay out of trouble (trying to convince you jumping ship from anything to do with LaCroix and the Camarilla), that title seems like its more than self appointed.
  • Raine Sage from Tales of Symphonia.
  • In Fire Emblem, you have Eyvel (Thracia 776) and Titania (Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn). They play Team Mom to the Fiana Braves and Greil Mercenaries, respectively.

Boyd: Every time I look at you, Titania... I think that you're the prettiest person I've ever seen!
Titania: Uh... Um, thank you, Boyd... But I... Look, you and me, we're--
Boyd: You're like a really nice mom or something! Um... I mean...
Titania: ...

    • Micaiah from Radiant Dawn is also a Team Mom to the younger members of the Dawn Brigade, such as Sothe.
  • The Boss of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is frequently referenced as this in relation to the Cobras, making her another of the rare villainous examples. Or maybe not so villainous.
  • Mitsuru from Persona 3—reinforced by her persona being of the Empress Arcana, which represents motherly qualities). She actually expects the team to maintain good grades.
    • Another one from the same game: Yuko, the Strength Arcana Social Link, is the manager of the track team, and so acts as the team mom. If you follow her Social Link enough, she takes on the same role for a group of fourth-graders, making it clear she has a very strong maternal instinct in general.
    • Also from Persona 3: Shinjiro, of all people, sort of counts when he joins the team. He's a good cook, worries about whether or not everyone's eating properly, tells the protagonist to take care to not get sick... He's practically the ideal house husband.
    • The Protagonist of Persona 4 is a Rare Male Example; his responsibilities include being Team Chef and Warrior Therapist to his group of friends, as well as Meido once Nanako and Dojima are hospitalized.
    • In the original Persona, ex-delinquent Yukino serves this role, having already served as the Number Two to her Cool Teacher. She's only a Guest Star Party Member if you don't take the Snow Queen quest, though.
  • In a rather darkly comedic example, Shauna from Soul Nomad and The World Eaters ends up playing this role in the Demon Path, as everyone else is too mentally unstable to take care of themselves. However after her Morality Pet Trisha (who in this path has been mentally broken after being raped by her adoptive father Hawthorne) commits suicide, Shauna basically gives up on life and descends into Nietzsche Wannabe territory.
  • Emma from The Last Remnant acts as the mother figure for the main cast, she also has a daughter of her own that you run into throughout your adventures.
  • In Samurai Warriors, Nene acts as the self-imposed Team Mom of the Toyotomi clan—her Gaiden battle even has her showing up during the battle of Sekigahara not aligned with either side so she can beat the snot out of both armies and then lecture them about not getting along with each other.
  • In Baldurs Gate II, Jaheira tries to be one, but Keldorn's the true mum.
  • Chizuru Kagura from The King of Fighters, both during her brief time in the Women Fighters Team (with King and Mai) and as the only female in the team she formed with Kyo and Iori. Yes, this Miko managed to get Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami to work as a team. Wow.
  • In Planescape: Torment, Fall-from-Grace's mature, perceptive and compassionate personality make her fit this trope perfectly (although fiery teenager Annah doesn't react well to anything she says or does).
    • But the player characters in Planescape: Torment don't NEED a Team Mom to keep them together, as they are all tied to the main character by their torment. Of the 7 possible playable characters besides the main character, 3 of them are actually the main character's slaves (although the player/main character doesn't know this at first), 2 of them follow his orders because they are creatures of law and logic, and 2 of them are in love with him. So having a Team Mom to keep them together is somewhat moot.
  • Canonically, Karan S'jet of Homeworld is the Team Mom of the entire Hiigaran race. It IS canonical that everyone likes her because she's sincere and compassionate. Not to mention that she's currently piloting a Progenitor battleship which could singlehandedly annihilate the entire galaxy. You do NOT want to antagonize the Hiigarans - Makaan learned that the hard way.
  • Wynne takes this role in Dragon Age Origins after joining your group, particularly to Alistair.
    • Also to a mage protagonist. The Circle of Mages takes The Corps Is Mother approach, and if the player chooses, the relationship between Wynne and the Grey Warden can take a distinct mother/child relationship, with Wynne will lampshade.
    • Varric of Dragon Age II. The man is downright nurturing towards Merrill, and he takes care of Anders after he starts on his downward spiral. Aveline meanwhile is more of the Team Dad.
  • Doctor Chakwas of Mass Effect serves this role to the characters as the Med Bay officer.
  • Ace Combat Zero has an unnamed offscreen character that clearly fits this trope in one mission. While attacking an enemy base, the radio chatter in the base can be heard. Many speak of the base commander who can be heard to, a woman who is strongly admired and who the soldiers speak of in nothing but admiration for (one even says "The base commander has a daughter. I wonder if she's as beautiful as her mother.") and it's clear that they see themselves as equivalent to her sons. At the end even after defeat she reassures the base that they all fought well.
  • Terra/Tina from FFVI when she's in human form; so much as to take care of - and be loved by - a ragtag group of orphans after Kefka takes over a broken world that he broke.
  • Aqua in Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, particularly when she meets the Lost Boys.
    • She also serves this role in the main protagonists' Power Trio. At times, the relationship between her, Terra, and Ven more closely resembles two-parents-and-their-child than three friends.
    • This is even lampshaded in the original Japanese text when Scrooge gave Ven the passes to Disney Town. As opposed to the translation, where Ven was told "to take two grownups," he was told to "bring his parents."
  • Fia from Riviera: The Promised Land. Ironically, she's the youngest of the group


