Parents are an incredibly important presence in any child's life. They can help to define the background of their personality, or influence the kind of person they become. Characters in video games are no different, as their personalities and their relationship with their parents are often strongly intertwined.

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Often, parents are a positive influence on a character's growth and personality. However, not all parents are a good influence on their children. Some parents can negatively impact their child's growth, whether it's due to their poor parenting or to them being abusive and neglectful. Here are some of the worst mothers found in PlayStation games.

6 Isako, Yukari's Mother (Persona 3)

Depressed And Neglectful

While working on Shadow research for the Kirijo Group, Yukari's father, Eiichiro Takeba, and his research team died due to an accident that caused a massive explosion. Shocked by her husband's death and forced to move multiple times to escape the backlash of Eiichiro being blamed for the accident, Yukari's mother, Isako, began going from boyfriend to boyfriend in her grief, neglecting and eventually abandoning Yukari.

Due to her own grief over her husband's death, it's a little hard to completely lay the blame for Isako's actions on poor parenting. However, that's no excuse for her neglecting Yukari, and that sense of abandonment really affected her negatively. It takes a long time for the two to reconnect with what happened between them, but Yukari's story does eventually end with the two of them reconciling.

5 Shoko Nadami, Mizuki's Mother (AI: The Somnium Files)

An Unforgiving Mother With Impossible Standards

Shoko Nadami is the ex-wife of Renju Okiura and the mother of Mizuki Okiura, as well as an acquaintance of main character Kaname Date. Her death sparks the investigation into what becomes known as the New Cyclops Serial Killings, a case involving corpses with their left eye taken out.

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Though Mizuki has fond memories of her mother, it is eventually revealed that Shoko was a particularly strict mother who disavowed showing affection and hit Mizuki for acting like a child would. Part of the reason for this was that Shoko's own mother was similarly cold, and never showed her any signs of love or affection. This abuse ultimately led to the end of her marriage with Renju, and Mizuki would end up living with Date.

4 Karen Wong, Fei's Mother (Xenogears)

A Caring Woman Possessed By A Cruel Soul

Karen Wong was the wife of Khan Wong and the mother of Fei Fong Wong, the main character of Xenogears. In the past, she was a kind woman who was a good mother to Fei, with a memory of them playing with a ball together being one of his most cherished memories. However, she would suddenly change into a cold scientist, forcing Fei into various experiments that eventually fragmented his brain, giving him split personalities.

In truth, Karen Wong's change in personality was due to her being possessed by Myyah Hawwa (Miang in the original translation), a being devoted to the eventual resurrection of the superweapon Deus. Despite this, her abusive actions towards Fei were incredibly impactful on him and changed his life irrevocably.

3 Ariels, The Valentines' Mother (Guilty Gear Xrd)

A Cruel And Manipulative Mother Figure

• Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PC
• Released: February 20, 2014
• Developer: Arc System Works

Ariels is the first woman to ever become Sanctus Maximus Populi, leader of a massive religious institution in the Guilty Gear universe. As that leader, she is seen as righteous and virtuous, but in truth she is a villain who despises humanity with all her heart.

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Ariels was a mother figure to the Valentines, a group of artificial life-forms created to influence the world by Universal Will's hand. Though she acts caring occasionally, she can be just as callous to them, seeing no problem with discarding or destroying them if they prove worthless. Though the more violent aspects of her personality might be influenced by external aspects, Ariels still has a lot to answer for the way she manipulates Ramlethal and Elphelt.

2 Mrs. Orosco, Angela's Mother (Silent Hill 2)

A Mother Who Failed Her Daughter

Angela Orosco is one of several people that James Sunderland can meet while exploring the town of Silent Hill. She is childish for her age, and her disturbed personality hints at a traumatic and horrific past. Like the other characters that appear in Silent Hill 2, Angela's story is slowly expanded over the course of the game.

It was eventually revealed that Angela was frequently assaulted and abused by both her father and her brother. To make matters worse, her mother did nothing to stop them and even told her that she deserved the abuse. Despite this, Angela's main goal in Silent Hill 2 is to search for her mother, who disappeared from her life many years before the beginning of the game. While it's not clear if Mrs. Orosco really said the things Angela claims she did, it's certain she did little to protect her daughter from abuse.

1 Lucrecia Crescent, Sephiroth's Mother (Final Fantasy 7)

A Mother Who Did The Unforgivable

Lucrecia was a scientist for the Shinra Company and was eventually assigned to the Jenova Project, where she met both Vincent Valentine and Professor Hojo. Lucrecia would eventually allow her unborn child to be experimented on by implanting Jenova cells into the embryo, which would grow up to become Sephiroth, causing the events of Final Fantasy 7 to occur.

Aside from the eventual catastrophes that occurred as a result of this decision, the fact that Lucrecia allowed her unborn child to be the subject of experimentation is appalling. While his father, Hojo, certainly had some influence on the ultimate decision, Lucrecia still takes much of the blame. While she does show remorse for her decision later on, the ramifications are far too monstrous to be easily forgiven.

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