The 10 Best Fictional Moms in Pop Culture

Originally published on May 10, 2020. In honor of Mother’s Day, this article lists 10 of the best mothers across pop culture.

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Today is Mother’s Day. That means it’s time to celebrate the matriarchs, maternal figures, and mothers in our own lives and across pop culture. Moms truly do the most. From giving birth to raising their kids, great mothers are the glue that holds not only family, but society itself, together. This blog recognizes remarkable moms across a few different fandoms and mediums, including movies, comics, and television.

Check out our list to discover if your favorite characters are among them. Then, keep reading to see why these particular moms made the cut — and don’t forget the honorable mentions at the end!

The Top 10 Fictional Moms:

• Maria Rambeau
• Shmi Skywalker
• Kat Barton
• Joyce Byers
• Catelyn Stark
• Morticia Addams
• Amanda Grayson
• Grace Chow
• Alana
• Lily Potter

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Maria Rambeau

• From: Captain Marvel
• Portrayed by: Lashana Lynch

Today and every day we salute Maria Rambeau. Single parent and ace pilot, Captain Maria Rambeau may be a secondary character in Captain Marvel, but she’s one of the best moms in the MCU. She raises her daughter, Monica, alone, all while facing adversity in the workplace. Her strength and resilience are outstanding right from her introduction.

Throughout the Marvel film, Maria is thrown into unfamiliar situations — and literally taken to another planet — yet she adapts immediately. She cares deeply about her daughter, as evidenced by her aggression toward Talos and the other Skrulls when they seem to be threatening the young girl. Maria also welcomes another persecuted family — Talos, Soren, and their child G’iah — into her home, showing both courage and compassion in that choice.

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Shmi Skywalker

• From: Star Wars™
• Portrayed by: Pernilla August

Shmi Skywalker is surely one of the most vital Star Wars characters in the universe because she, physically and emotionally, initiated the entire Skywalker Saga. We don’t know much about her past, but we do know she gave birth to, raised, and loved Anakin Skywalker all her own while they were both enslaved on Tatooine. In The Phantom Menace™, Qui-Gon Jinn encourages Shmi to allow her son to participate in increasingly dangerous tasks in order to earn his freedom.

Although she hesitates at first, she also knows the bet with Watto is Anakin’s best chance of leaving that harsh desert planet and life of servitude. Ultimately Shmi sends Anakin away to join the Jedi Order, surrendering her only source of happiness so that Anakin may live as a free man. He doesn’t return until her death years later, but she never stops loving him. It is the ultimate maternal sacrifice and she bears it with grace and dignity.

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Katherine Barton

• From: Tenet
• Portrayed by: Elizabeth Debicki

Kat is inarguably the emotional tether of Nolan’s Tenet. In many ways, the story revolves around her — and particularly around her being a mother. Her son Max is the only thing that keeps her under her abusive husband’s influence. But it is an impossible choice to leave a child for your own sake — a choice that sadly, many women in similar situations face daily. In a patriarchal society, we see many survivors with shared stories of oppression and outrage.

However, Tenet thankfully does not force Kat to be a one-dimensional victim. Poised, elegant, nuanced, and full of unbridled rage, Kat defies stereotypes. In the end, she also refuses to allow men to call the shots for her. Instead, she makes the world-saving choice. And she gets to bring her son Max into a future that she helped shape for him. That’s motherhood at its core.

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Joyce Byers

• From: Stranger Things
• Portrayed by: Winona Ryder

Many mothers insist they would do anything to protect their kids. But until you’re tested, how can you truly know? In Stranger Things, Joyce Byers faces that test — and emerges victorious. She wields a literal axe, solves mysteries that stump the masses, and faces monsters from other dimensions simply to reach her little boy. And when everyone else in Hawkins gives up on Will, Joyce accepts their ridicule, because she knows she will prevail.

No matter the cost, Joyce will always put her sons first. Joyce also accepts her boys’ oddball and outcast friends into her family without protest. From letting them use the basement for D&D to helping them conquer the Upside Down, Joyce is ready to fight tooth and nail — and Christmas lights — as only moms know how to.

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Catelyn Stark

• From: Game of Thrones
• Portrayed by: Michelle Fairley

Very few television episodes are as traumatizing as the Red Wedding. And Game of Thrones fans recall Catelyn Stark’s, neé Tully, defining moment from that very episode. Before anyone else, Catelyn realizes the Lannisters have trapped the wedding party for a massacre unlike any other. Though she is brutally stabbed, she keeps getting up to shout for and physically put herself in front of her son Robb. This scene is as heartbreaking as it is powerful.

Before her death, Catelyn is a fierce and imposing member of House Stark. She presents a strong front to all her political enemies, yet shows a softer side to her allies, husband, and children. While Catelyn is by no means flawless — often treating Jon Snow with disdain — she is also a standout mom in a fantasy series full of astoundingly awful, selfish, and craven parents.

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Morticia Addams

• From: The Addams Family
• Portrayed by: Carolyn Jones, Anjelica Huston, and Catherine Zeta-Jones

Snaps for the Mother of horror! Morticia Addams is matriarch of the creepy and kooky Addams Family. Every goth’s dream woman, Morticia is totally herself and is never afraid to ask for what she desires. She is morbid and malevolent, yes, but she’s also mother of the decade. She adores her children and encourages them to reach their fullest potential. But she’s also practical. No committing mass murder or becoming a witch until you’re done with college, kids!