Web Comics

  • Gwyneth of Thespiphobia, complete with "I-brought-you-in,-I-can-take-you-out" mindset.
  • Kath from Fans! is a Deconstruction of this trope.
  • Jason from It's Walky!, though he kind of plays Team Dad as well.
  • Despite being an Anthropomorphic Personification of one of The Seven Deadly Sins this is pretty much Lust's job description in The Sins. Like Carla from Scrubs she complains about it, but is addicted to the role.
  • Vandi of What Birds Know is this for the trio of girls who venture out into the woods, due to her serious and responsible nature—itself a product of a youthful Promotion to Parent after her mother died in childbirth.
  • Polly Rockport of A Loonatics Tale to the rest of the Mercia elite. She enjoys the role and, given her sunshine-and-lollipops outlook, it was probably inevitable.
  • Zombie from Hanna Is Not a Boy's Name is an odd example, but still counts. He seems cold, but he's always pretty considerate and caring to his allies; going as far as to put himself between them and their attackers in a bad situation. He works hard to keep the others from hurting themselves, and even cooks for Hanna.
  • Kanaya Maryam of Homestuck is this to the trolls, and makes a point of helping many of them during the arc. This may have something to do with why she's the only troll Karkat completely respects. Later, she extends her performance of this role to the kids too, directly advising and assisting Jade and Rose. It's even reflected in name, "Maryam" refers to Miriam, or Mary (as in the Virgin Mary), and her screen name, "grimAuxillatrix" is taken from "Virgin Maria Auxiliatrix", and is also derived from auxilium, meaning "assistance" in Latin.
  • Monica seems to fill this role in Wapsi Square. Her motherly exploits include taking responsibility for teaching Bud and Brandi how to be human again, helping Shelly deal with nightmares at 3 am, and breaking up fights between other characters.
  • Rhea is this to Buwaro and Keiri in Slightly Damned. At one point the two decide to walk a new friend home...and then immediately turn to Rhea to ask if she approves.

Sammy: Is she their mom or something?

  • In BIBLE, Opal is this to the angels under Balthazar's command.


Web Original

  • Survival of the Fittest V3's Amanda Redder has begun to put herself in this role in the small group she's with.
    • Ironically, her favorite sport is soccer.
  • Answer Me This - Helen sometimes plays this role.
  • Spots the Space Marine - Magda "Spots" Guitart kicks tail while providing the quiet voice of experience to the squad.
  • The Adventures of Evil Overmom by Lore Sjöberg. The note says, "Antidote, Love Mom." What a cool mom.
  • Calliope to the Muses and Apollo in Thalia's Musings. Though Mnemosyne, the Muses' actual mother, was a very involved parent during her daughters' childhoods and complains that they don't call her often enough.
  • Skippys List has examples:

88. Must not refer to 1st Sgt as "Mom".

  • Mindbird of the Wild Pack in the Whateley Universe. Also Sizemax of the Vindicators, Spellbinder of Elite League. Also Lucille of the Underdogs, who often say "yes mom" to her just to aggravate her.


