10 Found Family Duos That Rival Mando and Grogu

Wishing that you had more telekinetic bat-eared aliens in your life? You’re not alone. While, for copyright reasons, The Mandalorian may be your only supply of Baby Yoda for the time being, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other ways you can feel like a surrogate parent to an extraterrestrial. In fact, there are scores of movies and TV shows that feature the exact “gruff protector adopts weird little guy” dynamic that you’re looking for. Zombie apocalypses, nuclear annihilation, high fantasy warfare — many circumstances lead to parent/child found family relationships across media, and these 10 found family duos are some of the best.

Joel and Ellie

When The Last of Us‘s live-action adaptation hit the internet, Pedro Pascal became the adoptive father to us all. Deemed “Daddy” by literally everyone with a pulse, Pascal found himself as the protector and provider for pop culture itself. His character on The Last of Us was the reason why — the quintessential gruff survivalist forced to open his heart to a vulnerable youngster looking for a role model. Like The Mandalorian‘s Din Djarin, Joel Miller began the series as a cold-hearted mercenary type just trying to survive in a thoroughly ruined world. Like Grogu, Ellie is a sheltered adolescent who harbors a special and sought-after power: immunity to the mushroom-zombie plague that threatens to bury humanity. Joel becomes Ellie’s bodyguard at first, much like how Mando was hired to protect Grogu. Dire circumstances eventually bring them closer together, and their relationship becomes less courier/package and more parent/child.

Logan and Laura

The blueprint gruff father figure to a bunch of weirdos, Wolverine is the X-Men’s collective surly protector. After his found family is scattered to the wind in a mutant-hostile near future, Logan finds himself wandering the American wasteland, just trying to get by as a gig worker. Rescued from a career of driving limos and beating up chumps, Logan is eventually tasked with looking after Laura — a claw-handed mutant like himself. Like Mando to Grogu, Logan becomes Laura’s fierce protector, keeping her safe from a group of mercenaries gunning to capture her and exploit her abilities. Unlike Grogu, Laura is far more comfortable with mayhem and murder, and spends most of Logan racking up a kill count that’s almost as high as the film’s titular character. If Grogu enjoyed violence as much as he does shiny orbs, maybe he’d be able to compete with Laura’s numbers someday.

Hiccup and Toothless

Hiccup is the father of Toothless the dragon in the same way that many millennials are surrogate parents to cats and dogs. While the Vikings of How to Train Your Dragon hate and fear the fire-breathing beasts, Hiccup breaks the mould by adopting a scale baby he found in the woods. Like Grogu and his repurposed droid mech suit, Toothless and Hiccup become beast and rider as well as parent and animal child. And while Toothless has the destructive power of an F-16 fighter jet, he’s also a big softie who enjoys a belly rub like any housepet. Hiccup, meanwhile, isn’t quite the gruff protector that Mando or Logan are, but he shows his tough-guy side by becoming the only Viking in history to actually tame a dragon, a far tougher thing to do than killing one. And by the film’s sequels, he’s grown a pretty impressive tough-guy beard.

Carl Fredrickson and Russell

Like many gruff father figures, Carl Fredricksen didn’t begin life hard-boiled and bitter. Up‘s geriatric hero was once young and in love, but he was cruelly deprived of his wife after a lifetime spent by her side. Left jaded after her death, Carl learns to let love in once more with the arrival of Russell, a young “Wilderness Explorer” scout trying to earn a merit badge by helping the elderly. Rather than take off in a starship like Mando and Grogu, Carl and Russell lift off into the skies in a far more whimsical way — with thousands of balloons attached to Carl’s house. And while it’s no Tatooine, the mythical Paradise Falls is every bit as otherworldy as a faraway planet for these two balloon-traveling suburbanites. Through Carl’s experience and Russell’s innocence, the pair become an optimist/realist adventuring dream team.