Truly, every Addams member completes the family. They cannot be divided. But Morticia is a piece that can never be parted from the whole without total ruin. And while she’d be happy to invite a little chaos into the mansion, her family’s happiness is the ultimate priority. Even if that happiness looks much different from your typical white picket fence approach.

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Amanda Grayson

• From: Star Trek
• Portrayed by: Jane Wyatt, Majel Barrett, Cynthia Blaise, Winona Ryder, and Mia Kirshner

She is a nurturer, a protector, and the connection between humans and Vulcans. A teacher from Earth, Star Trek’s Amanda Grayson marries ambassador Sarek and raises three children with him: Spock, stepson Sybok, and ward Michael Burnham. Across multiple continuities, timelines, and eras, Amanda has been a constant. Amanda cherishes all three of her children equally.

She encourages them to learn and honor their Vulcan heritage, while also showing them the values of human emotion. Love, especially, is taught, given, and received. Even when Spock has sworn to reject emotions, he cannot erase the deeply ingrained affection he holds toward his mother. Amanda also never turns cold to her Vulcan kids when they try to shut off their feelings regarding her. Of all the mothers out there on the final frontier, then, she is ultimately the best.

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Grace Chow

• From: Sinners
• Portrayed by: Li Jun Li

Grace Chow is a dynamic character separate from her role as a mother in Sinners. However, her role as a mother is also intrinsic to her character. A store owner in the deep South, Grace runs her business with intelligence as well as cutthroat bartering abilities. She’s multitalented, too, able to put together a hand-painted sign as a rush order. Smart, capable, and confident, Grace Chow is certainly an incredible piece of an already superb ensemble cast.

Of course, Grace’s greatest moment as a mother is also the most highly contentious. When faced with the possibility of losing her only daughter, Grace chooses to invite vampires into the club. Her goal? To ignite and burn as many as she can take with her — because she’ll die before she allows them to set fangs on her child. Do you agree with what Grace did? Or do you believe she doomed them all?

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Alana

• From: Saga
• Portrayed by: N/A

A little lesser known, yet an absolute legend, Alana is the warrior-mother-hero of Image Comics’ space opera Saga. Alana is on the run for deserting her home planet’s army during intergalactic war. The reason? She fell in love with the enemy and had a child with him. To protect Hazel, and hopefully raise her in a more peaceful world, Alana and husband Marko take flight into new regions of space, finding allies and antagonism alike along the way.

Alana is brave and witty, with a great moral compass and a fierce protective streak. Although she distrusts many of the beings she and Marko meet, once they prove their friendship, she extends much of the same care toward them as she does toward Hazel. Hazel, of course, is still her number one priority. Alana would move planets for her, kill for her, risk her own life to ensure her daughter’s survival.

Saga itself was inspired by the author’s own emotional journey through parenting. Drama, love, and family are woven expertly throughout, with the most vital relationship to the narrative being the one between Hazel and her incredible mom.

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Lily Potter

• From: Harry Potter
• Portrayed by: Geraldine Somerville, Ellie-Darcey Alden, Susie Shinner, and Zara Richards

Lily Potter, née Evans, makes the ultimate sacrifice for her child, Chosen One Harry Potter. Before she dies, Lily is a smart and capable witch who is also devoted fully to her son. Harry is her pride and joy, and she writes letters to many of her and James Potter’s friends to show off their baby boy. She would have been a beautiful presence in Harry’s childhood had Harry not been orphaned so early in life.

On that fateful night in Godric’s Hollow, Lily stands between Lord Voldemort, the wickedest wizard of all time, and Harry’s crib. Voldemort comes to kill Harry because of a prophecy that foretold the Potter child as the Dark Lord’s downfall. He has no intention of killing the Potter parents until they get in the way. Lily is the last to die in that house. She is told to move aside but she refuses. Voldemort casts the killing curse — Avada Kedavra — on her before turning his wand to Harry. Harry, however, had been granted the greatest protection spell of all time: love. That’s why he has his famous scar.

Later in the Harry Potter series, Harry is spared from Voldemort’s assassination attempts by the remnants of the “spell” Lily cast on the night of her death. Lily’s ghost also appears twice — once in the graveyard, and once in the Forbidden Forest — to comfort and advise her son. The Boy Who Lived is nothing without the mother who died for him.

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Honorable Mentions

These women didn’t make Top 10, but they still deserve to be recognized. Our honorable mentions include mothers and mother-figures alike — the moms who stepped in and stepped up.

Honorable Mentions:

• Molly Weasley (Harry Potter)
• Martha Kent (Superman)
• Lagertha (Vikings)
• May Parker (Spider-Man)
• Queen Ramonda (Black Panther)
• Aunt Lucy (Paddington)
• Mrs. Incredible (Disney)
• Marge Simpson (The Simpsons)

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Whether she’s another fictional mom or your own parent or partner, we hope you give a shout-out to that special someone today. Celebrate these pop culture parents at side.show/geekgroup or in the Sideshow Social Network. Happy Mother’s Day, and don’t forget to Let Your Geek Sideshow!