Western Animation

  • Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender -- Lampshaded in the episode "The Runaway", where she initially objects to the idea as it says she's the group downer.
    • Although the very reason she became this is a Tear Jerker; Sokka explains to Toph that after his and Katara's mother died, their family was pretty messed up and that Katara dealt with it by taking on a 'motherly' role in the tribe, especially to him. Of course, Katara's other reaction to her mother's death is something else.
      • One of the most heartbreaking moments in the series occurs during Sokka and Toph's conversation - Sokka can't even remember what his mother looked like anymore, because all he can see when he thinks of motherhood is his sister.
  • Maguro of Sushi Pack often fits this trope.
  • Megan, the Badass Normal human girl from My Little Pony. If she's not around, Wind Whistler fills in.
  • A male example: Edd ("Double-D") from Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy, who has gone so far as to wipe crumbs from Ed's face and scold Eddy for poor behavior.
  • Bumblebee for Teen Titans East: "That's a supercomputer, not a footstool!"
  • 13-year-old Sheila the Thief in the Dungeons and Dragons TV series. Not only she's the more feminine of the girls in the group (Diana the Acrobat is a tomboyish Hot Amazon and Cool Big Sis), but the youngest kid in the gang is her little brother Bobby the Barbarian.
    • While never stated outright, the way she and Bobby act to each other imply that she was de facto raising her little brother even before ending up in the Realm.
  • Gi, college student, oldest Planeteer, and wielder of the Ring of Water from Captain Planet and the Planeteers. Gaia also mixes this with The Messiah and Mentor. Gi's position in the Five-Man Band shows up in the first episode, during the kids' first ride in the Geo-Cruiser:

Wheeler: Why do you get to drive?
Gi: Do you have a driver's license?

Number 362: I don't care what level you're on, Number 105, put that video game down, and find out what Knight Brace is doing in Poughkeepsie! Would you guys mind playing Whizbee on the Whizbee deck and not on my bridge?!

  • Courtney of Total Drama Island.
  • Suzie Chan on The Amazing Chan and The Chan Clan is mostly a Cool Big Sis, but every now and then she slides into this territory (ex. chiding the kids for spying on Pop in ep 1, mediating a potential argument between Tom and Alan in ep 8).
  • In Recess, Miss Grotke is one to the entire foruth grade class (to the point where Spinelli looks up to her like a mom than her own mother), while Gretchen is one to the main six.
  • In My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic, this function is typically performed by Applejack, although other characters may fill the role depending on circumstances.


Real Life

  • 41-year-old Dara Torres of the 2008 U.S. Olympic swim team is often viewed as this by her teammates. To prove she's no slouch, she won three silver medals (just missing gold in the 50 free by 0.01 seconds).
  • A mother, Sgt. Jane Strand, will head to war with her son, Pvt. Timothy Strand. In the National Guard, she "assumed the rank of mom to a collection of younger recruits," according to the article.
  • In labs, especially large labs, there will usually be somebody to fill this role.
  • "Guild mother," anyone?
  • At a wildlife sanctuary in England, a rescued Greyhound, of all things, is surrogate mom to everything from puppies to a barn owl.
  • Captain's Wives sometimes did this for nineteenth-century sailing ships.
    • Mary Ann Patten navigated the clipper Neptune's Car around Cape Horn while being The Caretaker to her sick husband and being pregnant to boot. They talk simplistically, though not without justification, about the rigidity of nineteenth-century customs. But New England sea princesses could be awesome when put to it and they don't make em like that anymore.
  • Good Queen Vicky was Team Mom to the entire British Empire.
    • Hell toward the end she was getting to be the Team Mom to the whole of Europe. She was actually known as "the grandmother of Europe" because of how big her family was. World War I reads like the world's biggest, nastiest family spat.
  • Gina Dalfonzo is the moderator at this site and she is almost a classic Team Mom.
  • Happens sometimes in forums in addition to online games with party or guild capabilities.
  • Michelle Bachelet, as the first female President of Chile, is often seen as this by Chilean people.
  • Jane Lynch (aka Sue Sylvester) is reportedly this for the entire cast of Glee, to the point where she calls them her "babies."
  • To Quentin Tarantino and much of the cast and crew of his movie, film editor Sally Menke was this. Tarantino himself ever referred to her as being a second mother to him.
  • Some female webforum staffers, especially those older than most other participants of their webforums, are perceived as this...
  • Joining a volunteer organization for children involves becoming either this, a Team Dad, a Cool Big Sis or Big Brother Mentor.
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