Shrek and Donkey

Shrek and Donkey don’t have a parent/child relationship, but one could argue that Shrek has adopted Donkey as a pet of sorts. But after Donkey has children with Dragon, does this mean that Shrek and Fiona are the found family grandparents to a bunch of dragon/donkey hybrids? That’s for the viewer to decide. While the parent/child relationship between Shrek and Donkey is up for debate, their gruff protector/weird little guy bond is exactly the same flavor as Mando and Grogu’s. Like Mando, Shrek is an ostracized tough guy feared by all. Like Grogu, Donkey is an ever-curious vehicle for chaos and comic relief. Together, they make for a pretty unstoppable team. The fact that they’re married to a martial artist and a literal dragon also helps.

Marceline and Simon

Finn and Jake are the found family duo at the forefront of Adventure Time, but Marceline and Simon Petrikov’s adoptive parent/child relationship becomes apparent on a deeper dive. Refugees who found each other after a worldwide nuclear war, Marceline and Simon become each other’s sole companions as they attempt to survive the irradiated wasteland soon to become the Land of Ooo. “Gruff” certainly isn’t the best way to describe the tender-hearted Simon when he first meets Marceline, but to protect his young vampire ward, Simon is eventually forced to become a darker figure than he ever intended to be. Using the icy power of a cursed crown, Simon keeps Marceline safe at the cost of his own sanity. As he slowly loses his mind to the crown’s power, Marceline evolves into a full-fledged creature of darkness in her own right. And while Marceline eventually becomes the gruff protector to the weird little guy the Ice King becomes, she never forgets how their relationship began, or the gratitude she feels for him.

SpongeBob and Patrick

SpongeBob and Patrick are both weird little guys and each other’s gruff protectors. Best friends through thick and thin, the heroes of SpongeBob SquarePants have survived kelp forests, sea bear attacks, and the perfume department of the Flying Dutchman’s ship. Eventually, they both become the adoptive parents to a weird little guy — a parentless baby clam lost on the ocean floor. They spend a full episode living together as a mom-and-dad pair. SpongeBob takes care of the child, while Patrick goes to “work” to provide for the family. Even if he was just eating ice cream and watching TV under his rock the whole time, the starfish’s heart was sort of in the right place? Not everyone is cut out to be a parent.

Geralt and Ciri

The Witcher‘s Geralt and Siri are the ultimate gruff protector/adoptive child pair. Promised to Geralt via the Law of Surprise (an ancient rite of debt repayment too complicated to explain here), Ciri becomes the ward of Rivia’s greatest monster slayer. Like the Mandalorian, Geralt is initially unwilling to take care of a child — having a kid kind of ruins the whole “lone wolf mercenary” image that he’s cultivated for himself. After running from his duty for years, this deadbeat dad finally embraces his adoptive daughter when they’re reunited after surviving the siege of Cintra. Shared near-death experiences really have a way of bonding people together.

Reigen and Mob

Reigen and Mob aren’t exactly like Grogu and Mando, but their found family bonds still run deep. For one, neither is the gruff protector; they’re both weird little guys. That said, they both end up saving each other’s skin at multiple points throughout Mob Psycho 100. A hack psychic serving as a mentor to the real deal, Reigen attempts to train Mob in the ways of the metaphysical, only for Mob to have to step in and save his teacher from being torn apart by evil spirits. And while Mob can transform into a steely-eyed protector when pushed, it’s Reigen who ultimately holds Mob down emotionally. Despite not having any spiritual powers whatsoever, Reigen fearlessly throws himself between Mob and powerful antagonists who would harm him. He’s really more of an unhinged older brother, equally full of love and delusion.

Arya and The Hound

While “warm” wouldn’t be the first, second, or tenth word I’d use to describe the relationship between Arya and The Hound, they have one of the strongest found family bonds in Game of Thrones. Though he’s initially a high-ranking name on Arya’s kill list, Sandor Clegane eventually semi-adopts Eddard Stark’s daughter and teaches her crucial survival skills. The gruffest of all gruff protectors, Clegane shows Arya how to destroy her enemies and her own sense of idealism, cautioning her that chivalry and honor will get her killed on the cruel battlefields of Westeros. And while Arya never looks at The Hound with the wide-eyed adoration of Grogu towards Din Djarin, she eventually comes to respect, pity, and be grateful for him.

(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

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