They take you to the ballgames. They teach you how to fish. They may even save your life and risk their own. You know them … you love them … they are the best dads in pop-culture!

Doctor Light - Mega Man

In the year 200X, robotics genius Dr. Thomas Light worked to create a humanoid robot. This robot would be built with an advanced AI program that would allow it to make decisions for itself based on stimulus and basic directions. He called the robot project “Robot Master”, because the resulting robot would be able to supervise the work of other, less intelligent machines. After creating a robot named “Proto Man” - who went rogue, escaped and was thought to have been destroyed - Dr. Light decided to create another robot. Wanting his new robot to have a buddy, he created “Rock” and “Roll”.

Dr. Light became a huge success and was recognized by the world for his contributions to science. His former collegue, however, did not quite appreciate his services to science. Dr. Wily, became jealous of Dr. Light’s success and built an army of robots to destroy the city as a means of revenge.

Realizing that it would be too hard for armies to stop Wily without harming the city further, “Rock” - programmed with a sense of right and wrong - volunteered to be converted into a fighting robot and forever became known as Mega Man.

The Best Dad award for the Video Game genre is hereby presented to Dr. Light for his amazing success in the world of artificial intelligence.

‘Pa’ Kent - Superman

The Kents made few appearances in Superman stories until the introduction of the Superboy comic book series in 1949. In this series, they are regular supporting characters of the teenaged superhero. The Superboy stories establish the Kents’ backstory. Jonathan, a former race car driver, is a farmer on a farm just outside of Smallville. After he and Martha find the toddler Kal-El in his rocket, they take him to the Smallville Orphanage and later formally adopt him, naming him “Clark.” They soon discover that Clark possesses a fantastic array of superpowers. Around the time Clark starts school, the Kents sell their farm, and the family moves into Smallville, where they open a general store. During Clark’s early grade school years, Jonathan trains young Clark in the use of his superpowers to the best of his knowledge while urging him to keep the use of his powers a secret. At the age of eight, Clark begins a superhero career as Superboy. Martha creates Superboy’s costume out of the blankets inside the rocket that brought him to Earth, and Jonathan helps him to create a means of making Superboy and Clark appear to be different people by developing Clark’s secret identity as a mild-mannered, reserved individual. The Kents assist their adopted son on many adventures as Superboy.

In Superboy volume 1 #145, Jonathan and Martha are rejuvenated physically and appear younger due to the influence of an alien serum. After this, Jonathan and Martha were drawn by artists as late middle-aged — as opposed to elderly — in appearance until Superman’s 1986 reboot. After Clark graduates from high school, Jonathan and Martha take a vacation to the Caribbean Islands, where they contract a fatal and rare tropical disease after handling materials from a pirate’s treasure chest they had exhumed; despite Superboy’s best efforts, Martha dies, with Jonathan dying soon thereafter. Before dying, Jonathan reminds Clark that he must always use his powers for the benefit of humanity. Clark mourns his parents and moves to Metropolis to attend college.

The Best Dad award for the Comics genre is hereby presented to ‘Pa’ Kent for raising the man of steel to keep his head out of the clouds and feet firmly planted in reality.

Steve Jobs - Apple Inc.

Steve Jobs is the Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Apple Inc. In 1986, he acquired the computer graphics division of LucasFilm Ltd which was spun off as Pixar Animation Studios. He remained CEO and majority shareholder until its acquisition by the Walt Disney Company in 2006. Jobs is currently the Walt Disney Company’s largest individual shareholder and a member of its Board of Directors. He is considered a leading figure in both the computer and entertainment industries. Steve Jobs was listed as Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Businessman of 2007.

Jobs’ history in business has contributed greatly to the myths of the quirky, individualistic Silicon Valley entrepreneur, emphasizing the importance of design while understanding the crucial role aesthetics play in public appeal. His work driving forward the development of products that are both functional and elegant has earned him a devoted following.

Jobs, with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, helped popularize the personal computer in the late ’70s. In the early ’80s, still at Apple, Jobs was among the first to see the commercial potential of the mouse-driven GUI (Graphical User Interface). After losing a power struggle with the board of directors in 1985, Jobs resigned from Apple and founded NeXT, a computer platform development company specializing in the higher education and business markets. NeXT’s subsequent 1997 buyout by Apple Inc brought Jobs back to the company he co-founded, and he has served as its CEO from then on.

The Best Dad award for the gadgets genre is hereby presented to Steve Jobs for being the daddy of our personal computers, iphones and ipods.

Fujitaka Kinomoto - Cardcaptor Sakura

Fujitaka is the father of Sakura Kinomoto (Sakura Avalon in Cardcaptors) and Toya Kinomoto (Tori Avalon). He is a very busy college professor of archaeology at Towa University who still finds time for his children. He is very kind and caring, and he loves his family deeply, especially his late wife, Nadeshiko (Natasha). In the second volume of the manga, Toya stated that Fujitaka was very athletic, a possible reason why both Sakura and Toya are good at sports.

One of the major differences between his characterization in the manga and the anime is that in the manga, he is explicitly stated as half of the reincarnation of Clow Reed’s soul, however holding no magical abilities himself. In the anime, this connection is erased altogether and never mentioned, as he is shown as one of the people affected by Eriol Hiiragizawa’s (Eli Moon) sleep spell at the end of the series (the spell is not supposed to affect those with strong magical ability). In the manga, as he is half of Clow’s reincarnation, he is unaffected by his spell and even shows up after Sakura manages to transform The Light and The Dark, passing Eriol’s last trial. Fujitaka receives half of Eriol’s magic as part of Eriol’s final task of reducing his magical ability, leaving Sakura the strongest magician alive. With the infusion of magic, Fujitaka is able to see Nadeshiko’s spirit and be reunited with her once again.

Fujitaka is mostly disliked by Sonomi Daidōji (Samantha), who strongly believes that he stole Nadeshiko from her in high school. At the time, Sonomi and Nadeshiko were high school students, and Fujitaka was starting his first year as a teacher there. One day, Nadeshiko had climbed a tree to tend to some birds in their nest, but she accidentally fell. Luckily, Fujitaka broke her fall, and after seeing Nadeshiko on top of him, he commented, “It appears that an angel has fallen from the sky.” This sparked the relationship that would lead to their marriage when Nadeshiko is sixteen. In Episode 11, Sonomi recounts in a rant about how they would arrive at school together with matching packed lunches, husband and wife.

In the anime, Nadeshiko and Sonomi’s grandfather and caretaker, Masaaki Amamiya, also used to disapprove of Fujitaka, especially because they both helped to raise Nadeshiko. Sakura meets her great-grandfather for the first time when on summer vacation, though she is unaware of his relationship to her. Sakura later discovers that her great-grandfather disapproved of Fujitaka as Fujitaka mentions it in their conversation about Masaaki, so on the day of Masaaki’s birthday, she sends him a present though Sonomi. Masaaki, wanting to repay that act of kindness, asks Fujitaka for a meeting and, along with giving him presents for Toya and Sakura, in an act of forgiveness and regret, apologizes for the resentment and estrangement after the latter’s marriage.The Best Dad award for the Anime genre is hereby presented to Fujitaka Kinomoto for his undying devotion and care for his two children. Hooray for single dads!

Robert of Consplayers.com - Pikminlink’s Dad

(From cosplaylab.com) “I started taking photos of people in costume back in 1991 at Star Trek related conventions, and we continued to attend them until 1998. Then there were starting to be fewer Star Trek conventions in our area so we didn’t attended anymore until 2003. Our first anime related convention was in 2003, and it turned out to be a lot of fun, and we’ve been attending conventions ever since.

I get to see the creativity and the talent cosplayers put into their costumes. Also, a lot of the costumes are very amazing in person.

The perfect cosplay photo is … …a photo where the cosplayer’s character and the background match, and it looks like if it were taken straight out of an anime, video game, or movie. The lighting and pose, and also camera angle add really nice effects and moods.

We used to do about 4-5 conventions a year when we attended the Star Trek conventions during the years 1991-1998. When we started to hear about the anime and sci-fi cons in 2003, we went to only 5, but then in 2004, we attended a total of 17 anime and sci-fi related conventions/events. Conventions became a hobby for us, and this year, we also plan to attend 17. “

The Best Dad award for the Cosplay genre is hereby presented to Robert for his devotion to his childrens hobby and dedication to cosplay photography.

Mufasa - The Lion King

The wise and majestic ruler of Pride Rock, Mufasa has a lot on his hands as he raises the heir to his kingdom. Mufasa is ultimately portrayed as an “ideal king”, strong, powerful, and kind-hearted, which is contrasted to the deceitfulness and lust for power of his brother, the jealous Scar.

Scar’s first attempt to kill Simba - as he wants to become king - is foiled when Mufasa interferes. Mufasa takes Simba out into the pridelands to teach him a lesson about disobeying him. Instead of becoming angry at Simba, he teaches him about being an adult and that all the stars in the sky are truly the great kings of the past looking down on him. Now, THAT is positive parenting!

Scar, however, does not give up in his quest to become king. The next time, he triggers a large-scale wildebeast stampede. Mufasa successfully saves Simba and struggles to climb up a cliff. Scar, waiting for him at the top, pierces Mufasa’s paws hard with his claws and lets go after saying, “Long live the king.” Simba doesn’t see this happen and Scar makes him believe that he (Simba) had caused Mufasa’s death.

Running away from the pride, Simba must grow up alone feeling that it was always his fault that his father died. Once he has grown up, Mufasa appears to Simba and tells him to remember his past and who he is. It is with Mufasas support and guidance that Simba goes back to his home, defeats Scar and saves the pride.

The Best Dad award for the Culture genre is hereby presented to Mufasa for his dedication and teaching of the future king of Pride Rock.

Brian Young - My Dad!

I couldn’t do an entire story about dads and leave out my own now, could I!?

Brian Young grew up on a mountain in Dedham Maine and learned to drive a car at the early age of 14 from practicing with his dad on the winding roads of Bald Mountain. In 1953 (at 9 years old) he took up square dancing with his parents. They would have sleigh rides and gatherings at the house on the mountain where his Aunt would call out the dance moves and he, his parents and relatives would all dance throughout each room.

A 4H member his entire life, Brian went to Norway on an International Farm Youth Exchange for 7 months during his college career. He graduated with a degree in Agriculture which he would later use to build Garden Pond Nursury and subsequently Youngs Poolscapes - a Swimming Pool installation company.

It was in 1965 that Square Dancing took him to Maryland, for a convention, where he met Cheryl Young (mommy) and fell in love (awwww). They decided to move back to Maine and built a house in Searsport. In 1973 they began bringing foster children into their home. The first foster child, Danny, ended up becoming my brother after adopting him in 1985.

I was adopted in 1979 and my sister was adopted in 1990. Throughout my childhood, there were always kids coming in and out of the house. Babysitting, foster care and church youth groups were all specialties of both of my parents.

After losing my mom in 2005, dad stepped up to continue raising the three of us as a single father. He has dealt with the worst of times and the best of times and for that - The Best Dad award in the “I-wrote-it-so-I-can” category is hereby presented to Brian Young for his caring, support and simple love. Love you dad!

* References used from Wikipedia.com